The 11th Floor: Awakening Read online

  Above, there was a loud caw sound. The large black crow from earlier was back, circling overhead. As if it sensed Luke’s gaze, it broke the circle and glided up toward the front of the ship.

  “Might as well follow it again,” said Luke. “Last time it led toward someone who needed my help.”

  Luke followed the bird around the outer edge of the ship, leaning out over the railing occasionally and looking up to make sure he was heading in the proper direction. Up ahead, near the end of the corridor, the bird let out another caw sound and flew around the corner. Almost as if it said, “Here I am, follow me in this direction now,” the bird made one more caw sound while out of sight. Luke obliged and hurried around the corner to keep track of the bird.

  As Luke rounded the corner, he nearly knocked into a man who was mopping the floor, whistling to himself. The man was wearing an all-white jumpsuit and tan colored work boots, and appeared to be one of the ship’s maintenance workers.

  “Whoa!” said Luke, startled by the discovery of yet another person. “Sorry about that. I didn’t expect anyone to be in the way.”

  The man turned and with a slight grin, asked, “No worries. Is there something I can help you with, buddy?”

  Luke’s heart nearly jumped out of his chest when the man turned toward him. The voice and face were all too familiar.

  “You!” yelled Luke.

  With a puzzled tone, the man replied, “Do I know you?”

  “You’re Lou!”

  “Yeah, how’d you know that?”

  “Come on, don’t play games, we’re beyond that. What the hell is going on here?”

  “I’ve just been here for the last hour mopping up, so I’m afraid I don’t know what you’re talking about, buddy.”

  “Let me guess, the boss has some VIPs coming today and he told you to make sure the whole area is especially clean, right?

  “That’s incredible. How’d you know?”

  “Because we’ve been through this before. You and me. The city. The empty building. Koenig. Ring a bell?

  “Hmm, can’t say it does.”

  “Okay, feign ignorance, but I know how this plays out and I’m going to stop it before it happens. You lure us to the boss, Nate, where he systematically kills us all off because the devil wants trophies.”

  Looking past Luke, Lou said to him, “Us? You all? You mean all those people behind you?”

  When Luke turned to look, he felt a hard crack against the back of his head. He briefly lost consciousness and fell to the floor. When he came to, he felt himself being dragged.

  “Sorry, Luke. Unfortunately, I do remember you and we can’t have you interfering with our work again.”

  Woozy and unable to offer any kind of resistance, Luke could do nothing but listen to Lou make his confession and watch the surroundings pass with blurry vision.

  “This is for the best. You’re lucky you aren’t on the list. If the boss had it his way, you’d become just another trophy on a shelf, damned for eternity. Now you’ll just be dead.”

  Lou effortlessly picked up Luke and tossed him overboard.

  Chapter 9

  Luke woke up, gasping for air and thrashing about the bed like a fish out of water. Aware that he was now awake and not drowning in an ocean, he managed to gradually calm down. When Luke finally came to rest, he was lying on his back looking up at the ceiling. The bedsheets were curled up into a ball and he’d managed to knock the lamp off the nightstand onto the floor. Luckily, it remained unbroken. He leaned over and grabbed the lamp, placed it back on the nightstand, and then sat up.

  He licked his lips and made a horrible sour face. His mouth had a foul taste that could only be described as having gargled a glass of water mixed with a couple spoonfuls of salt. Luke immediately jumped out of bed and ran to the bathroom sink to rinse out his mouth.

  “What is going on?” he wondered. “How can my dreams be so real?”

  Luke went out to the living room and sat in the chair for a while to finish calming down and collect his thoughts. The sun blaring around the curtains meant it was morning. Just then he realized the newspaper was probably waiting on his doorstep. He rushed over to the door and retrieved the daily paper. When he pulled off the rubber band holding it together, the thing he feared most was staring him right in the face. There, on the front page of the paper, was the headline he was hoping wasn’t going to exist.

  “Three found dead on cruise ship.”

  The article went on to say that they were discovered floating in one of the pools of a cruise ship that was docked for maintenance. The ship had just gotten back from a 10-night trip. An investigation was underway and the crew was being held for questioning.

  Closing the paper and tossing it aside, Luke thought, “Why does this keep happening to me? I have to know how to stop this. Maybe I should go back to that doctor.”

  Luke went back into the bedroom, grabbed his phone, and immediately dialed the doctor’s office. He knew full well that it was too early for the secretary to be there, but hopefully he could make an appointment with the service.

  The phone rang way longer than it should have. He had almost given up when finally a man answered.

  “Hi. I need to make an appointment for today, it’s urgent.”

  “Sorry sir, this is the police. There was an accident here at the doctor’s office yesterday and unfortunately Dr. Walsh was fatally injured. If you need urgent help, you should contact the—”

  “He’s dead?” Luke asked loudly, in shock.

  “Yes sir, he passed away. Look, if you need help, contact the mental health hotline at the hospital. Do you need their number?”

  Luke pulled the phone back and just stared at the screen, without saying a word.

  “Hello? Sir, are you still there?” asked the officer on the phone.

  The voice snapped Luke out of his stare and he promptly ended the call without another word. He walked back out to the living room and sat down in the chair.

  “He was killed because of me, I know it. It was no accident.” Luke thought. “He tried to help me and they killed him for it.”

  Some of the last words he remembered from his dream were those of Lou saying to him, “We can’t have you interfering with our work again.” Was the doctor killed because he was trying to help? Luke wondered if perhaps there was something related to ‘lucid dreaming’ that they didn’t want him experimenting with. He wondered if maybe it was worth a shot. If these types of dreams were going to be a common occurrence, it would be prudent to learn how to control them, and if at all possible, save some lives in the process.

  Luke called in sick to work and went to the library where he spent the entire day furiously researching lucid dreaming. He found many websites dedicated to the subject, as well as online user groups with people discussing their experiences and tips. Throughout the course of the day, Luke learned quite a bit about the subject. Some of the terminology the doctor used, such as dream signs and reality checks, were now familiar to him. Armed with his new-found knowledge, he decided to test it out that very night.

  In an attempt to keep everything consistent, he stopped at the store on his way home and bought the exact same food that he had eaten the night before. After arriving back at home, he grabbed his mail from the mailbox and flipped through them as he walked down the sidewalk toward his apartment. One letter stood out from the usual bills and grocery store fliers, because the sender was the local police department.

  Still walking down the sidewalk, Luke slowed as he opened the letter. Inside was a traffic violation notice for failure to stop at a red light. Included with the summons was a picture of his vehicle from a red light camera that his city had installed earlier that year. Shocked, Luke dropped the groceries and the other mail on the ground. The picture showed him behind the wheel and another person, dressed in all black with a hood, sitting in the passenger seat next to him. Lou was back. This picture was taken before his nightmare on the cruise ship.

  Luke pick
ed up the rest of the mail and groceries off the ground and hurried into his apartment to better examine the picture. Once inside, he rushed over to his junk drawer with the picture in hand. He dug through, pulling out a magnifying glass. Holding it close to the picture confirmed his fear. It was Lou, and it appeared that he was smiling at the camera as it took the picture.

  The picture of Lou just made Luke more driven to put an end to this whole thing. He didn’t want to keep waking up next to dead people and, for more reasons than his own selfishness, he wanted to be able to help the next victims of Lou and Nate.

  Now resolved in his quest, Luke repeated his prior evening. He ate the same meal for dinner, watched the same show on television, and took another sleeping pill. When the show ended, he turned off the television and took his laptop to bed and surfed Reddit a bit more. To his surprise, there was a group dedicated to lucid dreaming. A lot of people were on there, discussing their experiences and how they were able to do this and that in their dreams. One post stood out, as it talked about weapons and how to “summon” them.

  “Wow, am I tired all of a sudden. I feel like I just got hit by a truck!” exclaimed Luke.

  He closed the lid on his laptop and placed it on the nightstand. Almost as suddenly as he turned off the lamp, he was asleep.

  Chapter 10

  Luke woke up suddenly. His eyes rocketed open to the sound of a large bang, like someone was setting off fireworks outside. When he looked to his right, he was staring squarely at a tile wall. He sat up and realized he was sitting in a bathtub. The toilet seat was up and there were towels scattered all over the floor.

  He climbed out of the tub and walked out of the bathroom. Luke found himself standing in a small hotel room. The television was on, but it was only showing static and the volume was apparently on mute. The single bed in the room was unkempt. On top of the bed was an open and empty suitcase. Women’s clothing and undergarments were scattered all over the floor.

  “Well this isn’t what I expected,” said Luke quietly. “I assumed I’d wake up next to a dead body again, but there isn’t one. No blood either. This is just like all the other times I usually wake up in strange places.”

  He approached the hotel room door cautiously and gazed out the peephole. It showed only an empty hallway.

  “So, where am I now?” he wondered.

  Luke looked all around the room for identifying papers or signs, but could find none. He opened the desk drawer, but the only thing inside was a Bible. As he pushed the Bible aside, he noticed that it was a little thin and weighed almost nothing. He flipped the cover open to examine it and noticed that every single page inside was torn out. In place of the pages, someone had written “I.O.U.” Luke chuckled, finding it mildly ironic that someone stole a Bible, page by page. Lying behind the empty Bible was a pen with lettering on it. Luke grabbed it. It bore the name of a hotel chain in Las Vegas.

  “I’m in Vegas?” he asked himself.

  Luke went over to the window and pushed a bit of the curtain aside. Sure enough, he was overlooking the strip, which oddly was lit up as normal but completely empty of people and activity.

  “This is starting to look more like what I expected.”

  He picked up the phone and dialed the front desk. He hasn’t expected anyone to answer. To his surprise, there was a man’s voice on the other end.

  “Hello. Front Desk. Lou speaking. How can I help you?”

  With a gasp, Luke slammed the phone down. Not more than five seconds had passed before the phone in his room rang. Luke backed away, knowing who it was, and just let the phone ring. They’d found him already. He was hoping he would get the jump on them for a change. It was too soon and he wasn’t prepared. He needed to get out of there. Soon, he was sure, they would be coming for him and he wasn’t ready for a confrontation.

  Rushing over to the door, he cracked it open. He didn’t see anyone around, so he pulled the door open the rest of the way and moved quickly into the hallway, closing the door behind him. As he walked down the hallway, he kept telling himself that this must be a dream and he needed to find a sign.

  Up ahead, Luke heard the elevator ding and noticed a gorgeous young woman walk out. He slowed his walk a bit more to watch her. She was stunning and the male in him wanted to check her out a bit more before she was gone. Additionally, he was suspicious of this reality and also wanted to make sure she didn’t spin around with Lou’s face and try to kill him.

  The woman stopped in front of a door and began fumbling through her purse, most likely trying to find the room key. A few doors down, Luke noticed movement. The odd black dog creature was standing in a doorway, licking his chops. It sniffed the air then turned its head in the direction of the woman. Clearly it noticed her as it began walking in her direction.

  Luke yelled out, “Hey! Watch out for that dog!”

  The woman looked at Luke, then over at the dog, and let out a scream. Luke took off running toward the woman. The animal also began running, as it growled. Its eyes were swirling red vortexes that signaled nothing but trouble for the two of them. Almost on top of her, Luke ran past the woman and kicked the dog as hard as he could. It flew through the air and landed well down the hallway with a yelp and thud.

  As Luke kicked the animal, the woman managed to find her key and get the door open. Both she and Luke ran inside and slammed the door shut, locking the deadbolt, as if the animal could work a door knob and had a card key. It seemed like a reasonable response at the time, but Luke felt foolish immediately afterwards.

  “What the hell was that thing?” asked the woman.

  “Nothing good, that’s what it was,” replied Luke.

  “Well, thanks for the save back there, Mr.—”

  “Williams. Call me Luke.”

  “Thanks, Luke. I’m Amanda.”

  “Under other circumstances it would be a pleasure to meet you, Amanda, but I think we’re both in trouble here.”

  “What do you mean? Can’t we just call the police or animal control about that dog thing out there?”

  “Umm, not exactly. Do you want to hear a story?” asked Luke.

  Chapter 11

  “Excuse me, Boss,” said Lou.

  “Yes, what is it?” asked Nate.

  “The intruder is back. You wanted me to let you know.”

  “Excellent, begin making the preparations that we discussed.”

  “Are you sure, Boss? I mean, did you check with HIM first? I know it’s not my place, but he has strict rules for our line of work and this plan doesn’t exactly follow protocol.”

  “Don’t worry. He allows me some leniency on certain matters and this recurring issue with Mr. Williams will be dealt with accordingly. The interfering has to be stopped before it becomes a problem for all of us, up here and down there. Catch my drift?”

  “Yes, Boss.”

  “Now stop questioning me and go make the preparations as I ordered.”

  “Sure thing, Boss.”

  Lou turned and headed out of the room, leaving Nate alone with his tablet of names.

  “Mr. Williams will think he has a choice, but he’ll learn otherwise,” said Nate with a laugh.

  Chapter 12

  Amanda just stared at Luke for a moment, taking in everything he told her.

  “So … you’re saying that this is a dream,” she finally said to him, “and if we don’t wake up, we will be killed and taken as trophies for the devil?”

  “Yes.”

  “You realize that you are insane, right? Or at the very least, you watch too many horror movies.”

  “I’m not insane. You have to trust me. I’ve been reading up on controlling these dreams and I think I can protect you until we get out of here.”

  “Come on, Luke, this isn’t the Matrix and I’m pretty sure we’re not on Elm Street.”

  “Did that animal out there look like something you’ve ever seen or heard of before today? Did that look like something from real life?”

  “I’m not
going to say that I ever saw anything like that dog out there, but I can’t claim to know every single species of animal on the planet either.”

  “What about everyone else? Hmm? Where is everyone else? I’m telling you, this is a dream world and we have to get out of here. I think the trick is to realize you are dreaming by finding a sign, some kind of abnormality or impossibility, and once you do that—”

  Luke paused for a moment at the sound of scratching at the door.

  “Shit, it’s back. Listen, for now, take my word. We need to get out of here before that thing gets through the door. I’ve seen what that thing can do, and believe me, you don’t want to be its target.”

  “What do we do? We’re upstairs in a hotel. That door is the only exit.”

  “Maybe not,” said Luke, looking in the direction of the window.

  The scratching at the door turned into banging.

  “Forget it, we’re too high.”

  Luke picked up the toaster and threw it at the window, hoping to smash through but the toaster just bounced off the glass with a loud rattle. Luke grabbed the end chair by the back and began hammering on the window, but it just wouldn’t break. He finally gave up after a few good swings and dropped the chair by the window.

  “Any other ideas, Luke?”

  Luke stood with his eyes closed, and his head slightly tilted back for a few seconds. When he opened his eyes, he ran to the desk and pulled open the drawer. Without looking in the drawer, he reached in and pulled out a gun.

  “There was a gun in there? How did you know there was a gun in there,” asked Amanda.

  “I didn’t. I just really concentrated on wanting a .44 magnum and told myself it would be in there.”

  By that point, the creature’s banging and scratching was beginning to pay off. The door had begun to splinter and crack.