"Um, excuse me sir," Alex said nervously. The bartender, who was cleaning the counter with a dirty rag, looked up and gave her an unnerving stare. She gulped and continued. "S-sir, I was wondering if you've seen two people here. One's a brown haired guy with overalls and the other's a bigger guy with a green hoodie. Have you seen them?"
The bartender had a predatory grin on his face. "No ma'am, haven't seen any people matching your description," he said. "But I do see a nice drink of water standing in front of me." Alex's neck hairs stood on end. "Name's Ghost. What's yours, pretty lady?" She glanced around and saw all the bar patrons staring at them. "Uh, it's A-A-Alex. Look, i-if you see my-"
"Alex huh?" Alex eyed Ghost as he walked around the counter to get to her. "Cute name. You tired of being a virgin, Alex? 'Cause I could easily help you with that." She gasped and tried to back away but one of the patrons grabbed her from behind and forced her to my knees. "Please Ghost!," she begged. "I'm not here for trouble! I'm just looking for my friends!" Ghost just grinned. "Then congratulations! You've just made a new one. His name's Little Ghost and he's just dying to get to know you." She wasn't sure I wanted to meet this Little Ghost.
Alex tried to struggle but the patron's grip was too strong. Tears began to drip from the corners of her eyes. "Aw, don't cry Alex," Ghost cooed. "Hey, how about I give your eye a little kiss? Could help with the swelling." He leaned in and puckered his lips. She panicked and struggled even more, only to accidentally headbutt him in the process.
Everyone in the room gasped and backed away, including the patron who was holding Alex down. She jumped to her feet as Ghost stumbled back, rubbing his forehead and swearing loudly. He glared at her, the seductive look in his eyes now replaced with unbridled anger. There was now a large bruise on his head. Roaring with anger, he charged at her.
Alex screamed and tried to dodge his punch, but it was too late. His fist connected with her jaw, sending her flying to the back of the room. As she laid there, dazed, she ran her tongue along the sides of her teeth and felt an empty gap in the center. She saw her tooth lying on the floor before Ghost trampled on it, crushing the tooth into a fine powder.
Something snapped inside of Alex. Gritting her teeth in anger, she picked up a nearby bottle and smashed it onto the wall, turning it into a dangerous weapon. She stood up and ran towards him with the broken bottle in her hand. He grabbed her arm and twisted it, causing her to scream in pain and drop the bottle. He grinned triumphantly and shoved her to the floor, throwing punch after punch, which she was able to block with her arms.
Screaming in anger, Alex kicked him in the crotch. Ghost immediately collapsed to the floor with a scream, cradling his injured private parts while rocking back and forth. "Oh god!," he cried, sobbing like a little girl. "I've never felt so much pain in my entire life! I'm sorry, grandma and grandpa! I promised to give you two grandchildren someday, and I fa-a-a-ailed!"
"CUT!," Stevack hollered into his megaphone, causing everyone in the room to wince and rub their ears in a desperate attempt to get rid of the incessant ringing. The director sighed and walked towards the two of them. "Alright, what just happened?," he sighed. "She crushed my manhood, that's what happened!," Ghost groaned from the floor. Alex rolled her eyes. "It's not my fault you can't take a hit to the junk like a man," she drawled. "I thought you were a famous WWE wrestler. I expected more from you." It had been some time since they finished filming in the woods where the first part of the movie took place. They had also finished filming everything that happened between the previous scene of Alex being apprehended by Thomas and Annie, and the current scene of Alex brawling with Ghost in Boom Town, including Ivor spawning the Wither Storm, Gabriel giving them the amulet, and them deciding to find Magnus in hopes that he could help them. The Wither Storm scene in particular was done through a clever mix of puppetry, robots, and CGI. Not only that, Gabriel had also been training some of the cast in martial arts between filming to prepare them for future fight scenes.
And as shown with Ghost sobbing and cradling his junk...it worked a little too well.
"Alex, this isn't what we went through," said Gabriel, shaking his head in disapproval. He had been watching the fight while making sure to stand outside of the camera's view. "You were supposed to make it LOOK like you kicked him in the crotch, and Ghost was supposed to act like it actually hurt. You weren't supposed to actually do it." "Alright, let's take five again," said Stevack, pinching the bridge of his nose. He heard Ghost whimpering in pain and sighed. "And someone go get Ghost an ice pack or something." One of the cameramen ran over with an ice pack and gave it to Ghost, who slowly stood up and held it to his crotch. Then, he was carefully escorted out of the room while Alex stayed behind, scoffing at the pathetic display.
The place that they were currently filming in, Boom Town, was not actually a real place. Well it was, but not as the lawless, chaotic wasteland that was being portrayed in the movie. It used to be a real village, but it was abandoned many years ago due to some sort of disease that had been spreading around. Stevack heard about the place and thought it was perfect for his new movie. All he had to do was renovate it a little so it would match his vision of Boom Town. Making it look old and worn down was not hard at all, since it was already like that when they first arrived. To complete the image, all they had to do was set up a few explosions to create craters in the ground and set fire to some of the buildings. It was a special type of fire that was created by the movie industry. It looked exactly like real fire, but it could not actually burn down materials or cause harm, making it perfect for hellish looking sceneries like this.
The most difficult part of the process was constructing the giant obsidian tower that Magnus was supposed to reside in. Not only did it take a LOT of obsidian to build the thing, but for some reason, Stevack wanted the middle of the tower to have a huge gap in it, possibly to illustrate both Magnus' random ingenuity and his preference for seclusion. The construction crew just saw it as more work than what was necessary. Fortunately, they only had to film in the lava room with the TNT sand traps, so most of the tower ended up being hollow inside.
During the break, Alex went to get her makeup done while practicing her lines. At the same time, Petra and Jesse were having a friendly conversation with Nancy, while Lucy was busy playing with Reuben not too far away. "They look so adorable together," said Petra, staring at the two of them playing. Nancy giggled. "Yes, they really are. By the way Jesse, where did you even get that pig?" "Oh, I got him back when I was a kid," Jesse answered. "My parents gave him to me as a birthday present, and to this day, I still consider him as the best one I ever got. A lot of people teased me for having a pig as a pet, since pigs weren't actually that common as pets, but I couldn't really care less. We were inseparable." "Wow, that's a pretty cool story," said Petra. "What about you, Petra?," asked Nancy. "Why did you get into acting?"
"M-me?," asked Petra, caught off guard by the question. "C-come on, I don't have any interesting stories about myself…" "That's ridiculous," Jesse joked. "Everyone's got a story, whether they know it or not. Come on, tell us. I'm pretty curious." "Well...okay," Petra said hesitantly. "So when I was a kid, I didn't really know what I was interested in. I tried tons of different hobbies, but none of them really...clicked for me, you know? Though one thing that didn't come to my mind was acting. I never even considered it, let alone tried it out."
"Wait a minute," said Nancy. "Isn't your brother a famous actor?" "Well, yeah," said Petra. "But he never really talked about it at home. I don't think he likes acting as much as people think he does. Anyway, I was trying out everything I could think of, but none of them really worked for me. Initially, I'd always thought I found something that made me happy, but I always ended up losing interest in them after a while. All of that changed when I finally saw my first movie...which had Alex starring in it." "What was it called?," asked Jesse. "It was a pretty long time ago," said Petra, trying to remember. "I think it was called...the King and the Mockingbird?"
"My daughter loves that movie!," said Nancy, her eyes wide. "Goodness, I didn't know she was even in that one." "It's easy to miss her," said Petra. "She looks VERY young in that movie." "Uh...mind filling me in?," asked Jesse, looking at them in confusion. "I've never seen that movie before." "Oh, you should definitely watch it!," Petra said excitedly. "It's about this evil king who fell in love with a shepherd girl in one of his paintings. The shepherd girl's played by Alex, by the way. Anyway, the king soon discovers that at night, whenever he's asleep, the girl actually comes to life and gets out of the painting to explore more of the kingdom. After that, there's basically this epically wild goose chase around the kingdom where the evil king tries desperately to take the girl and force her to marry him. And along the way, the girl finds a talking mockingbird who tries to help her escape and…" Petra suddenly realized that she was ranting a little, then blushed heavily. "...well, I don't wanna spoil the ending for you."
"Sounds pretty interesting," said Jesse, smiling in amusement. "So watching that movie inspired you to take up acting?" "Not quite," said Petra. "I did love the movie, and I still do, but what really motivated me to start acting was watching Alex play as the shepherd girl. She just seemed so...genuine in that role. Throughout the movie, I actually forgot it was someone playing as the shepherd girl. I JUST saw the shepherd girl. And...I just wanted to be like her, you know? I wanted to have an emotional impact on other people, just like how Alex made an emotional impact on me. So...that's why I took up acting. My brother was very supportive when I told him. I thought he was going to jump over the moon or something." But then, Petra's smile disappeared when she remembered the conversation she had with Alex a few weeks back. Why would I be friends with someone who was obviously only accepted into this movie because of sheer luck? "Petra?," asked Nancy, noticing how somber she suddenly looked. "Are you alright?"
"Yeah, I'm fine," said Petra, though that was really not the case. Even though Peeta already warned her that most actors and actresses could be vastly different from their onscreen counterparts, that didn't make her role model's rejection any less painful. Alex really was an entirely different person in real life, nothing like the kind and timid version that she had to play as in Pain and Healing. Deep down, Petra wondered how Alex would react if she knew how much she had looked up to her and even pretended to be her. Probably roll her eyes and tell Petra to "grow up" or something like that. "...okay," said Jesse, clearly not believing her. "You can tell us whenever you're ready, you know. We're friends. At least, I'd like to think we are."
Petra smiled gratefully and was about to respond when a groan suddenly caught their attention. They turned and saw Ghost sitting next to a building, holding an ice pack to his crotch while wincing in pain. "What happened to him?," Jesse asked worriedly. "I don't know," said Nancy. "He was like that ever since he was done filming with Alex earlier. He might have gotten injured during the shooting." "Yeah, I guess that makes sense," said Jesse, nodding. "They were supposed to shoot a bar fight scene, after all. Things probably got a little out of hand."
"Mommy?," asked Lucy, tugging on Nancy's hand. "I'm kind of hungry right now. Can we get something to eat?" Nancy chuckled and picked her daughter up. "Of course we can," she said. "What are you in the mood for? I'm thinking of ice cream." Lucy gasped in happiness and began bouncing in her mother's arms. "Ice cream?!," she squealed. "You mean it?!" "Sure, why not?," said Nancy, booping Lucy on the nose. "And can we take Reuben with us?," Lucy asked excitedly. "I could feed him ice cream too!" Reuben squealed happily and nodded. "We'll have to ask Jesse permission," said Nancy. "No, it's fine," said Jesse, smiling. "You guys have fun. Just make sure not to give him too much ice cream. He's on a low sugar diet right now."
"Yay!," cried Lucy, jumping from Nancy's arms and hugging the pig tightly. "Come on, we're gonna have loads of fun!" Nancy chuckled and held Lucy's hand with her own, while picking up Reuben and cradling him with her other arm. "I suppose we'll be leaving now," she said. "We'll be back soon." "Take care," said Petra, smiling and waving. Nancy waved back and went off to find an ice cream store with Lucy and Reuben in tow. Then, Petra turned towards Jesse in worry. "Can pigs even eat ice cream?," she asked. "Oh, don't worry. They can," Jesse assured her. "Pigs can actually eat a lot of the same things as humans do because they have the same digestive systems. But they can't eat too much sugar or sodium."
Petra nodded in understanding, then giggled. "You're, uh...quite the pig expert, Jesse," she joked. "Comes with the charm," said Jesse, shrugging his shoulders. Petra laughed some more, then glanced at Ghost, who was still leaning against the building with a wet ice pack between his thighs. "We really should ask him how he's doing," she said worriedly. "It looks like he's in serious pain." "He most likely got kicked in the balls," said Jesse. "Anyone would be in serious pain after having that happen to them." "I don't think even Alex would go that far," said Petra. "Come on, let's just go and ask him." The two of them walked towards Ghost, who was in so much pain that he didn't even notice them until Jesse cleared his throat.
"Ah, hey there," said Ghost, who was obviously trying very hard to hide the pain. "Let me guess. You, uh...you both want my autograph? Listen, I'd love to, but I'm kinda dealing with some other stuff." "Um...no, we're not here for autographs," said Petra, slightly intimidated by the large man sitting right in front of her, even though it didn't seem like he was about to get up anytime soon. "We just want to know what happened to you in that bar. Did you get injured while doing a fight scene with Alex?" "You could say that again," Ghost snorted. "Little prick kicked me right in the balls and didn't even apologize. Gabriel even told us not to hurt each other too badly. I'd honestly be impressed by her kick if I wasn't in so much excruciating pain right now."
"But you're a WWE wrestler," said Jesse, raising an eyebrow. "Shouldn't you be used to that kind of pain?" Ghost gave Jesse an irritated scowl. "Those fights were staged, you moron. Yeah, I admit it. WWE wrestling's not like real wrestling at all. It's just staged fighting with some acting mixed into it. I may look like I could break someone in two, but I've never actually thrown a punch in my life, or taken a punch to the face before. Now imagine that punch was replaced with a kick - which is a MUCH more powerful strike, in case you didn't know - and that my face was replaced with my balls. Yeah, it freaking sucks! So forgive me if I can't help but feel like shit right now." "Okay, sorry," said Jesse, raising his hands in surrender. "Didn't mean to sound so insensitive." "Alex actually did that?," asked Petra. Sure, she couldn't quite understand Ghost's physical pain right now due to lacking a certain piece of *ahem* equipment, but she heard about how painful it was for men to be hit in that area, so she could emphasize.
"She sure did," Ghost grunted. "Still not sure why she did that. She looked pretty angry right before we started shooting, but I didn't know what was going on in her head." He took the ice pack out from between his legs and held it in front of him, groaning loudly. The ice pack was now filled with cold water and leaking everywhere. "Great," he sighed. "Now I gotta get a new one." He slowly got up, wincing in pain as he did so, and waddled away in search of a new ice pack. "...well, that just happened," said Jesse. "What do you think got into Alex anyway? She was already pretty insufferable to begin with, but I think this is the first time she's ever gotten violent. Should we tell the director?" "No need," said a cameraman, who had walked by just in time to hear Jesse say that. "Mr. Snyberg's already aware of what happened between her and Ghost, though why he hasn't fired her on the spot for that is beyond me. That guy spoils her rotten, I swear to god. I get that she's some hot shot actress, but geez, the least he could do is set some standards." With that said, he shook his head in disgust and walked away.
"...and that also just happened," said Jesse. "This is a very weird day." "You can say that again," said Petra. Deep down, she had a feeling that their conversation back in the hotel was the cause behind Alex's anger. "Maybe I should go talk to her," she said. "Petra, are you sure?," asked Jesse. "The last time you tried that, it...didn't go so well." About a week after the hotel incident, Petra had finally decided to tell Jesse what went on in Alex's room and why she was in such a foul mood afterwards. Unsurprisingly, Jesse was absolutely livid when he heard and wanted to march over to Alex and give her a piece of his mind, but Petra managed to talk him out of it in the end. The last thing she needed was to add unnecessary drama to the whole ordeal, which would undoubtedly hinder the film's production, and as a result, make Alex hate her even more than she does now. Petra also told Peeta over the phone what happened. He also got angry, but he wasn't as surprised as Jesse. "That's just what happens when you let money and fame go straight to your head," he warned. "Don't end up like her."
"Trust me," Petra had responded. "I don't want to become anything like her." By now, she had lost most of her respect towards Alex, even though there was still a small, childish part of her that longed to cling onto the idea that Alex wasn't as bad as she seemed. Right, and pigs can fly, she thought bitterly. Sorry, Reuben. "I'm sure," she answered Jesse. "Besides, my view of her has already been shattered into a million pieces. What else is she going to do?" Jesse easily noticed the angry sarcasm in her voice and placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. "Calm down, Petra," he said. "First thing's first, take a deep breath and get all of that bitterness out of you. I don't like Alex either, but you can't let her mess with your head when she's not around." Petra took a deep breath and began to calm down. "Sorry," she said. "I guess the stress of the movie must be getting to me. Anyway, I'll still talk to her. And if she's not in the mood to talk back, I'll just leave, simple as that. No muss, no fuss." "You know," Jesse sighed, "when people say that, they usually end up being proven wrong and get super stressed in the end."
"Real life isn't riddled with movie cliches, Jesse," Petra retorted. "It'll be fine." "...alright then," Jesse conceded. "I'm pretty sure she went into that building over there." He pointed at one of the wooden houses in the area, which used to be someone's home a long time ago, but was renovated into a booth that Alex always hid in between filmings, probably to apply more makeup or to practice her lines. "But if you ask me, getting through to her is a waste of time," Jesse continued. "Not only is Alex the rudest person I've ever met in my entire life, but she's also the most stubborn. She might just kick you out once she so much as sees you coming." "And what's she going to do, call security?," Petra joked, knowing that Stevack didn't actually have the budget to hire bodyguards. "Besides, I have a right to check up on my fellow actresses and see how they're doing. Don't worry, I won't do anything rash. I'll just talk to her."
Petra began walking towards Alex's booth. "Be careful," Jesse called out from behind her. Geez, it's like Jesse sees her more as a dangerous wild animal, Petra thought. She kind of felt sorry for the two of them having to play as love interests in the movie. She arrived at the booth and heard Alex humming from inside, then loudly knocked on the door. The humming immediately stopped. Petra pressed her ear to the door, but all she could hear was silence. She knocked on the door again. There was still no answer. "Alex, I know you're in there," she sighed. "I heard you humming a few seconds ago." No answer. Petra frowned in irritation, then a playful idea sprang into her head. Fine, she thought. Two can play at that game. She began banging on the door repeatedly. "Oh, Alex~," she sang. "If you won't answer me, I'll just have to stand here and keep knocking until you open this door. Let's see how well you can practice your lines or apply your makeup or whatever while I'm making all this racket! I can do it all day if I have to." That wasn't actually the truth. Stevack was bound to call everyone back to filming once Ghost was all better. Hopefully, her incessant knocking would distract Alex from realizing that.
After about three minutes of ceaseless knocking, Alex finally swung the door open, narrowly missing Petra's face. "What?! Do?! You?! Want?!," she growled. "I just want to talk," said Petra. "You know...again." Alex glared at her heatedly. "And what's stopping me from calling security right now?," she asked angrily. Petra stared at her in surprise. "Alex...you do know that Stevack didn't have the budget to hire any security, right?," she asked. "I mean, literally the entire cast and crew know about that." Judging by the enormous blush that grew on Alex's face, she definitely didn't. "I-I knew that," she denied. "I was just...testing you...for some unknown reason…" She groaned and leaned against the doorframe tiredly. "What do I have to do in order to get you to leave?," she asked. "Is it money? Did you come here just to annoy me into paying you?" Does she really think I'd do that?, Petra thought in bewilderment. "Like I said, I just want to talk," she said. "We already talked, remember?," Alex said impatiently. "Back at that hotel near the woods. Don't tell me you're here to make us friends again. I already told you, we're not friends, and we never will be. So please get lost." Petra took a deep breath and closed her eyes. She's the main star of this movie, she thought to herself. So no, you can't murder her.
"It's not that," said Petra. "Trust me, I got your message loud and clear the last time. I just want to know why you've been so angry for the past week." "That's ridiculous," Alex scoffed. "Who told you I was angry? In case you're not aware, I'm a professional actress. And I don't let my emotions get in the way of my acting." The way Alex spoke the words 'professional actress' clearly implied that she saw Petra as anything but that. Petra was able to pick up on that. "I don't know," said Petra. "I mean, Ghost's manhood begs to differ." "Damn right!," Ghost's yell could be heard, even though he was so far away at the moment that neither of them could even see him. Petra and Alex looked around in confusion, then continued on as if nothing happened. "He's a wrestler who's twice as tall as I am," Alex retorted. "So I should be given a little bit of slack for defending myself." "But that fight was choreographed," Petra argued. "You were never in any danger to begin with." Once again, Alex's face turned red from being proven wrong for the second time. "Look, can I just come in?," asked Petra. "Talking to you like that with me outside the booth and you still inside of it makes this conversation very awkward."
Judging by Alex's expression, letting Petra into her booth was the last thing she wanted to do, but even she had to admit that this was not very convenient. "Fine," she huffed, opening the door wide and stepping aside. Once both of them were inside the booth, Alex slammed the door shut and they each settled down on two chairs facing each other. Alex reached into a minifridge that was nearby and took out a half empty bottle of soda. "Would you like a drink?," she asked. Petra blinked, taken aback by the kind gesture. "Um...sure," she said, reaching for the bottle. However, Alex suddenly held the bottle out of Petra's reach, then brought it to her lips and gulped down the entire thing. Instead of swallowing the soda, Alex kept all of it inside her mouth, her cheeks bulging out with the sweet liquid. Petra watched silently as Alex began swishing the soda around in her mouth. Then, she brought the empty bottle back to her lips and spat the whole thing back in. "Here," she said bluntly, handing Petra the bottle.
Petra could only stare at the bottle in disgust, which was now filled with dirty soda mixed with Alex's germs and backwash. "Uh...on second thought, I'm not thirsty," she said. "Are you sure?," asked Alex. "It's a very delicious soda." "No, seriously, I don't want it," said Petra, giving back the bottle. "Please take it back." "But you're my guest," Alex replied sweetly. "And it's rude for a guest to refuse a drink like that." "Well, it's also rude for the host to force their guest to drink their disgusting backwash!," Petra snapped, throwing the bottle into a nearby trash bin. "Seriously, why are you like this? It's like you LIVE on the suffering of other people!"
"I think you're being kind of overdramatic, don't you think?," asked Alex. "It's not my fault that I'm such a good actress and everyone else can't seem to meet my standards." "See, there you go again!," Petra cried in exasperation. "You're always like this! You look down on other people who look up to you, you act like you're the greatest thing to ever exist since sliced bread, and what's even more frustrating is that I can't even pin your character down! One minute, you act like a totally normal person who likes to laugh and joke around just like everybody else, and the next minute, you're back to being a total bitch!" "What did you just call me?!," Alex snapped angrily, causing Petra to grow pale. "Wait, that came out wrong," she quickly backtracked. "What I actually meant was-" "You don't have to say anything else," growled Alex. "I already know exactly what you meant. And you know what? I don't give a horse's ass what you think of me, because if you ask me, your opinion is completely and totally worthless!"
Petra stared at Alex in shock and horror, but Alex was not done ranting. "Seriously, I don't know what Snyberg was thinking when he decided to choose you for the role. You're incompetent, you have the brain of a toddler, and your acting in the audition was so atrocious that the freaking author was too lazy to write it into the story!" "...wait, what?" "Shut up and let me finish, Petra! I believe that the only reason you got the part was because of your brother! There's literally no other reason for Stevack to accept you. But once he realizes that I was right all along, I'm sure he'll do the right thing and kick you out of this production."
Petra stared at Alex in astonishment, slowly shaking her head. "...why do you hate me so much?," she asked. "What are you talking about?," asked Alex, raising an eyebrow. "I don't hate you." "That's a load of bull and you know it!," Petra yelled, standing up so suddenly that her chair fell backwards. "You've hated me since the day you laid eyes on me, and don't you dare deny it! And you know what? I'm fine with that! You're entitled to your own opinions just as much as I'm entitled to mine! But I just want to know...why? Why do you hate me so much? I never did anything to you! We've literally never even met before! If you won't stop hating me and you won't be my friend...could you at least tell me why?" Alex narrowed her eyes at Petra and spoke in a cold voice. "Alright, fine. I admit it. I DO hate you. But my reasons for doing so are none of your business. I will tell you this, though. Give up being an actress. It's just not for you. I'll be fine with you pursuing ANY other career than this. Farming, building, accounting. Hell, you can perform as a circus clown for all I care! Just stop living in this stupid dream of yours and move on. You'll end up being an embarrassment to every other actor if you keep this up."
"...I can't believe I used to look up to you," said Petra, her voice now as quiet as a mouse. She slowly walked to the door and opened it, then turned her head to give Alex one last look before heading out and shutting the door behind her. It was a look that Alex was never going to be able to erase from her memory. It was a look filled with nothing but sadness and disappointment. A lump grew in her throat, her chest tightened, and her hands clenched into fists. "She's not fit to be an actress," she whispered to thin air, trying to convince herself that she did the right thing. "I'm doing her a favor." But the lump in her throat did not go away.