And instrumental version of "Superheroes" plays at the start of our film. It is haunting as we hear a faint breeze in the background. The screen is pitch black. Suddenly, blood drips from the top of the screen, forming blood drip letters in the middle of the screen: "20th Century Fox presents" -- More blood dripping, forming the words, "A Jim Sharman Film" -- "Richard O'Brien" -- "Patricia Quinn" -- "Nell Campbell" -- Finally, a thicker amount of blood, much heavier in flow, falls from the top of the screen, until the entire view is blood red. Slowly the camera pulls back, revealing a beautiful pair of lips, smiling. The Title appears: "Rocky Horror 2 - Frankie Comes Again".
We are now at Janet's verse during the opening instrumental. The lips have disappeared and more cast credits appear. At the end of Janet's instrumental verse, the words appear: "Special Appearance by Tim Curry." The mood is even more haunting now. "Aaaahh - Aaaahh" the song bellows. As this happens, the screen becomes more "misty", somewhat "foggy". The camera pulls back to reveal that we are looking at the large crater where the castle once sat. We see Brad, Janet and Dr. Scott (whose wheelchair is broken) crawling on the earth's surface (played by new actors). The camera view begins to spin, faster and faster. This new film footage is merged with old film footage (from "The Rocky Horror Picture Show") where we see the Criminologist stopping the desk globe. (The merge of instrumental to vocal was flawless - the blending of new film footage seamless.)
"Lost in time," the Criminologist says to us, the viewers. "Lost in space and in meaning." The phantom voices echo his last word, as he shuts out the light and leaves his office, taking the book (The Denton Affair) with him. He shuts the door behind him, leaving the room pitch black, except for the well-lit desk globe. The camera appears to move sideways in the dark room (as evidenced by the globe moving to the right). This enables us to switch once again from old film footage to new footage.
We hear keys rattling in the dark. Suddenly, with the sound of a click, the Criminologist's office door opens, and lights shines through. A hand reaches in and flips on the light switch. We are once again looking at the Criminologist's office (a very faithful reproduction), but from a different angle.
We see that the intruder is a maid. Her name-tag reads "Denton Law Offices -- Helen." She begins whistling as she cleans in the office. Suddenly her eyes catch us looking at her. She speaks to us.
"Oh, you're still here. What -- You didn't get enough of Ollie's stories?" She sits down, and continues talking to us, becoming our new narrator. She lights a cigarette and begins smoking it. "Most people don't believe a word of it. 'Visitors from outer space' -- 'Men dressed in women's undies' -- Most people thought Brad and Janet were plum off their rockers. Everyone except Ollie that is." She pauses, as if in deep thought, and then continues, "Do I believe it's true? Hell, yeah, I do. There's just too many unanswered questions. But maybe that's just because I know all the story, not just what old Ollie told ya." Helen sits back in her chair and smiles gleefully. "Do you wanna know more?" Then after a brief pause, she rests her cigarette in an ashtray and leans forward, very close to us, saying, "I thought you did. Now let's see. Where shall I begin? Let's see... How about right after the castle took off. Brad, Janet and Dr. Scott were lyin' in that pit. The castle, which was really a spaceship, had just taken off..."
The camera closes in on her cigarette smoke, which blends flawlessly into the next scene: that of the foggy crater where Brad, Janet and Dr. Scott are crawling around...
Janet, dressed in tattered undergarments, sat up,
her knees against the rough earth. She looked at her condition, and
took a deep breath. Was it all a dream? Had this night really
happened? It was all hazy in her mind, and this left her feeling
helpless. She didn't like feeling that. A mixture of fear,
sadness and loneliness enveloped her all at once. Never before had
she felt so alone.
"Brad?" she said, peering into the thick morning
fog. "Brad, where are you?" The fog was indeed thick.
In her seated position, she could see only white fog, with only an occasional
patch of black morning shining through. Looking up, she could see
above the fog. Although it was early in the morning, the sky was
very dark, almost haunting. This only added to her feeling of helplessness.
"Brad?" she repeated.
"I'm here," his voice called out.
Without warning, the fog dissipated, leaving only
a thin amount to hover the ground. Janet could see Brad and Dr. Scott.
They were dressed just like her: a torn corset with black panties, and
ripped fishnet stockings. Brad wasn't wearing high heeled pumps --
they were resting on the ground beside him. Dr. Scott, however, was
wearing one pump -- its match nowhere to be seen. Underneath Dr.
Scott's lying body was his wheelchair, broken and in pieces. But,
in reflection, she thought, does he really even need a wheelchair?
Didn't she see him kicking his legs inside the castle?
Suddenly, all the evening's events came crashing
down into her memory, and she found herself staring off. She and
Brad had seeked shelter in the castle after his car broke down. The
castle's occupants were aliens from another planet. Not the green
slimy kind -- they looked exactly like humans. And the master of
the castle -- his name was...
"Janet," Brad said, crawling towards her.
He passed Dr. Scott and went directly to her. She was sitting up,
staring off into the distance, apparently in deep thought. And Brad
could lay bets that he knew exactly what she was thinking about.
She was thinking about Frank N Furter, and what exactly happened
in that castle. He knew this because he, too, had been thinking about
it. He knew it was real, but there was a haziness to his memory,
as though he were stepping out of a dream.
"Janet," he said again. When he got to her
side, he noticed she had tears in her eyes. One teardrop rolled down
the side of her nose and into the crack of her mouth. Brad reached
out and lightly grabbed her hand to comfort her. He was sitting on
his knees, facing her, as she looked past him into the distance.
"Janet, I'm here."
She turned her glance slowly to meet his eyes. Had
he been crying too? "Hold me, Brad." she said, leaning into his
arms. Instantly, the tears flowed. Although she didn't know
for sure, she felt Brad was crying too.
"Tell me it was all a dream, Brad. Tell me
it wasn't real."
Brad didn't know how to answer. For the past
2 years of dating Janet, he had always been the strong one. But now,
he felt weak and helpless. "I don't know," he whispered, sniffing,
"I don't know."
Janet pulled away from him and attempted to stand
up. Brad took her lead, and supporting each other, they managed to
help stand on their feet. Janet realized she was still wearing her
black pumps. As though wearing them would make the past evening's
events real, she kicked them off her feet quickly.
They walked over to Dr. Scott, and helped him up.
Very few words were spoken.
Dr. Scott stood on his two feet, rather lopsided
because he was wearing one high-heeled pump on his fishnet covered foot.
Without a word, he kicked his shoe off.
Brad spoke first: "You can walk?"
At a loss for words (or perhaps he was just as confused
as they were), Dr. Scott stumbled on the right words to say. "Uh,
yes, Brad. It would, uh, appear so. But I feel a weakness in
my legs starting to return. If we don't get back to a vehicle right
away, I feel I may collapse completely."
"Oh no," Brad exclaimed, "My car. I completely
forgot. It's got a flat tire. That was the sole reason we went
to the castle last--" Suddenly he stopped. It was as though
saying what happened out loud would make it real.
Dr. Scott saw Brad's uncomfort, and broke the new
silence, "Just around the corner is my car, Brad. We can drive it
back into town and have a tow truck come after yours."
"Good idea," Brad said, looking around at the large
pit they were standing in. His thoughts were unfocused. He
tried to concentrate on Dr. Scott's words, but the crater's shape caused
a feeling of reality to take over his mind with distraction.
Dr. Scott instructed Brad and Janet on how to help
him to the car: one would support him by one arm, the other by the other
arm.
Thirty seconds later, they were walking Dr. Scott
down the grassy hill towards the iron fence, and through the iron gate
that still hung there. Once through the gate, they stopped and turn
to look at it. A sign once hung there, but it was gone. Perhaps
it fell down.
"This way," Dr. Scott directed, and they continued
to carry him into the dark woods. After a few minutes of walking,
they exited the woods and found themselves along the side of a paved roadway.
Up ahead they could see Dr. Scott's vehicle. Nobody said a word on
their way to the car.
Similarly, nobody spoke at all on the way home.
Brad and Janet sat in the back seat, as Dr. Scott drove the car, as it
was designed for handicapped individuals.
As they exited the wooded area, Janet looked out
the car window and saw something that made her heart stop: a tombstone.
She squinted her eyes to make out the words carved on it: "Frank N Furter,
Rest In Peace."
What? Could it be true?
She turned to Brad to point it out to him
before it went completely out of sight. But looking into his face
as he stared forward, his mind in a far away place, she decided against
telling him. Perhaps it were best not to talk about a lot of things
until they've had some time to recuperate. Janet turned back to the
window to stare at the tombstone one last time. However, upon her
second glance, she realized that the tombstone was, in fact, a dead tree
stump.
Another teardrop fell down her cheek.
IN CHAPTER TWO: Brad and Janet make it to Denton to tell their story. Just how exactly will the town of Denton handle it? How will it effect their relationship? And one thing that seemed very important for them to do: Brad and Janet make love for the very first time.