Chapter V

There are moments in life when you fail to understand life in general. One moment you're living your normal life, with your accustomed routine with your regular complications and the next moment you're seeing the world in a different light.

For some, it may be winning a lottery, suddenly getting to know about a long lost cousin or even being lucky enough to experience something that you never believed you could. There are endless examples of situations that could turn your life upside down.

One of these situations was this.

Ever since I'd decided to make acting my first career preference, I'd carefully planned out how everything was supposed to go. I had short-listed the drama schools I wanted to go to, where I'd go and learn more about acting and drama. It was a dream I lived for. After that, I would keep on participating in auditions until I got one that I deserved.

I hadn't chosen this field because of the fame it offered. It was the thrill of converting myself into entirely another character that urged me to pursue this field of art. The appreciation from the audience was a plus point, a big one at that. 

I had planned everything in my life so particularly that I had never imagined that something like this could slash through everything I had planned. 

"You want me to speak these lines?" I blurted once I managed to keep my mouth from gaping.

The man in front of me smiled a little. "Yes. Since you could point out the mistake with the Courtney's dialogue, you must be a keen observer. So I'd like to see if you're just good at observing or good at expressing as well."

My mouth parted a little in surprise. I didn't trust myself to speak right now, so I just nodded. This was an opportunity that would be foolish to let go of. You didn't get to perform in front of all these talented people everyday, now.

Plus, even if I turned out to be not that good, I could always take down pointers in order to improve and achieve my dream.

Taking a deep breath, I slowly walked towards where Adrian stood, with his arms crossed. I read the part thoroughly, memorizing the lines so that I could focus on my expression while I spoke those lines. There wasn't much since it was a small shot but it seemed like a crucial one.

I reached Adrian and looked up at his bloody and battered self. He cocked his head to the side, examining me. "Do you know how to act or are you just doing it for the heck of it?" he asked and I looked at him in surprise. His tone wasn't rude but rather normal like it was a simple question.

"Um, I do like to act," I answered, not sure why he was asking this.

"You any good?" he asked, again a normal question. There was no hint of arrogance at all.

"I'd like to think so," I answered, still not getting the point of his questions.

"I hope so because if I'm going to act this scene one more time, I'll pass out for real," he muttered and walked off to get his make up touched before positioning himself where he was supposed to be.

I stood there surprised before chuckling slightly and turning my eyes back at the script. I memorized the lines and the entrance of the character and analyzed the scene. I planned the emotions that the female character was supposed to experience if this kind of situation really occurred.

This meant that I had to transform myself into that character. But since I was absolutely clueless about what the character was like, I turned to one of the assistants of the script writing team who briefed me about how the female's personality was. I asked the questions I had about the scene and everything I needed to know before getting ready for the shot.

I signaled that I was ready. They were about to start when Mr. Gilbert yelled,"Wait!"

Everyone looked at him, waiting for him to say something. He pointed at me and muttered something to the person beside him, who nodded in return while I stood there confused. 

The guy ran up to a group of people to my right and explained what I guess was ordered by Mr. Gilbert. Three girls came to up to me. One of them spoke,"Mr. Gilbert asked us to dress you up according to the scene since Scooby Doo pyjamas look really out of place."

My cheeks burned as my head involuntarily snapped towards my pyjamas. I couldn't believe that I was going to act in my Scooby-Doo pyjamas in front of everyone.

My cheeks turned even darker when I realized that all this time I had been wearing those. Even when I talked to one of the people whom I idolized the most. I hurried into the make shift make-up room where one of the costume designers handed me some sort of a suit. It was black in color and consisted of a leather, full-sleeved jacket and black tights. There was a hood attached to the jacket and I had to pair the whole outfit with black combat boots.

I had to admit, I felt pretty bad ass in this outfit.

As one of the costume designers checked my fitting, I voiced the question that I hadn't been able to ask since I was pretty baffled because of the turn of events.

"Why am I being dressed according to the scene if the director just wants to see if me speak the lines?" I questioned the the red haired girl in front of me. I glanced at the name tag that read 'Laura Mason'.

Laura seemed to be in her mid twenties. She was tall and was quite pretty. The sparkle in her green eyes and her constant smile made it obvious that she loved her work. There was a calmness around her that made me comfortable enough to easily let the question slip out of my mouth.

She paused, looking up. "Mr. Gilbert is a perfectionist. He insists the actors to wear costumes even during normal rehearsals. According to him, it helps the actor to get the feel of the character he's going to play," she answered, smiling and I couldn't help but increase my respect for him.

No doubt he excelled in bringing out the best in the actors.

"You're ready. I don't need to do your hair since you will have to wear the hood up. The character isn't supposed to show her face," Laura explained and ushered me out where everyone seemed to be waiting for me.

Seeing everyone watching my every move made me conscious. Nerves bundled up inside me, making me doubt if I was good enough to perform the role. Realization dawned upon me as looked around me.

This was a real movie set and I was going to act out one of the scenes in the movie. I didn't know if this was an audition of sorts or just a practice scene to see how the female would look while performing the part.

Maybe Mr. Gilbert just wanted to see if the scene was perfect and since Courtney was unable to do it because of some reason, maybe he asked me to speak these lines instead.

Of course it was common sense that I wouldn't be replacing the female lead just because I pointed out a tiny mistake. So, taking a deep breath, I reminded myself that this was the same thing I enjoyed doing everyday during rehearsals.

The only difference was the place, the people, the character, the situation, the scrutiny, the st...Shut up!

I scolded myself and quickly composed myself as a shout echoed, silencing everyone. "Ready, ACTION!"

Immediately, everyone turned their focus to the scene, carefully holding up the lights and the other necessary equipment.

Adrian repeated the scene he'd already done so many times, courtesy of the lead actress, speaking of who, I couldn't spot her anywhere.

I let go of that thought the moment Adrian fell down, acting perfectly according to the scene, almost collapsing as he slowly lay down, the fake blood oozing out of his body.

This was my cue.

I slowly entered the scene, my nerves calming as I transformed myself into a whole new person in a minute. I was supposed to be an assassin, right now. I'd taken a few minutes to study the character a bit, so that I could transform myself into the person required.

Since I was to act as an assassin, that meant I had to act stealthy. I couldn't be clumsy and had to maintain a careful and a cautious look on my face, as if always prepared for on the spot fight.

So I tip toed towards Adrian, looking everywhere but at him since I wasn't supposed to notice him. He wasn't making any noise and the shadows were hiding half of his body so it was easy enough. I avoided the cameras, since my face wasn't supposed to be revealed, keeping my body clearly visible, angling it in a way that only a slight part of my face was in view.

I let my foot hit his body lightly, before acting startled. I widened my eyes to express my surprise at the bloody body. I took in a deep breath, loud enough for the mic hanging above my head to catch it.

"Who is this? Martin clearly told me that there was going to be no one in the warehouse," I muttered according to the slightly changed dialogue in the script.

I quickly bent down, my hand finding Adrian's throat to see if I could feel his pulse. His skin was warm under my fingers as I let them linger there for a few seconds before crouching down near him.

I waited for someone to shout the end of the scene, sitting in the same position, with my left knee touching the ground while the other one supported my right arm. The scene was just a five minute one. No wonder Adrian was pissed having to do it again and again.

I kept sitting there awkwardly, staring at Adrian who opened his eyes a little, confusion dancing in his eyes as he turned his head to look behind me.

"CUT!" a voice boomed after a moment and I finally stood up.

Adrian slowly got up along with me. I removed the hood from my face, turning to see the reaction of Mr. Gilbert. A little disappointment filled me as I found him talking to one of his employees instead.

I was hoping to see his expression as to what he thought about the scene.

I hid my disappointment and turned to Adrian but he was already back to his chair, holding the script. I didn't let the lack of words keep me down as I stalked back to the costume room to change back into my night suit.

I pressed down my disappointment as I changed back into my Scooby Doo lowers. No one said anything to me. Not even Laura, though it felt she did want to say something.

Was I that bad?

That was so not good for my confidence. I let my shoulders slump a little as I stalked back to the corner where I had previously been sitting unnoticed.

I watched as Mr. Gilbert discussed something with one of the crew members, the others around them listening in surprise. The guy he was talking to began scribbling something furiously while nodding.

I sat there as the guy gave some random instructions to the people around him who began scattering and moving about.

I decided to return back to my sleeping bag to complete my dare mostly because I was feeling a little sad due to the lack of acknowledgement by any of the people around me.

I slipped out of the room quietly and descended the stairs, no longer feeling as scared as I was feeling before I ran into Adrian. I walked down, suddenly all the adrenaline from before leaving me slowly. I dragged myself to the living room where I had kept my sleeping bag.

I reached the room and bent down to retrieve my bag when I found the space empty. I had zipped up my bag inside the sleeping bag and clicked the lock on it, earlier when I had discovered the set so that no one took it since it was my favorite bag.

Immediately I alerted my senses, looking around for my sleeping bag. As I looked for it, a shuffling of footsteps caught my attention.

I quickly straightened up and slowly followed the sound, grabbing my discarded stick and advancing towards the murmuring.

I crept up from behind the staircase to find two guys holding torches and a pair of scissors, ready to rip my sleeping bag. They seemed to want to rip the bag to see what was inside it. Both the boys seemed to be around fifteen-sixteeen. They had probably come here to explore the house to find something interesting.

My eyes widened as I yelled,"HEY! LEAVE MY BAG ALONE!"

Startled the boys looked in my direction where I stood raising my stick as if to attack them. Both of them let out girly shrieks before dropping my bag and bolting out of the house.

Did I look that horrifying? Even with my Scooby Doo pyjamas?

Now I was a little offended. I wasn't that bad looking.

I frowned but went ahead and picked up my bag. I examined it and thankfully no harm had come to it.

Finally letting my alertness drop, I stalked back to where I had originally slept. I quickly unlocked my sleeping bag and took out my other bag before slipping into it. It took a whike before I let myself get unconscious.

I was on the verge of falling into deep slumber but as if the Queen of bad luck wasn't satisfied, the loud ringing of Police sirens jolted me awake.

And all I could think was 'What now?!'

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Hey peeps! I hope you all enjoyed the chapter :D

How was it?

I'm sorry for the delay! My life has been way too hectic and chaotic.

I hope this makes up for the wait!