The Bad Movie: A New Partner

He sat alone looking out at the house he had been living in for the past year. He thought about how he had worked so hard to get to this point and it still didn’t make any sense to him how he pulled it off. In one case he was happy about it, in another way it just made life harder.

When you have good money others want to give take it from you and the government was on the top of the list of people that wanted it. So was his ex-wife. Of course he didn’t mind paying the child support, it was for his kids.

Even with all the money that he was putting out on things like taxes and child support and other bills still left him with enough money that he could play with. He smiled think about how he was sitting in a car that he had owned long before he made the money he now had. Not five feet from him sat one of the five motorcycles he owned and around the back of the house was a car that was in far better shape then the one he was in but this one was the one he liked the best. It reminded him of where he came from.

Not two years ago he was living in his parent’s house and had no real direction except he knew he wanted to be a writer. He worked hard to find a way to get his books published and then got the offer that would change his life. A friend of his was doing a cartoon movie and asked him to write the script for it. He did it and didn’t make much money but it was enough to get his first five books published. It was also enough to make it so his friend hired him to write another three scripts and that lead to more books and eventually people started buying them.

Now here it was two years later. He now owned his own house and had money coming in constantly. He should have been happy but still so much was weighing on him. Sure he had high sales on his books and he was still making money off the cartoons but money wasn’t everything.

He still lived alone in his house and still only saw his kids three months out of the year. He hadn’t had a girlfriend for more then a month in the past three years and actually had taken a bit of a hermits life so he wouldn’t be distracted when he was trying to write. This bothered his friends and made him lonely but it had paid off and he was happy with the outcome.

Now he was being forced into rejoining the world that everyone else lived in. He had received a notice from one of the redistribution groups that a Hollywood executive was looking to meet with him. He met with him and found out that they wanted to make one of the worst books that he ever wrote into a movie and the truth was that he was more then a little willing to let them have it. If they wanted to make pay him so they could make one of the worst peaces of shit he ever wrote into a horrid little movie he was all for it.

They were paying him a lot to make take the book and he knew that it was worth every penny they where going to pay him but there was one big catch. He would have to be on the set for most of the shoot. That was five months he would have to be away from home and five months that he wouldn’t be working on his books as much as he should.

Today he would be getting on a plane and flying up to Ontario Canada to shoot a movie that they could have easily shot here in Idaho. He would spent five months in a place that he had only been once before watching screen writers and directors who wouldn’t know what real art was if it bit them in the ass tare apart one of his shittiest books into a cut down shitty movie. All he could think was that at least he was getting paid well for it.

He couldn’t complain about the deal they’d made him but they kind of had to. Unlike other writers out there he had spent a lot of time making sure that the copyrights to his work stayed in his hands. Since he owned all the copyrights they had to kiss his ass to get this movie made and that meant that he held finial say in how the movie looked and sounded at the end of post production.

That was a better deal then most writer’s got considering that they often sold the rights to their books to get a wider audience to sell their work too. He had finial say and was getting paid to help the screenwriter get the essence of the book on the silver screen. Hell he didn’t even have to give up any of his visitation with his kids; they were getting flown up in three months and would join him on the set. All this made it better then when he was no a signing tore for one of his books or a promotion for the toon movies. This might be the best job he had ever had.

“Hey.” A voice said over his shoulder. “What’s got you sitting out here? I thought you were leaving today.”

“I am.” He smiled at the hair-covered face of his best friend. “But my flight isn’t until 5. I thought I’d take care of getting the food you’d need for the cats and then load up the car so that I would be ready to go when the time came.”

“You got everything else taken care of?” His friend asked. “Got your travel papers and your passport?”

“Yea.” He said getting out of the card holding up his new passport. “You know. Last time I was in Canada I was able to just go across the boarder with my driver’s license. I guess that all changed back in ‘04 huh. I do wish that it was as simple to do things like it was back then.”

“The world’s changing Eric.” He smiled. “Maybe not for the best but it changed none the less. I can’t believe your doing this.”

“I can’t either Angel.” Eric frowned. “But it’s good money and just this movie will pay me for the next ten years. I my not like the fact that they want to turn a shitty book into a movie but as long as they pay me as much as their paying me I’ll go along with it.”

“They really agreed to let you retain your ownership of the book and other copyrights?” Angle said as Eric got out of the car.

“Strange enough.” Eric nodded lighting up a cigarette. “I figured that they would fight me a little harder and force me to pull my support to get what I want but the Producer that I talked to was one of the smartest guys I ever met. He told me that they would give me everything I want as long as I came and helped out on the set. Something about the director being a pushy pain in the ass.”

“That doesn’t surprise me.” Angel grinned. “I thought that that was true about all of them.”

“It is and I’m sure that I’m in for a long five months.” Eric smiled. “Who knows? I might come back and stay a part of this world for a while. It might give me what I need to get out and be normal again.”

“You’re just being normal for you.” Angel smiled. “If you didn’t go into your hermit thing when you’re writing your books then you wouldn’t be you. You would be one of those so-so writers that make a tom of money off of crap. You’re an artist Eric. Stay an artist and you’ll feel right.”

Eric grinned. “You’re right of course. I should stick to myself and write what I like to write and make money on what I can. Thank for the head straitening Angel.”

“No problem bro.” Angel smirked. “That’s what I’m here for man but don’t lock yourself away completely.”

“I never do.” Eric said. “I’ll feed the cats before I leave but you need to remember to feed them every day after you get the mail. I really need to get in and get some sleep so I’ll see you when I get home in a few months. Don’t forget my cats.”

“I won’t.” Angel smiled as he hugged Eric. “We’ll miss you around here man. Don’t have to much fun while you’re gone.”

“I won’t.” Eric said pushing his friend away. “You guys better not have to much fun without me. I’ll see you either tomorrow or in five months.”

Eric turned and went into his house. He hated it when his friend acted like he was going to go away and never come back. He had always come back and he always would.

When he went up to Seattle to check out a job working for a comic company he had come back and when he went to California to talk to a movie producer for the sale of the cartoons he came back. Even when he went to Wyoming to buy a house and see his kids he came back. This was his home and he would always come back. That was just the way it was.

The conversation still hadn’t stopped him from asking himself why someone wanted to make a movie out of this book though. He had to figure out why it was so attractive to these people and there was only one way to do it. He walked over to his collection of proof copies and pulled out this book then he went to his bedroom laid down and started to read.

*                                    *                                    *

He was old. He didn’t look old or even feel old but he could still remember when he was born to Scottish immigrants in the colonies that would someday become the United States. He remembered surviving on an English pirate ship in the Indian Ocean during the war with Spain. He clearly remembered being one of the fifteen survivors when that ship was sunk off the shore of Bangladesh.

It was had to think about the twenty years he and his men had spent being pushed further inland to Nepal and how he had lost all those men and his own true life there. It was there that they where he first met one of the beasts of legend and there that the evil Foxwomen fed on his men. It was there that a person who was trying to save both of their lives infected him. It was there that he became an unnatural creature known as a Weretiger.

Together with the woman who infected him he fought back the Foxwomen and escaped the same fate as his men. They escaped and made it into Tibet. He began to except his fate and grew accustom to the company of the strangely beautiful Tanna who had cursed and saved him. Then she died too. Swallowed by the unforgiving ice in the high mountains.

He didn’t know how long he had wandered alone but he remembered clearly being close to death when a man dressed in robes found him and said. “It is not your fate to die here. You are chosen and you will fight some of the greatest evils this world would know.”

That’s what had happened. He had fought the English in the revolution of the America’s and the southern states in the Civil War. He had fought Spanish, Mexicans and Germans. He had fought against the Japanese and many other people in countless wars but the war he had been fighting the whole time he was still fighting now.

If normal humans knew about the war that was going on all around them all the time then they would collapse in fear. He had fought things that had been lost in time and knew the truth that the normal humans would never know. He was a warrior of light in a world of darkness and he was starting to believe that the war he was fighting was one he would never win.

“Mr. Wallace?” The feminine voice said.

Castion Wallace looked up at her thinking that there was a time when he had been called Sir Castion. “Yes.”

“Mr. Fletcher will see you now.” She said her hourglass eyes giving her away.

“Thank you.” Castion said as he stood and moved into the back room to see the graying man in the room. “ Okay I’m here. What’s so damn important that you had to pull me off the trail of the Shambler’s?”

“Hello Castion.” His name was Tristen Fletcher and he was old. “I know that you were hoping to rap up that case but I think we need you to take care of another problem.”

Castion looked at the graying old man before him. He smelled of the Old World and the blood of English nobles. He was at least two hundred years older then Castion which was quite a feet considering Castion’s age was over three hundred years.

“What’s more important then taking out a bunch of plants that walk like men who’ve been killing sewer workers?” Castion growled knowing that the ancient wasn’t the least bit scared of him.

“Careful boy.” Tristen said letting out his strong Russian accent. “I maybe older then you but I can still throw you through a wall.”

Castion shook his head and smirked. “I know but I can recover faster then you. Now what’s up?”

Tristen pushed a file toward him. “We got a report that someone’s been draining draining bums in the north end of the city.”

“What else is new?” Castion said picking up the file. “The Vamps have been draining bums in that past of the city for years.”

“Not like this though.” Tristen frowned. “The Vamps usually don’t just leave their kills sitting in the street. They clean up the mess and let us know that they’ve done it. This is something else. Whatever did this fed then left the body where it could be found. Vamps don’t normally do that.”

Castion read the file and it started to make sense why he had been called in. The first two had been left in plain sight and the locals said that it was just the normal death you found with a bum in the streets but the third one was something else. This one was a young runaway that had been fed on and left out for a jogger to find. That wasn’t the work of a creature that wanted to stay hidden.

“It’s still a Vamp stile kill.” Castion frowned. “A lycanthrope would have ripped her to shreds. Why don’t you have a hunter group on it?”

“Because of this.” Tristen said pushing out a picture of the girl’s arm.

Castion picked up the picture and saw something that truly angered him. “La Roe.” He growled at the make on the girl’s arm.

Castion thought back thirty years and frowned. He had believed that he had killed off the last of the la Roe clan back then when he killed Jon Luc la Roe in New Orleans. Then make burned in the girls arm was proof that he hadn’t.

“I figured you would want this job.” Tristen nodded.

“You were right.” Castion grinned. “I thought I’d finished them off and this time I plan to.”

“Good. I knew you would take this job.” Tristen smiled. “But I need to introduce you to your partner.”

“My what?” Castion said in surprise as he turned to see a young woman standing near the door.

Castion had smelt her when he first walked in but he really hadn’t paid her much attention until now. She was young, maybe nineteen or twenty years and looked like she was fairly new to this world. She smelled of incense and candle wax as well as old books. This woman wasn’t what he would have expected or wanted as a partner but she seemed somehow familiar.

“You want me to take this child with me to hunt down one of the most powerful Blood-Suckers in the world.” Castion snarled looking back at Tristen. “And an Occultist to boot. I want a priest or and Acolyte. Not some girl who’s been supplying herself in Crones Cupboard.”

“She’s what you’re getting Castion.” Tristen growled back. “You need a magic user on this and she might be able to help you more then you know.”

“Fine!” Castion roared and headed out of the room. “Come with me girl.”

He stalked the hall heading to the armory thinking about how he hated being stuck with a child on a job for adults. He didn’t like having a partner at all but this girl was someone he would have to protect and that meant he was going to have to risk his own neck when he shouldn’t have to. This wasn’t going to go well.

“It’s a pleasure to work with you Mr. Wallace.” He heard her soft voice say.

Castion turned and sneered at her. “I don’t agree girl.”

“Why?” She frowned at him. “Because you use to hunt witches in Salem?”

“I wasn’t in the states when that happened kid.” Castion grinned. “I was busy fighting for my life when those bastards did that. I don’t like working with children. How old are you girl?”

“”I’m thirty five Castion.” She snarled in his face.

Then it him. He reached out and pulled up the girl’s right sleeve. There it was again. The symbol of the la Roe clan.

“Don’t you recognize me Cas?” She asked softly looking in his eyes.

Castion stared back at her and wanted to roar in her face but couldn’t find it in his hart to do so. “Jana.” He said in shock.

“Yes, Cas.” She smiled. “I’ve been waiting thirty years to work with you and I’m glad that I have a chance to face the la Roe again.”