Of Wolf & Man

Chapter Three

Helene awoke from a nightmare that felt more like a memory. She turned to her clock, it was 8am. She grabbed her phone off the table and dialed a number, it rang and rang and rang before going to voicemail.
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Rachel walked across the soundstage to meet her friends, her phone ringing. She looked at the Caller ID, it was her aunt, she'd call her back later. She sent it to voicemail and continued onward.
Tina and Felicity were gossiping as usual on the set of their last day of filming. Joining them, Rachel realized it was her they were talking about.
"Don't you two have anything better to do than gossip?" Rachel said, laughing.
Tina looked up and laughed. Her laughter was almost as beautiful as she is. "You know we don't! We didn't mean any harm. We're just curious," Tina being only twenty-two had the most beautiful black hair that fell to the middle of her back in loose ringlets and bright green eyes that shone brightly when she smiled.
"Yes! We're very curious about something in particular," Felicity giggled. Felicity, at the prime age of twenty-six is a gorgeous natural blonde with a pixie-like haircut and pale blue eyes that went perfectly with her sun-tanned skin.
"And exactly what in particular are you two curious about?" Rachel was afraid to ask but curiosity got the better of her.
"Well...we wanted to ask what it's like kissing Alan Ames for the billionth time." Tina giggled, and Felicity joined in her laughter and said, "Yes, what was it like? Seeing as he plays your love interest who turns out to be the serial killer who's been hunting you throughout the whole film."
Their question didn't surprise Rachel at all, but she had to think about her answer before she decided to speak. Alan Ames was a handsome man but outside of the characters he played he had no depth to his personality. With a sigh Rachel said "Well he is cute but it's kind of creepy kissing him. He was so involved with keeping character that I felt he'd strangle me after each kiss."
Felicity cocked her head to the side and Tina started to giggle again before she
said, "That is just creepy!" It was beyond creepy. They didn't know to what extent though. Tina and Felicity thought Rachel had a secret affair with Alan that's been going on for years, but truthfully, she wasn't interested in Alan at all. Actors weren't really Rachel's cup of tea, though many were interested in her.
No one really caught Rachel's eye in Hollywood or in Salem. Having hardly any tan, ice blue eyes and corn silk blonde hair people found Rachel to be the most gorgeous living thing on the planet. Men threw themselves at her but none of their advances fazed her.
She knew it was her looks that got her into movies more than her brains but looks weren't enough to get her career off the ground. Rachel felt average, but many men and directors would disagree, and she let them. She started to get lost in her thoughts and didn't bother to listen to her friend's gossip anymore.
Out of nowhere Rachel heard something that dragged her out of her thoughts and had her full attention. At once Rachel knew they weren't alone. Someone was listening to their conversation. She looked around and saw the furniture on the set, the abandoned tripods for the cameras, food tables and chairs scattered around and Tina and Felicity gossiping right in front of her. A shiver rolled down her spine. Nothing was out of place, yet something was wrong here, and all three girls needed to get out. Anywhere but where they were now was safe.
"Rachel what's wrong?" Tina's words sliced through the silence. Rachel hadn't noticed they were paying attention to her. Concern was plain on their faces.
"Oh, nothing's wrong, I thought I heard something, but I guess it's just the set...it kind of creeps me out. I think I'm going to head back to my trailer to change then probably go down to the beach before the sun sets." For a second the concern stayed on Tina's face and then she smiled and said "Okay, we'll come down later and we can all go to dinner."
"Yeah, celebrate the ending of another great movie!" said Felicity. She and Tina had matching grins and Rachel couldn't help but smile back at them though she didn't feel much like celebrating. Rachel waved to the girls before she left the set completely.
On her way out, she ran into Alan Ames. If their kisses didn't make things awkward enough, Rachel felt this would. She was now stuck with Alan and would have to endure a whole conversation without anyone to pull her away from him.
"Hey Rachel," Alan said smiling sheepishly. "I knew I'd find you here, not that I'm stalking you or anything, which would be weird..." he chuckled and blushed.
"I'm kind of busy at the moment Alan," Rachel regretted leaving her friends. No wonder she had a bad feeling. She knew she would run into him before the day was over. "I'd like to talk but I'm dead tired and I need to get out of my costume before I fall asleep in it." Rachel knew she shouldn't lie to people, but she also knew that if she told this one lie she wouldn't have to make up more tales later.
Alan nodded and blushed again then sighed saying, "Well I actually wanted to ask you something, it won't take long I promise." Oh great. Rachel thought, just what I need.
There was only one question Alan ever asked Rachel and she was not sure if she wanted to say yes, this time.
Rachel waited for him to collect his thoughts and while he was taking a deep breath, she was analyzing him. Alan had dark brown eyes, sandy brown hair, and a physique to kill for, all at the age of twenty-two. He was a strong candidate for "Hottest Man in Hollywood". He'd be the perfect guy for any woman if he only had a brain. He was sweet and all but too self-centered. More vain than Felicity who carries a mirror with her everywhere she goes.
Alan opened his mouth and Rachel expected him to just blurt out the only question on his one-track mind, but he closed it and looked down at his feet. Was he expecting Rachel to be enthusiastic about him wanting her company? Rachel sighed and said, "Just say what you need to say Alan, I'm quite busy."
Alan blushed as he looked up at Rachel and said, "Well I just wanted to ask you what you thought of my acting in this film compared to the others we worked on." Bingo. How did she know it was going to be that question? Maybe, just maybe, it's because it's always that question.
Rachel didn't know how to let him down easy, but she was determined not to listen to his mindless chatter about how his hair irritated his eyes or how his clothing was too itchy, and how all these distractions made it hard for him to properly say his lines. Then she'd probably have to go through, in detail, the whole script and see where Alan could have done better or projected his line a little scarier. Gag! Ugh, Rachel was not interested in doing that again.
"Alan," Rachel sighed. Alan caught how uninterested she was and quickly changed the subject.
"Well we don't have to talk about my acting just now. We could go out for drinks first, and then talk about the film." Now he was asking her on a date, bad idea, very bad. Rachel's thoughts went to the last time they were together and she remembered-one of the memories she wished to forget-once upon a time, while out with Alan she had to open a tab and drown herself in alcohol just to get through the torture of listening to him speak.
"Alan, as tempting as that sounds I have things to do tonight. I'm heading home in a couple days and I need to get things in order with the producers and talk to my agent about any upcoming projects I need to prepare for. Can I get a rain check on that?" Rachel hoped he'd catch her drift about how much she didn't want to spend time with him.
"Oh, okay another time then. How 'bout I call you tomorrow and we'll talk about it over the phone that way, you can still get things done and it's not as much of an inconvenience?" His eyes lit up at the thought of having her number. It made Rachel grimace.
"Um...yeah my agent will give it to yours. I really need to go now Alan, I'm sorry about today," She really wasn't.
"Okay then I'll call you tomorrow." Alan looked so happy that Rachel wanted to hang herself. She couldn't believe that Tina, Felicity and half the country thought there was something going on between her and Alan. The thought made her stomach churn. Before Rachel could say anything, Alan trotted off towards the beach, ruining her plans to get some sun.
With a sigh Rachel turned to walk toward her trailer when she heard an all too familiar scream. Rachel spun around to face the building she had just left and saw Tina running towards her screaming and shouting her name. Rachel didn't know if it was a joke or not, so she kept her feet planted and waited for Tina to catch up.
"RACHEL! RACHEL ITS FELICITY! SHE NEEDS HELP!" Tina's shouts were starting to flood Rachel's ears. Was Felicity really in trouble or was this all a joke. They were actresses in horror movies. Tina finally caught up to Rachel and was so out of breath she collapsed into her arms.
Rachel held Tina in her arms and asked, "What's wrong with Felicity?" Tina looked up at Rachel seeing nothing, it frightened her. She was a good actress, but this was some acting Rachel had never seen Tina perform in her life...
"Something attacked Felicity!" Tina gasped. "It happened so fast I'm not even sure if I believe it." Tina stopped to breathe, and Rachel didn't know what to think. Was this really a joke?
"Tina, what do you mean Felicity was attacked. I was with you not even ten minutes ago. If this is a joke, it's not funny at all." Rachel looked around waiting for Felicity to come skipping toward them with a huge grin on her face. When she didn't come Rachel started to realize it wasn't a joke.
"Tina, Tina!" Rachel shouted in her face and started shaking her to get her to focus on what she was saying. "Tina where is Felicity? Where is she? What happened to her?"
Tina twisted in Rachel's arms looking off in the distance and said, "Felicity and I were talking when you left, and she started laughing at what we were talking about and I fell off my chair and started laughing more and then I heard a gurgling sound and looked up and Felicity was covered in blood and it kept gushing out of her mouth. Nobody was with us Rachel! She was bleeding so much!"
Tina's explanation broke off in sobs and she fell out of Rachel's arms and cried on the sidewalk. Rachel didn't know what to say or do. She didn't bother to catch Tina when she fell forward. Rachel was completely in shock. Her world was ending, and nobody knew it. Could Felicity really be dead? She had to be sure. She had to call an ambulance to save her best friend.
Rachel looked about herself; the beach was full of people. How did they not see that her friend is dying and the other who was in complete shock was useless? They just sat there as if they didn't hear Tina screaming. Even Alan didn't look back towards them. Rachel kept searching for someone who heard the screams, but no one did. That's when she saw them...