Night of the Hunter

Seven.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

*Jeff's P.O.V.*

"What the fuck happened?", Jared shot.

"I don't know. He must have snapped us out of the dream somehow", I spoke, removing my hand from my throat.

"Adam! What about him?", he panicked.

"Shit", I spoke.

We both pushed our covers off, just as an alarm blasted through the facility. Rushing to the door, we opened it, and rushed out to see what the commotion was. We could hear someone yelling for help, and that was when we realized it was coming from Elijah's room, and we knew it was Carlton. Running down there, there were nurses and doctors all over. As we stood there, I stepped over, glancing in and seeing Carlton. His body, pale, and lifeless. His lips, blue, just like in the dream. Elijah was standing there, in tears with one of the doctors, trying to explain what he saw. My next thought was Adam. Rushing off down the hall, I got to the Quiet Room, looking through the window in the door, only to see he was fine in there, awake and alert. Stepping back from the door, I headed back to Jared. Tears filled his eyes, as we watched Carlton being brought out on a stretcher, covered with a sheet.

"I should have done something sooner", Jared said.

"Jared. Don't blame yourself. We tried. We all did. There was nothing we could do", I reassured.

"No. We went after Adam and we should have split up. He knew our intentions! Why do you think he went after Carlton? He's fucking with us! He's in our heads Jeff. He's always going to be ten steps ahead of us!", he shot, pulling away from me. "It's his game, and we're all fucking in it! You can't beat him!".

"Jared, we will beat him! We both didn't know. We figured Adam would have been weaker", I added.

"But we could have done more. Why the fuck didn't you get yourself in there sooner if you knew you could do that?", he retorted.

"I didn't know I could.. I did it years ago, and I haven't done it since", I said.

"This is your fault!", he yelled, shoving me.

"This isn't anyone's fault! You can't blame me!", I shouted.

"Like hell I can't!".

Two doctors came over to us, quickly breaking up this heated moment before it got physical.

"Do one of you need to go to the quiet room next?", the doctor holding Jared asked.

"No, sir", I spoke.

"How about you, Jared?", the other asked.

Jared just shook his head.

"Good. Then I suggest both of you go back to your room, and get back to bed", the one holding me said.

Releasing us, we headed back to our room, in complete silence. I didn't need Jared turning against me now. I needed him.

"Jared. I'm sorry", I apologized, as we got back in our beds, "You know I would have done it sooner if I knew it would have worked. You have to believe me".

"Look, Jeff.. I believe you're sorry. But I am scared to death right now. I fear I am going to be next", he admitted.

"I will never let him hurt you. Just as I won't let him hurt anyone else if I can stop him. You believe me, don't you?", I questioned.

"I do. But, it doesn't make it any less terrifying".

"I know it doesn't. I'm just as scared as all of you. But we can't fall apart now. If we do, he will use it against us", I reminded.

"I know. And I'm sorry", he apologized.

"It's alright. Let's just try to sleep".

Laying down, I'll be honest, I didn't feel much like sleeping, not after what I had just seen and been through. Everything that happened was affecting me..

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

*Jared's P.O.V.*

When group formed the next day, I could see how torn Elijah was. There were only six of us left, and I felt things were getting worse. As the doctor came in, we prepared to discuss the nights previous events.

"I want us to talk openly about last night, for us to get our feelings out there", Dr. Williams began.

Everyone was pretty silent to start. Jeff, myself, and Adam knew the truth, but we knew the doctors wouldn't believe us.

"What killed him?", Blake asked.

"It was natural causes. His heart gave out, and that can easily happen when someone takes illegal substances for a long period of time", Dr. Williams answered.

"Bullshit!", Elijah shot, "I watched him lay there, sound asleep, and he never made a sound or anything until he began screaming. He couldn't even move",

"It was heart failure, Elijah, and nothing more", Dr. Williams argued.

"No, I was there.. I saw what happened", I spoke up.

"You were no where in the room when it happened", Dr. Williams added.

"I saw it in the dream world. I was there. I watched that monster kill Carlton", I shot.

"Nobody killed Carlton, it was natural causes", Dr. Williams disagreed.

"When are you fuckers going to realize our dreams are real?!", Elijah yelled, "We are all dying off one by one, because of this psycho monster, and you all refuse to listen! Why not just admit what we say doesn't matter?!".

"Elijah, you cannot blame your dreams for what happens in real life", Dr. Williams retorted.

"I watched Carlton screaming in pain. He looked exactly how he did in the dream", Jeff cut in, defending us. "This monster knows what we fear, and he's using it against us".

"Why didn't you guys do anything to stop him?", Elijah asked.

"Because we didn't know Krueger was going after Carlton. We assumed he was going after Adam, seeing as he was alone and defenseless against his dreams. And then we found out he had Carlton.. We were locked out of the room, there was nothing we could do", I confessed.

"You chose that freak over Carlton", Elijah spat.

"Fuck you, Elijah!", Adam spat, "No one chose me over Carlton. You know, you act like you will out last everyone, and I'm sick of it!".

"Because I will! I'm stronger than all of you!", Elijah retorted.

"Stop!", Jeff shouted, "This will get us no where. Like we said, he wants us to argue. Then he can do the same thing he did last night by faking us out".

"He's right, and we need to stick together. You can't make it on your own", I added.

"All of you need to stick to reality. Jensen and Kris gave up. Carlton was natural causes. None of this is to be blamed on your nightmares", Dr. Williams stated.

"I lost my brother to this! Not to suicide, or natural causes, and everyone knows it!", Jeff cleared.

"Your dreams are not to blame", Dr. Williams repeated.

"Then help up prove this. We need to surpress our dreams. That will prove it's the nightmares, nothing else", Jeff spoke.

"And how do you expect to do that?", Dr. Williams asked.

"Hypnocil. My brother Matt was on it, until the doctors took him off. That's when he died", Jeff stated.

"You want me to prescribe a highly experimental drug to a bunch of teens, who are already unstable?", Dr. Williams questioned.

"It's the only way we can be saved. Please. If anyone has any bad reactions, you can stop the use of it. But let me prove that it works. Please", Jeff begged.

Dr. Williams sighed heavily, and I was praying he would listen.

"I will research it tonight, and see how quickly we can get it. But if anything happens, my job is on the line", Dr. Williams said.

"Thank you", Jeff said.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *