The Assistant

She walks, captivated by the strange tune that sings through the woods. Despite her head telling her to stop there, and turn back, she continues through the dark trees, listening for the notes that draw her closer. The haunting melody brings her to an abandoned castle. The type that you'd see in a horror movie, which is essentially what this is. The slender hand stretches out to open the door. It creaks open, and the girl can't help but flinch at the sound. In the middle of a dark room, she can see the silhouette of an anorexic man playing the violin. She's lured in further, and a lone candle lights. The man reaches out and sweeps her towards him by the waist. Her head willingly tilts backwards, exposing her pale, thin neck. The vampire bares his teeth, ready to sink them into his victim. He takes a moment to look at her sweet, innocent face, frozen in a state of fear and lust. In this moment, the wax from his candle drips onto her neck, startling her out of the trance. She lets out a howl, and the vampire is deafened for a moment, giving her a moment to back slowly to the corner of the room.

"CUT." The director snaps. Lady Pink pouts back at him.

"But I didn't get to finish the scene," she begins, but doesn't get very far. The director is glaring at Count Black. The look he's giving him is bound to smolder his black cloak and reignite the candle in Count's hand.

"COUNT BLACK," The director is furious. "We are not pouring the wax onto her." He says through gritted teeth. "We do not want her to wake up. The wax is supposed to accidentally drip onto her neck, startling her. DO NOT DUMP IT ONTO HER." Count Black whimpers away at his outburst. "Again."

The scene is run through again and again, with much more wax pouring and sneezing and slipping. "Must I remind you again, Count Black? We are not pouring the candle wax onto her neck. It is supposed to drip. DRIP. Is that understood?" Fed up doesn't even begin to describe the fury in The director's eyes. "We are doing that again. This time, no screw ups. Otherwise I will see to it that you are replaced." Count Black soberly nods. The cameras start rolling, and the music plays. This time, the wax drips perfectly. The crew holds their breath. This is the 52nd shot, and it would be very nice if it was the one that would end up in the movie. Lady Pink's scream pierces the air, but then there's a sharp hiccup. "CUT..." The director looks furiously at Lady Pink, who's pale hands are covering her mouth. "Phil, see if you can work with this footage." There's my cue, and the crew is dismissed. I sigh.

After an hour of editing and recording, the scene is good to go. I had to do a lot of touch up, especially since Lady Pink has this uncharacteristic habit of breathing like Darth Vader. I turn around to tell the Big Man that it's ready to be critiqued, since I'm sure that's what he's going to do. The director is asleep, snoring softly. After a bit of debate on my course of action, I settle on giving The director a gentle shake. I am rewarded with a swift punch to my face. The director wakes up to a bewildered and bruising me. "Ah, sorry Phil," he says. "Ever since an unfortunate incident involving having a spider dropped into my mouth, I've learned to be on guard when I sleep." He grabs the coffee I had been intending to drink, and heads over to the set.

"Traumatising." I mumble before going to get another coffee.

"Oi, Phil!" The director is once again in need of more assistance. "Where is Lady Pink? We need her on set. And find Count Black while you're at it." I head over to the dressing rooms. I stick my head in Count's open door, but he's nowhere to be seen. I knock on Lady Pink's door. "The Big Man needs you down on set." I turn to leave, but the door swings open, bashing into my nose. Lady Pink looks around, confused at what the door hit, before rushing off the filming area. Why do these doors have to open outwards... I don't even bother checking to see how my face looks now, since it's probably a sight I don't want to see. I go back to the screening room, since I don't plan to stick around to see The director bust his pipe when Count Black attempts to play the violin again. I think back to this morning. It was the one time where The director had been fed up, but more disappointed rather than angry. "Count, I know you are hopeless at the violin, and you have never played, but can you at least pretend to actually create music?" Count looks blankly at The director. "You know... Like move the bow and actually use your fingers?" Count continues staring blankly. "Here give me that thing." Count hands the violin to The director. "Cue the music," a haunting melody plays, and The director masterfully pretends to play, quite deceivingly. You'd think he can actually play. The director hands the violin back to the Count. "Now you try." Count just stares at the violin. After a moment's hesitation, he takes the violin. The music starts, and Count just stands there doing the minimal movement. It basically looks like he's just twitching.

I smile at the memory, but I'm startled out of my daydreams as The director yells at me.

"I told you to go find Count. Where is he?" I look up. I had completely forgotten about Count.

"Uh... I'll go find him." I check his room again. It's empty. I knock on the bathroom doors, but yet again, I get no reply. I check the makeup and costume room, and I hear a hysterical giggle. Oh god... He's not going to leap out and attack me, is he? I follow the sound of laughter to one of the racks. It has long gowns and capes that stretch to the floor. I nervously push back some of them. "Count Black?" I see a grinning Count sitting on the ground, inside one of Pink's gowns. "Um, The director needs you on set." Count quickly moves along, still giggling. I look at the poster of Hunger Games on the wall. Why couldn't I have been an editor for that? I bet the crew didn't have to put up with this sort of crap. Actors creepily hiding in girl clothes, bloody noses around the corner, a bruised cheekbone from The director. This is nonsense.

"Director?" I can feel a gentle shaking. Damn it. It's that spider again. I reach out to smack the wretched little thing. I wake up and see Phil leaning over me. His cheekbone is bruised. Just like the vision I just had.

"I had the weirdest dream... Go find me Lady Pink and Count Black will you? We're rolling in five. Oh and make sure not to stand too close to Pink's door." I shake my head to clear my mind, then hope that for his own sake, Phil will be careful when visiting Pink's door. I turn to look at the Hunger Games poster on the wall. I bet they didn't have to go through all this crap.