A cabin.
Willow Wake sat back in her chair as she examined her canvas.
She hadn't planned on creating a cabin among a lake so why had she painted it?
The cabin sat on an isolated island while a lone bridge was the only path back to the mainland.
"It's a beautiful place but why did I paint that?" Willow asked herself as she washed the brush in the glass of water on the side table.
She had always painted what her heart felt she should draw but she had never seen that cabin before.
Willow had a bad feeling in her gut and the sky of the painting was not helping her instinct.
The sky in front of the cabin was a light yellow. Perfect for the setting of a sunset.
However, the sky behind the cabin was a deep black, forewarning a bad experience.
All while the dark lake sat underneath.
"My work is never dark. Why is this one?" Willow asked herself before squinting, spotting something in the upper window.
Willow's paintings were always pretty and bright but this one gave off a bad vibe.
The black haired woman got closer to the picture before seeing what looked like to be a figure in the window.
Who was that supposed to be?
The sound of her cell phone ringing made her jump out of her thoughts as her mind instantly went to her brother.
He had not called her since they had spoke as he got to a town called Bright Falls.
That was about a week ago now and she would be lying if she said she wasn't worried.
Willow quickly but gently placed a cover over the cabin painting before reaching for her cell.
"Hello?" She asked, not bothering to check the caller I.D.
"Hey, just the girl I wanted to talk to!" Barry's voice said over the phone as Willow chuckled a little.
Barry Wheeler was Alan's best friend. Well, he was her best friend too.
"What do you want, Barry?"Willow said as she worked on placing the brushes back in the proper cup.
Barry was eccentric, to say the least.
"Have you spoken to that brother of yours? I can't get in touch with him or Alice and it's been a week!" Barry told her as Willow sighed.
This was not good news.
"No, I was hoping you would have heard from him." Willow told her friend as she looked back at the covered up canvas.
A chill went up her spine as her bones felt cold.
"Something just doesn't feel right, Barry." Willow spoke as Barry chuckled over the phone.
"Painter's instinct, Will?" Barry joked as her green eyes rolled.
The day the trio had met, Barry had called the girl by the name of Will, which annoyed her to no end.
Yet part of her didn't mind the nickname.
"I'm going to Bright Falls to look for him. I don't care if he's on vacation or not." Barry told her as Willow looked towards her apartment door.
Both of them lived in New York and she had all of her paintings finished for her clients.
"I'm coming with you." Willow said as she heard silence over the phone.
Deep down in her gut, she felt like Alan was in danger.
"No way. Alan would kill me if you got hurt or something." Barry argued as Willow scoffed.
She wasn't some little girl that needed protected.
"I don't care what Alan would do! He's in trouble, I can feel it." Willow said as her mind went back to that cabin.
Was Alan there? Is that why she painted that?
"Fine, fine! I'll come by and get you!" Barry told her before the duo hung up.
Willow quickly rushed into her bedroom before throwing her closet door open.
She would defiantly need a jacket if they were going into the country.
Luckily, she had plenty of jackets.
She quickly put on a grey long sleeved shirt before throwing her old brown jacket over her shoulders.
Her hair remained in the ponytail she kept it up in while painting as she gently pulled the hairband out, allowing her hair to fall.
Willow placed the band on her wrist before grabbing her small sketchbook so she could draw on the way to Bright Falls.
The woman quickly marched back to the main room as she refused to look back at the artwork she had created.
Willow grabbed her keys before leaving the safety of her apartment, locking the door.
Boot covered feet quickly stomped down the stairs as she entered the main lobby of the apartment building.
Her eyes looked to the door as she didn't spot Barry's vehicle yet.
A sigh escaped her lips as she sat on the bench before opening the book and pulling out the pencil and drawing random things on the page.
"Hey, you're Alan Wake's sister, right?" A voice interrupted her drawing as she bit the inside of her mouth.
How she hated being called that.
Mostly critics and reporters called her that though.
Never Alan or Barry.
Willow had even painted some covers for Alan's books.
"Yeah. Why?" Willow asked the stranger as a frown had already formed.
Now was not a time to get on her bad side.
"Is he ever going to write another book or what?" The person asked Willow placed the book on the chair before standing up, getting in the man's face.
She hated when people asked her that.
Alan would write whenever he felt like it. It wouldn't help if people pushed him.
Willow opened her mouth to say something when she saw a red jacket in front of her.
"Hey, you back off from her. You know who she is? Willow Wake! The best painter in the world right now! He bothering you, Will? I can sue him!' Barry told her in one breath as the stranger scoffed before walking off.
Willow chuckled as she watched her friend.
Even though Barry was Alan's manager, he had helped her get some clients herself. He would also threaten to 'sue' people who bothered herself or her brother.
"You okay?" Barry asked her as Willow nodded before picking up the sketchbook.
She may not be as popular as her brother but she was good enough to make a living doing what she loved.
"Yeah. Let's just get to Bright Falls." Willow told her friend as they left the apartment before getting in the car.
Willow stared out of the window as the car rushed by woods of endless trees.
Her eyes were almost closed when Barry stopped at a red light.
That's when Willow spotted someone at the edge of the woods.
It was a woman dressed in full black with a veil over her face.
Willow tried to open her mouth to tell Barry but it was like she couldn't control her voice.
She couldn't even move.
Willow clenched her eyes shut as she hoped it was just her imagination.
A mirage from lack of sleep.
She slowly opened her eyes as she didn't see the lady any longer.
Willow let out a breath of relief before turning forward just to see the woman's reflection in the backseat.
A coldness spread across her body as her heart went tight in her chest.
"I have been looking for a painter to make my pictures more clear. Go find your dear brother." The woman's icy voice instructed Willow as her throat finally allowed her to let out a surprised yell before she regain the ability to lean forward.
Her eyes shot open as she realized Barry was shaking her.
"You okay, Will? You started screaming and it scared the shit out of me!" Barry told her, a look of concern on his face.
Willow was not one to have nightmares.
"Y-Yeah. Just a bad dream." Willow told him as she rubbed her eyes before reaching for her sketchbook before opening it to a blank page.
Perhaps she could re-draw that cabin and the lady in black in case she spotted either one of them in Bright Falls.
Something told her that she would not want to meet that woman again but her instinct told her that the old woman was part of this somehow.
Only thing she was focused on was finding her brother.
