by H. M. Gooden
Vanessa laughed. "Maybe for some people! It's a lot more boring than you'd think. But I'd love for you to see me in action. Cat said it's like watching a completely different person, which I think is high praise from my next of kin. Let me pound this coffee back and have a quick shower, then we can head out."
Vanessa left Cat and Emma Jane in the kitchen, strangely nervous to withdraw after walking in on their earlier conversation, but she figured it may have helped her cause, based on the looks she'd received from Emma Jane while she'd been there. Humming under her breath with a smile on her face, she zipped through the shower and dried her hair, returning within minutes to find Cat and Emma Jane exactly where she'd left them.
"Okay, all good. The actual hair and makeup is on set, so as long as I've got a clean palette they won't be too upset with me."
She winked at them, waiting for Emma Jane to grab her bag and follow her out. "Cat, don't go too far today, okay? I'll text if we need you."
Cat nodded. "Okay, but don't text between nine and eleven. That's when my exam is, and I'm sorry, but I can't come then even if your hair is on fire. This one's important."
Cat gave her grimace of apology, which Vanessa waved off. "No problem. Hopefully all will be well. Good luck on the exam!"
Cat nodded her thanks and Vanessa and Emma Jane left her drinking her coffee, a pensive look on her face as she watched them leave.
THE CAR RIDE WAS QUIET and uneventful. Vanessa managed to get Emma Jane to talk about a few things, but the easy flow of conversation from the previous day wasn't there. Emma Jane mostly looked out the window beside her, only responding briefly to Vanessa when asked a direct question. Vanessa didn't know what else to talk about and was getting frustrated when Emma Jane spoke voluntarily for the first time.
"Before we get there, can you tell me more about the set? How's everything arranged?"
Vanessa glanced at Emma Jane, noticing her hands were in her lap, twisting together and apart repeatedly. She was so stone faced that Vanessa had thought her removed from the possibility of anxiety, but there she was, her hands utterly betraying her.
"It's kind of like a big warehouse, with stuff built to look like other stuff. We have some designated actor areas for changing and rooms for the big stars." Vanessa flashed her a quick smile. "Like me, of course. We'll check you in when we get there, as all visitors need to be signed in, but then we can go to my changing room and plan how you want to manage today. The shooting schedule is unpredictable most days. Sometimes we finish early if we get through everything the director wants to, but other days we’ll run super late if we don't."
Emma Jane nodded, her hands still twisting.
"Are you okay?" Vanessa asked, starting to wonder about Emma Jane's hands, just as they pulled into the staff parking lot.
"What? Oh, um, yeah. Just a little tense, I guess." Emma Jane put her hands under both legs to sit on them.
Vanessa shook her head. "It's going to be fine, you know. Everyone's pretty nice here, self-absorbed for sure, but nice. You don't even have to wear your sunglasses if you don't want to."
Now it was Emma Jane's turn to laugh, but without humor. "Yeah, right. No, I'll just leave them on. I heard Roy Orbison, the guy who sang Pretty Woman, wore sunglasses while performing. I can always just pretend I'm an artist."
Vanessa unbuckled her seat belt and opened the door. "Well, I'm sure you won't get any questions here. Let's go!"
Emma Jane followed behind her as Vanessa entered her second home. She felt the familiar wave of happy anticipation wash over her. She loved being on set. She loved acting, she loved the intricacies of a shoot, and she particularly liked this place. Granted, it was the first place she'd ever worked, but through luck, natural charisma, and a decent helping of good looks, she'd managed to become one of the main characters in the hit TV series. They checked in and as they walked to her changing room, several people greeted them. Vanessa acknowledged each one with a smile and wave, waiting until they'd arrived at her small trailer and shut the door before speaking again.
"Where do you want to start?" Vanessa asked, grabbing the clothes she needed for the first scene they were shooting. "Do you want me to tell you about the people? I can let you know where all the exits are. Is there anything else that would be helpful?"
Vanessa moved around the room, picking up the clothes that were strewn over every available surface. She mostly had the place to herself, although occasionally the powers that be would squeeze another actress in with her. Vanessa was embarrassed when she realized the entire mess was hers. I really need to stay better organized!
"Here, I made a place for you to sit while I change."
Emma Jane sat gingerly on the edge of the small love seat Vanessa had cleared off while she went behind a screen. Vanessa began to change her clothes as she waited for Emma Jane to answer her earlier question, feeling strangely awkward. Here she was, basically standing behind a piece of cardboard while the person she was interested in having a relationship with was being distant a few short feet away on the other side. She wasn't sure whether she should laugh or cry.
"Can you tell me how many people have access to the set?"
Emma Jane's warm throaty voice washed over Vanessa and she felt her heart beat faster. It was a start.
"Well, I'm sure you saw how many people we passed on the way in. There are probably close to 200 people on set any given day. There's no way that I know them all well, but I've probably seen most in passing. Except for visitors, like you. It's pretty easy to get strangers on set, especially with people who are regulars."
Vanessa finished changing and came out from behind the screen, sitting carefully on the love seat next to Emma Jane, making sure that her knee didn't brush Emma Jane's, although her need to have some type of physical contact was almost overwhelming.
"Hmm, okay, that's not helpful," said Emma Jane. "It sounds like she could come and go pretty much whenever she wants, in that case."
"Basically. What about that mirror thing she pulled? Is that something she can do anytime?"
Emma Jane shrugged. "I don't know how that works. I've never seen anyone do it before. Most of the evil I've come in contact with has been pretty straightforward. It's in front of me, we fight, I kill it. Then I walk away and do it all again. Wash, rinse, repeat."
Emma Jane's words were flat, causing Vanessa to reach out reflexively and pat her knee. She flinched but didn't move away. Vanessa left her hand there, eager for the contact if Emma Jane would allow it.
"I'm sorry you've had to do this all alone. I've fought a fair number of bad guys myself, but never without my sister and my friends. You've got us now, for as long as you want me." Vanessa cursed herself for her slip of the tongue, but didn't bother to correct it. She did want Emma Jane to know how she felt, so she may as well tell her.
Emma Jane looked at the hand on her leg before she reached her hand out, hesitating over Vanessa's before lightly placing it on top. The warm tingle Vanessa felt the day before was there, just as intense, causing Vanessa to smile.
"Thanks, Vanessa," Emma Jane looked up, her eyes filled with the storm of her emotions. "It does mean a lot. I don't want you to think that I don't...care. I just...can't. Not right now."
Vanessa shrugged, giving Emma Jane's leg a quick squeeze. "I understand. We'll talk more about this later, but for now, let's go scope out the set, okay? I have about fifteen minutes until I'm due in makeup."
Emma Jane nodded, letting go of Vanessa's hand. They both stood as Vanessa reluctantly let go of her prize. Walking over to the craft service table, Vanessa saw the good coffee and made a bee line for it.
"Do you want one? This is so much better than what we have at the apartment," Vanessa said, before taking a sip and closing her eyes. "Mmm, sooo good."
She groaned with happiness, her eyes closed, completely missing Emma Jane's gaze resting on her mouth as she did so. When Vanessa opened her eyes and looked around, she saw one of the people that stocked the tables.
Rebecca looked at Vanessa with a grim expression. "Hey, Vanessa. You haven't heard, have you?"
"Heard what? I just got here five minutes ago. What's up?" Vanessa didn't like the tone the normally perky and friendly Rebecca had used and suspected she wasn't going to like what she heard next.
"One of the actresses was found dead in her home on Saturday. They’re calling it an overdose, but I guess her body was all weird when they found it."
Vanessa felt some of her tension ease. She must be talking about Eloise. "A drug overdose? What do you mean, weird?"
Rebecca looked around, coming closer and whispering once she was sure no one else was close enough to hear her. "She was all mummified. That's what I heard from Jamie, who has a brother on the force. They said it was super gross and she looked way older than normal. They haven't found what could have done it to her yet but so far the word is that it could be from a new designer drug."
Vanessa shook her head. "No way, I knew Eloise. She wasn't into that stuff. She was a nice girl from the Midwest, a real straight arrow."
"That's how I heard it. But either way, morale is definitely down today. Bossy-man is grumpy, because he was going to put her in today's scene and now the scriptwriters have to fix it and get someone else to fill her spot."
Rebecca stepped back, looking around furtively as though revealing state secrets. "I should get back to work though. Have a good one, hopefully." Rebecca gave a quick head bob and disappeared with an empty tray.
Vanessa looked at Emma Jane, biting her cheek as she considered the information. "It sounds like the news about Eloise has spread already. Hardly a surprise, but still. Why don't you get a coffee and we can walk around together, pretend we're out for a stroll?"
Vanessa looked at the coffee already in her hands, then back at Emma Jane as she offered to help. "I can hold your arm, if you want me to. I enjoyed that yesterday."
She stumbled over her delivery, looking down but peeking through her eyelashes for Emma Jane’s reaction, knowing she was being shameless in pushing her, but unable to help herself.
"That would be...nice..." Emma Jane answered slowly with a small smile and Vanessa felt an answering smile spread over her own face. She quickly offered her right arm before Emma Jane considered changing her mind.
They slowly ambled around the set with their arms linked as Vanessa quietly pointed out the different areas. Vanessa felt the warmth of Emma Jane's arm through her jacket and it travelled right to her heart with happiness. She couldn't help the smile that played around her lips until they arrived at the make-up room. Reluctantly, Vanessa let go of Emma Jane.
"I'm sorry, I have to get my makeup done for the shoot. Are you okay to sit out here and wait?" Vanessa gestured at a collection of chairs just outside, which was set up as a small waiting area.
"Sure. I'll wait."
Vanessa found the time it took to get her makeup and hair done interminable. She normally enjoyed having her appearance fussed over and the make-up artist was hilarious most days, but today Vanessa was in a rush to get back to Emma Jane. The makeup lady was as solemn as Rebecca from craft services had been, which didn't help. There was more gossip about the horrible death of Eloise, but without any of Rebecca's lurid speculations. It seemed that everyone was in shock about her death, but no one knew very much.
When Vanessa finally walked out looking ready to shoot, she was relieved to find Emma Jane where she'd left her. A part of her had worried she'd run away if she let her out of her sight, but Vanessa knew there wasn't much she could do to prevent that.
"So, how do I look?" she asked brightly, trying to push away her fear.
"You look very...interesting," said Emma Jane with a neutral tone, causing Vanessa to burst into laughter.
"I know, right? This scene is supposed to be funny. It's a long story, but I apparently get to do some dumpster diving in this episode, which means I have to look the part."
Vanessa showed off a small piece of paper that had been tucked into her partially back-combed hair. Her 'makeup' for the day involved dark smudges on her face and hands, along with the usual foundation and eye makeup for her character’s normal look.
"I'm up next, so I need to go. There's usually a place to sit where you can watch."
Vanessa waited for Emma Jane to get up and gently took her arm again, this time without resistance. They walked for a few minutes to where the alley scene was to be filmed. Vanessa found Emma Jane a seat before checking in with the assistant director, who'd been chatting with the Producer and his irritating wife when Vanessa interrupted.
"Sorry to bother you, but where would you like me to start?" Vanessa gave him a smile, including the other two in her apology for the interruption.
"I'd like you to get Johnny to help you into the dumpster first. We can take up from where we left off yesterday." A mischievous smile crossed his face as Vanessa wrinkled her nose.
"Ugh. Okay, but promise me this is almost over? I know it's supposed to be 'clean garbage', but I'm going to share a little secret with you." Vanessa leaned forward conspiratorially, holding her hand up and pretending to whisper from behind it. "It still stinks."
The assistant director and producer laughed as she'd intended, but the producer's wife merely curled her lip, looking coolly up and down Vanessa’s costume. Something about the woman rubbed her the wrong way, but it wasn't just the judgement she saw directed at her now that made her dislike the woman. She'd always liked the producer, who she simply called Mr. Montgomery out of respect, but she had no idea what he'd ever seen in this woman to cause him to marry her. Sure, she was pretty, but she had cold, dead eyes.
Hmm, Vanessa thought, narrowing her own eyes as she considered the new Mrs. Montgomery. But before she could react in anyway, Mrs. Montgomery leaned over to kiss her husband on the cheek.
"Come on, dear. I'm dying for you to take me to that restaurant you were telling me about. Let's leave now, so that we can make it in time for brunch."
Mr. Montgomery looked down with a fawning expression. "Of course, my love."
His expression became all business as he turned back to the assistant director. "I'll be back this afternoon. Text if you have any ideas about we discussed, or we can talk more when I get back. Vanessa."
Vanessa nodded at the dismissal and went to find Johnny as she'd been directed. They'd just started filming the scene, with Vanessa in the dumpster as she'd been dreading, when a horrified scream pierced through all the other noise on the set.
CHAPTER TWELVE
Vanessa froze in the dumpster, surrounded by the somewhat sanitized garbage, wondering if she'd imagined the scream until she noticed people running off the scenes they were shooting. Groaning, she slowly climbed back out of the garbage she'd just finished burying herself in, then heaved herself out of the large metal box. About half of the people who were supposed to be holding equipment had clearly bailed, with cameras and dolly's laying where they'd been hastily dropped. Surprisingly, she saw Emma Jane hadn't moved and hurried over to her.
"What happened? How come you're still here?" she hissed, looking around for the direction the scream had come from.
Emma Jane shook her head. "I was waiting for you. It would seem odd if I showed up first on the scene as a stranger and I didn't want to leave you unprotected in case this is a decoy."
Vanessa nodded, grabbing her hand and helping her up from her chair. "Thanks. Let's check out the source. It seems to have come from over there." Vanessa pointed toward the direction of the makeup trailer and felt cold creep over the back of her neck. "Oh no!"
Emma Jane nodded grimly. "That would be the perfect place for an attack, especially while shooting was occurring. Nice and isolated."
The two raced over to join the growin
g crowd milling outside the door where Vanessa had just had her makeup applied. Seeing Rebecca’s whiter-than-usual face, Vanessa pulled her to the side.
"What is it? What happened?" Vanessa asked, drawing Rebecca’s stunned face closer to hers. Rebecca shook her head, bursting into tears.
"It's so awful. Awful. I...it's awful." Unable to finish her sentence, Rebecca crumpled into tears. Vanessa eased her to the ground, patting her on the shoulder as she crouched beside her devastated coworker.
"It’s okay. You'll be okay. I'm just going to go and see what-"
Rebecca frantically pulled on the hand Vanessa was using to pat her. "You don't want to go there. You don't want to see her...it's too awful."
Vanessa carefully extricated her hand and tried to reassure Rebecca. "It's okay, I'm just going to get a little closer."
Looking over her shoulder at Emma Jane, Vanessa nodded grimly. To have that type of effect on the laid-back Rebecca, the situation must be as bad as they feared. Without speaking, Emma Jane followed Vanessa to the door of the makeup room. Initially it was hard to see anything, but then one of the stagehands moved and Vanessa was able to catch a glimpse of the bright blue hair that Sandra, the makeup artist, had been sporting earlier that day. Vanessa wouldn't have recognized her otherwise. Her face had the same wrinkled, almost mummified mask that she remembered from when she’d found Eloise in her bed, after the witch had sucked out her life.
The room itself appeared completely normal, almost pristine. There were no obvious signs of a struggle and it looked as though Sandra may have been applying someone’s makeup when she fell. Just to the right of the body, Vanessa noticed a blusher and bronzer on the floor, as well as a dark red lipstick that was uncapped and almost touching Sandra’s right hand. She’d fallen at the foot of the makeup chair, which made Vanessa even more suspicious that Sandra had been with someone. She made a mental note of the shade of lipstick on the off-chance it would help her find the woman. However, given her ability to disappear into mirrors in a room full of mirrors, she wasn't hopeful it would lead anywhere.