“I think we’ve put off going back to your place long enough,” Dorothy said. “If indeed you want to return to it at all.”
“I never want to go back there, but I guess I must. You know you don’t have to...” Oscar said.
“I’ll come back with you. I said I would.”
It was now late, nearly midnight.
Dorothy looked out the window and saw the distant lights from the movie set. She looked up at the night sky. The moon was still a sliver.
“Oscar...” she said.
“Yes, my beautiful Dorothy?” he whispered as he came up behind her and put his arms around her. Together they looked up at the sky.
“You won’t tell anyone about the magic you’ve seen, will you? The plants, and anything else... that is when you get back home?”
“If you want me to keep things secret, I can do that,” he winked. “I’m very good at secrets. After all, look at how many times I had to pretend I wasn’t on for a season of Scary Haunted Tales and then, boom, there I am, honing my murder skills!”
“It’s very important you don’t breathe a word about the plants. Not even to any of the other witches I know, okay?”
Oscar studied her face.
“Why? Are you in trouble for them being gone?”
Dorothy cleared her throat.
“It’s not so much that I’m in trouble for them being gone, it’s that... well... I wasn’t supposed to have them to begin with.”
She blurted out the information and then almost instantly regretted it. She didn’t know if Oscar was capable of keeping secrets, real secrets, like hers.
She wiggled her fingers by her side and imagined that he had a blank spot when he thought about the plants.
“What were we just talking about?” Oscar asked. “I seem to have lost my train of thought.”
“Nothing important, at all...” Dorothy said, kissing him on the cheek. Oscar pulled her close and they kissed several times.
“Would you like a glass of wine or beer before we go?” Dorothy asked as they broke apart.
“Yes, you’ve given me quite a thirst!” Oscar said.
* * *
They sat on Dorothy’s couch, eating cheese and crackers and drinking wine.
“I feel like we’re procrastinating...” Oscar said.
“I guess we are... I’m not so excited to face the ghosts either, you know,” Dorothy said.
“Aren’t you used to dealing with ghosts and demons?”
“Sometimes... not really... it depends...” Dorothy said as she grabbed another slice of cheese.
“I guess it depends what is going on that day.”
“Yes, it does.”
Dorothy paused.
“I’m thinking about getting some plants,” she said.
“Plants? In here? I guess a few plants might make the place more lively,” Oscar said.
“I’ve had plants before, but I guess it’s time to find some new ones,” Dorothy tested.
“I can’t grow plants,” Oscar said. “I travel so much these days. Back when I was married, we had plants and a dog, a life. But... well, things are different now. I’m a single man and living out of my suitcase between the TV show, movies, and Broadway.”
“I really want to see you on Broadway one day. I almost got to see your last show, but the tickets were sold out.”
“Ah, that’s a shame. Next time, if there’s a next time, I’ll send you some, okay?”
“I would love that,” Dorothy said.
Whew. He doesn’t remember the plants. Which means there’s no chance of him slipping to the others. Hopefully no one will ever know I stole a plant, and that the mermaids stole it from me.
“Oscar, I think we need to do this now.”
Oscar sighed.
“Yes, you’re right, let’s go.”
He walked to the front door. Dorothy picked up her broom.
“However, we’re not going to walk nor take a cab.” Dorothy said.
“No? How are we going to get there, fly?”
“Yup!”
* * *
Dorothy and Oscar sat on her broomstick, high above Hermana. Oscar held on to her as they swooped and looped through buildings and fog.
“This is the craziest thing I’ve ever done!” exclaimed Oscar. “And I’ve done lots of crazy stuff.”
“I’m still new at this broomstick stuff so you’ll have to be patient if I make a rocky driver.”
“I wouldn’t know any different, my dear,” Oscar said, kissing her on the cheek as he held on tight.
Dorothy flew them over the cove, above the lighthouse, and even above the film set where the rest of the cast and crew were hard at work.
“I want to say hi to everyone, from here!” Oscar said.
“You can’t, we can’t be seen. Broom riding is a bit of a secret thing.”
“Too bad,” said Oscar. “I’m sure everyone would be jealous as hell.”
“Of course, they would!”
Dorothy flew them around the cove one last time before heading towards his bed and breakfast.
* * *
They entered his room. Immediately, Dorothy felt the shadows dart away, like cockroaches from the light. The air was thick. Oscar flicked on the light.
“Well?” he asked. Dorothy set out her incense and a few candles.
“There’s something here, perhaps many somethings, but we already knew that. This is Hermana and there’s always something doing something. At this point, I just want to give you some protection. I’m hoping to have this issue solved completely over the next few days.”
“Whatever you can do, I’ll be happy,” Oscar said, squeezing her and kissing her neck.
“I’m happy if you’re happy,” Dorothy said.
She lit a smudge stick and walked around the room with the smoke. Then she lit candles and incense.
“Turn off the overhead light,” she instructed. Oscar did so.
They sat on the bed in the dark, watching the candles flicker around the room. Dorothy saw the shadows dancing. Then a bigger shadow, long and menacing spread across the wall. She raised her hands and said several words.
The candle flames flickered frantically and grew higher. The air seemed to fill with fog. Dorothy spoke again, barely a whisper, her fingers clicking.
The room seemed to spin. She felt a heaviness in the air, as if a wet blanket was being hurled around her shoulders. She steadied herself against the push.
“Be gone. This is Oscar’s room for now. You can go to another room while he’s here. He’s working and doesn’t need to be disturbed.”
The room was silent. The candles returned to their regular flickering. The heaviness that she had felt before was gone.
With a sigh, she turned to Oscar. She stood up from the bed and walked around it with her hands raised.
“This bed belongs to Oscar while he is here. No one except me is allowed to share this bed. Leave him to sleep in peace.”
The room seemed lighter again. The dancing shadows danced but the big elongated jagged one had left.
Dorothy raised and lowered her hands, as if drawing an invisible bubble.
“This is Oscar’s space, and no one can cross it.”
She whispered a few more words and then nodded her head.
“It is done,” she said as she looked at Oscar.
“That’s it? No more haunting?” he asked.
Dorothy shrugged. “I did my best. It may or may not work. It likely worked with what was here already. I’m not positive it will keep new entities out, but let’s hope you can sleep peacefully now!”
“Thank you so much, Dorothy. Even if it doesn’t work, that was really cool to see.”
“Let’s hope you’re able to get some sleep...” Dorothy said as she wrapped her arms around him.
* * *
Dorothy’s phone buzzed in her apron. She finished ringing up a customer and then discreetly peeked into her apron to check the text. It was from Oscar.
Do you want to work as a background actor tomorrow? 10:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. It pays.
A small gasp of glee slipped from her lips. She was going to be on her favorite TV show.
Sounds great. Dorothy texted back.
You’ll get a text from the production office and they’ll tell you what to do.
Thank you!
See you tomorrow night!
Dorothy snapped back to reality as the next customer was picking groceries from her cart and lining them up on the belt. Dorothy didn’t want to work anymore that day. She wanted to go home and have a spa night. She had to look perfect for her next meeting with Oscar.
* * *
Dorothy arrived at the restaurant that was being used for background holding. There was a long table set up at the entrance where several people sat with stacks of papers. She gave her name and they handed her forms to fill out. She turned to see that there were several tables of people. Other background actors. She didn’t recognize anyone, so she sat at a table by herself, filling out the forms.
Her fingers were trembling. She had watched shows being shot but had never acted before.
I hope I don’t screw it up.
A wave of nervous energy flooded through her. She hadn’t realized that she was nervous at all until she signed her name at the bottom of the form. She returned the paperwork and waited to see what was next. To pass the time, she helped herself to some coffee at the craft table and several cookies. She chit chatted with a couple of people but mostly kept to herself. She was too nervous to do much but sit and wait and wonder.
It was a very long wait but at last, the PA came to the room to ask for six background performers. He pointed at Dorothy along with five others. Her heart pounded as they were led to the set.
“This scene is about Oscar losing his mind and is roaming through the streets on a rampage. He has drunk a potion that has an ill effect on him, sort of a Jekyll and Hyde idea. He will be wielding a large prop knife. Please keep very far from him so that you aren’t injured. But act afraid and cower in place.”
The PA placed the actors around the set. Then there was more waiting.
Now Dorothy felt like she part of something special. There were lights, cameras, cables, monitors, and dozens of people performing any number of tasks. She was positioned in the doorway of a lingerie shop, Adele’s lingerie shop, in fact.
“Rolling.” A voice shouted.
“Background.” Several background performers wandered down the street as they had been instructed to do. Dorothy stood in the doorway as she had been told, clutching a prop bag that was in fact empty, but decorated so that it looked like there was a lot of fancy lingerie inside.
“Action.”
Dorothy stood in the doorway as Oscar staggered down the street wearing only a pair of jockey shorts covered in fake blood. He held a knife high one minute, then it hung loosely at his side the next as his character lurched around, giving a heartfelt soliloquy about how no one understands the monster.
He lurched by Dorothy and stopped for a moment, his character snarled and then he moved on.
“Cut.”
Everyone stopped what they were doing and returned to their original spots. Oscar was surrounded by the makeup, hair, and wardrobe people who fussed with his hair, the blood spatter, his jockeys.
Dorothy watched from her spot in the doorway.
This is fun.
The scene was shot multiple times from several angles. Every time, Oscar would stop at Dorothy to snarl at her. The scene was repeated multiple times with cameras shooting from multiple angles until break was called.
Dorothy sat in the same holding area, this time there were several others sitting at her table as well. They were eating lunch. Dorothy was impressed with the generous portion of barbeque chicken, potatoes, and salad that she ate. There had been a few choices, a lavish buffet in fact, but she stuck to basics and tried to keep her portions small.
Remember how fit he was beneath your fingers. Try to keep up.
She listened to the other extras chit chatting around her. They ranged in gossip from their lives to what was cool about the show. Dorothy tuned out the immediate people around her because there were shadows whispering high up in the ceiling. The shadows slipped and slid through the eaves of the restaurant, tiny rustling whispers tickling her eardrums.
Leave Oscar alone. Leave the show alone.
The shadows flickered and swelled then shrank down to tiny lines.
Thank you.
She debated whether to go over to see the array of desserts. There were pieces of pie and cake as well as cookies. But her waistline... those professionally created pastries...
“Dorothy,” Oscar’s voice startled her,
She looked up to see Oscar standing by her in a bathrobe with slashes of blood across his face. The chit chatting around her stopped as attention turned towards one of the stars of the show, in background holding.
“Oscar!” Dorothy stood up, her face flushed as she realized everyone at the table was watching. Oscar touched her arm and turned her away from prying eyes.
“Do you want to spend the rest of your break in my trailer,” he asked. He looked at her finished plate. “You can bring your food.”
“Love to,” Dorothy said. “I’ll just grab a drink and some cookies. I already had chicken.”
“You can get more chicken if you like, I’ll wait.”
Many eyes were on Oscar as he stood in the room, his bathrobe hiding most of his make up and his jockeys. He looked around and sheepishly waved.
“Hey, everyone. Great work. You’re all doing a great job. I hope you’re having fun.”
There was a buzz as people agreed. Since there were strict rules about working as a background performer, no one bothered him for an autograph or even spoke directly to him.
“Just remember not to take life too seriously,” he said in his character’s voice. It was one of the catch lines from the show. The room filled with easy laughter. Oscar turned back to Dorothy. She had gathered her purse and phone. They went over to one of the long tables and she took a coffee and several cookies.
They walked back through the room towards the door; dozens of envious eyes bore holes into Dorothy’s back. Since half of them were witches themselves, their envious glares burned a bit. Jealous women and men wished they were her. They could wish all they want, they weren’t her. She smirked.
Oscar led her through the maze of cables, lights, sets, and endless boxes of everything. They walked along a side road where several trailers stretched along the curb as far as the eye could see. Dorothy marvelled as they passed different types of trailers such as one for cooking, one for wardrobe, one for make up and then the cast and crew. Finally, they reached his trailer.
“Wow,” Dorothy said as she looked around. “This is just yours?”
“Welcome to Hollywood,” Oscar smiled.
“I never really knew it would be like this.”
There were all the comforts of home trailer-style; a couch, mounted TV, small table, several chairs, kitchenette, and more.
“I love this!” Dorothy said as she went over to the double mirror dressing table. The mirror had light bulbs all around it. In front were little bag and kits of makeup, jars of creams and sprays.
“I need to get a makeup mirror like this. What I have is great, but this is over the top.”
She stood staring at herself in the mirror. Oscar walked up behind her and put his arms around her. He hugged her very lightly.
“I’ll try not to get you full of blood,” he said, stroking her arm.
“Do you ever worry that blood will stain your skin... forever?” she asked as she tilted her head away from him so as not to get blood on her face or neck.
“Sometimes. But there’s make up for that as well so it wouldn’t affect other shots. I always have to trowel on a foundation.”
“A never-ending cycle of wear and tear on your skin... our skin.” Dorothy said, as she raised her hand to her face and then remembered she herself had on camera make up. Although she was only wearing modest make up, it still had been professionally applied and was expected to remain somewhat intact through the lunch hour. She would have to be certain to clean it with her rosewater potion when she returned home. All those layers of creams and powders on her face would surely cause wrinkles. Wrinkles on her, and wrinkles on him.
I should give him some rosewater elixir when he leaves for the next location.
When he leaves...
“That’s showbiz.” Oscar’s words jolted Dorothy from her thoughts.
“There’s no business...” Dorothy joked.
“I’m so glad we get to work together for a couple of days. I miss you.” Oscar said as he led her to a little table surrounded by five small chairs. He pointed at one of the empty seats.
“I miss you too,” agreed Dorothy as she lowered herself into the chair. He sat across from her. There were bottles of water in an ice bucket in the middle of the table. Freshly laid out fruits, cheese and crackers were on trays. Dorothy added her cookies to the array.
“Help yourself,” he waved. “Are you enjoying working on set?” he asked as he plucked a couple of grapes from the fruit platter and popped them into his mouth.
“It’s fun. I could get into this for a lifestyle.” Dorothy said, laying a piece of Brie cheese over a rye cracker.
“It’s fun to be other people for a living.” Oscar said giving them each a dripping cold bottle of water from the ice bucket. He was flushed, no doubt from all the running and emoting. His forehead was glistening, his hair was damp, and hung in a loose tousle over his face. He kept pushing it back as he spoke, careful not to spread blood around.
“It’s fun to get a peek into this world for a while. Being a cashier can get tedious, but I need a job with healthcare. Witches can do a lot of things, but we need healthcare as well.”
“I get healthcare through the guild. I’m lucky with that. Of course, if I ever decide to stop acting, then, I guess I’ll be a cashier working for healthcare as well.”
They nibbled at the cheese tray and drank long gulps of water.
“It’s surprisingly dehydrating being on set. I guess it’s the long hours. Thanks for letting me be part of this.” Dorothy looked around the trailer again. “I’m glad you were cast in this show. You’re perfect for these characters.”
“Am I?” he asked, giving her a penetrating stare across the small table as he slowly slipped his bathrobe from one shoulder and then the other. “Perfectly cast?”
He gave a little sneer, his TV persona’s trademark look, and licked his lips. He stood up, his bathrobe off, streaks of bloody makeup lashed across his chest. Small polyester shiny shorts stained with blood and dirt did little to conceal his rising interest in her. Dorothy’s heart raced. She swallowed and raised one eyebrow.
“Yes.”
Oscar walked around the table to Dorothy. As he approached her, she stepped back until he had her pinned against the wall, still not touching each other. The air between their barely touching bodies was charged with thick electricity, sparking between them, making Dorothy’s longing more intense. He stood with his arms above her, pinning her hands above her head. He slowly lowered his head, his eyes staring into hers.
Just as his lips were about to touch hers, a spark jumped from him to her. Outside there was a loud crash, the ground rumbled.
The trailer shook, tipping far over, making Dorothy think it was going to roll right over, and then it tipped back again. The whole ordeal caused them to break apart, food slid to the floor, cupboards flung open as dishes flew out. They struggled to find balance without breaking anything more.
“What the hell was that?” Oscar cried out. “You don’t get earthquakes out here...” He raced for the trailer door and flung it open. He was down the three stairs in no time and stared down the street that seemed much darker.
“The lights. I think one of the light stand cranes must have fallen over. Something doesn’t look right down there.”
“What?” Dorothy asked and raced out after him. As they walked quickly towards the set, watching and bracing for anymore violent shaking or other forces, they saw one of the light bearing scaffoldings had fallen right over. The light was smashed, and pieces had flown out in all directions for an impressive amount of feet. The scaffolding was already being reassembled.
“How does something like that fall over? There’s no real wind today.” Dorothy said.
There was another crash and two other lights had smashed to the ground. Shards of glass flew all over and the crew ducked behind cars and doors. There was more smashing and flinging. Next, garbage cans were flung across the set, then a big breeze roared up. Within the wind, Dorothy saw faces and forms, huge and horrible, long arms and legs, jagged faces and fiery eyes. Jeering shrieks whistled through the wind.
“Did you see that?” Dorothy asked.
“All those things getting smashed. Is there a tornado or something?”
“Things were being smashed before the wind, now we have to run,” Dorothy said. She led him to the nearest store, Adele’s lingerie shop. They ducked inside while the wind raged on the other side of the door.
“What’s going on out there?” Adele asked as she peered out the window. “Last time I checked; it was a gorgeous day, or night, rather.”
“Storm blew up out of nowhere,” Dorothy said.
“Is this what they call a Nor’easter?” asked Oscar.
“Maybe,” Adele said, giving Dorothy a look. The wind stopped whistling, and soon, there was just darkness outside.
“Crazy. All that stuff falling apart like that,” Oscar said looking out the window. “It’s not the first time though.”
“Really?” asked Dorothy. “It’s not?”
“Maybe not that exactly, but there’s been weird stuff happening almost every day. People are saying that the show is cursed because, well, it’s about murder and ghosts and stuff.”
Oscar pulled out his phone and looked at it.
“I have a text. Take a two-hour break.”
Dorothy’s phone vibrated.
“I have one as well. Two-hour break. I guess they expect to pull this all back together in two hours? That’s nuts.”
“Not really, that’s show biz,” Oscar said. “Don’t forget, they build all this from nothing to begin with.”
“But all those shattered lights?”
“They usually have back ups. This is a big budget production. And they’ll likely have a huge order for Boston in the morning. I’m sure the new lights will be up by the time we get back over to the trailer... or wherever else you might like to go on our two-hour break.”
Adele smiled. “I’m not sure where you’re going like that.”
Oscar caught a glimpse of himself in the shop mirror.
“Oh, right. Our costumes. Our make up... Back to the trailer it is then.”
“Thank you for letting us take shelter, Adele,” Dorothy said.
“Anytime, sweetie,” Adele waved.
* * *
They returned to the trailer, after another walk through the aftermath of chaos.
“Now, where were we before all hell broke loose?” Oscar said once the door was shut. He removed his bathrobe again.
“Oh, my...” Dorothy said, as she backed away from him. This time, he caught her. He lightly wrestled with her until he held her firmly and kissed her roughly.
“Take off your shirt,” he commanded. She did as he said as he watched her with gleaming eyes.
“Your bra,” he said. She nodded, unhooking her bra and revealing her large breasts, nipples perked with excitement.
Dorothy’s legs went weak as his strength overpowered her. She let him take her hands and he pinned her against the wall, kissing her, grinding against her.
“You don’t care about the make up anymore?” she whispered.
“No. I can get it reapplied... and so can you,” he said as he kissed her on the lips then down her neck and chest. He pulled her skirt up and pulled down his shorts. He paused for a moment to pull a condom from his robe pocket on the ground, and slipped it on. He entered her wet pussy with a couple of pushes. Dorothy’s breasts tingled against her clothes while her pussy eagerly took his cock. He whispered into her ears all the nasty things he wanted to do to her as he fucked her. Dorothy spread her legs wider, loving every push and pull of him inside of her.
He took his hand away from one of hers and lifted her leg, going deeper inside of her. She gasped.
“Oh, Oscar...” she used her now free arm to wrap around him, hanging on as he pushed in deeper and deeper. She was helpless to his rhythm, passion flooding her, juices running down her legs.
He lifted her, carrying her while still impaled until they ended up at the tiny couch. He lay her back and kept fucking her. This time he held her legs in the air as he stared into her eyes.
Seeing his eyes staring at her with open lust made her writhe onto him with more abandon. She was trembling as she took him in deeper and deeper, revelling in how he pulled nearly out and then was back inside again. Soon, she shuddered in orgasm, a loud moan escaping her lips before she remembered where she was. Oscar was moaning and panting as he fucked her even harder. Her pussy clamped around him, trying to pull him inside of her forever, his rhythm going faster. He kissed her as he leaned over her, her legs spread wide allowing him the deepest possible penetration.
Another orgasm began to overwhelm her, and she felt him grow bigger and harder inside. He moaned louder, but them checked himself, moaning softly, whispering her name, telling her all the things she had ached for him to say to her. As she quivered with pleasure, he groaned one long loud noise that seemed to surprise even him as she felt him coming inside of her. She rubbed against him, her pussy pulsing, slick and fulfilled. Her orgasm finally subsiding.
They lay on the couch, panting and sweaty against each other.
“Is this what they call the casting couch?” Dorothy laughed as she stood up.
Oscar laughed. “No, we’re both actors in this scenario. We’re just having a good old-fashioned showmance.”