"Are we there yet?" asked Chelsea.
"Chelsea, you've asked that question for the last 10 minutes." smiled Barbie.
After arriving back from Hawaii and Chelsea's dance competition, Barbie, Skipper, Stacie, and Chelsea were invited to partake the Malibu Theater's production of The Monster Who Scared Everyone, and Then Went Back to Scare Them Again for the upcoming Halloween season. Barbie had recently gotten a position as an extra, Skipper was assisting with lights and sound, and Stacie and Chelsea were stagehands.
The air was warm and dry but not too hot. "Why don't we turn on the radio to pass the time? By the looks of it, we're not going to be there for at least another 20 minutes." Said Barbie. Barbie turned on the radio trying to find a good station until she came to the news.
"This just in! California's wildfire season just got wilder! Just hours ago, the governor ordered the mandatory evacuation of the community of Bull's Creek as flames race towards it. We'll have more coverage in our six o'clock news edition tonight." Announced the radio man.
"Man, I'm glad we don't live up there." said Skipper, who was reviewing her photo blog online.
"Sounds extreme to me. And I love extreme!" said Stacie excitedly.
Skipper chuckled. "Not when your house is in danger of burning down." She countered.
"Meh, I guess you have a point." Said Stacie.
"Hey look, we're almost there!" pointed out Barbie. "See? Listening to the radio really does help pass the time."
Barbie parked the car and she and her sisters gathered up their things and headed inside. Once they were inside, a man wearing a suit came up to them.
"Ah, you must be Barbie! And I assume these are your sisters. Welcome to the Malibu Theater!" he exclaimed as he shook Barbie's hand. "We're looking forward to your help in our production of The Monster Who Scared Everyone and Then Went Back to Scare Them Again. I'm Jason Brown, the stage manager."
"The Monster Who Scared Everyone and Then Went Back to Scare Them Again? Wow, that's long!" said Chelsea.
Mr. Brown laughed. "Indeed it is! Now, why don't we get all four of you situated and I'll show you around."
After the tour, the girls met the other actors, actresses, and stagehands and got settled in for the evening's run-through. Barbie headed backstage while Skipper, Stacie, and Chelsea stayed in the lobby since stagehands and tech weren't needed for most of the rehearsal.
"This is the time I needed change my profile picture on my Twitter blog." Said Skipper as she typed away on her tablet. "Good thing this theater has high speed Wi-Fi."
Stacie gave Skipper an odd look. "When are you not on that tablet?" she asked.
Skipper shrugged. "Meh, I dunno. It's hard to keep up with all of the likes and tweets I get whenever I upload anything from our travels. I'm just glad to not be on that bumpy plane anymore. And the pictures I took of us and the puppies in Chelsea's dance contest were a hit! Not to mention the video on YouTube got over 800,000 views!"
"Hey guys, look at the clouds. I think it's gonna rain." Said Chelsea pointing out the window.
Skipper frowned. "That's strange. I don't recall the weather report saying it was going to rain tonight."
She opened her CalWeather app and began reading aloud. "Warning, severe thunderstorm warning for Los Angeles County is in effect from 6:00 pm – 1:00 am tonight. Heavy rain and damaging winds expected. All residents advised to stay indoors."
Stacie jumped up. "Ohhhhhhh! A thunderstorm on top of a monster-themed play! This is gonna be exciting!"
"But it's near Halloween. Do you think monsters will like it when it's dark and stormy?" asked Chelsea worriedly.
"Don't worry Chels." Said Stacie putting on a brave face. "There's no such things as monsters. And if there were, I'd kick all their butts!" she said as she pumped her fists in the air.
Skipper smirked knowing Stacie was putting on a good show of bravado. "Heh heh. I'd like to see what you'd do if you came face to face with a real monster."
For the next few hours, the girls helped sort out make-up, and organize the back of the stage between acts. By nightfall, the theater was almost empty and just about everyone had gone home. The girls had stayed behind because Barbie wanted to finish putting away the costumes and Skipper wanted to experiment with some of the sound equipment.
After having their fun making the stage light up and downloading funny noises into the sound board's computer, Skipper, Stacie, and Chelsea were relaxing in a hallway behind the stage waiting for Barbie to finish up in the dressing room. The theater had been locked up and there was an eerie silence throughout the building.
"This place is kind of lonely when there's only 4 of us." Said Chelsea.
"I kind of like it this way." Replied Skipper. "No loud noises, no rushing around, just us."
A loud crack of thunder from outside interrupted her thoughts. "Perhaps I spoke too soon." She said. "Sounds like its getting bad out there. Anyway, Stacie and I are going out to the lobby to hit up the vending machine. Can you stay here and wait for Barbie? We'll be sure to bring you something back."
"Okaaayyy." Said Chelsea as Skipper and Stacie got up and left.
Meanwhile, Barbie was finishing up in the dressing room. She had just finished sorting out all of the costumes when she saw one large ghost-like creature costume in the far corner of the room that glowed in the dark.
"Oh no!" she exclaimed. "Mr. Brown wanted me to try that on so he could have someone properly refit it later. I'd better do that now and then I can fetch my sisters to go home."
Barbie tried it on. It seemed a bit big for her size. "Hmmmm. I'd better take this off and make a note that it's too big." She exclaimed.
She tried unzipping it but the zipper wouldn't budge. "Egh. Egh. Grrrrrrrr! It's not coming off!" she groaned. "Hey I know, Skip, Stacie, and Chels will probably think of a way to get it off!" Barbie then headed turned to head out the door when suddenly, there was a loud crack of lightning and a huge boom of thunder and the lights flickered out.
"Uh oh. Power's out. I know! I'll use my phone flashlight!" exclaimed Barbie as she turned on her flashlight and headed out the door and into the hallway forgetting that her costume glowed in the dark.
Elsewhere, Skipper and Stacie were having troubles of their own. The vending machine had gotten jammed after Stacie had inserted her dollar.
"Grrrrrr!" growled Stacie and she shook the machine. "Stupid machine ate my stupid dollar and now it's stuck!"
Suddenly, there was a huge crack of thunder and the lights in the lobby went out.
"Aw nuts! The Wi-Fi is down." Said Skipper. "This is just as bad as it was when we were in that golf cart back in Hawaii and I couldn't get any signal for directions."
Stacie huffed. "Never mind about your Wi-Fi! I can't even see anything! Turn on the tablet's flashlight so we can find Chelsea and Barbie and get out of here!" exclaimed Stacie, slightly annoyed.
Skipper playfully rolled her eyes and turned on the tablet's flashlight and she and Stacie went back to the dressing room hallway. Meanwhile, Chelsea was sitting all alone in the dark hallway.
"I hope that Barbie, Skipper, and Stacie come back soon. It's getting kind of scary back here." She thought.
Just then, she heard footsteps from around the corner. Chelsea got up and started heading towards them. "Barbie, is that you?" she asked nervously.
When she peered around the corner, she gasped in shock and fright. There, standing in front of her stood a large glowing ghost with a smirk on its face. It was over 6 feet tall and had small, beady, blue eyes, and was holding a cell phone. Barbie's phone! The ghost (Barbie stuck in the costume) stopped in front of Chelsea.
"Hi Chels! Hey, do you mind helping me out of this thing?" asked the Barbie. "And do you know where Skipper and Stacie went?"
Chelsea was shaking and backed away in fear. The ghost spoke in Barbie's voice and was holding Barbie's cell phone! She thought the ghost had eaten Barbie!
"AHHHHHHHHHHH!" she yelled. "The ghost ate Barbie! Skipper Stacie, HELP!" Chelsea then ran away down the hall back towards the stage.
Barbie was confused. "Chelsea, wait up! Help me out of this thing! Hey! Wait!" she yelled as she began to pursue Chelsea.
Skipper and Stacie were heading back down the same hallway to find Barbie and Chelsea. "Boy, it sure gets dark and scary back here without power." Shivered Skipper.
Just then she and Stacie heard an ear piercing scream. "CHELSEA!" they exclaimed and ran in the direction of the scream almost knocking over Chelsea a few seconds later.
"Chelsea! What's wrong?" asked Stacie.
"And where's Barbie?" added Skipper.
Chelsea was pale and shaking all over even as Stacie and Skipper hugged her. "The ghost ate her! And it has her voice and is carrying her phone!" she cried.
Skipper and Stacie looked at each other confused. "What ghost?" asked Skipper nervously.
"Don't worry Chels. You probably just fell asleep and dreamt the whole thing." Reassured Stacie. "Anyway, we should find Barbie and go home."
The trio got up but Chelsea wouldn't let go of Stacie's hand. "Don't go down there! The ghost will eat you too!" she whimpered.
"Chelsea, there's no such things as ghosts! And I'll prove it by going down there and fetching Barbie." Stacie declared.
"Famous last words." Skipper muttered anxiously. "Hey Stacie, why don't you hold up for a moment. I think it's best if we all stick together. You know, just for protection." She added.
"Aw come on Skip! You seriously don't believe in that junk do you?" said Stacie. She was about to proceed forward when she saw a tall, glowing mass round the corner and move towards her. The ghost! She froze, unsure of what to think, say or do at first, but her expression of confusion quickly turned to that of horror and shock. Behind her, Skipper gasped and paled while Chelsea grabbed onto her hand tightly.
"Hi again Chelsea! I see you found Skipper and Stacie! Can one of you or all of you help me out of this thing now? The zipper is busted." Said Barbie.
Skipper was trembling with fear and holding onto Chelsea tightly. "The ghost is talking in Barbie's voice! And it has her phone! It really did eat her!" she screamed.
"What ghost? Skip, it's me!" said Barbie, rather confused. "Now help me out of this thing!" she cried and lunged for Stacie, who shrieked and leapt out of the way.
"AHHHHHHHHH!" screamed Skipper, Stacie, and Chelsea as they ran back up the hall towards the stage and lobby.
"Hey guys where are you going? It's me, Barbie. Someone get me out of this thing! Wait Up! GUYS! " Barbie yelled as she pursued them.
Skipper, Stacie, and Chelsea ran through the main auditorium, through the lobby, and up another hallway into a storage room.
"Quick, close and lock the door!" whispered Stacie as she, Skipper, and Chelsea crowded into the room. Outside, they could hear the ghost (Barbie) moving up and down the lobby and other hallways looking for them.
"It's gonna get us! It's gonna catch us and eat us, just like it did to Barbie!" wailed Skipper. "Ugh, not having any internet connection sure beats this!"
Stacie shivered nervously. "Calm down Skip. You look even more scared than when you had to zip line across that valley to get to Chelsea's dance contest. We just need a plan on how to lure it to us and catch it so we can free Barbie. We should create a trap of some sort to capture it. Okay, what do we have to work with in here?"
The trio looked around amongst all of the used props and old tech equipment. "Hey, we could use this net to catch it and these ropes and pulley to raise and lower it as needed." Said Skipper.
Chelsea looked around and found a pair of scissors. "Oh, and we could use this pair of scissors to cut the net to make it fall on top of the ghost!"
Stacie gave a small grin. "Looks like we have everything we need to build out trap. Now we just have to figure out where to put it and how to lure the ghost to us. I say we put it in the hallway on the second floor."
Skipper looked at Chelsea. "Sounds good to us." She said.
Stacie cracked open the door. "Alright you guys. We're going to creep through the lobby and get up the stairs to the second floor where we'll set up the net. Let's go."
The trio crept across the empty lobby and up the stairs. They could no longer hear the ghost moving round but they were convinced it was somewhere still looking for them. They got to the second floor where they began setting up the trap.
"Alright. So the ghost will trip this wire which will cause the pair of scissors to cut the rope across the ceiling dropping the net onto the ghost." Said Stacie. "Now we just need a way to lure it to us. And some live bait." She added as she and Chelsea looked towards Skipper.
"Why are you two looking at me like that?" asked Skipper. Then she realized why. "Oh no. No no no no no. You are not going to send me out there on my own to try to lure the ghost."
"Relax Skip. We'll be right behind you." Said Stacie. "And besides, I have a plan."
A little while later, Skipper was holding a pair of trash can lids and standing a ways down from the trap. "So what do you need me to do again?" she asked.
"Okay, so you're going to bag the lids together so the ghost will be attracted to the sounds and when it comes by, you run and lead it straight to the trap where it will trip the wire causing the net to fall on top of it. Then, we tackle it and make it spit out Barbie!" exclaimed Stacie confidently.
"Wait, can you repeat that? I can't hear with these earplugs in my ears." Said Skipper.
"I SAID BAG THE LIDS TOGETHER TO DISTRACT THE GHOST AND LEAD IT TO OUR TRAP!" yelled Stacie.
"Okay, I got you." Replied Skipper.
"Right, now Chelsea and I are going to -" Stacie was cut short when she saw the ghost rounding the next corner and heading straight for them!
"There you guys are!" said the ghost (Barbie). "Why on Earth are you guys running away from me?!"
Stacie and Chelsea began to back away in fear. "RUN!" yelled Stacie as she and Chelsea took off but Skipper was left behind, unable to hear what was going on because of the earplugs.
"Uh, Stacie, how am I supposed to know when -?" she was cut short when she removed her earplugs and saw the ghost standing directly behind her!
"Come on Skipper! Said Barbie. "You're techy and know how stuff works, now help me out of this thing!"
Skipper didn't know what to do! She turned to run but the ghost grabbed her and began shaking her!
"Skip! Get me out of here! Do something!" yelled Barbie as she shook Skipper.
Skipper was panicking. "Let me go! Stacie, Chelsea HELP!" she yelled as she tried to break free.
Stacie and Chelsea peered out from their hiding place behind a large pot. "The ghost has Skipper and it's going to eat her!" gasped Chelsea. "Stacie, what do we do?"
Stacie then thought of a way to improvise. "The only thing we can do. Lead it to our trap! Hey, ghost, over here!" she yelled as she and Chelsea waved their arms. "Come get us!"
Barbie looked over and saw Stacie and Chelsea waving their arms and yelling. She stopped shaking Skipper and began to go after them. "Where are you two going, get back here! It's me Barbie!"
Still holding Skipper, Barbie pursued them up the hallway and towards Stacie's trap. Then, she felt herself trip over a wire and a huge net fall on top of her. Stacie's trap had worked! Seeing their opportunity, Stacie and Chelsea ran over to the ghost and Skipper and began to wrestle with the ghost.
"Where's Barbie? Spit her up! And let Skipper go!" growled Chelsea.
They wrestled with each other unaware that they were headed towards the stairs. Skipper yelled out just before the 4 of them went tumbling down the stairs. As they were tumbling down the stairwell, Barbie's ghost costume snagged on the railing, pulling it free as she and her sisters continued to roll down and piled on top of each other at the bottom. Then, the power came back on.
"Ugh, that hurt." Moaned Chelsea as she, Barbie, Skipper, and Stacie began to get up and brush themselves off. She then noticed Barbie and ran up to her. "Barbie, you're okay!" she exclaimed as Barbie returned her hug.
"Of course I'm alright! Now, why were you guys running away from me?" she asked.
"Running away from you?! That ghost ate you and it tried to eat us but we built a trap that sort of worked and we got you out of the ghost." Said Stacie.
Barbie then realized what had happened and started laughing hard. Skipper, Stacie, and Chelsea glanced at Barbie, then at each other confused.
"What are you laughing about?" questioned Skipper.
Barbie finally calmed down. "Oh, Skip, that wasn't a real ghost and it didn't eat me! That was a glow-in-the-dark costume I tried on for Mr. Brown and the zipper got busted. I tried to get you guys to help me out of it but with the power out coupled to the fact that the costume glowed in the dark, I guess you guys thought I was a ghost!" she laughed.
The trio was confused until they looked up and saw the costume dangling on the banister. "It was just a costume?" asked Stacie. She then looked back up the stairs and then at Barbie. "Oh my gosh, it was just a costume!" and started laughing.
Soon all 4 of them were laughing and holding onto each other, relieved that it was just a costume and Barbie was alright. When they had all calmed down, Skipper was the first to find her voice.
"Boy, I feel silly thinking it was a real ghost and that it had eaten you Barbie. I'm really sorry we ran away from you. I'm 16 and I should've known better." She sighed. Stacie and Chelsea nodded in agreement.
Barbie only gave a light-hearted chuckle. "That's completely alright Skip! You too Stacie and Chels! Things can look very different in the dark and I probably should've waited until later to try it on. What matters is that you three worked together to solve a problem, demonstrated bravery and intelligence, and wanted to make sure that I was alright! I couldn't be more proud of you all!" she exclaimed happily. "Oh and Skipper, you should have seen the look on your face when I caught you!"
The girls laughed again and Skipper only playfully sighed and rolled her eyes. "This would have looked great as a story on my blog but I think this is an experience that we need to keep to ourselves!" she said.
Barbie smiled. "I couldn't agree more Skip! Say, why don't we clean up your things and head home! I'm sure that you three are tired from all that running because I know I'm tired from chasing you guys!"
Skipper, Stacie, and Chelsea couldn't agree more. They gathered up their things and headed home, having had quite enough Halloween for one year before it even began!