79-80

*Chapter 79: Possession*

"Are you sure you don't want to come with me, Crane?"

The two arrived at the police station's dimly lit restroom. Staring at the gloomy environment, the boy, Mark, hesitated and said nervously.

"I’ll just wait outside," Crane replied firmly, shaking his head and rejecting Mark’s proposal.

Standing by the restroom door, Crane urged him, "Hurry up and get it done."

Mark couldn’t hold it any longer. Despite being uneasy about the eerie restroom, he gritted his teeth and rushed inside. Quickly approaching the urinal, he unzipped his pants and relieved himself.

Splash...

In the silent restroom, the sound of water hitting the urinal was the only noise.

As his bladder emptied, Mark’s face visibly relaxed. He closed his eyes, his body shuddered slightly, and he murmured softly, "Ah, much better now..."

---

"Where are Crane and Mark?"

Inside the police station, Agent Zhou’s gaze swept over Nancy. Realizing the two boys were missing, he quickly asked her.

"Mark said he couldn’t hold it anymore, so Crane went with him," Nancy answered hurriedly.

Hearing this, Agent Zhou didn’t waste time scolding her. Instead, he dashed toward the restroom.

---

In the restroom, Mark stood at the urinal.

Creak...

Suddenly, a noise came from one of the stalls behind him.

Slowly turning his head, Mark saw a massive insect as thick as a human thigh emerge from the stall. Its body was covered in scars, and it had a humanoid-like head adorned with a small brown top hat. Using its clawed abdomen, the monstrous bug crawled toward Mark. It then straightened its body, revealing a grotesque, charred face beneath its hat, grinning wickedly as it let out a sharp, raspy laugh.

"Now, let Uncle Freddy teach you the first rule of horror movies you should never break," the creature hissed. "Never split up!"

As Freddy's words fell, the bug leaped onto the ceiling and, using the momentum, pounced on Mark, forcing its way into his mouth.

---

"Officer, why are you here?"

At the restroom entrance, Crane looked at Agent Zhou in surprise.

"Where’s Mark?" Zhou asked immediately.

"He’s still inside. We didn’t mean to leave," Crane explained hurriedly, glancing back toward the restroom.

At that moment, Mark emerged, his head lowered, taking slow steps forward.

"There he is," Crane said, relieved, stepping toward Mark. He muttered, "I told you, Mark, you should’ve just used a bottle instead—"

Before he could finish, Zhou grabbed him firmly.

"Careful," Zhou said, frowning as he stared at Mark. "He might not be Mark anymore."

"What?!" Crane exclaimed in confusion.

Mark raised his head, revealing a sinister smile. "He’s right," Mark said. "But it doesn’t matter. Soon, you’ll be joining this kid—in a world of nightmares."

As soon as the words left his mouth, Mark lunged toward Crane with inhuman speed.

"Watch out!" Zhou shouted, pulling Crane back and firing several shots at Mark. "Run!" he yelled.

Snapped back to reality by Zhou’s shouts, Crane stumbled and ran toward the police station.

Bang!

The sound of gunfire from the restroom echoed through the station, drawing everyone’s attention.

Amanda, holding her gun, rushed into the hallway and saw Zhou shooting at Mark.

Bullets tore through Mark, leaving gaping wounds, but his expression showed no pain. Tilting his head, he inserted a finger into one of his wounds, twisted it around, and pulled out a bloody bullet. Tossing it aside, Mark grinned eerily at Zhou.

"Look at what you’ve done," he sneered. "You’ve turned this poor kid into Swiss cheese. Aren’t police supposed to have compassion? Makes me wonder who the real monster is here."

As he taunted Zhou, Freddy controlled Mark’s mutilated body to continue charging toward the police station.

"Stop right there!"

"You think that’s possible?"

"In the name of the Heavenly Father, cast out the forces of darkness. Christ, guide me to save this possessed soul, to drive away evil spirits. Lord, by your name, bring salvation. Amen!"

As Freddy’s controlled body neared the station, an elderly priest appeared, clutching the wound on his side. Struggling to stand, he raised a trembling hand toward Mark and began to pray.

In the hallway, the priest’s prayer echoed, causing Freddy to feel his host body growing sluggish. Even simple movements became difficult.

"Heh…" Freddy, through Mark’s body, let out a cold laugh.

Stopping his battered body, he stared directly at the priest, who was visibly weakening. Freddy’s sinister grin deepened.

"You’re out of strength, Merlin," Freddy sneered. "And now, I’ll kill these kids one by one, right in front of you. The victory will always be mine. Freddy’s!" His laughter filled the corridor.

Bang!

Freddy’s laughter was cut short by the sound of a gunshot.

Amanda, with her gun raised, watched as Mark’s lifeless body collapsed to the ground. Her expression was grim.

Even though she knew Mark had been dead long before this, and the body was merely a puppet controlled by Freddy, pulling the trigger on what was once a child left her deeply unsettled.

---

(Chapter End)

Chapter 80: The Vessel

“Cough... cough, cough!”

Father Merlin stopped his prayers as he watched Mark’s lifeless body collapse before him.

Looking down at the blood-soaked gauze over his abdomen, he felt his strength slipping away. With a weak expression, he turned to Amanda and spoke in a hoarse voice.

“...Freddy’s power is growing... stronger. The effectiveness of our prayers against him is fading. Once he breaks the seal, the entire town of Springwood will be consumed by his nightmare…”

“What should we do?”

Amanda took a deep breath, suppressing the turmoil in her heart, and asked calmly, looking at the frail priest before her.

“It’s clear now—bullets have no effect on Freddy.”

Freddy, an evil spirit capable of traversing freely through nightmares and possessing people to attack in the real world, left Amanda feeling utterly powerless.

“Cough, cough…”

Father Merlin coughed violently again, clutching the bleeding wound on his stomach. Gasping for air, he pointed at Mark’s body.

“In the realm of nightmares... Freddy has harnessed malevolent power, turning himself into an immortal spirit. No amount of holy power can fully destroy him; it can only expel him from the nightmare realm temporarily. But in the real world, things are different. Nightmares and reality are fundamentally separate realms. Even Freddy needs a physical vessel to manifest in this world...”

“...An evil spirit requires an anchor to enter the physical world. Freddy is no exception. Destroy his vessel in reality, and his disembodied spirit will be banished back to Hell, where it belongs...”

Father Merlin’s explanation caused Amanda and Agent Zhou to exchange glances, their expressions subtly shifting.

This was the first significant intelligence the Bureau of Supernatural Investigations (BSI) had obtained regarding the supernatural realm.

Given the circumstances, Amanda wished to extract more information about supernatural forces from the elderly priest.

“But we don’t even know where Freddy’s vessel in the real world is.”

Faced with the imminent nightmare threat Freddy posed, Amanda and Zhou shared a brief look of understanding. Turning to Father Merlin, they asked.

“...”

The priest remained silent for a moment before speaking weakly.

“In fact, Freddy’s vessel... his remains... lie in the dried well beneath the church.”

He looked up at the two BSI agents, his cloudy eyes settling on Amanda.

“I... I didn’t intend to involve ordinary people in matters related to evil spirits. These should have been left to us, the clergy…”

Pausing to catch his breath, Father Merlin continued.

“But Freddy’s strength has exceeded my expectations. He’s growing stronger by torturing and killing the souls of these children. I must protect the surviving ones from being dragged into nightmares and killed. My task is to hold Freddy’s spirit at bay in the nightmare realm, ensuring he doesn’t discover what’s happening at the church…”

“That’s why I need your help.”

Father Merlin’s plea left no doubt about the extreme danger involved.

A single mistake could cost them their lives.

After all, dealing with Freddy’s vessel, even with the priest’s assistance, offered no guarantees of safety.

Yet Amanda and Zhou shared a determined glance.

“No problem.”

“We’ll handle it.”

Both nodded without hesitation.

Amanda and Zhou understood that doing nothing and letting the nightmare engulf Springwood would mean certain death for them as well.

If they were doomed either way, why not take a chance? If they succeeded in destroying Freddy’s vessel, they’d save the entire town—and themselves.

---

“In His sight, we strike fear into the devil; trust me, Lord! Remember how the scriptures guide us in Psalms 4 and 5: when we face our enemies, they hold no power. The divine voice draws near; the Lord is with you. Pray!”

At the town’s police station.

Father Merlin traced crosses over Nancy and the others while murmuring a fervent prayer.

“Cough, cough…”

After finishing, the priest staggered to a chair and sat down, his pale face filled with exhaustion. He looked at his bloodstained hands and muttered a quiet prayer to himself.

“Lord, grant us success.”

In the police station, Nancy and Crane watched the frail priest with anxiety written all over their faces.

Glancing around the empty station, Crane’s gaze landed on the hallway where Mark’s lifeless body lay, and his fear deepened.

“Dawn is almost here. Just a little longer.”

Looking at the clock in the station, Crane found solace in the approaching sunrise.

Fixing his eyes on the clock, he watched the second hand move slowly, each minute’s passing a glimmer of hope.

“When the sun rises, the nightmare will end,” he reassured Nancy.

But as he blinked, a shadow flickered at the edge of his vision.

Opening his eyes, everything seemed normal again. Father Merlin was still praying softly in his chair, and Nancy still looked visibly shaken.

“Maybe I’m imagining things,” he thought, perplexed.

Blinking again, the shadow grew larger.

Each blink brought the shadow closer, its shape shifting and advancing with every fleeting moment.

And then, it was right before him.

“It’s Freddy. He’s here!”

Finally, Crane saw clearly—it was Freddy, using his blinking to pull him into fleeting nightmares, closing the distance with every momentary lapse.

Freddy’s malevolent grin loomed closer, turning the fragile hope of dawn into a dire confrontation.

---

End of Chapter