It only took ten minutes for the deputies to show up. Tom and I had run out of things to say while we were waiting for them. We knew we would have to discuss it eventually, but at the time, neither of us wanted to talk about how to deal with Scratch. We had lost the clicker, which was the best weapon we could possibly wish for. Without it, we were back at square one, and I hated it.

I was sitting on a large rock, and Tom was leaning against a tree when the police car came to a stop by us. Both doors opened, and two men stepped out. The older of the two had dark brown hair, and a large brown mustache on his upper lip. He wore the basic "SHERIFF" jacket, with his badge displayed on the front, and his dark green pants matched the jacket perfectly. He looked very professional. The younger one had untidy black hair, and blue eyes. He looked energetic, and ready for anything. He too wore the "SHERIFF" jacket, but he wore jeans instead of the pants the older one was wearing, indicating he was more casual on the job.

"Mr. Wake?" asked the older deputy.

"Yeah, that's me," I answered.

"I'm Deputy Mulligan, this here's my partner Deputy Thornton," he said indicating the younger man. "I was told we need to give you a ride back to Bright Falls?"

"Yes, me and my friend, Tom, need to get back into town," I said pointing to Tom.

"Alright, get in the back, I'll get you there no problem," he said with an air of slight indifference. He got back into the driver's seat, and closed the door behind him. Thornton opened up the back door, and held it as Tom got in, followed by me.

"It's an honor to meet you, Mr. Wake," said Thornton as I started to get in.

"Pleasure's mine," I responded as the door closed.

"Leave the man alone Thornton," said Mulligan. He sounded annoyed. Along the way in my last battle against the darkness I had heard Mulligan and Thornton over the radio. I had gathered that they got along well enough, but Thornton easily got on Mulligan's nerves. I guessed that they might have been partners for a long time.

The drive took about a half hour. In that time, Mulligan had asked the usual small talk questions, such as "How my stay was?" and "Did I enjoy Bright Falls?" I answered the questions, not paying him too much mind. It wasn't until he mentioned that Alice had turned up that I got interested in what he was saying.

"Alice?" I asked, perking up at the sound of her name.

"Yeah. See, Sheriff Breaker was out by Cauldron Lake looking for leads a few days ago, and low-and-behold, your wife turns up, soaking wet, and asking where you are. Anyway, she's been at the station everyday since then, waiting to hear anything about you. Looks like today is your guy's lucky day,"

"How many days has it been since she turned up?" I asked. I was glad to hear Alice was safe, and she was with Sarah. Now I just needed to know how long I had been in that cabin.

"About five days I would say," said Thornton. Tom was remaining eerily silent. He seemed to be lost in thought. "So, uhh, what were you two doing out here anyway?" Thornton continued.

"Hiking," said Tom. "We got a little lost, and had no cell service. We eventually found the lake, and lucky for us, some signal," I was surprised he had come up with a cover story so fast, though seeing as he was a writer, I guess it made sense. At least it kept the deputies from asking further questions.

When we finally pulled up to the station Thornton got out and opened the door for us. The receptionist welcomed us with a friendly smile, and informed me that Sarah was expecting us in her office. Thornton and Mulligan said their goodbyes, and left the station. Tom followed me to Sarah's office. I knocked on her door, and opened. Before I had even fully stepped into the room, I was being surrounded by a pair of arms.

"Alan!" came a cry filled with fear, worry, joy, excitement, and love.

"Alice," I said hugging her back as if letting her go would mean losing her again. Her blond hair was tied back in its signature ponytail, and she was wearing a pair of skintight jeans, with a light coat over her white t-shirt. When we let go of each other, I was gripped in another bear hug; this time from Barry.

"Ha ha! Al, I knew you could do it! I just knew!" he said. I looked over and saw Sarah leaning on her desk.

"Nice job, Wake," she said with a proud smile.

"So it's finally over, right? We beat this thing?" asked Barry, triumphantly.

"Unfortunately, no." I said in a dull tone. "In fact, that was only the beginning,"

At my words, all joy seemed to have been sucked out of the room. No one was smiling, Barry looked confused, but also frightened. Even Sarah, who was cool under pressure, looked scared.

"Alan, what do you mean?" asked Alice in a worried voice.

"He means Barbara Jagger was defeated, but there is a new threat. This is far from over," said Tom.

"And you are?" asked Sarah, giving Tom a questioning look.

"Thomas Zane, a writer who aided Alan in his last battle against the Dark Presence," he said. Sarah looked taken aback, but Barry's eyes widened as he recognized the name. In the early stages of our little adventure, Barry had done some digging through the dust on anything involving Cauldron Lake. Some of the information he found involved Zane and Jagger.

"When I was at the bottom of Cauldron Lake, the Dark Presence made a copy of me, called Mr. Scratch. With Jagger gone, Scratch has become the new face of the Dark Presence. When I freed Tom and myself from the cabin, I had to write another story, and that made Scratch more powerful. We have to stop him before he destroys everything," I said summing up our situation.

"So then, what's our next move?" asked Sarah.

"First things first. Barry, I need you to take Alice away from Bright Falls. Today," I said.

"What? Alan! I can't leave without you!" Alice pleaded.

"You have to, I have to stay and fight Scratch, but I can't keep you in harms way. It would be best if you were as far away from here as possible," I said. This wasn't easy for me, but I had to keep Alice safe. "Barry can you do that?" I asked.

"Yeah… yeah I can do that," his voice was very somber, as he understood how much this meant to me. "Alice listen to him, it's too dangerous," he said.

Alice didn't look happy about this, but she didn't complain anymore. I turned back to Sarah.

"I think it's safe to assume we'll be dealing with more Taken. We'll need to prepare accordingly. I think we'll need to keep the people alert, but don't tell them exactly what's going on. They'd never believe us. Also, we don't want to start a panic," I said. Sarah nodded.

"Ok, I'll send out another alert call to that list, it should let everyone know to be wary without divulging too much information," she said. "I'll also make some calls and get your wife and Barry out of here as soon as possible,"

"I'd appreciate that," I replied. With that Sarah left the room to make her calls, Barry followed her. After a brief pause, Tom went out as well, I figured he wanted to give Alice and I some alone time. I walked over to her, wrapping my arms around her, I kissed her gently on the forehead.

"I don't want to leave you," she said in a weak voice.

"I know," I replied in a soft tone. "But Mr. Scratch will try to use anything he can against me. I'm not going to lose you to the darkness again,"

"I know you just want to protect me, but I'm going to worry about you everyday that you're gone,"

"Don't be worried. I can, and will win this fight. Even against the smallest ray of light the darkness must fall,"

Alice didn't say anything to that, but I could tell she was on the verge of tears. I simply tightened my grip around her, to tell her that no matter what I would return to her. I glanced at the clock, it read noon. If Barry acted fast, he could easily be home and free of the Dark Presence here before night fell.

Alice and I left the office. Walking around the corner, we were met by Sarah who informed us that transportation for Barry and Alice had been arranged. Barry was already waiting for her in the car he had rented.

I walked Alice out of the station, and opened the car door for her. Before she got in, she hugged me one last time, and whispered softly in my ear.

"You will always be my light," she said. I didn't say anything to that, but before I closed the door I looked very seriously at Barry.

"Take care of her," I said.

"Of course," he replied. I watched as he drove off with Alice, away from the horror that was to become Bright Falls. When they were out of sight, I walked back inside where Tom and Sarah were waiting for me.

"Now what?" she asked me.

"We prepare," I answered.