Chapter Ten
End of Take
There was a smattering of applause as the curtains closed over the massive screen showing the credits of another horror film. It slowly petered out as the Principle took to the stage, coming to the stand holding the microphone.
"That was a waste of two hours," Jeremie said, just as Ulrich exclaimed, "That was great!"
Odd put in his own opinion, "The special effects were alright, but I wouldn't call it scary."
Yumi couldn't resist, "You must be joking, your teeth were chattering from minute one! Was it from the sound effects?"
The group laughed, and then Cameron rolled his eyes, "Well, they were certainly enough to make my teeth grind well enough. I could – and probably have – done better in my sleep."
The Principle tapped the Mic to get their attention, "Your attention please, we are honored to welcome the director of this film, which I'm sure we all found very . . . interesting. Please welcome, James Finson!"
As the famous director took the stage, most of the students clapped, while the gang crossed their arms.
"Hey kids, I hope you enjoyed the movie!" Finson laughed, "Just kidding, I know you enjoyed it, right? I mean come on, I did it myself! Anyway, speaking of movies, I'm looking for a location to shoot a new film, and I heard about an old factory on the river that nobody uses, so we'll be in town for a while if it works out."
Cameron gagged from the waves of arrogance he could feel radiating from the man, missing the looks of alarm passing between the rest of his group as he did so. Jeremie muttered something under his breath, but it was lost in the applause and exclamations of excitement in the rest of the crowd.
"Oh great, we'll probably hear his horrible soundtracks from our rooms." Cameron shook his head, "Maybe I should talk to him and see what I can do about getting my own music in there somewhere. It might the do the thing some good."
Yumi laughed, and elbowed him in the ribs, "You really should! It might turn into a good career for you!"
Cameron rolled his eyes again, "Not if I need to work with him ALL of the time."
()()()()
The next day in the lunchroom, the place was packed with people trying to get Finson's autograph, and the gang was clustered outside.
Cameron was looking in through the window, "Do all of those people really want his autograph? Never mind, I see Sissi there, so the answer must be yes."
The group was mulling over what Finson had said about the factory, and then Odd snapped his fingers, drawing Cameron's attention away from the idiots in the lunchroom. "Hey, I've got an idea, Cameron, you said you were going to give him a CD to listen to, so you could do the music and improve his film, right? Well, I just had a thought, what if you took Ulrich with you? He knows the factory pretty well, so between the two of you, you could probably bring the ratings up a full star!"
Cameron thought about this, and nodded, "It's a good idea. But how do you know the factory Ulrich? Did Jeremy drag you along on robo-part gatherings?"
Ulrich laughed nervously, "Nah, I just explore it in my free time – although there hasn't been much lately. It is a good idea though, let's go talk to him about it."
As the two boys made their way inside, Odd and Jeremie exchanged a glance, "I don't have any doubts about Ulrich keeping Finson away from the lab, but what about Cameron? He's found it once, he could find it again."
Jeremie shook his head, "He only found it because the bulldozers brought him to the factory, and Yumi led him to it from there. I think that as long as Ulrich is careful, everything will be fine."
Inside, Cameron gritted his teeth, not only was Finson taking his own table, but his security guard was making people come up one at a time. Couldn't they just make a line instead of having a three hundred pound islander keep people five feet away at all times? How pretentious was this guy anyway?
Ulrich glanced at him, noting the clenched jaw and heavy scowl, "Wow, you have something against Finson Cameron?"
The other brunette shook his head, "Not against him particularly, but I don't see eye-to-eye with famous people. It seems to me that they just walk over everything and leave scraps for everyone else for the most part."
The two boys stopped their conversation as they reached the front of the line, the islander trying to keep Ulrich back as Cameron went through.
"Hey, meat sack, we're here to talk with the guy, together. Tu comprends tu pénible imbécile?"
The 'meat sack' hesitated, and then let them both through. As they approached the table, they caught a glance at Sissi's signed picture, and her purple face. They couldn't see much of the first, but they noticed the words "Lot of nerve" on it, and Cameron smirked.
"Hey kid, you got a problem?" Finson asked when they reached the table, "I don't like people who hate on my movies."
Cameron ditched the smirk and looked steadily at the movie director, "Sorry sir, and you can save your ink. We're actually here with a proposition."
Finson raised an eyebrow, and gestured at them to go on.
Cameron continued, thinking that he would have regardless of what Finson had said or done. "You see," he cringed inwardly at what he was about to say, "Sir, we really liked your movie last night." Flattery continuing, he continued, containing a smile, "In fact, we like it so much that we wanted to try to help with your next one. You see, I'm pretty good with music, and my friend here knows that factory like the back of his hand, and we were wondering if you would give us a shot."
Finson sighed, "Sorry kid, but I've got a sound director, and"
Before he got any further, Cameron slid a disk player over the table to him, "Would you at least try it out? If you don't like it, I'll go without another word."
Finson glared a moment, and then, seeing no sign of letting up in the young face before him, he relented. Putting the headphones on, he listened a moment, and then his eyes went wide.
"Wow kid, I admit, you've got some skills!" He stopped the player, "I'll take you on for this one, and then if it works out, your name goes in the credits. Deal?" After they shook on it, he turned to Ulrich, "So you say you know the Factory really well huh? How?"
Ulrich replied evenly, ignoring the disbelieving tone in Finson's voice, "Oh you know, exploring it, poking around in my spare time, the works."
The director nodded, "Alright, I'll give you a shot. You can show me around when you guys have lunch, and then we'll talk to the Principle about it when we get back."
()()()()
At lunch, the gang followed Ulrich and Finson over to the factory, staying well out of sight.
"By the way Odd, how does Ulrich know the factory?" Cameron asked.
"He said so, He spends a lot of time there." Odd panted, he'd fallen behind and had run to catch up.
Cameron looked carefully at Odd, and could see that while he was telling the truth, he was keeping something under wraps. "Come on, tell the truth Odd."
Yumi spoke up from in front of them, "Ulrich and I meet over there sometimes, just to hang out, you know?" Cameron's eyebrows went up, and he could see that the back of Yumi's neck was turning red, but from blushing of exertion, he couldn't tell.
As they crossed the bridge, they stayed carefully to the upper levels of the factory as Ulrich and Finson slid down the conveniently dangling ropes hooked to a support beam above them. They could hear the pair talking down below.
"This is great, it's even better than I thought!"
"Well yeah, but it's falling apart, we'll be lucky if the roof doesn't come down on us while we're shooting." Ulrich replied, trying to deter the director for some reason.
In a hushed voice, Cameron asked, "Is there any reason why Ulrich is trying to get him not to film here? Or does he just want Finson to leave so that we won't have to deal with him for long?"
Yumi shook her head at to make him be quiet, and held up two fingers to answer his question. Cameron nodded and returned his attention to the people below.
Odd had his eyes just barely over the side, so that he could watch them. While he thought that this was stealthy, there was still a good two feet of bright yellow hair sticking out, which thankfully weren't noticed by the excited director.
As the couple neared the elevator, The group could hear Ulrich saying something about Uranium, and then quickly assuring Finson that the Elevator went nowhere, since it was broken down. Cameron's eyes narrowed, there was something he was missing here, some sense of deja vu that lurked just outside of his reach. He backed from the edge to focus on it, accidentaly kicking over a heavy beam as he did so. Odd, Yumi, and Jeremie whirled around, and they all held their breath as Ulrich claimed that the factory was haunted. This was ridiculous enough that Cameron almost laughed, but held back as the other three were still glaring at him.
As Ulrich was offered a spot as technical advisor, the four of them went into various poses of prayer, hoping that Ulrich wasn't stupid enough to say no. When they heard him give the affirmative, they started to cry out in relief, and then shushed each other when as they caught themselves.
As Ulrich started his next statement, the same thing occurred to Cameron twenty feet up and about ten feet over.
He was just starting to form the words when Ulrich beat him to it, "The Principle would never let me or Cameron miss out on class."
Cameron's hopes were lifted when Finson told Ulrich to let him handle Delmas. He might not like celebrities, but sometimes, it could come in handy to be able to pull rank.
()()()()
As the depressed trio made their way out of the Principal's office, Finson was stunned.
"I can't believe it; he said no! I even offered to put his name in the credits!"
He would have gone on, but Sissi came through the doors at that moment, "Mr. Finson, can I speak to you for a moment?"
As the director went to speak with Sissi, Cameron turned to Ulrich, "I can't believe we didn't think of her sooner." At Ulrich's puzzled look, he continued, "I mean, she wants to have one or both of us as a 'boyfriend' – although slave would be a better term – there's no way that she can tell us no, as long as she's getting something that she wants out of it. This is perfect! She gets her part, I show Finson what real music is like, and you can do your thing. We really should have brought her into the loop before now." He stopped talking as the other two returned, Sissi with a determined look on her face, and Finson with a smile on his. Ulrich glanced towards Cameron, "Three guesses as to what deal they've worked out."
()()()()
Back in Jeremie and Cameron's room, the four boys were sprawled around in various spots, as Jeremie recovered from his shock at Sissi's chance at stardom.
"She actually got a part in the film?" He looked at Cameron, and then to Ulrich as the boy replied.
"Yeah, since she got her dad to agree to letting Cameron and me skip school."
Odd couldn't resist, "Ulrich and Sissi, working together on a film! This could be the beginning of a great romance!" His gaze turned to Cameron, "Or will it be a relationship between Sissi and Cameron? Only time will tell!"
The group laughed, "Oh, I would love to see the look on Herve's face when he finds out. I'd say he'll add new shades of purple to the color wheel!" Cameron laughed again, and then he walked over to his bed, turning on his headphones, as well as his GameCube. He'd hit a roadblock in the form of a boss in his newest game, and he wanted vengeance for the eighteen billion times it had killed him before he left for the film.
()()()()
As Ulrich heaved Sissi's bag across the bridge, Cameron brought up the rear of their little convoy with a small backpack of camping gear, while easily carrying both his and Ulrich's cases in one hand, while turning off his disk player with the other. As they came to a front desk, manned by meat sack and a woman whom Cameron automatically named evil secretary, not the most original name, but an accurate one, as evil secretary pointed to a bin in front of her and informed them that their cell phones were now confiscated. Apparently Finson was more strict about them then their school was. Sissi was outraged, but relented when given a choice, turn in her phone, or turn around and go back to school. As Ulrich hauled Sissi's bag down a makeshift staircase, Cameron opted for the simpler route, tossing his and Ulrich's clothes bags down, and sliding down after them on the rope.
"Hey kids, sorry about that," an actor said, gesturing towards the entrance, "No outside communication during the shoot without Finson's okay. That's the reason everyone sleeps here. Less chance of a leak about the script. Apart from that, it's really fun, like a big camping trip." Noticing Cameron's bag of gear for the first time, he continued, "Looks like you came mostly prepared, but I don't see a tent. Were you expecting us to provide them?"
Cameron replied easily, the guy was pretty nice for someone working with Finson, "No, I went on camping trips all the time before I came to Kadic. All I need is my bedroll and a sleeping bag, and I'm fine. Both of which I have, so all I really need now is somewhere private." Noticing a wide beam as they passed beneath it, he continued, gesturing towards it, "Somewhere like that for instance. I don't roll around at all, so that looks fine."
Ulrich spoke up before the man could respond to Cameron's idea of 'camping' "What if we need to get in touch with our parents? Like if there's a problem?"
The man laughed, "When you shoot with James Finson, there's never a problem." He looked at Cameron, "You can talk with Finson about that support beam, but if he needs it for a scene, you'll have to move your things beforehand."
As they neared a crowd gathering around a massive covered object, they slipped through to the front. As it was unveiled, Ulrich couldn't resist commenting, countering Finson's bragging about how it would spit goo everywhere. "Funny, It looks like the alien from the movie, oh what was it called, I can't remember the name."
Cameron was nodding, "Yeah, it does. The one we watched at school the other night? What was it called?"
Finson approached them swiftly, "My monster is unique young men, and this movie will be like no other ever made!" The director walked off, and Cameron smiled, pleased at getting under the annoying man's skin.
He looked back up at the beam he wanted, and wandered over to the stairs to get back to the upper level of the factory. Setting up his little home away from . . . boarding school, he could hear Sissi's scream, and Finson applauding her quick mastery of the single line he gave her. "You're the monster's first victim, twenty seconds of glory. Gory glory too."
Cameron smiled again; maybe this movie wouldn't be as bad as he thought.
()()()()
That night, Cameron opened his eyes to the sound of running footsteps below him – he hadn't been sleeping, but he had felt like Ulrich was hiding something. He was pleased to know his suspicions had been correct. Sliding down the rope he had tied off earlier that afternoon, he landed softly and shadowed Sissi, who was shadowing Ulrich.
As he followed the two deep into the factory, Cameron spotted a green light on a ledge, and Ulrich ascending a ladder towards it. Sissi was halfway across the room, and Cameron saw no need to alert Ulrich to both of their presences. He silently slipped across the room after the girl, clambering up the ladder and onto a ledge leading to the light he'd seen earlier.
As he descended the ladder leading into the room, which he now saw was a massive computer lab, he heard Sissi confront Ulrich. "Well, well, what kind of a weird place is this?"
Cameron heard Ulrich's surprised exclamation at the girl's appearance, and decided to give him another shock, dropping the last ten feet or so from the ladder and rolling to break his fall, almost – but not quite – slamming hard into some sort of half-dome in the middle of the room. "I figured you were lying about the elevator, and I'm guessing that's what those doors are?"
He could hear Jeremie on the other end of a communication line, "Ulrich, please tell me that I'm not hearing Cameron and Sissi in there with you."
Ulrich groaned, and that was apparently enough for Jeremie, since they all could hear a clicking noise as he hung up. Cameron crossed his arms and went into a now familiar 'you've got some explaining to do' stance that made Ulrich groan again and drop his head into his hands.
"Listen guys, you can't tell anyone about this place." He started, but Sissi wanted to say her part.
"Or what, some monster is going to spit disgusting goo all over me?"
Cameron and Ulrich winced at her mastery of the line that Finson had given her, and all three of them looked up after the slime had finished falling down onto her head.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!" Sissi shrieked.
Cameron would have laughed, but he and Ulrich were too busy grabbing the girl and hauling her to the elevator before the Monster landed on them. As the door closed between them and it, they all sank to their knees in relief.
Almost as one, they jerked back up to their feet as a massive dent was put in the floor of the lift, and Cameron looked up for the hatch. Finding it, he turned to Ulrich, a plan already on his mind.
"Ulrich, we've got to go." The three of them jumped as a second dent was knocked in the floor, and the blood drained from their faces. "We can use the hatch to get out before that thing gets in."
Ulrich looked up as well, and then knelt and formed a cup with his hands to boost Cameron up. The third dent came as the boy reached the hatch and shoved it open. Pulling himself up and reaching a hand down for whoever was coming up next, the others were out just before the creature chasing them tore a hole in the lift and leapt up at them. As the thing's wrist was coming up at them, Cameron slammed the hatch closed on it, and they all heard the sickening sound of something breaking before the hand was withdrawn and the hatch closed fully.
Crawling over to a ventilation shaft, the three of them got away and deeper into the factory as quickly as they could. As they fled, a few things occurred to Cameron. Okay, that lab seemed familiar for some reason, that was Finson's monster that was chasing us, so something is controlling it somehow, and this shaft if too small for it to follow us. The smart thing would be to stay inside, but we have to get back, or else we'll be blamed for its disappearance. We're teenagers, we've vanished, and so has Finson's cheap knockoff monster. He really needs to see a psychiatrist for those delusions of grandeur that he has.
Cameron's thoughts were halted as the three of them reached to end of the ventilation duct. Ulrich – somehow – turned around so his feet were facing the grille covering the exit, and kicked it hard enough to send it flying away. As Cameron helped Sissi out, they heard a snarl around the corner, and the three of them ran hard in the other direction. Cameron had to admit, Sissi was being pretty good about all of this, she hadn't made a sound in the ducts, and now she wasn't screaming loud enough to wake the dead. As they ran, Ulrich led them straight through the factory without hesitating anywhere; leading Cameron to think that he really did know his way around in here.
As they fled deeper and deeper, the sounds of the pursuing beast fell further and further behind. When they could no longer hear it, they turned one more corner and slipped into the shadow of a short corridor that had a dead end walled in on three sides. As they crouched in the cover of cobwebs and shadows, Cameron felt almost safe – except for the fact that he was scared out of his wits by the idea of being eaten by a cinema monster. Wait a second, he thought, what if this is some big joke being played on us by Finson and his crew? Then he dismissed the idea, Nah, Finson might do it, but the people we met last night were pretty nice. He noted that the sun's morning rays were beginning to come through the windows of the factory, and as they hit the corridor they hid in, they heard the beast pass above them. They all held their breath as the creature stopped directly above them, and released it as the thing bounded off somewhere. Cameron closed his eyes and breathed in and out deeply, trying to calm his racing nerves and relax.
A few moments later, they snapped back open as he heard Sissi stifle a shriek of terror. He looked hard at her, and then his head turned slowly to a flash of dark green at the entrance to their little corridor. Infinitely slowly, his hand inched towards a strip of metal that looked hard enough to put a dent in the monster. He lifted it as it crept towards them, halting just a few feet from them, just out of lunging range. As it looked straight at them, Cameron rose slowly, the metal in his hand, and leapt at it. He had the feeling that there would be no intimidating this thing by shouting and blustering, a fact proven as it opened its mouth and he was slammed back against the wall by a rapidly hardening layer of goo, shortly accompanied by Ulrich and Sissi. He heard Sissi let out a sound of disgust as the thing approached her and licked her face, and then it bounded off, to who knows where.
After a few minutes of futile struggling, Cameron eased his attempts and shot looks at the other two, "I don't suppose that either of you have any way of contacting . . . anybody? Some sort of earpiece or extra cell phone that you didn't give Evil Secretary?"
Ulrich hung his head and stopped his own struggling, "No, not a chance at it."
Cameron sighed, "Maybe if Sissi screamed loud enough . . ."
Sissi would have hit him if she could have moved, "Sure, why not? I could rupture your eardrums if you wanted."
A black form at the end of the hall caught Ulrich's eye, and he looked over to it, hoping that one of the actors had found them. The reality was even better, "Yumi! Thank God!"
Sissi and Cameron were stunned, "What are you doing here Yumi? How did you find us? Actually, forget both questions." Cameron paused and drew breath, "Can you get us down from here?"
Yumi grinned and flipped open a knife, "Sure, hold very still."
Cameron was not enthusiastic about Yumi cutting very close to him with what looked like a razor-sharp knife. "Are you sure about this?"
The Japanese girl looked at him smugly as Ulrich dropped to the floor and stripped off the remnants of dried goo from his clothes, "You were saying?"
Cameron sighed, "Never mind. Continue."
As Yumi freed him and Sissi, the young Delmas said, "For once I'm glad to see you Yumi!"
Cameron groaned and face palmed, "I can't believe you said that where I didn't have a camera! It would have been such a great scoop for Milly and Tamiya!" He ducked as both girls swung at him, and was decked by Ulrich.
As he straightened, they heard another noise from where Yumi had come in. The black-haired girl stiffened and shut her eyes, expecting to be thrown out of the factory. What she hadn't expected was to be grabbed by the hand and yanked along as the other three fled. Regaining her balance, she looked over her shoulder and her eyes grew wide at the sight of an alien creature pursuing them. She glared at Ulrich, "Next time, you just don't come to this sort of thing."
Ulrich opened his mouth to respond, but Cameron cut him off, "Okay, you guys can have a lover's quarrel later, assuming that we're still alive later. For right now, RUN!"
As they rounded a corner, they were spotted by Finson, who shouted something, and ran after them. Cameron shoved the man out of his mind for the moment; he was more concerned about the angry possessed monster chasing after them. After what seemed like an eternity, periodically broken by someone stumbling and being hauled along by the others until they regained their feet, they raced into an old control room, through a metal door into an adjoining room, and slammed the door shut after them. Placing their hands on their knees, they allowed themselves a moment to catch their breath, and then Sissi moved aside for the others to barricade the door behind them.
When that was done, the four of them went over to a corner that was out of sight of the door, and crouched down, fingers crossed in prayer that the creature wouldn't find them – or at least that it would look the other way before coming after them. There were shouts in the control room, followed by Finson shouting, "You have to obey me, I created you!" This was shortly followed by the director's cry of fright, and then there was a massive crash as the monster slammed against the door. Fortunately, their barricade held, but they all knew it was a matter of time before it gave way and let the monster in.
Cameron closed his eyes and pulled his legs in to sit Indian style, if he was going to die, he wasn't going out sniveling like a baby. He would have left that to Herve if he had been there.
As the door gave way, they heard the monster sniffing loudly, and Cameron's hopes that it wouldn't come straight for them plummeted, along with his hopes for survival. He opened his eyes and started to stand up, but was pushed back down by Yumi as she and Ulrich stood up, "Stay down you two, it wants us, we're the only reason it's here."
Cameron's eyes went wide, and he stood up anyway as the creature came around the corner, this time with a short piece of sharp metal in his hand, "and there's no way that I'm abandoning a pair of friends when they needed help."
Yumi glanced at him as he crouched into a fighting position and sighed, "I'm telling you, it wants us!"
Cameron would have countered her, but three of the monster's hair/tentacle things shot out and grabbed them around the throats. He raised his hand up, and brought the makeshift knife down on the tentacle grabbing him. The creature shrieked in pain and swatted him against the wall as it momentarily loosened its hold on Yumi and Ulrich, allowing them to gulp in a precious mouthful of air before it squeezed their necks again, fully intent on eliminating them.
Cameron struggled to his feet and looked for his 'knife', and spotted it . . . stuck where he had stabbed it – firmly inside of the flailing tentacle. He looked around wildly and grabbed an steel bar – the great thing about factories was that there was plenty to use as weapons. He held the bar by the non-rusty-ish end and brought it down hard on the tentacle holding Yumi. While the creature shrieked again, it's hold didn't loosen, and he changed targets, holding the bar up and running straight towards the monster.
The monster brought its undamaged tentacles to bear on him, and he smacked one hard, but couldn't get the other before it grabbed him and hauled him into the air, slamming him against the wall Sissi was cowering next to. As he heard the bar clatter to the floor, he grabbed the tentacle holding him and heaved with everything he had. It didn't loosen, and he was raised higher and higher into the air.
Cameron opened his mouth, but no air flew down into his lungs, he felt as though his veins were filling with lead, and his struggles slowed, and then nearly stopped altogether.
As Sissi watched, Cameron, Yumi, and Ulrich stopped moving, the only thing showing their life was the fact that their hands still gripped the things around their necks, but in an unconscious state, that didn't do them much good. They were lifted higher and higher into the air, until they were nearly directly above the monster, nearly twenty feet up, and there was no sign of letup from the monster trying to kill them. Her eyes fell to the bar Cameron had dropped, and she picked it up. Drawing it back and hurling it, the bar struck the creature in the center of the chest and it staggered, the three people it was holding falling briefly as it slackened it's deadly grip on them, and they sucked in air before they were lifted back up.
Sissi fell to her knees, nearly sobbing and pounding the floor like a child, a wordless scream leaving her mouth as she watched them stop struggling and just hang there like some sort of strange doll set, or puppets without strings. They began to descend, and then the creature froze and collapsed. Now it was the string less puppet, and the three teenagers fell onto it, their eyes fluttering open as the vice grips around their necks loosened. As they regained their senses, Yumi's phone rang, rang, and rang again. The last thing Sissi remembered was the phone starting to ring a fourth time, and then a massive dome of white light washed over her, causing her to slump to the floor, her own eyes starting to shut.
And then everything went dark.
()()()()
Cameron woke up as the crowd around him clapped, Yumi's elbow digging into his ribs making him swat her and sit up straight, applauding the end of the appalling movie they had just sat through.
Odd leaned forward, "Hey Cameron, when did you fall asleep? I thought that was usually my job!"
Cameron grinned, "Oh, I think it was right about the time they got on the ship."
Odd's eyes went wide, "That was the very beginning! Ah well, it's probably for the best. I doubt you would have liked it anyway, it wasn't very scary."
Cameron smiled evilly, "oh really? Then why could I hear your teeth chattering even when I was fast asleep? Was the music that bad?"
Odd's smile faded, and his face went red, "Oh, umm, well I . . ."
Yumi helped him out, "Well, the music was terrible," Odd's smile started to come back, but Yumi shot him down, "But there was the time that he shrieked like Sissi at a young age, and I don't think that the sound caused that!"
The group laughed hard as the Principle mounted the stage, and introduced possibly the most famous horrible director ever.
END OF CHAPTER TEN
So, did you love it? Hate it? Please review!
So, I probably won't be updating for a while, bit busy at the moment, and I have another Fanfic lined up that I want to get going before I lose the ideas for it. Never fear however, I will be back, and this story will continue!