And just like that our tale comes to a close. Sorry for taking so long but I wanted this to be perfect. It's about 6000 words long and I really like how it turned out. I hope you all do to! And very ironic that it should end on the unluckiest of numbers. Please review and tell me how you enjoyed the series! Adieu! -The Last Element

Final Chapter - Chapter 13

Scraps of smouldering black paper still breathing with orange edges drifted through the sky before the smoky air swept them up again and carried them safely into the drifting water. More and more pieces carefully followed suite and clung to the surface of the water waiting for their brethren pieces to join them. A large rock landed in the steadily growing pile sinking some pieces and creating ripples that pushed whatever was left away from each other. Like star-crossed lovers the pieces attempted to ride the waves back together but another well aimed stone saw to it that they never met.

Alfred yelped as the flames licked at the tips of his fingers and he dropped the last of the book into the water where it fizzled and sank to the bottom.

"So...I guess that's it huh," Brie stated solemnly as she dropped her rock and glanced over to Alfred.

The emotions plastered to his face were unreadable as he stared at the blackened river waters. "I guess it is. Well the end of that anyway..."

"It won't ever really be over will it?"

She gently slid her hand into his and he grasped in reassuringly before pulling her close to him in a tight embrace. "No, but at least we can pretend for a bit. And live normally for a while."

They walked away from the scene ignoring the strange looks that the other patrons in the area were giving them. The two carried on their way towards the vehicle ignoring the small cynical voice that attempted to nag them into guilt and doubts.

"Did you ever think that perhaps she wrote that diary for a reason," it demanded of them.

But they passed through its words as smoothly as if they were smoke. The thought attempted to burn at their ears but deaf with a false justice they never heard it. It was almost like a war; despite the reasonable cries that raged from the other side war was about conquering. All that mattered was being the last one standing having trampled whatever was left of your opponents into the blood stained ground of the claimed or defended land.

As they walked away the wind whistled through the trees and across the top of the water in a futile attempt to pull what was left of the pages back together. Had Evelyn been able to see the events of these lives unfolding she would have cried more than she ever had before.

After the burning of the diary there was still one loose end to tie up and Alfred had spent a fortune making sure it was going to be taken care of. Searching far and wide he had managed to find a pleasantly aged Chris Pratt. The man had switched professions many a year ago and hadn't been too keen to take up the case. But after a large sum of money had been offered and much pleading Chris had finally agreed to accept it. He made the long trip to Alfred's home where the blonde had said he could stay for as long as he needed to free of expenses.

"She's gone over the edge," Alfred had explained to the once doctor. "She read that diary of her mothers and is convinced that everything written in it was real. I've tried telling her that it's all nonsense but she just won't hear it. The poor dear is in the hospital because she just went loopy! But she knows your name Dr. Pratt and I think if it's you she hears it from she might just listen. She might finally begin to hear reason."

It seemed like a sound enough idea but whether or not it would actually have any merit had yet to be tested. Chris Pratt was a man with a good heart and would've done the job without a second thought had Alfred not also made one more demand of him. Alfred had asked him to persuade Kelly into believing that Evelyn was crazy and moving on with her life using whatever means possible. Not to just accept and live with the knowledge of the events she had discovered but to make Kelly think none of it had ever happened. This included lies and trickery; and this is what had cost Alfred so much money. It also cost Chris his integrity but with his wife out of work and their eldest son preparing for university an offer of money had been very promising.

No matter what anyone believed every human had their price. Most men just like to hide their price with a name; it makes them feel less dirty on the inside when they do sell out. Like Chemotherapy or Surgery, and even more often than naught Family. But whatever a person chooses to call it it is still dirty and tainted and will never be anything otherwise.

With his guilt stained hands Chris carried a brand new clipboard to the hospital where Kelly was being detained. Alfred had made a few necessary calls to ensure that she wouldn't be released until both himself and Chris had verified that her condition was stable enough that she could be let back out without having a breakdown.

"Kelly?"

Chris knocked on the door before slowly opening it to find the dishevelled girl inside staring at him with cold unfeeling eyes. Alfred had been right; this girl was merely a shell of her former self. She certainly didn't share her mother's spirit. If there was one thing he could say for Evelyn it was that no matter what twisted thoughts ran through her or whatever obstacles she thought had her blocked in she had never lost face. Perhaps behind closed doors she had broken down many times but for everyone around her she had always put on quite the show.

"Good morning Kelly I'm Doctor Pratt."

She tilted her head curiously at him before looking away. "Is my usual Doctor sick today or something?" Her words were dry and tasteless.

"Oh not at all, he's just fine. I'm a different kind of doctor. A psychiatrist. I saw your name come up in the medical files and thought I might be able to help."

"But that would mean I'm mental," she cried out as she turned to him with wild untamed eyes.

"Not at all Kelly. You see, I think you've been through a lot lately and I called your family and they said that a lot of what you're going through has to do with your mother. As I worked on her case I'm hoping to shed some light on yours." He punctuated his words with a casual smile much like the ones he used to give Evelyn to try and put her at ease. Unlike her mother Kelly went for it like honey.

She instantly relaxed around him and then a flicker of life shot behind her eyes. "You...you're Chris?"

"Yes I am," he replied calmly as he took a seat on the poorly crafted chair in the corner of the room.

"This is perfect!" Her manner had pulled a complete 180 as she flung herself into an eager sitting position and stared at the doctor with a glowing grin. "You can prove to everyone that I'm not crazy and neither was my mother and get these people to let me out of here!"

"Now now Kelly one step at a time." He smiled again. "I'm sure that we'll both have the same conclusion but I do have the protocol I must follow. You know, typical questions and follow ups."

"Oh yes of course," she replied as she leaned back and settled into her propped up pillows. "Well ask away Chris!"

"Alright." He flipped through a few papers as if searching for a specific one. "So I remember reading that you're here in the first place because you fell out of a four story window. Would you mind telling me more about that?" He never once looked up from his papers.

"Oh this boy, he had stolen something of mine. It was really important to me and it was the only way I could think to get it back."

"Of course," he answer calmly still sifting through his papers. "And what was this item?"

"My mother's diary! She died a while ago and I wanted to see what she'd wrote."

Chris fumbled a little with his papers; Alfred hadn't told him that. His heart fell to think of the woman dead. She had had so much potential in her. He found his composure again as well as his paper. "If you don't mind my asking why didn't you just ask your father any questions you had?"

"I've...never met him." Her face fell once more. "That's what I was hoping to learn about. I never even knew his name."

If Chris could've damned Alfred's name aloud at that moment he certainly would have numerous times. He was sure that her Uncle did indeed have his reasons though and damned be him as well if he continued on without finding out what they were. He glanced down at his pocket and pulled out his cellphone as if he had seen it lit up and pretended to read the screen.

"Oh goodness Kelly, I'm very sorry but this is a very important call I'll be back in just a second I promise."

"Oh course." She had nothing but complete and utter trust in him and it hurt him even more as he hurried out of the room and dialled Alfred's number. After a couple of agonizingly long rings he finally heard to other man's voice chime with a friendly hello.

"I'm not going to continue," Chris started out sternly knowing that Alfred would recognize who he was. "Not until you tell me the whole story. Kelly just told me that Evelyn had died and she was looking through that diary for evidence of her father."

There was a thoughtful silence on Alfred's end as he tried to think of the proper way to put his words together. "I can promise you that you won't like it."

"And why's that?"

"Because it'll mean that if you'd actually listened to Evelyn all those years ago you might have been able to help her."

"What are you talking about," Chris demanded as he shot a glance back towards where Kelly was keenly waiting for his return.

"I know very well what Kelly is looking for in there and she already found too much. Her father was never around when she was growing up and before that he practically tortured Evelyn. Perhaps you might remember the name Freddy."

Chris's heart stopped in his throat and his eyes fell to the floor. Of course he remembered, he'd never forgotten that name. It was the man that Evelyn had always said haunted her nightmares and the one that she had confided in him at one point in time had killed those people. He had never believed her.

"Kelly is looking for information on him, a way to find him. I met the bastard once and I'll be damned if I'll let him do the same thing to Kelly that he did to Evelyn. Now please..."

"Yes of course," Chris said awkwardly as he hung up the phone and went back in to meet with his patient. The minute he was through that door the smile was once again plastered on his features as his eyes met Kelly's.

"Sorry about the interruption Kelly."

"Oh that's no problem, I'd wait forever! I'm so glad that you're finally here!"

The look of pure hope of her face burned him to the core. "Kelly, I have another question for you." He reached into his bag of props that Alfred had provided him with and pulled out a small age withered book. "Is this by any chance the diary you're speaking of?"

"You brought it back!" With the look of a starving animal she lunged out of the bed at him ignoring the pain that racked through her and snatched the book hungrily from his hands. She opened it eagerly and suddenly her look fell away and confusion furrowed her brow. "This doesn't make any sense. This can't be mom's diary Chris." She looked at him with all the naive innocence of a child. "There's nothing written in it."

"No Kelly I can assure you that is indeed Evelyn's diary."

"No it's not!" she screamed at him with fury laced throughout her tone. "I was reading my mother's diary! You can't just read nothing!"

"Kelly, please here me out he ushered her. I'm not here to put you in a frenzy merely to put things straight. You were reading nothing. This is the exact diary that you spoke of."

"No you're wrong!" She hurled the diary at him with a poor arm and it missed his pale face by a good couple feet. "I know what I read! How else would I know your name?"

"Kelly please, I need you to be reasonable," Chris tried as he knew she wouldn't accept anything he could offer her while in such a state of mine. "Please just hear me out."

She clenched her fists but stared at him allowing him to continue on but silently warning him that what he had to say had better be good.

"Death is a complicated thing. The terms of it differ for each person..." The words fell from his lips as easily as they had when he said them to Evelyn. He even hesitated after the sentence expecting the young girl to interrupt him with a snide remark just as her mother had. "I think that your mother's death hit you harder than expected and that you haven't found your own terms of it yet. You see...you've been generating a false life for yourself for the past few months. Substituting what you didn't want to hear with what you did in order to keep your mother in your life."

"How?" she demanded. "Everything I've been reading from my mother's diary! Uncle Alfred gave it to me when I left for university."

"Kelly...I want you to tell me exactly how you remember that day."

"I was getting into the vehicle with my boyfriend...ex I guess. Alfred came to the window and gave me that diary. He said that it was under her mattress and that if Mom had wanted anyone to read it she would've wanted it to be me."

"Kelly. I can promise you with every fibre of my being that that is the diary that Alfred handing you that day. Now I'm going to give it back to you and I want you to do me a favour." He stood up and pulled the book from its resting place on the floor to hand it to the girl. "I want you to read whatever you can find in there out loud to me."

She frowned at him but decided to comply with the request anyway. She lazily flipped through the pages until she stumbled upon one page just inside the cover with a small note written on it.

"Happy Birthday Kelly...I hope another year brings a wonderful daughter like you many wonderful memories. I hope you'll write all of them down so you can share them with someone special one day. Love forever and always...Mom..."

Kelly's eyes watered and she looked up at Chris with an aghast look plastered to her face. "This can't be...this is impossible! I swear I was...I was reading her diary!"

"Kelly, like I said before people deal with the deaths of loved ones in different ways. From what I remember of Evelyn and can understand from Alfred and Peter she was and has always been a very private person. It wouldn't surprise me if there were things you didn't know about her life. I think in your grief you're wishing that you had known her better and your mind is starting to create a story for her that was never real."

It took a moment for his words to sink in before she slowly forced a few choice words to stumble out of her mouth. "That still...doesn't answer the question of how I could possibly know of you."

"Alfred told you," he answered swiftly. "On his last visit before you had him removed from the room. He told you that he was getting you some help. I believe he tried to use my name to put you more at ease."

She slumped back into her pillows and tilted her head to stare up to the ceiling with a look of distraught contemplation. "I think...I need to think about this." Her voice was soft and sad.

"Of course Kelly, I understand. This must be a lot to take in all at once and I certainly don't expect you to believe me right now." Flashing her another friendly smile he handed her the clipboard and pen he had yet to use. "How about I visit you sometime tomorrow afternoon? You can write down any questions that you think of."

"Alright..."

He couldn't lift his eyes from her for moment completely overtaken by the resemblance she held to her mother. Except for those eyes. Those didn't belong to Evelyn at all and yet somehow he believed that the way they looked right now almost lightless they didn't quite belong to the father either. He finally pulled himself away to take his leave of the room and made sure to leave the small book there for her to continue examining.

"Dear Lord," he began as he climbed into his car and hugged the steering wheel close. "I pray that you will forgive me for what I have done here today. I do it with the best intentions of fixing her wounded soul. I beg you will grant me redemption for all that I will do in regards until my mission is complete. Amen."

He was not a religious man but at this moment he felt the act his was committing needed to be forgiven. The diary, of course, was fake. Alfred had made it himself and had even been able to copy Evelyn's handwriting as well as possible. Everything else was just a pure unadulterated lie. Everything he would tell her in the future would be a lie. He could always hope, however, that it would be lies that would in the end be better for everyone.

Evelyn's eyes started feeling heavier as she scrawled the last few words into her diary and blew on the ink to help it dry faster. The wind caught the words from her breath and carried them away as her head fell slightly before she snapped it up with a motion that should have resulted in a fair case of whiplash. Her half lidded eyes glanced out the window of her bedroom to the front yard where Kelly and Derek were sitting on the small white love seat swing that Derek had crafted almost a year ago. A smile creased the features that had held onto all its youth as she considered her daughter's life and how precious it was. She would miss it dearly. Or perhaps not at all. Another thing only time could tell.

She pulled a paper bag tediously apart before placing the small book inside of it and wrapping it delicately. Her thin fingers pressed tape to the edges and made sure each corner was flattened perfectly before doing so. She brushed a hand along the top of the package wiping away bits of dust that only she could see before she shakily pulled herself to her feet. Her legs wobbled underneath her as she made her way towards the bed humming softly.

"One,Two, Freddy's coming for you.

Three, Four, Better lock your door."

She knelt beside the bed and slowly tucked the package safely underneath her mattress just enough that the edges of the mattress would be just short of falling together properly. This diary was the most precious thing in the world to her right now; her legacy. In it she had written of all her secret encounters with Freddy and her thoughts of him. Just now she had finished writing her final entry. In it she wrote of why she was doing this. Everything just in case. Just in case this whole plan went terribly wrong she wanted Kelly to know the truth. She wanted Kelly to discover the origins of her birth, learn of Freddy and from there make her own choices on how to proceed. It was all she could give her now.

Five, Six, Grab your crucifix.

Seven, Eight, Better stay awake.

Evelyn slowly pulled herself to stand with great effort though the bed assisted her to her wobbling legs. It felt as if her whole body weighed a thousand pounds. Her eyes fell to the door as her body swayed back and forth like a pendulum. She crawled on the bed and felt her head weighed heavily between her shoulders as it tried to drag her downwards.

Nine, Ten, Never sleep again."

And just like that the pendulum came to a stop and silenced the song. Evelyn lay face down on the bed her hair falling gently around her thin shoulders. One shoulder had managed to shake itself free of the thing straps holding up the rich pink summer dress she wore. The skirt of it billowed out around her knees while her bare feet stared up with dirty bottoms tainting the background of white that the sheets gave.

The room filled itself with a contaminated silence as deep in the bowels of the house the ticking of a clock slowly echoed up the steps but stopped short of reaching Evelyn and welcoming her back into time again. The sunlight from the window fell inches short of her collapsed form though it illuminated the rest of the room. The walls tilted in around her for a second before pulling themselves away in fear. Nothing could touch her; not without his permission.

"Now now Evelyn why would you go and do something like this? Don't you know it make me sad when you do these things?"

Freddy's feet hit the cold wood floor without so much as a sound as he entered the room from a shadow hiding deep within the closet where no light could ever hope to reach. Evelyn turned her gaze from the window in order to see him better with a look of serenity coating her features. The sun from outside bathed her in its glow and she offered him a small smile in return.

"It was something I needed to do," she replied before looking out the window to watch her daughter a little more. "It's amazing when I think about it now. Kelly...is amazing."

He quietly walked over and looked out the window to see the young woman in the yard her face alight with laughter.

"I know all those years ago I asked you to keep out of it," she said before a small snicker escaped her lips. "Thanks for not listening."

"What the hell are you talking about?", he snapped out furious at having been found out.

"Oh don't get me wrong Freddy," Evelyn instantly replied in defence. "I've never once imagined that you might have taken care of Kelly out of any mortal concern for me or her. I know you only did it because she's got her soul. But still...I think permanently scarring the kid who kept shoving sand down her pants in Kindergarten was a bit much."

She looked up at him and smiled the same way she used to all those years ago; with a pain hidden by strong features and a slight rebellious twitch.

"That' might've been going a bit too far."

A smirk played across his lips though he didn't say anything. They stood there together in silence for a bit just looking out window. Many years had passed between them without so much as a passing glance and it was as if in that short time it was all catching up to them. Evelyn realised years after the fact how very fond she had grown of her nightmare despite everything that had happened. He had been her constant. Even now he was constant; she called for him and he came.

"You never answered my question Evelyn," Freddy stated finally. "You know I don't like to have to repeat myself."

"Because I need to know Freddy." There was now such a desperation in her tone that it choked her words at the back of her throat before letting them move on. "You've spent so much time in and out of my mind and playing with my dreams and thoughts that I'm not sure what's real anymore. I don't where I am anymore..."

He remained silent as he watched her with his calculating gaze.

"You know more about these things than I do Freddy...how much longer will I dream like this before I know?"

"Seven minutes," he replied without hesitating as he'd already spotted the empty pill bottle lying askew on her desk. "That's assuming you to all of them just like a good little girl."

"Every last one," she confirmed. "I called Alfred. I told him what I was doing...just in case...you know? You know, I figure if this is all a dream right now if I die then I should wake up. I should wake up and perhaps be lesser or better for it but I'll be awake."

"Then why call that pathetic little boy? He won't let you die."

"No. That's why I took precautions. I made it difficult enough for him that by the time he gets from his home to here and manages to find a way in I will have just died. But...if I don't wake up...then I'm hoping he'll still get here in time to bring me back." She looked back out the window. "I worry...I want to watch Kelly grow up. But I just can't stand this not knowing. I want to know whether she is real or not..."

"For a price my dear you know I could give you all these answers," he said with a grin as he tapped his claws along her bare shoulder.

"I wouldn't believe you," she answered simply.

Another silence passed between them and his claws remained resting on her shoulder. She found some comfort in the cold feel of them and stale smell she had become so used to over the years. She tilted her head slightly as pressed her cheek to his hand and felt the worn leather against her face.

"Thank you. For letting me stay here. Whether this is dream or not, whatever it is I know you control this part of it. Thank you for letting me stay and watch her."

"I just want to see the look on your face when you see the look on hers as that brother of yours comes running to your rescue and lets the cat out of the bag."

"He won't. I told him...for Kelly's sake to say that he just had a bad feeling. He's always been the kind of person who would act on that. Especially for me."

"For once you seem to have thought of everything," he admitted as he slid his hand away from her shoulder so he could curve one point under her chin and convince her to look up at him. "One last piece. Why call me here?"

"In case this is all just a dream... then I would like to say goodbye."

"How very thoughtful of you," he cackled.

"I don't expect you to understand Freddy, but I am thankful for what you've done for me. Not exactly what you've done to me...but the things you've done for me here." She then reached up and gently grasped the hand that prodded her throat and laced her fingers between his in a small gesture he chose not to fight. "And I'm scared. I don't want to be by myself waiting for this to happen..."

"Five more minutes," he said before he vanished before her eyes and she clenched her fist as if hoping if she squeezed hard enough his hand could still be found there.

And so she cried. Evelyn cried and she waited to that moment of truth to arrive. Was she really ready for this? Ready to find out? The questions assaulted her mind and she had to brace herself to stand on the desk as her shoulders shook with the sobs. If she was wrong she would lose Kelly forever and she would never see Alfred again. The reality of her actions finally began to strike her and she sobbed even harder in the wood.

"Stop being such a little bitch, you wouldn't have been happy any other way."

She started at the sound of his voice and spun around from the desk to find him standing there staring down at her with a look of contempt. Evelyn stood up and looked at him with forlorn eyes as the sound of the clock downstairs slowly began to welcome itself into her world again.

"I guess that's true," she sniffled as her thumbs pulled the tears from her eyes. "No, actually, it is. You're right. I just would've been fretting the entire time wondering if at some moment I would just wake up and lose everything."

"You'll find out soon enough."

As Freddy watched her with his cold green eyes it almost pained him to know what the reality was. Despite his best efforts she had become somewhat special to him; his favourite plaything. With her open heart all her emotions were free for the world to partake in and he loved being able to pull every last one of them out of her. He felt the clock ticking by and could hear Alfred's cries outside of her sleeping pill induced coma though he doubted if she could. She didn't have much time left in his world before she'd find out the truth. That ever painful truth that gets a few of us every now and again.

Sometimes there is no happily ever after.

There was one thing he could do for her and regardless of his better mind he offered her her last chance. "I can wake you up Evelyn, keep you in my little slice of the world."

Evelyn looked at him as she smudged away the last of her tears. She hadn't fathomed the idea before but it made sense. Being a nightmare demon.

"No Freddy," she replied solemnly. "Let me sleep. I'm tired. Very tired of all of this confusion and not knowing. You're right that if I don't do this...I'll be tired forever."

"I offered," he snapped back and she knew that meant that if she changed her mind he wouldn't offer again. Another silence passed between them and he looked over to her again. "It's almost time."

"I can feel it," she replied. More than that, she could hear it. The noise of the clock was starting to get louder and louder trying to pull her back to where the time that passed was crucial. She just wondered where back was.

"It's too bad," he mused as he pulled his claws along the desk in thought peeling up little strips of wood.

"What is?"

He looked at her with a devilish grin that lit the flames of fury within her among other feelings. "No matter where you end up, this is my world. We won't be able to play together anymore. Too bad, I did enjoy our little game of cat mouse."

"I'll miss you too Freddy," she shot back playfully as she the felt the ticks of the clock within her heart. Each time made her wince as the sound pumped through her.

She began to fall to the side as she clutched at her chest in pain grabbed onto Freddy for support. He didn't assist her at all but instead merely allowed her to use him knowing that within a few seconds it wouldn't matter.

"Freddy it hurts!," she screamed in agony as the clock continued to tick louder and louder inside of her. "Make it stop!"

She was nearly doubled over in suffering as her fingers tried to tear through his shoulder. Her knees buckled together and finally he turned and caught her with his normal hand before she could hit the ground. Her body attempted to convulse in his grasp as she continued to cry out.

A small smirk spread itself across his ageless face; he'd send her to her death with a small message. Only he knew at this moment that she would never breathe again. "Remember to dream a little dream of me when you wake up Evelyn," he told her before he plunged his clawed hand through her chest and carved out her twisting and writhing heart. If a person can dream in death he certainly wanted her to listen to him so he could visit again; all his fun had been ended far too soon. Her warm blood spilled over his hands and down his arms to pool at his feet on the floor. As he let her body drop he squeezed at her still pulsing heart until it finally ceased its quiet panic. Evelyn's mind filled him before it began to fade away around him. Her body started to bubble and melt into the cracks of the floor as the walls creaked and shook before they began to dissipate into nothingness leaving only pure black in their wake. A loud cackle erupted from his chest as her very soul fell into him and became one of the many that powered him forward and her very thoughts and memories filled his own mind completely. He looked at the mass of bloody muscle in his hand held very delicately by the tips of all his claws. A large grin cracked open his face revealing all his stained and rotting teeth.

"Your heart always did belong to me, didn't it Evelyn," he laughed out victoriously as he twisted her heart around, examining it from all aspects before pushing his fingers through it, skewering it with the knives that had tortured so many.