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New York City : Two Years Ago
Wake (V.O.): I had a hangover. My head was about to explode, and the light hurt my eyes. I needed my sunglasses, and painkillers to dull the pain. In one of my finer moments of self-deception, I swore to quit drinking. The sunglasses made the world look bearable. Now I could keep my eyes open without feeling like a vampire in the sun. The pills worked fast. The prospect of being awake started to seem bearable again. There was a message waiting for me on the machine.
Answering machine: You have one new message.
Barry: Al! Are you still asleep? Wakey wakey! You should have your show on your TiVo… if Alice wasn’t too mad to record it. She called me earlier and really chewed me out. Yeah, yeah, we went a little overboard last night, but parties are part of this business. Al, look, I’m saying this as your friend: she’s not doing your career any favors by trying to run your life like that. Okay? I’ll talk to you later, Al. Watch the show!
Wake (V.O.): I’d been a guest on a talk show the previous night, talking about my latest book. The show was supposed to be waiting for me on our TiVo.
Talk Show Announcer: Ladies and gentlemen, welcome back to the Harry Garrett Show!
Harry Garrett: Thank you! Thank you, everybody. We have a great show tonight! I’ve been talking with the bestselling author Alan Wake about his new book “The Sudden Stop.”
Wake: Yeah. Good read! Go buy it!
Harry Garrett: No, no, it is a good read! Look—uh, I’m gonna be honest here…
Wake: Is that wise?
Harry Garrett: No, but I’m gonna do it anyway—I got people who give me the lowdown on books, I’m a busy guy. But this one I actually read from cover to cover. I mean, I’m a big fan.
Wake: Wow. Thanks.
Harry Garrett: Now, this might be a spoiler for those who haven’t read the book yet—based on the sales figures, the two people out there who haven’t read the book yet… …but this last book is all about the death of the main character, the hardboiled New York detective, Alex Casey. Now, there’s been a lot of outrage about this. Why the hell did you kill Casey? What the hell were you thinking, man?
Wake: Good riddance! No, seriously, though, seven years and six books is a long time. He was a gloomy guy to spend all your working hours with. And it was a good run, but it’s time to explore new things. My next book will be a departure from the old for me.
Harry Garrett: You selfish bastard. Always thinking of yourself. You’ve certainly given us a lot of entertainment over the years. Now that you mention it, Casey was a gloomy guy. Never had much luck with his love life, with the ladies. Was that autobiographical in any way?
Wake: Yeah, no kidding, Casey’s lady friends tended to die on him. With Casey, it was all about his pain. No, nothing autobiographical about that. I’m a happily married man. My wife is my muse.
Harry Garrett: Well congratulations! That’s great to hear. So, how’s the publicity tour been treating you?
Wake: Good. Great! But I gotta say I’m glad to be back home in New York.
Harry Garrett: Well, you’ve certainly been on the news a lot lately. Lots of parties, and, uh… you got into a fight with some paparazzi.
Wake: Ohh man… Well, that guy was really in my face. I lost my temper. I know that wasn’t cool.
Harry Garrett: You are famous for that temper…
Wake: Well, I did also write several books.
Harry Garrett: Ha ha ha! Well, your latest novel is called “The Sudden Stop,” and it’s in book stores now. Go get it! That means the two of you out there who haven’t bought it yet. Ladies and gentlemen, that’s all we have for you tonight! I want to thank all our guests for the evening, Alan Wake, Sam Lake—once more, do that face for us, Sam, there it is! And our musical guests, Poets of the Fall! Thank you, and good night!
Alice: Hey, honey. Did you watch the show?
Wake: I didn’t say anything stupid, if that’s what you want to know.
Alice: Oookay, grumpy. You want an aspirin or something?
Wake: Are you gonna start with me about drinking, now?
Alice: You know what? Go back to sleep, Alan.
Wake (V.O.): I should have followed her advice, but suddenly I was angry, mostly at myself, and she was there, a convenient victim.
Wake: What, now you can’t even talk to me?
Alice: Well, this morning I was angry, because you said you’d be home at midnight and you showed up at seven a.m. and passed out in mid-sentence. Now I’m over it. Are you angry?
Wake: This goddamn tour. It’s gotten out of hand…
Alice: Oh, honey. It’s almost over, right? We can get back to normal. Then you can start writing again.
Wake: I’m sorry, honey…
Alice: Alan. You’re not thinking straight. Just take a shower and go back to bed, huh?
Wake: Yeah… You’re right, honey. I’m sorry. Once this is over, let’s go away together—a vacation, just you and me. Some peace and quiet.
Bright Falls : The Present Day
Wake (V.O.): Somehow, the Clicker was the key to the cabin. I had to return to Cauldron Lake to save Alice.
Wake: I’m going back to the lake to finish this. I’m going to write an ending to the story in the manuscript, on my own terms, to make it all right.
Barry: Why can’t you just write it here?
Wake: The last page is still in the typewriter. I need to read it first. Everything needs to be just right. Zane tried to cut some corners, and it didn’t end well.
Sarah: Okay. Ready when you are.
Wake: I’m sorry Sarah, but I need to do this alone. Barry, take her gun. Ms. Weaver, close the door when I leave.
Barry: Good luck, Al.
Wake: See you later.
Wake (V.O.): When I got out, it was warm and sunny. I had flicked the switch of the Clicker. Had it done this? I didn’t stop to question it. I had to take advantage of the sunlight to get to the lake. On Zane’s page I had stood on the rim of Cauldron Lake, about to use the Clicker. That’s where I was headed.
Wake (V.O.): Alone, in daylight, surrounded by the beauty of the Pacific Northwest landscape, it was hard not to let doubt creep in one last time. I could still chalk everything up to a dream, a delusion. I had enough imagination to make up something like this: having been in the cabin all this time, trapped in a story inside my head, gone mad from grief over Alice’s death like Hartman had claimed. There would be no way of knowing. I told myself it didn’t really matter. My course was set.
Wake (V.O.): The darkness had touched me. There was a link between us, always would be. I could feel its presence again, getting closer.
Jagger: I will kill your wife.
Wake (V.O.): Based on the signature in the motel register, Agent Nightingale had stayed here, in room number two. This had obviously been the room where Agent Nightingale had stayed when he hadn’t been busy harassing me.
Wake: What the hell? Nice to see you too.
Wake (V.O.): When I told Barry my plan back in the Well-Lit Room, I’d acted as if I knew what I was doing. I didn’t. I was operating on the shifting logic of a dream. I had to fight my way to the lake through the horrors of the night. I had to flick an old battered light switch imbued with childhood magic. I had to write a happy ending to a horror story. I had to save my wife from the dark prison she was being held in.
Jagger: I will never give her to you.
Wake (V.O.): I could see Mirror Peak in the distance. That’s where Cauldron Lake was.
Jagger: Turn back now.
Jagger: You can’t win. You will fail. It’s all in your head. You’re making this up.
Wake: Hell.