*~Altered States~*
by
Courtney Brown

Back to Dave's On Sale Again
Back to the Table of Contents
Back to Bush Fiction
Back to Chapters Two and Three of Altered States

"Trash all your bridges...kill the rock and roll thing..."--Bush, "Altered States"-- The Science of Things

Chapter Four

"Shit!"  Gavin shouted, suddenly.  "It all makes sense."

"The question is, how do we get back out?"  Dave said.

"Well, why can't we just go back to Gav's flat and go back through?"  Nigel suggested.

"Yeah," Robin seconded.  "Let's find our tapes and get the hell outta here."

They all knew that was not going to be easy.  Several more of Gavin's belongings were lying next to the sofa, including a now-cracked famed picture of Gwen and him, which he picked up, misty-eyed.  The rummaged among the things, but did not see the tapes.

They wandered down the streets, trying not to look anyone in the eye, and looked for the tapes.  Their search was futile, and disheartened, they sat down in a park to smoke.

"Damn it, I hate this," Nigel said, as he puffed on his cigarette.  "I'm so worried about Judith and the baby."

"Yeah," Robin said.  "Glynis and Ruby Rose are probably worried sick."

Dave patted Winston absently as he smoked his cigarette.  "I miss Sarah," he said sadly.

Just then they heard their own song, "The Chemicals Between Us," playing at full volume from somewhere.  "And that's the new song by Bush, from their upcoming album, The Science of Things. It's too bad they disappeared before it was released."  It sounded like an announcer on a radio station.

"Oh shit!"  Robin exclaimed.  "We gotta find that radio station!"

  The Bushmen and Winston ran as fast as they possibly could to where the sound was coming from.  It was, in fact, a London radio station.

They burst into the sound booth.  "What the-" the technician, who was dressed in a rainbow suit, started.  "But--you're Bush!  You guys are supposed to be dead or something!"

"Where are those tapes?"  Nigel demanded.

"You mean your album tapes?  I'm sorry, I can't give them to you," the technician said.

"But we really need them," Dave said.  "So if you'll just give them to us--"

"Sorry, I can't," the man insisted.  "If you four don't leave, I'll have to call security."

"Oh, fuck this!"  Robin said, and punched the guy in the face.  He immediately fell unconscious on the floor.  "Find the tapes!  Ransack the place!"  Robin yelled.

The four men ripped the place apart, with Winston barking along beside them.  Gavin finally located the tapes, and they tried to sneak their way out a back stairway.

But security was waiting for them.  "Give us those tapes," said the head security guard, a huge guy who looked surprisingly like Gavin's bodyguard, Bone Johnson.

"Fuck you!"  Gavin said, thinking vaguely that he would never dare to say this to the real Bone; he loved the guy.  "We poured our own sweat and blood into those tapes, and we'll be damned if any of you fuckers are going to steal them from us!"

He pounced on the guy, again thinking that he would never have been able to do this to the real Bone.  He took the guy by surprise, and punched him in the eye.  Dave, Robin, and Nigel also tackled a security guard each, and managed to overtake them.

"Quick, back to Gavin's flat!"  Nigel shouted when they had subdued the guards.  The four men and dog ran faster than they ever had in their lives back to Gavin's apartment and sprinted in the door.

"Okay, let's go," Dave said, wiping sweat off his brow.  "I'll be sure as hell glad to get out of here."

Robin started.  "One, two, three!!"  He jumped into the hole suddenly and was gone.

The hole started moving even faster, and it seemed smaller.

"Oh God, I think it's closing up!"  Nigel yelled.  "We've got to go!"  He jumped in next.

Dave and Gavin looked at each other uncertainly as the hole grew smaller.

"You go first," Gavin said.  "I got us into this mess in the first place."

Dave gave Gavin a hug, something he had never done before, and disappeared into the abyss.

"Let's go, Winnie," Gavin said, and hugged the dog tightly as he began to jump into the now-saucer-sized hole.  He prayed that he would make it out alive.

Chapter Five

"Talkin' 'bout...states...we've...been through..."  --Bush, "Altered States", The Science of Things

Everything went black, and Gavin thought he was dead until he heard Nigel's voice say, "He's waking up."  Then he realized that he was lying on his own couch, in his own flat.  Thunder was rumbling in the darkness outside.

He sat up and groaned, holding his aching head.  "We're still alive," he said.

"Yeah," Robin replied, "and all your stuff is back."

"Not to mention the tapes," Dave said.

"Thank God," Gavin said.  "It's all over."

Nigel rushed back home to see Judith, as did Robin to his family and Dave to Sarah.  Gavin hugged Winston again tightly, then ran to the phone to call Gwen.

"Hello?" she answered happily.

"Hi, it's me," he said hesitantly.

"Oh hi, sweetie!"  Gwen chirped.  "Did you make it home okay?"

Gavin breathed a sigh of relief.  "Yes, fine.  Listen, you're not angry with me, are you?"

"No, why would I be?"  Gwen asked.

Gavin sighed again inwardly.  Thank God, he thought.  "No reason," he said.  "Gwen?"

"Yes, babe?"

  "I love you," he said.

"Well, I love you, too," Gwen replied.  "Are you sure you're okay, honey?"

"Yeah, I'm fine now, love," Gavin said, looking around his now-furnitured flat.  They talked for a few minutes until she had to go, and they hung up.

Gavin walked into his bedroom, to the closed closet door.  He was afraid to open it.

"Scared?"  came a voice behind him.  It was Nigel, with Dave and Robin behind him.

"We couldn't leave until we made sure it was gone," Robin explained.

"Well, let's find out," Gavin replied, and yanked open the doors.

All of his clothes were hanging in there, and nothing more.

Dave exhaled.  "Thank God."

The rest of the Bushmen expressed similar sentiments.  They agreed to never speak of the incident to anyone, ever again.  Even when Gavin called Jasmine the next day, she had no recollection of the phone call from the previous evening.

The whole incident brought them closer together, and they became even better friends.  They went on to finish their album, which went on to become the best-selling rock album of all time.  It won them numerous Grammys and other awards.  They went on two massive sell-out world tours, to the delight of their hungry fans.

Nothing remained of their adventure, except in the Bushmen's memories, and in the fact that Nigel's car was gone.  They never were able to explain that one, so they just told people it was stolen.  He has a Mercedes now.

                                                                                         The End
what do you think?  comments?  suggestions?  flames?  click here.