Yah, Jaz is a terrible driver. Tough :P
What? Jaz was taking them where? "Oh, no. No way," Danny said, backing off. "There is absolutely NO WAY you are dragging me and my friends along to go see some sappy romance story! NO WAY IN HECK!"
"You really should have thought of that before you started being loud," Jaz accused. "Because of you, my friends canceled on me!" "Some friends," Sam muttered to herself. "So, let me get this straight," Tucker asked. "You're dragging us along on a trip to see a play because we were being loud?" "Hey, all kids should have the opportunity to see a play every once in a while!" Jaz said as she chose a nice dress for the occasion. "We all need to have a little culture injected into our lives. Now, come on, let's go!" "Uh, Jaz?" Sam asked. "How exactly are we going to get there?" "Good question," replied Jaz. "I'll drive."
The thought of this made Danny sick to his stomach. Jaz had just gotten her driver's license a month ago, and if you had ever seen her drive, you'd wonder exactly how she got it in the first place. Jaz grabbed the three teenagers and bounded off to the car. They got in, fastened their seatbelts, and prepared for one bumpy ride.
"Jaz?" Danny said.
"Yes Danny?" she replied.
"Uh, as much as I like having my fruit Smoothie revisit me again for the fiftieth time, can we please go into the theater now? PLEASE?"
The kids had just taken a very bumpy ride over hills, potholes, speedbumps, and rumple marks on the highway. Jaz had gone about seventy-five miles an hour just to get to the theater. Funny, it felt like one hundred seventy-five. "We'll be late if we don't hurry," she had said. Tucker had tried to slow the car down by using his PDA to hack the car's internal computer, but it was very complex, even for a global positioning system. They had finally gotten there after this crazy roller coaster ride, but they still felt sick.
Feeling a little better now that his stomach had stopped churning, Danny lead the group into the theater where they could not help but stare in silence and awe. The main hall, where they were now, was big enough to contain at least two adult elephants. There was beautiful Victorian era furniture decorating the waiting area outside the auditorium. A huge crystal chandelier hung from the ceiling, hypnotically dazzling. The doorframe was carved with depictions of leaves, plants, and flowers, and accented in gold paint. Industrial-sized fans covered the areas where the chandelier did not cover. There was a pair of sweeping grand staircases, complete with balconies and halls leading to a rest area. Best of all, the auditorium was huge, with big, comfy seats. The seats Jaz had reserved were balcony seats, overlooking the whole auditorium.
"It's amazing!" Sam cried in awe. "Wow," Tucker managed to squeak out. Danny couldn't speak; he was too awestruck. "Yeah, I know. Isn't it great?" Jaz bragged. Danny looked across the auditorium, staring at the other balcony seats. He gazed intently, glancing at them, but one spot suddenly caught his eye. For a split second he thought he saw someone duck behind the curtain covering the back of the balcony. Odd, he thought. Why would he be in such a hurry? Danny shoved the uncomfortable thought out of his mind and tried to concentrate on the orchestra's pre-play performance. They were playing some piece he had never heard before. He leaned over to Sam and Tucker. "Hey, guys," Danny said. "Listen. The orchestra sounds really nice." "Yeah, it does!" Sam said. Tucker was too busy playing video games on his PDA. "Listen. Hear that reedy, high-pitched sound?" Danny listened intently. He did hear a reedy, high-pitched sound that sounded as if it were a cross between a bagpipe and - something else. "Yeah, I hear it," Danny replied. "Well," Sam said, "That's the oboe, a high-pitched woodwind instrument! My cousin plays oboe for the Amity Park Woodwind Ensemble." "Really?" Danny asked. "Yup. No lie," Sam said.
Danny felt something. A freezing cold chill. Cold enough to see his breath. His ghost sense had gone off. Did it have anything to do with that strange man running from the balcony? So many questions, so little time. The orchestra ended their piece, but another did not continue afterwards. Instead, the lights blacked out, plunging the auditorium into darkness.
Audience members didn't know what to think. Was it a part of the show? Was the play about to start? What was going on?
Members of the orchestra dropped instruments and ran screaming for the door. By now the audience realized, to their horror, that this wasn't part of the play. Soon, they, too, were running screaming as well. Danny's eyes adjusted to the dim light, and he soon found Sam and Tucker. "Guys, have you seen Jaz?" Danny asked. "No, neither one of us has," Tucker said. Jaz ran up to them. "Guys, there you are!" she panicked. She pointed to the door that many people were running out of. "Come on, we have to get out of here!" The four ran to the door, only to have it slam shut on them. Tucker reached for the handle. The lock clicked shut. They were trapped with no way to escape.
"Uh, would someone care to tell me why it was a good idea to come here?" Tucker screamed, pounding the door with his fists. Loud, piercing pipe organ music split the air in menacing tones. The teens screamed. Odd, thought Danny, I haven't done that in a while. He'd been scared before, like the near fifty-million times Dash had shoved him in his locker, but never this scared. The frightening music faded out, replaced by terrible laughter that made the blood in Danny's veins turn to ice.
"Okay, whoever - or whatever - you are, the joke's over. You'd better let us out of here right now!" "Why would I do that?" the sinister voice answered. "I've got all of you right where I want you. I could do anything to you I wanted right now, and there'd be nothing you could do about it." The voice laughed evilly. Danny was nervous. He didn't like the way the voice echoed so eerily and seemed to be inside his head.
"I'm serious!" Danny replied, a hint of nervousness in his voice. "Show yourself!" "I cannot", the voice said in a way that was probably meant to be soothing. Too bad it didn't work. "Why can't you show yourself?" Tucker asked reproachfully. " Because, child," the sinister voice explained, "I am everywhere." Evil laughter rang through the auditorium. Danny was terrified now. The emotion seemed alien. Danny hadn't been this scared since that time he and Poindexter switched places.
The doors behind Danny suddenly swung open. "Go," the voice said. "We will meet again; you can be sure of that."
The teens ran like they had never ran before. Sam was screaming, Tucker was crying, and Jaz was doing both. Danny didn't hear the screams or the sobs. He could only hear the terrifying voice replaying its sinister promise that they would meet again, and he wasn't looking forward to it.
Mwahahaha….. The theater is haunted……..(Insert sweeping orchestral music from "The Phantom of the Opera" here)