Under a blood red sky

Dean stood at the edge of the maze, mag light in one hand and a bag full of everything but the kitchen sink on his shoulder. He had two hidden guns, a concealed knife, a jacket pocket full of extra salt rounds, a lighter, accelerant, a vial of holy water...and the Zippo lighter the man in the tent had given him. He wasn't going to think too hard about that one.

He'd been hearing accounts of people seeing Freddy Kruger chasing people around the fair grounds. He'd heard more than one person say that Freddy'd gone after one guy, just one guy. And that description sounded a lot like the demon that went after Jo.

Dean figured there was a good chance the answers about this fair were inside this maze. And he wasn't really looking forward to going in.

"Y'know, Cas," Dean whispered. "Now would be a good time for you to stop sucking so hard." He sighed, and started into the maze. "Yippee kay-ay, motherfuckers."

Saerian followed Freddy, and Freddy followed Saerian. It was almost a game, and a happy one, at that.

The demon knew, without question, that this was not *really* Freddy. It was a man named Kyle, who also worked at the Renaissance Faire in the summer as a knight. He knew how to joust, he had two kids and a beautiful, exotic-looking wife. But during the fall season, Kyle joined the troupe that worked the corn maze as a legendary, razor-fingered killer.

The truly interesting part, the demon mused, was that Kyle's thoughts were becoming Freddy's thoughts the longer this cat-and-mouse game went on. The man was, for all intents and purposes, becoming Freddy. He believed. He believed. And that made it so, because Kyle would run loose through York tormenting people, killing...

Oh, this was all too good. The demon wondered who else was in the maze. He hoped someone was Hannibal Lecter. Dear God, he hoped.

From below where he sat, hidden, Saerian heard the sound of metal scraping metal. Kyle was running those metal fingers down the wall of the building, and they'd hit the dumpster. Saerian had forgotten the watch in his pocket but could hear it ticking, now. He knew Kyle could, too. He was counting on that. When he turned the watch over, after leaving the curiosities tent, he'd read an inscription on the back of it: THE WHITE ROOM AT MIDNIGHT.

What Kyle didn't seem to really care about, and the one thing that made this less fun for Saerian, was that this was not a dream. This was the real, waking world. Saerian knew a thing or two about torture through dreams. It was why he was participating in this little chase at all.

He waited for Kyle to find him, to recite a bad line from "Nightmare on Elm Street," and smiled up at him. "Freddy," Saerian said, getting to his feet, "we're going on a trip."

The demon clapped his hand onto Kyle's sweatered arm, opened the pocket watch, and waited until the second hand hit 12.

Like they'd never been anywhere else, Saerian and Kyle simply appeared in the White Room. The Conduit sat there, in the center, motionless.

This was when Freddy decided to lose it.

Maybe it was the teleportation. Or the large predatory cat sitting right in front of him. Saerian would never know for sure.

"Where are we?" he growled, raising his glove. "I'll cut you in two." The threat was calmer, not that growl. Trying to keep the upper hand.

All at once, the big cat shifted, changed, and grew. As any Wolfram and Hart employee would tell anyone who needed to know, the Conduit didn't choose its shape.

Its beholder did.

A perfect clone of Phaedra stood there, now, where the cat had been. Smiling. "Interesting choice, but not surprising. This," she said, circling Kyle, "is interesting."

Kyle swiped at her stomach, cutting it open. It healed almost immediately. Freddy did not look pleased.

"Glad you got our message. You see, we hate you, you hate us," the Conduit said. Saerian nodded. "But if we help you, truly help you, you'll have the upper hand. Without us, you won't." The Conduit smiled, then. Phaedra's smile. She reached out a hand and levitated Kyle, willing him to be quiet. He was quiet.

Her eyes focused on Saerian. "We would like to supplement your power. That makes your bringing this one with you somewhat perfect."

All at once, The Conduit flexed its hand, then made a fist. A glowing blue light spread from Kyle's chest, outward, engulfing his entire body. Once that was done, The Conduit turned her eyes to Saerian.

"All of his power. It's yours."

Saerian arched an eyebrow. "His?"

"You said it yourself. He believes he's Freddy. Freddy's power. Over nightmares."

The demon laughed. "Not to look a gift horse in the mouth or anything, but are you fucking insane? Freddy is a fictional fucking character. I've got an A-class wizard riding my ass, a handful of hunters and a vampire I personally designed to be indestructible. I cannot help anything in nightmares."

The blue light was transferring now, from Kyle's chest to Saerian's, in a thin line of power. Saerian could feel it vibrate down to Jack's skeleton.

"You think we aren't being generous enough? I should kill you where you stand."

But just the same, the light changed from blue to red. "What's that?" Saerian asked, a slight hint of nervousness in his voice.

"It's a present," the Conduit answered.

Once the lights had dissipated, Kyle lay lifeless on the floor. The Conduit removed the glove from his hand and handed it to Saerian.

"What kind of present?"

She put the glove on his hand, and backed away, smiling. "You'll have to see. Enjoy ruling their dreams. And I wouldn't worry too much about the wizard. Or the hunters. Or her." The Conduit looked down at its body, then back up to his face. "What is it she says?"

"I now leave you to God," Saerian said, without hesitation.

The Conduit smiled and disappeared.

When night fell on the Monday before Halloween, the Corn Maze was open for business.

There was a line extending back from the entrance of the maze to the fair parking lot--a decent distance, to be sure. Costumed actors walked through the line, trying to get cheap scares out of the waiting fright-seekers. The noises of revving chainsaws could be heard from within the maze, as well as a well-placed scream, here and there. Jack-o-lanterns sat in strategic positions, glowing from within.

Then all at once, it changed.

Saerian felt it as he entered the maze. He didn't see it--no one would. But he could feel it. The shift.

An actor dressed as Freddy Kruger jumped in front of him, and then, all at once... he wasn't an actor anymore. Saerian smiled. "Freddy," he said, his voice sing-song. He beckoned with one finger, and Freddy grinned in return, holding up his famously sharp hands.