Free The 11th Floor: Awakening by Charles Culver Page A

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 lucid 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