Hollywood. Los Angeles. Warner Brothers Studios. It was an exciting experience for the trio together, especially for Sam. After he shot Madison dead. They were all on the tour bus surrounded by crew and sets for movies and television.
Sam and Karina were taking the sight together on one seat, and Dean was sitting, smiling, with a kid who was eating ice cream. The tour guide happily informed the bus on another topic. "Now, to the right, here is Stars Hollow. It's the setting for the television series Gilmore Girls."
Karina rolled her eyes and muttered, "Oi..."
"And if we're lucky, we might even catch one of the show's stars."
"Kicking Rory's ass is my bucket list."
Sam was uncomfortable with the show's topic.
Karina couldn't even watch more of it after Rory considered her character was upsetting to her. Mostly because she lost one good chance of a lifetime with her first boyfriend. Treated him like trash and brought another boyfriend named Jess into the middle of it.
She doesn't remember the name of the boyfriend, but he's a cute-looking teenager with a damn smile.
Every girl would love a boyfriend like him. Forester? Something with Forester.
He looked at Dean who was smiling with two thumbs up. He suggested they walk off. Karina was glad to do so later. Her bucket list. Rory...
Sam and Karina walked off the bus, and Dean followed them along. They all walked up to the specific studio where Karina found the new case.
Dean was smiling excitedly, taking a view of studios and stars. He pointed out on the other side, "Sammy, Kay, check it out, it's Matt Damon!!"
They both looked at what Dean was pointing at, it was a janitor instead. They both looked at Dean who was still smiling.
Sam pointed out, "Yeah, we're pretty sure that's not Matt Damon."
"No, it is."
Karina chuckled, "Well, Matt Damon just picked up a broom and started sweeping."
"Yeah, well, he's probably researching a role or something."
"Yeah, sure, dumbass."
Sam noticed the directorial sign, "Hey, this way. I think Stage 9's over there."
"Come on, man, let's keep going this way."
"No, come on, we've gotta work."
Dean sighed as he followed his steps to Sam and Karina, "Golly."
"Dude, you wanted to come to LA."
"Yeah, for a vacation! I mean, swimming pools and movie stars! Not to work."
"This seems like swimming pool weather to you, Dean? I mean it's practically Canadian."
"Yeah. I just figured that after everything that happened with Madison, we could use a little R-and-R, that's all."
"Well, maybe I wanna work, Dean. Maybe it keeps my mind off things."
Karina side-glanced at Dean, to keep it down. He nodded as he rolled his eyes. "Okay, okay. All right. So Kay, this crew guy-- he died on set?"
Karina nodded, "Yes, the rumors were all over the place online. They kept saying that the set's haunted."
"Like Poltergeist?"
Karina rolled her eyes, "Dean..."
"It could be a poltergeist."
Karina turned to Sam, "He's talking about the movie."
Dean explained as Karina was groaning all the way through. "Yeah, the movie Poltergeist."
Sam looked at him, blankly confused, and shrugged. Dean continued, "You know nothing of your cultural heritage, do you? It was rumored that the set of Poltergeist was cursed, that they used real human bones as props. And, like at least three of the actors died in it."
"After the worst experience of filming the movie, I'm not surprised."
Sam chuckled at Karina's comment. Dean decided to move along by asking Karina. "All, so this crew guy, what's his name?"
Karina answered, "Frank Jaffe."
"Frank Jaffe. You got a death certificate or coroner's report?"
"No, not really. I mean, it's L.A. they have some ways to make up some stories to cover it up. Might be his stage name too."
Sam inferred, remembering what Karina said. "But the girl who found him said she saw something--a vanishing figure."
"What's the girl's name?"
Sam and Karina answered in unison, "Tara Benchley."
Dean stopped them after the name as he looked up. "Whoa, whoa, Tara Benchley? From Feardotcom and Ghost Ship Tara Benchley?'
Dean smiled at them, excitedly. "Dudes, why didn't you say so?"
Karina raised her eyebrows and crossed her arms. She smirked, "Oh... now all of sudden you're on the case?"
Dean became serious, nodding it away. "Oh, I mean... I'm just a fan of her work. She's very good."
Sam and Karina squint their eyes at Dean. He casually walked away from them. They both shared a look at each other. Smiling along in the back, following Dean's steps.
When they all arrived at Studio 9, they all saw the crew members organizing the set. Lights, camera, costumes. It was a cabin set with fake trees. Behind the scenery was going on with all of them. There was a man in a gray suit talking to the producer and director of Hell Hazer's sequel.
The man in the suit shouted at Dean, "Excuse me, Green Shirt Guy."
Dean was confused by the man who was yelling at him, he pointed to himself. "Yeah, you. Come here."
Dean exchanged looks with Sam and Karina, confused as he walked up to the man. He asked him, "Can you get me a smoothie from Craft?"
"You want a what from who?"
He scoffed, "You are a P.A. This is what you do."
Sam and Karina shared a look, eyes widened. Sam decided to help Dean's confusion. He walked up to him and smiled at the man, giving thumbs up. "Yeah, he... One smoothie coming right up."
They both walked away from the man, heading to Karina who was waiting for them. He asked them both, "What's a P.A.?"
Karina answered, "Production Assistant. That guy was a dickwad."
"Yeah... I think they're kind of like slaves..."
"According to the dickwad."
***
After the trio went their separate ways during the shoot, Dean couldn't stop talking about the Philly Cheesesteaks mini sandwiches. It sounded good, but it was touched by many people diving into it. Sam was digging up the history of the studio to see any connections to it at all.
For Karina... well... she was very busy for sure. She didn't care that it was played by an actress, she will have a month to rest before filming their season finale. Mostly their series finale. Karina couldn't be happier to beat the crap of Rory.
When Tara Benchley met Dean Winchester, she shared more details about the ghost. The plot twist was he's alive, and named by different names. More like an actor in different films.
Trio decided to have a visit with him as they all walked up to the house. The door was knocked on by Dean, and it was opened by the same ghost that Tara witnessed.
Karina asked him out loud, "Gerard St. James?"
"Yes?"
Sam looked at him, "You're still alive, and you're not Frank Jaffe."
"Uh, no."
Dean smiled at him and fangirled with him. "You were Desert Soldier #4 in Metalstorm: The Destruction of Jared-Syn?"
"I was."
"I knew I recognized you. I am a huge fan. I mean, your turn as a tractor crash victim in Critters 3?"
He said along with Dean with the title, having a good bond between them. Due to his work. Geread invited Sam, Karina, and Dean into his home. With the hospitality of coffees for them.
He passed them their usual choices of coffees as he explained. "It was the producers. I mean, they brought me in for the day to play Frank."
Karina asked, "Just to fake your death?"
"Well, rumors of a haunted film set, free publicity, especially when you're making a horror movie. I mean, it's already all over the internet."
Sam nodded, "Yeah, we know."
"These days, it's all about news media, building buzz. They say I'm the new lonelygirl."
Dean asked, "Who?"
Sam asked, "And the ghost Tara saw?"
"Projected on a screen of diffusion."
Dean asked, "Isn't that kind of cruel? Messing with their heads like that?"
"Hey, I just play the part. I don't write the script. Speaking of... I'm playing Willy in a dinner-theater production of Salesman at Costa Mesa all next month.'
He handed Dean a copy of the flyer, "You get a free pepper steak with the coupon."
Karina stopped him, "Rewind... If you were seen in public, wouldn't you ruin the hoax you created?"
He looked at each of them, "Oh, please. Frank and Willy? Totally different characters."
Sam faked a smile and shared a glance at Karina. Same thought. They both set down their mugs as he explained more. "You know what? Thanks very much, Mr. St. James. It was just nagging at us, but we're-- we're very glad you know, you're alive and well."
"Yeah."
Gerard shook Sam and Karina's hands until he reached Dean. He smiled at him, "Absolutely. Hey, I wanted to ask you... what was it like working with Richard Moll?'
Gerard thought of his answer while Dean was looking at Sam and Karina. They looked at him, confused. He took a sidebar, "Metalstorm. He was Hurok, King of the Cyclops people."
Dean looked at Gerard as he responded to his question, "Gentleman's gentleman."
"Yeah?" Dean chuckled as he looked down at the flyer. "All right... pepper steak."
The next morning, the dickwad named Brad was hanged during the scene filming. Committed suicide. The trio returned back to studio 9, seeing that everyone went back to the place of filming the sequel. Dean was examining the behind-the-scenes as P.A. was still with a plate of Taquitos.
Walter, one of the crew members, was freaking out about the suggestion due to the star of the movie's questions. Ghosts should be afraid of salt... right? He left the set, moving aside Sam and Karina walking together, seeing Dean in headsets and a plate of his food.
Dean looked at them as Walter passed them by frantically. "Walter's a little testy for P.A., huh?"
Karina raised her eyebrows, "You're telling me. How's everything?"
"Really good-- Tara has stepped up her performance, and I think it's from the sense-memory stuff."
Karina turned to him, "Sense-memory?"
Dean was looking at Tara, not listening to Karina's point. "Yeah."
"Ok... dumbass. When I asked how everything was, not because of Jamie Lee Curtis here. I meant about the case. I'm going to say it very carefully to help you understand, we... don't... work... here. I thought you hated being P.A."
He looked down on his belted headset, and he looked at Sam and Karina. He shrugged as he smiled, "I don't know. It's not so bad. I mean, I kind of feel like part of the team, you know? It's good.'
He lifted the plate to them, "Oh, taquito? They're wonderful."
He took a bite of his taquito, looking at the set. Sam and Karina shook their heads. Sam responded, "No. Um... Listen, we conned our way into the morgue."
"And?"
"News reports were right: Brad's a doornail--no question."
Dean leaned into his headset, listening to the person talking to him. "Copy that." He turned to Sam as he was covering mike from the headset, "I'm sorry, what?"
Sam repeated, "Copy that?"
"What did you say?"
"The news reports were right. Brad's a doornail-"
Dean interrupted Sam, leaning against the headset. "They are aware."
"Who's aware?"
Dean looked up at Sam, moving the mike away one more time. "Sorry. What were you saying?"
Karina rolled her eyes and harshly warned him. "If you talk to that thing one more time, I'm gonna take the cord and choke the crap out of you."
Dean quickly nodded and looked back at Sam. He slowly explained to him again, "Brad's a doornail. No question about it."
Dean nodded as he smirked. "I guess it's a good thing we didn't skip town."
"Yeah."
"Oh, come here. I want you to hear something." Dean leaned on his headset again as he led Sam and Karina. "Copy that. On my way."
Karina growled, sharing a look with Sam. He smirked as they both followed Dean as P.A.
He leaned over the sound guy and suggested to him. "Hey, Dave. Can you play them that thing you were playing me earlier?"
"Sure."
He handed Sam and Karina two pairs of headphones, connected to the machine. The sound guy rewinds the sound, the perfect timing before Brad hung himself up. There was dialogue from one of the actors in the scene, and then there was static. Overhearing the dialogue, it got more intense and distorted feedback. Meaning one thing: EVP.
Sam and Karina exchanged looks at Dean as they both heard it.
They sent their gratitude to Dave to let them hear the sound. They all began walking as they discussed the sound. Karina said it out loud, "EVP."
Dean explained, "From the night of Brad's stage dive. All of the sudden, I'm getting electromagnetic readings up the wazoo. For some reason, it's a legit haunting now."
Sam asked, "Well, who's the ghost, Dean? What it's want?"
Dean responded, "I don't know. I think we should take a look at Brad's death scene."
They all walked outside of the parking lot surrounded by trailers for makeup and costumes, and some for actors, and producers. They all walked up to one of the trailers, and they all entered.
Dean kneeled down, getting the case from his pocket in front of the television. Sam sat down on the nearest leather chair, sharing side-by-side with Karina.
Dean popped a DVD into the television, leaving Sam wondering. "Now, where'd you get this DVD?"
Dean answered as he turned on the television with the remote in his hand. He sat on the table, fast-forwarding to the scene where Brad died.
"They're called dailies. I got it from Cindy. She's kind of got this on-and-off thing going with Drew. He dubbed me an extra copy.'
Dean paused the footage of hanging Brad on the television, "Here's where the guy fell through the roof. Right. All right, here we go."
He played the scene from beginning to end. He was hanging lifeless, and all of a sudden it went static to another side of the frame Karina noticed the figure that was standing in front of the scene.
Karina stopped Dean, "Wait. Go back, go back."
He did what she ordered him. Until he paused to see a figure standing in front of the frame. Static with a clear blur of a woman in a glamor long white robe that was based during the 20's and 30's era.
Dean spoke up from his mind as he looked at the television, "It's like 3 Men and Baby all over again.'
Sam and Karina looked at him, confused. He quickly explained, "Selleck, Danson, and Guttenberg-- and I don't know who played the baby."
Karina asked, "What's your point?"
"There's a scene in the movie where people say that the camera caught a ghost on film. Apparently, in the back of one of the scenes, there was a boy that nobody remembers from the set. Spirit photography."
Sam looked closely at the ghost as he spoke his mind, "I've seen her before."
They all moved to another set still on Studio 9, Sam had been researching the ghost. Receiving with clips of newspapers. He handed one to Dean who was on the headset.
"Here. Check this out."
Dean leaned over to the headset, "Yeah, go for Ozzy.'
He smirked at Sam as he was listening to the headset. Karina glared at him while Sam was looking at the sight of pissed-off Karina amused him.
"No, I don't have a 20 on Tara, I think she's 10-100. Okay, copy that."
Karina reached her hand on the cord connection on the walkie-talkie. She ripped the cord off the walkie-talkie, and she grabbed the walkie-talkie. She gripped the device with her hands and broke it in half. All the electronics sparked, and pieces and pieces were falling down.
She threw it away on the lot's floor, letting it crash again. She sighed, playing cool. Dean was hurt by what she did in five seconds, seeing the broken sight of a walkie-talkie. He looked at Karina, glaring, and Karina faked a smile at Dean.
He blankly responded, "That was expensive."
"You still cost me $1,500 so... we're even.'
Dean rolled his eyes, the headset was on his ears. Quiet. Karina turned to the person who was sitting by her. "Sam Winchester, you were saying something?"
Sam resumed explaining as he handed the newspaper on the table for them to see. "Elise Drummond-- starlet back in the '30s. Had an affair with a studio exec. He uses her up, fires her, leaves her destitute, so Elise hangs herself from Stage 9's rafters, right into a scene they're shooting."
"Similar to what happened to the dickwad. So, she got hot for the studio's brass?"
"Possibly... I mean, it's a motive, and Brad's death matches hers exactly."
Dean looked up at Sam, "We're digging tonight, aren't we?"
The silence answered his question.
When the night fell, they all walked through the cemetery with flashlights and their supplies to burn the corpse. Karina was holding a map filled with celebrity headstones including the starlet. Karina was pointed out a way up to the north when all of the sudden took sight of the memorial headstone of the Humpty Dumpty.
Dean chuckled as they all continued walking, "This map is totally worth the 5 bucks!! Hey, we've gotta go check out Johnny Ramone's grave when we're done here."
Karina looked at Dean, and asked, "You want to dig up his grave and put him in the glass box for a keepsake?"
"Bite your tongue, heathen!"
Karina rolled her eyes. Sam spoke out from his mind, "You know, guys, what I don't get is why now? I mean, after 75 years, Elise Drummond suddenly goes homicidal, you know? Why this movie?"
"Well, maybe she's mad they're making a scary ghost flick."
Karina raised her eyebrows, "Scary? Come on, the movie was low-budget scary you ask me. A child would watch that through and laugh at the dummy corn syrup bodies."
Dean lit the headstone featuring the late Elise Drummond. As soon as they began digging the grave, Dean muttered in one word. Yahtzee.
They all started digging all the way through until Dean reached the coverage of the coffin. He threw the shovel aside as he rubbed the dirt off the coffin with Sam's flashlight helping the sight. He grabbed the crowbar to open the metal coffin. Revealing Elise Drummond's corpse.
Dean got off the grave, and each of them began their position. Sam began pouring salt on the corpse, Karina with kerosene, and finally, Dean lit up the match and threw it in.
Watching the burning flames of Elise Drummond.