Parasite

Chapter One:

Physical vs. Mental Torture

Summary: By trapping the infamous Freddy Krueger in her mind, Claire Douglas can now rest at ease, knowing everyone else is safe from him. Until she realizes having a perverted serial killer living in her brain makes life unbearable.

Disclaimer: This is my first fanfiction and I don't own a single character from the Nightmare series. No profit is being made from this.

A parasite lives in a close relationship with another organism, its host, and causes it harm.

I've done it. I've trapped him in my own imagination. In here, Freddy Krueger can't harm anyone. If he dares to take a slash at me, he, too, will die. I'm sure he's pissed off in there, calling me every name in the book. It doesn't matter. Since he's stuck in there, not one other person will ever dream of him again. He doesn't have anymore power to help himself get out. I feel relieved.

I had first heard of Freddy when my little sister, Cassie, crawled into bed with me one night saying she had a scary dream about a man with claws. At first, I had dismissed this, thinking she had watched a scary movie or something because she was in that eighth grade rebel stage. Until I started having dreams of my own and waking up with the same painful scratches I had recieved in the dream. Hours and hours of research were put in, and as a result, I almost failed history class. Finally, I found a website practically worshipping Krueger that helped me even though it hadn't been updated in a while. The people who ran the site were all mysteriously killed in their sleep.

After even more research, I found a way to control the bastard and trapped him before he could do too much harm. My sister and I took turns sleeping and waking each other up. One night, she had to go to the emergency room because he managed to tear up her shoulder before I could shake her awake. Scariest night of my life. Still, she no longer had to worry about him, and felt relieved after her first full night of sleep.

I still have dreams about him. In fact, it is not unheard of for me to go to sleep with an arsenal of weapons. My old softball bat is my weapon of choice if he tries to get close. While he knows killing me would also cause his demise, he has found other ways to get to me. When I'm not asleep to check up on him, he is free to probe around in my mind and memories, taunting me mentally. I always wish he wasn't so good at that. Somehow, though, I manage to carry on through life as if there's not a freaky child killer living in my head.

In many cases, it is difficult to demonstrate the host is harmed.

--

Relieved the school week is over, I swing my backpack over my shoulder and plop myself onto the couch. However, before I am able to turn on the TV, my phone ring. I'm not even able to get two seconds of peace. Literally. Krueger is still shouting at me in my head almost 24/7, and school isn't helping with the stress. I swear I saw a clump of hair fall out in the shower this morning and I've gained a bit of weight around my hips. My jeans feel tight.

"Hello?" I pick up the phone without looking at the caller I.D.

"Amazing news, Claire." I hear my friend, Hayley on the other line. She sounds more excited than when she found out Brian Nester liked her. Well. . . maybe not that excited. "Party at Coop's house! His parents are out of town for the weekend an he invited Brian over. Brian invited me, and I am inviting you." This chain reaction worries me, and I wonder if anyone else is doing the same thing. If so, just how many people will be there?

Cooper Donovan is amazing. First of all, we have the same initals and it must mean something. Furthermore, he plays softball (my favorite sport) and (according to Hayley) really, really likes me. He has this soft black hair and amazing blue eyes that I could stare at for hours. I'm also jealous because I just have big brown eyes and any guy who ever tried to write me a poem could never use a good metaphor. Unless it involved Dove chocolate. . . my favorite.

"My Dad wouldn't let me go in a million years." My smile fades. Hayley has a Plan B.

"Tell him you're sleeping over at my place! My mom and dad are going to a fancy dinner. They'll never know!" Good old Hayley always has a Plan B up her sleeve, and I'm grateful for her.

"Alright, alright. I'll call him." I hang up on Hayley, who informs me that she will pick me up.

When I call, he is reluctant, as Cassie is already at a friend's house and he complains that we never spend time together anymore. I tell him I'll be home early tomorrow and we'll do something together. Besides, seventeen year olds aren't exactly known for their amazing relationships with their parents. When he finally agrees, I do a little victory dance on the other side of the phone. This is one night Krueger can't ruin for me. I won't let him.

Parasites evolve in response to defense mechanisms of their hosts. Host defenses also evolve in response to attacks by parasites.

--

After we arrive, Brian sees us and immediately walks over to give Hayley a sloppy kiss on the cheek. Cooper is with him, and I can feel the butterflies in my stomach. I hope he doesn't notice the bags under my eyes and how messy my wheat-colored hair looks. There was no time for anything fancy, so I simply pulled it back and smoothed the fly-aways. Luckily, he doesn't notice, and we go outside to drink and talk about how much we hate Mrs. Peters for giving us that stupid geometry project. Before I know it, about an hour has passed by and I realize Krueger has been oddly silent tonight. Somehow, I can tell this isn't a good sign.

Suddenly, Cooper gently links his arm in mine and asks if I would like to go upstairs with him. Every teenager in the universe knows what "going upstairs" leads to, but I follow him anyway. Now, he starts shouting in my head while I try to block out the thoughts.

"Don't forget to use protection." He says. I tell him to shut up and do my best to ignore him, but he's free to lurk around in my head and see whatever naughty thoughts I do my best to conceal. "Oh, Coop, take me now!" He shouts.Now I tell him to shove it.

I've already taken my shirt off and I feel self-conscious because I'm still in my sports bra, but Coop doesn't care. Still, Freddy is becoming harder and harder to ignore. The farther we get, the worse his taunting. The more I try to ignore him, the louder his voice seems to get.

I unbutton my jeans. "Oh, you little slut."

Hosts have fewer chances to adapt than their parasites do over a given span of time.

Our bodies become a tangled mess on the bed as we have an awkward first-time makeout session. Soon, I feel the pressure between my legs building up. "Careful not to bleed all over the bed." At the moment, I am too engrossed in Coop, but he knows what makes me tick. Coop is now unzipping his pants.

"He'll tear you apart. Did you know most virgins don't cum their first time?" Without warning, I am suddenly shouting and crying. "Stop it!" I scream at him.

"What's wrong, Claire? Did I do something?" Poor Coop is alarmed at my sudden change of heart and tries to calm me down.

I shake my head so much, my ponytail is blinding me. "Damn it, where's my shirt? Fuck!" Because I am so careless, I put the shirt on inside-out

"Such a naughty word, Claire. Do you kiss your mother with that mouth?" I hear him laughing in the background and I resist the urge to cuss him out. Coop still thinks I am furious at him, and explaining the situation would be useless. He would never believe me, anyway. Tears flow as I hurriedly try to button my jeans again and pull up the zipper. My shoes are on in record time. "I'm sorry, Coop. It's not you, I swear to God it's not you."

"Claire, what's wrong?" Now he's shouting out of concern while I stomp downstairs to find Hayley. "What's the matter?"

"Aw, are you just gonna walk away and leave him unsatisfied like that? What's that matter, afraid of losing your innocence?"

When I find her in the crowd, I waste no time. I immediately tell her it's time to go and practically drag her out of the house and to her car. She reluctantly agrees because I am crying and she's desperate to comfort me. Meanwhile, I'm still getting inappropriate and disgusting comments in my head. Coop is standing at the door of his house, wondering what he did to make me so angry. I would do anything to explain to him that it's not his fault. For fear of Hayley dropping me off at a hospital, I resist shouting back at Krueger. As soon as I am asleep, he is going to get it.

"Claire, what the hell happened?" Hayley says, trying to keep her eyes on the road. "Claire, did Coop try to rape you? If he did, you have to tell the police!"

I'm still crying profusely, still trying to ignore him. "No, it wasn't Coop. I'm fine Hayley, let's just go to your house and watch a movie." I know I'm doing a shitty job of convincing Hayley I'm okay, but she gets the hint that I don't want to talk. Instead, she goes through a drive-thru and orders a couple milkshakes. She always knew what to do. I slurp down half the milshake in just a few gulps and deliberately give myself a brain-freeze. Now I'm too focused on the pain to listen to Krueger.

Hayley keeps trying to help me as she pulls into the parking lot for her apartment and drags me up the stairs. Instead of interrogating me, she is now comforting me, patting me on the back and telling me everything would be alright, just like a mom. She lets me crash on the couch and throws a blanket over me while she turns on the TV. I finally fall asleep to "Family Matters".

As soon as my body enters REM sleep, I am in the boiler room, and he's sharpening his claws like nothing has happened. If only I had my softball bat with me. Unfortunately, I am at Hayley's house. "Someone looks angry." he teases.

"You bastard. You know exactly why." I narrow my eyes and he laughs at me. "Next time I bring my bat with me in my sleep, you're gonna get it, Krueger."

He turns toward me, flexing his claws. "I'm shaking in my boots." he growls.I try to hide my fear as he walks closer. After all, he can't harm me. Any scratch he gives me will also cause him pain so I have no reason to fear him. Still, when the claws are right next to my face, I can't help but tremble slightly. "You know, you're the one who willingly trapped me in here forever. Isn't that right?" Now his face is closer and I wince when I feel his breath on my face. "I'm just trying to pass the time while I figure a way out."

I smirk at him. "There is no way out. That was that whole point."

The anger becomes so visible in his face that I think he just might be stupid enough to scratch me. Instead, he pushes me violently to the side to slash at inanimate objects like pipes. Water comes spilling into the boiler room. I just watch and hold my now bruised shoulder as he hacks away at the pipes, cursing and screaming at me. I feel like it is payback for what he has done to me tonight.

The term parasite is often applied to a person who takes advantage of other people and fails to offer anything in return.

"Look, bitch, I'm going to find a way out of here. Do you know how many times I've died and come back?" He walks towards me again, grabbing me by the collar and slamming me up against the wall. I even see him flinch a bit, but smirk, knowing he has at least caused a little damage. I fidget and squirm, trying to free myself. Even trapped here, my dreams can still be controlled by him and chains come up from the ground to hold my feet still. They come out from the wall to ensnare my wrists. "You think you're so smart. I should rip you apart. We could go to hell together. Except that I'll find a way back, and you won't!"

Before he manages to slice me to bits, I feel someone shaking my shoulders, yelling in my ear. God bless you, Hayley. My eyes pop open and I find that I have kicked my blanket off while I was trying to escape his grip. No doubt I was screaming at Freddy, as well. Hayley is standing over me, her hands still gripping my shoulders. When I look toward the clock on her wall, I see it is five thirty in the morning. "Jesus, Claire, you scared me! You were thrashing around so much, I thought you were having a freaking heart attack! You even kicked my shoulder. Please, tell me what's wrong!"

I just hug her, still grateful for waking my up in the nick of time. "Nothing. I'm fine, now, Hayley." She furrows her eyebrows, but believes me, since I an genuinely sincere with my answer this time.

"Well, I don't think you should go back to sleep. I'll make some hot pockets." First, she checks her parents room to see if I woke them up, but I hear them snoring. She then goes to her fridge. "That was some nightmare you were having."

"Yes, it was." I hear Freddy again, but I won't let him get to me anymore. Next time, I'll make sure to have my bat and a butcher knife next to me in bed.

A parasite contributes nothing to the survival of its host.

Hope you enjoyed. We're not done just yet. ;)