Title: Hell's Coming
Author: Dancing Star
Crossover: PSI Factor / Castle/ Sue Thomas FBEye
Pairing: Connor/ Lindsay, Rick/ Kate, Jack/ Sue
Rating: 12
Spoiler: Heat Rises is already released.
Category: AU, Mystery, Romance, Humor
What happens: A movie is more real than the viewers and Connor, Lindsay, Rick and their friends want.
Notes: Cinemas…. Oh, I really love this atmosphere!
Hell's coming
"What movie do you want to watch?", Connor asked helplessly when he walked with Lindsay through the lobby to the box office of the cinema. They were in New York and had agreed to take care of the kids of Lindsay's sister.
Today, Connor had rather spontaneously decided that they wanted to go to the movies together. Without their friends, who were also in town. He didn´t want to ask for 9 seats at the box office and then experience a terribly desperate ticket seller who was stressed out because Rick Castle rather wanted a box seat and Jack disagreed because a box seat was one Dollar more expensive.
Lindsay's niece Michelle sipped at her milkshake, which they had previously bought at the Burger King store next door. "Aunt, I want to see the animated film," she cried, and Connor grimaced. "That's not why I came here," he sullenly said. Lindsay's second niece Allie looked at a large movie poster, which showed a man in a dark suit and a huge butcher knife in his hand. "Do you want to watch HELL'S COMING?", she asked, Connor shook his head.
"I think your aunt should decide," Connor suggested, watching Lindsay, who just read a cinema program booklet from a magazine rack in the foyer. She flipped through it interested.
"Let's see, in twenty minutes, the new X-Men movie will start and in ten minutes The Cat 3- Rocket in the Haunted House or Ice Age 4... This is an animated film, how about this?...", she finally said, and the children agreed. Then Connor took care of the tickets and Lindsay and her three nieces bought popcorn and cola and Michelle was staring at walls fascinated which were painted with some characters from Star Wars. After nearly five minutes they sat on their box seats and had to watch painfully boring advertising before a Simpsons- commercial told them to go to the lobby. That was unnecessary, because in fact they already had their snacks.
"Move your fat ass, Max," a young man shouted who sat a row behind them, to his buddy and Lindsay turned around shortly. After another ten minutes of waiting the movie finally began. The whole room smelled like popcorn and everywhere was quiet crackling sound.
"I've already seen the other films on DVD," Connor whispered, put an arm around Lindsay and chewed on the popcorn, "I hope your nieces won´t shudder too much."
"Why should they be creepy?"
"Well, the movie is titled with Rocket in the haunted house. '"
"But you've just explained to them that this isn´t real, didn´t you?", she asked softly and Connor shook his head.
"If I did that, I'm lying to them."
"It can´t hurt sometimes...", she ate a popcorn, "Can we come back again tomorrow? I'd love to see the new Hugh Jackman movie..."
At that moment, someone threw a handful of popcorn from the back to the two and a furious hiss was heard. "That´s mean," Connor muttered, flicking away the popcorn and leaned back in the seat. The loud theme song of the film was over and immediately the last whisper was faded away. An animated cat which fled from a car on the big screen got the whole attention of the audience...
About two hours later, the film was over and Connor was the first who left the cinema. "Connor!", Lindsay whined behind him, "Wait! You have to carry Michelle! She´s quite heavy!"
Connor actually stopped and while the rest of the cinema audience streamed past them, he took Lindsay´s three year-old niece in his arms, which had fallen asleep.
The cinema hall was now empty and a woman, who wore a T-shirt of Cinema Scope, entered the vestibule. One of her colleagues held her back.
"Come on, Dizzy, we can clean the room later as well! The Movie in Cinema number 3 is over since almost 20 minutes and I think we should start there", he exclaimed.
Dizzy put the vacuum cleaner on the carpet and took a deep breath. "Probably, the film is still running... After all, no one came out of that room."
She picked up the vacuum cleaner and marched over to the third cinema. Almost simultaneously, as Dizzy opened the red iron door and entered the hall, she started a loud, hysterical screaming.
Connor and Lindsay immediately stood next to her and looked into the auditorium. The light was already on, but all the seats were occupied. Curiously, some of the visitors were awry in their seats, some were tilted forward over their laps and down the stalls even a man was sprawled in the aisle. No one moved and there was dead silence.
Dizzy's colleagues came to see why she was crying and took her away. "Hello?", a colleague said uncertain, probably hoping for some sign of life.
"I don´t think that there is still someone who answers," Connor said and handed Michelle back to his girlfriend then he went to the guests who were sitting in the last row. He looked very closely at them: the first one had been killed with a shot in the head, the second had a knife in his chest and the third had a noose around his neck. Each moviegoer was murdered in a certain way. One even looked like he was drowning in the water.
"God, who is doing such a thing... And above all, who is capable of doing this?", a male voice suddenly behind them asked. They turned around and saw a man in a black suit. "Ethan Sanchez... I'm the owner", he dryly said, and Connor nodded.
"I´m Connor Doyle, this is Lindsay Donner… I also wonder who´s able to kill so many people unnoticed. Normally one of the guests would get up when the first murder happened.".
"No matter! I want this... This mass murder to reveal as soon as possible and get this person caught. "
"Maybe we can help you," Connor said, noting how Lindsay rolled her eyes and shook her head, "We have friends in the NYPD, which will be also very interested in this and..."
"What are you waiting for?", Mr. Sanchez asked, "Call them."
"Sure... Can you take this room out of order for about a week?"
"How do you imagine that? That costs a lot of money!"
"Should I call my friends now, or…?"
Mr. Sanchez nodded. "The five other rooms will suffice. But you won´t tell this to the press, right?"
"It´s not up to me... Your employees have seen this scenario, too", Connor said when was leaving the room. The owner quickly disappeared into his office while Lindsay sat next to Dizzy on the red leather seats in front of the wall in the area of Popcorn bar. The children sat next to her and Dizzy was still trembling all over. Again and again she shook her head.
"You found them?," Connor asked and put her hands on his hips.
"As you noticed…", Dizzy agreed and looked down.
"What was the movie?", he wanted to know.
"HELL'S COMING", she answered briefly and tried to stop trembling.
Allie and her sister Annica were wide awake suddenly. "There, you see," they bossy exclaimed, "And you wanted to see this movie!"
"I did not!", Connor refocused on Dizzy, "Who was the last that left the hall at the beginning of the film?"
"The people who are responsible for the ice cream."
He nodded. They couldn´t have done this, because someone of the future victims would certainly come out of the room and how should nearly five people murder so many visitors?
Before he could ask Dizzy several questions, her employer came back and asked her into his office. Connor sat on her empty seat, watching the people passing who´s films were already over.
"I can´t believe they are all dead," Lindsay suddenly said, looking at him with concern, "Will you call Rick, Kate, Jack and Sue?" She handed him her cell phone.
"The sooner the better."
"...I can´t sleep and can´t eat and I have to think about her all the time," the saber-toothed tiger Diego told his friends, while they crossed the ocean on an iced ship.
"You've caught something," the giant Mamut Manny replied, "It starts with L."
"Leprosy", now the sloth Sid said.
"No. It ends with E."
"Lice", Sid suggested and the audience in the cinema began to laugh. The laughter stopped and several pairs of eyes turned around to the front door of the movie theater, when someone threw open the door and then stopped. Rick Castle, Kate Beckett, Sue Thomas and Jack Hudson were burst into the theatrical release of Ice Age and they realized this wasn´t the room where they wanted to meet Connor and Lindsay.
"This is the wrong theater," Jack whispered.
"Yes, I have already noticed," Rick smiled at the audience and then stepped out of the room, "So that's the origin of the saying I think I'm in the wrong film," he told them while they walked along the popcorn- smelling corridor, went through another door and then entered the movie theater number four.
"Hey," Rick greeted Connor, when he saw him, "We have just burst into Ice Age... Where is Lindsay?"
"She takes her nieces home," Connor answered truthfully. It should have been a nice evening. He wanted to spend the evening with his girlfriend and her nieces, but once again it turned out differently.
"What happened?," Kate Beckett asked.
"A mass murder, as you see. People have watched a movie and have lost their lives. Don´t ask me how, that´s why we're here."
"Which movie was it?"
"HELL'S COMING", Connor replied.
"Ah, this movie," said Rick and he didn´t sound a bit surprised, "This movie is released for quite a while and is very successful. On the day of the premiere, the queue in front of the box office even in New York reached around entire city blocks."
"Have you watched the movie, too?", Connor asked.
"Yeah, but you've missed anything: murder and manslaughter. So anything that we wouldn´t get on a day." Rick loved the murder mystery. For him as a crime writer this element was essential. He literally earned his living with haunting people to their death.
At this moment Lindsay came back and waited at the entrance that the group would come to her. "This is incredibly scary," Sue said.
"Where do we start?", Jack wanted to know stumped. In all these dead people, he didn´t know where to start working.
"I suggest Kate's friend from the coroner should look at this," Lindsay said, who had heard his question and Rick scratched his head helplessly.
"Then we wait until Christmas... We choose representative of people and Lanie should check them. If she has to check all people, that would take too long and I promised Sanchez the case will be solved in at least one week", Connor said.
"Sanchez? Didn´t know he can talk... ", Rick replied.
"You know him?", Sue was confused.
"Yes, he lives in my area," Rick admitted, "He earns a lot of money with this theater."
"We never make it to vacate the room so fast," Kate said, "I immediately call Lanie and tell her about this!"
Connor and Lindsay were on their way to the basement of the police building. Lanie had called that night and proudly announced she finished the autopsy of the selected bodies and they now could learn the results.
Both were eagerly anticipated in the coroner's: Lanie Parish sat in her lounge in front of her desk and ate the last bite of her hamburger, while she already discussed the results with Kate, Rick, Jack and Sue. Connor hated the fact they were the last to arrive.
"Nice to see you finally," Lanie muttered and swallowed the last bite of her meal.
"What did you find out?", Connor asked curiously as she threw the package into a trash can and put on a new medical coat over her shirt.
"The time of death," she began, "is the same for all people. Based on the body temperature and this movie magazine I managed to find out that everybody died at the beginning of the film."
Connor looked at Lindsay, then at Doctor Parish doubtful. "That´s a joke! What does the magazine have to do with it?"
"The film takes about a full three hours and is presented without interruption. The normal body temperature of a human is approximately 36.5 degrees and decreases after death of one degree per hour. That means, if the people would have died at the end, the temperature of all the bodies would sink in this short period of time until their discovery and my arrival to 35.5 degrees. But it was already 32 degrees and the film takes exactly three hours, plus one hour waiting time... These people were dead for four hours and thirty minutes"
"All have died at the same time?", Lindsay asked and Lanie nodded.
"That's what I meant."
"Dr. Parish has probably seen a bit too many movies. How can she just say that all victims died at the same time?", Connor said to Rick and leaned back in Javier's office chair. Kate's colleagues Javier and Ryan had applied for a few days off and weren´t at the department currently. Kate initially found it a bit outrageous that their friends had "moved in" here but after Ricks presence Captain Montgomery was quite used to this. In retrospect, Kate had no idea why she and Rick had made friends with just Jack and Sue from the FBI and Connor and Lindsay from OSIR. They were totally different and almost never agree. Nevertheless, they were a team. "Like the league's incredible gentlemen," Rick had said and smiled. "Yes, and please don´t forget the amazing ladies," Sue had added and then took the cup of coffee from his hand that Rick had actually tapped from the coffee machine for himself.
Now they ate their lunch, Chinese food, and were talking about the case.
"The film is so frightening at the beginning that my heart almost stood still. I'm sure she meant this", Rick told.
"Why have you watched the movie?", Lindsay asked.
"The film has received good reviews before the premiere. There´s currently this movie summer campaign and all tickets are cheaper."
"I was recently shopping and a radio station has done a survey of why the film is watched so often. Most teenagers said they only watch this movie because of this famous actor. Orlando Bloom plays a part, I think... But luckily adults are saved from this phenomenon", Sue said, smiling.
"Don´t say that," Jack cried and while he was talking he waved his arms, "Years ago, I once ran into BIG MAMAS HOUSE, because I thought, 'Hey, look at the poster! Will Smith is there! 'As it turned out then, it was Martin Lawrence... "
"Anyone who has a common sense would get up and get help when the first murder takes place," Connor said. He wasn´t interested in their conversation and eventually came back to the murder.
"Yes... But maybe the people thought the first murder was a game, "Kate suggested," That would explain why no one has informed the staff. "
"That's true", Rick agreed and Sue nodded.
"I've checked the list of victims again and then compared with the murders in the film... Don´t worry, I haven´t watched the movie, too", Jack calmed them, "In the film 122 were people killed and now guess how many people were sitting in cinema hall number 3..."
"122," Lindsay softly said and Jack nodded.
"That would mean 122 killers would be needed to kill these people."
"Don´t you understand? I want to say this movie is responsible! As many killers would be necessary as many people were in the movies! Doctor Parish has checked a hand full of corpses and said that the approach, the murder itself and the location was carefully thought out and executed... After we cleared the cinema, there wasn´t even blood stains on the carpet. Do you think this is normal?"
"No, I have to admit. But do you know the term Coincidence?"
"I don´t believe in coincidences. And don´t you think it´s strange that the full title of the film is HELL'S COMING-A murderous Movie?"
"Well, I think there's only one way to find out if the movie really is to blame," Lindsay began.
"And that would be?", Connor and Jack asked unanimously.
"We have to watch the movie."
"Where? At the movies? Then you have to watch it without me: Horses couldn´t get me in this darkened theater, " Rick said, folding his arms," We already know the film is dangerous and besides, I have watched it before."
"How would we explain all this to the Director of Cinema Scope?", Lindsay wanted to know, frowning.
When they went to the movie theater a little later and entered the foyer, Connor grabbed a brochure and read exactly what happened in HELL'S COMING. When Rick said the film would be bloody, he believed it, but sometimes-no, actually always -he had a tendency to exaggerate. So Connor read the booklet. "Even reading this is scary", he said and his friend told him to look at the next page. Connor did and suddenly he had a close-up of a disembowelled corpse in front of him.
"Well, and this is printed in a magazine, which is picked up by people and small children because of the Movie Poster, "Rick muttered.
"What do you mean?"
"Maybe we are the only ones who can prevent more of such attacks."
"All right! We call it a day", Connor exclaimed to his friends in the evening at the Department, "If someone calls and asks for me, say I´m somewhere with my girlfriend and look at something... "
"Why would anyone call and ask for you? You don´t work here, "Kate wanted to know confused and Rick passed her with a cup of coffee. Finally, he handed her the hot drink. "That was a joke," he explained to her and sat next to her on Kate´s desk.
Then they both looked puzzled at the murder board and simultaneously breathed deeply. Sue sat down with them. "I have no idea how am I supposed to prove that HELL'S COMING is responsible for this massacre," Kate sighed.
"I thought you don´t believe this," Rick smiled, "But Jack's theory is compelling. And if it is true then that´s pretty wicked... I think the film must be destroyed."
"Possibly... Yes," Kate nodded hesitantly.
"You said the film is very gory... Murders, Shootings, homicides", Sue said and now also drank a sip of coffee.
"Now please don´t tell me you've watched the movie, too," Rick asked.
"No... But I'll definitely want to, "she replied boldly and Rick had to admit he would have never expected this. Sue got up to leave them. She told them she still had a date with Rick's new book, "Heat Rises", which she wanted to read to the end. Rick offered he could sign the book for her and Sue wanted to bring it tomorrow.
Later, Rick also wanted to go home. Then Kate's phone rang and soon after she had answered the call, she tried to stop Connor and Lindsay, who were about to get on the elevator. They came back to the office and Kate handed the phone to Connor.
They met a little later at the Cinema Scope- Theater again.
"It's been another mass murder. I actually thought after what had happened, Sanchez took the film from the program but I was wrong", Connor said to Lindsay, as he walked with her towards the entrance hall.
Doctor Parish welcomed them briefly and started working quickly. She looked at the first corpse and realized quickly that these had died about three hours ago.
"The same game," she murmured, looking at the display of her thermometer.
Meanwhile, Rick was still in front of the canvas and looked at the large blood stain that ran diagonally across the white fabric. Then he stepped over a dead man lying on the ground, and walked to the entrance hall. There Connor just called a man from New York, the Director of Cinema Scope, like Lindsay explained. When he hung up, he was very relieved that the leadership of the cinema had decided to take the film HELL'S COMING from the program.
"At least they listened to you," Lindsay agreed.
"But that's not enough."
"Fortunately, in this performance only a few seats were occupied... A group of tourists from Idaho was here and of course Mayor Madigan won´t be very happy about it, because this damages the reputation of the city... I don´t want to know what would have happened if more people would have died, " Kate said thoughtfully and Rick nodded.
Doctor Parish joined them. She hadn´t made the effort and checked the corpses, they would all get the same thing result.
"What if the characters from the movie come to life suddenly and didn´t kill each other but the people?", she asked.
"Well, don´t be silly," Lindsay replied. She didn´t know Lanie particularly well but basis of how Kate reacted to this assumption, she was assumed this wasn´t the usual kind of her.
"I don´t know another other way! I mean, if it wasn´t the cinema staff... and if no one of the guests did it", the medical examiner added and Connor shook his head.
"Lanie, your theory sounds as unrealistic. The canvas won´t rip and suddenly all characters from the movie jump out! ", Connor said, "Only in horror movies all the candles turn off at the same time, if you know what I mean... In any case, we are in reality and I think it is very unlikely that all the people have died at the same time by the movie characters… But it would make a great case report…"
Doctor Parish gave up. "And now?", she asked.
"Get the bodies out of here and transfer the tourists to Idaho... I'm talking to Sanchez now. He´s the first to take the film out of the program so we can avoid more victims and we all want to prevent another massacre."
"Hopefully this time Sanchez listens to you and doesn´t wait for the call of his bosses," Lindsay said while they all three went through the busy foyer of the cinema. Connor then just shrugged his shoulders helplessly and disappeared into the office of the cinema manager. Rick talked to a man at the box office about the latest movies and Lindsay sat down on the red leather seats to wait for her boyfriend.
Finally he came back and together they left. "What did he say?", Rick asked.
"He was very cooperative," Connor replied, "Come on, let's go to dinner! Rick, Kate, I invite you", he suggested, and marched straight up to the Burger King shop. That wasn´t very original, but here he at least got a hot meal quickly.
At the checkout Connor bought four Chicken menus, two milk shakes and two cokes. Finally, he sat down at the table with his friends and was about to bite into his burger, when he paused.
"Look over there," he whispered softly and Lindsay turned around shortly.
"There are Jack and Sue," she murmured and the surprise was to hear in her voice, "What are the two doing here?"
Kate and Rick also had seen them.
"Getting food, what else," Connor replied.
"They may want to visit the cinema and watch a scary movie and finish the evening with a meal in the fast food restaurant. How romantic! ", In her mind she added that Sue had actually said she had a date with Rick's new book, which she wanted to read to the end.
"Maybe we should watch this horror movie, too," Connor thought and Lindsay looked at him. "After all, what happened?"
"Sue will also watch it," Rick said, "I think nothing can happen to us if we watch this movie at home. Then we avoid the dim, threatening atmosphere of a cinema and if you want,… I can even hug you ", the told Kate, she smiled and as Rick said this, he noticed that a girl a few tables away, flirted with a boy who sat at the next table. The girl didn´t seem to care and she suddenly bit into her hamburger with relish and in the truest sense of the word a biting pain shot through her hand. Because she was too busy with the flirting, she had bitten hard in the finger and cried out in pain like a banshee. All other guests turned to her while the boy laughed very loudly.
Jack and Sue seemed to have noticed that Connor, Lindsay, Rick and Kate were present, too, and both tried to get out of the restaurant quickly. Lindsay would have liked a little chat with Sue and she found it odd that she had left so suddenly. "If that's not suspicious...", Kate said as she picked some French Fries and ate it.
The restaurant was quiet again: the girl had stopped shouting, the cash machine was equally peeping and music came from the huge plasma screen on the ceiling.
"...I would be interested," Lindsay said, but because she realized Connor was somewhere else, namely with the TV which was hanging over their heads.
"You don´t even listen to me," she grumbled and Connor looked at her.
"That's not true! I watched MTV while I was listening to you... What did you say?"
"I really wonder," she began again, "What Jack and Sue had to hide. Why did they leave after they saw us?"
"Have you heard?", the 17-year-old Megan Stevens asked her boyfriend Mickey three days later in front of the movie theater in Bismarck, North Dakota, while they were standing outside the cinema in a long line of impatient people, "The film HELL'S COMING was removed from the cinema program!"
"On the news, it was said that the film had caused a mass murder in New York City."
Megan grimaced. "That doesn´t mean it happens everywhere!"
"Stay cool. We are lucky today and got tickets to the very last presentation of the film! The couple behind us traveled all the way from Massachusetts and the couple in front of us seems to come from Mexico, if I'm not mistaken", her boyfriend said and put an arm around her shoulders.
"Nevertheless, I would like to know who we have to thank," she grumbled to herself and entered the cinema hall. They were very late and the audience was just watching the last advertisement. After that, the curtain closed and the staff offered some ice cream. Megan was now, after Mickey's stories, a little worried when it came to this mass murder in New York. She nervously looked around in the crowded hall, until finally her boyfriend noticed she felt uncomfortable.
"You look pale. You won´t get scarred, won´t you`?", he asked and took her hand.
Meagan hesitated then she whispered: "Are you crazy? We just paid for the tickets."
In that moment the red curtain opened for the second time and the movie began. There was no time to talk about fears. The title flashed across the screen and then there was a noise that sounded like scratching paper and the screen was suddenly dark. "Cool!", a young man in a row behind Megan yelled and she heard a disgusting sound which she only knew from kitchen. She felt how someone reached for her throat, pressed her against her seat and before that someone took her chance to breath she watched her boyfriend, who was already stabbed by a huge knife.
Fin