The taping was over. The fans had left. The crew was filing out of the building to head home for the night. Why, then, were two men still lingering in the flourescent lit hallway that led to the Whose Line set?
"Would you explain to me again, why we're doing this?" said one of them.
"Because it's fun," replied his companion. The first was about to reply when he was interupted by a familiar voice from down the hall.
"Colin! Ryan! You guys ready?" called Greg Proops, walking toward them.
"Yep!" answered Ryan, "Where's Wayne?"
"Right here!" Wayne said loudly as he came up behind Ryan and grabbed him by the shoulders. Ryan jumped, surprised by his friend's well-timed entrance. Greg laughed.
"Not scared, are ya Ryan?" he kidded.
"Isn't that the point of tonight?" Ryan retorted.
"Are you sure you're brave enough?" Greg teased.
"Are you calling me a chicken?" asked Ryan.
"What is this? Questions Only?" said Colin, rolling his eyes, "Where'd you guys come up with this idea, anyway?"
Greg shrugged. "I overheard one of the stagehands talking about the so-called 'haunted studio', and it just kinda came to me," he said, "Ok, so let's go!"
They walked down the hallway, Wayne leadig the way. Eventually, tehy stopped in front of a large door in an out-of-the-way and forgotten area of teh building. Greg pulled a key out of his pocket.
"Ok, first, the object of the game," said Greg, "is to try to scare the hell out of the other team. Wayne, you're with me. Ryan, you're with Colin."
"Hey! How come I always get stuck with him?" Colin asked, trying to look as though he seriously meant it. Ryan pouted and pretended to look hurt.
"Anyway...on to the rules," Greg said, chuckling, "Rule one, bith members of the team must stay inside the...ahem...'haunted studio' all night, or they're disqualified."
"No problem," said Ryan confidently.
"Yeah, we'll see," retorted Greg, "Rule two, anything goes. This is a no-holds barred competition...Just try to avoid things that might end up killing someone, ok?"
"Aw," said Colin, "And I just had my chainsaw tuned up especially for tonight, too."
"And finally," said Greg, "Rule three. Whoever scares the other team the most times by 5 o' clock tommorow morning wins."
"Who's keeping score?" asked Wayne.
"Each team keep count of their own score," said Greg, "You're on the honor system, so be good! Alrighty, here's your stuff..."
Greg pulled a small blue bag from behind a potted plant near the door and handed it to Colin and Ryan. He produced a similar bag for Wayne and himself. Ryan opened his. Inside were a couple of flashlights, a set of walkie talkies, and a pad of paper and a pen for keeping score.
"I feel like a kid again," Ryan said, grinning.
"Ready?" asked Greg.
"All set," responded Ryan. Colin nodded in agreement.
"Me, too," said Wayne.
Greg unlocked the door and motioned them inside. He turned on his flashlight and then closed the door behind him as he followed the other three in. Ryan flicked his light on and held it under his chin so that it cast an eerie set of shadows across his face.
"Redrum...redrum," he said in a screechy voice. Wayne attacked Colin with an imaginary knife.
"Hey, hey, hey," said Greg, "Save it for the game! Come on, Wayne. We'll head off over here and plan our attack. You two can have the other side of the studio."
Greg and Wayne headed off into the darkness. Ryan watched the beams of their flashlights move farther and farther off.
"Well, come on!" said Colin, "Let's figure out how we're gonna win this game!"
"Man," said Wayne, "This is gonna be good."
Greg and Wayne crept through the shadows looking for Ryan and Colin. They were almost ready to put their plan into action. They just needed the locations of their victims.
Meanwhile, Colin and Ryan were busy with their own plan to scare Wayne and Greg. They had split up and were communicating over their walkie talkies.
"Hey, Ryan," Colin whispered into his, "I just found them. They're headed straight for you."
"I'm all set," replied Ryan. Colin trailed behind them, walkie talkie in hand, following the light from Greg's flashlight. When the light went off, Colin knew they were getting ready to make their move, and decided to get closer. He started to move towards them, but suddenly, he was grabbed from behind. He tried to cry out, but was silenced by the hand that reached up and covered his mouth. Before he had time to react, his captor dragged himbackwards, and just as suddenly as the attack began, the arms released him. Colin grabbed for his flashlight, but before he could turn it on, he heard a door slam, followed by a loud click. He turned on his light and discovered that he was in what looked like the prop room. He tried the door, but it was locked. He banged on the door.
"Hey! Let me out of here!" he yelled. No one answered. Colin reached for the walkie talkie that should have been clipped to his back pocket, but found nothing, and realized that he must have dropped it when he was grabbed.
"Great," Colin said to himself, "What is going on here?"
In another part of the studio, Wayne and Greg had finally found Ryan.
"Where's Colin?" Greg whispered.
"I don't know," said Wayne, "He's gotta be around here somewhere."
They looked around, searching for the light of Colin's flashlight, but saw only darkness. When they turned back to where Ryan had been, they saw only his light sitting on a stool.
"Where'd he go?" asked Wayne. Suddenly, a hand grabbed him by the shoulder.
"Boo!" said a loud voice. Wayne jumped, and let out a surprised yelp. Then, he turned around to see Ryan grinning at him.
"Boo?" said Greg, "That's the best you could do?"
"Hey, it counts," said Ryan, "I scared him. He jumped!"
"Oh just give them the point," said Wayne, "We'll get them back."
Ryan laughed, and picked up his walkie talkie.
"Hey, Colin, trhe score's one to zero in our favor," he said. There was no answer. "Colin? That's weird. I was just talking to him a minute ago. He was right behind you two."
"Hey Colin!" called Greg, "You can come out now!" There was still no answer.
"Maybe the ghost of the 'haunted studio' got him," Greg joked.
"We'd better go look for him," said Ryan.
"Oh, come on," said Greg, "You don't expect us to fall for that, do you? What, is Colin going to jump out at us holding a severed head or something?"
"I don't think he's kidding, Greg," said Wayne. One look at Ryan's face told him that Wayne was right.
"Alright, let's find him," said Greg. Ryan grabbed his flashlight, and the three of them started searching, calling Colin's name every few minutes.
"Let's split up," said Wayne, "We'll find him faster that way."
Ryan and Greg agreed, and they each headed off on a separate direction.
Ryan soon found himself on an old bedroom set. He wandered around, checking everywhere Colin could possibly be, but he couldn't find a trace of his friend. Finally, he decided to try somewhere else. Just as he was about to leave, Ryan noticed something. A half-eaten sandwich sat on a small table near the bed. It definatly hadn't been there long. It was still fresh. Just then, someone tapped Ryan on the shoulder.
"Ah!" Ryan yelled, spinning around. Wayne stood behind him looking somewhat surprised.
"Sorry," said Wayne, "I thought you heard me." He smiled, "I guess that's a point for me..We're tied."
Ryan laughed.
"We've gotta stop doing that," he said, "Any luck finding Colin?"
"No," said Wayne.
"Well, I found something kind of strange," said Ryan, holding up the sandwich.
"Where'd that come from?" asked Wayne.
"I found it in here," said Ryan, "Someone besides the four of us has been here...and recently...Where's Greg?"
"Hang on," said Wayne, "I'll tell him to meet us here."
Wayne pulled out his walkie talkie. "Hey Greg, Ryan's found something. Meet us over here on the bedroom set," he said. The only answer he received was static.
"Greg? You there?" said Wayne, "Greg?"
"Oh wonderful," said Ryan, "Now we have two missing people. What the heck is going on here?"
"I don't know," said Wayne, "But this is getting pretty creepy. Come on, let's keep looking."
"Alright," said Ryan, "But this time, we're sticking together."
Ryan and Wayne began the search again. They had no idea where their friends were, but they were determined to find them. They called out Colin's and Greg's names, but recieved no reply.
"Maybe it's time we got Security down here," said Wayne.
"Yeah, you may be right," Ryan replied, "I just don't to leave COlin and Greg alone in here, and I definatly don't want to stay here by myself."
Wayne nodded, understanding completely. As they continued to walk, they found themselves in front of several dressing rooms.
"Greg? Colin?" called Wayne. Suddenly, they heard a muffled voice, followed by a crash from inside one of the rooms. Ryan and Wayne headed for the source of the noise, and flung open the door. Ryan shined his flashlight into the room.
"Greg!" he cried, surprised. Greg was lying on his side, still securly tied to a chair. He was gagged and bot his arm and legs were bound. Wayne and Ryan quickly lifted him upright, and Ryan removed the gag as Wayne began untying him.
"Are you alright?" asked Ryan.
"Yeah," said Greg, "Just scared out of my mind!"
"What happened?" Wayne asked, removing the last of the ropes.
"I was looking for Colin in this dressing room," said Greg, "and out of nowhere, someone pushes my into the chair and ties me down. Then, whoever it was gagged me and left me here. When I heard you guys calling me, I figured the only way to get your attention was to knock the chair over and hope you heard it."
"I don't like this," said Wayne, "Let's just find Colin and get out of here."
"Let's try farther down the hallway," said Ryan.
They walked down the hallway calling out Colin's name. Suddenly, Ryan saw something move.
"What was that?" he asked. He shined his light in the direction of the movement, and saw a man dressed all in black, from head to toe, he face covered by a ski mask. The man turned and ran, concealing himself in the shadows.
"Get him!" yelled Greg. Ryan, Greg, and Wayne chased after the man, and easily caught him. They surrounded him, and Ryan grabbed the edge of the mask and yanked it from the man's face. He gasped.
"Drew?!" Ryan said, shocked., barely believing his eyes, "You're the one who tied up Greg? And where's Colin?"
"Colin's locked in the prop room. It was a joke!" Drew replied, "But what are you talking about? I didn't do anything to Greg."
Suddenly, they heard a scream, followed by several crashes.
"It's coming formthe prop room," said Drew, "Colin!"
They rushed of towards the sound, and quickly found the door. They could hear Colin pounding on the other side of the door.
"Colin?!" Ryan yelled.
"Get me out of here!" came the muffled reply.
Drew pulled the key to the door out of his pocket and unlocked it. Colin tumbled out and landed on the ground. He was quickly on his feet, as the crashing sound from inside the room continued. The others crowded around the door, anxious to see what was going on.
"What the hell..." Ryan began. Inside the room, dozens of old props were being flung about by invisible hands, crashing into walls, most of the more breakable items shattering on impact.
"How'd you set that up, Drew?" asked Greg.
"I didn't!" Drew replied. Greg was about to comment, but he was cut off by a new sound. Maniacal laughter reverberated throughout the studio. It seemed to be coming from all around them.
"Anyone else wanna get the hell outta here?" asked Drew.
"Um...yeah..." said Greg.
They ran for the exit, the laughter still all around them. They reached the door and ran into the hallway. Colin slammed the door shut, and the five of them stopped to catch their breath.
"Oh man," gasped Wayne, "What was that?"
"I don't know," said Drew, still panting, "I didn't set up anything like that."
"Wait a second," said Ryan, "When we asked you if you wanted to join us, you said you were busy."
"I wanted to surprise you," said Drew. Just then, they heard someone knocking on the other side of the studio door.
"Don't open it," said Drew. The knocking continued. Ryan reached out and slowly opened the door, despite Drew's protest, to reveal...Brad Sherwood standing on the other side, grinning from ear to ear.
"Gotcha," said Brad, "Hey Drew, you were right! That was fun!"
He walked over and put an arm around Drew, who was laughing hysterically.
"That was priceless," he gasped between laughs. The other just stared at the two men in disbelief. Finally, they gave in and started laughing, too.
"We'll get you for this," Greg grinned, wiping his eyes, "Just you wait."
