Chapter Five:
Yugi climbed out of the passenger side of the car as Joey turned off the engine and got out of the driver's side, all smiles. They had just arrived at the hotel where Erica Lynch and her group were staying, ready to sign the contracts for the movie. The day was bright and sunny for October, with hardly a cloud in the sky. Yugi wondered if it was the repeating image of the man having his face sawed off that gave him a chill as he walked with Joey to the front of the hotel. As much as he hated those gruesome movies, he was not usually affected like he was this time. He believed he had even seen that part once before. Nevertheless, this time, he couldn't get the hideous image out of his head.
'It's just the knowledge you're going to be in a movie like that,' he thought to himself.
He told himself to relax. Erica was a nice person, and he knew he could very well enjoy this experience.
The concierge at the hotel desk reminded them what conference room they were supposed to be in, and paged Erica in her room that they had arrived. They'd shown up early, Joey wanting to make a good impression, and weren't due to be in the conference room for ten minutes. Upon arriving, however, they saw they weren't the only ones there. Four other people were in the room, two men and two women, none of whom Yugi had ever met before. One man was tall and thin, with ink-black hair, eyes the same color, and pale skin. He wore black eyeliner and black fingernail polish, had a tattoo on his neck that looked like a dagger, and wore all black with a spiked dog collar. The other man was between Joey's height and Yugi's, was a little on the chubby side, had red hair and freckles and bright green eyes, and wore jeans and a red T-shirt that said Gamer 4 Life in white letters.
The women were as diverse in appearance. One was tall and willowy in stature, with fine red hair, wire-rimmed glasses, and was wearing a schoolgirl uniform. She looked no older than seventeen. The second woman was about five and half feet tall, with the sort of body most women envied. Her thick, wavy hair was golden brown and her eyes were cornflower blue. She was as beautiful as Mai. Yugi noticed both of the unknown men in the room watching her with obvious lust, and even Joey gave her an appreciative look.
"Hi!" the redhead said brightly, bounding over as they hung up their coats on the offered coat rack. "Are you two Yugi and Joey? You are! I'm so excited to meet you!"
"Thank you," Yugi said with a smile.
"I used to watch all the Duel Monsters broadcasts. You were excellent, it was really amazing to watch you duel. Gosh, when you two battled against Marik during Battle City-" The girl folded her arms and hunched. "It gave me the shivers. He was one really creepy guy."
"He turned out all right in the end," Yugi said. "We're friends now."
"Really? Great! Ah, Yugi, it's really amazing to meet the Game King."
"Thanks." Yugi noticed the blue-eyed woman looking over at him as the red-haired woman turned to Joey and told him how much she admired his guts to use his gamble-type deck.
"I'm Nadia," she added belatedly. "Isn't this crazy? She just picked me out of the crowd down at the History Center!"
"It's totally crazy," Joey said with a grin. "Are you a fan?"
"Yes! I have all of her movies. I see them on every opening night."
Joey laughed. "Me too."
"I think they're useless," the man with the dagger tattoo said. His voice was a slow, bored drawl. "Dull, contrived piles of manure the empty-minded masses flock to like sheep."
Joey and Nadia gave him an equal glare. "Then why'd you agree to be in one?" Nadia demanded.
"Money," the man said bluntly. "That's one thing all the sheep are good for, spewing out money for the smarter people who trick them into wasting their cash with shiny lights for two hours."
Yugi frowned while both Joey and Nadia gave him disgusted glances. The man with the red shirt joined in. "Well, if we're sheep, you're a sell-out."
"Yeah," Nadia agreed with a grin.
The man with the tattoo shrugged. Looking utterly bored, he turned toward the window. The man with the red shirt joined Yugi, Joey, and Nadia, sneering.
"What a jerk. Hi, I'm Sota." He grinned and offered his hand to Joey. "And I'm a true fan of Lynch, don't worry. The Gut Rippers are my favorite. I think I've seen each of them about twenty times."
Joey shook his hand. "Those are good. My favorite is In the Eye of Madness."
Sota's eyes widened. "Wow, hardcore."
"Good choice, Joey."
It was Erica. With a large black shoulder bag dangling from her shoulder, she walked into the room with Kevin, who was holding a large manila envelope, and another woman, a thin and pretty young woman with short brown hair, brown eyes, and freckles. Eyes twinkling, Erica gestured towards the conference table and chairs in the room.
"That one was one my favorites, too," she said. "One of my first."
Joey grinned happily while Sota looked good-naturedly jealous. The group moved to sit around the table, the man with the dagger tattoo clearly stand-offish, sitting at the far end of the table, no less than three chairs between him and the next person. Everyone else sat in a group, Yugi between Joey and Nadia. After hanging up their coats, Erica, Kevin, and the woman with short brown hair sat across from them, with Sota and the stunning blue-eyed woman on the end.
"Why don't we start with introductions?" Erica said. "I know all of you of course, and you all know me. This is Kevin, my producer. To my left is Marie, one of my two makeup artists. She's fantastic." The brown-haired woman smiled. "Then we have Sota, Rin, Joey, Yugi, Nadia, and Ishio."
Rin was the blue-eyed woman and Ishio was the man with the dagger tattoo.
"Um, Ms. Lynch-" Nadia started.
"Erica, honey. Call me Erica, all of you."
Nadia blinked, blushed, and looked at the table. But she continued. "Um, didn't you say you needed eight stars? There's only six of us here."
"You have a good memory. That'll come in handy learning your lines."
Nadia flushed more deeply, studying her hands on the table. Erica smiled affectionately.
"I do need eight. I just didn't find all eight before today. I won't have anyone but those I personally choose myself, and I've got to feel it before I choose someone. But don't worry. I'm sure I'll find them in time. I always do. In the meantime, we need to discuss what the six of you can expect."
Kevin opened his manila envelope and pulled out a bunch of paper packets. He started passing them out, having two left over, which he returned to the manila envelope. Yugi turned his around and studied it. At the top it said, "Standard Contract for Movie Appearance." What followed was the cut-and-dried language of legality, stating that Yugi, as the signee, would be sure to fulfill all obligations he agreed to, while Erica, as the signer, would fulfill her obligations with regards to wages, hours, and breaks.
"As you can see, it's pretty straightforward," Kevin said. "We'll be filming four days a week, trying to keep it between nine am and six pm. We'll provide you all with meals and reimbursement for traveling expenses as we go around Domino and the surrounding area to film our scenes. There's no hourly pay, it's a straight one-time payment at the conclusion of filming, which we believe shouldn't take longer than two months at best."
"How much is it?" Ishio asked rudely.
Erica looked at him. "Twenty thousand."
Yugi jerked in surprise, and he wasn't the only one. It was clear that nearly everyone was shocked by the amount of money. Except Ishio.
"That's all?" he said. "Actors make millions."
"*Professional* actors make millions," Kevin said firmly. "You are all amateurs."
Ishio subsided reluctantly. Yugi saw Joey, Nadia, and Sota all giving him dirty looks, which he was either oblivious of or ignoring. Rin had her attention fixed firmly on Erica and Kevin.
"What day do we start?" she asked, speaking for the first time. Her voice was smoky and sultry.
"Friday, if that's okay," Erica said. "We need to get started on this as soon as possible. So, here's what you've all been waiting for."
She hauled her shoulder bag up onto the table and opened it. She pulled out her own stack of paper packets, which she passed out.
"The first parts of your scripts," she said, smiling widely when Nadia and Sota made noises of eagerness. "I hope you can all read in English, as my written Japanese is pretty rusty."
Everyone nodded in agreement, except Ishio, who scowled. "We're in Japan, not America."
Erica looked unperturbed, looking at Kevin, who said, "Don't worry, we'll get you a script in Japanese. We'll have it in the mail tonight. For now, just make do with that one. Anyone else need a Japanese one?"
Everyone shook their heads, Nadia and Sota most forcefully. Yugi took his own script. At the top, written in red pen, was his name, and another name, Jason Maxwell. He wondered if this was his character. Yugi glanced at Joey's packet. On it was his name and the name Adam Jordan.
"As you can see, you each have your own script. Each script is the same, except it tells which character is yours, and highlights your lines. I think it'll help you keep track. You're welcome to read everything, of course, but remember, it stops after Act I. No sense trying to find out what happens later on- none of us will tell you."
Sota was already reading the first page of his script. Erica laughed and rapped the table with her knuckles. Sota jerked and looked up, embarrassed. He pushed the script away a little and folded his hands on top of it. "Sorry."
"And last, but not least, if you'll all sign those contracts," Kevin said, producing pens and sliding them across the table to each person present.
Yugi took his pen. Ishio took his with clear reluctance, his eyes skimming across the pages of his contract. Nadia saw.
"You're reading your contract, aren't you?"
"Of course I'm reading it. Only a fool would sign something they hadn't read."
"But you asked for a Japanese script. I thought you couldn't read English?"
"I didn't say that. I said we're in Japan, and we are. So they ought to have Japanese-language stuff. Americans always think everyone else will accommodate them."
Yugi frowned, and he wasn't the only one. This Ishio was a very unlikable person, and clearly just trying to be. Erica still didn't seem bothered, though Kevin and Marie were definitely beginning to look as disgusted as the others.
"Well, we'll get you the Japanese script right away," Erica said. "I want everyone to be comfortable. In the meantime, since you can read the contract, do you think you might sign it?"
Sota, Nadia, and Joey immediately put their pens to their papers. Yugi glanced down at his, then signed where it indicated. After putting down his signature and his initials several times, he laid his pen down, then stared at the contract.
It was done.
"Excellent, excellent," Erica said. "Great, thank you! If you'll just hand them back to Kevin. Any questions?"
"Are you going to be training us any?" Nadia asked. "I mean… none of us *have* acted before."
"Oh, I'll be there to guide you, of course. But I have faith in you. I've a good eye for these sorts of things." Erica smiled. "And after all this time, I have it down pat."
"I should think so," Marie said with a grin. Her voice was as sweet and high-pitched as a girl's.
"Now, for an overview," Erica said. "We're still using the working title Massacre Valley for now. You six are the main characters. Yugi, Joey, Sota, Nadia, you four start at the beginning, four childhood friends on a road trip back home to your families during summer break. Rin, Ishio, you two are siblings-"
Rin looked at Ishio with clear uncertainty and dislike. Ishio ignored her, staring down at his script without looking up. Yugi thought there could hardly be a pair who looked less like siblings.
"-who convince these four to go out of their way to drop you off at your own hometown after… well, you'll get to that later as you read your scripts. Nadia, honey, your character is very brainy and energetic, full of life and love of knowledge. Think you can do that?"
"Of course!" Nadia said happily.
"I thought so. Sota, you're the jokester, always wanting to get one up on your friends, especially Joey's Adam. You two have a bit of a rivalry going way back and you're as much at each other's throats as having each other's backs."
"Got it," Sota said.
"Ishio, you're the loner, the quiet, doom-saying type who keeps to himself and only agrees to go with these four because your sister won't let you rest otherwise."
Ishio said nothing, but Yugi was fairly certain Erica knew exactly what she was doing casting him in that particular role.
"Joey, you're the athletic type, aggressive and the leader, so sure you know what's going on, even when things start to happen. Okay?"
"Sounds good."
"Yugi, Jason's an artist type, especially painting. You've got an eye for scenery everywhere you go and you're a more cautious voice to Adam's headstrong attitude."
Yugi smiled secretly, thinking that that last part wouldn't be hard to mimic at all, especially with Joey opposite him. "I understand."
"And finally, Rin, you're Ishio's older, more outgoing sister. You're the party girl, always looking for a good time, and eager to join new situations. You have no qualms at all demanding a ride from Joey and his friends when you meet up, because you no know shame or shyness. Your character, Yuki, has an immediate thing for Jason and she gets right to the pursuing."
Yugi's eyes widened. He turned his head to look at Rin, who gave him an assessing look and smiled with obvious pleasure. Beside her, Sota was looking envious and amused. Yugi gave Rin a tentative smile back, feeling his cheeks beginning to burn. Erica, all business, hurried them back to their scripts.
"We're heading out to the Domino Cherrywood Inn to start things off. Meet here on Friday at eight-thirty and we'll have a bus ready to take you all out to the Inn. No need to bring anything; we'll have everything we'll need. Any more questions?"
Everyone shook their heads.
"All right, then," Kevin said smartly, picking up his manila envelope and standing, Erica and Marie following suit, and the rest quickly joining them. "We hope to see you all on Friday on time. Remember, this is going to be a blast, but it is a job!"
"Have a good few days," Erica added. "We'll be looking forward to seeing you all on Friday, and don't hesitate to come to any of us if you do think of any questions." She looked at her watch. "Now I'm off to go hunt my last two crew."
She left the room abruptly. Kevin and Marie said goodbye and left as well, leaving the six in the meeting room, though Ishio left without another word not a minute later. Sota glared at his back and turned to the rest with a dark look on his face.
"What an ass. Here's hoping he's the first done in!"
tbc...