The 11th Floor: Awakening

  The 11th Floor

  Part Two

  Awakening

  By Charles Culver

  Copyright Information

  Copyright © 2012 by Charles Culver

  All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of the copyright owner of this book.

  This is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and events are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or deceased, business establishments, events, locales, are entirely coincidental.

  Cover Image: Copyright Kutlayev Dmitry, 2012

  Used under license from Shutterstock.com

  Need to contact the author? You may contact the author by one of the following ways.

  Email: info@chuckculver.com

  Website: http://www.chuckculver.com

  Introduction

  Thank you for picking up a copy of The 11th Floor, Part Two. I realize I left the first book in the series at an ending in which some people were unhappy. I wasn’t sure if I was going to do a second one, so I wanted to leave it at a place where it could have been done or I could have continued Luke’s story. Obviously I chose to continue.

  A lot of people said the first book creeped them out. That’s good. That’s what I was going for. I think this second one is much less creepy and contains a bit less carnage. That will probably make some people happy. My original intention with this second book was to continue with Luke’s story. I wanted to wrap it up a little and answer some questions that were left open from the first.

  The writing of these books has been almost therapeutic for me. I used to have nightmares two or three times a week. Since completing the first one, I rarely have any. My wife is probably the happiest about this, since I don’t keep waking her up at night. That is now solely the job of our 3 year old daughter.

  So thanks again to everyone who helped me out. Mom, Jim, Tam, and all my Facebook and G+ friends.

  Enjoy.

  Chapter 1

  “You have to help me, Doc. I think I’m losing my mind,” said Luke, staring up at the ceiling fan. “It’s all I can think about. Every time I see a mirror or reflection, I panic thinking I’m going to see him again.”

  “By him, you mean the hooded figure from your dream?” asked the doctor. “What was his name again? Nate, wasn’t it?”

  Gently shaking his head from side to side, Luke corrected the Doctor. “No, Nate wasn’t the hooded man. His name was Lou. Nate was the boss.”

  “Oh, right. My mistake,” said the doctor, consulting his notepad. “So this Lou guy, have you seen him since that day?”

  “Not since the car mirror.”

  “And how long ago was that?”

  “I believe it was about three months ago.”

  “You do realize it was only a dream. You know that, don’t you, Luke?”

  “It felt so real. How do you explain the dead people with the missing heads? They died in my dreams the exact same way.”

  “I can offer you a possible explanation,” said the doctor. “Perhaps you had the radio or television on while you were sleeping and heard the news, which worked its way into your dream.”

  “Maybe you’re right, but I still have trouble sleeping since then. I’m afraid of what might happen if I dream again. What if I have a recurrence?”

  “Luke, have you ever heard of the phrase ‘lucid dreaming’?”

  “I have heard of it, but I can’t say I know what it is exactly.”

  “I won’t bore you with the details, but basically it describes a state in which the dreamer realizes he or she is having a dream and is then able to exert some kind of control over it. The realization is typically triggered by noticing some anomaly or impossibility. By this, I mean things that couldn’t happen in real life, such as: pink elephants, garbled text, people flying, or conversing with deceased relatives or friends. These are called ‘dream signs’ and like the name suggests, give you a sign that you are in a dream.”

  Luke sat up straight in the chair and looked the doctor right in the eyes. “So wait, you’re saying I can control my dreams?”

  “It’s not as simple as that, Luke, but ultimately if you learn to spot your dream signs then you may be able to control what’s happening at least a little bit. Perhaps with time, patience, and experience, you may be able to entirely control the dream itself. Like many other things in life, it is ultimately a skill that has to be developed.”

  “This sounds like a bunch of nonsense. Thanks for everything, Doc, but I think I’ll be fine on my own from here on out.”

  Luke walked across the office heading towards the door.

  “If you decide that you no longer need to see me, that’s fine. I do believe you’re making a mistake; however, the choice is yours,” said the doctor as Luke reached for the handle.

  Luke grabbed the handle and paused for a moment before pulling it open.

  As the door opened, the doctor added, “At least consider what I’ve told you for next time, if there is a next time. Take care, Mr. Williams.”

  Slightly annoyed, Luke let out a huff sound and stormed through the door out of sight. As the door was closing behind Luke, the doctor saw a strange reflection in the glass. It was brief, but it appeared to be a shadowy figure wearing a black hooded cloak. Unsure if the light was playing tricks or Luke’s stories got the better of him, he jumped up from his seat and ran over to the door, pulling it open. He looked around the waiting room to see what might have made the reflection. The only person out there was his secretary, Betty, who was wearing pink and white. There was nothing obvious that could have made that kind of dark reflection.

  The doctor asked, “Betty, was there someone out here a moment ago wearing a black coat or something similar?”

  “No, Doctor. Mr. Williams just left, but he didn’t have a jacket and was wearing a yellow shirt. Is something wrong?”

  “I thought I saw someone,” said the doctor, removing his glasses and rubbing them on his shirt. “Must be these dirty glasses. Never mind.”

  “Sure thing. Oh! While you were in there with Mr. Williams, your 4pm canceled, so your evening is free.”

  “Excellent. Let’s wrap things up here. Maybe I’ll be able to start my vacation a little early.”

  The doctor turned and started heading back into his office.

  “Oh, Betty, can you call my wife and let her know that I’ll be home early?”

  “Yes, Doctor,” answered Betty as she picked up the phone and began dialing.

  “What would I do without you? You’re the best,” the doctor replied, closing his office door behind him.

  He crossed the room and sat down at his desk. From the upper left drawer he retrieved his favorite pen and a notebook, placed them on the surface, and began writing notes regarding Luke’s visit. A few sentences in, there was a creak overhead. He paused his writing for a few seconds and looked up to see what had made the noise, but there was nothing and it didn’t happen a second time.

  “Must have been the upstairs office,” he thought to himself, and continued with his writing.

  Once a few more sentences were complete, he closed the notebook and placed it neatly back in the drawer with the pen. He leaned over to the table, picked up the tape recorder, and pressed the record button.

  “October 12th, 2012, 3:20pm. Patient seen in office, Luke Williams. Continues suffering from paranoia and sleep deprivation. Reassured him it was only a dream. Suggested luci
d dreaming as a way of controlling his dreams to give him confidence, prevent him from being afraid of dreaming. He rejected it without further discussion, walked out on session. Will probably not be back. Usual billing applies.”

  He stood up, pressed the stop button, and placed the recorder in the drawer along with the notebook. Walking over to his coatrack, he picked up his jacket and briefcase and began heading back to the office door. Overhead came another cracking and snapping sound, only this time much louder. The doctor looked up and screamed, lifting his left arm over his head.

  Outside his office, Betty yelled, “Are you alright in there?”

  There was no answer.

  She yelled again, “Doctor! Are you okay?”

  Again, he did not answer. She walked over to the door, knocked on it while turning the handle and peeked inside. What had made the noise became immediately obvious, and it both shocked and nauseated her. She screamed, slammed the door shut, and ran back to her desk. She grabbed the phone and dialed 911.

  Chapter 2

  While cruising down the highway, all Luke could do was think about that session with the doctor only a few minutes before. He had seen so many doctors and therapists in recent years for his problems, what made this guy any different? None of them ever seemed to have a fix for his problems and even with heeding all of their advice, that whole ordeal from a few months ago left him worse off than ever. Instead of being worried about where he might wake up, he was also concerned if he would even wake up at all. Demons and devilish creatures were now more than just figments of his nightmares, they had turned into some kind of a reality, and the best this doctor could do was suggest some kind of crazy training sessions in an obvious attempt to keep him going back for more appointments.

  “Wow, I’m almost home already?” Luke said, looking up at a passing sign. “I don’t remember any of the last 10 minutes. I hope I didn’t run any red lights or stop signs.”

  Perhaps the doctor was right. Maybe it was just a dream, a horrible dream, but a dream nonetheless. Either way, he badly needed some sleep. He turned off at the next block and circled back around to the nearest pharmacy. Once in front of the store, he switched off car and went inside to the sleep aid section. There were so many choices; which was the right one?

  “Can I help you with something?” a voice asked.

  Luke looked up and saw a man standing behind the counter looking at him.

  “I need sleep and I just have so much trouble lately. You’re a pharmacist, right? What do you suggest?”

  “Well, that depends. Are you taking any other medications?” asked the pharmacist, as he came out from behind the counter and approached Luke.

  “Nope.”

  “Then I’d suggest this one,” he said, picking up a box. “It works very well with practically no side effects.”

  “Practically none?”

  “Maybe dry mouth, but you look like a young kid in good health. You already said you’re not taking anything else, so you should be fine. There’s no interactions. Just make sure to try one first, don’t jump straight to two.”

  “Okay, thanks.”

  Luke paid for the medication, got back in the car, and drove home. He parked his car in the apartment lot. At the end of the sidewalk, he stopped at the mailbox and grabbed his mail. He flipped through it on the way to his door.

  “More junk. Never anything good in the mail,” he thought.

  Once inside, he tossed the junk mail into the garbage can and placed the sleeping medication on the kitchen counter. He made dinner that night as usual and watched some mindless reality shows to take his mind off other things. As he got up to grab a soda from the refrigerator, he saw the pills on the counter.

  “Well, here goes nothing,” he said as he swallowed the pill and chased it with a few gulps of soda. “I hope this works. I’m just exhausted.”

  Luke turned off the television, picked up his laptop from the table, and headed into the bedroom. Lying on the bed, he surfed the web for a while. The Internet was his main source of news and entertainment. His favorite website was Reddit. Whenever he had some free time, he would pop on there and check out the “new” section. There was something about up-voting a new post that gave him satisfaction. Even being surrounded with all the cute cat pictures and ridiculous memes, his mind drifted back to his session with the doctor earlier that day. He couldn’t get the doctor’s words out of his head. Lucid dreaming. Dream control. Curiosity eventually got the better of him and he did a Google search for some of those keywords. The number of results was astounding. Maybe there was something to it after all?

  “Wow, that pill works quick,” he said with a yawn. “I guess I’ll read those tomorrow.”

  He closed the laptop lid and placed it on the nightstand. Before he had a chance to turn off the lamp, he was asleep.

  Chapter 3

  Tom pulled open the curtain on the balcony and stood admiring the view while drinking his morning coffee. His wife, Mary Beth, was still in the bathroom putting on the last of her makeup. Tom was used to waiting for his wife getting ready to go out. Now in their mid-60s, it never seemed to get any faster. Having been married for 40 years now, he had learned to just accept it as part of daily life. In the past, he might have made snarky comments but now he knew that no good would come out of it. An angry wife is an unhappy husband, or so he always told his buddies whenever the subject came up.

  Shortly after Tom finished his coffee and placed the cup on the desk, the bathroom door finally opened behind him.

  “Are you ready now, babe?” asked Tom.

  “What do you think of this outfit?”

  Tom spun around and looked at his wife. If anyone had ever asked him when he was younger if he could have been attracted to a 64-year-old woman, he would have said no for certain. Perhaps it was something that happened to older married men where something in their brains went haywire, or perhaps it was just a side effect of 40 years of love.

  “I love it,” Tom responded. “You look fabulous. Happy anniversary, babe.”

  She gave him a huge hug and kiss in return for his correct response.

  Mary Beth and Tom never had children, which they had decided upon before they were married. Neither of them was much of a fan of children and to fill the void they decided to save their money for retirement and travel the world. That is exactly what they were doing now. Having worked their whole younger lives, they managed to save a considerable sum of money through a combination of good investments and a life of frugality.

  Because of their choice to not have children, they grew to be intolerant on all matters of kids. Particularly, they despised children in public and the general lack of discipline on the part of their parents. This was the main reason why they chose a cruise at this time of the year. October, in their opinion, was an ideal time to vacation. School had just begun all over the country, so the chance of children ruining their day was slim.

  “You about ready to get some breakfast?” he asked.

  “I don’t know, maybe I should try that other dress on again.”

  “No, this one is great.”

  “You really think so? You’re not just saying that?”

  “Come on, babe, you know I don’t—” he said, noticing she was looking past him. “What is it?”

  “Look,” she responded bluntly.

  Tom turned around and saw a giant black crow sitting on the railing of the balcony.

  “That’s odd,” he said. “What’s a crow doing out here in the middle of the ocean?”

  “My thoughts exactly,” she replied, “and what’s that it has in its mouth?”

  It seemed that once she called attention to the object the bird was holding with his beak, he dropped it on the floor, as if the bird was only holding it long enough for them to notice. They stared at the bird and the object on the floor for a few seconds. Finally Tom took a step forward toward the balcony door. The crow let out a loud caw sound, and flew off once it noticed Tom moving forward. Tom q
uickly ran to the door to see where the bird had gone, but he was not fast enough in his older age and the bird was out of sight before he reached the door.

  “What is it? What did he drop?” asked Mary Beth.

  Tom opened the doors and proceeded to the object the bird had dropped on the floor. As he approached it, he could now see it had a shine and sparkle that seemed to catch the sunlight in just the right way.

  “You’re never going to believe this. Come take a look at this,” he called to her as he picked up the object from the ground.

  “What is it?”

  “It’s a diamond engagement ring and it looks identical to yours, if my memory serves.”

  She hurried out to the balcony where Tom stood, holding the ring out for her to see.

  “Dear Lord, it does look just like mine,” she said. “Impossible. Even the scuffs and that big dig mark are in the same place.”

  “Well, clearly this can’t be yours, since you are still wearing it. Must be a coincidence. Some poor woman must have lost it. Let’s do the right thing and bring it to the Lost and Found.”

  “It’s way too valuable to trust to some minimum-wage person working the Lost and Found down below. We need to bring this to the captain or someone else who we can trust not to steal it.”

  “Good point, babe,” replied Tom, who then placed the ring in his shirt pocket. “If we come across the captain, we’ll give it to him. Maybe we can even get captain’s table for dinner tonight.”

  “Oooh, I hope so. I’ve heard that’s wonderful.”

  “Okay. Let’s go get some breakfast.”

  Mary Beth nodded in agreement.

  Chapter 4

  With a big stretch and a five-second yawn, Luke woke up feeling refreshed. That was a feeling that he hadn’t felt in months. Ever since that day he’d had trouble sleeping. These new pills were a gift from heaven—a wonderful gift that he must ensure he didn’t abuse, he thought. Instead of getting up right away, he relaxed and just enjoyed the feeling of rest.