Straight to Video

The car came to a complete stop, and Morgan Pearce gawked at what she saw out the passenger side window.

"This can't be it," she exclaimed. She glanced down at the casting call she printed out from the website Starving Artist and double-checked the address.

"Well, were you expecting some big Hollywood production?" her classmate, Clay, asked from the driver's seat.

Clay and Morgan weren't exactly friends, but they grew closer to each other throughout the school year after being paired so many times for acting exercises. He was the first person she thought of to come along for her first big acting gig. Plus, he had a car.

Morgan wasn't expecting much from the shooting location. Still, she thought it would at least be better than a rundown convenience store with a rusty gas pump sitting out front.

She glanced down at the casting call again. The ad requested a young woman between the ages of 18 and 25 to play the lead role in a low budget horror film.

Usually, Morgan doesn't apply for acting jobs from Starving Artist for several reasons, but, after one of her drama classmates – Tammy – landed a toothpaste commercial in New York, Morgan got desperate.

It might not be a national commercial, but at least I can go back to school in the fall to say I landed the lead role in a movie, she thought to herself.

So, after submitting her resume that listed all her theater credits, the producer – who only gave her the name Buck – told her she got the role. He sent her the script, which, to her surprise, was very well written and said to meet her at Blood Moon Convenience and Video that following Saturday to film the untitled movie.

"This place looks sketchy," Clay said.

"Isn't that the point? Isn't that why they're shooting the movie here?" Morgan replied. "We drove four hours; we might as well go in. They're probably waiting for us."

Clay sighed and got out of the car, with Morgan following behind with her script eagerly at hand.

They both took in the sight of a building that desperately needed a renovation. It was made of rotted wood, and the roof looked like it was going to cave in at any moment. The siding seemed like it was close to falling off. It made Morgan wonder if it was even safe to film there.

There was no one outside. Not even a parked car. The only sound was the gravel crunching beneath their feet as they walked. They walked up the steps of the rotting porch, and Clay opened the door, which made an ear-piercing creak.

Once they entered, they realized that the inside wasn't much better. The store smelled like a mix of mildew and body odor. The wooden flooring was chipping and stained while unflattering florescent lights flickered overhead. Shelves also filled the room with canned goods, bags of chips, and other snack foods.

The only air circulation was coming from a single fan from behind the front counter, where a sweaty, overweight bald man in a white tank top was sitting on a stool in front of it. He was reading a magazine, which he didn't bother looking up from. A small TV set sat on the counter next to him, where a grainy movie played on the screen, but Morgan and Clay couldn't make out what movie it was.

"I'm not sure about this," Clay whispered to Morgan.

"Hush...this could be my big break," she snapped back.

"Are you here for the movie?" the clerk asked, not even taking his eyes off his magazine.

"Uh, yeah," Morgan said.

"Filming will begin shortly," he grumbled.

Morgan walked around, taking in the convenience store that definitely had seen better days. She walked passed the shelves of food and made her way towards the back of the store. This is where she saw a rack with four rows filled with VHS tapes.