Clare had wanted to start
exploring the temple as soon as they could, but Max’s crew still needed to set
up some lights, and by the time they had gotten Brittany situated, the sun was
already starting to set.
So, she found herself at
a cheap hotel, sitting in a bar that hadn't been updated since the 1970’s,
drinking cheap beer with Max and his remaining two-man crew. She had always assumed that when he filmed he
had more people with him, but apparently most of the people didn’t come along
on the lock-ins, just one production assistant, and Rico, his camera guy. The rest placed lights and cameras around the
locations, then left.
“How’s Brittany
doing?” Rico had passed on getting a
beer, and had instead settled on a diet pop.
“What ever that thing was that bit her, really did a number on her
leg.”
“It was probably a trout,
or a carp or something.” Max took a long swig of his beer. He had already downed a few, and was looking
a little tipsy. “Can you believe her? One of the elf figures? I mean, it played great for the camera, but
come on!”
“I don’t know, man. Those things were pretty creepy.” Rico shook his head. “The way that one looked at us? What was it’s name?”
“Ujin.” It was Rita’s turn to finally pipe in.
Rita was young, probably
still in film school. She had short,
spikey red hair, so bright that it had to be dyed, and a slim body. The only thing that seemed out of place on
her was her rather large breasts, but Clare chalked that up to a little padding
a good bra.
“That thing scared the
hell out of me!” Rita sipped on her beer
like someone who didn’t trust her own limits with alcohol. “When its head snapped towards us…” She
shivered.
“I don’t think that thing
would look any less creepy when it was brand new.” Rico was fiddling with the
straw in his drink. “That whole place
just seems off. Maybe it’s just because
it’s old. I don’t know.”
Clare shook her
head. “It’s always been that way. I went there once, when I was kid. That was… over twenty-five years ago. It was in better shape, but there was still
something about that place that just seemed unhealthy.”
“It reminds me of a
nightmare I’ve had a few times.” Rita
didn’t look at anyone, but instead, focused on her beer bottle. “In the dream, I’m standing on this beach, in
front of this little house. It actually
kind of looked like Ujin’s house, but the surroundings were different. It was rocky, and the house was up on a
cliff.” She took a deep breath. “Anyways, I’m standing there, in this flimsy
little night gown, looking up at the house, and the door opens. This creature walks out, walks over to the
woodpile, and picks up an axe, and then he walks to the edge of the cliff,
looking down at me.”
As Rita spoke, I felt a
chill run down my spine. “Then what
happens?”
She shook her head. “Then I wake up. That moment, though, where our eyes meet,
fills me with so much fear. It’s hard to
even describe it, but it’s like I’m looking into the eyes of pure evil.”
Max slammed his hand down
on the table. “We so need to get you
saying that on camera!”
Rita laughed, finally
looking up at her boss. “It’s just a
stupid nightmare.”
“That ties directly into
the location we are working. Come on,
it’s prime reality TV!” He downed a huge swig of beer, slamming the bottle on
the tabletop. “You, someone who has never set foot in the park
before, experiencing a psychic link with the sordid, creepy past with Fantasy
Land. Pure gold!”
“If you think it will
work,” she smiled, “then I’m game.”
“Now that’s what I like
to here.” Max was laughing, and drawing
the attention of the other customers in the bar.
“Well, you two can figure
out how we will film that segment.” Rico
stood up, placing a couple bucks on the table, “I am going to get some
sleep. I have to get to the park early
to finish setting up the main monitor hub in the manager’s office before we
start filming tomorrow.”
Rico said his goodnights,
and left the table.
Clare waited until Max
went to grab another round of beers before she tried to dig a little deeper
into Rita’s dream.
“So, does the dream
really end there?” Clare leaned in,
keeping her tone friendly, playful. She
didn’t want to scare the girl off.
“No.” Rita started to blush. “The rest isn’t really… TV safe.”
“Oh?” Clare was even more
interested now. “Do tell!”
“Well,” Rita cleared her
throat, glancing over at the bar to make sure Max wasn’t on his way back. “This is really weird, but the elf… kind of
has his way with me. “
“Has his way?” Clare sat back in her seat, a little
surprised with the direction Rita’s dream was going.
“He… well, he holds the
axe he has in his hand to my throat.”
Rita looked away from Clare, the playfulness vanishing as she continued
to talk. “Then he… he rips at my
nightgown… and then he…”
The clinking of three
full beers being placed on the table cut Rita off. Max was standing there, smiling like the
showman that he was.
“What are you two talking
about?” He gave Clare a little wink.
“The lack of fulfilling
sex in our lives.” Clare couldn’t help
but throw him a little ego jab.
The conversation moved
back to the shoot the next day, and Clare mostly zoned out. Still, Rita’s dream seemed to always be
there, just in the back of her mind. What
could it all mean? And was it safe to
let Rita back into that park? What if it
really was some kind of psychic link to whatever was making people disappear
there?
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