Chapter 230 | Horrified

It was empty. The entire apartment was empty, yet he didn't feel like it. His heartbeat started beating out of rhythm.

A long beat... and two figures appeared at one end of the hall while three appeared at the other end: suits, ties, gloves, and masks.

One of them inserted a key card attached to his cell phone and hacked the lock; the light turned from red to green.

Another placed a small, magnetic gun to the door, adjusted the setting, and pulled the trigger-

-The action caused the latch to leap back from the door...

...which then opened.

All five men entered at once, closing the door behind them.

Sound asleep, Keanu laid upon his back beneath the covers, snoring softly.

Well-rehearsed, two men focused on his legs while two focused on his arms, their hands hovered above an appendage as they waited for the fifth...

...who produced a plastic baggie, inside of which rested a damp towel. The man removed the towel...counted down with a nod from 3... 2... 1...

Like a well-oiled machine, hands clasped down upon Keanu's arms and legs as the man slapped the rag down upon Keanu's mouth.

Keanu's body tensed as his eyes snapped open...but he did not inhale. A beat... and Keanu twisted at an odd angle, causing one of the men holding his arm to lose his grasp. With his one arm free, Keanu reached up, grabbed the man's wrist, and snapped it.

As the man stumbled backward with a cry, the others pounced upon Keanu, who produced the K-BAR blade from beneath the blankets, driving it into the side of one man's neck once... twice... three times ...before releasing the blade, arching his back, and wrapping his legs around another man's neck, tensing until -SNAP- the man's neck broke.

The remaining three -horrified- were at a loss; far removed from their element.

The man and a gunman ran for the door as a third step back, removed his silenced pistol from a shoulder holster, and blindly fired. The bullets etched up along the mattress and into the headboard… as Keanu rolled off the bed, reached beneath it, and grabbed the shotgun.

BOOM!

The gunman's left leg disappeared as -screaming- he sank to the ground.

BOOM!

Keanu fired again, hitting the fallen gunman in the chest.

BOOM!

Keanu fired at the fleeing gunman in the open doorway-

"CUT! That was good! That was a good shot! Take five minutes and be back, everyone!" Ian said loudly and cussed under his breath for how good the shot was.

'Fuck yeah!'

"Keanu said he sprained his ankle in the morning," Niko said walking from behind Ian.

"Let me see if it's visible."

"Yeah," Niko sat on his chair and let Ian do the work.

"It's all good. No sign of injuries in shot, check if he's alright."

-

[9 pm - Renner's Mansion]

Later than his usual meal time, Ian was eating in front of the television, watching the late-night news while taking bite by bite of the spaghetti that felt too delicious to be true. Maybe it was the exhausting day at the set, or maybe it was just Valerine's food.

"Christian Bale, talking to the media, this morning explained how hard it was to shoot some scenes with the Joker considering how funny Freddy was. The single moment shook the internet late last night, and here's why-"

The pretty lady who sat straight the whole time looked at the camera and smiled in the end.

The screen changed from hers to a clip of Christian Bale in front of several microphones.

His smile was constant and he kept listening to the questions that were asked by the reporters.

"Christian! Christian Bale! How was your experience with the Dark Knight movie? There are clips going around where you have so much fun! And the fun was completely the opposite theme of what the movie was having!"

Christian's eyebrows raised and he smiled again.

"Oh yes! The movie is currently trending at number one, and it exceeded 1 billion in box office numbers! So yay for that first of all! The second, oh yes! It was such a momentous shooting that I've never had to participate in my life ever! The fun was something I couldn't begin to explain! Especially Freddy! Freddy, I've got to tell you, my man! He's something else! Hilarious away from his Joker personality! So yes! It was really fun!"

"Thank you! Thank you-"

The screen shifted back to the old lady, and a smile was drawn on Ian's face.

Although the movie was not directed by him, he had a feeling that there are still so many achievements for the movie. Especially now that the Oscars are just around the corner.

He never had high hopes for the Oscars before considering there were several reasons for it. But after achieving so many things and being at the top of the box office, he felt as if the achievements should and must be for the entire team who worked hard to achieve the movie as a whole.

The Dark Knight continued to rise higher and higher at the box office, smashing records with its brilliant directory. Ian had a feeling that if the movies didn't win the awards he thought they deserved, it'd be a shame.

A shame to even continue to create more movies because one can never give something others don't appreciate already.

-

[15th August 2020]

"Good morning, everyone!" John's voice erupted throughout the hall of the set.

John, Ian's friend, had been helping out with the movie John Wick under Ian's advice. All he wanted was to get closure to his part of life which was obsessed with movies, movie-making, and everything in-relation to behind-the-scenes.

But with how things turned the last time he tried to get on board with people with the same passion, his dreams were crushed by his dad who wanted him to pursue something else.

Nevertheless at a stage where he was doing things he didn't like and handling his dad's business was when he met Ian.

Ian had changed his whole life ever since he got back.

John was suspicious at first about why Ian was doing everything with the studio considering how he even used to make fun of it while they were in university together, but, after seeing how good Ian was and how far he had carried the studio—he had to trust him.

John Wick in John's heart was a closure to his passion to continue his family business which he had started to grow a liking towards.

"As we all know, here we are! On the final day of shooting John Wick! I'm not going to give a sappy story about how great I thought this would be and all, but yeah, let's get right to it, and try to do the final shot!"

He said it loud enough for everyone to hear.

Ian laughed hearing what he said.

The set was located outside. Not on the inside, but in broad daylight, away from people—yet on the outside.

There were people hurriedly working to get the settings right. Cameramen were busy trying to position the cameras correctly.

And also there was the lighting team who tried their best to give the final scene the best view.

Three men kept continuously walking back to back, to the camera and the screen while taking orders from Ian and John who stood next to each other.

"No, I think the 75-degree angle was good. That way it looks more authentic, you know," Ian said and kept looking at the car.

John raised his eyebrows and nodded. "I think you're right. Let's go with it, no problem! Third to seventy-five! Yes, thank you!"

"No, left! Left! Closer! Okay, perfect!" Ian shouted again.

"No, thank you! John, when do we need the champagne?!"

"After shooting! Coolers as well! Who'd want to unchill champagne anyway?"

-

"And… action!"

The directors kept watching the scene from the viewer's point as Keanu got into his role.

The sleek, clean, black-as-night, 1969 Ford Mustang `Boss 429' sprints down the tarmac as inside..

...Miko held her head out of the open window, her eyes narrowed, her mouth opened, and her tongue flapping in the wind.

John smiled, reached over and scratched her on the back.

"Good girl, Miko... good girl," John said.

Without a break, the mustang sped off into the distance.

"CUT! Let me check..." Ian took a while to see if it was the shot he was looking. Everyone on set stood still while the director went back and forth with the tape, checking for any flaws.

It was perfect! And that's a wrap y'all! Who's in it to celebrate?!" Ian shouted as everyone started to cheer.

The environment of the set lifted in milli-seconds as the claps and the words they shouted overlapped with each other.

"Yesss! Let's go!"

"Getting drunk is the best part!"

"Let's clean the set and hit the bar too!"

"Months of effort, finally!"

"Yesss! Totally!"

"Thanks, Ian!"

"Love ya, man!!"

-

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