![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
oceanview (different path) || β lost in mist for days and days, now you see the sunny seas. β
In Night Springs, a solar system in your soup
'Cause in Night Springs, we're just looking for the thrill
All your nightmares come true
Lost in mist for days and days, now you see the sunny seas
Night Springs
no subject
Even her...
She simply shrugs at his first set of questions and sets to wandering the living room of the apartment. If it's a construction of his memories or the real place is hardly relevant. It triggers the memories and that is what he needs the most. What she finds curious is how he has lost so much in seemingly such a short time... and yet is pushing and fighting so hard.
Maybe it is because he is fighting. ]
You left here for Bright Falls at one point. A chance to get away and start fresh. The marriage, the writer's block.Block. You just wanted to get away.
[ Elizabeth walks past him and out into the hallway. With a few steps she stands at the door to what was once his room for writing--beside Alice's office. She gestures to the door.
Once opened and stepped through, Alan finds himself in Bright Falls. Main street. The banners proclaim Deerfest--the 68th Annual celebration. 2010.
Elizabeth takes a few steps and twirls in spot before turning back to Alan. Shaded people begin to move around, muttering distorted phrases, but none seem to notice the pair. Her hands raise to the town and gesture around them. ]
What did you do next, Alan? Once you came to Bright Falls.
no subject
This place feels like it's full of memories, but Alan's having a hard time recalling any of them. He knows this place is where he used to live, just like he knows it's not the place he's been trying to find. The only problem is, he's having trouble remembering exactly where he's supposed to go.
Maybe that's what Elizabeth is here for. ]
I remember taking a trip... Yeah, I was trying to get away, because of everything; writing was becoming difficult, I couldn't make Alice happy no matter what I did. I don't think I made anyone happy.
[ She keeps walking, and he keeps following her, until she stops outside the room he used to write in. He remembers this room somehow, even though the door's closed. They step through it, and Alan blinks, then blinks again. ]
What the hell? I mean- I know you said you can do that, but...
[ He's surprised, to say the least. He watches her spin in place as people begin to walk past them. They don't seem like ordinary people, and while he can't quite make out what they're muttering, it doesn't seem usual. In fact, it seems highly unusual. ]
What did I do next... [ He tries to remember; he tries to follow everything in order, but his memories of it all are still sketchy and disjointed. ] The town was strange... I think that the Dark Presence was taking things over not long after I got there. Maybe it had been doing that for a long time, or maybe the story started when I arrived.
I was trying to find Alice, but so many things kept trying to misdirect me. I met... I met someone. Who did I meet? She stuck with me, I remember that much.
no subject
[ She has to wonder if there is more to it than he knew. Had the Lake called out to him and he never realized? Or, does Alan Wake simply always ended up at Cauldron Lake no matter the name, the face?
Constants and variables.
Elizabeth turns on the balls of her feet and leads him into a diner. The Oh Deer Diner. Shades move but the familiar female voice of greeting her favorite writer hangs in the air. It echoes just as old conversations do. She walks past the tables to head to the hallway that leads to the back. ]
"Be careful in there, young man! You can hurt yourself in the dark!" [ The shade hunched by the wall warns the two. Elizabeth glances over at it before continuing down. ] "You really should take a light with you."
[ The shade shoves a light in Alan's hands. Elizabeth continues down to the door that would lead back outside. ]
Were you trying to find Alice? Wasn't she back in New York? She didn't come with you to Bright Falls. [ She half-turns and waits for him at the door. ] Maybe another Alice and Alan Wake came to Bright Falls. But, not you.
[ Once he opens the door and steps outside, the scenery changes once again. He steps into a room with lights strung throughout. In the middle of the room sits a table with a shoebox. A revolver sits beside it.
Elizabeth stands on the opposite side of Alan, behind the table. Her arms cross under her bust. ]
That person you met came all the way with you to this room. Didn't she?
no subject
[ Maybe he and Elizabeth are thinking along the same lines, or maybe they're not. At least he's starting to question things, even if he still feels as though questioning will ultimately lead him nowehre.
He follows after her, because what else does he have to do? What choice does he have in anything? To him, it feels as though his choices are becoming less and less.
A voice that sounds halfway familiar to Alan speaks up then, talking about how it can be dangerous in the dark and how he should take a light with him. And then the shadowy figure actually shoves a light into his hands, and although he nearly drops it out of surprise, in the next second, his hands tighten around it. ]
There was a kidnapper... or a ransom. Something that involved Alice being used as bait. Leverage. I don't know.
[ He's finding it more than a little hard to make sense of anything, and even harder to follow where Elizabeth is going. To Alan, it seems as though she's going down all sorts of rabbit trails and he's doing his best to follow her. ]
Why is this important? [ He can't see why, but at the same time, there's a feeling that something is keeping him from seeing why. Intentionally. On purpose. It doesn't want him finding something out. Maybe it doesn't want him remembering. ]
I don't understand where you're going with all this.
[ He doesn't, until he goes through yet another doorway, to another scenery change. And this time, there's a room: a room he's seen before and knows well. It's an important room, maybe one of the most important rooms he's ever been in. He looks up at the ceiling and turns slowly on the spot, looking around the room.
I need to remember something. But what is it? ]
I was here, in this room, and I wasn't alone. I had people with me. One person in particular.
[ Frown lines form on his face as he tries to make sense of a memory that's not a memory that is a memory that something is trying to block. ]
I don't know. I can't remember.
no subject
She says nothing more until he settles opposite of her. Either ends of the small table with the shoebox between them. Uer skin crawls at how familiar and similar this scenario is playing out. How close it is to Booker. He must have seen it somehow and pulled it into a story to try and help him escape.
Not that there is much point if he doesn't remember why he is trying so hard to escape. The reason other than the obvious of being in a dimension that ebs and flows with the rest. ]
I was brought here to help you. Wasn't I? That's the reason the Writer needs the Songbird. You are the Writer... aren't you?
[ One arm unfolds from underneath her bust. A wide sweeping gesture is made to the shoebox between them. ]
You and I both know what this room is, Alan. We know what this room was for and why it was guarded. You know why you're here.
You know who was here with you. Their faces. Their names. You're simply letting something block your vision because it's easier to tell yourself you can't remember than accept the truth.
[ Her weight cocks to one side. A flat expression takes her face. A knowing expression.]
You can fight it all you want. But, you don't leave this room until you take what's in this shoebox and accept what you have to do it.
[ Something shifts behind Alan. Someone.
A young woman stands behind him at the door they just walked through. Bright green eyes, bright red hair. A backpack in her hands. Unlike the others they have encountered? This woman isn't shadowed. She's bright.
A geometric pattern that spirals around her. ]
We both know what that is.
no subject
Yeah, I'm the Writer, for all the good that's doing me. What the hell is the point in being the Writer when I have no idea what I'm doing or if it's even making a difference?
[ He shoots a glare at her and his hand curls around the flashlight he's holding as his temper rises. ]
You think I'm just letting this happen? That it's my fault I don't remember? That I'm trying to run away from something instead of dealing with whatever the hell it is head on?
[ He shakes his head, and then there's a loud sound as he slams the flashlight onto the surface in front of him. ]
You sitting there telling me these things is- it's not helping. What are you doing here, anyway, besides trying to piss me off?
[ He's so angry that he doesn't even notice the woman at the door. What he does notice is the flash of the geometric pattern and a kind of chime going off in his mind. But he's too incensed to even look right now. ]
no subject
[ What she has given him is more information that she prefers to usually give out. Then again, Elizabeth usually avoids speaking to anyone when she moves from door to door. This is only unique because Alan has pulled her into the story. ]
Yes. I think you're running away from something you hated doing. Something you regret. We all run away from those things. It's human.
The thing is? Debts have to be repaid somehow and at some point.
My father taught me that.
[ A hand rests on her hip. Elizabeth wonders in that moment how many times Alan must have revisited this moment. Has he ever? Or has he tried to ignore the fact that this moment happened? It could be why he has forgotten who the Sister truly is to him.
She glances down at the flashlight slammed onto the table top. ]
You brought me into this story.
[ Elizabeth simply waits to see what Alan will chose to do next. A glance is sent to the recreation of the young woman by the Dark Place. The recreation constructed by Alan's mind--his subconscious. How often has she actually appeared and he ignored her? Was it because of what he did? Did the Dark Presence simply make him forget because he allowed it to happen? There's so many different possibilities that she isn't quite sure what one is at fault.
She raises her hand to the door behind Alan. ]
She's waiting, Alan.
[ The young woman's bright green eyes lower at the apparent idea of being ignored. Perhaps being ignored again. The grip on the backpack tightens. She frowns and looks to the side. ]
no subject
[ Although Jesse and Elizabeth could both say they've had enough and leave or ask to be written out, and he wouldn't say no. No one should be forced to stay involved if they don't want to be. He has to be involved because this is all his problem to fix; anyone else who gets dragged in... well, he feels a need to try and protect them as much as he can, even if it means throwing himself in front of a bullet for them if needed. It's not some stupid noble idea built on pretenses; Alan genuinely believes that he needs to put himself in harm's way as much as he can, to try and protect people if he can.
It probably makes no sense at all, since he's the one dragging people into the line of fire, but once they're in, he intends to do what he can to protect them. As much as the story allows him to, anyway. ]
Running away? I'm running towards trying to escape. I'm not running away from anything, Elizabeth.
[ He fixes her with a glare. ] Don't you think I'm- Never mind. Forget it.
[ He sees being trapped in the Dark Place as him trying to pay his debts and fix himself in the process; of course, the Dark Presence doesn't want him to be fixed. It wants to keep him trapped, broken down, so that it can use him. ]
Do you want to be written out again? I think I can do that, somehow. [ He'll scratch out words on the manuscript again and write in new words and make it so she was never involved in the story at all. Maybe that's how it's supposed to be.
She's waiting, Alan.
Alan finds himself torn... confused. Definitely confused. Something in his mind seems to lurch and reel and strange flashes of images in black and gray flare to life in his mind. He tries to focus on the images but they're impossible to see or even recognize what they're supposed to be. Maybe he really is going mad. That does seem to be a side effect of the Dark Place.
He can see the woman in the doorway but something is still keeping him from really seeing her. His hands clench in frustration because he wants to remember her, because he can tell she's important, but something in his mind is still blocking him from reaching out to her like he wants to. ]
Do.. Do I know her? I know her, yeah, of course I do. This feels familiar, but I've forgotten, or something's making me forget.
[ Alan's vision seems to flicker again and he appears to briefly stagger before catching himself again. ]
Wait... Wait, there's something- [ He turns and stares at the woman again, harder this time. ] She was here, in this room. She was going to come with me, wasn't she?
[ Elizabeth most likely wouldn't know that, but Alan's mostly talking to himself in a desperate attempt to put the pieces together. Will it work? Who knows. ]