Departure – Episodes 3 & 4
Throughout the entirety of his journey through Bright Falls, Alan Wake is looking for pages to a manuscript. It’s clear that what’s written on the pages is unfolding right before his eyes. These pages are important–they’ll lead him to Alice. He’s certain of it.
Below are the manuscript pages for Departure, that are found in Episodes 3 and 4.
Episode 3: Ransom
Randolph Calls the Police
Mr. Randolph liked Rose. That little smile she had, how she was still sweet when life had tried so hard to make her bitter. Wasn’t any of his business what she did in her trailer, but those strangers, the writer and his smart-ass sidekick looked like trouble, and they’d been in there for hours. Way past her normal bedtime. He reached for the phone and called the Sheriff’s Station.
The Dark Presence Sleeps
For decades, the darkness that wore Barbara Jagger’s skin slept fitfully in the dark place that was its home and prison. It was hungry, and in pain. It dreamed of its nights of glory when the poet’s writing had called it from the depths and given it a brief, terrible taste of power and freedom. The rock stars had stirred it form the deep sleep the poet had sunk it back to in the end.
When it sensed the writer on the ferry, it opened its eyes.
Nightingale in the Radio Station
Nightingale stared through the broken studio window into the dark woods. He turned around, started to walk out, but Maine grabbed his arm, “Young man, you almost shot me! You don’t shoot off rounds at people like that, what’s the matter with you?”
Nightingale shook his arm free, marched out. His cheeks burned with rage and humiliation.
Sarah Distrusts Nightingale
Sarah trusted her gut, and her gut told her that Agent Nightingale was an asshole.
He felt wrong, and it wasn’t just the smell of stale booze. It was the way he flashed his badge, pulled rank, and the look in his eyes when he wanted answers. Where was Alan Wake? What was this about an accident? Where was his wife? And most importantly, why did she let wake go? He wouldn’t answer her questions, “Federal business” was all he’d say.
Wake Attacked by a Possessed Object
The pipe wrenched itself loose from the bridge’s steel framework. Wrapped in darkness, it floated in mid air, twitching spastically.
For a moment, I didn’t understand what I was looking at. The heavy object lurched at me with impossible force. I threw myself out of the way, but just barely. When I turned my flashlight on it, it shook in a dark rage, before it flew at me again.
Wake and the Dark Presence in the Lodge
I slammed the door shut right in his smug face. He pleaded for me to open the door. True to form, the asshole actually thought I would obey. I had no sympathy left. No guilt, either, not for him. I took a moment to savour the scream. I bet I had a smile on my face.
It was all that I had time for. The Dark Presence was inside the lodge with me.
Wake Attacked by the Dark Presence
A darkness surged toward me, sucking everything loose from the ground into its depths, tugging at my clothes. I saw the flare the kidnapper had dropped and thew myself toward it just as I felt my feet leave the ground. The darkness embraced me with the force of a tornado. Somehow I managed to light the flare. The darkness roared and cast me away. I fell, toward the dark waters of the lake far below.
Rose Visited by the Dark Presence
Rose didn’t know how the strange old lady got in her trailer, and she looked…wrong somehow.
The woman showed her teeth in an approximation of a smile and traced a finger down Rose’s cheek, “Pretty girl,” she said. Rose felt as if she was falling asleep, but her knees didn’t buckle. The crone spoke in a whisper—her words ice cold and dark in Rose’s ear.
Rose Touched by the Dark Presence
Touched by the Dark Presence, Rose was lost in a dreamland where everything was drawn in black and grey crayons. The old lady had promised her that all her wishes would come true. She would be Alan Wake’s muse. She was smiling so hard it hurt her face. She crushed a bottleful of sleeping pills into the coffee. Deep down inside, she was screaming in terror.
Walter Fights Danny
Danny had stepped out, but what stumbled back in was something else. Something alien, a monster. Walter tried to kill it, first with his fists then with a chair. It wouldn’t die; instead it kept coming, unaffected by the beating it had taken.
After Walter managed to kick it down the cellar stairs, fear took over. He ran, got behind the wheel, gunned the engine. The booze wouldn’t make him forget, but he knew he had to try.
Wake Attacked by a Bulldozer
The bulldozer’s engine roared to life. Mud and rocks flew as it fought for traction. It crashed the concrete walls and landed heavily in the yard. If it were an animal, it would have shaken its head after the impact, fixed its eyes on me and charged.
Of course it had no head, nor eyes. Shadows crawled on its form, twisting it into a monster. Then it came for me.
Wake and Night Springs
Even after all this time, hearing the Night Springs theme caused a surge of conflicting emotions in me. It had been my first writing gig. Barry had known a guy who knew a guy, and suddenly I’d been a semi-regular writer on the show. I’d always been ashamed of the work, felt it was trash. I had wanted to be an artist, a novelist. It had taken a long time to learn to be proud of the work.
Sarah in the Radio Station
With Nightingale gone and the night wind blowing in through the broken studio window, Maine stared at Sarah. The Sheriff looked away.
Maine’s voice shook with barely controlled anger, “That boy’s doing more drinking than thinking. I hope you know what you’re doing, Sarah. He’s got a sickness in his eyes. You take my word for it: he wants Wake for a reason, and it’s not for anything good.”
Thomas Zane in Love with Barbara Jagger
When Thomas Zane fell for Barbara Jagger, it happened fast. She was young, vibrant and beautiful, full of life. He had never been a very happy man, and without any seeming effort, she changed all that. Zane felt good for the first time in his life. Everything she did was another piece of a jigsaw puzzle he hadn’t even known he’d been missing. And best of all, she made the words flow, strong and sharp. She was his muse.
Wake Touched by the Dark Presence
Some of the Taken retained echoes of their former selves, but these were just the nerve twitches of a dead thing. Nothing remained but a shell, covered and filled with darkness. In most cases these puppets were enough for the purposes of the Dark Presence. But for anything more elaborate, as with the writer, it was different. It needed his mind. And so rather than taking him over completely, it merely touched him.
Wake and Barry in the Cell
I stared through the bars of the jail cell. Barry stood behind me, swaying on his feet, looking as ill as I felt. Agent Nightingale stood on the other side of the bars with Sheriff Breaker. Nightingale had a stack of manuscript pages in his hand.
He seemed unhinged as he gloated, “Well, I’ve got you now, Raymond Chandler. It’s all here, all the evidence, including conspiracy to murder a federal agent.”
Wake and Casey
Things were never as simple in real life as in fiction. I had lost count of the times I had wished there’d be a clear reason for my writer’s block. Something to fight, something to lash out on. There wasn’t. I was filled with doubt. I was nothing like the hero in my books. Alex Casey had gone through his life with single-minded determination, never wavering from his goal.
Even now, I was angry at myself. Angry at Alice, angry at Barry. I was fumbling and had no plan.
Nightingale in the Majestic
Even behind the closed doors and curtains of his grimy room at The Majestic, the local motel, Nightingale could feel the locals’ eyes on him, the unrelenting pressure of their judgment. He forced it out of his mind. For all he knew they could all be under Wake’s spell already. You do what you have to do to get the job done.
He took comfort from the bottle in his hand, “Please,” he thought, “Just let me get through this.”
Mott at Cauldron Lake
Mott had checked all of Stucky’s rental cabins. There had been no sign of the Wakes. It was dark when he’d found their car parked at the end of the road by Cauldron Lake.
It made no sense. They must have taken a wrong turn, but there was no sign of them, and the car had already been there for hours already. Frustrated, Mott stood on the rotten ruin of the footbridge that had once led to Diver’s Isle, before it sank beneath the waves years ago.
The boss wouldn’t be happy.
Wake Wakes up in the Lodge
I tried to hold onto Alice, but her form melted away. I was losing control. Dr. Hartman stood in her place. I wanted to hit him, but my arms were jelly.
He smiled. It was a reassuring smile, and I hated him for it, “I had to give you a sedative, don’t fight it. You went through another rough period. Right now it’s very important that you stay calm. We don’t want you to have another episode. You’re a patient at my clinic, you have been for a while now.”
Mott on the Ferry
For Mott, spying on the writer on the ferry had been a disappointment. His boss had made Wake out to be something special. He’d gotten a good, long look of the wife though, and liked what he saw. Mott had fantasized about goading Wake into a fight, but it hadn’t happened. Still, he’d get his chance to see if the writer had anything in him. He’d been promised as much.
Hunters Taken
The hunters were big, thickset men, confident at home in the woods. They were feeling good, running on beer, ghost stories and camaraderie late into the night. It did them no good as they were taken by the Dark Presence, sucked deep into a darkness far worse than any ghost story they ever told or heard.
Doc Examines Barry and Rose
Doc sat down heavily. He’d examined Barry and Rose. Barry was already recovering. Rose was another story: she was conscious, but she was barely present, almost delirious, disturbed, “touched in the head” they used to say.
It wasn’t the first time Doc had seen someone in such a state, but it’d been over thirty years. Doc poured himself a stiff drink. He hadn’t forgotten a thing.
Wake Reads a Page
I lifted the page in front of my eyes and read it. In it, I lifted the page in front of my eyes and read it. In it, I lifted the page in front of my eyes and read it. In it, I lifted the page in front of my eyes and read it…..
Tor Hits Nurse Sinclair
Lightning flashed behind the windows of Cauldron Lake Lodge. Tor Anderson laughed and held the steel hammer above his head. Nurse Sinclair was trying to calm him down without success.
Tor grinned madly and shouted: “My hammer’s up! Here’s a friendly poke from Mjollnir, wench!” He brought his hammer down with all his might on Sinclair’s head. “We’re on a comeback tour, baby!”
Episode Four – The Truth
Thomas Zane’s Writing and Assistant
Zane could feel the poems taking form, shaping things. As he experimented, he imagined he could almost feel the power surging through the keys of the typewriter. It exhilarated him, but there was a fear, too.
If not for his young assistant, Emil, he would have given it up. But Emil convinced him otherwise. He too had a way with words.
Barry in the Lodge
Hartman kept talking, giving Barry the grand tour, clearly proud of the place. He went on about his hunting trophies and Barry was impressed, but [Barry] was here on business. He raised his voice, cut through the monologue, “Hey Hartman? Where’s Al?”
Hartman stopped in mid-sentence, annoyed at the interruption. He nodded at the hulking orderly standing nearby. The man smiled and clapped a practiced hand on Barry’s shoulder.
Hartman Watches Wake Fall
Hartman followed the fall of Alan Wake with his binoculars. When the writer hit the water, he ordered Jack to take the boat to him. The spot was easy to see in the dark even with all the extra lights in the boat. The flare floated and kept burning even in the water.
Jack turned the radio louder as the engine sputtered. The music was loud and clanking, something the Anderson brothers would no doubt have enjoyed, but Hartman chose to ignore it. Wake was finally within his reach.
Hartman’s Mission
Hartman knew he was no creator. He had no ambitions on that front, and he certainly didn’t want to end up like every artist he had worked with here: damaged in ways that were hard to describe, or worse. It was enough for Hartman to maintain creative control and provide direction. To be a “producer.” That was what most of these people were in need of anyway.
Of course, suitable subjects were few and far between.
Wake Sees the Old Gods Stage
I stared at the Viking paraphernalia that littered the area, surrounding an unlikely centrepiece: a full-sized stage, complete with an impressive sound system with all the trimmings, including a dragon.
It took a special kind of crazy to build something like this in a remote field. When the sky split open with a deafening boom and the music started blaring, it felt strangely appropriate.
Barry Attacked by a Taken
For the moment, Barry was just glad he had survived the fall. He had been separated from Al, and there was no easy way to climb back up. He told himself he’d be okay, okay in the gloomy forest at night. He would just have to wait a while for Al to find his way down.
Barry turned when he heard the heavy footsteps and saw the movement: the man-shaped shadow lunged at him from the bushes, an axe held high. Barry screamed and threw up his hand. The world exploded.
Mott in Charge
Mott knew that Wake was smarter than him: Wake had more money, a beautiful wife, everything. And Hartman said that Wake was important. That made him better than Mott. But Mott was calling the shots now. He’d expected Wake to whimper and grovel, but instead, he seemed willing to fight. Mott knew he’d gotten under Wake’s skin.
If only Mott actually had his wife. The thought made him shiver.
Mott Fails Hartman
Hartman wasn’t happy. Mott could see it in his eyes. He quickly lowered his own; he’d made a mess of it and he knew it. The shame of failure was hard to bear. He hadn’t expected Wake to say he needed more time, and he’d blurted out “two days,” less than Wake had asked for, to show him who was in charge. But that wasn’t part of Hartman’s plan.
Hartman and the Power Failure
Hartman hurried down the corridor. He had disliked leaving Wake when he was surely at his most susceptible to therapy, but this was not an ordinary storm. Wake had been writing, and he had woken something in the depths of the lake. Now it was coming for him.
Hartman had naturally prepared for a situation like this. The idiot brothers would keep Wake distracted while Hartman double-checked everything, just to be sure.
Hartman Sedates Wake
Hartman watched as Wake’s features slackened. The man was bull-headed, no doubt: even lying on the bed, he’d almost broken Hartman’s nose the second time. But with a little time, he could break Wake down, give him proper direction.
Wake was easily the most promising subject he’d had, well, since Tom really, “Sleep well, Alan,” Hartman whispered with a smile, “Let me take care of you.”
He sniffed hard to clear his throbbing nose: swallowed blood and barely tasted it.”
Nightingale Arrests Wake
Agent Nightingale stared at the passed-out writer. The man was sleeping off one hell of a night. [He] felt a stab of envy at Wake’s oblivion, but he had a job to do.
He put the gun to Wake’s head, and almost became a murderer. His hand shook and his throat felt tight and dry. Biting his teeth, he tried again to pull the trigger. He lost the nerve.
Wake stirred—Nightingale would have to settle for an arrest.
The Patients Escape the Lodge
The storm raged on as the Anderson brothers walked unsteadily away from the clinic with the other patients in tow, knowing that they wouldn’t return. The darkness around them seethed with horrors, but Tor and Odin were unafraid.
Their eyes glinted with guile. They knew every secret path, and there was blood on their hands. They had fought these shades before.
The Dark Presence at Large
The Dark Presence followed the choreography laid out to it in the manuscript, growing stronger and stronger, moving like a storm from one scene of destruction to the next. But it was still bound to follow the story and chained to the dark place it came from. When the story reached the end it longed for, it would finally be free.
The Anderson Brothers in the 70s
It’s 1976. Madness reigns at the Anderson Farm. Contrary to all logic, the headiest ingredient of their moonshine is unfiltered water from Cauldron Lake. The Andersons feel like gods. Odin can’t stop laughing—he contemplates cutting his eye out. Tor runs across the field, naked, trying to catch lightning.
Their songs have power. Something ancient is stirring in the depths, coming back.
The Mystery of the Missing Week
Again, Alice’s screams rang in the stillness of the night. I saw myself run toward the cabin, flashlight in hand. I followed my past self. I was an out-of-body observer, a time traveler in a crazy, drunken dream.
This was the beginning, the night Alice had disappeared. The mystery of what had happened during the missing week was about to reveal itself.
Walter at the Anderson Farm
When he stopped the car at the Anderson farm, Walter felt relieved: oblivion was close at hand. The brothers wouldn’t miss a jar of moonshine or two from the booby hatch. But when he saw the man on the porch, he knew who it was.
Driving for his life and knowing it was useless, he didn’t realize he was crying until he couldn’t see the road for the tears.
Hartman During the Missing Week
Hartman had never felt as anxious during the week after Mott had managed to lose the Wakes. Their car stood by the path that had once led to Diver’s Isle. Hartman thought about Thomas Zane’s cabin in the depths.
It was only a matter of time before Wake started writing. They had to be found, and fast.
The moment he had heard on the police radio that Sheriff Breaker had picked up Wake, he was already in his car, driving toward town.
Hartman Considers Mott and Wake
For a moment, Hartman considered strangling the idiot. Mott was mean-spirited, but easily manipulated: an emotional infant who lived for his approval.
Wake, by contrast, was a far more difficult subject. Mott had given him too much leash. In two days, who knew what could happen? Hartman would have to find a way to rein him in, and quickly.
Mulligan Questions Nightingale’s Orders
Deputy Mulligan tuned Thornton’s chatter out. He didn’t think writers were particularly useful people, and a huge manhunt or one struck him as idiotic, certainly not worth the missed opportunity for coffee and pie.
It wasn’t even clear what the man had done, except run from them at the trailer park. Mulligan knew he wasn’t alone: the sheriff’s patience with the Fed was running out.
Nightingale Finds the Manuscript
As the deputies hauled Wake and Wheeler away, Agent Nightingale eagerly examined the stack of papers Wake had been carrying. It was incomplete, a collection of random pages. But there was enough: he saw his own name in there, among others.
His hands shook with emotion. Finally, it was proof. He had been right all along.
Related posts:
0 Comments
You can be the first one to leave a comment.