1: Quiet on Set

It was cold for April in Hollywood. The cool morning air highlights your breath and layers of frost seem to coat everything. It's a stark contrast on the sagging palms along the boulevard. You arrive at the set of 'The Space Between'. This is the Church's first foray into the film industry, and as such has a lot of oversight from the hierarchy. You all have seen a synopsis of the script, although full details are a closely guarded secret. A typical facet of a Jared Woodward film is his emphasis on keeping the final stories a surprise. The loose details of the film are centered around a woman named Clarissa Hollows who is trying to find herself after being divorced. The role of Clarissa is played by Verity Harrow, an up and coming leading lady in Hollywood. Clarissa meets an enigmatic neighbor, Yvette, in her new apartment complex who helps Clarissa reach deeper and deeper levels of peace through a process of emptying her life in thinly veiled Church techniques.

Production was moving along smoothly until Verity Harrow disappeared. It has been five days since the star walked off set and no one has been able to locate or contact her. The production is still moving, keeping busy with background shots and busy work, but everyone in the Church feels the point of no return approaching. If someone can't get Verity back on set to finish shooting, the schedule will be compromised and the whole production will turn into a giant boat anchor for the Church.

You each arrive with different motivations and ambitions, but one thing is universal. Figuring out what happened to Verity Harrow needs to be the priority. The Church has sent Public Relations flaks, lawyers, and fixers to the set to deal with bad publicity or legal complications. Amanda is tasked by the secondary unit director Tektoop to cater to whatever needs the team needs.

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David successfully fields questions from the group of lawyers and relations consultants on the tour, explaining the use of different lighting to emphasize different emotional scenes, how framing is done to put audiences into the sets, it all flows easily as David walks them through the studio.

As the group moves through the sets, David sees workers darting this way and that, trying to stay out of the groups path. David knows its because nobody wants to be asked THAT question. Where is Verity? David manages to keep the question from being asked by deftly continuing the tour without stopping long enough to let a silence occur.

David walks the assembly through the various, intricate sets constructed for the space between. Each set is a 2 or three walled construction that from the camera perspective will comprise the entirety of the scene. He talks about Clarissa's apartment and is able to point out subtleties with the decorations and layouts that will unconsciously remind people of the churches teaching. As they move through a street scene, David sees a setwork he hadn't yet seen through the open door of the alleyway wall.

Towards the back of the studio is a massive set piece, easily twenty feet high. In the foreground of the set are massive dark boulders that seem to be jutting out of a cliff face in a ragged line. At the back of the set, to the right he sees a similar rock climb to the height in a sheer face. On the left is an open tapestry that depicts a gray and stormy sky. As David looks at the set, above the jutting rocks at the front, he sees someone stand up at the back of the set. It looks to be a woman based on her hair and dress, but she is facing away from David looking out at the tapestry at the back of the set. As she stands, she moves... wrong. Her arms hang at her side, not stiff, but not the natural way someone would hold their arms at rest. As she rises into view, David can't make out her legs with the rocks, but the way she lifts it almost seems like she is being elevated, not standing up. Her black hair spills down to mingle with a dress of exquisite design. The fabric seems to be of a silk, but has a soft fuzz to it. Nested within the fabric appear to be pinpricks of light, possibly small LEDs?, that seem to sway and move with the dress although the woman herself seems to be standing still.

A worker mumbles an apology to David as he walks through the door and closes it. David blinks and realizes he had paused in his oration. This is all nice, but where is Verity? A short fat man in glasses asks David with concern.

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The small fat man pauses before nodding at Spencer's explanation. But when will she be back... the financial ramifications to the church will not wait. Do you have a line on her, Mr. Shull?

The squat man scrunches his face in distaste and confusionHow would I know, Mr. Shull? I handle the books. I assumed Brian sent you here to look into the matter, is that not the case? The man rubbed the bridge of his nose, closing his eyes. Listen... all of us. He gestures to the church echelon David had been giving the tour to, ...are in the dark. That's why we came... to try to figure this out. Can you imagine what it looks like, then, when we come to get answers and all we find is the same questions we want to be asking? He turns to look alternately at David, Spencer and Blake. WHERE IS VERITY?! I don't care if Brian didn't send you... Fix it, Mr. Shull... and Fix it QUICKLY!

Amanda finds the door unlocked and so slips inside. What she finds is a mess. To the outside world, David was a clean, charismatic, put together person. His trailer spoke of someone different. Broken glass, garbage, all manner of detritus litter every surface.

Oh Yea!

The squat accountant’s demeanor relaxes as he pulls his glasses off and begins cleaning them. Thank you David. We all need to keep level heads. I think we’ve all just been getting more and more worried… with Verity disappearing, Jared going into a Quarantine, Craig’s impassive attitude toward it all and now Brian’s unwillingness to pick up a phone I just think we all are feeling anxious. Please, take whoever you need and focus on getting to the bottom of this. Whatever the cost… Powerful words from an accountant.

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Amanda begins taking pictures of the mess, and trying to quickly sift through the contents.

Amanda sifts through the trailer, having a hard time zoning in on any one thing because of the clutter. She does find a stack, and by stack I mean at least 20-30 pornographic magazines. They are positioned on a side rail going towards the fridge. What is odd, is just how flagrantly in the way the pornos are. Amanda browses the topics or fetishes contained in the top few and finds them rather explicit and misogynistic.

The men and women in suits begin talking amongst themselves as they gradually file off set and out of earshot. Their departure leaves Spencer, David, Blake and Daria standing in the fake alley.

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Amanda lifts and leafs through the stack of pornos. Something she notices is the magazines on the top and bottom of the stack appear to be rather pristine in nature while the magazines in the center appear to have been looked through considerably more. As Amanda scans the topics of the center magazines they appear to be more focused on men of immense… girth or length.

Amanda searches through the bed and finds nothing of real import, though her hand finds some sort of goo between the mattress and headboard. It is odorless, clear and sticks to her fingers.

Spencer led the way through the set opening doors and looking for hints of Verity’s whereabouts. In short order the man found himself on the basalt rock set, standing atop the rocks he seemed above the rest of the set, looking down at the fake landscapes that make up the backdrop of the space between.

David looks around the black rocks of the set, seeing no sign of the woman he had seen before. Looking at the intricate backdrop mural, David can’t help but feel a slight disconnection from reality. The artists did a wonderful job of making this set "feel" like a place of spiritual awakening. As David walks around the set, he is struck by how solid the stone is. He bends to inspect its surface to see if it is real. Swiping his hand across the rough stone, it feels real… like rough cut granite. When the actor pulls his hand away, though, he notices blood coating his fingers.

Daria finds an odd bit of fabric, stuck underneath one of the large rocks that make up the facade of the massive set. As she pulls it free of the rock, it feels soft and flowing. As she holds it up to inspect it, she sees it is a deep black hue, so black it almost seems to be its own color. A new black with odd pin pricks of white scattered throughout it. As the producer looks at the cloth, the pin pricks undulate and sway in a breeze Daria doesn’t seem to feel. The mesmerizing sight is interrupted as Daria feels a burn start to permeate her fingers. A cold burn that causes her to drop the cloth in pain. She looks at her fingers and sees the marks of what seems almost like a dry ice burn coating them. When she looks down to find the cloth, it seems to have vanished.

Blake sees David inspecting the set and moves to look himself. The PR agent searches and doesn’t seem to find anything of note. Just as he goes to stand, though, he sees a glint of something nestled within the cracks of the rock. Getting on his hands and knees on the rough hewn rock, he reaches in and plucks the item from the crack. The man holds it up and realizes it is a tooth with a bit of gum still clinging to its root.

Daria and Amanda leave the set, loading into Amanda’s car.As the two women drive to the exit of the studio complex, they pass the gate guard who smiles and raises a hand in farewell. The complex is surrounded by a ten foot tall concrete wall, interspersed with two gates on either side of the Hollywood block that it inhabits. The surrounding blocks are low end apartment buildings that at one time were used to house the various actors and stagehands building the burgeoning film industry. These have long since degraded as the workers chased more lavish housing into the Hollywood hills.

Now, most film studios existed within neighborhoods that no one would want to be caught in at night. The wall was a way to try to keep the sets secure, and so was a measure of safety.

As Amanda pulls the car past the wall to get a view of traffic, she sees a couple of vagrants sleeping with their backs against the wall. She also sees a woman in a jogging suit with a pitbull on a leash. The woman is talking on a cell phone and the pit bull seems to be sniffing some trash that has collected at a storm grate maybe 50 feet down the wall’s length.

Amanda makes the turn into traffic and begins the 20-30 minute drive to Jared’s apartment.

Spencer gets a pretty good picture of his thumb.

As the group collects the tooth on the set, sirens are heard echoing in from open doors. The sirens rise in volume and then abruptly stop. It sounds as if the sirens stopped right outside of the entrance to the film studio grounds.

Spencer, Blake and David make there way out of the set area and quickly make for Spencer's car. The fixer drives the vehicle through the lot past other stage buildings to the North entrance, away from the sirens. As the car approaches the North entrance, Spencer sees a man talking with the gate guard and his stomach drops. Neumeier. The fat bastard was one of the men behind Spencer's retirement from the LAPD.

Det. Neumeir seems preoccupied with his notepad as the men drive by. Spencer pulls past the guard post and out onto the street, seeing in the rear view as Neumeir looks up at the guard and continues questioning. Spencer sees the unmarked police vehicle parked along the street that is obviously the man’s car.

David grumbles and complains about an injury, until he realizes he is not hurt. There is no wound on his hand that would be causing him to bleed, and the blood is from someone else.

No worries. I probably just misread it. David, the pompous ass that he is would complain having to touch someone else's blood as well. haha