"Aw, is someone mad?" Freddy's once comforting cackle did nothing but annoy me now.

"I'm not talking to you," I pouted.

My conversation with the police had been horrible. Grasping or not didn't help the fact that I was the cause for Phil's death, directly or indirectly. I still didn't know at that point because neither the cops nor Freddy had told me what killed him or how he'd been found. Also, I was feeling somewhat betrayed by the dream demon for not helping me out before. I felt he had kind of set me up though logically I knew that wasn't true. It was the connection. He couldn't directly affect anyone while in the real world except me. He had put his hands in mine, lending his strength so I could restrain my friend. Maybe I was just returning to that state of mind where I was convinced I was insane and imagining everything.

Freddy suddenly pounced onto the bed, strattling me with either hand taking hold of the bedposts behind me. He stared down at me with a wicked grin, eyeing me. But instead of gazing lustfully back, I only glared. His upper lip curled into a snarl as he barred his teeth, removing claw from above me and placing it, palm down, on my crotch, pressing firmly. I tried not to wriggle because even though I was angry, the touch still aroused me. Dammit. I couldn't hide the subtle nuance in my face that acknowledged the sensation though and his evil smile spread further as he put more pressure on my intimate region. Even with my thick jeans, I could feel his sharp blades beginning to cut through the fabric. The only thing I could do was twist to my side to the insinuation, but that didn't sit with him well... He let his body fall lower to me, pulling in his legs to hug me tighter between him as he forced me onto onto my back once more and pinned my hands to my sides. I mentally chastised myself for feeling excited at these harsh actions.

"Don't be such a woman!" He barked.

I turned my eyes to him, doing my best to remain emotionless with my scowl, but the line of questions I rushed out were entirely emotional, "I killed Phil, didn't I? Are you just a part of my mind? Am I actually becoming the murderer?"

"You're being insane right now," he growled, "Taking credit for my work... You did a number on your friend. It even affected the way he dreamed. But that's my kill as were all the others," he lifted his claw and pointed a blade at me, "You'll have to make your own if you want credit."

My brow furrowed then eased as I stared back at him, but I couldn't seem to formulate any response. I hadn't killed Phil, so...they couldn't blame this on me, could they? I felt like they were trying to. I instantly retracted my previous thoughts. Freddy was right. I hadn't known those other people. I hadn't murdered anyone and Phil had been alive when I left. I might be changing...or rather embracing my inner nature...but I wasn't imagining this dream demon. He saw the gears in my head turning. I don't know if he had a clue what I was thinking, but either way, he began speaking again.

"Oh, I see. You don't trust me," his words were thick as he made an obvious fake of being sad and retreated from me. He sat up on the end of my bed, hands together between his legs in a mocking position, "And here I was planning this wonderful gift for you and you don't even trust me."

I wanted to be annoyed with him even still, but I couldn't hold who he was against him. What kind of hypocrite would that make me. Besides, I was curious. "What the hell are you talking about?" I scoffed, pulling myself up to sit beside him.

"No, I don't think you really want it anyway. I mean, why would you want to join someone you don't trust?" he smirked, standing up and walking away from me, twitching his blades behind his back before turning and lowering his gaze to rest on my body.

I was confused and he was laying this pretend attitude on more and more. "What do you mean? I already joined you," I spat, "I think I've made THAT clear."

"AHAHA!" And there it was. He was laughing again.

I shook my head in frustration. "WHAT?!"

"I may be dead, but I'm not dumb!" the laughter stopped and he appeared right in my face, arms on either side of me with hands gripping onto the mattress I sat on. It was hard for me to remain straight in my posture so I started falling back. "I already warned you about lying to me little girl," he growled.

Shit. He somehow knew I had considered betraying him myself. Was it just my mouth behavior from before that put the thought in his mind? Either way, I could tell he wasn't going to move forward until I said something to acknowledge what he assumed was going on in my head...assumed correctly, in fact. I had shied away from the idea, but I had had it nonetheless.

"It's just..." I began, "I felt like I had nothing else to offer you now that Phil was dead. I don't know anyone else and...if they think I did it and I get locked away..."

The burned man grinned, reaching his claw up and scratching it along the underside of my chin, letting the metal clink as it reached the end and popped into the air in front of my lips. He slowly lifted himself away from my oddly arched body that had started to ache in the strained position. Once he stood straight, he clicked his blades and gestured his head for me to follow him. So I stood as well, sighing and sauntering after him as he casually walked into the mirror. I stopped in front of the door, watching him take a place next to my reflection.

"You're not the most popular person, that's for certain," he mused, setting his hands on my shoulders in the glass.

I scowled at the words. Yeah, I knew that. That was the problem... I tried to take comfort in the fact he was still around and let myself feel the weight of his hands resting on me. I could feel one of his blades' cold sharpness on the bare skin of my neck.

"But you're the perfect profile of a kid that shoots their school up," he blurted. "Especially now. I mean...you've tragically lost your only friends and you're all alone in a world where nobody understands you." He was massaging my shoulders in the mirror, the sensation echoing in my physical body. The metal claws were pinching my shirt as well as tiny bits of my skin. His likeness of me to a mass murdering shooter was sudden though it did seem to describe me well... "I've been priming you."

I cocked my head to the side, all trace of attitude or doubt about our bonds eradicates from my mind, "Priming...me?"

Freddy grinned, releasing my shoulders and stepping back out of the mirror, standing almost to where are bodies touched, gazing down at me, "I've been preparing your soul for the afterlife."

This explanation only confused me more. I had shifted from wanting nothing other than death to imagining a simple life living alongside the dream demon, doing all I could to keep him content as he teased me with beautiful pain. But now...he wanted me dead? "I don't understand. How? Why? The only way I'm good to you is by getting people to go to stay to asleep and not fight you...how can I help at all if I'm dead?"

"And that!" he said, flicking my nose with a knife, "little girl, is what you will continue to do! You see, I was a man once. As I died, I made a deal with the dream people to become what I am now. Likewise, you shall make a deal with me and I will bestow power upon you," his lip curled over his teeth as he put claw on his heart, "But your power won't be like mine. You will be..." he began walking around me in a circle, "A sandman."

"A sandman?" I repeated questioningly. I had heard the term before but really didn't know what it meant.

"You'll be able to appear to the children," he explained, "Infect their dreams, and keep them asleep. But more importantly," he spun, suddenly at my side again, eyes on eyes, nose touching my nose, "You'll be able to float away from this town and take me with you."

"Away from Springwood?" I thought aloud, a puzzle piece coming into place in my brain, "Was that part of your deal? That you had to stay here?"

The demon's smile faded as he fell away from me, eyes twitching as if he hadn't expected me to pick that information up. I wondered briefly if he was angry, then the smile came back and he was switching his knives in my direction again, "Smart girl. Yes. In exchange for my power, I had to compromise to stay here, and send energy back to those above me. I can't break these rules voluntarily, but you...you'll have different rules...a different deal."

"A deal with you?" I asked rhetorically. "What then will I be giving you for my own powers?"

Freddy's grin stretched wildly across his charred face and he floated closer to me once more, grabbing my shoulder with his left hand to yank me tight to him as his glove rose to my face, each blade resting one by one on my face and scratching down gently. Then, he lifted it again, one blade landing onto the gash on my cheek and digging down into it. My lips curled and I grunted with the pain, feeling myself clenching with desire as my body crippled in his hold.

Suddenly, he stopped agitated the cut, using both hands so that I was snug against his body. I could feel he was hard just behind the curve of my ass as he whispered with that raspy voice into my ear, "Servitude, of course."

My entire body tensed as his words sent chills through me, my intimate parts clenching lustfully at the thought of his control over me, working beside him as he gave me painful pleasure for all eternity. No judgment, no holds barred. Me, finally me, fulfilling my desires with someone who cared nothing for how strange or how evil or anything that I was.

"Now, about that shooting..." he whispered, still clutching me tight.

Worry came back to my mind, "I don't have any access to guns. I don't know how to get one," my voice was weak. "And I haven't shot one since I was a kid. Why would you want me to do this anyway?"

The man growled and flung me to the bed. I naturally rolled over to face him again, lifting myself again. However, just as I began, he was over me, knee between my thighs, pinning me against the bed by my groin. His chest was pressed against mine and he had taken hold of my hair, pulling my head backward so that I was forced to look up at him, unable to move from the position.

"Not just anyone can make a deal with the spirits!" he barked. "Why don't you see people like me all the time, huh?" he yanked my hair, causing me to moan. "You have to earn a deal. You have to cause such an abrupt and powerful shift in life force energies that it shows you have the worth!"

I gulped. Life force energy? Worth? That could be positive or negative but I guess to get the attention of a demon...it'd have to be the latter... Shooting up a school? All the deaths and chaos...the fear... The ones left behind to deal with all the loss... It should certainly have a great effect, but... I still had no idea how to get a gun...

"There's more than one way to go about mass murder, too, little girl," the man smirked with another tug on my hair.

I was powerless to his hold over me. I was tensing over and over. I could feel myself becoming wet just thinking about this constraint...and about killing for him. More than one way? People had poisoned multitudes before...still it seemed more difficult than getting my hands on a gun... And that was definitely something I would get caught doing... Even however temporary, I didn't like the idea of being arrested...interrogated... especially after my recent encounter with the cops.

"Freddy, how..." I choked out only to have him pull again, crushing himself against me.

"Sh-sh-sh..." he leaned forward, his lips brushing mine, "You're smart. You'll figure it out."

My mouth parted in protest, but there were no words as my lips were instantly greeted with his own, smothering me in a kiss, his charred akin scratching against my soft flesh. He forced an unearthly long tongue inside my mouth and down my throat, then retracted it to bite down hard on my bottom lip. I grunted then moaned, my eyes fluttering close to take in the sensation. But just as soon as my vision was black, every touch was gone. My eyelids shot open as my body naturally eased into standing normally.

He had vanished again.

AUTHOR'S NOTE:: Chapter originally written 11/2/2015
Chapter rewritten 11/3/2017