Disclaimer: I don't own The Rocky Horror Picture Show


A/N: Thanks so much for favoriting, following, AND reviewing, colbalt-blue. I'm glad you're enjoying it and I'm glad it's "accurate"!

By the way, I gave at least one of the characters psychic powers. That's meant to be a surprise. The 'drugged feeling' Lee gets was caused by that character, like his semi-invisibility. It sort of gets mentioned in this chapter - he realizes he knew things that nobody told him like Columbia's name.


Though in the end I decided to risk it.

I followed the sound of Mom's voice. What else could I do? Deep down I'm not the kind of person who just runs out on people. Leaving would mean abandoning Brad and Janet. At that point I was still hoping I could apologize for dressing her up. So the garden was out. And the armory? Knowing me I'd impale my own hand or shoot a bullet through my foot. One injury (the messed-up ring finger) was enough for at least the next week.

It didn't take me long to find her. The hallways turned out to be much lighter than it seemed from the outside. The door to the room Mom sat in was open, so I just went inside. That place looked a bit like a small kitchen, with wooden cabinets everywhere and a rusty old gas stove in the corner. Mom sat on a rickety chair at a round table. She seemed to be typing something into a small device. Two other similar devices sat nearby, along with a closed metal box.

"Hello, sweetie," she said to me, without looking up.

"What's that?" I asked.

"Communicators, for when we get home. They're like phones that you can move around," she explained. "I'm going to give you one of our backup ones."

So we'd be going home? Did that mean another planet? For reasons unknown - perhaps supernaturally - I'd known them to be aliens all along. I'd also known Columbia's name

Eventually I noticed something. "They're like communicators from Star Trek - aren't they?"

Mom sighed. "A bit. You know, I'm really not fond of most science fiction. Earthlings often think people from other planets are bug-eyed monsters or prudes with pointy ears."

"Maybe you should write some of your own sci-fi and portray it all correctly," I suggested.

"And return to Earth to publish it? Not bloody likely! I've spent months plotting with my brother to leave. Earth is not a place I'd want to see again. It's been terrible."

"Sorry," I said awkwardly, after a moment.

"Why are you here, anyway? Is something wrong?" Now she was back to the polite, restrained, English manner that seemed to be her usual state.

"I didn't want to dress Brad in those stupid clothes so he sent me to help you."

"Well, I'm not in need of help. That's good for you because it means you can relax for-" she paused. "Why don't you go to the garden and round up the dogs? We need them inside."

I'd never much liked dogs, really. They were so noisy and slobbery! Though I was determined to be a good son for my newly-discovered parents so I did as told. I left the room Mom was in, walked down the not-very-dark hallway, and quickly went through the door to the garden.

The place I found myself in was a lot brighter than I expected. I guess, because it was about 6AM I didn't think there would be ant light outside. It hadn't occurred to me that there would be lights attached to the mini-porch I then found myself on. Though the lights only really illuminated the little wooden platform I stood on. There seemed to be a patio or path of stone in front of the porch and large bushes all around. I thought I saw

"Hey, dogs!" I shouted.

That did nothing, of course.

Then I tries whistling. Still nothing happened.

Annoyed, I sat down on the edge of the porch. I happened to still be very tired and hoped that resting slightly would help me think of what to do next. Of course, I didn't even need to rest for a while. My hand quickly bumped into a small metal box that had been placed in the corner of the porch. Out of curious I picked it up and began to inspect it. The thing was painted a faded red color, possibly to make it easier to spot, and wasn't too heavy. Like a Christmas gift of blocks it made a sort of light 'clanging' sound when I shook it. The lid held on by a little clasp that I easily opened.

The box contained a small device of some kind. It was a simple square of black plastic with a button on it. Maybe it's some kind of futuristic dog whistle, I thought. That actually seemed quite likely. So... I pressed the button.

Within seconds a group of nine large, frightening dogs appeared out of the darkness. They all slobbered and grinned horribly and clearly wanted to be petted.

"Come inside now, kids," I told them.

They did so without too much question. When all ten of us got inside we ran right into my parents. By then both were wearing what could only be described as "space-stripper clothes". It was the kind of thing one would want to bleach out of their brain.

"Hey," I said. "What's going on now?"

"Never you mind, dear," Mom replied.

"The boy will figure things out soon enough," Dad told her.

"Of course he will. For now he should hide in the back of the theater and watch the show - that way he won't get bored."

"Can I leave the dogs here?" I asked.

Mom nodded. Then, she opened the door to that theater and sort of pushed me in. It almost bothered me that both she and Dad stayed in that other room. Being in the weird theater-room, especially with those statues staring at me, was indeed awkward. At least the statues were happy...

I settled down in one of those old red-upholstered theater chairs and waited for whatever weird thing was to happen next.


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