North of Normal

Chapter 17: The Nightmare

                                                                        Peyton's P.O.V

I fell asleep that night, no matter how hard I tried to stay awake. But . . . I also struggled to wake up from a terrible nightmare. 

 (In Peyton's Dream)

I stood there, in the middle of the woods. Everything was pitch black. It took only a minute or two for my eyes to adjust. Suddenly, I heard something move. 

I let out a quiet, but terrified gasp and turned around. "Who's there?!" I asked, with fear in my voice.

A disfigured man came out from behind the trees. He wore a brown fedora, a red and black striped sweater, and had a razor claw glove. It was hard to see in the dark, but his face was burnt. I could tell. 

"Stay back!" I said, taking a few steps away from him. 

The figure only walked towards me, not saying a word. He stared at me with evil eyes. My heart was pounding inside my chest like a drum, like it was about to pop right out. 

"What do you want with me?!" I snapped. Be brave, be brave, I kept telling myself. 

"Much," he said. 

I took a deep breath, and tried to show no fear. But I failed. "W-Who are you?"

"Freddy Krueger," he replied. 

"What ever did I do to you? What do you want from me?" I asked. 

Freddy smiled evilly at me, and said, "I see you've become really close with the Pines Twins. Especially with the boy,"

I gave him a long, good stare. "I don't see how that has to do with any of this." 

"You'll figure it out soon enough," 

Suddenly, the serial killer grabbed my shirt with his razor claws, and lifted me up off the ground. My heart was beating ten times faster now, and I thought I was gonna die from a heart attack if Freddy doesn't kill me first. 

"Please! Leave me and my friends alone! I don't know what you want from us! But, pick on someone else!" I snapped. 

He only gave me an evil grin as big as the Joker's. "We will meet again," he said, in an eerie voice. 

(After the nightmare ends)

I woke up to find Dipper shaking the heck out of me. Seriously. He was shaking me really hard.

"Peyton! Peyton, wake up!" he shouted. 

I quickly sat up, nearly making Dipper fall over. Tears came down my eyes. 

"Peyton, are you okay?" Dipper asked. 

I cried hard, and hugged my friend really tight. "He . . . was there! Freddy!" I said, through tears. 

Dipper hugged me back and did his best to comfort me. "It's okay. It was just a bad dream,"

"No," I stammered, "it wasn't just a bad dream."  

He looked at me, with confusion.

"It was a nightmare," I whispered.