Awake Read online

  “That really was great,” Ivy said, grabbing a program as well. “After spending so much time with you, I kind of forgot you’re famous.”

  “I forget it all the time,” Lee said.

  “Oh shit, that really was Stephen King!” Ben said, looking his program. “He’s giving a speech in an hour!”

  “Fuck, good thing you guys talked me into this,” Lee said. “I really didn’t think that was him—from what I’ve read he doesn’t come to these things too often.”

  “I told you it would be awesome,” Ivy said.

  They made their way through the main convention room, which was huge and packed chock-a-block with people. The half of the room that they entered was filled with booths for a number of publishers, authors and editors. There were a bunch of known authors, and Ivy and Ben were star-struck at the sight of them, while Stella looked bored, as usual.

  “Wow, it’s like every major writer has a booth here except for you,” Ivy said. She pointed to a booth twenty feet away and gave a squeal, saying “There’s Margaret Earl! Oh my god, I have to get her autograph, she’s my fave!”

  “I knew I wasn’t your favorite writer,” Lee muttered. He looked over to check out the other side of the convention room. It was filled with rows upon rows of chairs, all facing towards the far wall, where there was a stage and a podium set up. The stage was currently empty.

  “Who is your publisher again Lee?” Ben asked. “They’ve gotta be here.”

  “Tiger. We already walked past them.”

  “Why don’t we go over and talk to them?” Ben said.

  “What am I going to say to them? I’ve never actually met any of them before.”

  “You’ve never met them before?” Ivy said.

  Lee was about to reply when a loudspeaker crackled and then screeched with feedback that made both he and everybody around cover their ears and duck instinctively.

  It stopped after a second. A voice came on and said “Sorry about that, minor sound problem. We just wanted to remind everybody that the science fiction author’s panel will be starting in twenty minutes, everybody should be seated by then or we’re starting without you.” Lee looked over the stage and saw that workers were removing the podium and setting into its place two long tables, along with chairs and microphones.

  “That sounds awesome!” Ben said. “Let’s go grab seats right now so that we don’t get stuck in the back. I hope Orson Scott Card is there!”

  “I didn’t know you were a fan of his,” Lee said. “Or that you even read fiction.”

  “Well I am, and I do, sometimes. I read Ender’s Game in middle school and thought that it was awesome, let’s go!”

  “You never read my fiction,” Lee said, pretending to pout.

  “Let’s hurry, the seats are filling up fast,” Ivy said.

  “Yeah, fine, let’s go,” Lee said.

  There was a rush for the seats by most of the people in the convention room. The little group managed to find four seats together near the front-middle, and snagged them before anyone else could.

  “These seats are pretty good,” Ivy said as they sat down.

  “They sure are,” Lee said. “I can see the stage really well.”

  Before long, the workers had almost everything set up, save plugging in a wire here and there. A few of them were going through each microphone from one end of the stage to the other, doing sound checks on each. When everything was done, they moved off the stage and the authors came on to take their places, having been waiting in the wings.

  “Man, I don’t recognize any of those guys,” Ben said as the authors took their seats.

  “I recognize a few by their names, but I don’t think I’ve read any of their books,” Lee said. “I’m more of a horror guy, of course, but I do like sci-fi sometimes too.”

  “I read sci-fi sometimes, I read one of Jepson’s books and it was pretty good,” Ivy said. She pointed to the author seated on the far-right of the table. “He’s the one over there. You can just make out his placard.”

  “Oh yeah, I wanted to read one of his books I think,” Lee said. “Did he write The Nebula?”

  “Yep, that was the one that I read. I liked it,” Ivy said.

  “The synopsis sounded good,” Lee said.

  “Ugh, listen to you guys! This is so boring,” Stella said.

  “Come on, don’t you read anything?” Ben asked.

  “Of course I read. I read magazines, websites, stuff like that. I don’t think you can get around in the world today without a lot of reading. I just don’t like books.”

  “For shame!” Ben said.

  “Oh shut up! I just hated teachers forcing us to read them. And they were never the books that sounded interesting, either.”

  “I guess I hear you on that one,” Lee said. “I felt that way about a lot of the books I was assigned, but when I read them I ended up finding out that a lot of them were really good. I would have never discovered a lot of my favorite books if I hadn’t been forced to read them.”

  “That’s how it went for me,” Ivy said.

  “Well I’d just read the notes about the book or whatever I could find on the internet, that was usually enough to pass the tests. If that didn’t do the trick, cheating usually worked.”

  “Oh Stella, will you ever learn?” Ivy said in a strange, slow voice kind of like Mr. Ed’s from the old TV show. Lee supposed it must have been an in-joke between the girls, because Stella laughed.

  “I’m going to loan you some books when we get back to the Pacific Northwest, I have a few I know you’ll love,” Ben said when Stella stopped laughing, putting an arm around her.

  “Oh what, philosophy books? And what makes you so sure we should go back? I’m starting to really like it here,” Stella said, and gave Ben a peck on the cheek.

  “Maybe, but we’d have to go back after the trip is finished. Lee’s paying me to help him out,” Ben said. “And what makes you think that all I have are philosophy books?”

  “Well, those are the only books you ever talk about, and read in our room,” Stella said.

  “Those are just the only ones I brought with me. Back in Seattle I have two bookcases that are completely full.”

  “Oh yeah, that sounds super sexy.”

  An announcer came up and started the show, and everyone was quiet. It turned out Orson Scott Card was indeed there, showing up at the last minute.

  Lee tried to pay attention during the talks, but he started to hear the low humming sound that he’d heard a few times before. It disconcerted him, and he began looking around the convention center worriedly, waiting for something to happen. Knowing that something would happen.

  “What is it?” Ivy asked, giving him a light jab in the ribs with her elbow. “Ben and Stella are looking at you, are you seeing things again?”

  “Not exactly,” he said, his face flushing as he realized how crazy he was acting. He turned his gaze back to the stage and tried to pay attention as best he could.

  It didn’t work, and before long he found himself scanning around the room again without even realizing it. He’d catch himself, stop, and then start doing it again a few minutes later.

  “Do you want to go out and get some fresh air? Or maybe back to the room?” Ivy asked as he’d started looking around yet again.

  “Maybe some fresh air would help,” Lee said. But what he really was trying to get was a better view of the room.

  “Do you guys want us to come with you?” Ben asked as Lee and Ivy stood up.

  “No, we’re fine,” Lee said. “Just going to go get something to drink.”

  “That sounds awesome, I might come myself here in a bit. I want to hear Card speak first, though,” Ben said.

  “Alright, see you in a bit,” Lee said.

  As he and Ivy worked their way out of the seating area Lee kept looking around, waiting for something to start. He was sweating profusely, his armpits and chest felt completely soaked. The humming continued.

  “W
hat is it? Just please tell me already!” Ivy said when they got out of earshot of everybody.

  “I don’t know how to describe it, I just feel like things are off. I know it sounds crazy, but I think the demon is close. It’s about to find me, but I can’t let it,” Lee said, no longer caring about sounding crazy.

  “But you don’t see it?”

  “No, I…” Lee said, but just then he saw it. It was by the stage, standing in the wings. What was worse was it had clearly seen him too. “It’s there, come on we’ve got to go!”

  “Where is it?”

  “To the left of the stage, standing in the shadows. Come on, we have to go right now!” Lee said, hurrying towards the exit. Ivy hesitated for a moment, facing the stage, before she gave a startled cry and turned and followed Lee. He wondered what she’d seen, but he was in too much of a hurry to ask.

  “Hey guys, where are you going?” Ben asked as they were heading out the convention room door. “I noticed on the program that Card wasn’t speaking for half an hour so I decided to come along.”

  Lee stopped and turned towards Ben, nervously looking over Ben’s shoulder for the demon. He couldn’t see the stage anymore, the booths were blocking his view. “We’re going up to the room actually. Well, we’re actually going to check out, we just decided. I wanted to get back on the road.”

  “What the hell? Are you serious? That’s short notice.”

  “He’s been feeling really sick lately, and we were thinking that it might do him some good if we got back on the road,” Ivy said. Lee was thankful that she’d come up with an excuse faster than him.

  “Well shit, this is really sudden,” Ben said.

  The humming got louder, doubling Lee’s dread. “Look, you don’t have to come if you want. I’m going to make out a check to you for another thirty, that should get you and Stella some more time here. Either way, I’m going now,” Lee said, and then turned back around and started walking briskly out the door, with Ivy following close behind.

  “I just don’t get why we’re doing this so suddenly,” Ben said to their backs. When neither Lee nor Ivy stopped or slowed, Ben yelled after them “I’ll go back and get Stella and we’ll come up to the room to figure it out.”

  They hurried to the elevators as fast as they could without breaking into a full run. Used to seeing businesspeople rushing about, no one paid them any attention.

  When they reached the elevator lobby, they found it empty for the first time since they’d been staying in the building. That unnerved Lee even more than the recent sighting of the demon. His hand shaking and wet with sweat, he pressed the button to call an elevator.

  “Look Lee, I…” Ivy said as they waited for the elevator.

  “Wait, did you hear that?” Lee said, having heard a rumbling sound over the hum, like thunder.

  “Yes, I think that it’s starting to storm outside,” Ivy said.

  “I hope so,” Lee said, having no idea what he meant by that.

  An elevator came, and they got in. Lee pressed the button for their floor, and it started rumbling upwards at what felt like an excruciatingly slow pace.

  “Listen Lee: I saw it too,” Ivy said after they’d rode the elevator up for a quarter of a minute in silence.

  “Saw what?” Lee said, hoping he didn’t hear what he was suddenly afraid she’d say.

  “The demon.”

  26

  Lee went ice cold. “You really saw it?”

  “Yes, in the left wing, right next to the stage, just like you said. It was red and hideous and horrible and ugly and awful. It wasn’t human,” she said, starting to cry.

  “I’m sorry,” Lee said. “I don’t know what’s going on. I don’t want to put you in danger too. I thought it was just my imagination.” He was trembling, and his sweating had gotten so bad he was afraid he’d dehydrate. He poured himself a cup of water from the sink and drank it.

  “We need to run, Lee. Maybe if we can get away from it you’ll be okay and we can live together for the rest of our lives,” Ivy said, sounding desperate.

  “That was my plan, but I don’t think I’ll be able to get away from it. At least it’s not after you, I hope.”

  “What is it?”

  “I wish I knew. I kept telling myself it was a hallucination. I mean, it felt so real but I thought it was the disease. Now…now I’m just scared as fuck and I’ve got to get out of here.”

  “We both do. I’m not leaving you, even if that monster is after you.”

  There was a frantic knocking on the door and both of them froze, looking at each other with fear, unsure what to do.

  “It’s Stella, open the damned door!” came Stella’s voice from the other side. Relieved, Lee went over and opened the door.

  “What the hell are you guys thinking? You want to leave right now?” Stella demanded as soon as the door was open. Ben stood behind her meekly, looking apologetic.

  “Yeah, Lee’s feeling a bit sick and we think that getting out of the city would be good for him,” Ivy said.

  “Well can we at least wait until tomorrow? Why is this so sudden?”

  “It just is, you guys can do whatever you want,” Ivy said.

  “Oh yeah, that reminds me, I’ve got to get that check for you Ben,” Lee said, using it as excuse to get away from Stella and the doorway.

  “You don’t have to do that, we both agreed that we’d come along,” Ben said as Lee walked to his bag to retrieve his checkbook. “Stella just couldn’t figure out why we had to go all of a sudden,” Stella shot Ben an angry look, so he continued. “And I was kind of curious too.”

  “We already told you why, now if you’re going to come, get ready now!” Ivy said, stalking agitatedly back into the room to begin packing, leaving Stella and Ben standing in the doorway.

  “Come on, there’s got to be more to it than that,” Ben said.

  “I’m just getting tired of the city and want to get back on the road before we sleep late or something and end up paying for another day on the rooms. I want to head up to Maine, I hear New England is beautiful this time of year,” Lee said as he wrote out Ben’s check, feeling half-proud of himself for coming up with a plausible story on the spot.

  “Ugh, fine, but you should at least give us a couple of hours to pack and get ready it’s…” Stella said.

  “NO!” Lee yelled, making Stella jump and stop talking. After surprising himself, he lowered his tone, turned to the doorway and said “We need to get going in half an hour, I’m not sure what time the storage unit closes and we’ll be screwed if we can’t get the RV.” He was getting better at lying by the moment.

  He walked over to the doorway and handed the check to Ben. “I don’t need this, we’re going to come along,” Ben said, waving it off.

  “Just take it, even if you’re coming I’d feel better if you’ve got all your pay up front. You know, in case anything were to happen.”

  Ben stared at the check for a few seconds, and then took it, saying, “Alright buddy, thanks. We’ll be out in the hallway in thirty minutes then.”

  “On the dot.”

  Lee finished his packing within ten minutes. “Fuck I should have told them fifteen minutes,” he said as he zipped up his suitcase and set it by the door with his computer and toiletry bags. He was leaving what was left of the suit in its bag; what was left of it was ruined beyond repair.

  “I’m so scared I can’t even think,” Ivy said. “Do you hear a low humming sound?”

  Lee looked at her with dread, feeling as if he was going to faint. Gripping the edge of the desk for support, he said “No, but I did a little while ago. Are you sure you’re seeing and hearing these things? Maybe me telling you about my hallucinations messed with you somehow,” he said. It was bad enough that it was happening to him, if she was starting to see and feel it too it might drive him insane.

  She looked at him squarely in the eyes. “I’m sure Lee. I’ve always believed you, you have to believe me too.”

  “I d
o. What does it mean though?”

  “I know less than you do, Lee.”

  Lee called down to the front desk and told them that the group would be checking out of both rooms soon. Then he and Ivy cuddled together on the bed one last time, trembling, each minute feeling like an hour. They cringed at every set of footsteps going down the hallway, the close of each door, sure that the demon was coming for them.

  A pair of footsteps ran down the hall, coming towards their room. Lee started up and towards the door, sure they were finished, when the thudding steps kept going, passing the room. Ivy let out her breath so sharply when the footsteps were gone that it sounded like she’d been kicked in the stomach. “They need to fucking hurry up,” Lee said as he sat back down on the bed.

  Two minutes shy of the half hour deadline, they gathered up their bags and went out to the hallway. Lee started hammering impatiently on Ben and Stella’s door, shouting, “Time’s up, let’s get going!” over and over.

  “Damn, we’re ready!” Ben said, opening the door and carrying out his bags, Stella was behind him with hers. “When you get the chance you’d better tell me what’s really going on,” he whispered to Lee when he got close.

  They lugged the bags down to the elevators and caught one that an elderly couple had just boarded. Lee just caught the doors as they were closing, and tripped the safety to open them back up. The old man looked mad, but didn’t say anything. Lee didn’t care. He was normally one of the most polite people around, but he didn’t plan on wasting any time in getting out of the hotel.

  The elevator stopped several times on the way down, to let other people in. Each time the elevator stopped, Lee would hold his breath, wondering what he would do if the doors opened to reveal the demon, and fully expecting that they would. It didn’t happen, but the experience was agonizing just the same, he and Ivy trembling with fear each time the doors opened.

  He wondered if it would be better if the demon did catch him in the elevator. He felt sure it would end then, one way or the other.

  They reached the ground floor, and Lee went to the counter and asked to check out of their rooms. As the clerk bumbled about getting the bill ready, like he had all the time in the world, Lee glanced around the lobby, silently praying that the demon wouldn’t appear. Ivy was also looking around, her eyes darting back and forth fearfully, though she was trying to conceal it from Stella and Ben.