77-78

Chapter 77: Accidental Injury

"Crane, Crane, it’s your turn!"

In a haze, Crane heard his friend’s voice.

Looking up, he saw that everyone was somehow playing cards inside the police station.

"If you don’t play now, you’ll lose," his friend urged him in an eerie tone.

Hearing this, Crane instinctively glanced at the cards in his hand—a perfect royal flush.

Surprised by his luck, Crane didn’t have time to overthink under his friend’s urging.

He quickly laid his cards down.

"You’ve won."

"Your luck is incredible, Crane," everyone in the game sighed simultaneously as they stared at the royal flush Crane played.

Turning their heads slowly toward Crane, their expressions turned cold, and in an unsettling tone, they asked, "Tell us, Crane, what’s your favorite body part?"

"Body part?"

Hearing the question, Crane looked puzzled.

Suddenly, one of his friends reached out and ripped his own arm off as if it were nothing. Blood gushed out like a fountain, but the friend showed no sign of pain, instead handing the severed arm to Crane.

Staring at the torn arm and the blood spurting from it, Crane’s face twisted in terror.

"Hey, Crane, let me give you a little advice…"

As Crane’s fear grew, the friend morphed into a grotesque figure wearing a brown fedora, a red-and-green striped sweater, and razor-sharp claws. The figure spoke in a mocking tone.

"Be careful of Freddy."

Freddy, savoring Crane's terror, didn’t kill him immediately.

He had just awakened and needed more fear to regain his strength.

---

"Crane, are you okay? Wake up, Crane!"

Back in the real world, inside the police station.

Crane lay unconscious, his eyes tightly shut. He thrashed and let out terrified cries.

"Move aside!"

Hearing the boy’s screams, Amanda’s face turned grim. She pushed aside the frightened kids surrounding Crane and saw wounds mysteriously appearing on his body.

Her thoughts immediately turned to the boy, Dick, who had recently died on Elm Street—this must be the real cause of his death.

Snapping out of her thoughts, Amanda noticed Crane’s injuries multiplying. She raised her hand and slapped the boy hard across the face.

The sharp pain brought Crane back to consciousness. Gasping for air, he looked around at everyone in the police station and said, "Freddy’s here!"

His wounds spoke for themselves—no further explanation was needed.

Crane’s words caused the atmosphere in the station to grow heavy.

"We can’t just sit here and wait. We need to do something…"

Agent Zhou frowned and voiced his opinion.

Scratch, scratch.  

Suddenly, a faint scraping sound came from the station’s entrance, cutting him off.

Exchanging a glance with Amanda, Zhou continued, "Maybe we should try leaving this town…"

"You might be right," Amanda said, shaking her head slightly at Nancy and the others to signal them to stay quiet.

Holding her breath, she carefully moved toward the door, using Zhou’s voice as cover for her footsteps.

Standing against the wall beside the door, Amanda exhaled quietly but immediately tensed up again.

She gestured to Zhou, who nodded and raised his voice a little.

Bang!  

Using Zhou’s distraction, Amanda fired her gun at the source of the sound near the door.

The loud gunshot was followed by a scream and the thud of a body hitting the ground outside.

Despite the scream, Amanda showed no sign of satisfaction.

"Father, why are you here?"

Holding her gun, Amanda opened the door.

On the ground lay the town priest, blood flowing from a gunshot wound.

Her eyes narrowed as they fell on the dagger in the priest’s hand.

"Tell me why you’re here at the police station," Amanda demanded, her tone cold and suspicious.

She had always doubted the priest, who frequently appeared at crime scenes.

"I just wanted to protect you," the priest said weakly, clutching his bleeding wound.

"The Holy Cross can ward off dark forces. I was trying to carve one on the station door to keep Freddy’s nightmares out…"

Amanda instinctively glanced at the door, where the cross-shaped carving was clearly visible.

As the misunderstanding between Amanda and the priest cleared up, inside the station, Nancy’s expression began to change.

She tried to shake off the drowsiness overcoming her, but after a few seconds, her eyes closed, and she fell into a deep sleep.

---

"Oh my God!"

Opening her eyes, Nancy saw Freddy standing before her and let out a terrified scream.

"That’s right, I am God. Hahaha," Freddy said, grinning hideously, his scarred face full of twisted delight.

He flexed the claws on his hand, his tone a mix of excitement and regret as he spoke to Nancy.

"It’s such a pity, Nancy. I planned to save you for last, but some meddlesome fool forced me to change my menu. Now, you’re the appetizer."

As Freddy spoke, the surroundings morphed into a dining table. Nancy found herself lying on a platter at the center, as though she were the main course.

Horrified, Nancy screamed and tried to run, but just as she reached the edge of the platter, a massive claw slammed down, blocking her escape.

At the table, Freddy tied a napkin around his neck, leaned in, and gazed hungrily at Nancy.

"Let’s see what today’s special is. Oh, it’s juicy and delicious—Nancy," he said, grinning wickedly.

---

*Chapter 78: Exorcism *

At the same time Nancy was trapped in Freddy’s nightmare...

“Damn it!”

Outside the police station, the old priest, who had been shot and was lying on the ground, grimaced in pain. His expression abruptly changed as he gritted his teeth and struggled to rise. Despite the agony, he forced himself upright.

Clutching the wound on his body, the old priest staggered into the police station under Amanda's shocked gaze.

“As it is written, we make the devil fear us; trust me, Lord! Remember verses 4 and 5—when the Lord instructed me, in the face of enemies, they have no power. The heavenly chorus draws near. The Lord is with you—pray!”

The priest reached the struggling and screaming Nancy, extending his blood-stained hand. He began to recite a loud prayer.

As his prayer echoed through the room, Nancy’s terrified expression slowly eased. Her screams of horror subsided.

“You think you can banish me so easily, Merlin?”

Just as everyone thought the nightmare was over...

Inside the station, Nancy—her eyes tightly shut—suddenly spoke in a voice that was harsh, raspy, and grating, as if metal scraped against metal. Her twisted face roared furiously at the priest.

“You cannot stop this, Merlin. The forces of darkness are rising. Fear will once again engulf the earth. Humanity will remember the days shrouded in darkness. And your so-called Lord is powerless to stop it…”

Freddy’s mocking words caused Nancy to thrash more violently.

The priest’s hands faltered momentarily in prayer, but upon seeing Nancy’s body riddled with more and more wounds, he steadied his thoughts and continued.

“Almighty Lord! My Heavenly Father! You grant us eternal life, and You sent Jesus to atone for humanity’s sins. Please redeem the soul trapped in hell and save the tormented. Cleanse the soul possessed by demons. I command you beasts not to squander the Lord’s grace. Hear this warning—leave Nancy’s body and let her return to the fold of Christ. Protect me to fulfill Your mission, and shield her as well. Only the Holy Trinity can subdue your insolence. In the name of God, I pray. Amen!”

“Damn you, Merlin! Damn you, damn you! One day, I’ll cut off your head and use it as a toilet bowl!”

As the priest’s prayer resonated, Freddy cursed venomously, his presence driven away from Nancy’s nightmare.

In the real world, Nancy opened her eyes and gasped for air. Her face was still etched with lingering fear as she looked at everyone in the station.

She had nearly become food for Freddy in her dream.

Seeing Nancy safely return, the old priest’s face showed a trace of relief. However, as his nerves finally relaxed, the pain from his gunshot wound overwhelmed him, and his body began to sway.

“Careful!”

Agent Zhou rushed forward to support the collapsing priest. His gaze fell on the wound in the priest’s abdomen, and he quickly assessed the situation.

“The wound is still bleeding. You need immediate medical attention!”

“No. I cannot leave the police station.”

The priest grabbed Agent Zhou’s shoulder with a painful but resolute expression and refused.

“Prayer can only temporarily dispel Freddy’s nightmare. If I leave the station, Freddy will return with his dark power, dragging everyone back into the nightmare.”

The priest’s words made Agent Zhou hesitate. He looked down at the priest’s bleeding wound, his usually stern face wavering slightly.

“But your injury… If it’s not treated in time, there’s a high risk of infection. If that happens—”

“If I am fated to die, it will be the Lord’s test of my faith. I will face His final trial with devotion and banish this darkness.”

The priest’s face was calm, clearly ready to sacrifice himself.

“…”

Faced with the priest’s determination, Agent Zhou abandoned further persuasion.

“I need alcohol and bandages to bind the wound!” he called to Amanda.

Though the station lacked proper medical tools to extract the bullet, basic first-aid supplies were available.

...

“I’m sorry, Father. I didn’t mean for this to happen…”

After hastily treating the wound, Amanda apologized with a guilty expression.

“This is not your fault, child.”

The priest’s face, pale from blood loss, remained calm. He looked at Amanda and spoke softly.

“All we do is to stop Freddy.”

He glanced at the children in the station and continued, “This is all my fault. I thought that through the prayers of the church and the Bible, I could cleanse Freddy’s soul of its evil. But instead, I pushed him into even darker forces.”

“Perhaps this is Freddy’s true nature—a complete and utter killer.”

“The dark power only made his murderous ways more terrifying and unstoppable.”

Amanda, familiar with Freddy’s case files, understood the kind of monster he was.

...

While the priest quietly spoke with Amanda, a boy in the station tugged at Crane’s sleeve and whispered.

“Crane, I can’t hold it anymore.”

Crane glanced at the clock and tried to reassure him.

“Just one more hour. Dawn is almost here.”

“One more hour? I can’t even last a minute!”

The boy, pale-faced, squeezed his legs together and begged Crane.

“Well…”

Seeing his friend’s desperate expression, Crane hesitated before suggesting, “You could find a bottle and take care of it here?”

“Are you kidding me, Crane?”

The boy’s voice rose instinctively but quickly dropped again as he glared at Crane.

“Don’t forget, Nancy and the female officer are both here watching! Just come with me to the restroom—it’ll only take a minute. As long as we don’t sleep, it’ll be fine.”

“…Alright.”

Reluctantly, Crane agreed, looking worried but unable to refuse his pleading friend.

“But make it quick.”

“No problem.”

---

(End of Chapter)