"So you know the plan?"

"I came up with the plan, Danny." you sigh, rolling your eyes as Danny performed his trademark pacing back and forth. Michael and Jason sat to either side of you and Brahms was curled up on the recliner, watching everything with an unreadable expression. "I have exactly 10 minutes to find Freddy and bargain before the alarm goes off and you guys wake me up. If I start thrashing and kicking you wake me up. I don't have much to do other than talk, it's you who should make sure you know the plan!" your temper is hard to hold onto as stress presses in around you, more Danny's stress than your own. Every time you almost give in and have a breakdown, Michael or Jason has a hand on your shoulder or knee, silently telling you everything will be alright. You don't know whether your last escape had been dumb luck or real sympathy. It's not like you were out of his reach, it wasn't like he couldn't have killed you before you awoke. You were in his grasp, his blades against your skin. One flick of his wrist and your throat could have been slit, eyes gouged out, brain sliced and diced, but you were here right now alive and well, save for the burns on your hands and feet that were already healing fairly well.

You were almost certain Krueger felt some sort of fascination towards you in some form, and you really do think he'll grant you some sort of pity and accept your deal. He has to have some real body somewhere on this earth, most likely nearby enough that he could come stay here with your other friends. If he didn't have a real body somewhere? If he didn't need to eat or sleep in a real bed? Then you had nothing to bargain with, so you were really hoping he had a physical apparition somewhere nearby. You took a deep inhale, calming yourself, but saw Danny wasn't as successful in eradicating his fear and anxiety for your wellbeing. Why couldn't he be emotionless like Michael, Jason and Brahms? Why did he have to have such contagious fear? It was really difficult to be confident in your plan when he was having a panic attack, breaking into metaphorical tears at your feet. He turns to pace his line again and you've had enough. You jump to your feet and intercept him, hands firmly on his shoulders and face only inches away from his.

"Danny, calm down! I'll be alright, as long as you keep me safe, and I know you will!" you shake him gently, and he sighs, nodding his head. Instead of letting go, you pull him close and into a hug which he returns oh-so gratefully, head in your hair. You hear him take a deep breath, inhaling the smell of your shampoo that seems to have some sort of calming effect on him.

"I believe in you Sweets." he says at last, and pulls away, taking your hands for a split second before letting them go and allowing his to fall to his sides. He doesn't resume his pacing.

The plan you'd formed, as mentioned before, wasn't much. None of you had a clear idea as to how actions inside this weird Dream World transferred into actual body movements your body reenacted, but Danny had been helpful in the fact that he'd been the one in the room just before you'd awoken. You'd burst into a fit of kicking and screaming, violent sobs and flailing fists. You'd 'broken his beautiful face', as in given him a black eye, but he said he forgives you and that you repaid him by living long enough to be woken up. Michael had been the next to arrive in the room. You'd whipped your eyes open and gone completely still while realization hit you. That's when all hell broke loose; Danny had placed a hand on your shoulder seconds after you'd come to, and you'd kicked him away in his weakest spot. You remembered that particular detail because of how Michael's shoulders had shifted in the way that told you he'd let out a silent chuckle. He only ever laughed when Danny was in pain. You found that funny. The thought calmed you a little bit more. You were to fall asleep, and if you were brought back into the Dream World you were to seek out and crack a deal with Freddy like you had for the other murderers. If you weren't in the Dream world, you'd simply get some sleep, Michael, Jason, Danny and Brahms at your side the entire time.

You felt bad that you were making them look after you, but they made sure you knew they didn't mind. They were scared, genuinely scared to lose you. They really cared for you. Again, the thought of them caring calmed you enough to even out your breathing and realize just how tired you really were after the crippling fear from the dream.

"Are you ready?" the voice wasn't Danny's this time, but the high-pitch, childish voice of Brahms who seemed fascinated by this all. Danny, Brahms' closest friend as of now, had explained everything about Freddy in depth. Everything before the fire, and everything after he started infecting peoples dreams. You meet the vibrant emerald eyes of the porcelain-masked man and nod without hesitation. Now or never. You needed sleep to properly function, so you couldn't outrun Freddy forever. Just like with Danny, you knew you could do nothing better later than you could now, so you preferred to just get it over with.

"Let's do this shit." Michael and Jason both stand, leaving you to lie down on the sofa. You placed your head on the throw pillow and pulled the blanket that had previously hung over the back of the couch onto you. Danny pulled a chair to sit beside you, back to the armrest. He sat sideways on the chair to more comfortably place a hand on your head, stroking it gently in a calming manner.

"You've got this (Y/N)." the intensity in which he said your name made you want to shiver, to fall into the couch and disappear. It made you want to forget about all of this and ditch sleep to be with these people instead. You might die. You needed to say a proper goodbye but you knew if you did you'd be admitting you had doubts and you had to be strong and fearless.

Freddy fed off of fear, and you were determined not to be his next feast. You're bone tired, and the collective stress flooding the room like a thick broth was dispersing as you grew closer and closer to the Dream World. You took one last deep breath, and you were asleep.

***

You didn't wake on the couch this time, but instead at the dining room table. Before you sat an ever-so tempting feast, and you were immediately reminded of a scene from the film 'Pan's Labyrinth', where the protagonist, Ofelia, is faced with a delicious feast as well. However, the feast is a simple trap; eat from it and you awaken the beast, the Pale Man at the other end of the table. You know this feast is a trap as well, but the only difference is that the beast is already awake and waiting with a sly smile on that burn-scarred face. It seems you wouldn't have to search for Freddy Krueger at all. His head was lowered so a portion of his face was covered by the lip of his fedora, leaving you the sight of his smirk and his smirk alone. His hands were folded underneath his chin and his shoulders were slumped in a relaxed way. You took a deep breath and stomped out the last flames of fear that had rekindled at the sight of the Nightmare.

"Freddy."

"" he wasn't surprised you knew his name. You also guessed he knew about your house and the other killers living within. Before you could voice the topic at hand, he beat you to it and spoke first, "" you try not to let the demonic voice get to you, and simply nod.

"I don't doubt it." you fight to keep from bursting out into a rant, needing to keep your calm and play your cards just right. "You know what I'm offering?" The flatness forced into your voice comes off as a little rude, "I can explain if you don't," those words are a little more light and friendly, which seems to please Freddy in a way, his smile growing until he was smiling from ear to ear.

"" Freddy tilts his head up so you can just barely see his eyes drenched in shadows, half-covered by his hat. What you can see is dark and threatening but you don't let them get to you.

"I've been particularly unlucky recently with my encounters. You should know I have four other murderers living with me right now. I'd like to see it as me wanting to... nurture them and care for them, but I know it's caused just as much self-preservation as it is my motherly instincts," you pause as he chuckles at your attempted joke, forcing a light laugh yourself before you continue, "I'm willing to offer up a place to live in return for my life." as strong as your words sounded in your head, they were much weaker now that they had been spoken, forcing you to inwardly cringe at how desperate you really sound.

Freddy shifts so his chin is lifted, exposing his whole face and his devious gaze; somewhere within them, for a fraction of a second, you swear you saw a spark of interest before it was locked away. The hand with his blade settles itself on the table and he thrums his fingers as he thinks, filling up the silence as if he's waiting for you to speak again, so you do, "Food, shelter, care, everything like that. The other's are all sweethearts, and i'm sure you'd get along with them fine if you wanted to, but you never have to talk to any of us if you don't want to. It can simply be a place for you to sleep and eat, and nothing more." the thrumming doesn't stop, the metallic click of the blades on the rosewood tabletop. The smells of the feast are more tempting than ever as you fight the urge to stress-eat, a habit your parents despised, a habit you were forced out of when they stopped giving you access to food other than the three main meals. Freddy seemed to read your mind as his sneer somehow grew.

"" Thrum. Thrum. Thrum. You shake your head, politely holding out a hand to decline,

"No, thank you. I really shouldn't." you force your gaze to connect with his as he does the same to you.

"" Freddy's head tilts to the left. It takes a second to realize that he's asking which of your current roommates you prefer. It feels bad that you can choose so easily, but you obviously trust Danny the most as of now. He's been around the longest, and his almost clingy personality and ability and want to speak helped you two grow closer much faster than you have with any of the others, so you tell the truth. Freddy probably already knows. This could all be a test.

"Danny. I know him the best and trust him with my life. I trust them all with my life." you want to add except maybe Brahms, but you know Freddy already found out you don't trust Brahms like you do the others. Again, Krueger reads your mind like a psychic. A psychic addicted to thrumming his stupid fingers.

"" Small talk is killing you, and you try to think of how much time is left before you will be woken up. It can't be long now. Just keep talking, keep the peace, no matter how difficult it is with that horrible tapping from his blades. It's burning through to your last nerve, but you fight to keep a calm facade. He's testing you, pushing your temper. Stay calm, (Y/N).

"He is. I don't have a truce with him and he seems just as dangerous as the others," it's your turn to fold your hands under your chin and tilt you head to the opposite side of his, holding his gaze. You're doing good.

"" the word gets to you and almost makes you snap, but you're alright. Thrum, thrum, thrum. Just a test.

"Maybe, but I'm going to try and heal them." you lean into the 'sick' scenario, play it off like a metaphor. It helps to keep your temper in check better than you'd have thought it would.

"" he's obviously hinting at something scandalous, a dirty joke you force a laugh at, though it is half genuine. If you weren't fighting back fear and irritation, you'd have thought he really was at least a little bit funny. The thrumming doesn't stop, and you fight back the urge to tap your foot in annoyance and anxiety. You're stiff as a board, fighting off the urges to do something to distract you from the whirlwind of emotions. Just a little bit longer, you tell yourself, though you truly don't know how long you've been sitting here. ""

"So are you," Freddy laughs at that, not just a chuckle, and the thrumming stops for a moment, a moment of sweet, sweet silence before it starts up again.

"" he pauses his speech but not the tapping, and you don't know how long you can take it, "" You smile, and shrug,

"I guess you could put it that way. What do you say?" you're desperate to get this over with. You can't take the goddamned thrumming.

" " Freddy's gaze doesn't shift, but his smile does, it grows for a split second before returning to its normal smirk. You ponder the question for a moment, unsure of how to answer.

"Nothing important, no." you decide those words felt right enough, but you fear you've screwed everything up with the half-lie as Freddy slowly rises to his feet, allowing the thrumming to stop. You do the same. There the two of you are, standing at opposite ends of the table, gazes locked with the candlelight flickering in those demonic dark eyes of the Nightmare himself.

"" he takes a step away from his seat around the left side of the table, towards you. You take one to the right and he continues until you're circling like angry wolves.

Truth is the key here, "Sometimes, but that's just human nature. Aren't you ever scared, Freddy?" Step, step, step, slow circles around the table. You're halfway to where he had been sitting before, and the two of you are closer than you have been all night. He could lunge across the table right here and grab you. He doesn't. Instead, he thinks about the question.

"" he raises his normal hand to his face, tracing the burn marks, "" You nod, and stand in silence for a moment as you reach each other's seats. He continues on, so you do too, circling once more.

"I'm afraid to cut our conversation short. I feel like I haven't had an intellectual, two-sided conversation like this in days," a little bit of flattery never hurt anyone, and Freddy seems to beam with some sort of satisfaction, "Danny isn't the most adult at times, and the others... they aren't the talking type. I wouldn't mind having you around." You turn the corner to run along the longer side. Freddy's bladed hand reflects the flickering light ominously. Again, you're vulnerable, the thin table not much of a barrier. Freddy doesn't attack, so you stay calm. Halfway to his original seat, he stops and turns to face you, leaning on the table.

"" the thrumming returned, and he smiled, ""