Bolder Cursed (A Zack Bolder Supernatural Crime Thriller Book 2)

1 THE PROJECTOR ROOM

Everyone around the movie set called him Dougie, which was short for Douglas. And although it was a name of Scottish origin, meaning “dark water, black stream,” his personality was the opposite. Dougie was an upcoming Australian movie producer, working on a new horror movie that was already making waves before shooting had even commenced.
There was a feeling of anticipation by movie critics that this movie was going to be “the next best thing” and would be compared to such classics as The Exorcist. And that didn’t detract from the medium budget enterprise by relatively unknown Australian actors trying to make their mark on the international scene.
Dougie hadn’t gotten the main gig; he was second in charge to the famous American film producer, Chuck Jones, an internationally renowned performer who had gone from a lead actor in big-budget, Hollywood movies to creating his own movie company. Chuck was in charge but happy to let his second fiddle express his style with screen testing and selecting the props and setting.
Dougie had decided to go with his gut and had selected the Australian ghost town of Silverton, famous for producing several blockbuster hits that included Mad Max, Mission Impossible, Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, Razorback, Dirty Deeds, and Hostage, just to name a few. It had the pedigree he needed and the Australian red earth Outback setting required to set the scene.
Silverton was a small village at the far west of New South Wales, Australia, sixteen miles northwest of Broken Hill. The town had sprung up after the discovery of rich silver deposits around the year 1880, when it had been declared a township.
After reaching a population of three thousand people in its heyday around the 1890s, the town was nowadays often referred to as a ghost town. However, there remained a small, permanent population and mainly tourist-related businesses. Nevertheless, it found fame in its desertion, thanks to the old Colonial buildings and desert landscape that graced its surroundings. Perfect for a feature movie that needed that rugged landscape.
Filmmakers and their crews mellowed in the remarkable view from the Mundi Mundi Plains Lookout and the Umberumberka Reservoir, absorbing the history from the famous Silverton Hotel and discovering why this tiny ghost town had inspired countless filmmakers.
The movie being filmed now was titled Cursed; a high-paced international thriller with elements of the supernatural. The barren landscape and emptiness of the long straight roads merging into a desert backdrop provided the vitality and ambience that the movie required. The blue sky and remarkable views set the scene for an enthralling exposé of a rugged, historic pioneering feel that drew upon the history of the town.

Dougie was seated in the small, cinematic viewing room where trial shootings and other experimental footage could be viewed and tested. It was like a dress rehearsal, or a dry run, before real filming commenced. It was Dougie’s job to comment on the preliminary settings and make changes where necessary. Lighting, ambience, environment, and even actors would be assessed for impact on the big screen. The camera operator, lighting engineer, and experts from the prop department all played an essential part in the preliminary testing.
The cinematic room was an old, converted building that was the old jail and museum. A sandstone, renovated structure over one hundred years old that was perfect for blocking out the intense light and creating a dark theatre experience; excellent for Dougie and his team.
The building had been set up with all the right equipment; a lot of it having been used in other famous movie productions in Silverton.
“I’m ready, George,” said Dougie, waving his hand in the air like a royal salute, signaling the production technician to get started.
The curtains were drawn, and the room became pitch black while Dougie relaxed back on his leather, cinema-style chair. There was a row of them with cup holders on the armrests and footrests to raise your feet.
He reclined his seat slightly and sipped on mineral water with a slice of lemon, waiting for the lights of the cinemascope to grace the room and start the screening.
Dougie loved this part of his job. He considered it a relaxing way of reviewing and making recommendations.
Behind Dougie was his assistant, ready to note the changes that Dougie would provide. Having an assistant document his observations meant he could focus solely on the screen without interruption.
The movie sample projected onto the screen. It was a dark room scene inside a historic cottage where a woman was being held hostage by a demonic force. It was an insurmountable evil that had been contained to the house for generations—dark, ominous, and ready to move on to its next victim.
The music in the backdrop filled the room with intensity. It was anxiety-driven as much as it was energetic and exciting. A horror-chase score with deep feelings of fear that sent thrills up one’s spine.
Dougie was caught in the suspense, and although he knew the ending, he was still gripped by the throes of the woman’s plight. He clasped his chair more than once as the demon moved in to possess her soul. This poltergeist couldn’t be seen but felt through the camera angles and the skills of the lighting director.
The music transitioned into a dark, dramatic performance—faster-paced, conspiracy-packed, and raising the thrill as the demon closed in.
The lighting pulsed from dark to photographic flashes; the impact creating a sudden fear as the attack drew closer to the end. Would the woman survive? She was backed into a corner, immobile and unable to think clearly as her terror built, not knowing what to do next. Had she succumbed to her fate?
Dougie raised his hands and yelled out, “Yes! Yes!” liking what he was seeing and giving it a thumbs-up.
His assistant took notes and gave it a tick.
“You can pause it for a moment,” said Dougie, wanting to take a sip of his water and take his own notes. However, the movie kept rolling.
“I don’t remember shooting this part,” he commented.
His assistant called out to the cinematographer, “What’s going on, Mike? Where did this part come from?”
The movie continued playing as the dark, ominous shadow of a demon entered the screen from the side.
The shadow was a symbol of demonic horror, with the outline of two horns, bat-like wings extending outward, and a lower body the shape of an animal, including hooves, like a wildebeest.
“You can stop it now!” called out Dougie.
His assistant stood, eyes still on the screen, and signaled for Mike, the cinematographer, to stop the projection.
Starting to become annoyed, Dougie asked, “Can someone tell me what’s going on? I never shot this part!”
When no one answered and having had enough, he stood up from his seat abruptly, dropping his mineral water onto the floor. He then looked back to find Mike slouched over his chair, unconscious and not breathing, with his hand on the projection control.
His assistant screamed in fear as she placed her hands over her face, covering her eyes.
In the meantime, the leading music score, “Evil Rising,” started to play in the background. It was not supposed to be associated with this sample.
Dougie was perplexed as it was a slow, evil buildup that started with a creepy piano entrance, and then crescendoed with an orchestra of violins and cello. It had been written by the music director to create a chilling sensation.
His assistant looked back toward the screen and screamed again, right as the intensity of the music rose and the pace picked up quickly in tempo.
To Dougie’s absolute bewilderment, a shadow stepped out of the screen and moved toward Dougie, gliding across the room in an incandescent representation of everything the movie was supposed to present to its viewers. Except, the movie score was being played out in real life, and Dougie was now the victim in the movie.
The poltergeist was about seven feet tall, towering over the cinematic seats.
Dougie was fixated, in a trance, shaking his head, caught between shock and fear as the demon shadow drew closer. Its skinny arms outstretched; elongated, cold-blooded hands ready to seize him by the throat.
In the background, creepy organ music began to play with the high screech operatic sound of whistling ghosts and spirits filling the room to add to the sensation. It was the pulsating buildup to a finale that would not end well for him.
The demon grabbed ahold of Dougie’s throat and started choking him with both hands while pushing down on him. Dougie flailed his hands frantically, trying to resist, but the demon was too powerful. The shadow form continued to muscle him onto his knees, pressing, exerting force, choking him, as the air from Dougie’s lungs expelled.
Red-faced, eyes bulging, he gave a last kick into the air and rattled his legs, shaking vigorously, in the final struggle for existence.
Then Dougie was dead, his body slouched on the ground as the demon retreated.
His assistant was now petrified that she would be the next victim, as she was the last one in the room. She glanced at the face of the devil that had bloodshot eyes that were glowing and full of hatred, and waited. But the demon changed its course and retreated, turning away from the assistant and heading back toward the big screen.
The movie clip was reaching its end. It needed to reenter the screen before the film concluded.
The movie sample stopped playing on the big screen, and the music score ceased. An eerie silence followed in the now dark room, with the only source of light being the white, incandescent glow from the projector.
It was a double murder, with two men dead; one slouched over a chair next to the movie projector and the assistant movie producer lying on the floor, motionless, pale-faced. Both were devoid of life.
As for Dougie’s assistant, she was curled up in the corner of the room, in a state of disposition. Her mind was bent from the horrific encounter. She was shaking with fear from watching her boss die at the hands of an evil incarnate. She had only been spared by pure chance. It could have been a triple homicide. Had the movie clip not reached its end, the demon’s intent would have been to attack her, too.
She was still in the corner, shaking and mumbling words that made no sense, when she was discovered by a member of the film crew.
They had a witness, but how rational would she be?

Cursed was a horror, big-budget production based on the true story of a local woman, Beth Maynard, a resident from one hundred and thirty years ago who had attracted attention with her suspicious death in 1890.
The coroner’s report said Beth had died from natural causes, more to do with the unforgiving love for her paramour, Harry Daniels. But that was only half the story.
A transient evil had come to town and easily merged with the population of three thousand people without detection. A perfect place to run amok and apply its evil trade. And why not? It had been the ideal setting amongst the desperate and destitute who had come to town looking for fortune in the then recently discovered silver deposits. The town had been abuzz, raw and uncontrollable, like a teenager maturing and finding their place in the world. Desperados, conmen, prostitutes, gamblers, and criminals had lined the main street of Silverton. Fighting, drunkenness, and disorder had kept the local constabulary busy.
However, the suspicion surrounding the deaths of the cinematographer and the assistant producer called for intense scrutiny of the police select branch and two of their finest—Detective George Wellock and spirit hunter, Zack Bolder. They had been dispatched and were on their way to Silverton.
In the meantime, the movie production had been put on ice, pending their investigation. Since it was an international movie involving high profile, local actors and the media was like a scrum, it was hitting the news. If it wasn’t sorted out quickly, it could affect the town’s attraction for future feature movie productions.
It was like the death of the silver mine deposit that had rendered it a ghost town one hundred years ago. Movie productions had become the towns second lifeblood that led to a growing tourist trade. Would it suffer the same fate?