It was late. The taping had ended hours ago, and by now, almost everyone but the security guards had gone home for the night. Ryan and Colin walked quickly toward the door that led to the studio parking lot. The two men were so immersed in their conversation, they didn’t see the shadows that followed them, lurking just a few feet away.
"God, I’m tired," said Ryan, his deep voice echoing in the waning florescent light of the hallway. Colin yawned.
"Me, too," he said, "I can’t wait to crawl into bed." Ryan grinned at his companion.
"We could have left with everyone else if you hadn’t insisted on showing off that new laptop of yours."
"Hey, how was I supposed to know you’d want to spend so much time surfing the net?" replied Colin in mock annoyance, "I’ll turn you into a web junkie yet!"
They reached the end of the hallway, and Ryan pushed open the door, only to find that a heavy chain on the outside prevented him form opening it more than a few inches.
"That’s weird," said Colin, "When did they start chaining the doors?"
Just as Ryan was about to reply, the lights went out. Neither of them could see a thing. Before either could react, they heard the sound of footsteps coming toward them, and excited giggling emanating from the darkness.
"Who’s there?" called Ryan, backing up with Colin against the wall. Suddenly, he felt two sets of hands grip him by both arms. They began to pull him away from Colin. It was completely dark in the hallway, but Ryan’s captors tied a blindfold over his eyes. He struggled, trying to get away, but more hands reached out and held him.
"What do you want?" Colin’s voice called out from a few feet away. The only answer he received was the sound of giggling as he and Ryan were half escorted, half dragged back toward the interior of the building. Ryan tried to pull away several times, but he couldn’t get loose. He guessed that there were at least six people holding him, and probably the same number keeping Colin from getting away. The group suddenly paused, and Ryan could hear decidedly feminine voices whispering. He couldn’t catch much of what was being said, but he did hear one of the voices whisper:
"You take Colin that way, and we’ll go this way."
They were going to separate them. Ryan struggled, but his captors held tight and wouldn’t let go.
"Ryan!" Colin’s voice, filled with alarm, called out, "Help!"
"Colin!" Ryan fought against the hands that restrained him, but he couldn’t get away. He could hear Colin struggling to get loose as well. The sounds got farther and farther away until, at last, Ryan couldn’t hear them anymore.
"Let me go!" Ryan yelled, twisting and squirming in a panicked attempt to run, "Someone help me!"
He heard them giggle as they pulled him in what he assumed to be the opposite direction they had taken Colin. The giggling and whispering voices guided him carefully, never relinquishing their hold on him. Bright light now peeked through the edges of the blindfold, but other than that, he could see nothing. Ryan continued to demand who they were and what they wanted, but his captors wouldn’t answer.
Finally, they paused once more. Ryan heard one of them open a door directly in front of him. The others guided him through, and into a dark room. The door slammed shut behind him, and a hand reached up to Ryan’s face and removed the blindfold. The room was pitch black, and from the darkness, Ryan could occasionally hear muffled voices and whispers. He desperately tried to focus his eyes on the source of the sounds, but it was too dark. The hands still gripped him, holding him firmly in place. He could hear someone moving behind him. Panic gripped him as Ryan imagined what these people were planning on doing to him.
"Who are you?" he called out, a note of fear in his voice. Suddenly, there was a click behind him, and the room was flooded with bright light. Ryan blinked, momentarily blinded, and then stared at the scene in front of him.
"Surprise!" yelled the crowd of people huddled at the opposite side of the room. Ryan’s jaw dropped and he stood speechless as his captors released him and ran to join the others.
"Happy birthday to you," they sang, "Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday, dear Ryan! Happy birthday to you!"
Colin appeared next to him, much to Ryan’s relief, and put an arm around his shoulders. The grin on Colin’s face told Ryan all he needed to know.
"You set this whole thing up, didn’t you?" Ryan said. Colin grinned at him and nodded. Ryan started laughing.
"You are one sadistic individual," Ryan said jokingly. He looked at the crowd across from him and saw Brad, Wayne, Greg, Drew, and several dozen Whosers, all laughing hysterically. Colin couldn’t stand it any longer, and cracked up.
"You..." Colin said, gasping for air, "You should have seen the look on your face!"
Colin led Ryan over to his "kidnappers" and offered a quick introduction. Later, as the party began to die down, and everyone started to feel the effects of the lateness of the hour, Ryan pulled Colin aside. Grinning a somewhat malicious little smile, he said:
"Just wait until your birthday comes around, my friend..."
