Author's Note: A long time coming... my mini-novella wrapping up all the loose ends of the Twin Peaks series and movie. :) This first instalment (of a projected twelve chapters) features adapted lines and scenes from both the 'Fire Walk With Me' shooting script by David Lynch and Robert Engels, and the first draft of the 'Twin Peaks Episode 29' script by Mark Frost, Harley Peyton and Robert Engels.

To go by the timeline of the show, the events of the prologue take place roughly from late into the night of Sunday, 26th March, into the early hours of the morning of Monday, 27th March. The year is 1989.

DISCLAIMER: 'Twin Peaks' is created by David Lynch and Mark Frost. This non-profit piece is not intended as an infringement of any copyright held by Lynch, Frost or others of any 'Twin Peaks' related licences.

"Don't search for all the answers at once. A path is formed by laying one stone at a time." - The Giant, Twin Peaks Episode 8

"You're on the path. You don't need to know where it leads. Just follow." - Hawk, Twin Peaks Episode 16

PROLOGUE

Searing pain through his head… he struggled to recall the events as to how that near-mortal wound had come about, but it suddenly brought to mind a series of distorted images and strange, but familiar faces before his eyes… and a greater pain then he felt now… and screaming... then nothing.

As he awoke, Benjamin Horne let out a long, weary sigh as he turned onto his back in bed within a private suite at Calhoun Memorial Hospital. It had been nearly twenty-four hours since he had been rushed to the emergency room, and operated on. He had been told by the surgeon it had been lucky he had arrived when he did, the haemorrhaging that could have occurred in his fractured skull would have resulted in considerable brain damage.

He self-consciously brushed his fingers on the bandages at the centre of his forehead. Not only did he have William Hayward to thank for this, but it was also the good doctor who immediately took him to the hospital. And of course, there was he to blame. It may be worth considering the price this dubious quest to 'do good' was increasingly beginning to cost him...

Turning onto his side, Ben struggled to get himself into a comfortable position in the tangle of sheets. Facing the door, he then frowned as he noticed a tall dark shape just standing inside the door of the room which he only realized now was slightly ajar. He instantly bolted up in the bed, realizing the amount of people who would be quite interested to learn he was in such a vulnerable state right now. Images of a leering Jean Renault appeared before his eyes...

But before he could cry out a small nervous laugh sounded. "Hey, take it easy, brother Ben! ...I had to slip in as quietly as I could..." The figure step forward, and with the small light creeping in from the corridor outside Ben could just make out the familiar unruly hair, dark shades and suspenders and a tweed coat, accompanied by a fashionable shirt with a bright bow tie.

"God's sake, Jer! You almost gave me a heart attack! Do you think I want to be in this disease-ridden hellhole any longer then I need?!", he seized a nearby vase of flowers (sent by Catherine Martell) to throw at his younger brother. Jerry Horne frantically put his finger to his mouth, and waved his other hand in panic to encourage a swift silence.

Ben suddenly realized. He narrowed his eyes, relaxing his grip on the vase. "Visiting hours are long over. How did you get all the way up here?"

His brother chuckled mischievously, clapping his hands together. "You remember Susan Alexander?"

There was a small pause, and Ben chuckled, "Ah yes, your old high school sweetheart... your eh... first time, I daresay?"

Jerry let out another mischievous chuckle. "And who I happen to find all-too-obliging to look the other way at reception?"

"Your surprise me, Jer, didn't realize your considerable charm carried so far with the local females. Mothers lock up your daughters, indeed." Ben rolled his eyes. "Why are you here?"

Jerry pretended not to hear him, putting his hands in his pockets as he walked toward the chair at Ben's side. He took a seat, and still said nothing. Jerry glanced around the suite at something to direct his attention towards.

"Gee, it's a nice set-up you got here. I wonder did they know that the red striping on blue were kinda the same as the one on the Icelandic flag, I was told the naval cross represents their independence." He sighed. "Y'know, I think I miss Iceland."

It wouldn't be much of a stretch to assume Jerry was thinking little of Icelandic nationalism right now. "Can it, Jer. Are my worst suspicions right, is this injury worse then I'm being told?"

Jerry shrugged, nervously. "I don't know Ben… "Noticing the sour expression with which Ben was now regarding him, Jerry added, "… b-b-but I'm no expert! And it's not what I'm here for."

"Then, if you're here, to what do I owe this… nocturnal rendezvous? More of a former courtesy to the girls up in Jack's if I recall."

Jerry grinned at the thought of their old trips up river to check out the 'new girl', but his expression then quickly turned serious. He walked around the bed to be closer to his brother, and removed his glasses in order to clean them with a handkerchief in his pocket. He then decided to think better of it, and hastily put them back on. Ben rather got the impression he was mentally preparing a speech. Jerry then leaned forward in his chair, clasping his hands together. He opened his mouth, then closed it, and then sighed before he finally spoke.

"Two things. First off, is Sylvia. She um… kinda kicked me out, too. She's pretty mad, Ben. And she's already talking about a divorce."

Terrific. His erstwhile wife was usually so good at fading into the background for long periods of time when they got totally sick of each other. "Forget that for now. Where are you staying?"

"The Pine Falls Motel."

"That rundown shack? Oh, no, no, not good enough for a Horne. Rest assured, brother of mine, my soon-to-be ex-wife will prepping the very sheets for your executive suite!"

Jerry tried to laugh at his older brother's comment, but failed. He gulped. To Ben's surprise, Jerry suddenly gently held his right hand. He opened his mouth, then closed it, and then sighed before he finally spoke.

"There's more. And it's kinda to do why Sylvia is so mad."

"What now? …oh, don't tell me the good Catherine Martell decided to tell all of our onetime romance?"

"Oh, nothing like that. Ben… do you remember… what you told Audrey to do – the day after the beauty pageant?"

Ben looked at him quizzically, and paused for a moment. He hadn't heard his brother talk in such a genuinely serious tone since Jerry straight out asked him had he murdered Laura Palmer. It unnerved him.

Audrey… so much had happened since he and his only daughter had last spoken, Ben had surprisingly given her little thought since the disastrous Miss Twin Peaks Contest. It would be a fine example to spring Sylvia into action to claim visiting rights, he thought bitterly, if his two children had been younger. Then of course, there had been the conversation with Donna – certainly disastrous in itself – and then some madman wrecking havok at the Miss Twin Peaks Contest. It suddenly dawned on Ben he had no idea if Cooper and the Sheriff actually had caught up with whoever caused all that trouble. It certainly would do no good for the publicity of the area... and attendance at the hotel. Which was all he needed right now.

Ben nodded, "I remember. We talked about organising a series of public protests to draw awareness to Ghostwood. But nothing set in stone. I suggested chaining herself to the door of the vault of the Twin Peaks Savings and Loan." He grinned. "You know that old fool Mibbler is still running things there? Think he could stop her before she tried?"

To his surprise, Jerry didn't seem to see the usual humor in ridiculing their fellow townspeople. He was still speak in that strangely serious tone Ben was increasingly finding unsettling. "Well, that's our Audrey... she kinda, went ahead and did it anyway. Syliva wasn't too pleased."

"Really?" Ben was surprised, and suddenly felt a tremendous upsurge of affection for his daughter. That she would she still help his cause even after the continued neglect. I should have made sure she was alright after that damn contest, then chasing after past mistakes. And making new ones.

Jerry nodded, and Ben felt the grip on his hand tighten.

"Ben, there's more..." Jerry sighed. "The nurses didn't want to tell you, and Sylvia agreed. Something about your blood pressure. But - "

"Audrey." Ben whispered. Jerry wasn't bringing bad news about him...

Jerry hurriedly went on, he had obviously been holding all this in since he arrived. "There was an... incident at the bank this morning. They're still trying to figure it out, but as far as anyone can tell, there was some sort of exploision. But Audrey - "

"Jerry!" Ben shouted, bolting up in the bed. His brother nearly fell out of the chair in surprise, as Ben let go of his hand and grabbed the front of Jerry's coat. He pulled him so they were nose-to-nose. His voice was beginning to break. "Is she alive?!"

"She - " Ben then could hear approaching footsteps. Jerry quickly went on, as he tried to get up out of his seat but Ben refused to let go of his coat. "They're still looking for survivors, but I thought it was important as they found some people in what was left of the building not too long ago. But they're not saying who... I'm upset too, Ben, but I have to - " He then prised Ben's hand loose, not noticing his elder brother's grip had slackened away and his body seemed to sag in his bed. Ben was gaping at the cieling. His Audrey... ? Must she suffer for his mistakes too?

Suddenly, a large, burly security guard walked in whom Jerry suddenly hit into as he tried to make a hasty exit. He was followed by a nurse Ben recognized as bringing him his dinner. She narrowed her eyes, and shouted at Jerry. "Mrs. Horne told me you might try this! Her husband is not to be put under any great degree of stress!"

Jerry was about to respond with a fumbling excuse, but all three then jumped in surprise.

"OH GOD!" Ben shouted, slapping his hand to his face, digging the fingernails into his cheek. "WHAT HAVE I DONE?!"

The nurse raced over to Ben's side, as she looked back at Jerry. "Now, you've done it!"

Jerry was aghast. It was likely the nurse's tone reminded him of how Sylvia had spoken to him regarding Ben. "He has a right to know! Jeez, it's his only daughter!"

The nurse looked down at Ben's tear-stricken face. "Please, nurse… she's all I have left after the fiasco that got me here. You have to – "

The nurse nodded. "It's alright Mr. Horne, I'll be sure to arrange something." She then looked at the security man behind her, and indicated to Jerry. "Get him out of here."

Smiling, the security man grabbed Jerry by the shoulder and pulled him towards the door, ignoring Jerry's protests and cries for Ben.

All of this (particularly his younger brother's current predicament) seemed so far away to Ben now. The thought that his ham-fisted campaign to save the Ghostwood forests may have taken his daughter's life made him feel so distant from any other concern. And he and Audrey had just been back on such good terms too, considering the poor example he had been setting for himself as a parent, particularly since Laura Palmer had died.

"Mr. Horne, I'm going to call the emergency room now. I'll let you know as soon as I learn anything."

Ben tried to smile, nodding as he waved the nurse away – leaving him alone in the dark to the pondering of his numbing regrets.

At that very moment, in a room just off the emergency ward, Nurse Mary Rhodes was tending to the unconscious Annie Blackburn in her bed. Not Mary, or indeed, any of the other hospital staff had been informed what exactly had put Ms Blackburn in this state, save for the fact it was the result of her abduction and confrontation with her kidnapper at Glastonbury Grove. Not surprisingly, Deputy Andy Brennan had been none-too-forthcoming on the details.

It seemed to Mary an unusual site for the kidnapper to go at that old circle of sycamores in the woods. She remembered her late grandfather telling ghost stories about the woods surrounding the town when she was younger, and how all the ghosts came from Glastonbury Grove. But Mary had no belief for such stories, she couldn't help but cast her mind back when she heard the name of where Annie was found.

She continued mopping Annie's sweating forehead with a small sponge, as the young girl struggled between conscious and unconsciousness. She then turned towards Mary, and her eyes parted slightly.

Annie then spoke barely above a whisper. "My name is Annie. I've been with Dale and Laura. The good Dale is trapped in the Lodge. Write it in your diary."

Poor thing, has no idea what's happening, Mary thought, putting the sponge back in the basin on Annie's bedside table. She then took Annie's right hand, and smiled at her, hushing her as Annie then closed her eyes. "It's alright dear, we've put in a call to your sister. She's nearly here."

Mary then frowned as she looked down at Annie's hand. There on Annie's ring forefinger, was a strange ring Mary hadn't noticed since she had started tending to the young girl. The rock in the ring was a dark green, and on it a gold symbol. Mary couldn't guess what the strange markings were meant to symbolize, but there was something so alluring about it, almost continually pulling her eyes toward it no matter how hard Mary tried to look away. And before she knew it, Mary was slipping the ring from the unconscious Annie's finger, and onto her own...

" – and then I got Annie Blackburn to the hospital and Harry thought the best idea was to take Agent Cooper to the Great Northern and call Doc Hayward. And then he called me over the radio to tell me to come find you. Is that okay, Hawk?"

Deputy Tommy 'Hawk' Hill smiled in the direction of his fellow Deputy Andy Brennan. The pair, along with Deputy Cappy, were spread around amongst the trees roughly a mile from Glastonbury Grove. Deputy Cappy was some distance ahead judging from the flashlight far away, and unsurprisingly, Andy had rarely left Hawk's side since joining them in their search for Windom Earle.

"Hey, We need all the help we can get, Andy. You don't need me telling you Windom Earle is a dangerous felon that must found as soon as possible."

Andy suddenly shivered, though Hawk couldn't tell whether that was due to the prospect of running into Windom Earle or the unsettling cold that had only taken hold over the woods in the last few hours. Hawk would nearly venture to guess the cold was decidingly unnatural for this time of year, but he kept his focus on the task at hand. And especially not of any ramifications of the forces Dale Cooper and Windom Earle may have confronted - and unleashed - tonight.

He chalked up that grim notion for the reason he'd jumped slightly when Deputy Cappy came over the walkie talkie on his belt. Smiling wryly, Hawk took the walkie talkie from his belt and spoke into it. "We're here, Cappy."

"I'm at an old cabin, not unusual for these parts - there's a few abandoned around here. But there's a series of tracks suggesting someone was here recently."

Hawk could see Andy stiffen uncomfortably out of the corner of his eye. "That must be him. Wait there, we're just behind you. Keep a close eye for any activity inside."

Two days. That was as much as Leo Johnson had endured lying here - carefully balancing the string running from his teeth to the hastily makeshift cage of deadly spiders above him. Two days since Windom Earle said his goodbye to his onetime slave, and parted through the cabin door forever, leaving Leo to his fate.

A combination of rage at Earle and sheer stubbornness had kept Leo going. But he was so far from anyone... and Shelley.

Strange how being held prisoner had eventually cleared his head since the shooting some lifetimes ago - despite the fatigue and constant, numbing fear. He felt no great degree of romantic love for his wife, that much was true, but here, at the hands of the abuse of a different kind of madman... he could now almost understand why she had betrayed him for Bobby. Maybe when they found him, he could tell her that. But maybe Earle had found Bobby's father?

No. Leo couldn't resign himself to that thought yet. Earle had not yet returned, though his goodbye had seemed fairly definite, almost like he did not expect anyone to ever find Leo.

Leo then froze, and struggled to keep his attention on maintaining the string. He could now hear nearby footsteps. He frantically tried to maintain his concentration on the string. By now of course he practically had no feeling in his face, as stiff as his neck was. But just a little longer...

Then, he was sure he heard a walkie talkie. Rescue. Safe.

He rolled his pupils towards where he remembered where the window was. He could see the faint dim of a flashlight outside it, and two more approaching. He heard the men speak in a low mutter.

"What did you find?" It was Deputy Hawk.

"Here." Leo didn't recognize the other man, but he did of the third voice, that of Deputy Brennan. Who would have thought he would ever count that awkward, bumbling Andy Brennan as his saviour?

Leo closed his eyes, struggling to focus and not give in to the urge to scream for help.

"What is it?"

"Fresh footprints. Maybe a day old, coming from inside." Hawk explained. "Harry said to take no chances, fellas."

Leo's eyes quickly snapped open. He could hear the men drawing their guns. No! Just point your flashlights through the window and see where I am!

They were going to disturb the cage if they suddenly barged in. Leo might have cried if he could. There was only one thing for it, he would have to part his mouth slightly and let out some sort of noise to communicate his plight. Desperate yes, but he must -

Suddenly, the door burst open, and slammed off the oppisite wall -

A slight tremble went through the shed, the floor, the walls, the roof -

And then -

The cage also shook wildly. For a moment, Leo's vision was constricted by the flashlights shining on his face, but he could see a dreadful, eight-legged form leap from above...

Then time seemed to come to slow down, as the figures in the Twin Peaks Sheriff's Station uniforms called out his name to him - or shouted in surprise - before the spider dominated his entire line of vision upon landing on his face.

He gritted his teeth as the spider instantly bit into his cheek, and he refused in his exhaustion to scream in pain or fight the spider in vain - however small, it was the one last victory he would never give Windom Earle. He could already hear the rising cries of the deputies calling his name and the loud movement of furniture they shoved aside as they got closer to him. But Leo Johnson paid any of these little thought in his last moment of life, rather, it was that he would now never know if old Major Briggs had saved Shelley.

"Good morning, Robert."

Bobby had just closed the front door and entered the Briggs' household living room, and he jumped a little at the sound of the elder Briggs' voice, spitting his unlit cigarette across the room, where it landed by Garland's feet.

"Sorry." His son smiled sheepishly, walking over and hastily picking up the cigarette and putting it in the pocket of his leather jacket. "You kinda creeped me out sitting in the dark there, Dad."

"Oh, I couldn't sleep. Thought the words of the ancient Scripture would soothe my troubled mind." Garland indicated to the open Bible in his lap. He was currently sitting in the corner of the living room in his dressing gown.

"Yeah right..." Bobby scratched behind his ear self-consciously. "... that whole kidnapping thing... how are you holding up after that?"

Garland shrugged. It had been a topic much avoided, (much as his wife's assistance), in the family since he had come home. "Oh, I don't seem to remember much, and knowing that I'm here with my family seems a good a cure as any."

"Listen Dad, about why I'm late - " Bobby began.

Garland held up a hand. "Now look, son, your mother and I have noticed your obvious attraction to Mrs Johnson enough to put two-and-two together, particularly today in the Double R Diner. But I must remind you that despite whatever questionable reputation her missing husband might have had, she's still married. It is important to still respect those bonds."

As he expected, there was a momentary flash of anger on Bobby's face, but it quickly subsided. Bobby softened, and merely shrugge. "Right. ...Listen, I'm um, heading to bed... early start tomorrow. What about you?"

Garland smiled. "You forget I'm still on leave, Robert. In fact, I was hoping I might avail of your time sometime tomorrow to take a long walk in the woods. The forecast looks good. And it's been a while since we talked of recent developments."

He was heartened to see his son seemed interested. Bobby grinned. "Sure, Dad. Look forward to it"

And with that, father and soon said good night, and Bobby walked up the staircase to his room. Garland bookmarked his page, closing the Bible and leaving it on his shelf.

Not even the words of the ancient Scripture could soothe his troubled thoughts tonight. What could Sarah Palmer have ment today in the Double R? In that strange, unearthly voice?

I'm with Dale Cooper in the Black Lodge. I'm waiting for you.

The Black Lodge was an old legend of the Flathead Native American tribe long before Windom Earle had coveted it's power. And Garland had seen enough in his time at the military, and particularly recently, since Laura Palmer died, to sit up and take notice of such things. Before, he would have instantly reported such a matter to the military. But lately, there was one other, who perhaps held a deeper understanding and connection to these mysterious forces...

He had in fact visited Glastonbury Grove later that day not long after meeting Sarah, to find and armed and waiting Sheriff Truman sitting on a dirt bank outside the circle of sycamore trees. Truman had explained to him what he had seen the night before. Garland himself tried stepping into the circle of sycamores to no effect. He thought it best to leave Truman to his guard until there were more developments. And in fact, not too long ago, Truman had personally called him at home to tell him that an unconscious Dale Cooper and Annie Blackburn had been found. But there was no sight of Windom Earle.

Had Earle found what he was looking for? Who else could have been waiting for Garland in the Black Lodge - if that realm did indeed exist?

These were questions that had continued to play in his mind since learning of Cooper's reappearance, and they continued to trouble him as he returned to bed alongside his sleeping wife. Were these forces something he himself dare tamper with? For what purpose would he need to? He had confronted his own recent terrors, and beaten them. And perhaps it best for now that Dale Cooper was left to confront his own.

"Coop... ? Coop?"

"Cooper, are you alright?"

Sheriff Harry Truman and Doctor William Hayward anxiously watched the door of the bathroom of room No. 315 at the Great Northern Hotel. Mere moments had passed when a dazed Dale Cooper shut the door behind him, requesting to brush his teeth. All of a sudden both had heard a great smash from inside the bathroom, and were currently looking between the door and each other with increasing worry.

Harry then quickly walked over to the door, listening again, and hearing nothing - he took a step back for a moment. Raising his foot, he put all his weight into it towards the area surrounding the door knob, and successfuly kicked the door open. Hayward was close behind when the two carefully looked around the door, and were greeted with a shocking sight.

FBI Special Agent Dale Cooper lay flat on his back on the floor in front of the bathroom and the sink. The sink and the mirror above it were littered with broken glass, and blood. Cooper himself, meanwhile, was lying comfortably as if he had never left his bed. Safe for the fact a bloody wound covered his forehead, streaming down his face onto his dark blue pyjamas.

His eyes then snapped open, and he glanced to his right directly at the sheriff. He regarded Harry and Hayward with a wide, eerie smile.

"I slipped and hit my head on the mirror. The glass broke as it struck my head." To Harry, it was as if Cooper was commenting on the impressive Douglas Firs of the surrounding woods. Cooper then laughed. "It struck me as funny, Harry. Do you understand me, Harry, it struck me as funny."

There was an extended pause, until Hayward finally spoke in a stern tone. "You are going straight back to bed."

Both he and Harry then carefully tucked an arm under each of Cooper's shoulders and gently pulled him onto his feet.

To Harry's surprise, Cooper's expression seemed to soften as they pulled the battered FBI Agent towards the bathroom door.

Cooper glanced at his right towards Harry, a genuinely baffled expression on his face. It was like he almost didn't register the increasingly bloody wound on his forehead. "But… I haven't finished brushing my teeth yet." He then smiled at Harry with that same wide, eerie grin as before.

"Careful there, Harry. We'll have to sit him up"

Now out of the bathroom, Will let go off his grip on Cooper as Harry put Dale's right arm around the back of his shoulders. He was now entirely supporting Cooper's weight as Hayward quickly pulled back the covers of the bed.

Harry put Cooper down on the bed, while Hayward busied himself looking through his medical bag.

"We better make sure that damn wound isn't infected, and then I'm calling the hospital. What was he thinking?!"

Harry shook his head, as he pulls the covers up towards Cooper's chest. He grimaced as he noticed some of Cooper's blood staining the front of his own shirt.

Cooper was now squinting at him through the blood now streaming into his eyes.

"Wound? Woooouuuunnnnddd." It almost like Cooper was testing how the word sounded coming out of his own mouth. Cooper seemed to chuckle to himself for a moment, and he then gasped.

Grabbing Harry's wrist, Cooper suddenly pulled him close – his eyes wide. "Wound?! … Harry, I remember now! Windom Earle!"

Harry nodded, pulling off Cooper's wrist and then laying his hands on Cooper's shoulders, forcing his friend to relax on the pillows behind him.

"Take it easy, Coop! That's right, Windom Earle! Don't you remember…"

Cooper frowned, as Hayward unbuttoned the sleeve of his pyjamas and pulled the sleeve back towards the elbow. Harry could see the doctor preparing a syringe. Cooper didn't seem to pay the doctor any notice.

"I remember… Windom." Cooper muttered. "And he wounded me… and then… "

"… Caroline! He killed Caroline! Oh God, Harry, what have I done?!" Cooper cried. He then suddenly lunged forward, knocking the syringe out of Hayward's hand as he tried to throw off the covers of the bed.

Harry was having none of it, grabbing his friend by his shoulders and flinging him back onto the bed – the back of Cooper's head hitting the heading board with a load smack. Harry winced at the sound but kept his grip in place, should his friend tried to escape again.

Quickly taking advantage of Cooper's daze, Hayward then injected the contents of the syringe into the inside of Cooper's elbow. Harry felt the FBI Agent's body relax, and he was then out cold.

"My first inclination was to fix his wound, but I had to be careful he wouldn't try a stunt like that again…" Hayward explained, as he began sorting through the contents of his medical bag again.

Harry nodded slowly, watching as the blood continue to trickle down Cooper's face from the wound in his forehead. This certainly wasn't the Dale Cooper he was expecting to find when he returned from… wherever those red curtains had led to. The notion his friend had now seemed to have lost his mind – however temporary – disturbed Harry deeply. What if Cooper didn't recover fully enough to explain what had transpired beyond those red curtains? How had he rescued Annie? And what had become of Windom Earle? There had been no sight of the rogue FBI Agent since Cooper materialized with Annie at Glastonbury Grove. And the loss of Cooper, always the one with the clear-cut answers, always with a keen awareness of the higher order of things, would be a crushing defeat after all that had happened since Laura Palmer's murder.

And once again, Harry could not help but grimly note, with all the crises to engulf the town in the last two days that somehow the situation with Dale Cooper seemed to be at the center of it. It almost didn't seem fair, Cooper being the outsider and putting his life on the line for them all again and again, and yet remaining so deeply enraptured with the people and places of this town – despite all the horror that had visited it during his brief time here. "Heaven is a large and interesting place, sir" Cooper had said to Judge Sternwood. Too right, Coop.

"I'll ring the hospital, Doc."

The Red Room. The dwarf – who then dances to the melancholic tune of a lone cabaret singer. Bob looming before him with a nasty grin. Not uncommon sights in his dreams. And then Windom Earle –

"I wasn't sleeping." Dale Cooper's eyes snapped open, sitting up from his position on the black-and-white zigzag patterned floor. The images he had seen before his eyes were not abstract images of his dreams, but recent memories.

Getting to his feet, Dale looked around at his surroundings of the room that red curtains lined on all four of it's sides.

He looked around, surprised to find he was alone. Ever since he had entered what was – if not what he had expected the Black Lodge to be – then certainly the strange realm of his dream that revealed to him the clues to Laura Palmer's killer, where he had encountered several of the other-worldly spirits that had become so central to life in the town of Twin Peaks since he'd arrived.

Frowning to himself, he thought for a moment how long he had been alone in this particular room, but he had his suspicions that the passing of time had little meaning here in contrast to the 'real' world. Here, where had met the ancient spirits of the woods made manifest… and ghosts from his past. At long last coming to face with his old mentor, Windom Earle, hopelessly consumed by his own insanity.

Dale sat down in the chair, half-expecting, half-hoping the dwarf or something might appear on the couch – but nothing. Why was it getting so difficult to remember? Windom was here, he had made a promise… for….

"Annie." Dale muttered to himself, "How's Annie?" He recalled feeling a certain relief that she had been seemingly saved by way of Cooper surrendering his soul to Earle, but it was difficult to deduce what exactly this entailed to his status right now. No, Annie was safe, he realized. She has to be – he couldn't deal with the prospect he'd given his life for his girlfriend for nothing. Dale struggled to remain calm with a technique, but it was getting hard to focus in this eerily silent realm, not to mention his increasing panic and dread. He gripped the arms of his chair, struggling to remember. Something about the terms of Windom's deal…

Bob. Dale stood up, and turned around to face the curtained wall opposite him. Yes, Bob had appeared, and not at all pleased with Windom dishing out life and death in his realm. Then there was a man with Dale's face... that had registered to Dale as a sort of extension of Bob's power. The man like Dale, with those blank, cold eyes and eerie grin had then pursued him through the red curtains… through all these rooms… He wanted Dale, perhaps wanting to consume him – like Windom.

And Dale had ran. Desperately seeking for a way out, somehow in this room he knew the surrounding sycamore trees of Glastonbury Grove lay beyond these curtains, where he hoped Annie would be awaiting with Harry Truman. His hands had almost breached the curtain, and then he felt a ferocious burning impact on his back, and mocking laughter and then followed by total darkness.

Carefully, Dale reached up through the curtains and jumped when he felt a cold, hard marble wall instead of the exit.

"No!" he cried, frantically parting the curtains to see the white marble lining this wall. He ran towards both sides of the room on his left and right, and found, once parting the curtains, the walls behind them were all the same.

"Only one thing for it." he muttered to himself as he walked swiftly towards the wall opposite him. To his surprised, Dale then emerged into another corridor. As he slowly, hesitatingly, walked down the corridor, he suddenly became aware of noises in his immediate vicinity. And these were voices, but the words were unclear. Dale began to spin on the spot with increasingly franticness, it was difficult to pinpoint where these voices were coming from in his immediate vicinity. He then stopped, listening carefully. The voices – and words spoken by them – were clearer now. But no, these were not the spirits of the Black Lodge talking in their strange stilted speech, bur rather, voices from Cooper's past.

"Through the darkness of futures passed, the magician longs to see. One chants out between two worlds: Fire Walk With Me." It was the words of the one-armed man, Phillip Michael Gerrard – or Mike - from his dream. Mike continued, "We lived among the people. I think you would say… convenience store? We lived above it."

Mike was then seemingly interrupted by another voice so familiar to Dale. The rambling words of a confused and tormented man called Phillip Jeffries, a once-lost FBI Agent who had materialized in Gordon Cole's office a year before Laura Palmer's murder. "… they were in a convenience store…"

Mike's voice then seemed to continue without having noticed the interruption, but Dale recognised his words from another time. During when both he, Harry and Dale Cooper's superior, Gordon Cole, interrogated the man – or at least the troubled spirit within him – prior to identifying Laura Palmer's killer. "We went killing together", Mike explained, referring to Bob.

Dale then heard his own voice, pressing Mike, "Where's Bob now?"

Dale's own voice, could be heard again. It was almost like all these words from different points in his immediate past were complimenting each other. "II believe the Black Lodge to be the home of Bob."

Harry Truman then speaking of dangers close to home, "… evil in these woods…"

Deputy Tommy 'Hawk' Hill intoning a legend of his people, "But it is said, if you confront the Black Lodge with imperfect courage, it will annihilate your soul."

Leland Palmer, crying, "He said he wanted lives, he wanted others! Others that they could use… like they used me!"

"NO!", Dale cried, the words were now coming from his own lips. He felt his balance suddenly become unsteady. The words of the past continued to be heard, overlapping one another, seemingly ignorant of Dale Cooper's plea for them not to be true. It was almost like a broken record was playing.

"Where's Bob now?"

"… so he could use them…."

"Just like what happened to you in Pittsburgh, huh, Cooper?!"

"… so he could use them… "

Suddenly, the corridor darkened, and Cooper turned around to see a bright light suddenly shining at the end of the corridor. The Giant stood there, regarding Dale with a downcast and troubled expression. Strangely, he did not seem to talk in the stilted speech as before when he appeared alongside the dwarf.

"You did not pay great heed to my warning. Now, you will rightfully suffer the price."

A great anger rose up in Dale's throat. He had no patience for this sage-like being's vague words now. Especially not if the situation was a dire as Dale now suspected. "I couldn't let Annie die. Windom Earle was using her soul to open the gateway and seize the power of this place for himself."

The Giant shook his head slowly, "Your beloved was never in any danger. And your former friend, though he did not realize it, was merely seeking he who was once a part of him before. For trying to control this place, he also paid his own price. Your beloved was an innocent and pawn in his schemes, she did nothing wrong and was not desired by our mutual enemy then – she would have been returned to you. However, fear for her safety – and your own – when you arrived here opened up your mind and soul to a most determined evil."

"So, what you saying?"

The Giant seemed to pause for a moment, before continuing, "You already know. The one you call 'Bob' is now free in your world." He held up a hand before Cooper could say anything. "But do not feel guilt for your part in this. While he escaped his earthly vessel, it was always inevitable that Bob would return to your world to unleash pain and suffering on your kind once more. He was merely biding his time here, and growing in power after his previous defeat."

"So, he is in my body…" Cooper whispered. Desperate not to focus on the peril those close to him were now in, Cooper struggled to focus on his guide's presence, as limited as the Giant's time usually was. "What can I do?"

"Nothing you can do to help your loved ones in your world now. Already, a new path is being laid out before those who must now step up and recognize Bob for who he is. But there is a task you can do to help those who oppose Bob."

Cooper began breathing heavily. "That being?"

"Claim the arm and guard over she who cannot find her way home." the Giant said, and with that, he began to fade.

"Wait! How can I know how my friends are dealing with Bob?" Dale cried, beginning to feel the overwhelming panic and disorientation threatening to consume him again. But the Giant had completely disappeared, and the corridor brightened again, bringing an eerie silence with it. Dale stood on the spot where the Giant had been. He was now alone, again. And with the horrific possibilities that awaited his friends now running through his mind, all Dale Cooper could do was begin to weep.