[Hollywood Babylon]
WOODS - NIGHT
A young woman, Wendy, was exiting an abandoned house. She was searching with a flashlight, clearly scared.
"Mitch? Ashley?" Wendy called. "You out here? Come on, guys! Where are you? Hello? Hello?! Brody!"
"Ashley and Todd - they're dead!" Brody cried. "Wendy, they're dead!"
"Brody, pull it together."
"Pull it together?! We don't have a chance, okay? We have to get out of here now!"
"No, Brody, we are not leaving. We have got to find my sister."
"No! No, I am getting out of here right now!" He ran off in the other direction.
"Brody! Brody, get back here! Brody! God, you son of a bitch!"
She heard movement behind her and stopped crying. When she turned, she let out a long, loud scream, that was sort of a yell, but quickly began to look annoyed.
The woman was on a movie set. A camera was in her face, with a tennis ball fixed to the top, representing the monster she was supposed to be screaming at. She stopped screaming, looking disgusted. The director, McG, watched from the sidelines.
"Cut!" McG yelled, then spoke under his breath to the other guy. "What the hell was that?"
The lights came up on the set. A props guy took the flashlight from the actress playing Wendy, Tara Benchley. A production assistant, Walter Dixon, handed Tara a Snapple.
"Here you go," Walter said.
"Thanks, Walter," Tara replied.
McG spoke to the crew. "Don't – don't mark that."
McG walked over to Tara, who was shaking up her drink. "It's all good, Tara, that was great. Let's do it again. Uh, maybe... try dialing up that scream, huh?"
"I know. I know. I'm just... I'm having trouble with the tennis ball," Tara told him.
"Oh, that is just for CG registration. Now, when Ivan and the FX guys are done, it is going to look terrifying." He turned to snap at someone. An assistant brought over a notebook full of sketches of the monster. "Do you wanna look at the concept sketches again? Will that help?"
"No, that's okay. I'll find it, I'll find it."
"I know you will, pumpkin, huh? Okay"
A set worker said into the mike, "Going again, everybody! Ten-minute reload for camera and sound!"
Tara sat in her chair by Rick, the actor playing Brody. Another set worker, Frank, was talking to them.
"Wow, man, I'm telling you - working alone behind the sets, or after wrap? I catch this weird vibe sometimes," Frank said.
"Oh, like what?" Rick asked.
"Like something's watching."
Rick scoffed. "Come on."
"Hey, working on a movie like this? Weird crap's bound to happen."
Rick said to Tara, "Frank here thinks the stage is haunted. Like, for real."
She laughed.
Frank continued. "All I'm saying is, they call wrap, I'd get done, and I get out of here. Fast." He walked away.
"That guy is definitely off his meds. Whoo!"
They laughed.
LATER
Tara was standing in the middle of the "woods", going over her lines and practicing screams. "Brody, come back! You son of a bitch!"
She tried practicing the scream, but she couldn't quite get it.
Tara continued. "Brody, come back! You son of a bitch!"
Again, she tried screaming. Suddenly, she heard a groaning sound on the set nearby.
"Hello? Guys? Come on, it's not funny." She got no answer. "Okay, ha ha, very funny." Again, she heard some sound, like panting. "Hello? Who's there?"
She kept walking among the forest scenery, until she saw a baseball cap fall in front of her. She looked up to the scaffolding and briefly saw a male ghost, before it flickered. Then, she noticed that Frank was dead, lying on his stomach while blood covered his face. She let out a long, bloodcurdling scream.
On the other side of the set, McG and the production crew heard Tara's scream.
McG, loudly, in approval, said, "Now that's what I'm talkin' about!"
---
Sam, Dean and Ella sat in a trolley as they toured the studio, passing movie and television sets.
The tour guide said, "First opened in 1927, the lot has been in continuous operation for eight decades."
Dean turned to a kid next to him who was eating ice cream. "Hey, you know this is where they filmed Creepshow?"
The kid ignored him.
They listened to the tour guide. "Now, to the right, here is Stars Hollow. It's the setting for the television series, Gilmore Girls. And if we're lucky, we might even catch one of the show's stars."
Sam glanced at his brother and friend with discomfort, and said, "Come on."
"Let's finish the tour!" Dean cried.
Sam hopped off the trolley. "Dean! Ella!"
Dean and Ella hopped off the trolley and the three of them walked around the lot.
Dean's eyes widened. "Sammy, Ella, check it out! It's Matt Damon!"
"Yeah, I'm pretty sure that's not Matt Damon," Sam said.
"No, it is."
Sam frowned. "Well, Matt Damon just picked up a broom and started sweeping."
"Yeah, well, he's probably researching a role or something."
Sam rolled his eyes. "I don't think so." He noticed a sign. "Hey, this way. I think Stage 9 is over here."
Dean shook his head. "Come on, man, let's keep going this way."
"No, come on," Ella argued. "We have to work." Dean sighed. "You're the one wanted to come to LA."
"Yeah, for a vacation. I mean, swimming pools and movie stars. Not to work."
"This seem like swimming pool weather to you, Dean?" Sam shot back. "I mean, it's practically Canadian."
Dean nodded. "Yeah. I just figured that after everything that happened with Madison, you could use a little R-and-R. That's all."
Sam pursed his lips. "Well, maybe I wanna work, Dean. Maybe it keeps my mind off things."
"Okay, fine. So, this crew guy -- he died on set?"
Sam nodded. "Yeah. Rumors spread like wildfire online saying the set's haunted."
"Like Poltergeist?"
"It could be a poltergeist."
Ella shook her head. "No, no. He means, like, the movie Poltergeist."
Sam shrugged and Dean narrowed his eyes. "You know nothing of your cultural heritage, do you? It was rumored that the set of Poltergeist was cursed. They used real human bones as props. And, like, at least three of the actors died in it."
"Yeah, it might be something like that," Sam said.
Dean nodded at Sam's words. "All right, so this crew guy -- what's his name?"
"Frank Jaffey."
"Frank Jaffey -- he got a death certificate or a coroner's report or anything?"
"Well, no. But it's LA, you know? It might not even be his real name. But the girl who found him said she saw something -- a vanishing figure."
"Who was the girl?" Ella questioned. "What was her name?"
"Tara Benchley."
Dean eyes widened and he said, "Whoa, whoa, Tara Benchley? From Feardotcom and Ghost Ship? Tara Benchley? Dude, why didn't you say so?"
"So now you're suddenly on board?"
"Oh, I mean, I'm just a fan of her work. She's very good."
He walked off and Ella let out a long sigh before muttering, "And so it goes."
INT. STAGE 9 MOVIE SET
One of the studio execs for the movie, Brad Redding, was talking to McG and the producer, Jay Wiley.
"No, look, don't get me wrong," Brad said. "Everyone at the studio loves the dailies, myself included. We were just wondering if it could be ... you know, a little brighter?"
"Brighter?" Jay repeated.
"Yeah, Jay. More color." Jay nodded. "McG, you know what I'm saying, you're the master of that stuff."
"Brad, this is a horror movie," McG told hm.
"Yeah, and who says horror has to be dark, you know? It's just, it's sort of... depressing, don't you think?"
The trio entered the set and one of the guys said to Dean, "Uh, excuse me, Green Shirt Guy?" Dean pointed to himself. "Yeah, you. Come here."
Dean exchanged a look with his brother and Ella and walked over to the guy who wanted to see him.
After a moment, Sam said, "We gotta save him."
They walked up to "save" Dean and Sam nodded. "Yeah, yeah... uh, one smoothie coming right up."
As they walked away, Dean asked, "What's a P.A.?"
"I think they're kind of like slaves."
Ella looked up at Dean. "P.A. Personal Assistant. Almost a slave, not exactly one."
They gave a thumbs up to the producer.
The cast and crew got ready to resume shooting. Dean set down the tray of smoothies he'd gotten and started climbing up the scaffolding. The lights dimmed and the scene started.
Ella watched as Tara, as Wendy attempted to read Latin.
Tara broke character. "Oh my God, I hate you so much right now. You know?"
"Cut!" McG yelled.
The cast and crew all began laughing.
"Very nice," McG commented.
---
A few minutes later, Sam and Ella followed Dean to the Kraft services table. "So?"
Dean shook his head. "No EMF anywhere."
"Great. So, what do you think?"
"Well, I think being a P.A. sucks. But the food these people get, are you kidding me? Look at these things." He picked up a sandwich. "They're like Philly cheesesteak sandwiches."
He held one out to Sam. "Maybe later."
Dean offered one to Ella who shook her head. "No thanks."
Dean shrugged and took a huge bite. "What'd you find out about the dead crew guy?"
"Frank Jaffey was just filling in for the day. Nobody knew him or where he lived or anything," Sam replied.
"Oh, great. So you two found out about as much as I did."
Ella shook her head. "No, we-"
Walter walked up and said, "Hey, guys."
Dean looked up. "Oh, hey." He watched Walter walk off with a sandwich and called, "They're wonderful!"
Sam then told his brother, "Listen, Ella and I did dig up some stuff about Stage 9's history."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah, four people died messy here over the past eighty years. Two suicides and two fatal accidents."
"Any one of those could be a vengeful spirit."
Ella nodded. "Yeah. We've just gotta narrow it down."
Dean smiled, noticing Tara walk onto set and absentmindedly said, "I'll get right on that."
Dean walked over to Tara, grabbing a call sheet from one of the set workers as he walked by. Nervously, he stepped up to Tara.
"Are you supposed to get one of these?" Dean asked.
She looked up at him and smiled, noticing his good looks.
Dean continued. "I–I don't really know what I'm doing."
"First day?" Tara asked.
"Yeah. My big break." She laughed. "You know, I know it's... really uncool to say this, but I–I'm a big fan. I loved you in Boogeyman."
"Oh, God, what a terrible script. But thank you."
"Yeah." He paused. "You found him, right? The ... the dead guy?" She went quiet and looked away. "I'm sorry, you probably don't even wanna talk about this."
"No, no, actually. It's – it's okay. Nobody around here really brings it up very much." Her voice dropped to a whisper. "I think they're all scared I'm gonna have some kind of breakdown."
"That must have been awful. What happened?"
"It was horrible. There – there was all this blood coming from his eyes and from his mouth. And, uh... I saw this, um..." She stopped, embarrassed.
"What?"
"I saw this shape. To tell you the truth, I–I don't know actually, what I saw. I just know I saw it."
Walter approached and handed her a Snapple. "Here you go, Tara."
"Thanks, Walter."
He walked away.
"Uh – so, this, this crew guy, Frank - did you know him?" Dean asked.
"No, not that well," Tara admitted.
"It's funny, it's like no one around here actually knew the guy."
"I've got his picture."
"You do?"
Tara smiled. "Yeah. I take Polaroids of all the crew. It's just one of those things you do to kill time on set."
She flipped through a binder until she found his picture.
Tara continued. "Um... um... right there."
Dean looked at it closely and noticed something. "Son of a bitch."
INT. ST. JAMES RESIDENCE
They knocked and Dean said, "Gerard St. James?"
The man, who looked eerily like Frank, nodded. "Yes."
"You're still alive," Sam noted. "And you're not Frank Jaffey."
"Uh, no."
"You were Desert Soldier Number Four in Metalstorm: The Destruction of Jared-Syn?" Dean questioned.
Gerard nodded. "I was."
"I knew I recognized you. I'm a huge fan. I mean, your turn as a tractor crash victim in Critters 3?"
"Critters 3!"
"Wow. Yeah."
"Well, please, come in."
Ella walked inside after the brothers and glanced at the characters Gerard had played.
"Yeah, it was the producers," Gerard said. "They brought me up for the day to play Frank."
"Just to fake your death?" Francesca asked.
"Well, rumors of a haunted film set, free publicity, especially when you're making a horror movie. It's already all over the Internet."
Sam nodded. "Yeah. We know."
"These days, it's all about new media, building buzz. They say I'm the new LonelyGirl."
"Who?" Dean asked.
Ella glanced at Dean. "A relatively famous YouTuber."
"And the ghost Tara saw?" Sam wondered.
"Projected on a screen of diffusion," Gerard replied.
Dean frowned. "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 theatre production of Salesman at Costa Mesa, all next month." He handed Dean a flyer. "You get a free pepper steak with the coupon."
"Now, wait a second. If you're seen in public, won't that ruin the hoax?"
"Oh, please. Frank and Willy? Totally different characters."
Sam smiled awkwardly. "You know what? Thank you very much, Mr. St. James. It was just nagging at us. But we're very glad... you know, you're alive and well."
"Absolutely." Dean nodded.
Gerard shook their hands and Dean said, "Hey, I wanted to ask you... what was it like working with Richard Moll?"
Ella noticed a confused look from Sam as she said, "Metalstorm. He was Hurok, King of the Cyclops people. Yes, I know stuff."
Sam frowned, obviously still confused. "Gentleman's gentleman," Gerard answered.
"Yeah?" Dean questioned excitedly, brandishing his theatre coupon. "All right. Pepper steak."
STAGE 9 MOVIE SET
The actors playing 'Mitch' and 'Kendra' were filming in the abandoned house.
'Mitch' spoke. "When we read from that book, we must have brought them back. Back from Hell."
While 'Kendra' delivered her line, Dave, the sound guy, received a staticky feedback through his headphones, distorting the dialogue.
"It doesn't matter. We're not going anywhere until we find Wendy and her sister. Got it? Good. Now let's get busy."
McG smiled. "Cut! Very nice."
"No good for sound," Dave told him. "I'm getting some kind of feedback."
The cast and crew sighed.
"Another costly sound delay," a set worker commented before yelling, "All right, we're going again for sound, people!"
"Thank you!"
On another area of set, Brad was talking with McG and the writer, Marty.
"No, no, no, no, look," Marty said. "It's a great scene, really, dynamite. But I've still got a few... not... not problems, just questions."
McG became annoyed. "Like what?"
"Well, for one thing," he sighed, "the rules aren't really landing for me. Like, the kids do this Latin chant, and that makes the ghosts show up?"
"Yeah."
"See, but if the ghosts are in Hell, how do they hear the chanting? I mean," he scoffed, "what do they have, super-hearing? It's a logic bump. The rules don't track."
"Marty, you're the writer."
"What if I throw in an explainer?"
"Yeah, that'd be super. Excuse me, I've gotta check some messages," Brad said.
He left, focused on his Bluetooth.
"Suits," McG commented.
Brad wandered off to another area of the set, alone. While looking at his Blackberry, he noticed a woman off to his side. She was grey-and-white from head to toe, as if from a black-and-white film. She was wearing dark lipstick and a robe, and had dark marks on her neck, clearly formed by ropes. She didn't say anything, but smirked at him.
"Has McG seen this?" Brad asked. "I like the whole body paint, black-and-white thing. But gee, I don't think those neck wounds are really gonna read on camera. They need to be red. You know what I'm saying?" He turned away and started to walk away, calling to the other end of set. "Hey, Jay? I need to speak to make-up right away."
The woman zapped up behind him, and tapped him on the shoulder.
He turned back around to face her. "Yeah?"
The woman, still silent, took off her robe in front of him. Brad looked her up and down, then watched as she turned and walked up the stairs to the scaffolding.
Brad smirked. "Wait up!" He started to follow her, walking toward the stairs she just ascended.
A few minutes later, the actors had resumed filming.
"When we read from that book, we must have brought them back. Back from Hell," Mitch said.
"But I don't understand. If they were in Hell, how could they hear our chanting?" Kendra wondered.
"They must have super-hearing!"
Suddenly, the ceiling of the abandoned house caved in. The actors started and McG bolted to his feet, yelling in surprise. The crash was Brad's body, falling through the top of the set, hanging from a noose. The actors screamed and ran off set. Brad's body spun on the rope, and his Bluetooth fell to the floor as he hung there, dead.
THE NEXT MORNING
The actors were filming once again, where they had left off the previous day. Tara's character, 'Wendy', entered the abandoned house.
"Wendy?" 'Mitch' called.
"Oh, Mitch!" 'Wendy' exclaimed. "God, you're alive!"
"You can't get rid of me that easy."
"Rumble, rumble, rumble!" McG said.
"Salt," 'Wendy' stated. "Okay, we need salt. I read in that book that it keeps ghosts away."
"Kendra, Logan, you guys check the back," 'Mitch' suggested.
Off-camera, Marty began whispering to the producer, Jay.
"Jay, the poor bastard killed himself," Marty said. "Like, for real. Shouldn't we shut it down or something?"
"We had a moment of silence for him at breakfast," Jay replied. "He was just a studio guy."
"Shh!" McG told them.
'Wendy' said to 'Mitch', "I love you."
"I know," 'Mitch' replied, shining his flashlight directly in her face.
'Mitch' broke character. "Sorry."
Tara broke character and sighed. "Can we – can we cut or something?"
"Um... uh, yeah, cut. Cut!" McG yelled.
Dean, wearing a headset; spoke loudly, to the crew. "That's a cut!" He resumed eating his taquito.
McG said to a crew member, "Only I can say cut." He approached Tara. "Hey, what's up?"
"I'm sorry," Tara apologized. "I'm just a little upset."
"Well, with everything that's been going on around here, who can blame ya, huh?"
"I, I I just can't wrap my head around the dialog, you know? Salt? Doesn't that sound silly? I mean, why would a ghost be afraid of salt?"
Dean smirked.
"Okay, um... Marty?" McG called.
"Yo," Marty said.
"What do you think?"
"Not married to salt, what do you want? We still sticking with condiments?"
"It just sounds different, not better. What else would a ghost be scared of?"
Walter stood next to Dean. "Oh, you've gotta be kidding me."
Marty said to Jay, "What would a ghost be scared of? Maybe, uh, maybe shotguns."
McG frowned. "Okay, that makes even less sense than salt."
Walter grew irritated. "These people are idiots." He left in annoyance.
Sam and Ella approached Dean and he said, "Walter's a little testy for a P.A., huh?"
"How's it going in here?" Sam asked.
"It is going really good, man. Tara's really stepped up her performance. I think it's probably from all the sense memory stuff she's drawing on."
"Sense memory?"
"Yeah."
"Dean, you know when I ask how it's going in here, I'm talking about the case, right? We don't really work here. You know, I thought you hated being a P.A."
"I don't know. It's not so bad. I kind of feel like part of the team, you know?" He held out his plate. "Taquito? They're wonderful."
Sam looked at the taquitos. "No." He then looked at his brother. "Umm... Listen. Ella and I conned our way into the morgue."
"And?"
"News reports were right: Brad's a doornail, no question," Ella replied.
Dean said into his headset, "Copy that." He turned back to Sam and Ella. "I'm sorry, what?"
"Copy that?" Sam and Ella repeated.
"What did you say?"
"The news reports were right. Brad's a doornail-" Sam was cut off.
Once again, Dean spoke into his headset. "They are aware."
"Who's aware?"
He looked back at Sam and Ella. "I'm sorry, what were you two saying?"
Ella frowned. "Newspaper right. Brad is a doornail, no question. Focus, Dean."
"I guess it's a good thing we didn't skip town."
Sam nodded. "Yeah."
"Oh, come here. I want you two to hear something." He spoke into his headset. "Copy that. On my way."
Dean led his brother and Ella to the sound guy, Dave. "Hey, Dave. Can you play them that thing you were playing me earlier?"
"Sure," Dave said.
He handed a pair of headphones to Sam and Ella.
"Thanks," Sam and Ella said.
Sam and Ella listened to the audio of one of the movie scene. Part way through the dialogue, the sound became staticky and distorted. Sam and Ella shared a look with Dean.
They made their way backstage and Sam said, "EVP."
Dean nodded. "From the night of Brad's swage dive. All of a sudden, I'm getting electromagnetic readings up the wazoo. For some reason, it's a legit haunting now."
"Well, who's the ghost, Dean? What's it want?"
"No idea. I think we should take a look at Brad's death scene."
Dean led them to one of the trailers and as soon as they got inside, Dean put a DVD into the television. "Hey, where'd you get this DVD?" Sam asked.
"They're called dallies. I got it from Cindy. She's kind of got this on-and-off thing going with Drew. He dubbed me an extra copy."
They watched the footage and Dean said, "All right, he's where the guy fell through the roof."
"Right," Sam and Ella said.
"All right, here we go."
"They must have super-hearing," Brad said on the tape.
Brad fell through the set ceiling, and hung by a noose.
Sam frowned. "Hey, wait, go back, go back." Dean rewound the tape. "Right after. Right aft -- yeah right. Wait. There."
Dean paused the frame and the trio noticed a completely different set. Ella pointed to the far corner of the set, seeing a ghostly white woman.
"It's like Three Men and a Baby all over again."
Sam looked at Dean with confusion and Dean continued, "Selleck, Danson, and Guttenberg. And... I don't know who played the baby."
Sam narrowed his eyes. "What's your point?"
He turned to Sam. "There's a scene in the movie where people say that the camera caught a ghost on film. Apparently, in the background of one of the scenes, there was this boy that nobody remembers from set. Spirit photography."
Sam and Ella studied the woman before saying, "I've seen her before."
---
They made their way back to the movie set, and Dean, once again, donned the headset. Sam handed Dean a printout of an article. "Here. Check this out."
Dean said into his headset, "Yeah, go for Ozzy." He paused. "No, I don't have a 20 on Tara. I think she's 10-100." He paused again. "Okay, copy that." He turned to Sam. "I'm sorry, what were you saying?"
"Elise Drummond -- starlet back in the thirties. 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."
"Just like our man, Brad. So, what, she's got it in for the studio brass?"
"Maybe," Ella said with a shrug. "It's motive. And Brad's death matches hers exactly."
"We're digging tonight, aren't we?"
One look from Sam and Ella told him they were.
INT. STAGE 9 MOVIE SET - LATER
The crew was cleaning up for the day.
"That's a wrap, people!" a set worker cried. "6:00 AM call for crew tomorrow!"
"Great work, everybody!" Jay said. "McG, you're a genius." He shook McG's hand. "You're kicking ass and taking names."
"Night, Jay," McG replied.
---
They made their way to the Hollywood Forever Cemetery, shovels in hand. "Which way?" Sam asked.
Dean looked at a map. "Uh... over here. Hey."
"Yeah?"
Dean gestured to a memorial for Humpty Dumpty. "This map was totally worth the five bucks! Hey, we've gotta go check out Johnny Ramon's grave when we're done here."
"You wanna dig him up, too?"
"Bite your tongue, heathen!"
Ella frowned. "Are you done?"
"Yeah, I'm done."
They passed another memorial and Dean commented, "Oh, that's cool."
"You know, Dean, Ella, what I don't get is why now? I mean, after seventy-five years, Elise Drummond suddenly goes homicidal, you know? Why this movie?"
Ella shrugged. "Maybe she's mad that they're making a scary ghost flick."
Sam frowned. "Come on, is it really that scary?"
"It's just an expression."
"Here we go," Dean said, noticing Elise's headstone.
Sam nodded. "Yup. All right."
"Yahtzee."
They started digging.
STAGE 9 MOVIE SET
Jay was all alone on the dark set, talking on his cell phone. "I know. No, I friggin' hate McG's dailies. I can't control the guy. I'm telling you, next one, I'm directing myself." ... "What, you? No, Bob. You, I love. You're a genius! You're kicking ass and taking names." ... "Yeah, okay. Yeah. Talk to you later, babe. Uh-huh." He hung up. "What a dick."
The lights suddenly went out on the set.
"Oh, great. Hey, guys! Producer walking here, hello!"
EXT. "HOLLYWOOD FOREVER" CEMETERY
The boys and girl had finished digging. Dean was in the grave, and opened the coffin to see Elise's corpse. They poured salt and kerosene over the bones and burned them.
INT. STAGE 9 MOVIE SET
While Jay tried to get around the forest scenery in the dark, he saw a man walk by.
"Hey!" Jay called. "Hey, pal! Can you, uh, show me to the exit? I can't see a damn thing here." The man turned away from Jay and didn't move. "Hey! Hey, putz! I'm talking to you! Somebody could get hurt here."
Suddenly, the man turned around. His face had been slashed, and a section of his skull had been split open. He had blood running down his mouth. Jay screamed and fell to the ground.
"What the hell?" Jay asked.
Suddenly, the fans on set turned on by themselves. The ghost flickered and vanished. Jay tried to crawl away, but the fan dragged him backwards. He got sucked into the fan and torn apart, blood spraying everywhere.
'HELL HAZERS 2' MOVIE TRAILER
The preview for the film, 'Hell Hazers 2' began playing.
'Wendy' entered the abandoned house, flashlight in hand.
"They never forgive. They never forget."
Wendy, in the woods, called, "Mitch? Ashley?"
"And this summer, they're coming back again to settle the score... again."
"You out here?"
She suddenly turned, looked into the camera, and screamed. There was a quick montage of clips from the film.
"Ashley and Todd - they're dead! Wendy, they're dead!" Brody said.
New scene.
"These bastards aren't taking us. Not without a fight," Mitch told the others.
New scene.
"I am getting out of here right now!" Brody decided.
"Brody!" Wendy yelled.
Short clips from the movie played on the screen: 'Wendy' read in Latin, 'Kendra' screamed, and the characters running through the woods.
"From the producers of Cornfield Massacre, Monster Truck, and the director of Charlie's Angels, Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle, and Hell Hazers, comes a new experience in terror."
Mitch voiced over, "We must have brought them back. Back from Hell. Again."
"Hell Hazers 2: The Reckoning. This film is not yet rated."
When morning came, the trio watched as the police examined the crime scene where Jay had been killed.
"Run-in with a giant fan," Sam informed. "Same thing happened to an electrician back in '66, a guy named Billy Beard."
"What the hell, dude?" Dean asked.
"I don't know. Doesn't seem like Elise this time, either. It's not her M.O."
Ella shook her head. "And why would it be? We already torched her. So, are we dealing with another ghost?"
"Maybe."
Dean's brow furrowed. "Yeah, but these things don't usually tag-team."
They gathered in the lot and McG got out of his car before saying, "Everybody! Gather around, okay! I've got an announcement to make." He handed the cars to his P.A. "Hold that for me." He called out to the crowd, "Everyone! Huddle in! In the light of Jay's accident last night, and in cooperation with the authorities, we're shutting down production for a few days. I know, I know. Look, I'm not gonna lie to you. We've had a few setbacks this week. But we all know what Jay and Brad wanted more than anything. And that was to see Hell Hazers 2: The Reckoning on screens all across America! Now, we owe it to them to go on and to pull together and make this damn movie, huh?"
The crowd cheered and erupted in applause before McG finished, "But not today. Go home. Someone will call you."
INT. TRAILER - LATER
Sam and Ella were back inside, watching more of the dailies. 'Wendy' was reading in Latin when she was interrupted by 'Kendra'.
"Wendy, don't," 'Kendra' told her.
"What are you, afraid of ghosts?" 'Wendy' asked. "Come on, it'll be fun."
After a moment, Dean entered and greeted, "Hey."
"Hey," Sam answered. "So, you find out where the electrician's buried?"
"He wasn't. Billy Beard was cremated."
"Great." Sam and Ella groaned. "Now what?"
Dean shrugged. "No idea. Anymore ghost cameos in the dallies?"
Sam shook his head. "Not in the first six hours. You know, maybe the spirits are trying to shut down the movie because they think it sucks. Because, I mean, it kind of does."
They listened to Tara reading Latin and Sam rewound the tape. He sat up and listened closer. "Listen to the invocation. Dean, Ella, that's the real deal -- a necromantic summoning ritual. What the hell is that doing in a Hollywood movie?"
Ella pursed her lips. "I think we need to visit this movie's writer."
Sam nodded. "Yeah, we do."
INT. MOVIE STUDIOS
Marty, the writer, was on the phone in his office.
"No, dude, we're down for a few days - force majeure." ... "Yeah. It's cool, though. Gives me time to pitch that time-travel thing." ... "Yeah. All right, well look, get back to me on this, all right? Seriously." ... "No, I'm serious." ... "Dude, are you serious? 'Cause I'm serious." He noticed Sam, Francesca and Dean at the door. "All right. Cool." He hung up. "Guys, we're all shut down. What are you still doing here?"
"Yeah, uh... sorry, man," Sam said. "We couldn't help ourselves. We just had to tell you that we read the script."
"And?"
"Yeah. Uh... it's awesome."
"Awesome," Dean said.
"Really awesome."
Marty smiled. "I know, it's pretty rockin', right? I'm glad you guys liked it."
"I really liked all the attention to detail."
"Dude, right on. That's my thing. Color me guilty, but this is me. I'm a total detail buff."
"No, I can tell," Sam complimented. "I mean, the way you worked in all those Enochian summoning rituals and all the authentic language."
Marty's smile faded. "What, you mean that Latin crap? No, man, that's Walter. Walter Dixon, the original writer. You like that garbage?"
Dean frowned. "Wait, "Walter the P.A." Walter?"
"No, he's not a P.A. He's got a clause in his contract that allows him to come on set."
"But he wrote the invocations?" Ella asked.
"He wrote a whack-job screenplay. There's no pace, there's no love interest, it's all wackadoo exposition. I had to cut, like, ninety percent of it to make it readable, the other ten percent to make it good."
The boys read through Walter's screenplay, Lord of the Dead, while Ella listened.
"Should've kept Walter's original script. It's actually pretty good."
Sam nodded. "Yeah. And it reads like a how-to manual of conjuration, like a textbook on how to summon ghosts and get them to do whatever you want."
"Yeah, like kill people."
"Yep. So, let's say somewhere down the line, Walter learned some pretty black magic."
"Yeah. And let's say he's pissed at these people for wrecking his movie."
"Motive and means."
Ella shrugged. "Then let's check it out."
INT. STAGE 9 MOVIE SET; FOREST SCENERY
Marty was walking among the forest scenery and spotted Walter.
"So, you wanted to meet?" Marty asked, getting no response. "Hey, I'm a little busy here, buddy. I'm working on a script."
"Oh, yeah. You guys worked on it a lot," Walter retorted.
"It needed work. Now, why couldn't we have done this in my office?"
"You know, the history, the lore in my draft was completely accurate. We could've gotten it right for the first time ever in this whorehouse of a town. But, you tore it to shreds. You replaced it with cleavage and fart jokes." He sighed. "It was real."
"Who gives a rat's ass about "real"? We're talking about ghosts here, Walter. There's no such thing."
"That's where you're wrong, Martin."
He raised his hand, holding a talisman, and began chanting in Latin.
Marty rolled his eyes. "Okay, nut job. End of meeting."
He turned around and came face-to-face with the same ghost that killed Jay. He screamed.
The fans turned on. Marty is on the ground, being dragged by the ghost towards the fans.
"Oh, God, no! Please, no!" Marty cried.
"You ruined it, Martin! Everything I worked for!" Walter yelled.
"Oh, oh, oh. Oh, God! Walter!"
"Now you're gonna find out what being a ghost is really like."
"Walter, please! Walter, help me! Heeeeeee–"
Just as he was inches away from the fan, two shotguns went off, blasting the ghost away. Dean and Ella approached, weapons in hand, while Sam turned off the fan.
Marty looked at Dean. "You are one hell of a P.A."
"Yeah, I know," Dean answered.
Walter glared. "What are you doing?"
"I could ask you the same thing, Walter," Sam returned. Walter started climbing up the stairs to the scaffolding. "Raising these spirits from the dead? Making them murder for you? That's playing with fire, Walter."
Walter shook his head. "You don't understand."
"You know what? You're right, I don't understand."
"Just... wait, look. You put your heart and soul into something, years of hard work. It's years, and then they take it! And they crap all over it! And then they want you to smile and say, "Thank you"."
"Walter, listen. It's just a movie. That's it," Ella told him.
Walter scoffed. "Look... I've got nothing against you, man, young lady. You're not part of this. Just please, please, just leave. But Martin's gotta stay."
Dean frowned. "Sorry, I can't do that. It's not that we like him or anything, it's just a matter of principle."
"Then I'm sorry, too."
He raised the talisman and Sam and Ella begged, "Walter. Walter, pl -- don't."
Walter started chanting and the set started shaking. Three ghosts appeared and Dean cried, "Sam! Ella!" Dean raised his gun as the ghosts walked closer. "Come on, come on."
The ghosts disappeared and Ella and Sam were knocked to the floor by the now invisible ghosts. Dean helped Sam and Ella up. "Come on, come on! Move!"
The trio, along with Marty, started running away as the lights on set began firing off. They ran into another building and shut the door behind them.
Dean reloaded his gun as he said, accent and all, ""Come out to the coast! We'll get together, have a few laughs!""
Ella narrowed her eyes and realized they were in the abandoned house set, and not in a real shelter. "Oh, you're kidding!"
At the same time, Dean cried, "Oh, man!"
"I can't believe this," Marty said. "Ghosts are real."
"What makes you say that?"
They looked around, ready to fight the ghosts.
Marty frowned. "I don't understand. How is Walter controlling them?"
"Probably that talisman," Ella guessed.
Sam pulled out his cell phone and Marty questioned, "What are you doing?"
He turned to Marty. "I mean, if film cameras pick these suckers up, then... maybe..." He started using his cell phone to scan the room. He saw a ghost a few feet away heading towards his brother. "Dean! Right there!"
Sam pointed and Dean shot it. "Got him." Sam said. "Hey! Right there! Ella, get down!"
Ella ducked and Dean shot above her. The ghost disappeared and they saw Walter walking on the upper level.
Sam handed his phone to Marty. "Here, you get the idea?"
Marty nodded. "Yeah."
"All right, you hold them off. I'm going after Walter," Sam said before leaving the set.
"I cannot believe there's an afterlife."
"Oh, there's an afterlife, all right," Dean commented. "But mostly, it's a pain in the ass."
Marty continued scanning the room with Sam's phone. "There!"
Marty ducked to his left as Dean shot it.
EXT. STAGE 9
Walter left the set through the back exit and came face-to-face with Sam.
"It's over, Walter," Sam told him. "Now give it to me."
Walter threw the talisman on the ground, shattering it. "There! Okay, now no one can have it."
"I wouldn't have done that if I were you."
"Oh, yeah?"
"Yeah."
"And why not?"
"Because you just freed them. We can't stop them now. Walter, you brought them back, forced them to murder. They're not gonna be very happy with you."
Marty, Ella and Dean joined them outside.
"Yeah? So, why not?"
He suddenly fell to the ground and began screaming in pain. Blood began to seep through his clothing. Marty raised the cell phone and saw all of the ghosts tearing Walter apart.
INT. STAGE 9 MOVIE SET - A FEW DAYS LATER
The crew had resumed filming. 'Kendra' and 'Mitch' were in the abandoned house. 'Kendra' was scanning the room with her cell phone, the same kind as Sam had.
"Oh, God. Oh, God. There!" 'Kendra' said.
'Mitch' shot. From the sidelines, McG was watching, ecstatic.
'Kendra' frowned. "But I don't understand. How can the spirits appear in the camera phone?"
"The video must pick up their frequencies in a way that our eyes can't," 'Mitch' guessed.
"Oh, God. Oh, God. Right there!"
'Mitch' shot again.
"Cut!" McG yelled. "Oh, print that one. That's in the movie! Oh! Loved it, kids. Loved it."
Sam turned to Marty. "You find out there's an afterlife, and this is what you do with it?"
Marty grinned. "I needed a little jazz on the page."
Ella frowned. "Where's Dean?"
He shook his head. "I don't know. Let's find him."
The two of them walked among the trailers and when they passed Tara's trailer, the door opened and Dean walked out in a disheveled state. Dean smirked and Tara appeared wearing a robe.
"You're one hell of a P.A.," Tara said.
"Thank you," Dean replied.
Tara looked to see Sam and Ella. "Hi."
Dean shot them his classic smirk. "God, I love this town."
The painted sunset finished rolling away, revealing a sunset over the Hollywood Hills.