Behind The Scenes - 4
Chapter Four:
In which Josh makes a few more Life or Death decisions, and something else bad happens.
"It looks as thought we’ll all be spending the night here." Josh said, looking around the theater. "No.. unneeded actions, please." He said, looking at a few of the boys, and Danny, who had just woken up. He frowned, and walked over to Ryan, who also had just woken up. She was in the aisle next to the wall on the left side of the stage, laying down, well, leaning up against a chair with a wet paper towel on her forehead.
"Feeling any better?" Josh asked laying down next to her.
"No… my head is killing me." Ryan said, with her eyes closed. Josh frowned, and reached up, running his finger on one of the cuts on her face. She opened one eye and looked at him.
"You didn’t see a face or anything?" He asked, pulling his hand away, and sitting up.
"No…. I only turned in time to see that giant spoon." She muttered. "Now I’m going to have nightmares for a month about a giant spoon hitting me over the head.." She smiled slightly.
"At least your ok." Josh said, Ryan leaned over, resting her head on his shoulder. He slipped his arm behind her, and around her waist.
"I wonder….. are we the good guys, or the bad guys?" Josh muttered.
"Huh?" Ryan looked up at him.
"In this…. Story, I guess, are we the good guys or the bad guys?"
"What story?"
"This mystery story… Because, if we’re the good guys, we live right? We find out who the killer is, most of the time, nobody dies, and we live. Right?"
"Right…. But of course we’re the good guys… We didn’t do anything wrong…"
"Yeah.. I guess so.."
"Your twisted mind got away with you yet again my dear Eps." Ryan said, looking up at him again. He smiled….
There were a few minutes of silence, before he leaned down, and touched his lips with hers. Ryan was shocked at first, but then, found herself kissing him back, with her arms around his shoulders.
He turned slightly, making it so he was over her. Ryan brought herself up by tightening her arms around his neck, he ran a hand down the small of her back.
"No unneeded actions huh Josh?" Danny tisk-tisked as he spied in on the two. Jessica pointed and waved her finger, shaking her head.
Ryan frowned, and slid towards the ground, hoping she wasn’t as red as she felt. Josh sighed, and stood up.
"Anyone know what time it is?" He said, a few of the cast members mumbled.
"11:23." Peter said, Josh looked over. Peter was sitting up in a chair, well, slouched back, with Tiffany curled up -very catlike-, on his lap.
"Thanks." Josh sat back down, Ryan was rubbing her forehead.
"Now what?" Jessica said, Danny was now laying on the stairs to the stage, and Jessica was laying down behind him on the stage.
"I donno. I guess, we wait. Tomorrow, we can go through the entire theater to look for something to knock a door down. Hopefully our ‘psycho killer’ as Holly put it, will be tired and won’t try anything."
"AHHHHHHHH!"
"I guess I spoke to soon." Josh muttered, jumping to his feet, and looking towards the other end of the theater….
Jason, Randy and Sally were on the stage. Sally was looking into the tire, where Randy was trying to pull something.
"Damnit…" Danny yelled as he and Jessica ran up to the stage. "Josh, Jason is…. Well, come look.." Danny said.
Josh ran up the stairs, and looked into the tire…
Jason was sprawled out inside the tire, some part of the ‘Claw-way to the Heaviside’ must have fallen silently, because you could just bearly see him underneath the large, metal object.
Randy looked up at Danny, Jessica, Sally, Josh and Ryan with pleading eyes.
"He… we….we were sitting on the tire, while… while Sally was practicing a line… and… and he proposed, and b-b-b-b-b-before I could s-s-s-s-s-say anything, that fell!" She stuttered. Putting her head in her hands to cry.
Sally helped her out of the tire, and tried to comfort her.
"All right! Everybody listen up!" Josh yelled, jumping onto the tire.
"All of the girls, go back and sit in the audience, towards the middle," he started
"where nothing can fall, jump out, or slice you." Danny added. Josh looked at him sternly.
"Toni, Eric, Danny, and Peter help me get Jason. The rest of you, go into the bathrooms, and bring me some towels, and see if you can find something soft for Jason to lay on."
Josh frowned. Ryan walked over to Sally, Holly, Randi, Randy, Joesy and Tiffany who were walking down the left side of the stage towards the middle, all trying to comfort Randy.
Ryan turned to look at the boys, who were contemplating some way to get Jason free and out of the tire without doing to much damage to what had already been done.
Randy sat down in one of the center chairs, the rest of the girl part of the cast sat in chairs, or on the floor, beside, infront or behind her. All offering advice, and trying to cheer her up.
After the boys got Jason free of the object, Ron had to break the news to Randy -the boys drew straws to see who would have to tell her- that the object had to much of an impact, and… and Jason didn’t make it….
Randy was heartbroken, and didn’t speak to anyone for the rest of the night.
After Josh had given everyone instructions on where to be at all times, and the four people to come to for help, he talked to Susan, Eric, John and Eliane to work out some sort of rules system everyone would have to follow until they got out of the theater.
In a few minutes, Josh had everyone’s attention and was standing on stage.
"All right, I’ve talked with Susan, Eric, John and Eliane, and we have decided that while we are in this theater, everyone MUST follow these rules: 1 no screaming. I know your all wondering why, but, if someone got hurt, and the ‘psycho killer’ heard you scream, she/he would try harder to kill you, and also know everyone else now knows of what he/she did. So no screaming. 2 you MUST tell Susan, Eric, John or Eliane if you’re going to leave this room. 3 We’re going to stop this person, whoever they are, once and for all. But, its really to late now. So tomorrow, we’ll call the police, since the phones lines here shut down every night at ten, break the door, and find this person. Then, Whoever still wants to, will help me put on the best Performance ever." Josh smiled, a few people clapped sarcastically.
"At least somebody’s high hoped!" Holly yelled, Tiffany nodded.
"JOSH! LOOK OUT!" Ryan jumped to her feet, and pointed back stage, Josh jumped off stage just as the ‘Claw-way to the Heavyside’ fell, and right where he was standing.
A few of the guys ran up to the stage, and looked around. Ryan, who just couldn’t stay where she was, was literally jumping over seats to get to Josh.
"Josh…" Ryan said as she neared the first two rows of seats.
"Hhhhhuh…." Josh muttered, Ryan jumped over the next row and kneeled down beside Josh. She frowned. He looked utterly horrible. He had definitely, no doubt about it, broken his right arm, you could tell. He’d cut his forehead on the chair on his way off the stage, and sprained his ankle.
Ryan helped him sit up. Gasps were heard as a gunshot was fired, and Toni, Ron, Tom and Danny ran from backstage. Only Ron was limping. Danny and Tom helped him down the stairs, as some man with a gun walked out onto the stage.
Everyone gasped again, he pointed the gun at Ron, then at Josh.
"You don’t look like a Macavity… or a Munkustrap… Why’d they cast you huh!? I could have done a much better job!" He said, clearly very, very angry with Josh and Ron.
"And, and if those traps would’ve worked, I was understudy for you," He pointed the gun at Josh, Ryan gasped, and put her arm around his shoulders. "and … if you would’ve been hurt… I.. I could’ve played your part! I would have done better then you!" He yelled, and pulled the trigger.
"AH!!!!!!!!!!" Ryan screamed, she buried her face in Josh’s shirt, not wanting to know where, or if he was hit.
Josh groaned, and lurched forward, Ryan pulled back and screamed.
The man on stage then pointed his gun towards Ron, everyone in the theater was hiding behind chairs. The girls all crying, and their boyfriends -or just the people beside them- were trying to comfort them.
"And they told me I was the best Macavity when I played him three years ago. I SHOULD HAVE BEEN CASTED!" He pulled the trigger again, this time Randy screamed.
"I SHOULD HAVE BEEN CASTED!" This time, a gun shot was fired from the back of the stage, the man staggered, and dropped his gun. Everyone turned their heads as Joseph fired again, sending the man on stage to the ground, dead.
"Is everyone all right?" Joseph asked.
"NO!" Tiffany screamed.
"Are you kidding!?" Jessica yelled.
"The man had a gun!" Holly countered.
"JUST call 911!" Sally finished.
"Hurry!" Ryan said, looking at Josh, with a heavy frown, realizing that he had been shot in the side.
She leaned over and lifted his head by his chin. His face was filled with pain, he opened his glazed blue eyes, and muttered something under his breath.
"Shhh," Ryan said, and cradled him.
"OK! I’ll use my car phone, everyone, go outside. Eric, could you and John help me carry Josh and Jason outside?" Joseph asked.
The three walked over to Josh.
"Are you OK Ryan?" Joseph asked.
Ryan looked at Josh, then back at Joseph. "Yeah…" She stood up, and walked outside with the rest of the cast.
JOSH!!!!!!!!
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