As per the request of Betsy Granger, a lone camera operator for XWF by the name of Howie arrives at the address provided to him. Before he gets out of the car, he looks at his surroundings, a sense of foreboding settling into his stomach.

“Did she really have to pick the creepiest fucking place on the map?” he mutters.

Before him is an abandoned mansion on a sprawling, wooded property. Overgrown gardens, designed in a maze with a stone path littered in dirt and brightly colored autumn leaves. Marble statues in various states of disrepair are scattered all about, guardians of this empty place.

Betsy herself doesn’t appear to be anywhere in sight, which doesn’t help the nerves of the poor chap. As Howie got out of the car and took another look around, he mused that the place would look cool during the daytime.

In the middle of the night, however, it looked haunted and made the hair on the back of his neck stand on end. The wind picks up, blowing the leaves all around him, sending a shiver down his spine. Seemingly for dramatic effect, a bolt of lightning accompanies it, but no rain or thunder follows.

The moon is but a sliver in the velvety night sky.

“Is this even worth it?” Howie wonders as he finishes his preparations and Betsy still hasn’t arrived.

He flickers on the small light clipped to the camera. Hoisting it onto his shoulder, he flips it on.


/ begin footage /


Howie battles with indecision until a noise from within the gardens causes him to hesitate. Mixed within the wind is a woman’s voice, and she is clearly singing.

“Fear not this night, you will not go astray.

Though shadows fall, still the stars find their way.”

The slow, somber lyrics are sung in a husky tone; it calls Howie like an invitation. Transfixed he finally ventures out into the gardens. The shrubbery conceals him once he slips through the entrance, his light casting just enough glow for him to move forward.

“Awake from a quiet sleep, hear the whispering of the wind.”

Another freak bolt of lightning flits across the night sky accompanied by a gale. As it happens, his camera picks up red chiffon billowing in the wind. Betsy is walking towards him, dressed in Lucy’s iconic red dress from the movie ‘Bram Stokers: Dracula’.

Gif edited on Kapwing

“Did it really have to be Bella Swan, though?” Her hair blows into her face. Her giggle is chilling. “Give Kristoffer some credit, he’s far superior to Edward Cullen’s sparkly emo bitchass.”

Howie inches closer, following her when she starts floating along again. They turn another corner, where there’s a marble bench next to a long-ago dried out fountain.

“If you’re going to do the ‘tortured vampire love interest’ trope, at least dress that poor, underpaid pleb as someone I’d give effort into rescuing.” 

Betsy’s voice is full of contempt. Paulie’s laugh echoes through her mind, but she shakes it off.

“On the flipside of that, Kristoffer doesn’t seem to be the dashing hero type. But neither are most of the vile things that move about in this industry. But if I’ve come to appreciate one thing with those whom I don’t exactly see eye to eye with… They carry the same conviction behind their beliefs that I do.”

Her voice is still husky, carried along the breeze towards Howie as he zooms in slightly.

“Kristoffer believe he is a herald of sorts, a dark minion to something much worse to come. I’m feeling a little déjà vu here, myself…” Betsy smirks as she considers her previous XWF run. “I wonder how long before you have yourself a proper little cult around you, Krissy Pooh. Or fall in with one.”

She quirks an eyebrow. 

“I’ve a feeling Spooky Solo has you as one of his top draftees for War Games. A predictable move if ever there was one… It’d be a shame if someone were to recruit you before he had a chance. Would you like that, Krissy Pooh?”

A wicked smile crosses her lips as she sweeps her hair to one side, tipping her head, exposing her delicate neck. 

“Or maybe you just want to take a bite out of this neck, hmmm? You are certainly welcome to try, but I think you may get a little hooked on the taste. I reckon by now you could taste the stars themselves in my blood. Maybe there’s a flavor left behind from each other worlds I’ve dined on.”

Betsy stops dead in her tracks and seems to zone out for a moment. Howie couldn’t know that Paulie’s disembodied voice was egging her on.

“Or perhaps I could turn the tables and make a meal of you.” Her eyes slowly clear as she snaps out of her daze. “Just kidding, you probably taste like expired clamato juice with a lingering aftertaste.”

Betsy gives an exaggerated look of disgust.

“So, tell me, Krissy Pooh, can you hear my blood hearkening to you? Have you imagined what it would taste like on your tongue? Does the idea of sinking your teeth into my flesh give you a thrill?” 

She giggles and begins walking again.

Gif edited on Kapwing

A flash of Paulie appears before her and fades as quickly as it appeared. To Howie, it was another flash of the freak lightning.

“Try it and I’ll rip your heart out of your chest and eat it while it still beats in my hand. And then I’ll leave you to hang above that ring with Spirit Swan as your blood drips down on the rest of those who want to try me.”

Her tone grows as chilly as the air.

Her lips part to speak, but another flash catches her off guard. No lightning accompanies this one; instead, a bright figure blinds Betsy. Eyes the color of the Aegean stare sadly at her for a few seconds before the entire vision dissipates.

“Until we meet…”

/ end footage /