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A Piece of True Fiction: Chapter 10

An Alan Wake 2 fic. Spoilers for Alan Wake 2!

Summary: Aleksi Kesä manages to slip out of the spiral and film he was trapped in.

Saga Anderson, caught in the middle of Wake's horror story, finds a man that looks identical to her partner in the middle of the woods. He's lost, confused, and only seems to speak Finnish. Saga has to try and uncover the truth as well as trying to save her family. Where did he come from? How did he get here?

And where's her Casey?

Chapter Summary: Saga gains information from an unexpected source. Words: 2,449 AO3 Link: [Here!] [First part] [Previous part]

A Piece of True Fiction

Chapter 10: Balance

Saga throws herself out of her Mind Place and sits up, turning her head and looking around frantically. Her sudden movement startles Jaakko, who visibly jumps, his arm hitting the edge of the well and knocking Kesä’s shoe back into the shaft.

“Did you say something?” Saga asks.

Jaakko looks at her, confused. “No?”

“Are you sure? I heard someone say something.”

Jaakko shrugs. “I didn’t hear anything. Might have been a dream, you looked like you were sleeping.”

Maybe she’d imagined it. Hesitantly, Saga leans back onto the well again and closes her eyes to re-enter the Mind Place.

“Oh hey, it’s back.”

Saga’s heart starts to race. That wasn’t her imagination. That’s a voice speaking. Muffled, but definitely present. The sound doesn’t quite reach her ears, similar to when she’s trying to find the voices and perspective of others when profiling them. Except right now she isn’t trying to profile anyone.

Another knock. This time, Saga is certain it’s coming from the door within her Mind Place.

“Hello? Who’s there?”

That’s someone talking inside her mind. An unfamiliar voice talking inside her mind. Extremely wary, Saga approaches the closed door that’s only ever been there for decoration to complete her version of a familiar space. She tries to open it. It’s locked.

So she crouches by its side and knocks back.

“Who are you? How are you talking to me?” She asserts mentally.

“You’re the one that showed up out of nowhere, madam Locked-Door. Also, I asked first.”

Saga has never experienced anything like this before in her Mind Place. She’s certain she’s never heard this voice before, lending more reasoning that it isn’t just a figment of her imagination. It carries a heavy nonchalance that unnerves her. Her currently highly-stressed subconscious wouldn’t be able to create such a relaxed tone.

She cautiously decides to play along.

“I’m an FBI agent. Who are you?”

She has to play it safe. She can’t risk giving out personal information and finding herself written into another story, let alone her loved ones getting dragged deeper in.

There’s no response from the other side. The pause is long enough for Saga to doubt the entire encounter, when the owner of the voice finally speaks up again, more assertive themself.

“Oh shit, FBI? I am so glad to hear that… you must be looking for your colleague.”

Saga’s body tenses. There are two possible options here. She tries the safe bet first.

“Robert Nightingale?”

“Huh?”

She doesn’t want to suggest it. She doesn’t want to suggest it in case she’s right.

“Alex Casey?”

“Yeah, him!”

Shit. She was right.

“I’m not looking for him. He’s with the FBC, he’s safe. Who are you?”

“Wait- are you saying he’s there? Oh fuck…”

The nonchalance is briefly replaced with panic. Saga is left beyond confused.

“Hey, listen to me. That guy that’s up there with you? That’s not your guy. Your guy’s here with me.”

What?

“What are you talking about? Casey’s with the Federal Bureau of Control. Where are you? Who are you?”

Another pause, long enough for Saga to start to doubt. Long enough for her to try to find a way to deny that Casey is missing, because acknowledging it would make the possible danger he could be in terrifyingly real.

“I’m Alan Wake.”

Saga doesn't miss a beat.

“You don't sound like Alan Wake.”

The stranger, apparently Wake, doesn't miss one either. A choked noise that sounds mostly like a scoff comes from the other side of the door.

“What, you’ve met me? That must be another version. The Dark Place allows for that sort of thing. Besides, does the guy-you-think-is-your-guy sound like your agent friend?”

A valid point. “No…”

“Let me guess, he goes by ‘Aleksi Kesä’.”

Saga’s breath catches in her throat. He just outright acknowledged Kesä’s existence- the first person to do so. The first person who seems to have any idea about what’s going on. Despite the different voice and subtle lilt of an accent, could this really be Alan Wake? Another version still trapped, like she's been seeing in the Overlaps?

The version that did write-in Kesä and write-out Jaakko?

She can't jump to conclusions. As far as she can tell, this is all in her head. She has to learn more while treading cautiously.

“How do you know? Are you in the Dark Place right now?”

“Yup.”

A thought occurs to her. “Are you in the well?”

“...Yes and no.”

“What do you know about Kesä?”

“Oh man, where to start? Aleksi Kesä is the devil in disguise. A doppelgänger made of pure darkness, taking the form of an innocent man- well, FBI agent. He should be confined to the Dark Place, he belongs there, but it sounds like he managed to escape and dragged the real deal down in his place. Problem is that he wants reality to accept him, and he has the power to alter things to get his way, whatever the cost. He’s extremely dangerous.”

Saga tries to process what she's being told. Kesä, the man she’d risked her life to rescue and who’d cared for her in return, with evil intentions?

Not to mention the very idea of Casey having an evil doppelgänger is absurd. Wake and Scratch is one thing. Is this Wake implying that Kesä is to Casey what Scratch is to Wake?

Or is he implying that Kesä is Scratch?

Sure, she’d been wary of Kesä, but the idea of him being ‘made of pure darkness’ is taking it to the extremes…

“So you're saying that the real Alex Casey is in the Dark Place right now?”

“That's right.”

It makes partial sense. Though some parts don't add up, such as Kesä's seemingly non-evil personality and the unknown role of the Koskelas in the story, it's the only explanation she's been given and therefore she can't help but cling to it.

Even so, she takes everything said with a grain of salt.

“Why should I believe you?”

“Does the name ‘Anderson’ mean anything to you?”

Saga freezes. Tries to convince herself she didn’t say anything, that he can’t read her innermost thoughts, that her private life is safe-

“Clearly means something to this guy. One of the only consistent words between his berserk babbling.”

Her heart sinks.

“Let me talk to him.” she demands.

“Would if I could. He's breaking down big time. I gotta say, I’m getting worried. The more he loses his mind, it means Aleksi Kesä’s grip on reality is getting stronger.”

Saga listens in trepidation and does her best to not imagine Casey falling apart, trapped in the hellscape the other Wake had described. Alan Wake had been trapped there for thirteen whole years. She can’t bear the thought of her friend going through the same nightmare that a week ago she’d claim couldn’t exist. And now Casey’s there too, all because of… Kesä? A doppelgänger? Scratch?

“You have to stop him before it's too late!”

“How do I get Casey out of there?”

“There might be a way. Then again, it might already be too late…”

“If there’s even a chance of it working, tell me.”

“Fine. Use Aleksi. He’s the key. There’s a ritual- the cult will know. They-”

“The ritual with the heart?”

“Yeah, how did..? Uh, if you perform the ritual and throw the heart into the well, you should get your guy back. Balance is important in the Dark Place, the two sides are like a set of scales. Force one in, it’ll force one out.”

What Wake is implying sounds uncomfortably like murder, though the words make the most sense so far. He knew that Aleksi came from the well. The well had been linked to the Overlap. Maybe some remnant from that is what’s letting her talk to Wake in the Dark Place now?

He claimed that Casey’s calling for her, for Anderson. The stranger Wake couldn’t have pulled her name out of thin air. Wake (the one out of the lake) also said that Kesä and Casey might be different. Maybe he knew more than he had let on.

“If you’re going to attempt this, you have to hurry. The longer Kesä stays on the surface, the more he spreads roots of himself there. It’ll reach a point where it’ll be too strong even for the ritual.”

Saga doesn’t know what to make of it. After spending so long in the dark, trying to piece all these mismatched clues together, she suddenly feels like she’s being bombarded with information and instructions that she doesn’t know whether to trust. She doesn’t trust Wake, but once again he’s the only person who seems to have any idea about what’s happening, and the only person who has any idea of how to make things right.

Only now there’s a ticking clock for Casey’s life as well as Logan’s.

“What’s in it for you? If you’re stuck, don’t you want to escape too?”

“You said I’m up there right now, right? That means some part of me makes it out of here. I can live with that. I don’t know about this guy, though. He’s uh… not doing so good.”

The mental image of Casey suffering returns. Saga makes her decision.

“Okay. I’ll do it.”

She’d already handled one heart ritual, what’s another for a greater cause? If Kesä isn’t Casey, if he’s just another figment of the Dark Place, it wouldn’t be murder. It’s just a necessary step in getting Casey and Kesä back where they belong.

Right?

“Good, good. Just remember: the heart goes into the well and you have to say the right words- the cult knows. You’d better hurry, we’re already running out of time to save him. But you can do it.”

Saga nods. Even though Wake on the other side can’t see it, she nods. Another ritual. A gory ritual, but she has to save Casey. The first Wake didn’t know about Kesä, this one does. She follows logic in deciding who to trust.

“And you promise it’ll bring Casey back?”

“If it works, I promise they’ll both be back where they belong. Now look, as much as I’d love to stand by this door all day, I’ve got an agent to look after.”

“Take care of him.” Saga says without thinking. “Tell him I’m coming for him. I’ll save him.”

“You got it.”

“And Wake?”

“Hmm? Oh, yeah?”

“If you’re still writing there, leave innocent people out of it. Their lives are not yours to use.”

“Yes ma’am.”

Saga tensely waits for a few minutes for any further comment from behind the door. When there aren’t any, she slowly slumps down against it, assuming the same position as she physically takes next to the well.

What was that? Alan managing to telepathically communicate with her from the Dark Place?

She has no idea how it could have happened. Stranger still, it sounded like he didn’t know, either.

She suddenly feels light-headed. A haze overcomes her Mind Place. Colors fade, pieces of furniture blend together, the mounted deer head looms.

She thinks of Wake. A different version, a different voice. Trying to escape the Dark Place, but also somehow in the Huotari Well? She’d never put Wake down as a bad person. A selfish, unsympathetic person, yes, but not cruel. Just desperate. This version hadn’t sounded desperate, had even had a hint of levity to his muffled voice. He’d also sacrificed his own chance at escape to help Casey.

She wants to profile him but she can’t quite grasp his mindset, as if the door between them created a barrier that blocked her from his thoughts, too. It’s frustrating.

She thinks of Kesä. A different version, a different voice. Escaped the Dark Place by confining Casey in his place. While she couldn’t understand what he was saying, she knew for a fact that he felt lost and afraid. Maybe the real world is too overwhelming for a being that had been created within the Dark Place?

Saga stops that train of thought. She has to deal with facts only. It’s a delicate case and she can’t muddy the truth with her own speculation when lives are at stake.

She thinks of Casey. Her partner, her friend, trapped. Why did he have to go and joke about this being his last case? She already knows that she’s willing to risk a hell of a lot to save him. The ritual on Kesä is definitely a big risk. Would turning him into a Taken really force him back to the Dark Place?

Briefly, she wonders if Casey would approve of this plan, and comes to the conclusion that he wouldn’t. Except Saga knows that both she and Casey are very aware that Saga is the one with more to lose. What Casey refuses to understand is that he’s a big part of that.

She’ll have to attempt the ritual. She doesn’t know how yet, but it’s the only option she has. Wake said the cult would have more information, right? Jaakko Koskela, a perfect well of information (pun, for once, unintended) is right there.

She drags herself out of the Mind Place and back into reality. A deep sigh escapes her lips, her breath condensing in the cold of the night. This hadn’t been what she was expecting by coming here, but she’s glad she did. She feels a lot more knowledgable about the situation than she'd been before.

Slowly, she turns her head to talk to the cultist, calling out. “Jaakko?”

Only she’s faced with a pair of legs hanging over the far side of the well.

Saga jumps to her feet. “Jaakko!”

She rushes around the base and quickly grabs onto a leg with each arm. Luckily, he hasn’t fallen fully, balancing over the edge of the well by his midsection. When she starts to pull, she realizes in terror that there is a force much stronger than her, much stronger than gravity, pulling him down. The bucket he’d attached himself to is nowhere to be seen in the nothingness below.

She hears a quiet, despairing chant echoing in the shaft.

“Mercy. Mercy dear brother, don’t kill me. I’m dying. Mercy, dear brother. Mercy-”

Saga pulls. She grits her teeth and pulls and pulls and groans with exertion and pulls and pulls and tries to anchor her feet into the ground to pull even harder. She pulls despite the strain on her weakened arm. She pulls until she can’t pull any longer, her body forcing her to let go before she greatly damages herself.

“No!”

The legs join the torso and all Saga can do is watch as he descends into darkness.

Thanks for reading!

This fic is going on hiatus for a few weeks while I have exams. Hope you're enjoying it so far ^-^

#alan wake 2 #fanfic #saga anderson #jaakko koskela #alan wake #alex casey #aleksi kesä #thomas zane #yötön yö #a piece of true fiction

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