Disclaimer; Slappy, Jimmy and alot of other things belong to R.L. Stine. This if just something I made up

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"I had a nightmare about Mr Wood", Slappy confided, dropping down next to Jimmy.

Jimmy looked up from his pillow. It had been a long week and he was looking forward to a good night's sleep. Slappy himself didn't have an allocated place where he slept, he would just lay down wherever he felt tired and comfortable, whether it be on Jimmy's bed, or the floor, or on a crate in the corner.

Strangely, Slappy could sometimes be more tiring when he was in one of his rare serious moods than when he was deliberately being a wind up.

"Huh? Was that when you were pleased to find yourself alive?"

"No, that was last week. This was last night."

"Oh." He waited.

"What do you think of him?"

"Who?"

"Mr Wood."

"I don't know. I've never met him, have I?"

"From what I've told you" He said impatiently.

"Oh. Well. He sounds horrible. He tried to strangle a dog didn't he?"

"Yep."

Slappy frowned. He was annoyed with all this. He hated feeling scared and sad. It was just a nightmare, but it had made him funny. Made him seem almost human.

"Why do people have nightmares?" He asked suddenly.

Jimmy thought for a bit. "Well, with dreams I suppose it's just fantasising about something on your mind. And nightmares I guess it's just imagining something that you find scary. It's like a daydream except you can't control it."

"My, well done Dr Freud" Slappy sneered sarcastically.

"You asked" Jimmy replied defensively.

"What I don't get is how I can have nightmares. I'm not human."

"Beats me. I guess it's because you're similar to one. You can feel hate and want and fear and think for yourself. Why shouldn't you be able to have nightmares?"

"Because I don't like it!"

"Who does?" He laughed.

Slappy scowled, and they stayed quiet for a moment.

"Well, Mr Wood's dead now." Jimmy said after a bit.

"I had my head cracked open once, and I came back."

"That's different. He was completely destroyed, wasn't he?"

"Run over"

"Well then."

Jimmy sighed and turned over on to his side. He wanted to sleep, but he knew better than to just say, "what's all this about?"

He'd only get his head bitten off and then be harshly insulted for the next hour.

He changed tactics.

"What was it about, your nightmare?"

"None of your business" He replied.

"Suit yourself." He slides down and closes his eyes.

Angry with himself, Slappy watches Jimmy with a forced expression of disgust. Why had he even started all this? He hated the fact that he had humanity in him. Hated it. He wanted to be evil, and he supposed in general he was, but unfortunately he did have some good in him.

When he thought about it, he almost missed Lindy.

She named him, she had an act with him, she was about the only person he'd met and not tried to make into a slave. He had let Mr Wood have his fun, and he hated Kris, had tried to make her into a slave, but that was what got him thrown out.

'You'd think that Lindy'd have a bit of loyalty,' he thought to himself. 'After all I did for her, and her sister did nothing but be an annoying little brat.'

But anyway, for the most part he didn't care. He had a name, he had seen how Mr Wood did things, now he could have his own fun. He had took pride in ruining so many lives and getting pleasure from it, and even now he wouldn't go back to that stupid Lindy if you paid him, but still... it was proof that he had good in him.

He sometimes thought about the magician who made him too. He barely had time to read journal before everything, including him, was shoved into the skip.

He wished he knew more about it, about the person who made him, about himself. Sometimes he even wanted to go back to where he first woke up.

No, he wasn't evil enough, and he wasn't inhuman enough. He could feel pity and regret, and sorrow and fear, and he hated it. The nightmares were just a small part of it.

He suddenly came over with such an unfamiliar, strong sense of self-loathing that he couldn't bear it.

"I hate you." He snarled at Jimmy.

"Mmm" He said, not opening his eyes.

"And I hate it here."

Jimmy opened his eyes at that. "So do I. At least you can leave whenever you like and don't have to worry about money and things."

"So could you! You're only 14 and they think you're 16, and you're living in this dump. Why don't you go back to where you came from, or to social services or something?"

"Social Services would send me back to where I came from."

"So?"

"What do you mean, so? I ran away, didn't I? I put up with you and I have a fake ID and I can barely afford to keep myself off the streets, and I do all that if it means I don't have to go back."

"But why?" said Slappy, leaning back, grateful to be back on a familiar subject. "You never tell me why! Bullies at school, abusive parents, skeletons in the closet, come on, what happened?"

"Why are you so interested?"

"Why is it such a secret?"

"Because it's not important."

"Then tell me."

"No."

"You're lucky I don't just clear off. You have a fake ID and name and everything, don't you, Alex? You could be a murderer."

"Don't call me that. And anyway if I was a murderer you'd probably be nicer to me because you're so evil yourself."

"Don't be stupid. If I were you I'd go back."

"No. It was awful."

"It was what you deserved then" He snickered.

"Shut up. I'm going to sleep now." And he rolled away from him and curled up slightly.

Slappy rolled his eyes. Stupid boy. He was only joking. And it wasn't even that nasty. Why was he so touchy all of a sudden?

Still, he decided the discussion was closed for the night. He may as well go to sleep himself.

He had only had 2 nightmares in his entire life, so he wasn't very worried on that score.

He sighed and lay back, resting against Jimmy slightly. Oh well, they could argue about it again tomorrow night.