Dreams - (Short stories)

Star Wars

(Author's Note: Submitted for The_Weekend_Write-In prompt of the week, Star. As soon as I read that, this story popped into my head. Originally written way back in 2014 (which you might be able to tell due to the celebrity references) for another challenge, but I couldn't resist posting it here. Spoiler alert: Contains screen violence and death
Word count is slightly over at 655)

I slid the disc into the DVD player and sat down on the couch, a packet of Maltesers already open on the coffee table, and topped up my glass of wine. I realised my face had slipped into a smile of happy anticipation - alone at last, I could enjoy one of my favourite movies.

"Star Wars." The title appeared and I waited happily for the best opening credits of all time to scroll up the screen. Instead, the film switched to a picture of Angelina Jolie on top of a building with a rifle in her hands. What the fuck? Irritated I pressed hard on the fast forward button. I thought I had already skipped past the shorts.

"Invalid command" flashed in the top right-hand corner. On the screen the camera had panned down to show a line of limousines drawn up in front of a brightly lit hotel. A red carpet rolled down from the entrance to the edge of the footpath and expensively dressed couples were smiling and waving to the crowd of spectators as they paraded along it. The camera zoomed in to highlight the faces of Jennifer Lawrence and Josh Hutcherson.

I relaxed a little, obviously a publicity piece for Hunger Games.

Then I frowned, but what was Angelina doing up there? She wasn't in the Hunger Games, was she?

A series of explosive rifle shots had me jerking back instinctively on the couch, with a muffled gasp.

Jennifer and Josh fell to the ground, red blossoming on their elegant clothes. People screamed, running in all directions. Someone, I thought it was Matt Damon, grabbed a gun from somewhere and fired back at the figure on the roof tops, using the nearest limo as cover. Liam Hemsworth leapt, tight-lipped, over the bodies of his co-stars, to skid to his side, pulling out a semi-automatic weapon from inside his tuxedo.

The camera swung around and picked up a second figure on the rooftop. Sigourney Weaver, her hair tied back in a ponytail, heaved a rocket launcher over the retaining wall. She grinned, "This will fix them!"

Angelina grinned back for a second before swearing and clutching her arm. Blood bubbled from the wound as she ripped a piece from her shirt with her teeth. Ducking down behind the parapet, she wrapped the makeshift bandage tightly around her arm.

"You okay?" asked Sigourney absently, already peering down the eyepiece of the rocket launcher.

"I'm fine," answered Angelina, taking a quick swig from a flask at her hip.
"Where's Halle? I thought she was going to be on top of the hotel?"

"Didn't you hear? Fucking Tom Cruise got her two days ago. He missed Milla though, to his eternal regret - and I do mean eternal." Sigourney's lips tightened in what could almost have passed for a smile.

Angelina hoisted the rifle back on top of the parapet with her good arm and squinted down the barrel.

"Where is he?" she muttered. "Come on you bastard."

"If he doesn't front up soon, I'm just going to shoot," announced Sigourney. "At least I'll get Damon and Hemsworth!"

"Just another minute," pleaded Angelina, "I was told he'd be here tonight for certain."

The camera left them for a moment to show a new figure coming out of the hotel. Johnny Depp. Dressed in a black tuxedo, he darted out towards the limo, carrying a rocket launcher of his own.

But Sigourney must have fired the instant she recognised him. The whole front of the hotel exploded in a flash of fire and smoke.

"No!" I screamed. "Not Johnny! Anyone but him."

Once again the camera moved to the roof top. Sigourney and Angelina were already moving, their weapons hanging down by their sides.

"Shame. I used to fancy him," confessed Angelina ruefully.

"Didn't we all?" agreed Sigourney, her face grim. "But that was before he got Carrie. We couldn't let him live after that."