Duality (slashers x reader)

14. The American Nightmare

I stretched my arms above my head and sighed as cracks rippled down my spine. I cracked my eyes open and was met with a dark room. Though I couldn't see much of anything, I could tell I wasn't in the living room I'd fallen asleep in. I was laid in a bed, underneath silky bedsheets as an alarm sounded next to my head. I slammed my hand down in the direction of the sound until it came into contact with the alarm clock, silencing it. No sun was streaming through the curtains, it still looked very dark outside. It must be early in the morning.

Throwing the bed covers over myself, I begrudgingly got out of the warm bed and slipped my feet into a pair of slippers at the foot of the bed. I scanned the room for the outline of a door but the lack of light made it near impossible, so I opened the curtains of the window. It was still night outside and the moon was glowing bright, illuminating the room slightly. I saw a wardrobe and a desk, as well as posters plastered all over the walls. An electric guitar was propped opposite the bed and a tall bookshelf stood beside the door. A strange glow peeked through the edges of the door and I thought I could feel the heat from the light, a sweltering heat that buzzed and made you dizzy. Slowly, I stepped across the carpet and gripped the door handle. I felt a sense of dread building in my chest and my body began to shake as I prepared to open the door. I inhaled sharply before quickly swinging to door wide open, expecting the worst.

A hallway. I frowned, peeking my head out the door to look up and down the hall. The walls were an off-white and the carpet a dusty pink. Doors lined the walls and there was a set of stairs at the end. Confused, I left the room, quietly closing the door behind me, before walking to the staircase. I looked down it, but just saw a wooden floor. The sense of dread was smaller but still there, but nothing seemed off so I shook the feeling off and put it down to me being hungry or tired.

I paused on the stairs as a yawn escaped my mouth, my eyes scrunched close as I held onto the railing for balance. I continued down the stairs, my eyes half-closed as a wave of tiredness hit me, until I reached the bottom and stepped onto the cold floor. Or what should have been a cold wooden floor.

My feet flexed on the warm metal floor, the ground a criss-cross pattern instead of a solid sheet. Looking down, I saw it wasn't the floor at all, but a bridge, over what, I didn't know. Red surrounded me but I couldn't tell where the source of this was. My exhaustion immediately vacated my body, leaving room for panic to set in. I turned round to look for the stairs again but they were gone, replaced by the same bridge. My chest was heaving and my breathing was erratic and frenzied.

A sinister laugh echoed behind me. I froze, my breath becoming hitched in my throat as I slowly spun to see a man stood further down the bridge. He stayed hidden in the shadows, though by this point, I knew what was going on but I wouldn't accept it as true. That was until he stepped forward, dragging his gloves along the railing and laughing at my reaction to the screeching. He stopped and pointed a finger, well - a knife, at me and stepped out of the shadows, revealing his burned face and wicked grin.

'Well... isn't this a treat.' He inched forward, scraping his finger knives along the metal railing, the screech echoing throughout the entire room. 'What's the matter? You look like you've seen a gh-gh-ghost.' He threw his head back and laughed hard as I stood still frozen in fear. The pajamas I wore only made my fear worse, they wouldn't offer any sort of protection if he tried to attack me.

He stopped and studied me, a smirk creeping onto his face. He continued towards me, speaking words that I didn't hear. I was trying to formulate a plan of escape - even though I knew I wouldn't die if he 'killed' me, I didn't fancy being sliced right away. There was nowhere to go on the bridge except in his direction or behind me, so I'd just have to hope behind me led to somewhere.

I bided my time, praying a distraction would occur so I could at least get a headstart against him, but with each step he took and the less distance there was between us, my hope depleted more and more. He stopped, an inch between us, and reached out to my face with his gloved hand. My entire body tensed up as a cold metal blade traced down my cheek. It lingered there for a second, before he pulled it away and opened his mouth to speak, his warm breath hitting my face.

I saw my chance and kicked him as hard as I could, not aiming for anywhere in particular but managing to target his kneecap. He groaned and staggered back, gripping onto the rail as I took off running in the opposite direction. My feet clanged on the bridge and my head was swimming as the bridge continued hanging over the boiler room, seemingly neverending.

I turned a corner and was knocked to the ground by Freddy. He loomed over me and sneered as I struggled to crawl away. Kicking my feet frantically, I tumbled round the corner, back in the direction I'd just come from. He was stood there again, casting a dark shadow over my body as I lay there, helpless and scared. He laughed, a cackle that rung in my ears, before pulling his hand clean off his wrist.

'Need a hand?' His laughs grew hysterical and he threw the loose hand at me, blood spraying from his wrist onto my shirt. I screamed and threw the hand to the side before I turned back to see him standing directly over me. He raised his arm high above his head, knives glinting maliciously at me. I waited with bated breath for the pain, knowing I had no chance of escape.

Freddy shifted his arm but suddenly stopped, his face becoming unfocused as he struggled to hear a distant sound. I stopped and did the same, straining my ears until I heard the distant buzz of an alarm. His face grew angry and he bent down to me, gripping my shirt and pulling me to his face. He placed a knife to my throat and hissed at me through gritted teeth.

'This isn't over.'