AN. I'm speechless. Thanks to all!
Without further ado, Cupid's Bride brings you:
The English Project
Chapter 3: I'm Under Your Spell…
Miley groaned and hit her head against the wall. Well. Mentally, anyway. Miley was Hannah at the moment, so she couldn't do it.
Hannah had a fake smile frozen on her face as she removed some of her clothes. She thought back to what happened no more than fifteen minutes ago when a staff member rushed into the room with a copy of the episode's script and Jake Ryan in tow.
"I got it!" The guy exclaimed. "I finally fixed the copy machine!"
Bob chuckled sheepishly when Mr. Montana and her father looked at him. "I didn't want to say that we were having technical difficulties. This is John Harris, he's one of our show's writers. He is especially involved with this episode. And this is our star, Jake Ryan."
Jake smiled, removing his eyes from the script and raising them to the guests. "How do you do?"
They all shook hands as they exchanged pleasantries. After the formalities were over, Jake went back to reading and John gave Hannah her copy. "If I may?" He looked at Bob, who nodded. "Miss Montana, normally we would mail you the script, but we thought you could take a look at it now and have a screen test with Jake here." He smacked Jake's shoulder who winced as he perused his script. Well, at least she thought he winced since he had almost no expression on his face.
A big booming voice came from behind her and she turned around with a polite smile.
"Hi! I'm Roger, your director. Big fan! Big fan! My dear, you look absolutely dazzling; but that won't do!"
Hannah's smile slowly slipped from her face but returned when Jake said, "What are you talking about Roger? She looks perfectly fine to me."
With a small wave, the eccentric director said, "Oh don't get me wrong; you're both attractive individuals and make a wonderfully attractive couple. But, the look is all wrong… she needs to be… dead!"
Eyebrows shot up. Well, those who haven't read the script, anyway.
"Oh, don't look at me like that. I just read the script, and I must admit that this has to be the best twist in this show yet."
Immediately, Hannah went through her copy.
She's playing the Zombie Princess, who's also Wilfred's love interest. Dang flabit!
"Alright, so shall we proceed?" Roger was not aware of Zeronda's ire, or the Zombie Slayer's discomfort.
And so here was Hannah, with her jacket removed, as well as her Cowboy Boots. Since she had to get in character as much as possible, she had to remove her trademark clothing so she would be seen as an actress, not Hannah Montana; and as such, she was simply dressed in jeans and a shirt and was barefooted.When she finished meditating to get into character , she called out to the crew.
"Okay, I'm ready."
And so Roger called out, "Hannah Montana, Test Screen for Forest Scene. Action!"
Zeronda was in the middle of a forest. She was told by her father that the Slayer spent his extra time in these woods to train. She was ordered to take him out of the picture. He had killed enough of her brethren and must perish for his crimes! Though she really couldn't have cared less, since she felt nothing for her father's incompetent loyal subjects, she went on anyway and sought him out. So here she was, trekking through the Slayer's Forest.Pity she never saw the root of an Oak that protruded from the earth and tripped.
Resisting the urge to curse her misfortune, Zeronda settled for a groan and braced herself for the impact she knew would come with her fall.
But it never came.
Two strong arms wrapped around her and she melted at the sight of warm, caring, azure eyes.
They didn't know how long they stayed like that, but the wind blew around them, lifting the leaves that fell from the trees and surrounded them, as if covering them. There was no other word to describe the scene, it was simply magical.
Just as there was no other word to describe the inexplicable connection between the princess and her rescuer.
Suddenly, a howl reverberated throughout the forest and both were snapped to their senses.
The wind kept shielding them from view as the young man spoke as he helped her regain balance.
"What brings you to the Dark Woods, Miss? It's dangerous out here."
Normally, a zombie never felt anything. They were apathetic creatures who sought out living people to turn them into the undead. The way they suck the life out of people lets them feel how it is to be alive once more, even for just a moment. And so, they do what they could to grab a hold of a human, and Turn them.
Zeronda wasn't exactly a human being in the first place. She was a special, even by zombie standards. She was the offspring of two of the oldest living zombies on the planet, and took nearly a millennium to be born.
Normally, a zombie keeled as they walked. It was slow and had almost no reflexes, though the oldest of zombies; who had been able to turn quite an amount of people and lived for more than two centuries were quick and… well, pretty deadly… as long as they didn't fall apart with a quick tug to their limbs or anything. But a zombie also needed to Turn humans in order to live. Once or twice would enable them to live for a five years, but many were greedy from the rush they get from the Transformation.
The Zombie Princess never had to take a human life to live. She was self-sustained, and could feast upon normal human foods. Basically, it was as if she was human, only she looked as Undead as the others. It would take a little more than a tug, but yeah; any part of her body would fall off. She never knew how it felt to have lived, and so she didn't long to feel alive - therefore she wouldn't ever need to Turn anyone. She was merely a fetus when her mother was Turned. Her mother had a difficult pregnancy, lasting for a little over nine centuries.
She was conceived in the late 10th Century, and was born the year the current Slayer was born though her birthday was exactly a half year apart from his.
In Zombie Lore, only she could bring the current Slayer down and end the Calling (you know, so that a new Slayer would come forth) so her brethren could continue to feast upon human life. Their birthdays made sure of that; as it was according to the prophecy.
Conceived a millennia apart,
But born in the same year;
One in the Summer when the sun is at its highest,
The other during a cold night of the Winter Soltice.
One shall bring Light to the world,
The other, Dark;
But when a battle between the two occurs,
Only one shall prevail.
And the End of the World would be at hand.
That is, if the Dark One stands.
Well, that was what it said. So basically, it's her job to kill this guy here and now.
Only, she felt like she couldn't.
"I don't know." She finally said, her voice soft but firm. She stared straight into his eyes, her own orbs glowing. "But you should forget I was ever here, Slayer." She put her hands to his head, and willed his memory gone.
He stayed upright, and before he could open his eyes; she sank into the ground. The leaves stopped swirling and the wind died instantly.
Wilfred snapped out of his trance and looked around. "How am I supposed to train when that mutt isn't around? Where is that dog?"
"Cut!"
Immediately, Jake reached a hand to help Miley stand up from where she sat. "Great job!""Thanks! You did a great job, too." They smiled at each other, and for a moment, Miley forgot her animosity towards him. She even forgot that her hand and his were still joined.
"Well, don't you guys look cute together." Robby Ray commented as he went up to them.
Hannah blushed and Jake quickly let go of her hand.
Roger quipped, "Yes, they make a cute couple. I think the writers are now convinced that you're perfect for this role. Great job, my little chickadees. And I'll see the both of you this weekend! Ta ta!"
Both Jake and Hannah went red from everybody's observation about the both of them being a couple. For Jake's part, this was the first time he was linked to a female star.
For Hannah, well… we all know why, don't we?
Jake cleared his throat, "How do you like the script so far?" His blush had faded to nothing by this point, leaving clear, unblemished skin.
Hannah, wasn't quite fortunate. She was still pretty in pink. But she didn't let that stop her from answering him, "Well, to be honest; I didn't expect the show to have this much depth."
He smirked as she slapped a hand to her mouth with a muffled, "I didn't meant to say that."
Jake reassured her, "It's okay. I know what you mean. Actually, this episode is the season finale. After this episode, the Zombie Slayer is growing up faster; the writers explained to me that they were trying to increase the show's level of intelligence."
"So do you actually know what happens in this episode?" She held up the script. "I actually didn't finish reading it over."
"I think you should find out yourself."
"Please, just tell me. I've had one too many surprises today to last me a lifetime."
Jake took a deep breath, "Well, I really think that you should find out what really happens when you read it yourself. It'll let you connect with Zeronda more if you find out what happens from your own perspective by reading the script. I can tell you though, that the ending is a little bit, open-ended. It's by no means a cliffhanger… but it's very vague that it actually leaves room for editing even as we film the entire episode. So if anybody has a problem with it, it could possibly be changed."
Hannah raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean, 'if anybody has a problem with it, it could possibly be changed.'"
Jake sighed, "Promise you won't spill about this to anyone?"
She nodded.
"All guest stars on this show has had a problem with the script. It's partially the reason why you never see the same character show up for more than one episode. Although, if one does have a significant role, he is brought back once or twice in a later episode. But they really try to come up with new characters to serve the same purpose - it's the reason why the show is always so shallow."
"You think I'm going to be a diva guest star like those donuts you've worked with in the past?"
He shrugged. "I'd like to say that I don't think you're like that, but I can never really tell. Although, the fact that I did tell you about one of the primary reasons why the show is such a slapstick production gone wrong - well, I guess 'cause you remind me of this girl from school that I…." He slowly smiled then, a goofy look creeping on his face, but then stopped and switched topics quickly. "But I really hope you don't find anything wrong with the script. I think, if you really gave it a chance, you're going to like it."
Miley noticed the change of subject. She saw his eyes bug out and was surprised when he slapped his forehead. Oh, she's not going to let him get away with this. "Wait, back up. Who's this girl at school?" Hannah adopted a gossip girl stance and tried to get her co-star to crack and spill the beans.
Jake sighed, clearly giving in before the goofy smile came back. "Her name is Miley, and I like her."
Well, she never expected that answer.