[ Page 1 | A little action, then Video ]

[cuzimawriter]

[Alan wakes up, confused as to where he is, coughs a little from the dust in the long since inhabited room, follows the routine reactions. His room is completely dark, and his response is long conditioned by now. The flashlight is already in his hand and it takes only a small flick of his thumb to turn it on. He scans the room, eyes catching on a a

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[cordelisse]

[Apparently a lot of people were found on the streets of Arkham. Here, have a Zoey. She’s been cleaning. A LOT. It’s finally safe to touch surfaces in her room, so she’s taking the time to converse with yet another new arrival.]

I think the lack of light might be a blessing, in this instance. You don’t have a clear view of the squalor. Which is probably immense. And quite possibly sentient.

[Sarcasm? From Zoey? NOOOOO. ... Well, okay, just a bit.

Dark Place? She raises an eyebrow at that, but doesn't ask about it.]

There should be. I would assume a dorm would have maintenance closets. If not, you’re more than welcome to snag a few of mine. Found them in the closet.

[Along with ramen, porn, a bag of Doritos and a few cleaning odds and ends, like a bucket, a sponge, and a couple sets of unopened yellow kitchen gloves. Which were a godsend, quite frankly.]

I’m in A5.

[cuzimawriter]

It's actually not too bad, save for lots of dust and a ton of Stefano Ring[coughstephenkincough] novels and a few other questionable thrillers. I haven't checked under the bed though. Could be a different story. There could be advanced evolutionary forms of life down there.

[The ball's back in your court now.]

Yeah, I looked at the map and there are a couple places where they might be? Not marked though, so I can't be sure.

[Sounds like a party, or Barry's room, if he had a room here. Is he invited?]

I might come by. Thanks.

[cordelisse]

Sounds like your room is far less along the squalor evolutionary ladder than mine is. Although I’d be careful when making forays under the bed, none-the-less. Sentient amoebas, koalas, face-hugging aliens... No one knows, for sure.

[Zoey shrugs, smirking slightly.]

Might just be porn.

[Of course he's invited. It’s not a party without Alan Wake. And his sarcasm. He is more than welcome to partake of Zoey’s ramen.]

I’ll be here. And it wasn’t a problem at all.

[cuzimawriter]

Guess I got lucky. But I shouldn't speak too soon. For all I know, there could be a doorway into hell under my bed, or worse.

[His voice drops into a low and cautious whisper, eyes narrowed in a fake paranoia.]

A trap door into an underground zombie strip club.

[Alan remembers the late nights of polishing up manuscripts in Barry's apartment eating cold ramen, back when all he had was a small writing gig with the Night Springs crew. Those were the days.]

And if you happen to wanna read any full length novels that have absolutely no commas in them, Stefano Ring. Exciting stuff. I can bring a couple by.

[cordelisse]

Oh you were extremely lucky. I’m reasonably certain the squalor in this room was one more evolutionary cycle away from opposable thumbs. Be careful. Hell!koalas have the worst bites. Very dangerous. Travel in packs. Smell faintly like brimstone.

[Zoey’s hand is pressed against her chest, mock horrified.]

Underground zombie strip clubs are the WORST.

[And there’s booze. It’s quite the party in her room. She found it in the desk. And under the bed. Apparently her room’s former occupant was quite the boozer. No glasses, though.]

Sure. Why the hell not? Comma-less books sound like a fine way to spend a bit of time. I could use the entertainment.

[cuzimawriter]

I'm sure that the shrill cries of hell koalas can only be rivaled by banshees. And to be fair, if there was a zombie strip club down there, I would probably be able to smell the rot from up here by now.

[You don't need glasses when you're in college. It's plastic cups or no cups at all.]

We can read them in inappropriate voices for the text.

[cordelisse]

Banshees and hell hyenas. Their laughter can drive a person insane. And that’s... a fairly decent point. So as long as there’s no rotting scent drifting up from under your floorboards you should be all right on that front. At least it’ll give you a warning, should one start up.

[No cups at all it is, then. Hope he doesn’t mind sharing a bottle with a stranger.]

That’s the only way to read books lacking in commas.

[cuzimawriter]

We can only hope that I don't have the misfortune of such ever happening.

[Eh. It's not like he'll get AIDS or something.]

Exactly! I don't know what those droning audiobook readers think they are doing.

[cordelisse]

Don't worry. If you do, I'll be sure to ride to your rescue. Metaphorically speaking, of course, due to the lack of horses.

[Well then. Impending bottle-share-age ahoy.]

You have to have FUN with it, for fucks sake. And they never sound like they are. It's highly disappointing.

[cuzimawriter]

There aren't any horses here? My hopes and dreams are crushed!

[Alan then proceeds to imitate the iconic drone of an audiobook reader.]

"He took the knife in his hand not sure whether he was really going mad or if this was a dream. It looked and felt real but it also looked and felt so wrong like someone had put the world through a dirty fish-eye lense."

[cordelisse]

I apologize for dashing your hopes so cruelly, but it’s true. Not a horse to be seen.

[Zoey tilts her head back and laughs, the first honest to goodness laugh she’s had since ending up here.

And then she joins him in imitating the audiobook reader drone.]

“If it was a dream it wasn’t just a dream it was a nightmare. A nightmare unlike any he had ever had before. What could he do? So his grip tightened on the knife handle and he walked forward into the closet.”

[cuzimawriter]

I'll just... have to find a new dream.

[He feigns a wistful and melancholy expression, then returns to the imitation drone.]

"The rustling from behind the door hadn't stopped at all since he and his wife had come to the summer cabin and now she was gone. What had taken her? Why had it taken her? He needed to know and all the answers had to be behind that door."

[cordelisse]

Perhaps someday. But what could measure of to the dream of a horse??

[She smirks at his feigned wistful melancholy-ness; said smirk grows even more amused at his continued audiobook drone. Then it’s back to the audiobook imitation herself.]

“The question was... did have the bravery to confront whatever it was causing the rustling sounds? Alone? He didn’t know. So there he stood in the dark with his hand lingering on the doorknob. He had to open the door. He had no choice. He took a deep breath and turned the doorknob... only to discover that what he needed was a key.”