[Page 1: Nightingale Reads the Man*script]
Nightingale tried to make sense of the man*script. It was disjointed and strange. He didn't understand half of it, but it all rang true, impossibly true.
He took out his hip flask when he reached the page that described how he reached the page that made him take out his hip flask.
It wasn't the booze that made his mind reel.
[Page 2: Nightingale Attacked by the Dark Presence]
Nightingale felt the situation veering out of his control, but the gun at least felt steady in his hands. He was ready to fire, resolved that he would let this happen over his dead body--and yet he hesitated.
He had seen this moment before, read it in the page. He was transfixed by the déjà vu and the horror that he was a character in a story someone had written.
Then the monstrous presence burst in behind him and dragged him into the night.
[Page 3: The Dark Presence Set Back]
The darkness that wore Barbara Jagger's face was furious. The story in the man*script had been making it stronger all the time, but now the light had set the writer free and hurt it, weakened it.
It was only a matter of days before the Dark Presence would be strong again, but meanwhile, it would be difficult to recapture the writer.
[Page 4: Cynthia's Work]
Cynthia Weaver worked hard, following her obsessive rituals--sometimes fighting them, always giving into them in the end.
She haunted the halls of Bright Falls' abandoned power plant. She marked her caches with light-sensitive paint that could only be seen by eyes that had been touched by darkness and saved by light like she'd been.
She was preparing defenses and supply lines for the war she knew would come--the war between the forces of light and darkness.
[Page 5: The Dark Presence Hunts Wake]
For it to be free, the Dark Presence needed the writer to finish the story. Again and again the story let it get frustratingly close to the writer without letting it capture him. It was bound by the events depicted in the man*script.
But it could pursue the writer indirectly, put others on the task, and stop those who would help him.
It took over everything in its path, made them its puppets, and sent them after Alan Wake.
[Page 6: Alice Trapped in the Dark]
Alice had screamed until she had no voice left to scream. Around her, the darkness was alive. It was cold and wet and malevolent and without end. She was a prisoner, trapped in the dark place.
The terror would have burned her mind out, but one thing made her hang on: she could sense Alan in the dark. She could hear him. She could see the words he was writing as flickering shadows.
He sensed her, too. He was trying to work his way to her.
[Page 7: Barry in the Sheriff's Station]
Barry was in his element, making calls, making things happen, even if he didn't entirely know what those things were. He wouldn't let the hot sheriff chick down, even if every noise he heard from outside--and he heard plenty--made him jump. He had only paused to text Al a message, told him to hurry up.
Suddenly, Barry froze in mid-dial: a window broke somewhere in the building, and then the lights went out.
[Page 8: Barry in the General Store]
Barry got back to his feet inside the Bright Falls General Store and dusted himself off. Right next to the cans of baked beans was a locked case filled with flare guns. And yet, here was a conveniently placed barrel of crowbars!
Barry's smile widened as he realized that this was the cla**ic movie scene where the hero had to gear up and arm himself to the teeth. Barry threw himself into the role.
[Page 9: Wake's Plan]
The story I had written in the cabin had come true. Touched by the Dark Presence, I had written a horror story, but the end was still missing. The story was incomplete and the last unfinished page of the man*script still sat in the typewriter in the cabin study.
If I could get back there, if I could read the page, then I could write my own ending to the story and save Alice.
[Page 10: The Falling Helicopter]
Sarah was almost starting to relax. Maybe they could turn this into a win yet.
Suddenly, there was a piercing sound, like a table saw gone wild, as a hundred birds made out of shadows swarmed into the rotor.
The chopper bucked wildly and the board lit up, telling her what she already knew: they were going down. Barry Wheeler screamed next to her.
[Page 11: Zane's Shoebox]
Thomas Zane knew he had to remove all that had made this horror possible, including himself. That was the only way to banish the dark presence he had unleashed and now looked at him through the eyes of his dead love.
But he also knew that despite his best efforts, it might someday return, so even as he wrote himself and his work out of existence, he added a loophole as insurance, an exception to the rule: anything of his stored in a shoebox would remain.
[Page 12: Cynthia on Her Way to the Dam]
Making her way through the water pipe alone, Cynthia was angry at the writer. Foolish young man, taking unnecessary risks. And the way he broke the rules! Didn't he understand what was at stake?
Since the terrible days in the 70s, she hadn't wavered once, as hard as it had been. She was tired of protecting the town all these long years and now only wanted to rest.
[Page 13: The Poet and the Muse Lyrics 4]
he Poet and the Muse lyrics by Old Gods of Asgard.
The chorus:
And now to see your love set free
You will need the witch's cabin key
Find the lady of the light, gone mad with the night
Find the lady of the light, still raving in the night
That's how you reshape destiny
[Page 14: Children of the Elder God Lyrics 1]
Children of the Elder God lyrics by Old Gods of Asgard.
The first verse and chorus:
Warriors, torchbearers, come redeem our dreams
Shine a light upon this night of otherwordly fiends
Odin's might be your guide, divorce you from the sane
Hammer's way will have its say, rise up in their name
Oh, Memory and Thought
Jet black and clawed
Children of the Elder God
Scourge of light upon the dark
[Page 15: Children of the Elder God Lyrics 2]
Children of the Elder God lyrics by Old Gods of Asgard.
The second verse and chorus:
Scratching hag, you can rake your claws, and gnash your crooked teeth
You've taken slaves, like ocean waves, now feel the ocean seethe
Father Thor, bless this war between the dark and light
In their songs let their wrongs bring dissolution's night
Oh, Memory and Thought
Jet black and clawed
Children of the Elder God
Scourge of light upon the dark