Chapter 4
The witch’s road was spectacular.
The life-sized set was beyond anything Aubrey could have imagined. She felt overwhelmed and grateful. The team working on the show was so committed and the cast was incredibly lucky to have this expansive practical set to work with.
She was experiencing it for the first time on her own. Her fellow castmates had seen it before they filmed the first trial.
Aubrey was in awe and honestly, wanted to remodel her house to look like it. Standing in the folliage, under the lights of the florescent mushrooms, there was nowhere else she wanted to be.
Rio was meant to claw her way into the coven (literally) in her next scene but there was still the last section of the first trial to shoot. Aubrey had time to herself before she was needed and she planned on spending all of it on the road.
The actress sat in a small foldable chair, making sure she was out of the way of the crew who were making some final touches to where Mrs. Hart’s grave would be. She put on her headphones and took it all in.
♫ Babe
There’s something tragic about you
Something so magic about you
Don’t you agree?♫
♫ Babe
There’s something lonesome about you
Something so wholesome about you
Get closer to me. ♫
Suddenly, Aubrey felt something freezing and damp grab her shoulder and she jumped out of her seat with a screech.
The terrified woman heard faint sounds of laughter through the music still blaring in her ears. As she ripped off her headphones, she whipped around ready to give the prankster a piece of her mind.
However, she was not expecting to see Kathryn doubled over in a laughing fit.
The brunette looked like she just stepped out of a pool. Her straightened hair was sticking to the sides of her face. There were droplets of water dripping onto the ground from the loose strands. The mustard blazer she wore had dark patches all over it where she had clearly been splashed and her grey pants that were once flowy at the bottom clung to her legs.
The younger actress squinted and readied her scathing retort, but her sharp words were abruptly stopped before they could leave her lips.
Kathryn stood up, still giggling, to get a look at her victim’s face. Her new posture revealed the shirt under her blazer. What would usually be an overly modest white turtleneck had become anything but. It was absolutely soaked through revealing the light purple bra underneath it and if she looked really close she could see…
♫ Inoccence died screaming, honey ask me, I should know ♫
Aubrey stood wide-eyed and slack-jawed for a moment before quickly turning her head away from her co-star to avoid being caught. She grabbed at her shoulders in an attempt to shrug off how shaken up she was.
She crossed her arms and furrowed her brow at the brunette, “What the fuck Hahn?”
Kathryn wiped tears from the corners of her eyes “I’m sorry,” she snorted. “You jumped at least a 3 feet in the air” she said and pressed her lips together tightly in attempt to stop a snicker from escaping.
The younger actress’ tongue pressed against her cheek to hold back a smile. “I guess this is what I get for trying to relax before a scene, huh?”
Her attempt at garnering sympathy was working as Kathryn’s eyes revealed a small tug of guilt as they fell to the headphones that had been launched to the floor. She bent down and picked them up.
Giving her best puppy-dog face she handed them to her co-star as a peace offering. “I’m really sorry, I couldn’t resist.”
Aubrey rolled her eyes and accepted the gesture. “Whatever, you’ll get what’s coming to you Hahn, watch your back” she said, holding her gaze firmly.
The drenched woman raised both hands in the air, “OK, I deserve that,” she admitted. Her hands descended, now moving to hug herself, remembering the chill she had felt before her uncontrollable laughter broke it.
“Alright, go put on something dry, I'm shivering just looking at you,” Aubrey huffed, pointing toward the exit for emphasis. “Go on.”
Although the chill had somehow dissipated again at the site of the younger woman barking orders, Kathryn looked down at her soaked state and figured she should take the cue. “Yes ma'am” she saluted and turned on her heels, marching away in exaggerated obedience.
Aubrey shook her head lightly and sighed as she tried to slow down her heart rate.
________
When Kathryn came back to the set, she donned her Road Look again: a now slightly wrinkled white blouse, tucked into purple, tailored trousers, topped with a long, navy blue coat. The coat was imbued with runes along the inner lining and it made her feel powerful. Putting it on was like a portal that led her to the magical world of the purple witch. It was so Agatha.
Her coven made their way in after her, one by one. Each one unmistakably unique and yet they worked so well as a group. Kathryn observed each of them with fondness, their signature colors blending together to make the most eccentric yet beautiful painting. But there was one color missing from the palette.
Until, as if on cue, out of the corner of her eye she saw a sparkle of green making its way through the prop forest.
Aubrey sauntered towards the group. Her hair was wild, with leaves and fake dirt strewn through it. The glimmer of green Kathryn had noticed came from the cropped, half-sleeve jacket she wore, embroidered with shiny foliage along the seams. She was wearing a tight fitting top with a generous neckline that framed her cleavage. It had familiar cutouts along the younger woman’s abdomen but these left even less to the imagination, revealing most of Aubrey's toned abs as well as the bottom portion of her ribcage. The final piece of the ensemble was a pair of dark green pleather pants that had root-like vein designs along them.
Are those fucking painted on?!
“Wow honey, you look sensational!” Patti proclaimed loudly as the raven-haired woman arrived at the group.
Kathryn thanked her internally for speaking first, she had been too distracted to break the silence herself. The rest of the coven chimed in, complimenting Aubrey’s look as she twirled a flower in her hand, trying not to blush at all the attention.
“Daniel really outdid himself,” Kathryn said, a bit softer than she intended. Aubrey looked up at her, pink invading her cheeks but she grinned past it. She clasped her hands behind her back and swung her hips coquettishly. “You really think so?” she said, feigning innocence.
While the rest of the coven laughed off the comment and moved on to discussing the upcoming scene, Kathryn simply stared, momentarily hypnotized by the sway of her hips.
She cleared her throat and ran a hand through her hair to ground herself as Aubrey went off to speak to her stunt double.
Finally, after what felt like an eternity, it was time to take their places.
The coven gathered and stood in a line around the outline of a corps on the ground, candles placed along its edges.
“ACTION”
Kathryn began reciting the Latin words that made up the summoning spell. Each coven member stated a trait they wished for the summoned witch to possess.
Her hands circled through the air in a practiced motion, followed by silence as the flames of the candles went out with a whoosh.
“Now what?” the teen uttered optimistically.
“Now we wait,” the eldest witch responded suredly despite the slight shake in her voice. “True magic takes time. The spell must marinate. Gestate.”
BOOM!
The group of witches screamed as the spun around, horrified at the explosive sound that came from behind them.
They knew that there would be a cue for them to turn but none of them knew it would be that loud or scary! A lovely surprise from the production team. Cruel, but their fearful expressions were definitely realistic.
And there was Aubrey, laughing maniacally at their reactions. She had been in on it and Kathryn felt the chill of karma pass through her, accepting her punishment gracefully by flipping off the green witch. Aubrey held her hands in a heart shape and batted her eyelashes bashfully in response.
“RESET”
The coven lined up again, horrified expressions still plastered on their faces at the site of the green witch seemingly putting herself together before them.
Aubrey had fun with this part. She flailed around harshly, contorted herself as much as she could, drawing influence from the horror genre she loved. Until finally, she stood up straight with a final crack of her neck.
Casually she tossed her hair back, “Heard you guys were having a party.”
The frustration Kathryn expressed with her body language felt all too real.
The purple witch huffed harshly “How did you?”
Brown eyes widened as Rio slowly steps forward and answered “I was in the neighborhood.” She opened her mouth in pretend shock before stopping right in front of her ex, putting out her hand and popping it open to reveal a flower. “Surprise” she cooed with a seductive smile.
Agatha basically growled in response. Poking further, the green witch wiggled the flower in her face, “M'Lady.”
The brunette snatched it out of her hand unceremoniously and screamed as she lunged forward, to presumably strangle or kiss the summoned witch. She had to be physically held back by her coven.
Kathryn bared her teeth as Aubrey crouched down coyly in front of her, shaking her hips slightly. But Kathryn kept her eyes fixed on her face this time and stood up straight before walking away with dramatic flair, leaving the other witches to deal with their new member.
“What's up? I'm Rio.”
_________
The rest of the road scenes leading to the second trial flowed smoothly. Aubrey loved getting to play the whimsical side of Rio especially against Kathryn's frustrated Agatha. The constant push and pull between the two witches was evident. It came out not only in their interactions with each other, but in the stark difference in the way they held themselves.
Agatha's presence was firm and reliable. Despite her selfish tendencies, she was a clear leader and even her posture was sharp. Rio on the other hand had a chaotic aura. She flowed like the wind through the air, literally skipping like a toddler on a field trip, humming along absentmindedly. More of a fly on the wall than a member of the coven, she only participated to antagonize Agatha whenever possible, or to strike a little fear in the other witches.
Kathryn and Aubrey didn't do this intentionally, it just happened. The result of weeks of playful banter leading them to such extreme opposite portrayals. Each bratty comment met with an exasperated exhale or a pointed stare, silent scolding seemed to be their language, and the camera loved it.
♫Babe
There’s something wretched about this
Something so precious about this
Oh what a sin♫
The last scene ended with the coven approaching the 70s style house where the next trial would evidently take place.
After the last cut was called, Aubrey took one last look at the road for the day, still as enamored as she'd been when she saw it for the first time that morning.
“Psst, I don't wanna scare you” said a soft voice from behind her. She knew exactly who it was without turning around.
Aubrey took a deep breath, “It's beautiful isn't it? I could live here.”
Kathryn stood next to her now. “So this is what had you so distracted this morning huh?” she said as she nudged her co-stars shoulder with her own.
The younger actress gave her a playful side-eyed look, “well that and listening to music with noise-canceling headphones” she chuckled.
Kathryn pursed her lips and scrunched her nose apologetically. “Well you got me back 10-fold on set if it makes you feel better.”
“It does,” Aubrey replied with a triumphant smirk.
The brunette rolled her eyes and bumped her again as a warning. “So what were you listening to? You were really in your own world.”
Aubrey's eyes widened, cheeks blushing with embarrassment. “Oh, just stuff,” she said unconvincingly.
Kathryn looked at her, clearly not accepting the half hearted answer she was being given. The younger woman sighed. “It’s silly but I have this playlist…”
She turned to see Kathryn’s eyebrows raise, pushing her to continue. “I made a small Playlist of songs I thought represented us…”
A silence fell between them.
“NO, N-NOT US! Like, Agatha and Rio. Us. Our characters.”
Shit
Aubrey nearly face-palmed right there. She wished she could make her way back into the grave she popped out of hours ago to avoid the horrific embarrassment she felt.
“Can you send it to me?” a soft voice broke through Aubrey's spiraling thoughts.
She blinked slowly. “What?” she asked in disbelief.
Kathryn flashed a genuine smile at her and said “I'd like to hear it.”
“Oh… OK sure.” Aubrey stayed frozen for a moment before reaching for her phone to add her to the Playlist.
Kathryn saw the notification pop up on her screen, “Great! Thanks.” She squeezed the younger woman's arm, grounding her back to reality.
And just when she felt like she had stabilized her wandering mind, the older woman’s lips lifted into a mischievous grin as she leaned forward. “I can't wait to hear what you think of us,” she winked.