Find a quiet spot, turn the page, and let’s see what this story has been hiding 🌙 ✦ Evan sat behind the monitor, irritated, and forced himself to study the footage they had already shot.
If he did not give his attention something concrete, he was afraid he would start cursing.
A cup of coffee appeared in front of him.
He looked up.
Naomi was holding it.
“Thanks.” He took the coffee and studied her.
“You’re all right now?
How’s your stomach?
If you feel uncomfortable, go to the hospital immediately.
You know what happens if you get hurt.
The entire crew stops and waits for you.” “I know.
I feel much better.” Naomi’s expression sharpened.
“Actually, I was ready for her.
That bitch and I have argued in private more than once.
She even said I got the lead by blowing my way into it.
She’s jealous because I’m the lead and she’s only playing the villain’s supporting role.” Once she started, she could not quite stop.
“I know what my job is, so I didn’t answer most of her little provocations.
At most we argued privately.
I didn’t want that garbage affecting my performance.” Evan looked at her with faint amusement.
No one knew exactly what had happened between the two women, and neither one of them was easy to read.
He had no way to know whether Naomi was telling the whole truth.
Their rivalry had primed him to see intent where there might only have been an accident.
“Enough.
I warned her, and now I’m telling you the same thing.
It ends here.
I don’t care how much you two hate each other.
Put it away.
If you ruin the movie, you’re wasting your own opportunity too.” “Of course,” Naomi said.
“I swear I won’t retaliate against that bitch.
My focus is on the movie.” Evan nodded for her to get ready.
When they rolled again, the scene finally passed in one take.
Everyone had seen the cold look on his face.
They all knew that whoever gave him trouble now would be lighting a fuse.
“Good work, everyone.
Pack up.
The school material is finished.
We rest tomorrow.
The day after, we go to the abandoned hospital.
Luke, make sure today’s exposed rolls reach the lab and that the processed negative is secure.
Do not get careless.” Everyone else could rest.
Evan could not.
While the others went to the bar to unwind, he sat in the small hotel and revised storyboards, redesigning camera positions.
“Come in,” Evan said.
Naomi Watts stepped inside carrying a bottle of red wine and closed the door behind her.
“Hi, Evan.” “Hi, Naomi.” He spun a pencil between his fingers and watched her set the bottle down as if she owned the room, then search for the opener.
She uncorked the wine, took two glasses from the cabinet, poured them, and handed him one.
“You put too much pressure on yourself,” she said.
“A little relaxation helps you work better.
Haven’t you noticed?
These past twenty days, you look like you’ve lost weight.” Evan glanced down at himself and shook his head.
“Maybe you’re right.
Since preproduction started, I haven’t slept well for a single night.
But I think I’m used to pressure now.
Damn it, if I ever do this again, I am not doing everything myself.” Naomi emptied her glass, then slowly knelt on the carpet.
“Pressure?
Then put the work down for a while.” She looked up at him.
“Maybe I know how to help.
All you have to do is let go of that damn pencil.” Evan leaned back in the chair, drew in a breath, and closed his eyes.
The next morning, he opened his eyes and sat up.
It was not yet seven.
Since this was a rest day, he lay back down.
The bed was empty except for him.
He had no idea where Naomi had gone.
He found himself wondering if it was this body, this life, or something else entirely.
In his previous life, he had never had this kind of appetite.
“Awake?” Naomi came out of the bathroom in a robe.
“I ordered food.
It’s in the living room.
Do you want to eat first?” When she saw he was awake, she sat on the bed and extended a hand.
Evan realized there would be no going back to sleep.
He took her hand, sat up, and began dressing.
“All right.
I’m starving.
Stop tempting me.
You were right, though.
A little relaxation gave me a good night’s sleep.” He looked at her.
“And I have to admit, last night was better than I expected.” They ate the hotel breakfast together.
“We have the day off,” Naomi said.
“Do you have plans?
We could drive to the beach.
I heard there’s a good one nearby, and fewer tourists than Malibu.” “Sure.
Sounds fine.
When do you want to leave?” He did not care much either way.
Beaches, shopping, wandering around, none of it moved him much.
“After breakfast.
I brought a swimsuit.
If the weather is good, I can get some sun.” Evan looked at her strangely.
It was late November, and the Los Angeles area was cooling down.
Sunbathing in a swimsuit?
Wouldn’t she freeze?
After breakfast, before they could leave, the plan died in the most literal way possible.
Rain poured outside the window.
The region was dry most of the year, all sunshine and little rain, but now the sky had opened up.
With no way to go out, Evan spent the entire day in the hotel watching the footage they had already shot.
He could only hope the rain would not last for several days.
Any time they had saved at the school would be swallowed by the weather.
No one could stop a natural delay.
Fortunately, by noon the next day, the heavy rain softened into drizzle, and by nightfall it had stopped.
They lost only one day.
At eight the following morning, Evan drove his pickup at the front of the convoy out of town and into the outskirts.
A few miles outside town stood an abandoned psychiatric hospital.
For a director trying to save money anywhere he could, it saved a large amount that would otherwise have gone to a rented soundstage.
The roads were awful.
After a full night of rain, the already pitted dirt road had turned into mud.
They left at eight, and the short distance still took more than an hour.
Evan parked in the overgrown lot and looked up at the abandoned hospital.
The white exterior had peeled away in large patches, exposing stained walls beneath.
Dark blotches marked the curling paint.
Weeds grew from the window ledges and cracks in the walls.
“Oh my God,” Lily said beside him.
“Evan, I swear, even if you weren’t shooting a horror movie, shooting here would turn it into one.
This place was born to be a horror set.
If cannibals or killers came running out right now, I wouldn’t be surprised.” She was right.
The place looked unnerving as hell, like the natural home of a grindhouse nightmare.
Evan could not deny it, but he trusted Luke, Ross, and the set dressing.
“Relax, Lily.
Luke and the others already dressed the first floor.
It won’t look different from a normal hospital once we’re inside our area.
We’re only using a small section.
If the place bothers you, work faster.
The sooner we finish, the sooner we leave.” He said it lightly and walked in first.
Truthfully, gore-heavy slashers and cult movies did very little to him.
From the outside, yes, this place looked creepy.
But if a pack of cannibals or masked killers really came out of it, he would not be especially frightened.
What stayed with him were quieter ghost stories from his first life, the kind that had once kept him from turning off the lights after watching a disc with friends as a kid.
Horror that sprayed buckets of fake blood usually only made him a little queasy.
It did not scare him.
Luke, props, and set dressing had done good work.
Evan inspected the prepared area while the crew set up equipment.
As long as the camera stayed inside their dressed section, it looked nearly indistinguishable from a normal hospital.
When everyone was almost ready, he picked up a stack of masks, chose one, and handed it to the actor playing the killer.
“Listen.
You don’t show your face much.
Most of the time, you’re wearing this.
It’s simple.
Don’t tense up.
Hit your marks and you’ll be fine.” The actor nodded.
Evan returned behind the monitor, checked everything again, then shouldered the camera.
The hospital material was simple.
There were not many setups, but they were fragmented.
The acting demands were not heavy.
As long as nothing unexpected happened, they could finish quickly.
Today was mostly Tree being killed in the hospital, plus some shots with minor characters, including the handsome teacher who triggered Lori’s jealousy and kept becoming part of the murder cycle.
“Scene seventy-four, take one,” came the slate call.
The clapper snapped.
Evan settled behind the camera.
“Action.” The crew settled into silence.
Luke lowered the boom mic for live sound.
The hospital room became so quiet that no one wanted to be the one who accidentally broke the take.
The crew, finally developing a shared rhythm, began to move.
The light, color, props, and performance came together on camera almost exactly the way Evan wanted.
He could not help nodding.
The first setup in the hospital had landed cleanly.
Then a door opened behind him.
Voices followed.
They were not loud, but in the silence of the set, they crossed every corner of the room.
Steve froze behind the light.
Luke, holding the boom, visibly stiffened.
Naomi and the actor playing the killer both looked helpless.
Uma Thurman had been watching from the side.
When she saw the two temporary prop assistants come in chatting, then saw Evan’s face darken, she instinctively covered her ears.
The volcano was about to erupt.
The two assistants each carried a pile of costume pieces, white coats and other wardrobe props.
They set the clothes down, seemed to realize they had caused a problem, and immediately came over to apologize.
“We’re very sorry, Director Rosenberg.
We were moving props the whole time and didn’t hear anything inside.
We thought you hadn’t started filming yet.” It left him biting back his temper.
This was the kind of accident no one could fully control.
No one could guarantee it would never happen.
He nodded, accepted the apology, and told the actors to return to their marks.
“Reset.
Again.” ✦ ✦ ✦ Ready for more?
CREATORS’ THOUGHTS TheBacklot Thank you for reading.
I hope this chapter drew you further into the story.
Stick around, because there’s still a lot waiting just ahead.