Arc 1: The Return
Chapter 6: A Beacon in the Night
"Wake… Alan Wake?" Shepard questioned, keeping her guard up as she regarded the man. He held his weapon with familiarity, as though he knew how to use it to its best, which was just proven saving the Commander from that… creature/thing.
Wake nodded, "Yes." He said simply, before motioning with his lowered hand holding the flashlight, "Who are you?"
A split-second memory appeared in Shepard's head. A dream, yet it wasn't. She was surrounded by darkness. A warning. A dire warning by two men, one of which had the same voice as the writer before her. The Dark Presence. The Darkness. The villainous entity from Wake's novel, Departure. Then, she remembered the fact that it was a fictional novel, written over a hundred years ago… by the man this person was obviously pretending to be.
Deciding to introduce herself, Shepard looked into the man's eyes, "Shepard."
"Shepard?" He asked, raising a dark eyebrow, "Is that your name, or a code name?" He asked, hoping this wouldn't be a repeat of Agent Nightingale.
"My last name. I'm Commander Jennifer Shepard." She said, surprised that the man had not recognized her name.
"Jennifer Shepard?" Wake racked his brain for the name, feeling as though he knew it, but could come up with nothing. The name was meaningless to him. No recognition, yet his gut told him the name was important. He threw the thought to the back of his mind. A worry for another time.
Recalling the page he'd found in the barn, Wake realized that this must be the woman it was talking about. Someone important enough to gain the attention of the Dark Presence. Someone important enough to have this 'Alliance' searching for her. He had the flare gun and the cabin was in ruins, most of the page was ready to come true, he only needed a few more things.
The writer turned toward the commander, "Jennifer." He started, surprising the woman. She was almost never referred to by her first name. "What's going on here?" He decided to ask, "What was that thing that attacked you?" He, of course, knew half the information, but she didn't know that.
She lowered her guard slightly, and turned toward where the thing had previously existed, "I… I'm not sure…" She said, "I, I think it was a person. I knew him from earlier today, met the agent at the Oh Deer Diner."
'The Oh Deer diner, huh? That was good,' The writer thought, 'A familiar location, not too far away.' He then spoke aloud, "An agent?"
"Alliance Intelligence." She responded simply. Wake was unsure what to make of the information, but decided to pretend that he knew what that meant. Probably wasn't the FBC. Something in his gut churned, causing his gaze to return to her odd weapon.
"Is that where you got that?" He asked.
"This? It's my Carnifex."
"Carnifex?" He asked, confused. "I've never seen such a weapon, before."
"Well, I've never seen a weapon like that before in person, either." She replied, "An antique."
"Antique?" He asked. The weapon has hardly old, maybe a few years old based on how long that cache had likely been there thanks to Weever. He shook his head, ignoring the nonsense for a moment, "Alright, so why are you here?"
"I could ask you the same thing."
'Dammit, this wasn't getting anywhere.' Wake thought. He looked at the woman, and immediately discarded the idea of lying to her about owning this cabin. She wouldn't believe him, she was sharper than that. "I woke up by the lake, no idea where I was. I'm trying to find a way out of here." He finally told her.
Her sharp, green gaze analyzed him, "With an old revolver?"
"Bears." He lied easily, "And I've taken self-defense classes before. I know how to use it." Unfortunatly, there were far bigger dangers in these woods than an aggressive bear.
She lowered her weapon fully and spoke, finally answering his earlier question, "I was investigating Bright Falls with my team, when my shuttle crashed into the lake."
"Investigating Bright Falls?" He asked. Was she FBC? Or, perhaps, hired by the FBC? "For what?"
"There's been reports of Reaper technology reappearing, here."
"Reaper?" He had no context, here.
"Yeah, the Reapers? You know, those giant ships that tried to kill everyone in the galaxy three years ago?"
'Some sort of sci-fi movie. Was she role-playing or something?' He wondered. "Right… the giant ships that almost made us and the aliens go extinct." He said sarcastically.
Of course, for an unforeseen reason, Shepard narrowed her eyes at Alan, frowned with a scowl at the man for his disbelief. "What's that supposed to mean?" She asked him, seemingly offended at his off-handed, sarcastic remark.
"I'm just saying that you're not exactly making sense, here. I think I'd know if we were attacked by aliens." He'd certainly have at least heard something through the inky layers of the lake.
"We were." She replied evenly, "What, have you been living under a rock or something. Hell, even then, you'd have known."
Wake shook his head, "Listen, lady, I suppose we could play twenty questions all night long, but I'd like to sleep in a warm bed and wake up to a cup of coffee, so why don't we try to get out of here?"
Shepard locked eyes with the man for a moment, before nodding, "Of course, we can discuss your disbelief later. Anything of use in the barn?" She asked, motioning to the structure beside them.
Wake recalled the words on the manuscript page. Obviously, it held the solution. Jennifer was obviously important enough to be searched for, and something like a massive fire would certainly gain attention from the circling helicopters or 'shuttles' searching the lake. He finally nodded, turning back and walking inside the barn, leading the way.
He looked over to the side and motioned toward the bench he'd seen earlier. "Found a first-aid kit, in case you're injured. Speaking of, are you okay? Looks like you crashed hard through the cabin."
Shepard, speaking behind him, looked around the barn at the antique equipment and covered car, "I'm fine, my biotics shielded me during the charge. But hold onto the medi-gel, just in case."
'Seems like she knows what it is. Interesting, but not important.' He internally mused, choosing not to go down the rabbit hole with the odd woman by asking what she meant by biotics. He looked over the radio and finally turned it on, it automatically playing static over the speakers spread across the barn. He winced, as did Shepard, causing him to quickly apologize.
"Sorry."
After a moment, he got the radio frequency changed, turning into a nearby radio station.
"…and clear skies for the rest of the evening, but heavy fog appears to have settled in within the woods surrounding Cauldron Lake." The man on the radio said, finishing up a weather report for the area.
"Huh." Shepard said with curiosity, "Didn't think the radio would pick up anything anymore." She remarked from her position. After a moment, "Aha!"
Wake turned around, "What is it?"
She held up a flare gun she'd found, "We could send up a signal with this." She told him, "The Alliance will find us in no time."
Wake smiled and nodded, internally happy that he could conserve his own ammunition for his own flare gun. The two of them suddenly had their attention pulled by the radio as the host spoke up.
"This is the third night of searching for Commander Jennifer Shepard. Commander Shepard, our dear listeners, went missing after her shuttle crashed into Cauldron Lake, starting one of the biggest manhunts in Alliance History as they search for any clues for her whereabouts. In related news, a tenth diver has gone missing during the searches tonight, vanishing without a trace deep under the lake. Please, if anyone has any information, please reach out to our station or the Alliance…" He went on for another moment or two before switching to a commercial break.
Wake turned to Shepard, seeing her slack-jawed reaction. "Three days…?" She asked herself quietly, "I've been missing for three days? H-how…?"
Wake felt sorry for her, but at least that was better than the week he'd been missing during his first venture into the lake. Shaking himself from his thoughts, he approached her and put a gentle hand on her shoulder, "Jennifer, it'll be alright." he reassured her, reaching another hand out to her, "Give me the flare gun, I'll signal for help. Why don't you look around for anything else we could use?"
Shepard shrugged it off, looking at the man before her. She couldn't help but feel slightly insulted by the request, but squashed the feeling down. Now wasn't the time. She needed to get back to the Alliance and show them that she's fine… aside from that weird encounter with the shadowy person.
She handed him the flare gun, before the winds outside suddenly began picking up, whistling through the woods outside the barn. A crash and bang was heard as the lights all flickered, yet the radio still played uninterrupted, the commercial continuing despite the near-lack of power. A 'Crack' was heard as a lightbulb shattered outside the barn. They both jumped at that, before shaking themselves from the shock. "Or, let's get outside. No use hanging out in here right now." He remarked, remembering the dream where he'd been in a house assaulted by the darkness, which was thrown. He'd rather not experience that again.
In agreement, they exited the barn. As they approached the exit, the commercial break came to a close as a song began to play, with only the opening intro starting by the time they stepped out.
The fog obscured sight beyond a short field of vision as the night grew darker. Visibility wasn't great, so they needed something big. Something able to pierce the likely supernatural fog to gain the attention of those searching for her. Wake knew what needed to be done.
With the music from the barn radio playing behind him, Wake stepped out under the broken light post outside the barn and turned his attention to the now-ruined cabin. Raising the flare gun toward the hole, he fired a single flare inside.
The night wind howled in protest at the action, responding to his daring move by making the generator fail, plunging the barn into darkness. The music continued to play as the cabin ignited, serving as a beacon for both the Alliance and for the Darkness.
Shepard looked around wildly at the wind and fog, shocked at the sudden howling and the way the barn exploded into flame. How on earth did a single flare, in just a single second, cause the entire structure to burst into flame. Furthermore, the fire spiraled itself into a pillar of flame, which didn't make much sense given the circumstances.
"What the hell was that?" She asked, turning and glaring at the man.
He held his hands up in surrender, "If I fired the flare and they missed it, we'd be stuck out here. This way, they have a clear beacon."
"Still!" She yelled at him, "This was someone's cabin! We can't just burn down someone's stuff just because we're stranded out here!"
Any further argument ended suddenly as chills went down both of their spines, both feeling countless dark glares on them from the shadows of the trees, obscured by the fog. Shepard pulled out her weapon in anticipation as Wake did the same, turning their attention to the side. Idly, Wake recognized the song from his venture in Night Springs. Seems the Old Gods of Asgard were still looking over him with their musical works.
The extended intro on the radio, which could still, somehow, be heard from outside in perfect clarity, ended and the song actually began.
"Deep in the ocean of darkness
In the mirror of light
Balance becomes a stranger
And in your fantasies
He writes a storm on your peace"
As the song began, angry groaning and shouting could be heard as a pair of shadowy beings burst into the small clearing. One wielded a sickle, while another held an ax. Shepard took a step back and raised her weapon at them in surprise, seeing the lack of surprise on Alan's face out of the corner of her eye. He, too, raised his weapon toward them, but also raised a flashlight toward them as well.
"What the hell are these things?" Shepard asked.
"Taken." The writer replied neutrally, "They're weak to light." He explained quickly, before the Taken interrupted.
"No Sequel this time, writer!" The one with the sickle screeched, dashing forward and swinging at the pair of them. Shepard rolled backward as Alan rolled under the swing, keeping his light trained on the Taken. The hold shattered, and he shouted at Shepard. "Now!"
"Beyond the Shadow you settled for, there is a miracle illuminated."
She used her biotics, now, grabbing the former man in one motion with her biotics and threw it into the barn, before firing a single shot into its head. It dissolved into mist as the second being approached. Light shined upon it thanks to Wake, and the Darkness' grasp faltered as well. This time, Shepard grabbed and biotically threw it into the burning cabin. It disintegrated into nothingness right as it reached the tongues of flame. Wake was shocked by the biotic display, but quickly got his shock under control. He recalled writing about Fayden, and her supernatural abilities; specifically the ability to grab and throw objects and enemies. Perhaps Shepard had those types of abilities as well?
"Deep in the ocean of darkness
In the mirror of light
Balance becomes a stranger.
And in your fantasies
He writes a storm on your peace.
Wake up and smell the danger."
As the song continued, and the rock music played, more shadowy people emerged at the tree line, all with short-range melee weapons. As one, the nearly dozen taken charged toward the pair.
"Ever the light casts a shadow.
Ever the night springs from the light."
Working together, as soon as they approached, Alan reached down and threw a lit flare onto the ground, illuminating the horde while using his flashlight to finish off the protective aura around them.
Shepard moved like a machine of war, biotically dashing into the fray amongst the weakened Taken.
"In the end, it's never just the light you need
When balance slays the demon, you'll find peace
In the end, it's never just the dark you seek
When balance slays the demon, you'll find peace
Find your peace."
She'd smashed into one, killing it in the single attack, before open firing with her Carnifex into a second and third. With her biotics, she threw another into the burning structure, ending its existence, before biotically charging a second time, hitting a pair of Taken and killing them. Wake, himself, focused on those further away, killing those away from Shepard so as not to chance hitting her.
"Beyond the lake he called home
Lies a deeper, darker ocean green."
Like an evil twin, feel it scratching within
Like an insane sudden raging
And his beautiful face in his leather and lace
So can't you see the play he's staging?"
Soon enough, the Taken were eliminated, leaving the pair of humans alone in the clearing in the burning clearing, the sounds of distant shuttles growing louder.
"Ever the light casts a shadow
Ever the night springs from the light
In the end, it's never just the light you need
When balance slays the demon, you'll find peace
In the end, it's never just the dark you seek
When balance slays the demon, you'll find peace
Find your peace."
As the guitar solo began, a sudden roar came from the tree line behind them. Standing at the edge of the clearing at a monstrosity of a creature. A huge humanoid with bulging muscles, with deformed purple skin, carrying a concrete-saw. It bellowed in anger as its dark-filled eyes focused on Wake.
Shepard let out a gasp of shock, "What the fuck is that?"
"A Giant." Wake replied, focusing on the Taken Giant before him. He hadn't seen many in his time, but he knew how dangerous they were.
Suddenly, it stepped forward, then stepped again soon after. It began rushing as fast as it could toward the two of them.
Reloading their weapons, Wake trained his flashlight on the creature as Shepard threw bright blue warps at the creature.
"In the end, it's never just the light you need
When balance slays the demon, you'll find peace
In the end, it's never just the dark you seek
When balance slays the demon, you'll find peace
Find your peace."
As the song began to end, going into its final verse, Wake finally reached down and grabbed his own flare gun, firing his one and only shot at the creature. The flare barely touched the beast's chest before the world was shrouded in a bright, red flash of light, the flare exploding. As they looked upon the beast, it was gone, nothing but flecks of ash left behind as it faded from reality.
As the final proof of the supernatural creatures faded from existence, the sound of a shuttle finally reached its crescendo. The flying brick, as Cortez refers to it, appeared over the tree line and seemed to look down upon the two of them, before it began lowering to the ground. Wake was in a state of awe.
What was this? What the hell was happening? Many things resurfaced in his mind that had occurred since exiting the lake.
The weird weaponry Shepard was using.
Her confusion at his 'antique' weaponry.
Her surprise at the use of a radio.
The existence of some sort of 'Alliance' that he'd never heard of.
A single question formed from these thoughts, the answer to which would terrify the writer: How long had he been down there, sealed beneath the lake?
He was shaken from his stupor as the futuristic flying machine landed and a door slid open on its side, revealing a man in some sort of formal suit, accompanied by a woman in blue armor. The woman rushed forward and stared at Shepard.
"Commander…?" She asked in a whisper.
"Hey, Ash." Jennifer replied with a grin, causing the woman to finally finish her journey, joining the two women in a friendly hug.
"Shepard." She said simply, "I'm so glad you're okay. We saw the flames and smoke and were sent to investigate."
"Good." She said, finally breaking the hug, turning toward the man accompanying the other Specter. Said man was staring intently at Alan, a frown on his face as he scrutinized her partner. "Who's your friend?"
Ashley shook her head with a frown, "He's not a friend, he's-." She was abruptly cut off by the man.
"Agent Daniels." He replied quickly, "FBC." He identified.
Alan's eyes widened in surprise. The FBC was here, too? This far into the future? Or was it? He wasn't sure yet.
"Who's this man with you?" Agent Daniels asked, reaching down toward his holstered weapon on his hip.
"Says his name is Alan Wake." She replied, her eyebrows scrunching in confusion, "FCB? I'm not aware of any such organization."
"Need to know." He replied without emotion, turning back toward Alan, "Alan Wake?"
Wake nodded, "Yes?"
"By order of Director Drescher, you are to be taken in for questioning." He said.
"On who's authority?" Wake asked incredulously. He'd just gotten out of that damned lake, and now the FBC wanted him for something?
"Director Drescher." He repeated.
Shepard and Ashley looked on in confusion, the former speaking, "I'm sorry Agent Daniels, but he'll be needed by Alliance Intelligence during my debriefing of the situation."
The Agent, slowly growing agitated, shook his head, "The FBC's authority does not answer to the Alliance. We'll be taking him."
Something about the agent rubbed Shepard the wrong way. She had a feeling that there was more going on than she was aware of, especially considering the supernatural dark creatures that had been hunting herself and Wake that night. She heard in internal voice warn her that Wake was important, and if she gave him up to this FBC Agent, that he'd never be heard from again.
"This FBC is above the Alliance?" She asked incredulously.
"Our interests supersede Alliance interests." He answered simply as though simply stating it was dark outside.
"Spectre Authority trumps yours." She stated as a fact with a narrowed gaze, "I'm afraid he'll be coming with me."
For the first time, emotion could be seen in the agent's eyes as raw fury burned in his eyes, "Commander Jennifer Shepard." He said through gritted teeth, "I regret to inform you that you are making a mistake. This man must be taken by the FBC to undergo thorough questioning."
"For what?" Wake asked, narrowing his own eyes at the agent, taking a step forward.
The Agent got right into his face, "You know damn well, writer!" He harshly whispered, "What the fuck did you do beneath that lake? Do you have any idea the beast you've awoken?"
"It hasn't truly slept since Zane." He replied with anger, "What, you're going to throw me back in there?"
"I wish. Why'd you even crawl back out, huh?" The Agent asked, "You realize your wife and friends are all dead, right? There's no reason to waste all of our lives just to breathe air one last time after so long."
The writer's anger got the best of him, as it tended to thanks to a short temper. Alan threw a right hook, decking the agent across the face and causing the man to collapse to his hands and knees to the side, spinning slightly. His knuckles burned from the impact, possibly even bleeding, but he couldn't care less at the moment. This man claimed his wife was dead? That Alice was gone? And that he should have stayed down there? Fuck that.
A dash of movement caught the writer off-guard as he was thrown to the ground, tackled by the woman in the blue armor. 'Ash' held him on the ground, throwing some sort of glowing handcuffs onto his wrists behind his back and holding him into the cool dirt.
From his point of view, he could see Agent Daniels struggling to get back up, a fuzzy haze of energy could be seen around his clenched fists, power filling the air with ozone. The Agent had likely bonded with an Object of Power, and had some sort of supernatural ability, and was preparing to unleash it.
He stopped quickly enough, just as Shepard regarded the two of them with her weapon raised, "Both of you are coming in for questioning, now."
Agent Daniels, never losing the fiery rage in his eyes, resigned himself to his fate and stopped resisting, only speaking rather than physically fight his capture, "You're making a mistake, Spectre. The FBC is not what you think it is."
"We'll see." She said, lifting the Agent to his feet as Ashley did the same to him, leading the two into the shuttle and sitting them down on hard seats. Shepard left to the cockpit of the shuttle and told the pilot to bring them to Hackett, making the shuttle begin its ascent and journey to the temporary Alliance base set up in Bright Falls.
Despite being free from the Darkness's clutches at the moment, Alan was not looking forward to this upcoming meeting, nor was he looking forward to learning if his wife was truly gone. Once more, he questioned how long he'd been under the lake, and finally voiced his question. Shrouded in a different question, the writer asked Ashley what date it was.
She replied honestly, giving day, month, and year.
It was the last thing that Wake paid attention to within the physical world for the duration of the flight, his mind locked in pain, rage, and denial as he tried to accept his predicament.
Alan Wake was nearly two-hundred years into the future, and his friends and family have been likely dead for over a century.
CLASSIFIED CODEX ENTRY:
Taken
The strange being/consciousness hidden beyond a gateway beneath Cauldron Lake, The Dark Prescence, not only has the ability to shape and bend the rules of reality through human imagination, but the ability to 'take' living creatures into itself and absorb them. Individuals 'consumed' by the Dark Presence lose all autonomy and free will, becoming mere puppets to the Dark Presence's will. Dubbed 'Taken', the only retain flashes and imprints of their original selves, and are beyond any form of salvation once they reach this stage.
Originally believed to only be able to 'Take' human beings, FBC officials have seen the Dark Presence controlling ravens and hounds, while also assuming the form of sentient shadows, the ability to possess inanimate objects, and even 'control' beings without fully consuming them. Those who are 'Touched' by the Darkness, have been shown to be resistant to the reality-bending effects of the Dark Presence, and are resistant to future attempts at 'Taking' them. This occurs, because the Darkness is unable to warp reality to the extent many believe it to. In fact, the Dark Presence, alone, only fuels the process, but the process only occurs through sentient intervention, thus necessitating outside influence. Unfortunately, the Darkness is able to twist the rules to its own desires.
Back to the Taken, it has been theorized that the Dark Presence is able to Take any living creature, but has less to work with if using non-sentient or non-highly intelligent organisms. This theory is given further credit when the average Taken is compared to the raven swarms the Darkness produces.
Recently, the FBC is awaiting the transfer of death-row intergalactic inmates for the purpose of testing the Dark Presence's effect on extra-solar species. Due to the nature of the Dark Presence and its remote placement, testing on-site is not only too dangerous, but impractical with the local population of Bright Falls. Rather, the tests will occur within the Oldest House using our limited samples.
To see the initial results, and to read about the next step for the experimentation, please refer to Director Drescher's email, titled: 'Taken: Phase 2 Plans'.
To see initial findings and gathered information on extra-solar species Taken subjects, please refer to: 'Taken Journal'. Access to Taken Journal is restricted to Level 10 access, or those with Director Approval.
*Access to these records is restricted to FBC officials with level 8 access.