How To Save Rock And Roll

Chapter 17 - What happened

Ben and Joe followed the black van discreetly and hid their car behind a building as the girls parked their vehicle in front of a warehouse. The two men got out of the car and looked at the girls as they led Joe and Isaac inside the building.
"We can't enter by the front door," Ben whispered.
Joe glanced over at him and retorted sarcastically, "No, really?"
"I'm just saying..."
Joe sighed and shook his head, then started walking toward the building once all the girls were gone. "Come on. There's probably a door behind the building or something."
Ben rolled his eyes before joining Joe's side.

*****

Inside the warehouse were tables with broken instruments sitting on them. Banners with a weird symbol of a music note crossed on them were hanging on the walls.
The two girls led or - since Patrick could barely stand on his feet - carried him into another big room with chairs aligned in front of a wall, all facing it. Next to each chair were tables with what looked like recording machines, each equipped with recording tape and an old video projector. Two big speakers were placed behind every chair.

In the back of the room, someone was attached to a chair and was forced to watch what was projected on the wall. It was a girl.

As the girls led Patrick to his chair, he looked over at the girl and recognized her. "Y/N," He murmured under his breath. They sat him on one and attached his wrists to the arms of the chair. One of the girls put electrodes on each sides of his forehead, started the machines, and left the room with the other girl.

As soon as she started the machines, Patrick's eyes turned yellow and he looked at the wall in front of him. The video projector projected on the wall old moments of Patrick's life starting from his childhood, some good, some bad. The speakers behind him blasted the sound of the images and the voice of a woman that kept repeating the sentence "Silence the noise."

"Come on Patrick, walk toward mommy...the noise...Hey buddy...Silence...Why did you do that?...noise. Silence...I hate you mom!...Silence the noise...We should start a band...Silence...Wow, kid. Your voice is beautiful!...the noise...I don't fucking care Patrick!...Silence the noise...*laughs*...My name's Y/N...I love you..."

The speakers kept blasting Patrick's old memories into his ears as three other girls came into the room and sat three men on their chair, Isaac, Joe and Nick. Joe turned his gaze toward Patrick as the girls attached him to the chair. "Patrick!"

The singer didn't react at what was happening around and kept his eyes on the wall. His body started to twitch.

Joe tried to free himself by moving his wrists but was stopped by the girl who put the electrodes on his head too and started the machines. His eyes became black just like yours. Isaac, Patrick and Nicholas were the only ones to have the eyes of a different colors. Patrick's were yellow, Nicholas' were clear blue and Isaac's were a darker shade of blue than Nick.

*****

Joe and Ben got behind the building and found a door that led inside. They got in and made their way inside pretty easily, all without getting the attention of any girls since it was a deserted part of the warehouse. They arrived in a big room, the exact same room where Patrick and the others were settled in.

Joe ran toward Isaac and took off the electrodes, stopping the machine shortly after. Isaac instantly blacked out, as if all the energy of his body was gone.
"No. man, don't faint like that. You're, like, one foot taller than me, I can't carry you to the car," Joe said as he tried to shake his friend awake.
Ben walked over to him. "I think it's gonna be the same thing for all of them."
"Yeah, I think so too. You think we have enough place in the car?" Joe inquired.
"Well, if we put one or two of them in the trunk, yes," Ben answered.
"We're not going to put them in the trunk, are we?"
Ben shrugged. "I see no other solution."
Joe sighed and gave in. The two men started to take off the electrodes from each of their friends and, like Isaac, they all fainted.
Ben stopped and looked at all of them. "Where's Pete?"
"That's a good question, but we don't have that much time. Let's go," Joe replied.
They carried them into the car without being seen by the girls - apparently they were all gone.
Once inside of the car, Joe and Ben looked at each other.
"What are we going to do now?" Joe asked.
"I have an idea." Ben said before starting the engine.

*****

"So that's what happened," The voice in Patrick's earpiece said, "I'm Joe."
"So the Blue Birds are you, Ben and Dave?" Patrick asked.
"Yeah, and other people too, band members that joined us. The same thing happened to a lot of other band members in other states. They saved their lives by themselves then we found them and created the Blue Birds. We want to end the Syndicate but we need help, do you want to join us?" Joe explained to Patrick.
Patrick thought for a moment and looked at his friends in the room. There was no mystery anymore - it was all spelled out. The Syndicate was behind all of this and you needed to take them down, but you wouldn't be able to do it alone. That's where the Blue Birds came into play. You and the others agreed on joining them.
"I still have a question," You spoke up.
Patrick looked at you. "What is it?"
"The police said they found your bodies, but you're still here." You looked at the guys around you.
"When Dave was still at our place, the police arrived in front of the hospital and saw nothing, no bodies, anything. But some girls were hiding, apparently they were waiting for them. They did the same thing that they did to you but instead, ordered them to say they found your bodies and as a clue they just showed them the burned bodies of the firefighters." Joe explained.
Patrick repeated that to you.
"So, see you tomorrow at our place. I'll re-contact you later and tell you where it is." Joe said before ending the call.