The Third Horror (6 page)

"Ohhhhhh."

She felt hot breath on her cheek.

She wanted to scream. But the hand held on tightly.

Kody tried to duck away. But she felt so panic-stricken, her muscles wouldn't cooperate.

She lowered herself to the floor in surrender.

The hand loosened its grip.

She turned and gazed into Bo's stubbled face.

He had a finger raised to his lips. His eyes flared excitedly in the eerie, pale glow of his penlight.

"Kody—what are you doing down here?" he whispered.

"You—you scared me to death!" she managed to choke out angrily. She jumped to her feet and crossed

her arms protectively over her chest as she glared at him.

"Answer my question," he insisted, his eyes studying her, her wet clothes, her disheveled hair. "What are you doing down here?"

"I—I—" Kody stammered. How could she explain that she had followed her sister's ghost? "What are you doing down here, Bo?" she demanded instead.

"I have a right to be down here," he said softly, still studying her. "I have work to do for the production. But, Kody~"

"You're here all by yourself? So late?" she insisted.

"Kody, I work very late hours. It's part of being the director. But I really have to ask you to explain yourself," Bo said, his expression growing stem.

"I—well. . ."

"The security guard said he caught you in the house the night before last," Bo said, rubbing his stubbled jaw thoughtfully. "And now, here you are again. I don't want to believe anything bad about you, Kody. But I have to know what's going on."

"I can't really explain," Kody started to say.

He shook his head. "You have to explain," he told her. He took her hand and squeezed it between his. "Ooh. You're so cold, Kody. Cold and wet."

"I know. I was out in the rain. I—"

"Perhaps we should get out of this house," Bo suggested. "Perhaps we should go back to the hotel, and you can tell me why we keep finding you in places where you don't belong."

He held on to her hand. But Kody realized it wasn't a friendly gesture. He was trying to frighten her.

He suspected her of doing something wrong, of being up to no good. And he was trying to intimidate her, to frighten her into confessing.

"Should we talk back at the hotel?" he repeated, holding her hand tightly.

Kody hesitated.

"This picture is very important to me, Kody," Bo said, squeezing her hand. "It's very important to my career. I won't let anything ruin it for me. Anything— or anyone. I'm a very understanding guy. I always try to think the best of people. But finding you down here—"

"It's hard to explain," Kody interrupted. "But my sister—"

She stopped when she saw the light flash on the label on the wooden crate that Bo was leaning on. She squinted at it to make sure she had read it correctly. Then she saw the same label on the crate beneath it.

"Bo!" she cried, unable to hide her surprise. "These boxes—they're filled with explosives!"

His expression changed instantly. His eyes narrowed, and his mouth tensed. "Kody," he whispered, leaning toward her menacingly, "I'm really sorry you saw these."

Kody drew back. "Bo—you're frightening me. Why are you staring at me like that?"

His expression seemed to soften in the dim light. "I'm sorry," he said. "It's just that—you weren't supposed to see this." He patted the top of the wooden crate gently.

"But I don't understand," Kody choked out. "So many boxes of explosives."

"I don't want anyone to know," Bo repeated, scratching his hair, tugging back his ponytail. "It's supposed to be a secret, Kody. I just moved these crates down here tonight."

She lowered her eyes to the label on the crate. The first word up at the top was danger.

"I don't want the cast to know the ending of the film," Bo said, leaning on the crate. "That's why I didn't pass out the last ten pages of the script."

"You mean—?" Kody started to ask.

He pulled off the blue glasses. "I'm going to blow up the house," he revealed. "It's going to be an incredible explosion. I mean, I'm really going to do it. Boooom!" He gestured with both hands, the light weaving drunk-enly.

Kody stared at him, startled by his sudden enthusiasm.

"But you've got to swear to keep it a secret," Bo said, lowering his voice. "I want genuine surprise on the faces of my actors. I want to see real horror on their faces when the house goes up. Do you understand?"

Kody nodded. "Yes, but—"

She heard scuttling sounds behind her in the darkness. Scratching. A soft hiss.

The sounds sent chills down her back.

I have to get out of here, she thought. I have to get back to the hotel and into some dry clothes.

"I won't tell anyone. Bo," she promised. "Really. My lips are sealed." She ran a hand across her mouth in a zipper motion.

He studied her in the low light. "It doesn't matter that you know the ending," he said, thinking out loud. "You're Cally. You're already dead when the house blows up."

Cally! Kody thought. Cally led me down here. Her voice . . .

"Of course, Cally is still in the house," Bo continued, staring hard at her. "You blow up in the house. Hey—maybe we see you explode too. You know. Your head shoots up in the air. Your arms and legs go flying in diflferent directions. ..."

Kody let out a low cry.

"Sorry," Bo said quickly. "You have too many real memories here, huh?"

Kody nodded. "Yes. My sister—"

He reached out and took her hand again. "If you're having trouble dealing with all this, Kody, I could make a cast change. Persia is ready to step into your role, as you know. You could take a smaller part. You could play yourself. Then the pressure would be off, and—"

"No!" Kody interrupted shrilly. "No! No way! I know Persia is dying to take my part away from me. But Fm playing Cally, Bo. Fm playing the part. It—it's very important to me."

"Okay. Okay." He backed off. "I'm just trying to understand you, Kody." His expression hardened. "You still haven't explained why you're down here. I explained why I'm here. I was checking to make sure these explosives were stored properly. But I still haven't heard why—"

"It's because of my sister!" Kody blurted out.

Bo's mouth dropped open. He started to say something, but changed his mind and waited for Kody to continue.

"Cally called to me," Kody told him. "Outside. I heard her voice. She told me to follow her. She led me

into the house. I mean, her voice led me. And— and—"

Kody stopped. "You don't believe what I'm saying, right? You think Fm totally messed up."

Bo shook his head. "Go with it," he said enthusiastically. "I like it. Maybe we can add it to the script. You know. The scene when you come home after Cally's funeral. Go on, Kody. Go with it."

"I'm not making it up!" Kody screamed, feeling herself lose control. "It's real, Bo! It's not part of the movie!"

She heard the soft scuttling, the scratching sounds again.

Closer this time. And in front of her. Somewhere in front of her.

"Finish the explanation," Bo insisted. "The voice led you down here and—"

They both saw the dark form leap off the top of the crate.

A fat gray rat.

Kody saw its red eyes first. Then its pointed teeth.

Before she could raise her hands to protect herself, she heard its shrill hiss—as it leaped for her throat.

Kody uttered a loud shriek and stumbled backward.

The rat, its teeth bared, sailed at her.

Missed.

Hit the hard floor with a disgusting plop.

Momentarily stunned, it gazed up hungrily at Kody. Its long, pink tail twitched back and forth over the floor.

It pulled itself to its feet.

And before the rat could leap again, Kody kicked out at it.

Her wet sneaker caught the rat in the belly.

It let out a startled shriek as it went flying into the wooden crate. Then it dropped heavily to the floor

and scuttled away, its nails scratching over the concrete.

"Ohhh." Kody uttered a sigh of relief. Her heart thudded loudly in her chest. She could still feel the heavy rat against the toe of her sneaker, still hear the soft plop the ugly creature made as it hit the floor.

She shut her eyes, trying to fight down the waves of nausea that rose from her stomach. And felt Bo's arm go around her shoulders.

"Come on," he whispered, guiding her to the stairs. "Let's get out of here."

Gratefully, Kody let him lead her out of the basement.

"I hired that guy to get rid of the rats," Bo muttered unhappily. "I thought he knew what he was doing. But I guess the job was too much for him."

Kody's legs trembled as she made her way up the steep, narrow stairs.

I've got to get out of this house, she told herself I've got to get away from here. I've got to go someplace— safe.

"If one more disaster occurs on this picture . . ." Bo was saying. He shut the basement door tightly behind them. "This film is so important to me. If one more bad thing happens, I—I really don't know what I'll do!"

The ghost of Cally floated up from the basement in time to hear Bo's words. Cally laughed to herself, a scornful snicker.

"One more bad thing?" she wondered. "One more bad thing? That can be arranged."

Cally watched her sister and the movie director hurry out the front door. She floated to the window and stared out at them as they made their way down the rain-puddled driveway to his car.

"One more bad thing?" Cally repeated, watching them drive away. "No problem, guys." A cruel smile crossed Cally's once-pretty face. "How about tomorrow?"

"Emie, you've double-checked everything?" Kody heard Bo ask the special effects person as she stepped into the attic, closing the door behind her.

"Checked, double-checked, triple-checked," Emie reported, giving Bo a comical salute.

Kody liked Emie. He was funny. He looked sort of like a squirrel, with short brown hair, pouchy cheeks, and two front teeth that stuck out.

He and Bo leaned against the attic wall, studying the black metal machine that Emie christened the Goo Works.

In addition to the Goo Works, the attic room was cluttered with cameras, cables, and lights. The lights

were already on, so bright they drowned out the morning sunlight beaming through the closed window.

Crew members huddled around the equipment, talking quietly, sipping from cardboard coiFee cups, waiting for the shoot to begin.

Kody hesitated at the door. Bo and Ernie were concentrating so intently on their work, they hadn't noticed her come in.

Finally Bo turaed around, and a smile crossed his face. "Right on time. How are you today, Kody? You look terrific. But how are you underneath the makeup?"

Kody smiled back at him. "Underneath the makeup, Fm a quivering mess!" she confessed. "It is my first day of shooting, after all."

"Hey, leave the quivering mess to me!" Ernie declared. "Quivering messes are my job." He patted the machine.

"Ernie is going to explain the goo machine as soon as Rob arrives," Bo said, studying his clipboard. "Remember, we rehearsed this scene back in L.A.?"

Kody nodded. "I have to scream a lot," she remembered.

"A lot," Bo agreed. "Hope you're in good voice this morning, dear."

The attic door opened and Rob entered. He greeted everyone cheerily and flashed Kody a warm smile as he walked over to her.

"Where w^ere you last night?" Kody whispered. "Why did you drive away and leave me?"

"Huh?" Rob's face was confused. "You told me to go on without you. Don't you remember?"

"I what?" Kody cried, equally confused.

"You ran out to the car. You told me to leave. To go back to the hotel."

"I did not!" Kody whispered, very confused.

"But you did!" Rob insisted. "I never would've driven off if you hadn't told me to!"

"Let's get to work, kids," Bo scolded.

"Oh. Right. Sorry," Rob replied, blushing. "What's up?"

"You're going to be up—up to your knees in green goo," Bo told him. "Come over here, guys. I want to block this out quickly. Once the goo starts pumping, we have to get it right."

"That's for sure," Ernie added. "If we have to do a second take, it'll take hours to clean this stuff off the floor first."

"Better alert that cleaning woman we hired!" Bo joked. "Tell her she may be getting a lot of overtime."

Bo positioned Kody and Rob for the scene, moving them to spots marked in chalk on the floor, then checking with the camera operator to make sure they looked okay.

He instructed the crew to move some lights. Then he returned to Kody and Rob.

"A quick run-through, okay? You rehearsed this yesterday on your own, right?"

"Kind of," Kody lied. "I'm pretty sure I've got it."

Bo's eyes narrowed at her disapprovingly. "Kind of?"

"It's getting close to our break," Ernie called from behind the machine.

"Let's get started," Bo replied impatiently. He pointed down at the floor. "See those ducts? Don't stand on them," he instructed.

"Those are the goo ducts?" Rob asked.

Bo nodded. "Ernie has four of them hidden in the floor."

"When I throw the switch, the green stuff" is going to come pouring up," Ernie told them. "Now, don't be surprised. It's going to come pumping up really fast."

"Be surprised," Bo corrected him. "Be very surprised, okay, kids?" He put a hand on Kody's shoulder. "I want you to be more than surprised when that goo starts flowing. I want you to be terrified, got it?"

"It's thick and it should be a little warm," Ernie told them. "It looks real lumpy, like oatmeal. But don't worry. It doesn't smell. It has no odor at all."

Kody let out a sigh of relief. Rob laughed, nervous laughter.

She felt glad that Rob was nervous too.

What if I mess up? she asked herself. They say it'll take hours to clean the floor so we can start again. If I mess up the scene, I'll be so embarrassed.

"If it's pumping right, it should rise up to your ankles in no time," Ernie explained.

"You don't notice it until then," Bo reminded them, flipping through green-tinted script pages on his clipboard. "Cally and Anthony have sneaked up to the attic to make out. You're standing there with your arms around each other, kissing passionately. We see

the green gunk rising up from the floor. But you don't even feel it till it's practically to your knees."

"Then we scream in horror," Rob said. "And do we try to get to the door right away?"

"We have to see you struggle in the stuff," Bo instructed. "It's pulling you down, sucking you under. It's rising higher and higher, and you're trapped in it."

"How high is it going to rise?" Kody asked warily, staring down at the large, round duct at her feet.

Ernie laughed. "Don't worry. There's only enough goo in the machine to go up to your knees. And it's not really that sticky. Like I said, it's sort of like oatmeal. You won't have any trouble walking out of it when the scene is over."

"Now I understand why they gave me this yellow shirt. It's because it'll look good with the green!" Rob joked.

"I'm all in blue. I'm going to clash," Kody complained playfully.

"As you struggle, try to splash the stuff over each other," Bo instructed, ignoring their jokes. "Make it look good. You know. You're thrashing your arms frantically. You're struggling. Struggling. And the more you struggle, the more you get covered in the yucky stuff."

"What if I fall facedown in it?" Rob suggested. "You know. Just take a nosedive."

Bo shook his head. "It's not a comedy, Rob. If I wanted a comedy, we'd have a pie fight up here."

"I see where you're coming from," Rob replied seriously.

"I want to see the disgust on your faces," Bo told them, turning his gaze on Kody. "You're up to your knees in vomit, right? You've got to make the audience feel it. You've got to make them squirm like you're squirming. You've got to make them smell it!"

"Break, everyone!" a crew member called from the attic doorway.

The lights were shut off. The floorboards creaked under the weight of the workers as they hurried to the stairs. They took their breaks seriously.

"Hey, guys—back in fifteen!" Bo called to them. He turned to Kody and Rob. "You coming down? Want a mufl&n or something? Some coffee?"

Kody and Rob exchanged glances. "I'd rather stay up here and rehearse," Kody replied.

"Yeah. It'll be quiet. We can get it all worked out," Rob agreed.

Bo gave them a wave and hurried out the door.

Rob turned to Kody. "So? How are you feeling? You okay?"

She shrugged. "You help cool me out," she told him. "You're always making jokes, keeping it light. That helps a lot."

"I'm just covering up the fact that I'm in a total panic!" he exclaimed.

They both laughed.

"What part do you want to rehearse? Where do you want to start?" Rob asked.

She flashed him a teasing smile. "Why don't we start with this?" She moved close, swung her arms

around his shoulders, and pulled his head down for a kiss.

When the kiss ended, she started to step away. But Rob pulled her close. "Not quite right," he said playfully. "I think we'd better rehearse it again."

"My lipstick—" Kody protested. "I'll have to go back to Makeup."

"Who cares?"

Rob started to kiss her again—when the attic door slammed.

Startled, they both turned to see who had come in.

No one there.

"Must be a breeze or something," Rob suggested. "Now, where were we?"

She raised both hands in front of her to keep him away. "Let's go over the lines, okay?" she asked.

Rob started to reply. But a sound against the wall made them both turn.

With a loud click, the lever on the side of the goo machine slid down.

The machine hummed softly, then louder as the pump started to chum.

"Hey—what's going on?" Rob cried.