How To Save Rock And Roll

Chapter 23 - The raven

Patrick opened his eyes, his vision masked by something - a bag over his head.
"They're inside," A muffled voice announced.
The noise of a door opening echoed through the room, followed by steps and the sound of the door slamming. The steps got closer to Patrick and stopped in front of him. The person sighed and said, "It's been a while, Stumpy." It sounded like the voice of a man, familiar to Patrick.

The man ripped the bag off of Patrick's head. Patrick immediately looked around. He was in a dark room, tied to a chair, and there was another person, also tied to a chair with a bag over their head and probably still unconscious.
"More than twelve hours and this thing is still having an effect on him, whoa," The man commented.
Patrick glanced in front of him to have a look at the man standing in front of him. He was tall and wearing a mask of a raven. Patrick had already seen this image - it was the image that had been haunting him for days.
"You," He muttered, "You're..."
"Brendon Urie." The man finished his sentence, taking off his mask and revealing his bruised face, "Remember me?"
Patrick stared at him in awe.
"Yeah, look what you did to me, you bastard." Brendon approached Patrick and hit him. He knelt in front of him and grabbed his jaw firmly, turning his face to look at him. "You're lucky he wants you alive. I would have already killed you." He answered, looking directly into his eyes.
"Who's'he'?" Patrick asked, doing the same thing.
"An old friend of yours." He grabbed the hem of his t-shirt and pulled it up a little bit. "The one that gave you this." He pointed at the scar.
"Pete." He murmured under his breath as he looked down.

Brendon stood up and went over the other person, taking off the bag. It was Joe and he was still unconscious. "Doesn't it feel like...deja vu? I mean, you've already been in that situation before, five years ago." He didn't allow time for him to answer and added, "You've changed a lot, by the way. You gained weight and stuff. Is it because of the baby?"
Patrick knitted his eyebrows in confusion, "The baby?"
"Oh she didn't tell you?" He retorted, acting surprised, "Guess she forgot about it."
"What are you talking about?" Patrick exclaimed, getting annoyed.
"Well, five years ago, when Pete killed - or thought he killed you - and after your friends saved you, we, the Syndicate, kept an eye on you guys for a little bit of time - mostly Y/N, though. She was pregnant and I guess the baby didn't like the Novocaine. So we decided to make her forget that moment," He explained, a smirk spread across his face, "Bye bye baby."
Patrick looked down, tears forming in his eyes. His expression then changed to one of pure disgust and anger, his eyes turning yellow. "You killed my kid!" He screamed with a deep voice as he looked up at Brendon.
Brendon took a few steps back. "Wow, don't need to get that angry, Stumpy."
Patrick started moving his wrists, trying to loosen the ropes tied around them.
"You'll see her soon, don't worry. Our guys are currently on their way to arrest her and Isaac."
"Don't touch her." He growled through gritted teeth.
"Oh, I won't touch her." He walked closer to Joe, taking a knife out of under his t-shirt. "And I won't touch him. But only if you decide to join us."
"Why would you need me?" Patrick asked, a bit confused.
"Well, you know where the Blue Birds are hiding, and there's no need to give you Novocaine since it's already in you. You're like the Hulk, every time you get angry you're super strong and stuff, that's pretty useful." He replied, playing with the blade of the knife, "And yeah, the more we have people with on our side, the stronger we are. We already have your friend, Nick, but it's because of the Novocaine."
His eyes widened as he heard the name of Nick. "I-I'll never join you."
"You're sure of that, even if I do this?" He smirked, approaching the knife to Joe's thigh.

Patrick shook his head, thinking that Brendon will never do that. But he was wrong. Brendon stabbed Joe in the thigh, waking him up in a start. The guitarist cried in pain. Patrick closed his eyes, blocking the tears from falling. "Still don't want to join us?"
"No." He answered and opened his eyes again, looking at Brendon with eyes full of tears.
"Okay then." Brendon held the knife in the air, ready to plant the blade into Joe's flesh for the second time.
"STOP!" Patrick yelled before the blade could enter his friend's thigh. Joe sighed in relief. "I-I'll join you, but please stop hurting him." He pleaded as he stared into space, not believing his own words.
"That's what I like to hear." Brendon mumbled as he stood up and planted the knife in the arm of the chair, making Joe jump as the blade stuck itself just an inch next to his arm. Brendon walked toward Patrick, kneeling in front of him. "We're gonna have all of you, that's gonna be fun. You won't regret it." He laughed.
During this whole time, Patrick kept moving his wrists to untie the ropes and somehow succeeded. He jumped off the chair, the rope in his hand. He kicked Brendon in his stomach, making him fall to his knees then put the rope around his neck, gripping at it tightly. Brendon took the rope in his hands, trying to loosen it. He struggled for a few seconds, hitting Patrick a few times with his elbows but he didn't move, still focused on keeping the rope tight around Brendon's neck.
"You bastard, let me go!" Brendon choked out.
Patrick kept his gaze locked into space. Joe looked at the scene in disbelief, not believing what was happening in front of him. Brendon's moves were becoming weaker and weaker with each second that passed by, and soon enough, they stopped.
"T-Trick, I think he's out. You can let go." Joe spoke up, bringing Patrick out of his daze.
Patrick shook his head and let go of the rope. He stood up, letting Brendon's body fall to the ground. He walked toward his friend and untied the rope. "You think you can walk?"
Joe looked at him in the eyes, a glowing yellow ring around his pupils. He nodded his head slightly and smirked, "Yeah."

Patrick helped him stand up and looked around the room, spotting a door with an exit sign above it. "If this is open and it leads outside, they're really stupid." He commented and with Joe leaning on him, walked to the door. He pushed the door and like he thought, it was open and led outside of a building that was located in the middle of a city that didn't look like Chicago for Patrick.