Falling Into Stardom

Finley didn't answer his phone at first as it rang. When it left a voicemail though, he decided he better call back. "Hello, is this Rebecca?"

"Jennings? Oh no! I've got really bad news. So like, my fiancee went psycho. He actually tried to kill me and the cops had to take him down."

Really? "That doesn't sound like Brady, you were his life."

"Well, he kept sayings things, like hearing things that weren't there. The cops killed him now. I don't know how to feel about it. Being his close friend, I thought you should know."

Huh. "This isn't Brady's number, did you get my number from his phone?"

"No."

No? "Then how did you get this number? I wouldn't give you my number."

"I just wanted you to know. Brady went psycho and he's dead. Then not long after that, poor Carter died too. A leg amputation gone wrong."

Carter? Did she ever even meet Carter? "What do you mean, what went wrong? Are you kidding me?" Both of them? He hung up on her. She was weird.

He tried to call Carter. No answer. He dug online and found the number for Carter's parents. "Hello? Is Carter okay?"

"Our son? I don't know. Things are tough right now, fool just quit his job. He said he needed money but we needed money from him too. His mother's not doing so well."

"Sorry to hear that. Let me know when he's back please." Finley hung up. He watched as Rebecca's number appeared again. "Hey, his parents said he was stressed, but not dead."

"They don't know yet," she insisted. "He kept seeing this girl called Betty Juice, and he kept thinking his leg was amputated. It was terrible, you should have been there. Really. You should have been there."

But? "Carter's parents don't know that yet."

"Oh no, it didn't happen very long ago. Details will be released shortly."

"You were Brady's chick, how would you be with Carter to know everything before his parents?"

"It's private, Brady! Look, if you want to know the real details, then call me at this number in ten minutes."

Brady wrote down the number. It probably had something to do with the murders. Was Betty Juice killing them? Did she see her? He waited ten minutes and then called her.

"Hello?"

"Okay, so now give me the details."

"What details?"

"About Carter and Brady."

"Who is this?"

Oh, this didn't sound good. "Rebecca, this is Finley. How's Brady?" She started to break down over the phone but he definitely heard mumbles of 'hearing voices, psycho, tried to kill me' and 'killed by cops'. "What about Carter?"

"Who? Look, I already told you what I know. I don't know anything about anyone named Carter. I have to go now." She hung up.

Shit. Betty Juice was messing with him. She wouldn't get away with that.

"Nice painting."

Finley looked behind him. "Fuckin?" One of Delia Deetz' paintings he sold was hanging right behind him. Even stranger? He moved closer to the painting. There was a little girl inside of it.

One that looked like Betty Juice. Was that in the painting last time? Relax! Okay, this is fine. Betty Juice was a strange friend to Lydia Deetz. Delia just painted her inside as inspiration or something. Although, she was clearly out trying to murder them. All of his friends that were involved with the Deetz' murder was dead.

Duncan. Carter. Brady. The only one left was him and his dad.

"Hey, Dude, do you want to come with me?" his roommate Will asked. "I just won fifty bucks off a lottery ticket again."

"No," Brady said. "I don't want to leave my house." Then again? "Do you know how that painting was put up?"

His roommate looked at it. "That thing is creepy. No, I don't know. Did Liberty put it up?"

Hmm. Maybe he would go with his friend to the theatres after all.

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"What are we seeing?" Finley asked Will.

"Oh, I wanted to watch a horror," Will answered. "I also got free tickets this week. I was going to go with Liberty, but she just won some tickets to a concert somewhere."

They went in to find their seat as the previews came on. It was dark and quiet, only the sound of people sipping soda and munching on popcorn. Finley actually didn't mind that.

"Hey, how come you haven't hanged out with Brady or Carter lately?" Finley asked. "I thought you guys were close friends. Especially after Duncan, you guys became real close."

They were dead. "I was just ready to leave." He clung to the chair. While he looked at the movie, he felt something roll over toward him. It touched his foot. It was round.

He looked at the floor and saw an eyeball with the same color as Brady. "Fuck!" He backed up in his seat further.

Will turned to look at him, then at the ground. "What's wrong, Man? It's just a bouncy ball."

A bouncy ball. Right. He settled down and looked at it closely. A bouncy ball.

The bouncy ball blinked at him. "Did you see that?" Finley pointed to it to Will. "It is not a bouncy ball, it blinked."

"Man, you trippin'." Will picked up the eyeball like it was harmless. He even bounced it up and down. "It's just a kids bouncy ball. The eye don't even look that realistic." He tossed it to him. "See?"

Finley caught it and looked at it. It didn't feel like a bouncy ball, it was smushy. And? It changed it's eye location from in front to him, to the right. "It's eye moved." He threw it back toward Will. "The eye moved it's not in the center."

Will groaned and picked it up. "The eye didn't move. The eye is still dead in the center. I think you aren't over Duncan's death yet." He picked the eyeball up and pocketed it. "Maybe you shouldn't see this movie with me."

"I'm fine." Finley stared at the eye Will put in his pocket. It didn't move or do anything. Damn, Will is right. Ignore everything. Betty Juice killed the others because they got scared and dumb. I am not dumb. I cannot get scared. That isn't an eye, no matter how much I think it is. It's nothing, it's a dumb ball. Just like Betty Juice in that painting. I am fine, as long as I remain cool. "No, it's fine. You're right, I'm over reacting. I'll be cool from now on."

When he said that, his whole body felt cold. When he looked at his hands, they were turned into sticks, and even past that further, his eyes saw snow on his seat. Where he'd been at.

He screamed, and was back to normal.

"Dude!" Will complained. "Finley, maybe you should go. You're starting to piss people off. We'll watch something else together that's safer for you right now. Just go."

"Fine." He wasn't going to put up a fight, it was probably a good idea to get out of that place. He stood up from his movie chair and headed out.

In the back, there were never lights. It was just a small bend before he reached the doors, so he was fine with it. But, the back area wasn't ending.

It kept curving. He ended up coming back out into the movie theatre.

"They killed her mother and father."

Finley heard the words from the movie screen. Don't get worked up. I just missed the door. Maybe it was on the other side. He went back in and felt around the sides. Door, door. He moved to the other side and checked for the door over there.

This time, he felt it. He opened the door and went out.

Instead of finding himself in the bright lobby area, it was only slightly more bright. He continued down the way, seeing some people walking beside him in the dimly lit lobby. As they passed, he heard, "that show scared the shit out of me. That girl was too real.

He pushed open the doors that should have taken him out of the theatre.

Instead he found himself right back in the Theatre again.

This time though, no one else was there. No one had remained to watch the movie.

"Hold them steadier, Carter."

He stared at the screen. Lydia Deetz and him were on the screen. He felt his heart start to bang harder. It's a trick. It's a trick. It's a trick.

"A complete trick," his figure on the screen said to him. "It's totally possible for a teen to trap you for eternity into a movie theatre, watching yourself on screen. Watching yourself, where you messed up. Where you ended your life, for nothing but some money."

Finley tried to back out again. All of his friends had died, they'd all been tricked. Maybe she knew the owner of the theatre? Maybe she had a hobby in making films? Maybe. Maybe.

He went back out the doors, grabbed a hold of the second door, and pushed open the third door.

He ended right back at the movie screen again.

"Hop in," he told himself. "You can't escape. This is where you belong. You've got a part to play, or you'll never be freed. Come closer and take your place."

Finley ran back out, tugged on the doors, pushed doors open, and ended back up there again. He tried again, and ended right back there again. "Stop it!" he finally yelled. "Let me go!"

"There's only one way to go," Finley on screen said to himself. "You need to take your part in the show. Come closer."

Finley repeated the same action over and over, and it wouldn't change. Opening doors, tugging doors, pushing doors, just to end up back there. How was Betty Juice doing this?

"Keep going then," his movie self called out as he came back around. "We have all of eternity."

Finley stopped. I can't get out. He forcefully kept putting all his energy into ripping off a movie chair that was attached to the ground. He had even cut himself trying to use his fingernails to unscrew it.

He got his treasure though. No door? Then I'll make a new door! He carried the seat out of the theatre and then started hitting the side of the wall instead of the door. He kept banging on it furiously as he finally started to make dents in the wall.

His back was sore. His hands were sore. He knew three friends had already died to Betty Juice, and he wasn't going to go down easily. He finally knocked out the siding.

He was in the lobby. It was still not lit very bright, but he continued to do the same thing. He just used every muscle to put a whole in the wall with the chair.

When he made a hole, he looked through it.

He was right back in the theatre with the film playing. "No escape," he told himself.

He went back to the lobby doors and pushed them open.

It was there too. "No escape," he told himself from the screen again. "You're trapped for eternity, or you come join the cast. Again."

"Come on, Finley!" The camera shifted to Duncan who was on lookout. "We miss you."

"Yeah." It flipped to Brady and Carter up by the stairs. "We're waiting."

"Waiting for you," Finley said to himself on screen. "You gonna come, or just keep throwing chairs through everything? I mean, this? It was the crowning achievement of your life. Get on in here, you're the main star in the film."

"Somebody help!" He tried to call out as he went through the whole puzzle of the theatre again. One time he did see people in the lobby. "Help, help! I need help." Ooh, someone was coming. Two teenage girls. "Help me, please. I can't get out of here. Where's the exit?"

One of the girls gestured behind her. "It's just out the door."

"It's not out that door," he said to them. He grabbed one of them as she started to yell at him. Maybe it was just him who was cursed? If he could grab a normal person, maybe it would be okay?

The other one started to hit him on the back as he dragged one of the teen girls to the door with him. "Open it up!" he demanded of her. He pushed her into the doors. He saw a glimpse of daylight and her grumbling on the other side. Her friend was yelling and trying to get through the door too.

Another glimpse of daylight. "I did it."

"But for how long can you stay out of the dark?" a thick voice said to him.

He pushed through the doors and saw the normal world again. He breathed in relief. The sun was shining through the glass doors ahead. He could smell the popcorn wafting over to him from the concession stands.

He was safe. He moved towards the doors to go out.

He was back in the theatre staring at the screen.

"Show can't go on without you," he said to himself from the big screen. "Haven't you always wanted to be somebody. You're a star, and you need to take your spot."

"I was out. I was out!" He screamed at the movie screen. "I was out! This isn't fair!"

"Dude?" His onscreen self just shook his head. "Fair? You made a girl kill her parents for some art. You wanna mention fair?"

"Look. Betty Juice, right?" She never appeared onscreen, but it had to be her. "I'm sorry about what happened."

"No, you aren't," he answered himself. "You are just sorry that you are stuck."

"You want to break free," Duncan said from the door on screen. "We all do. We can't now. This is our punishment. Just take your spot. You might see glimpses of sun, but it'll just be crueler on you."

"Every door you go down," Carter and Brady said in unison, "will have this theatre at the end of it. You can't escape."

"You can't escape," Duncan said from the front door on the screen. "None of us can."

Finley grabbed at his head. Okay, okay! I interact in the hall with people. No one else is in here. The hall, somewhere in the hall was the answer. It was the only place he could interact with people.

He moved through the back of the theatre, searched for the hall door and went in.

He waited in the hall. After a few minutes, an elderly couple came out of some doors. Instead of scaring them, he just caught the door before it closed.

Sunlight, but it was getting darker. Sort of a strange green sky, weird. He followed them out the front doors. Outside, he was outside. Safe. "Beat her." He beat Betty Juice. He wouldn't see another horror film in a theatre ever in his life again, but he beat the odds.

He moved toward his car. It looked a little shorter than usual. A little deeper green than he remembered, but he got in. He strapped himself in. He tried to put the keys into the ignition, but it already started up?

He felt the car pulling backwards, and there were a ton of buckles flying all over him to strap him in! He tried to scream, but he even had buckles forcing his mouth shut too.

He watched as the car pulled out of the parking lot. He realized this really wasn't his car at all!

It was this weird putrid green looking car, and it was driving him right into traffic. Not just into traffic, but against traffic. It was driving in the wrong direction! Other cars cursed and honked as it kept going. He was too strapped to make any motion at all.

Evenutally, he heard the sounds of cops behind him, and the car stopped. He felt all the straps go away except the original seatbelt.

"Get out of the car!" A policeman yelled with their pistol trained on him.

Finley put his hands up carefully. The way that car moved, there was no doubt he injured or killed someone. "The car just went crazy," he said. They didn't believe him.

He stayed still as he did as he was told. He was pressed against the ground while handcuffs were added to his wrists. He heard his rights, and when he went up, the putrid green was gone.

It was back to looking like his car.

He was driven to the station, went through the basics of getting arrested, knowing his father was going to shit bricks when he found out his son was arrested.

And oh yes, he did. His father yelled up a storm at him, and even took the small bank account he had made for his future away. Finley made him look bad, and he'd pay for making him look bad.

That was all real. That was no illusion. The traffic, the accidents, the car, his father's wrath, it was all real.

"You are lucky your dumb stunts didn't kill anyone," one of the cops said as they started to walk down the corridor to his jail cell. It was a long walk to his jail cell.

Then he was pushed in.

Instead of being in a jail cell, he was back in the theatre, now with handcuffs in the back of him.

"Told you," his onscreen self said to him. "You won't stay out of the darkness for long. Do you want this the rest of your life? Stop delaying it. Become the star you need to be."

"Yeah, we're waiting for you Jennings," Duncan said from the door.

"Come on, Finley," Brady and Carter said from up the stairs.

"It's a long trip down," his onscreen self told him. "You really should get started."

Finley started to climb up the movie stairs. No one was ever there. When he did get out, he ended up getting jailed and yelled at by his father. "Now or not now. It doesn't really matter, does it?" he had to ask.

Even when he escaped, he couldn't escape for long. The darkness would find him, and lead him back to that theatre.

"There you go." His onscreen self applauded him, while holding Lydia still. Duncan applauded him from the door, and his other friends applauded him from the stairs. "Just step forward. Take your place, Star."

Finley stood on top of the movie chair. He put his foot forward and swore it felt solid beneath him. He kept moving forward on the air. "I have to do this, there's no way out." He kept taking steps forward until he was high above the other chairs, getting higher and higher from them.

Chair after chair, he could feel how high he'd been. "What happens when I go into the movie?"

"Nothing," the sound of Lydia cracked all concentration as she stared right at him. "It's a picture screen. Movies can't talk. And?"

"Humans can't float," everyone said in unison.

"But they can die," Lydia said, "and then, you'll be a big star where you are going."

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Will screamed along with everyone else in the movie theatre as he saw Finley drop from literally right at the top of the movie screen! How did he even get there? He went to go check on him.

There had been people lower than Will sit, and they were in the way from seeing anything.

"Stay back," someone warned him. "It's not pretty."

"I was sitting with him," Will said. Man, didn't he get scared of the little rubber ball and go home. "He was supposed to go home. I need to see."

"There's nothing to see," another person stopped him. "You can see him at his funeral, you stay away or you'll be traumatized."

Man. Will stopped getting close. He was taken out by a police officer to have questions asked of him. Man, poor Finley. What did he ever do to deserve that?