FicWad

“I need to know,” Sandman looked at Patrick, “where is Dr Benzedrine now?”
“Outside,” Patrick gestured over his shoulder.
“He’s here!” Sandman ‘s jaw dropped in astonishment. “I told you to lose him!”
“Do you have any idea how difficult it is to get rid of him?” Patrick snapped back irritably. He had viewed it as a major achievement just convincing Benzedrine to let him go to the studio.
“Oh, yes,” Sandman growled. “That, I know!”

Drumming his fingers against the amp, Mr Sandman looked deep in thought. Andy, Joe and Patrick exchange glances and shrugs. The two stories were so different from each other that none of them knew what, or more crucially, who to believe.

“What’s he doing?” Sandman finally asked.
“I don’t know,” Patrick gave a shrug. “No one can see him, except me, so I guess he’s just keeping himself amused.”
“What do you mean, no one can see him? Of course they can!”
“But when I was in the cafe, I even asked the waitress, she couldn’t see him, well, she must have done to take his order, but…”
“Cheesecake?” asked Sandman with a slight smile.
“Er… yeah,” Patrick nodded. “Does that have anything…?”
“No, no, not important,” Sandman sighed. “He just can’t seem to resist a slice of cheesecake.”
“Look, if that’s not important, can we stick to what is?” Patrick took a deep breath, growing more impatient with the strange man who looked so unnervingly like Pete. “You’re saying he can be seen?”
“Yeah, he’s just pulling a mind trick, he can make you forget you’ve seen him even moments after you have. So people don’t see him just because even as they’re looking at him, they’ve already forgotten.”
“He mentioned something like that,” Patrick nodded thoughtfully.
“Did he, now?” Sandman cocked his head to one side. “Okay, so, are you going to help me?”
“What’s that?” Joe asked pointing to the corner of the room.

All eyes fell on a black shape emerging in the corner. Initially just a thin black line, it began to widen in the middle until finally it grew to roughly six feet in length and three feet wide at the centre.

“What is that?” Joe repeated as no one replied.

Finally turning to face the musicians, Mr Sandman pulled his lips into a thin line as he ushered them back towards the far corner.

“Someone’s coming through, but, I… I don’t know who until they get here. Whoever it is has managed to home in me somehow.”

Backing up, Patrick sighed his frustration as once again the door to the studio was shifted up to the ceiling.

“When I’m done convincing you, then I’ll let you out! Now let me concentrate!” Sandman barked not even bothering to look behind him.
“If this is dangerous, then…”
“Shut up!” Sandman screamed waving an arm vaguely in Patrick’s direction. Immediately, the singer was lifted from his feet and slammed against the wall. Lightly dazed, with Andy and Joe rushing to his side, Patrick didn’t immediately notice the strip of tape that had suddenly appeared pressed firmly down over his lips. Gently pulling the tape away from Patrick’s mouth, Joe dropped to one knee to whisper.

“Trick, we gotta get out of here, he’s a psycho!”
“Joe’s right, Patrick, we have to get out,” Andy added looking around the sealed room. “Somehow.”
Patrick nodded. “I know, but the other one’s no better. Besides, Mr Sandman’s the only one who knows where Pete is.”

A shape slowly began to emerge from the black void hanging near the back of the studio. Stepping through the gap as casually as walking through an open doorway was a man dressed entirely in green. All three musicians stared silently at the newcomer. Even Patrick who had already met both Mr Sandman and Dr Benzedrine couldn’t contain his surprise at the sight of Andy’s counterpart from the video simply stepping into the room from some sort of black void.

“Donnie?” Sandman lowered his arms and took a much less aggressive stance. “What are you doing here?”

Donnie glanced down briefly and exhaled deeply; how was he going to put this?

“Where’s Pete?” Sandman asked with concern. “Tell me you got him to The Dream World safely.”

Even as he asked the question, Mr Sandman knew something was wrong and from the guilty expression on Donnie’s face, it was something serious. But the answer would have to wait as Donnie caught sight of the three friends still backed up against the far wall. Within the small group, he saw his own image plus two others that he recognised and gave him immediate pause.

“Mr Sandman!” he cried, his eyes and mouth both open wide with astonishment. “How… I mean… is it…?”
“No, it’s not,” Sandman uttered a harsh reply, somehow understanding the question. “Where is he?”
“The photographers have him, they think he’s you.”
“How The Hills did that happen?” he growled angrily.

Hearing Donnie’s statement, Patrick was at Mr Sandman’s side in an instant, Joe and Andy still recovering from the surprise of Donnie’s arrival, followed only seconds behind.

“What’s wrong? What’s happened to Pete?” Patrick demanded.

Mr Sandman was beyond frustration. Seething quietly at the news that would have been better presented to him out of earshot of Pete’s three friends, he now had to temper his response with empathy for his counterpart. It wasn’t that he didn’t care what happened to Pete, well, not exactly. It was just really poor timing. The three men had almost accepted his explanation. Benzedrine was outside, possibly causing all manner of havoc and here he was, stuck in the studio having to sympathise when all he wanted to do was scream.

He had to get more information from Donnie, but to do that the others would hear too. He couldn’t let them out, not yet, he wasn’t convinced they were on his side and Benzedrine was right there on the other side of the door waiting to snatch them over to his way of thinking. It was a mess. There was no other word for it.

“How did they get him?” he finally asked.
“We were on our way to The Dream World, he couldn’t keep up.”
“Why?”
“You sent him through without shoes!”
Mr Sandman rolled his eyes in exasperation. “And?”
“We were caught half way down the tunnel…”
“The gate?” he sighed, his shoulders sagging.
Donnie nodded. “I tried to warn him, but they took his photograph.”

Mr Sandman pushed his fingers into his hair and clenched his fists in frustration. Emitting a small, infuriated scream, he asked his next question.

“Do you know what they’re going to do with him?”
“They’re taking him to The Guv’nor.”

Mr Sandman turned and flopped down onto one of the amps. Raising his left leg to his chest, he dropped his crossed arms down on his knee and rested his head.

“This is all I need!”
“What’s going on?” Patrick demanded, almost pulling Sandman off the amp and forcing him to look up.
“The Guv’nor! The guy I told you about, he’s trying to kill me! He’ll use Pete to get to me, don’t you understand?”

Donnie turned a confused glance at Mr Sandman only to receive a harsh glare in return. Noticing the exchange, Patrick’s eyes narrowed.

“Hang on! What are…?” Patrick began.
“Donnie, catch him!”

Before Patrick managed another word, Mr Sandman had seized his arm and thrown him through the black void, diving in after him. With astonishing reflexes, Donnie had somehow managed to enter even before Patrick and the black inter-dimensional doorway was already closing. By the time Andy and Joe reached it, it was gone.

“What the hell happened?” Joe yelled.
“Patrick worked something out before they took him… but what?” Andy replied, now more confused than ever.
“There’s only one person we can ask,” Joe sighed.
“Dr Benzedrine.” Andy shook his head with concern; this was beyond weird.

Grateful that the studio had returned to it’s original layout with the door in it’s right place, allowing them to leave, the pair headed out in search of Patrick’s eccentric counterpart hoping that he would have the answers they needed and above all, that they could trust him.