Alan Wake

Episode 1.3: Insanity

"Alan, wake up..." Alice's voice echoed in my head once more. The voice brought me back to my senses.

"Alice?" I called out. I looked in horror when I realised where I was. Instead of waking up somewhere in the cabin, I woke up in the car I used to drive us around. My head stung and I pressed my head using my hands slightly, trying to ease the pain. Something warm was trickling from my head and I became sure that I was in a crash. This was no nightmare but waking up in a car crash felt like I had woken up from one nightmare and entered another. I opened the car doors and crawled out from it. My legs felt like jelly; shakey as I tried to muster some strength on my legs. Nothing happened. I collapsed onto the rocky grounds and noticed that I was somewhere on top of a hill, my car balancing at the edge of it.

I forced my legs, standing up as I was stunned for a moment. I tried to recollect my thoughts. I couldn't remember how I got here. All I remember was that something terrible had happened to Alice. I took out my phone to call for help, only to look at it in horror. The phone was dead. I'd had to find help on foot. I could not drive the car anymore since I was in bad shape and the car was beyond hope. As I made my way to find help, I noticed a book at the back of the car. It was a book called "The Creator's Dilemma" by Dr. Emil Hartman. Seeing the book brought back my fight with Alice. I didn't like it and I didn't like the guy's smug face on the cover either.

I ran down the hill, following the trail of mud as the grass and flowers were on the left and right of the path. I recovered fast, my legs able to make me run now. I looked from the hill and saw some lights, illuminating in the dark. It was the gas station and it was the only best bet. They'd had a phone I could use. Despite the fact that it was a long hike to get to there, I had to move on, knowing that it was my best bet. I continued, jogging on but I was stopped again when I saw my car. Only one word came out from my mouth.

"Damn," I swore as I looked at the car, now unstable and shook. It finally fell into the ground below, making its decend. I shivered when I realised how close to death I was. If I had not got out of the car, I would have ended up like the car: Dead and broken.

I jogged on, only wanting to reach the gas station so that I could ask for help. The mountain was beautiful and the scenery was jaw-dropping but the eerie night and the awful silence has made my skin tingle, making me want to get out of here as soon as possible. I looked up ahead when a ray of bright light shone into my eyes, forcing my hands to shield my eyes. A sign of life?

"Hello?" I called out. No response. Wondering if I could get help, I ran towards the lights.Its lights were soothing in the creepy darkness. As I went near the light source, it went dim and soon, its lights were gone. "Hello? Is someone there?" I asked, convinced that there was some activity around.

As the lights were gone as soon as it came, two pieces of paper floated in the air, drifting in mid-air and finally landed onto the ground gracefully. I picked up the paper and looked, the contents shocking me. The loose sheets of paper were pages from a manuscript entitiled 'Departure'. That was the name I'd planned to use for the next novel I'd never got started. I was named the author but the wierd thing was that I did not write it. In fact, I could not remember writing it. My hands shook uncontrollably as I glanced through the contents, my jaw dropping. In the scene on the page, the hero was attacked by an axe murderer in the woods at night. That actually fit the description of the nightmare I had experienced at the ferry. No doubt that it was my style of writing too. I shook my head, dimissing it. It might be coincidence.

I continued to hike on, birds chirping throughout the night, adding to the creepy atmosphere. It was for a moment before I saw a silhouette in front of me. I was sure that it was a human that stood from a distance with the outlines.