Chapter 2

- Alan, wake up

Wake's eyes flung open, he could of sworn he heard Alice calling out to him, the voice sounded like a distant dream. Wake was lying on the floor soaked with sweat, he must of dozed off, Wake considered this possibility and knew it was dangerous for him to sleep, in that state his mind was open and free for the darkness to take hold and write the story the way it intended. Wake stood up, took off his jacket and slug it over the chair.

- Focus Wake, where were we, this story, my story, it must be finished so I can get home.

Wake knew he sounded crazy when he spoke aloud to himself, but his mind was to shape the story there was no room for him to think up there, the only thing he could thinking about was shaping the world of his story a world where the darkness had no hold, a world that was safe. Wake sat down at the typewriter inserted another page and continued the story.

- " Alice's voice was frantic as she spoke on the phone, she struggled to get out the words, she feared them, Alice couldn't believe them to be true, yet she had called for help, now to ask for it, ' Hello Sheriff, I can't find my husband I think he is missing' there was no response, but just before Alice could start to speak again a voice interrupted her. ' Hello is anybody there, hello' the phone went dead. Alice couldn't understand what was happening, was there a problem with the phone line ?. She hoped so, the sun was setting soon, which meant Alice would be alone, alone in the dark, she would have to face her deepest fear alone. Alice went upstairs and into the bed room, climbed into bed and closed her eyes, as she did so a tear rolled down her cheek as she quietly sobbed in fear of the dark and in fear of being alone."

- Forgive me Alice

Wake muttered the words aloud, hoping in some way Alice would hear him and know he was still with her, she wasn't alone, not really.

Wake stood up from his chair and began to pace the room, with the occasional glance to the doorway. After a few minutes Wake carefully approached the door, he reached out for the handle. Wake gripped the handle, the quickly pulled his hand away, the handle was like ice, it matched the cold feel to the rest of this place. Wake looked over at his shoulder at the typewriter, he knew he had to write, but he also knew he needed to rest, he was running on nothing, his recent blackout proved that to him.

- Maybe I'll rest, just for a little.

Wake grabbed the icy handle and pulled open the door, Wake was glad he wasn't locked permanently in the study, no he was just trapped in the cabin, but Wake knew the small positive things were what kept him going. As Wake entered the bedroom he stared at the empty space were Alice should have been if he wasn't stuck in this nightmare. Wake sat down on the side of the bed, removed his shoes then lied down to try and get a little rest.

Wake was awoken to the faint sound of someone sobbing. It sounded like Alice. Wake tried to shake off the groggy feeling he had just waking up from the nap, but he couldn't shake off the sound, it was coming from directly next to him as if Alice was there, Wake turned to face the sound, he knew she wouldn't be there but there was still apart of him longing to see her beside him.

There was no-one there, Wake's heart sank a little. He wanted to believe he was back. back with reached over to the spot Alice should of been laying. Wake's eyes grew wide with surprise. the bed felt warm, warm as if someone had been laying there. Wake withdrew his hand from the spot and closed his eyes.

- No, it can't be I must still be dreaming.

Wake longed for this feeling to be true and cautiously reached back out. It was cold, any trace of warmth had left that spot long ago. Wake sat up and hung his feet from the side of the bed, slipped on his shoes and headed to the bathroom.

As the basin began to fill, Wake began to doubt if there was any chance of him getting back, was the Darkness just messing with his mind, making him believe he had heard Alice crying and the warmth of where she lay beside him. Wake plunged his hands into the water and splashed it across hid face in hope it would wake him up some more so he could get back to writing. He wanted to rest more he needed to. but Wake knew every second that his guard was down the Darkness would try to control him.

Wake dried off his face and headed back into the bedroom, Wake's starred at the bed as he entered the room and for a brief second he swore he could see Alice laying there asleep, but a second later she was gone. Wake headed for the door, placed his hand on the handle. The door wouldn't budge, Wake pulled harder to get the door to move still nothing. Wake began to panic.

- The manuscript...I left it in the study.

By leaving the ages in the study had Wake given the Darkness a chance to know about his plan, or worse would it destroy the pages and make him start again under it's control allowing it to have far more power than ever before. Wake put all his strength into giving the door one final pull. It flung open and Wake shield his eyes from a bright light.