Of Dolls and Beds

Terrifying Aquatints

Low in the blood red sky, the sun was making its final farewell. Its dance nearing its end, the bright star was trying to cast one last glimmer of light upon the city of New Mobius. Though it caught the panes of glass that held the many windows strong, it did little to sooth the pain of the Freedom Fighters.

Within the royal palace of Acorn, in a dining hall that once shimmered with light, there was a very dismal and gloomy scene. The room was shadowed and repelled all light, the food was either cold or untouched and misery and sadness plagued the eyes of the mourners.

Not long ago, the hall had been ripe with laughter. The old grammar phone, a relic from a distant time, had been playing jazz and other such music that was called old by young ears. Princess Sally, the current ruler of these lands, had been sitting at the head of the feast; observing the antics of her subjects and exchanging a sweet word with Monkey Khan, her current sweet heart.

Now silence ruled the banquet; rebelled only by the sobs and hushed whispers that echoed in the stagnant air. The needle had slipped off the record, but nobody bothered to stop the disk from its endless spinning. Sally, her eyes red from crying, had buried her face into Khan's shoulder; while he comforted her, rubbing her back slowly, his own face heavy with sadness.

The Chaotixs, who had been the life of the party, now looked dishevelled and woebegone. Espio was fiddling with a kunai, a sport that he had taken since the banquet's death, as he tried to keep his face blank; which proved to be difficult. Charmy was by his feet, hiding under the table and crying his eyes out, and Vector was comforting Vanilla; who was wailing into the hard, wooden table.

Knuckles, a proud and hard-hearted Echidna, was resting his head on a wall; his fist still lodged in the plaster. Rouge and Shadow, though cry they did not, were still as quiet as the grave; the hedgehog's expression even more sombre than usual. And while the bat just sat and stared at the wall, the Ultimate life form spent his time muttering to the blue, broken and hard-faced speeder. "Are you sure," he whispered in his usual, uninterested tone; which seemed not to reach his eyes which held a wealth of indefinable emotion.

Sonic lowered his hand from his forehead and gazed blankly at the black hedgehog, his eyes red and depressed. "Of course I'm sure," he crocked, "Why would I lie...I still can't believe he's..." His voice cracked once more and he resumed burying his face in his hand.

Those last words, that final push of reality, finally broke Bunnie; her tears now trailing down her cheek and off onto her metal arm. Antoine, her husband, tried his best to comfort her. But his mind was lagged with sorrow so his words sounded hollow from the moment they left his mouth, so he closed it and hung his head.

While many were drowned in their emotions, one was drowning with a drink by her side. The bitter red liquid burned the throat of the teenage drinker, but Cream the Rabbit did not care. When the air had not been grim, she had sneaked a taste from her mother's cup. Now it was in her hand, which sluggishly smacked the table's surface.

Her crisscrossed eyes passed over her mother and Vector; who seemed to be oblivious to the rabbit's drunkenness, wrapped in their own misery. They were together and she was alone; for Cheese, despite how close he was, could never give the feeling a mother could. Nor would any stepdad...

Her head drooped forwards until it softly touched the table; her cup slipping out of her gloved finger-tips. No one flinched when it smashed into pieces, as everyone was trying to remember the last time they saw Miles 'Tails' Prower. The two tailed fox that had been with them, fought with them for so long that any foolish man would have thought that he would always be there; sitting at his workbench, trying to create some crazed invention or improve the weapons that had helped the Freedom Fighters for so long.

Cream sighed as she tried to remember his blue eyes and sleek yellow fur... But all she could remember was the last time she heard him. "Amy, Cream and I are just friends. Now I've gotta go—I have to investigate..."

A tear trickled down her cheek, {Iwasonlyafriendtohim.ThelastthingIheardhimsaywasIwasafriend.}If one thing bit her harder than her crush's death it was those words as she tried to remember the good times they had shared together, just as friends...

As she rested her head against the hard, wooden table, crying silently, she heard the sound of shuffling. Though she didn't raise her head, she knew that the others were making a silent exit to their duties at hand. The banquet that had started so joyous had been a one-off occasion, an event to raise the already low mood of the Kingdom; which returned with the news of Tails's demise.

It wasn't just the attacks made by Eggman, which were predicable at best, but the unholy force that plagued Mobius' nights. The force that was known to all as the-

Cream opened her teary eyes and raised her droopy ears. From a complete silence, the sound of a squeaky, un-oiled mechanism broke the air. Before she could investigate, the noise told the story of the moving needle; which now screeched across the black disc. The grammar-phone soon grinded into life, playing a tune that was defiantly not ancient jazz.

Can you feel the sunshine...does it brighten up your day...

The rabbit froze into place as the haunting, chilling song pierced her soul. The tears soon vanished or turned cold, but still her body refused to move. Finally, after the song had travelled further, freezing the air that carried it, her hand began to crawl for a weapon. She managed to wrap her fingers round a mug, a useless weapon in all rights but it brought some comfort; little as it was.

Cream may be only thirteen years old, but she would not die without a—

SSSSCCCCRRRREEEECCCCHHHH!

Wincing in pain, Cream raised her free hand to block the horrible, sharp sound that had so brutally attacked her eardrums. As if this had released her from her chains, she quickly sat up and aimed her frightful eyes to spy the source of the awful sound.

Her eyes adjusted to the sudden darkness, she soon saw, from across the hall, the old grammar-phone. The needle was still in place, but the second needle was now being pulled from the dusty, black disc.

"Ah...much better..."

The new needle, which protruded from the middle finger of a grimy old glove, belonged to a man who was masked by the unnatural shadow that seemed to hover under the rim of his grimy hat. Even so, Cream could still make out the faint patterns of red and green that clung to the man's tatty old shirt. But was 'man' really the word to describe him, or it? His voice, which had only growled once, had been filled with a natural malice that seemed too cruel, too evil, to belong to even the most heartless tyrant that was born upon this land.

As the shadowy stranger turned to face the rabbit, whilst slowly raising his razor tipped glove, Cream saw the edges of a twisted smile; topped with two, cold, amber eyes. When he spoke, in a low, taunting chuckle, he gestured his deadly glove to the cup that Cream was holding tightly.

"Why the long face, Cream? Drink up..."

As if spellbound by his words, the eight year old girl slowly turned her eyes to the contents of her mug. There seemed nothing odd about the rouge coloured wine. Though as Cream continued to stare at the flat, reddish surface of the liquor, a foul smell began to reach her-

The chair reigned onto its hind legs, till they two lifted off the ground, while Cream's screams filled the empty hall. Ignoring her chair's flight, the rabbit backed away from her weapon. Her gloved hands, shaking with fear, traced the fur on her face; which was damp with the mug's wine. But as she took a clammy breath, the smell revealed that the wine was none other than blood; sticky, gooey blood. This did nothing for her already shaken nerves. As her eyes were still fixed upon the 'wine's' now uneven surface; from which a large, sky blue iris stared back.

While Cream continued to stumble back, the mysterious man strode forewords; towards the stricken rabbit and her now vacant table. Once he reached the wooden furniture, the only thing that separated him and the frightened bunny, he stretched out his clawed hand; the knives tapping one-by-one upon the grey mug.

His face as obscure as ever, he raised the mug off the table and examined it; his eyes fixed upon the bobbing eyeball. A wide, manic smile then played across his face; revealing jagged and crooked teeth.

"Aw, my favourite..."

The man then threw back his head and, to Cream's disgust, tilted the cup towards his lips and drained its contents in one, sickening gulp. Even the eyeball managed to slide down his throat; though causing the 'wine' to rise and dribble down his chin, like a stone dropped in a small, full glass.

While the rabbit finally pressed against the hall's door, which had towered behind her during the banquet, the man lowered his head; licking his blood stained lips.

"...Red rum..."

This was the last straw for Cream. She turned to the hall's door and pulled at the iron handles; which to her horror refused to budge. With both hands, she continued to wrench at the door, sweat tricking down her fur and panicked cries escaped her trembling lips. A loud thud and multiple crashes told the rabbit that the man had leapt onto the table, sending the plates and cutlery to the hard stone floor.

Without a backwards glance to see if her ears told truth, the girl continued to pull and tug against the unyielding door. Something washed against her feet, making the rabbit pause as the warm liquid seemed to envelop her foot. A single glance was not needed to tell this story, as the familiar smell wafted to her nostrils; the smell of blood. Now too frightened to scream, she grabbed the door again, feeling the sticky blood crawl up her legs, hearing the man land upon the blood strewn floor, seeing the sadistic amber eyes in the door's reflection...

Suddenly, after a single jerk, the great door creaked; opening a small gap to a well lit and familiar entrance hall. While relief washed over her like a warm shower, Cream wasted no time in throwing herself from the nightmarish banquet. After stumbling forwards, her eyes having been dazzled by the brilliant light, she turned to bar the door from—

The relief she had felt was gone, as if it had suddenly dripped off her and scurried down the drain. The wooden door, which had been stubborn to open, was now vacant; but the gloomy hall could not be seen behind the place where wood once stood.

Her frightful, brown eyes saw instead a long and looming hallway; lined with rusty pipes that spewed the occasional cloud of menacing steam. Between the gaps of cooper and iron, a reddish glow provided the eerie light and suffocating heat that choked at the rabbit's eyes.

While she squinted at her surroundings, rooted to the spot, her ears shot up as the man's malicious voice echoed off the rusty pipes.

"One...two..."

His tone was low; his tempo mimicked a beat that nursery children would use for a jump rope song...

"...Three...four..."

Cream took a step back, her eyes darting from one shadow to the other; in search of the man who was clearly taunting her.

"...Five...six..."

A high pitched gasp, a shadow that was growing ever larger...

"...Seven...eight..."

Her nerves at their end, Cream turned away from the shadow, which was raising a razor tipped hand, preparing to strike. Though some part of her knew that running now was useless, the rabbit broke into a run; determined not to fall prey to her pursuer.

Managing to reach the end of the pipe-lined corridor, Cream was now in a much larger room. Though the walls and much of the floor was covered in complex structures of valves and piping, the ceiling was higher than the corridor's low, cramped and steamy counterpart. Despite the single stretch of walkway that was lined with grimy pipes, Cream could—

"10!"

Spinning round, her hands over her face, Cream faced...an empty corridor. She lowered her arms, her breathing also, and starred at the lifeless passage; its glow now gone along with the clouds of steam.

"I said drink up!"

The loud thud that Cream made when she fell back onto the floor was muffled by the grimy stone and the shrill scream of terror that escaped from the young bunny. On the spot where she had once stood, the man landed like a cat; his legs bending the moment his black, ashen shoes touched the floor, until he was fully crouched in-front of the girl.

His face now in full view, Cream could do little more than stare; letting horror and disgust root her to the spot. The two specks of amber were now unleashing its full power upon the rabbit as they leered, evilly from the man's face. If you could call it a face. There was a trace of a cheek bone and the nose was not odd in the slightest, but the skin was far from smooth. Hell, to call the misshapen mess of burnt, raw skin and stringy flesh a face was laughable at best; all the more reason why his sadistic smile, his pointy and rotting teeth was so menacing.

As her reason managed to throw off fear, Cream scurried back onto her feet; her eyes still transfixed at the mangled, burnt face of this disfigured man. As he rose to his own feet, scraping the razor blades on his gloves together, making a chilling scissor-like sound, the rabbit turned her head to the open room and began beating her ears against the still air. Instantly, Cream's feet left the floor as she sky-rocketed up towards the ceiling; in an attempt to escape the—

A flash of talons, a cry of surprise and a thud of a body landing on metal; this is what lead Cream on the suspended walkway. She squirmed and writhed, clutching at the jagged slash in her dress. By some miracle, Cream only received a single, light cut. Her cry had been more of shock as she had seen the man's deadly glove burst from a pipe she had been flying by. Narrowly missing her side, the surprise attack only made the rabbit smack her head on a low hanging pipe. She was lucky to have landed on the walkway; for after glancing down through the rusty grating, she was shown that the floor was now flooded by the same 'blood 'red wine.

As she began to grip the railing to help push herself up, the sound of heavy footsteps shook the rabbit's eardrums and the floor in which she laid on.

"Now, now..."

These words, though so few, managed to bring enough fear in Cream to make her move fast as Sonic. Her legs now straight, she slowly backed away. For on the other end of the walkway was the monstrous man; his twisted face still formed in a sadistic smile that stretched his mangled skin. As he took each step towards the girl, in a slow and teasing manor, he rapped his knife tipped fingers against the railing.

"...You're not supposed to drink and fly!"

He raised his head and began to laugh. A cruel and crazed laugh that echoed against the pipes and into Cream's soul; filling her with the greatest fear she had ever felt in her life. As she took another step back, her heel collided against a wall, a 'dead-end' so to speak. The back of her dress was now smeared with grime, a minor stain compared to the one she'll receive soon enough.

Still advancing at the same, slow pace; the man pulled his hand from the railing. The knife-tipped fingers sparked as they slid across the bar for the last time, as they now poised to strike a new plaything.

"Is this really all you can do?" He goaded.

"Fly-Boy lasted much longer..."

{Fly-Boy,}thought Cream. {Who is he talking a...} But a sudden though bobbed to the surface of her mind, taking the shape of a sky, blue iris...

Despite the stifling heat of the surrounding pipes, a chill trickled down her spine. This man...this thing...had he...? No...He can't have...he couldn't have...Wasn't this all a dream? A horrible dream, which her drunken mind had concocted? But this man's mutilated face, the smell of ash and blood that wafted of him and the menacing glint of his knives seemed and smelt too real to belong in any nightmare.

So as he stopped in arm's reach of the rabbit, his gloved hand now fully raised; another fear shook Cream. A fear for her life...

"CHAO!"

The man stumbled back, roaring with rage, as a small, flying Chao collided with his face. It took Cream a moment to realise who the Chao was. She watched Cheese zoom away from the man, barely dogging the edges of his razor blades.

"How the fuck did you get here," Roared the scarred man; which was responded by a single squeak of 'Chao'. Maintaining its distance, Cheese began to circle the man; trying to look for an opening. It tried to move closer once or twice, which were all thwarted by a single swipe.

As Cream watched her friend/pet spar against this nightmare man, she slowly started to reclaim her senses and her fear began to ebb away.

"We can't have that."

As Cream flew high over the man's head, it suddenly stopped. The Chao then began to look slowly down, it tennis ball eyes shining with surprise. It then shot suddenly up, flying in an arch, its small limbs spread eagled and flailing. It collided with the ceiling just above Cream, causing the single knife in its stomach to fully skewer the tiny creature.

The sight of Cheese being stabbed through the gut, by the elongated middle finger of the man's menacing glove, was all it took to get her screaming again; along with new tears of sadness. As she mouthed at the horrific sight, her screams having clogged up her windpipes, the scarred man turned his eyes from the skewered Chao to the frightened bunny.

"Don't worry, piglet," he sneered. "I'll help you drown your sorrows." And as he cackled, mirthlessly, he wrenched the solitary knife from Cheese's stomach.

Now, up until this point, Cream has had her arms plastered by her sides. In fact they still were, even though blood, fresh and sticky blood, was cascading upon her head. She did not need open eyes to see that all this blood was spewing from Cheese's stomach. Good for her, as her shower was not friendly to the eye, and good for the man, who now played with only four senses.

Shrinking into her wall, praying for this nightmare to end, Cream finally moved her arm. Flexing and flailing her fingers, the rabbit blindly tried to find the railing; something to give her support. Using her memory, Cream's fingers soon found...nothing.

Before she could open her eyes, her feet lost its support.

Gravity now her master, the rabbit's eyelids sprung open; revealing a sight that was soon to welcome its new pray. Her chocolate eyes soon stung with pain, as she collided head first with the blood red sea. Blind once again, Cream began to kick and flail; her screaming commencing only after she had spit out a mouth full of blood.

As she bobbed up and down upon the still surface of blood, her frantic kicking at full power, Cream's hand soon found a surface. Even though her gloved paws were stained with red, the rabbit could still feel—a slimly, thick jelly?

Once again her eyes opened, and once again the sight bode ill. It took Cream no time to realise what her hand was now stuck too, which she discovered as she tried to pull away. Her mouth open and wide, her screams seemed to vibrate the blue iris and the white jelly that surrounded it.

Grabbing her glued hand/paw, the rabbit tried to free her fingers from the blank, sightless optic. But after a few strained tugs, the blood sea around her began to slosh and slide; like the beginnings of any storm. As the waves battered her to and fro, her limb still stuck in place, her eyes managed to finally spy the wall that enclosed this sea. At first she did not understand why the blackened walls had turned—

Thud—Thud—Thud –Thud

Those were the sounds that shook the walls, the raging sea and the very air itself. As if this was not enough to discomfort the already sickened rabbit, her stomach and head both shot down; taken by the random surge of G-Force.

As if being submerged in blood was not enough, her glued limb was still firmly stuck to the bobbing eyeball. Though this prevented her from sinking to the bottom, her shoulder felt like it would pop off when her arm reached its full extent. But some luck was still with her, as this feeling soon stopped as quickly as it begun.

Having floated back to the surface, her arm now feeling like some stretched rope, she spat and coughed out the blood that had filled her mouth and nostrils. After removing most of the blood that had blocked two of her senses, Cream became aware of a new wind. She felt this wind first, as it attacked the top of her skull, but it was its putrid smell that raised her head to the heavens, seeing—

"Aw...my favourite..."

No amount of air could help Cream scream nor could no amount of cold chill her bones as the fear she felt took her heart and soul; rendering lungs and blood useless to show the true amount of terror that had stolen her body. Completely paralyzed, the rabbit could only stare at the man's amber eyes; which were gleaming like the Reaper's scythe.

As the man raised his head, as he tilted the cup towards his lips, Cream finally found her lungs. The blood red sea now rushing towards the edges of the cremate walls, Cream screamed, screamed so high and loud that even the sounds of running blood was eclipsed.

It was all she could do, her other senses were all thrown into chaos. She could only feel herself being dragged through the air by the eye, as it fell into the black chasm that was the man's gullet. She could only see the blood, the blue ringed eye and the man's rotting teeth as her feet shot past them. She could only do one thing, scream and scream; as she fell to her doom. She felt something on her leg, she saw the slimly walls close in on her, she saw—

"CREAM, CREAM WAKE UP!"

Her eyes snapping open, the rabbit jerked awake; sweat dribbling down her fur, not blood. It took awhile to take in her surroundings, but Cream soon saw that she was back in the dining hall. The sun beams had vanished to form the shadowy windows that now lined the dining room walls, but the hall itself was still alight with old fashioned candles that banished darkness to the open night. The hall was also filled with people, either strangers or friends, but all were now staring at the panting teen.

Her mother, Vanilla, seemed to be the one who had awakened her from her nightmare; as she was standing by her side, watching Cream with fearful eyes. A concerned hand upon the young girl's shoulder, Vanilla softly whispered, "Cream, are you ok? Why were you screaming?"

The rabbit, who was still recovering from her terrifying dream, did not respond immediately. Taking slow and steady breaths, she looked around at the faces that were facing her. She saw Sonic and Shadow first, one looking greatly concerned while the other looked mildly interested, then Rouge and Knuckles, who were standing quite close to the speeders; their eyes fixed upon the rabbit. Charmy, who now hovering by his other teammates, seemed to be the most concerned of all; probably due to the fact that he had a huge crush on the rabbit that she didn't know about. The only other recognisable faces were the moving ones of Sally and Khan, who were hurrying around the banquet table; wondering what had caused the young rabbit to scream with such fear and horror.

This notion was shared by the rabbit herself, as she absentmindedly muttered to her mother, "I...I don't know." This was not a lie, as her memory seemed to blank every time she tried to recall her nightmare. The only detail that came to mind was when something grabbed her leg...who was still grabbing her leg!

CRASH!

The table where Cream had been sitting at flew into the air; sending plates and cutlery in all directions. Khan and Vector made a similar move, tackling their sweet hearts to the ground and shielding them from the flying knives and forks. One knife almost went straight into Charmy's forehead, before Espio managed to snatch it from the air with a simple flick of his wrist. The bee managed to repay his friend by pushing him out of the way of the falling table, narrowly avoiding a squashed sting.

Sonic and Shadow, who had been unaffected by the table's assent, were now looking at its cause. High in the air, almost touching the arched ceiling, was—"Oh...Shit..."

While the hedgehogs ignored Knuckles' well reasoned curse, their eyes focused upon a sight that even filled Shadow with unease. It was about three feet tall and had ragged, yellow cloth that was held together by uneven stitching. Its solitary tail, crystal tipped antenna and cross-stitched mouth were the only big differences between Tails and this counterpart, the Tails Doll. Its black, beady and plastic eyes were focused downwards, staring upon the cowering Cream; who had flown and hit the wall when the doll had lifted the table.

Tilting its head to one side, the Doll almost looked like it was contemplating if it should spare this rabbit's life. But a few second later, its crystal glowed a dark, pulsating red and its right, padded paw turned into a steel, triple hooked bladed claw. It suddenly shot down, zooming towards the shrieking rabbit.

Sonic was the first one to react. Leaping into the air, spinning at high speed, the blue hero tried to cut off the Doll's charge at Cream. Having predicted the speeder's obvious move, the Doll began spinning like a falling plane. Despite the shouts of warning from his friends, Sonic had been too fast to see its claw; resulting in a loud crash as spikes met blade. Sonic was repelled with minor injury, his quills having taken most of the damage, while the Doll received no damage to himself or his projected flight. While Sonic landed upon a table and before Shadow could even move a muscle, the Doll reached his target.

Still screaming in fear, Cream could do little to stop the Tails Doll as it reached her frozen body. The Doll, now hovering face to face with the rabbit, raised its left paw and placed it upon her neck. The moment she felt its cloth upon her fur, she lost all hope of living. She knew that she was as good as dead, now that the Doll was touching her neck.

For that's how it killed people, that's how it turned them into dry, soulless husks. The Doll's goal was to surprise or charge its victim so it could touch his or her neck. Once that is accomplished, a green, eerie glow surrounded its paw. After a few seconds, the victim's eyes turned blank and hollow and their skin or fur turns grey; the sign that their soul was lost. This was when the Doll plunged his claw into their chest, for they could still live and try to reclaim their soul.

This had been the fate of Mighty the Armadillo, who had been the first to die by the Doll's hands. This is what was going to happen to Cream, any second now.

As a wave of cold washed over her, Cream heard the mysterious chant that played around this killer doll.

Can you see...? The sun is shinin' on me...

It makes me feel so free...so alive

The cold now reaching its peak, Cream began to think about her life and loved ones. She would miss her mother; miss how she was always there for her, until he arrived...

It makes me want to survive...

And the sky...it makes me feel so high...

Sonic, Amy, Cheese...

The bad times pass me by...

Cream, her eyelids feeling weak, thought she saw...blood, dripping onto the Doll's nose. With the little strength she had left, the rabbit raised her head and saw—

'cause today is gonna be a brighter day...FOR YOU.

THREE, FOUR; BETTER LOCK YOUR DOOR.

The Doll's head jerk upwards, startled that his cloth ears were hearing a different song. But a brief pause in this new song, or rhyme, soon reviled that the girl was screaming again. But her screams were different; they were more drawn out and fearful than before. The Doll then noticed that blood was dripping onto his stuffed nose.

FIVE, SIX; GRAB YOUR CRUCIFIX.

Following the blood and the song, its plastic eyes soon spied the source of the blood. Stuck to the ceiling, a great gash upon its stomach, was—

"CHEESE, NO!" Where the words that finally escaped her lips; just as another drop of blood fell onto the floor. As the Doll and rabbit observed the Chao's corpse, they were unaware that the green aura around its left paw had vanished. Nor did they notice that, from the spot where the last blood drop landed, the floor of the dining hall started turning stone black.

SEVEN, EIGHT; GONNA STAY UP LATE.

But soon, the Doll and Cream began noticing that pipes were emerging out of the walls. As the reddish glow slowly returned, Cream remembered her dream, her nightmare. She remembered how Cheese had died and the burnt monster that killed him.

NINE,TEN;"Never sleep again!"

The Tails Doll whipped round, just as a mangled, burnt hand grabbed the Doll's head. Surprised, the Doll began flailing its claw, desperate to free its self. It managed to knock off its captures hat before being thrown into the open room; straight at a rusty boiler.

Cream, meanwhile, just gawped at the man's Christmas jumper, then at the man's twisted face as he turned his gaze upon her. Though fear began to clog up her senses again, she managed to mumble one, audible sentence. "B-but y-you're...t-this i-is j-just a d-dream..."

"I know," replied the scared man; his eyes shining with a deep, dark anger. "That's what's pissing me off."

While he turned towards the Doll, who was now floating out of a Doll sized dent on a boiler, Cream noticed that the demonic man's hat was lying upside down beside her. After blinking many times, she managed to make out the words, 'Fredrick 'Freddy' Kruger:at your service!

The hat then burst into flames, causing Cream to yelp with surprise. Once the flames had died, the hat had vanished. It was no mystery on where it went, as Freddy was now placing it over his bare, waxy skull.

As the Tails Doll managed to full extricate its self from the boiler, it turned around to see the face of his attacker, of the so called 'Freddy Kruger'. Flexing his razor blade fingers, Kruger growled at the Doll, "Listen,bitch, this is my world,my domain!" He gestured at the paralysed rabbit behind him. "Their dreams,their lives, their souls;they all belong to me!" And as he began to close in on the floating Doll, Freddy raised his gloved hand and slashed at a random pipe by his side; which gave way under Kruger's strength and steel. "You may have used this place to steal their souls; but now I'm here, I'm telling you to BACK THE FUCK OFF!"

And with that, Freddy jumped into the air; his knives pointing at the fox doll. But before his knives could even rip at a seam, the Doll suddenly vanished into thin air. The gloved hand instead met a boiler, puncturing it with supernatural ease. Freddy, bearing his teeth and clenching his free hand, let out a roar as he pulled the knives down upon the boilers' metal.

The steam that was unleashed would have killed a normal man. But as Cream watched the misty clouds of heated vapour, a burnt face began to loom from the steam's depths. His knives caressing his mangled chin, Freddy strolled out of the cloud and towards the frightened rabbit.

"Damn it," he cursed. "Looks like I've got some hunting to do; can't let him run around and spoil my fun." His eyes then turned to Cream, and a disappointed look crossed his face. "Now though I'd love to continue playing with you,plus I hate the fact that bastard was the one who dragged you here, I really need the souls if I'm going to find it before he does."

Cream, who was still weak from screaming and whatever the Doll had done to her, could not even squirm when Freddy began to poise his gloves; placing his middle knife on top of his index knife. The only thing that Cream could move was her eyes, which were staring at the gleaming blades which were hungry for her blood.

"Don'tworry..." Cooed Freddy as he knelt to his knees; his glove aimed straight at the rabbit's forehead. "This—" The knives moved closer. "Won't—hurt—"They inched ever closer. "One—little—" They were now brushing her fur, causing his face to crack into a huge, manic grin.

"BIT!" And as the knives flashed in the eerie red glow; 'Freddy Kruger' unleashed a final insane laugh.

You shouldn't have buried me. I'm not dead—Freddy Kruger—Nightmare on Elm Street: The Dream Master

"ARGH!"

A flurry of paper, a smash of a cup and loud, worried pants were the first sounds my waking ears heard. I, Welshscot, had just woken from a dark, terrifying dream. I had been working at my desk in my office, sorting out my therapy files and writing another chapter for my story, The Chance at a Promise. Having been stuck on a paragraph, I must have dosed off.

Wiping the sweat off my brow, I heard hurried footsteps coming from behind my office door. It soon banged open and Naruto, Shikamaru and Tails where crossing the fresh-hold.

"Welsh-sama, what's the matter?" Naruto asked; his blue eyes observing the paper strewn floor and the massive coffee stain that was creeping along the carpet. "Sakura didn't—"

I waved my hand to stop the blonde; causing flexes of sweat to join the brown patch on my white and green carpet. My Inner-Scotsman was currently crying at this point; moaning along the lines of, 'This is awfu'; dinny no how this wee carpet costs?'

"No, Naruto, the bitch didn't mess with my coffee again." I looked back at the spot where my head had been resting. "It was just some freaky dream."

"Really," asked Shikamaru, incredulously. "You were screaming like an army of fan girls were chasing you. And it was just a crummy little nightmare?"

I gave the pineapple head a sharp glare. "Oh, sorry I had a scary dream. It's not like I can control what I'm dreaming." The black haired genius only shrugged at my sarcasm; vaguely muttering, "Troublesome."

Tails, meanwhile, began to pick up my papers before the coffee could leave its mark. As he picked up a collection of papers, which held my current progress with my Naruto story, his blue eyes hovered over the paper. He looked at me, gesturing to the papers in his hand. "Hey, Welshal—" "WELSHSCOT!" "...Fine, Welshscot, what's with this? I thought you were writing A Chance at a Promise."

I raised an eyebrow, slightly taken aback by this strange accusation. "I was writing it, Tails, before I fell asleep. You're holding what I've done so far."

He shook his head. "Since when was there a village called Knothole in the Naruto universe?"

Now utterly bamboozled, I reached out and snatched the script from Tails's hand. As I sat back down upon my chair, my eyes fixed upon the disclaimers (which stated that I didn't own Naruto or Sonic), Naruto and Shikamaru exchanged curious looks, as they wondered what was written on those pages that made the fox annoyed and the writer stunned.

After I read the final quote, I slowly lowered the script; shock wide and present in my face and eyes. "T-this..." I gulped, trying to calm my thoughts to translate them into speech. "...This is exactly what happened in my dream, my nightmare!"

Shikamaru was the first to respond, whilst he began to stride round my desk to examine my script. "How can that be? Let me have a look..."

Naruto soon joined his fellow ninja and as they read alien work that was written in my handwriting, Tails, his arms folded, muttered, "I don't mind if this is just another bounce story, but why do I have to die? How come I don't get to be a part of it?"

"Tails, I don't remember writing it! It's not my fault that you're dead!" The fox still looked miffed and began to mutter something that sounded like, "...Real life..."

Shikamaru, having read the story, placed it upon my desk. "Well," he began, slowly, "I think its ok. You could publish this if you want."

Naruto looked up at Shikamaru, concern shining off his face. "But Shika, he's already late with our story and the one he's planning."

I nodded. "Yes, Naruto-kun is right. I need to focus, I've know what to write..."

But Shikamaru silenced me with a 'you can't fool me' look. "Welsh, I can tell you are not motivated enough to write our story just yet. You need something new to refresh your writing." I was about to point out that I don't remember writing this chapter, when he added; "And if you can write it in your sleep then it shows how good you are. Besides..." He then began to leave the room, a movement that was shared by the others. "...I want to know what happens next. Having that on my mind is such a drag."

I chuckled at his last words, just as the door swung closed; leaving me by myself again. Deciding to deal with the smashed glass and stain later, I once again took to staring at my mysteriously written work. If there was anything to blame for embedding this idea in my brain, then it would be xx.d's new story,' Anthem of our Dying Day'. Her story wasn't as dark as this one, but it contained the same characters. Plus my idea in my review might have something to do with it.

After rereading the last quote one more time, I decided to put this writing onto my computer. I cleared the table, putting the script to one side, placing my pen into the—

I blinked, and then rubbed my eyes with my free hand. I stared at my shiny, silver pen; which was reflecting my grey eyes.

For one split second, I thought I saw...

... A flash of amber...