In the Grips of Fear, Beware - Part 1By Nikki_Lynn
Wayne ran through the smoke-filled corridor, lungs burning for fresh air, panic flooding his mind as he was persued by an unseen stalker. Moments before, he had been sound asleep, dreaming, only to be awakened by the obnoxious buzz of the smoke detector, and the sudden, gripping fear that he was not alone in his room. Tossing aside the blankets, he had raced to the door, flinging it open, the intense heat and acrid smoke forcing him to step backwards. Glancing over his shoulder, seeing no one, but sensing the utter hatred that permiated the room, he had turned desparatly back to the door. Flames licked the walls, creeping ever-closer to him, the air heavy with smoke. The presence behind him seemed to move closer, as if trying to corner him, to take him. He gasped one last breath of fresh air, the heat momentarily burning the back of his throat, and stepped out among the flames. The aura of menace and anger behind him growing, intense hatred. Wayne ran, casting frightened looks back, still seeing nothing, yet sensing persuit. Coughing as he found he couldn't hold his breath any longer. Drawing in lungfuls of scorching, smoky air, his chest tightening, lungs burning, desparate to be outside in the cool, crisp night. Suffocating, the hallway spinning, flames dancing all around him, and the awful presence behind him, in front of him, all around him, intermingled with the fire, menacing, and Wayne could feel its need to torment, to destroy him. Fear clouded his mind, a desparate need to run, to escape, but he couldn't stand. He felt himself falling, flames burning his hands as he hit the floor, unable to breathe. The presence moved in, as if trying to squeeze the life from his body. Wayne struggled against the tightness in his chest, the dizziness, the pain, but it was a futile attempt. He felt his conciousness slipping, manical laughter emminating from the smoke that enveloped his prone form... "Hey Wayne," he said, sitting up straighter in the chair despite the subconcious voice that trried to disuede him from doing so, "You ready for rehers...Geez, man, you look exhausted!" Brad studied Wayne for a moment. Sagging shoulders, eyes half-closed, his face the very picture of a sleepless night. "I was up all night," Wayne replied, his voice containing nothing of its usual strength and clarity. "Why?" Brad asked, concern showing in his face. "I had this horrible nightmare," Wayne replied, collapsing into a chair, letting his head loll back, and closing his eyes, "I couldn't get back to sleep afterwards." He placed his hands over his eyes, lightly resting his fingertips against his temples, and sighed. Brad's response was cut off as the door opened, admitting Ryan, Greg, and Colin, chatting happily with each other. "Morning guys," Greg called out, then glancing at Wayne, "Whoa, what happened to you?" Wayne raised his head long enough to glare half-heartedly at Greg, and then leaned back into the chair. "He didn't get much sleep last night," Brad supplied, "Nightmare." "Really?" asked Greg, intrigued, "About what?" Colin walked over to a small table on the opposite side of the room. He poured a cup of coffee, some of the dark liquid spattering onto the table inhis haste. He carried the cup over to Wayne who took it with a slight smile of gratitude, and took a sip before answering Greg's question. "A fire," said Wayne, "And someone chasing me. I remember running down a hallway, smoke and fire everywhere, and just this...this...feeling...of someone trying to get me." "I can see how that might be kinda tramatic late at night," said Ryan. "That's not the worst of it," said Wayne, "Just before I woke up, I heard someone laughing. That's what really freaked me out. It sounded just like..." "Don't say it," said Colin, already anticipating what Wayne was about to say. "Wax," Wayne finished. The five men looked nervously at each other. It couldn't be... (Nikki_Lynn) Hi Mel! :) (Locknestr) Mel!!!!! (whoser_mel) Hey guys! What's up? *Nikki_Lynn rubs her eys... God I'm tired. (whoser_mel) Nikki: How come? (Nikki_Lynn) Couldn't sleep. bad dream (Locknetr) Really? same here. I had an awful nightmare (whoser_mel) creepy coincidence... so did I. (NikkiLynn) That *is* creepy (NikkiLynn) I dreamt that I was underwater, drowning. Someone was holding me under the water, and I could;nt breath. (Locknestr) In my dream, I was being chased up flight after flight of stairs until I got to the roof of a building... (Locknestr) then someone pushed me off (NikkiLynn) Yikes. (whoser_mel) My dream was just plain creepy. I was trapped in a room and the walls were closing in... (whoser_mel) and that laugh... *Locknestr shudders... Can we please talk about something else? (NikkiLynn) Ok... Let's talk about our trip to LA! I can't wait to finally go to a taping! (whoser_mel) Yeah! The Brady Bunch returns! (NikkiLynn) hmmm... There's a story in that somewhere... *g* *whoser_mel is very excited about next week. *Brady has joined #waynebrady (Locknestr) Wayne!!! Hi! *NikkiLynn waves to Wayne... Hi! :) (whoser_mel) Hi Wayne! :) (Brady) Hi there! *Locknestr can't wait 'til next week... (Locknestr) California, here we come! (Brady) I'm looking forward to seeing you girls again, but I actually had another reason for stopping by. (NikkiLynn) You've finally realized that you're madly in love with us? *hopeful look* (whoser_mel) LOL Nikki! *Brady smiles (Brady) No, actually, I wanted to tell you about this dream I had last night. (NikkiLynn) You too? The 3 of us had some pretty weird dreams last night too. (Brady) Really? They weren't about Wax, were they? (whoser_mel) No... but I did hear a laugh that sounded a lot like Wax (Brady) Me too! (Locknestr) Same here (NikkiLynn) I didn't... but I was underwater in mine, and I couldn't hear much of anything. (whoser_mel) It can't be Wax, can it Linz? I mean, how could he get into our dreams? (Locknestr) I dunno. Maybe we should talk to the rest of the Brady Bunch and see if they had any weird dreams too (NikkiLynn) I'll email everyone... brb (whoser_mel) Did Ryan, Colin, Brad, or Greg have dreams too? (Brady) No just me. (Locknestr) That's kinda strange... (whoser_mel) maybe this is all just a coincidence (Locknestr) All four of us? Dreaming about Wax trying to kill us? some coincidence... *Brady hopes it *is* just a coincidence (NikkiLynn) Make that 5 of us... Babs is on AIM. She had a dream last night too. (Locknestr) No way this is just a coincidence. (Brady) I'd love to stick around and discuss this more, but I goota go. (whoser_mel) Awww... bye Wayne. (NikkiLynn) Be careful, Wayne... if it is Wax, who knows what he's planning. (Locknestr) We'll see you next week. Bye Wayne! (Brady) Bye girls! Take care! *Brady has left #waynebrady (NikkiLynn) Holly just emailed me. She had a dream too. (whoser_mel) This can't be good... "God, I hate planes," she said to herself. She looked at her watch, 1:15. Amazing, she thought. A flight that's actually on time. She looked around at the unfamiliar faces, then readjusting the backpack that hung from one shoulder, headed for the exit. "Nikki_Lynn!" a voice called from across the terminal. Nikki_Lynn looked over and saw Babs and Holly waving at her, moving toward her through the sea of impacient, hurrying bodies. "Hey!" said Nikki_Lynn, as Holly and Babs reached he, "What time did you two get here?" "About 20 minutes ago," replied Babs. "Mel's filght is due any minute now," added Holly. "Mel's filght is here!" called Mel as she hurried to join the group. "Kick ass!" said Nikki_Lynn, "Now we just need Linz." "She's not due for another two hours," said Holly, "I figured we'd dump our stuff at the hotel, maybe grab a quick snack, and then come back for her." "Sounds good to me," said Mel. "Me, too," Nikki_Lynn chimed in. The four girls headed off toward the exit, didging the people hurrying to catch their flights, meet their husbands, buy their tickets... They crowded into a rental car, Holly behind the wheel, and hit the freeway, making it to the hotel in a reletivly short amount of time, considering the traffic they had to fight. Holly parked the car, and in no time they had their rooms, and were devouring sandwiches in a little diner nearby. Babs looked at her watch. "Linz's flight ought to arrive in about half an hour," she said, "We'd better get going. Traffic's gonna be a bitch this time of day." They hurried to the car and headed for the airport, eagerly awaiting Linz's arrival. Stepping into the terminal, laughing, joking, the Brady Bunch stopped dead in their tracks at the sight that greeted them. "Some kind of medical emergency on one of the flights," he grumbled before moving on. "Do any of you guys have a bad feeling about this?" asked Mel, glancing toward the two paramedics who were pushing a stretcher towards one of the gates. They stopped at gate 117 only long enough for a young woman to open the door for them, and then proceeded onto the plane. "That's Linz's flight!" Babs gasped. Nikki_Lynn edged her way around the crowd, motioning for the others to follow. They soon found themselves standing next to the paramedics as they descended the ramp leading to the plane. But it was the stretcher that they were more interested in. On it lay a young woman, bright red blood dripping from her forehead, her hair damp and sticky from it, crying out in both pain and terror, her words mostly incoherant. She clawed at the air with one hand, as if fighting off an invisible attacker, until one of the paramedics strapped her arms down at her side. Her eyes were wide with fright, her face pale as senseless words poured from her lips. "Linz!" Mel managed, recovering from the shock a second to late to say anything to the paramedics. The Brady Bunch hurried to follow them as they wheeled Linz away, barely catching up with them as they were putting her into the back of the ambulance. "Wait, wait!" cried Babs, "She's our friend!" "We're taking her to St. Francis Memorial," one of the paramedics called back as he helped lift the stretcher into the back of the ambulance, and closed the door. Holly fished the car keys out of her pocket and they ran through the parking lot, reaching the car in record time, as the ambulance pulled out onto the freeway. "Hurry!" yelled Babs. "I *am* hurrying!" replied Holly, fumbling with the keys, trying to open the door. The ambulance was long out of sight by the time they all managed to cram themselves into the car and fight their way out of the parking lot. "Where did they say they were taking her?" asked Holly, driving impaciently through the heavy traffic, "Move damn it!" She hit the horn, and the driver in front of her grudgingly let her pass. "St. Francis," replied Nikki_Lynn from the backseat, tightening her seatbelt. "Anyone know where that is?" asked Babs. Mel, in the passenger seat, reached into the glove compartment, and pulled out a map. She unfolded it. "Geez, who the hell decided to make this map so big?!" She fought with the map, trying to beat it into submission, but it apparently had other plans. Babs reached forward and grabbed one edge of the map before it could obsure Holly's half of the windshield, and Nikki_Lynn manuvered aroung the disobedient map until she could see the listing of grid addresses. "Ok, St. Francis is at E-5," she said. "Here's E," replied Mel, "Where's 5?" "Over here," said Babs, twisting to see the map. "Which would put St. Francis somewhere in here," said Nikki_Lynn, pointing to an area in the middle of the city. "God, this is the map from Hell," Babs sighed, as she wrestled to fold the map so that only the area Nikki_Lynn had pointed to was showing. "Alright... We want exit 270," said Babs. Holly turned off at the exit. "Now where?" she asked. "Make a left at the next light," said Babs. The Brady Bunch eventually pulled up in front of St. Francis Memorial Hospital, Babs still cursing at the map as she sucked at the paper cut it had given her. They climbed out of the car and headed into the building... Wayne awoke, confused, dazed, a cold sheen of sweat on his forehead. "You alright?" asked Greg, stading by the couch on which Wayne lay. "Yeah," Wayne said, breathlessly, "What a dream..." "The same dream as before?" asked Brad. "No," Wayne replied, "An earthquke this time." He could feel his his racing heart beginning to slow to a normal pace. "Maybe you should skip the rest of rehearsal today," said Greg, "We'll cover for you." "No," said Wayne, "I'm alright, really. Just a little freaked out, that's all." "You sure?" asked Brad, not at all convinced. "Yeah, I'll be fine." He stood up and followed Brad and Greg out onto the stage, where Ryan, Colin, Drew, and Dan were waiting. "Well, now that we're all here," said Dan, "Let's start off with a few hoedowns." Everyone groaned as the music began... "Immediate family only," the desk nurse repeated in bored monotone for the third time. She bushed the thick, green-rimmed glassed up the bidge of her hawk-like nose, "And if you want to talk to her doctor, you'll just have to wait over there." She pointed to a small waiting area, and Mel noted the jiggling flab that hung quivering from the underside of the woman's wrinkled arm. The nurse turned back to her computer, effectivly dismissing the girls. "What crawled up her ass?" Nikki_Lynn grumbled quietly, forcing Babs to supress a giggle despite their situation. The four of them sat down in an empty corner of the waiting area. "What could've happened?" asked Mel, voicing the thought that was on everyone's mind. Holly sighed. "I don't know," she said, "That cut on her forehead looked like something sharp just sliced into the skin, and I don't know if the rest of you noticed, but her arm was most definatly broken." "I wish that doctor would get out here," said Babs, "This waiting is driving me nuts." Just then, the nurse called out to the girls, saying that the doctor would see them now. "Finally," said Nikki_Lynn, "Maybe we can get some answers now." She stood and walked toward the young man that the nurse had identified as the doctor. The rest of the group quickly followed. The doctor greeted them with a reassuring smile. "You must be the Brady Bunch," he said, "She won't stop asking for you. Follow me." He led them down a brightly lit hallway. "My name is Dr. Robinson," he continued, "You're friend is going to be just fine. She has some minor cut, and a compound fracture of her left arm, but nothing life threatening." He stopped in front of one of the rooms. "You four can visit for a little while, but please don't stay too long. She seems to have had quite a scare, and she needs her rest." He pushed open the door, and escorted the Brady Bunch inside, then left, pulling the door shut behind him. The girls rushed to Linz's bed. "How do you feel?" asked Mel, looking at the stitches that ran along Linz's forehead, and the cast that covered he left arm. "Guys, we have a *big* problem," said Linz, her face darkening, hinting at a seriousness the others were clueless about. "What happened?" asked Nikki_Lynn. "You're not going to believe this," said Linz, "But here goes. I got on the plane, and settled back in my seat for a nice flight to LA. I even started reading a book. After awhile, I was starting to feel a little sleepy, so I figured I'd take a little nap, and be nice and fresh when I got here." Nikki_Lynn nodded, encouraging her to go on. "Well," Linz continued, "I fell asleep, and I started having this dream that I was mountain climbing. I was climbing up the side of a cliff, and when I reached the top, I saw Wayne... At least that's what my first thought was. But it wasn't Wayne. It was Wax. He grabbed me by the arm, and pushed me over the edge of the cliff and held me there, dangling by one arm. He said that he had a message for us all. He say 'This is just the beginning'. Then he let go, and I fell. I scraped my forehead against a sharp rock, and landed on top of my arm. That's when I woke up and realized I was bleeding." "Oh my God," said Babs. Linz nodded. "I panicked," she said, "I started screaming, and after that, I don't really remember much. I think they gave me a sedative or something. The next thing I know, I'm on a stretcher, being rolled past you guys, and then I'm here." "This can't be happening," said Holly, "It just can't." "It *is* happening," said Linz, "Wax is coming after us in the one place we can't avoid him... our dreams." "Umm... not to be morbid, but... what happens if we die in our dreams?" asked Nikki_Lynn, trying to keep her voice steady. No one spoke. "Hey," said Mel, "If Wax is after us, then he's after Wayne and the guys, too!" "You have to warn them!" cried Linz. "We weren't supposed to meet Wayne until after the taping tonight," said Holly, "I think we should show up a little earlier than planned... like now." You three go," said Babs, "I'll stay here and keep Linz company." Nikki_Lynn, Mel, and Holly said their goodbyes, and ran out to the car. Soon, they were on their way to the studio. "Did anyone pack the monkey suits?" asked Mel, trying to lighten the mood... "We can't just not sleep," said Babs, trying to calm Linz down. "I know," replied Linz, "But until we come up with some kind of plan, we've gotta try and stay awake." Babs sighed, knowing that Linz was right, but unsure of whether or not simply ont sleeping would deter Wax from his plans. She glanced up as Dr. Robinson entered the room. "Well, I have some good news for you," he said, looking at Linz's chart, "We're going to keep you overnight, just as a precaution, and then you're free to go." He smiled at the girls and smoothed back a whisp of blond hair that had fallen over one eye. "Great!" replied Linz, returning the smile, and noting how handsome the young doctor really was. Tall, athletic-looking, dark blue eyes that almost looked violet, betraying just a hint of mischief... and the cutest smile. "Just get some rest and you'll be out of here before you know it," he said, walking back toward the door. He left the room, and Babs and Linz were alone once more. "Damn he's hot," said Babs. "You said it," replied Linz, still staring in the direction of the door. Then both girls broke into a fit of laughter. "Oh, I needed that," said Babs, catching her breath, "This whole thing with Wax has got me really on edge." "But while we're on the subject," said Linz, "I wonder if Nikki_Lynn, Holly, and Mel have found the guys yet?" "I'm sure they have," replied Babs, "Nikki_Lynn is probably drooling over Ryan as we speak." Another fit of laughter as the two girls pictured *that* particular image. "Yeah, sure," said the guard, "Now why don't you ladies just get back in your car and drive off... And I don't want to see you again until the taping tonight, or I'll have you thrown out permanently." Mel stormed back to the car, followed closly by Holly and Nikki_Lynn. She climbed into the passenger seat, slamming the door. "Stupid guard," she grumbled as Holly started the engine and drove them away from the main gate, "It figures... I knew we should've brought the monkey suits." "Now what do we do?" asked Holly. "Park the car somewhere that guard's not gonna see it," said Nikki_Lynn, "We'll just have to sneak in." Holly pulled the car into an alley a few blocks away, and the got out. Nikki_Lynn guided them down the street and back toward the entrance to the studio. They slipped past the guard, but as they walked through the studio grounds, several people gave them suspicious looks. "I don't like this," said Mel, "Someone is bound to call security on us." "I think someone already did!" said Nikki_Lynn, stopping in midstride. Holly and Mel followed her gaze. Two not-very-friendly-looking security guards were headed straight for them. "Um...run," said Nikki_Lynn. The three of them turned and ran, the guards not far behind. "Split up!" yelled Holly, "We'll have a better chance that way!" Mel nodded and broke off from the group, running toward a large building to her right, one of the guards chasing after her. She opened the door and ducked inside. Nikki_Lynn ran along-side Holly for a few moments. "Good luck," she said, and stopped dead in her tracks, leaving Holly on her own, and ran back at full speed toward the guard. He tried to block her escape, seeming to forget about Holly for the moment, but Nikki_Lynn dove to the ground, rolling between his legs, and was on her feet and running before he could even turn around. She headed off in the direction of the Whose Line set, hoping the guys were there, the guard recovering from his confusion and chasing after her again. Holly, meanwhile, had found a group of extras getting ready to film a scene, and had joined them in the hopes of blending in long enough to make her way to the Whose Line set... "Alright, alright," said Dan, "We'll move on to something else." Colin got up, dusting himself off, and followed Ryan, Greg and Wayne back to the chairs at the back of the stage. "How about Weird Newsca..." Dan started to say, but was cut off by the sudden entrance of a security guard. "Excuse me, Mr. Patterson," said the guard, "But there's been a disturbance on the grounds. It seems some overzealous Whose Line fans snuck in and are headed this way." "Fine, fine," said Dan, "Just stick around in case they actually make it this far. Now, as I was saying... Weird Newscasters..." |