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Chapter 1

Rosemary

OFFICIAL VIGIL REPORT

FILED BY AGENT ROSEMARY COLLINS

DATES: JULY 10–DECEMBER 12

ALL RELEVANT DOCUMENTS INCLUDED

CASE #: [REDACTED]

JULY 10 – 11:27 A.M. PDT

Doors on all sides. Possible hostiles. My eyes widened as I kept my gun pointed at the floor, at the ready.

This was what secret agents were built for.

The hallway seemed to stretch on forever. Why did each door have a window gaping into the inside? Sure, it was helpful for me, but it also meant potential opponents could see into the corridor.

The CIA already knew I was here.

I gulped, putting on my bravest face as I shuffled forward.

Noise behind me. I whipped around. Someone grabbed my forearm, wrenching me to the side. My chest tightened, but I pushed through.

I knew what to do.

Punch, deflect, punch, deflect.

In one swift motion, I flipped the man over. He landed on his back, head lolling to the side. He didn’t move.

I looked around, expecting Ironfall to appear around the corner, and an unbidden chill drifted down my spine. Ironfall. The villain. The villain who came to life. Who said he changed. Who lied. Who—

I swallowed my personal feelings to prevent my heart beating out of my chest. Focus, Rosemary.

The mission.

The fallen man stared back at me. I looked away, forcing myself into action by swiping the discarded gun. Someone would have heard the fight. I pointed the weapon in front of me like Manda instructed, then sprinted into a doorway for cover.

“Cut!”

A loud bell blared.

I sagged against the wooden set piece, stealing a rare moment of privacy as I caught my breath. Air filled my lungs as my mind raced back into the present. The fight scene had been carefully choreographed by Agent Manda, or rather her stuntwoman-turned-actress cover, Jana Anthony. I was safe on a sound stage. There wasn’t even a ceiling on this “hallway.” I was an actress, with a job to do, and I couldn’t let the mess of VIGIL and Ironfall break through. My heart slowed, and I closed my eyes for three sweet seconds of attempted peace.

“Great job, everyone, let’s reset the scene and go for another take.”

I straightened, morphing into London Peters, my new alter ego. The show must go on.

Sam came up with my stage name, claiming it was perfect for a rising star such as myself. I’d rolled my eyes but agreed to it all the same, and I was finally getting used to answering to London on set. It took work to remember a name other than your own.

Taking a deep breath, I came around the other side of the fake hallway. One side of the set looked like a sleek secret agent HQ hallway against a green screen, the other was a city of crew, technology, lights, screens, and anything else you could imagine. This was my second week here and I still couldn’t believe I was on an official VIGIL & ANTE Studios set. Despite the stress and reality of VIGIL behind it all, an almost permanent smile came to my lips as I took everything in once more.

I was here living my fangirl dream. And Sam was ridiculously jealous.

Cloaker, disguised as a random stuntman, got up from the floor where I’d left him and patted my shoulder. “Good job with that flip.”

“You’re the one who made it look real.”

“That’s the idea.” He stretched out his neck.

Movement caught my peripheral vision, and I whipped around. Force of habit.

There stood the director, Sylvester Whitlock, a tall, broad-shouldered man in his mid-fifties who always seemed to wear intellectual glasses, a green-screen colored T-shirt, and blue jeans. He also had a mass of graying facial hair with even more on his head. Sam kept trying to convince me it was a toupee. A famous director would certainly have access to the best toupees and stylists, but I didn’t quite believe Sam’s conspiracy theory…yet.

“London.” He looked directly at me. Sylvester Whitlock may be an Academy-Award-winning director, but he wasn’t a VIGIL agent. He didn’t know our secret. So I went by my stage name here. No one could ever know I was actually the character I portrayed. “We’re going to do it again, but can I get a little more emotion from you this take? We’re going for a closeup rather than a wide angle.”

I nodded. “Sure.”

He tapped a pencil against his temple. “Rosemary is conflicted here, so I want you to hesitate more. Go a little slower. Remember, this is her first mission, and she doesn’t want anyone to get hurt. She’s conflicted because she has to complete the heist to keep Ironfall on the hook, but also help ANTE.”

Right, because he was an expert on Rosemary Collins. He wasn’t wrong though. Those were my exact thoughts months ago. It was weird to have someone tell you how to act like yourself. My stomach turned at the thought of it, but I pushed it out of my mind to focus on the job at hand.

“Remember, this is not just a movie, it’s a work of art.” Sylvester was still talking. “You’re the one that makes it shine. I really want to see that in these frames.” He grinned. “I’m gonna make you a star.”

I couldn’t help but smile, even with his borderline narcissism on display. He always wanted everyone to know how great of an Academy-Award-winning director he was.

“Hey, can we get someone over here to touch up her makeup?” he shouted, pointing at my face in the sort of large circular motions that gave my old drama teacher a run for her money. “I’m not loving how the light hits it.”

Before he was even finished with his sentence, someone was on top of me, brushing more powders onto my face. I closed my eyes.

To say I felt like a superstar in this moment was an understatement.

The makeup brush stopped attacking my face, and I opened my eyes.

Agent Liam stood on the sidelines dressed down in a hoodie and jeans. Much more of a Xavier Jay move. As executive producer and figurehead of VIGIL & ANTE Studios, he was the real one running this show (much to the Sylwhit’s chagrin). He nodded as if telling me he was proud.

I smiled back, escaping the makeup artist as I moved toward him. I knew the crew wouldn’t be ready to shoot for another few minutes since they were repositioning the cameras and lighting, and I wanted to take the chance to say hello while I had it.

“Don’t mind the Sylwhit,” he said as I approached. “He might be difficult to work with, but he’s one of the best directors of all time.”

“You know I’ve never actually seen any of his movies.” I glanced over at the director to make sure he wasn’t listening. He would absolutely give me homework to watch all his movies, and I didn’t have the time (or patience) for that.

“Don’t tell him that,” he said. Wouldn’t want to damage his ego, I could almost hear him say. That was something Xavier Jay would say, but not Agent Liam. And right now, he was talking to me as himself, not his actor persona. “Remember to separate yourself from the character. You might share a name, but you’re different. It’s our advantage.”

“Thanks,” I nodded. “I’ll remember that.”

“It’s not you, it’s a carefully branded image of you.” His dark fingers straightened his shirt. “Made for your and VIGIL’s protection.”

“London!” Sylvester again. “I want you to rehearse the scene’s stunts again with Jana. We may need to adjust your choreography for the camera angle.”

I nodded, giving a small wave to Agent Liam as I made my way toward Manda. My body was already aching from all the stunt work today (and the fact that my call time was six a.m.), but movie Rosemary was exhausted during this scene too, so I guess I was method acting.

With another kick of excited adrenaline, I’d be fine. Or maybe I should start drinking coffee?

Manda walked over as I looked back at Agent Liam.

Ver walked on set at that moment too, looking like she fit right in. No one batted an eye. Even when she wasn’t starring in a VIGIL & ANTE Studios movie, she enjoyed hanging out, and since Xavier Jay had given her permission, that was good enough for the rest of the crew.

But right now, Ver didn’t look like she’d just come to hang out. She had a serious expression, and after she whispered something to Agent Liam, his face hardened as well. Seconds later they walked away with purpose.

Oh to be able to read lips. My spy skills needed work.

“London,” Manda snapped, her long black braid swaying behind her as she talked. “Pay attention.”

“Oh, yes, I am.” I nodded. I was now, anyway.

“We’re changing your assailant’s entrance to the door across the hall.” She pointed to the correct door. “He’ll attack you on the same mark, but from behind instead of in front.” She motioned to the disguised Cloaker. He jogged over and the three of us made our way to the set pieces to mark the scene.

Manda backed onto the set toward the piece of tape marking my blocking. “I want the same fight sequence, but he will come up behind you, holding his gun at your chest. You whip around, pull his arm forward, and dislodge the gun. Then you turn and go into the sequence.”

I nodded. Okay, yeah, I could do that…hopefully without hurting Cloaker in the process.

“Let’s do a run through in slow motion,” Manda looked around, then pointed at us. “Can we get a mat down?”

Production assistants raced around, and before I knew it, a bright green padded mat covered the hallway’s floor near my mark. Oh good, Cloaker would be protected by only an inch of padding when I tossed him.

I glanced at him, looking him up and down. “Sorry if this hurts.” It definitely would.

He shrugged. “Nah, I know how to land.” Then, in a lower voice, he added, “Can’t be as painful as a gut shot.”

I gulped. He’d been shot before? “Wow, okay, didn’t know about that. Still, I apologize in advance.”

“Okay, London, go to your mark,” Manda said. “You’re facing the door, gun out and at the ready.” I acted out her narration. “And Assailant, go, raise your gun, Rosemary turn, yank his weapon, good, good. Now bring him up and then he lands.” Her narration was slow, almost in a sing-song voice.

Cloaker gave me a thumbs-up from the floor. No broken bones, though I didn’t do the full move. Couldn’t really do that in slow motion, but at least we had the choreography.

Manda nodded with approval. “I think you both have it.”

“We’re going for a thirty-minute break.” Sylvester’s booming voice drowned out the soft chatter and clatter of the sound stage. “I want everyone back here on time and ready to go.” He placed a hand on his hip and looked around.

The set came alive again, this time with people laughing, moving around, and flooding out of the stage, probably to snag some snacks and coffee from craft services.

Still, the break hadn’t been scheduled beforehand, at least not on my call sheet.

I glanced over to see that Agent Liam had returned. He was motioning me, Manda, and Cloaker to follow him. What had Ver told him? What was going on?

We followed him out into the sunlight. I covered my eyes, squinting because everything was way too bright after the sound stage’s strange dark lightness.

“I told him there are technical difficulties,” Agent Liam whispered as we walked. “He shouldn’t figure it out for a while.”

Manda smirked as if she was happy to see Sylvester suffer. So far, they hadn’t gotten along very well, but that wasn’t saying much since she could probably count the number of people she liked on one hand.

“Ver and Sam found something.” Agent Liam’s voice was still low.

The air left my chest. Finally, after months. They found something.

“What is it?” Manda asked.

“Ver and Ironfall are waiting in Rosemary’s trailer, and Sam is on the line.” Agent Liam gestured us onward. “We’ll brief everyone there.”

JULY 10 – 11:50 A.M. PDT

Ironfall lounged on my trailer’s couch like he owned the place, lying back, already dressed in his costume, dark hair styled so one wave slid across his forehead. The thought of fangirls going feral over that made me want to bang my head against the wall. That mixed with those brown eyes, a sliver of icy blue permeating his left iris.

I swallowed, not taking my eyes off him as we piled into the trailer’s “living room.” It was cramped, but we made it work. I took a seat at the table next to Ver. Manda and Liam sat across from us. Sam’s face was projected through the TV on the wall.

Ironfall finally looked up, gaze falling on me of all people. “You’re looking rough,” he said, grinning. “You get beat up in your scene?”

It took everything in me not to demand he get off my couch. He needed to stop acting like he belonged. Stop wearing his stupid costume and his stupid grin and that stupid strand of hair curling delicately across his forehead. “If you read the script, you’d know.” I grimaced, training my eyes back on Agent Liam. If you’re going to pretend to help us, then at least sit up and act like you’re taking VIGIL seriously. Five people packed in my trailer (yes, my trailer) made it feel small enough, but having him in here made it claustrophobic. My chest tightened.

“Why would you assume I didn’t?” The ice blue in his left eye shimmered in the odd trailer lighting. Why did I notice that? “I’m a very committed actor, you know.” He smiled wider.

“And you’re too good at it,” I said, looking away. So good I couldn’t tell if he was working for VIGIL for his own nefarious purposes. Sure, he passed the lie detector test, but I was still waiting for the moment he’d change his mind and decide he didn’t want to help us anymore.

And why was he still sprawled across my couch?

“We’re not thrilled he’s here.” Agent Liam’s eyes darted between the two of us. “I know. Let’s get—”

“Hey guys,” Sam said, a small picture on the TV screen. “It’s me. How’s set life for my favorite movie stars?” He looked way too happy to be here. “It’s not fair you get to have all the fun.” Someone was having too much fun. Ironfall. It was Ironfall.

“Combing through hard drive data isn’t exciting enough for you?” Ver laughed, rolling her eyes. “Who would have thought?”

“You’re lucky to be included in this meeting at all,” Ironfall said.

“You’re one to talk,” Manda muttered, reading my mind.

I bit back my own angry retort and forced a smile. “We’re happy to have you here, Sam. Even if it’s only on video.”

“Ugh, school and homework and stuff. You’re so lucky you graduated,” Sam said. I only missed the last few months of senior year, but VIGIL still pulled strings so everything tied up nicely. I was the proud owner of a high school diploma, a VIGIL badge, and a movie deal.

Not to mention a deal with Ironfall, the supervillain with questionable intentions.

Agent Liam cleared his throat, gesturing toward the TV as he pulled up a blue wire-y map of the United States as well as what was supposed to be a board of clues. But only one clue was there: we believed my…father…now led ANTE. That was all we knew.

“Ver and Sam have been combing through the data we recovered from the ANTE base where Cloaker was held. Most of it was destroyed when ANTE initiated the self-destruct protocols, but they cracked it.” Agent Liam clicked another button, bringing up dots on the screen. “We now believe there are a network of four ANTE sleeper cells. We took out one during Cloaker’s rescue. That leaves us the remaining three to find.”

Ironfall sat up, finally deciding now was a good time to be professional. “Is that all we have? The number of bases?” Careful. Calculated. He was thinking. Was his mask lowering?

“ANTE was a little too thorough in covering their tracks. The data we recovered from the blasts was minimal,” Ver said.

“Not even I could recover it, and that’s saying something,” Sam piped up.

“You’re avoiding an answer,” Ironfall said. “Which means I’m right.” As much as I hated to admit it, he was correct. They were avoiding it.

“I’m still determined to get something…but yes, you’re right,” Sam said. “But that doesn’t mean I’m admitting defeat!”

“Do we have leads on any operatives?” Manda asked.

“We’re looking for groups of people embedded in government, Hollywood, and other key linchpin places in society. We believe they’re hiding in plain sight waiting to be activated.” Agent Liam turned, studying the map. When we rescued Cloaker, he warned us about how organized they were. They had backup plans upon backup plans. They had people waiting to mobilize in case things in DC went south.

“These bases could be branches, they could be separate cells, but we don’t know,” Ver said. “I know, it isn’t the news we were hoping for.”

“See if you can get anything off the hard drives. Check evidence from the blast too. I want you to comb through everything again,” Agent Liam said.

“What are we looking for?” Sam leaned closer to the screen. “We were obviously very thorough.”

“Just do it.” Agent Liam straightened. “See if he knows anything he hasn’t shared that could help.” He glanced at his watch. “We only have a few minutes to be back on set. Anything else we should know?”

“The Project Safeguard 3 premiere is coming up,” Ver said. “Which is considerably less important—”

“YES!” Sam screamed so loud the speakers cut out for a moment. “Sorry. Am I invited?”

“Do you have an actor alter ego?” Ironfall rolled his eyes.

“Not yet,” Sam said. “But I’m sure it’s coming.” In your dreams, Sam.

“Remember what you told me about the one time you tried acting?” Ironfall said. “Something about puking?” I remembered him telling us about that back when…back when things were weird and normal and terrifying all at the same messy time.

“Whaaaat?” Sam’s eyes widened. “I don’t think I ever said anything like that. I mean it happened, but I’m a new man now ready to take on my role in the new movie.”

“On that note, everyone head back to set. We have an action scene to film.” Agent Liam waved his hands in a shooing motion.

“It’s not even my call time yet and I need a nap.” Ironfall turned toward me and laughed. Ugh, why was his laugh like that? And why was he so right? My eyelids felt like lead.

“Me too,” I said, trying to keep any sort of emotion out of my voice.

“I also need a nap,” Sam said.

“Oh shut up,” Manda and Ironfall said in unison.

BESTVIGILMEMES.BLOGGINGLIFE.COM

FEATURING THE BEST VIGIL & ANTE STUDIOS POSTS (DON’T @ ME)

– UNAVERAGEVIGILFAN2002

unaveragevigilfan2002:

This is my official petition to play literally anyone in I AM STARDUST. Please please please Xavier Jay or Noelle Atkins cast me. I beg you. NOtiCE ME.

Comments:

Ironfallismine4000: no because I’d give my right arm

givehimacameo: You deserve it fandom king

cloakercloakercloaker: MEEEEEEEEE

trying2act: I’ll play a tree. ANYTHING

_______________________________________________

vigilagentmarie:

Okay but do you think the cast sees this? Bc that would be amazing

Comments:

unaveragevigilfan2002: yes of course

Replies:

chloechloechloe2004: source: trust me bro

makemeyourmovievillain: lol

clo4ker: I mean they should

shapeshiftingpet: and miss the best part of the fandom? They’d thrive here

degreesurge4pres: How do you know I’m not one of the cast??????

Replies:

unaveragevigilfan2002: and how do you know I don’t have an in with them?

Replies:

shapeshiftingpet: A regular VIGIL agent

JULY 10 – 4:22 P.M. PDT

I shook my head at my phone. Oh, Sam, provider of peak entertainment. If these commenters only knew he was literally a VIGIL informant, that all of this was real.

That Ironfall was allegedly one of the good guys now…

I readjusted myself in the tall easeled chair with my name embroidered on it; I had one of my own now, and it really was the coolest thing. I sat alone in the greenroom tent (which was not, in fact, green) waiting on Ironfall to finish in hair and makeup. How was it that he took longer than me? He could have himself ready in five seconds flat with all his disguises. The thought sent a shiver trickling down my spine. Who knew what his real plan was. He passed the lie detector test, so maybe he’d been sincere at that point in time, but things could have changed. Flipping sides was what he did.

We’d be fools to expect anything different.

A crinkling of plastic made me look up.

Ironfall.

I tensed, crossing my legs. The costume department needed to turn it down with his perfectly imperfect hair and midnight button-down shirt rolled just below his elbows.

That singular wave still swooped onto his forehead too. I looked away.

It was the costume department’s fault that every VIGIL & ANTE Studios fangirl fell for him. Yep. Them and nothing else.

He took two steps inside before bursting the tension. “You see what Sam just posted to his little fan account?” Yes, and the dramatic irony was unmatched.

“I did.” I nodded. Sam. Yes, think of Sam and not Ironfall’s inevitable betrayal.

“Think I ought to shake things up a bit? Start an account?”

My head snapped up. “Absolutely not! You know what kind of scandal that would cause.” Not to mention the PR nightmare. Was that his plan? No, he wouldn’t reveal it so plainly. I needed sleep or caffeine in an IV, even though a single cup of coffee shot my anxiety to another level.

“Oh but it would be fun.” The sliver of blue in his eye gleamed mischievously. “Maybe I already have.”

He was just messing with me. I let myself relax, but not too much.

“You did not.” I narrowed my eyes. “Ver is gonna kill you. I’m going to kill you.” There. Now he wouldn’t come up with any ideas.

He shrugged, striding all-too-confidently to the chair labeled “Rhett Wickford.” “Luckily you guys need me.” Yeah, and I hated it.

“Cloaker’s here. You’re replaceable.” I said it as more of a warning, one I would never stop giving him. You’re on a short leash. You slip up once, you’re done.

He either didn’t catch my meaning or shrugged it off. “Am I?” Who was I kidding? He caught everything but pretended he didn’t, and it gave him an advantage.

Two could play those mind games.

Just then a production assistant popped her head in. “Ready for you on set.”

“That’s our cue.” I hopped off my seat, shooting Ironfall one last warning glance before leaving the tent.