A Light on in Chicago

Behind the Hollywood sign, there is a house. In that house lives a family of sorts. Almost none of them are related, and they are all new to the area, having moved here very recently from the Mid-West. They are looking for some people. Some of them aren’t exactly real. These are the Dandies.

In a corner sits a man. He is one of the real ones. He is watching a bank of screens. A woman sits in the room with him, waiting. She is patient at first. She speaks, “Mike, have you found them yet? I want to go hunting.” She smiles as she talks, but the man takes almost no notice of her. When her words finally register, he looks disappointed.

“Elizabeth. Patience. You know we can’t go directly after them yet. That’d be no fun! I found them about an hour ago. They’re enjoying themselves at dinner. Why don’t you give them a call if you’re so anxious to do something?” His eyes never left the screens while he handed her the phone. She took it and dialed a number, but the person on the other end didn’t pick up.

She left a message. “Hello, Fall Out Boy. I hope you enjoyed your supper. Well, I just called to let you know some friends of yours are in town, and they are so looking forward to seeing you again. Why I believe that occasion will be just… dandy for all involved, don’t you?” She paused to giggle before ending the call and handing the phone back to Mike.

“Urie planted the cards. Operation Fuck-with-their-minds has officially started. Thanks for helping Lizzy. Now go… do something else. I’m staying here tonight,” Mike dismissed her. She kissed him lightly on the temple and left the room to boss around others in the group.

“Beckett!” He stood at attention in front of her when she called him, ignoring the obvious height difference. “I’m bored.” She pouted and he relaxed.

He took her hand and led her to the main room of the house. “Mike’s busy?” She nodded. “Then come on, let’s limbo or something. Urie just got back.”

Meanwhile, across town…

“I’m freakin' out. Is anybody else freaked out? Cause I am. Anyone care to join me? Oh god, I need a smoke.” Marcy was not happy, to say the least.

Scout, for once, didn’t have anything to say. The whole ordeal had shocked her into some kind of catatonic state, where she didn’t react to anything around her. This had Patrick even more worried than the fact that someone was after them. All in all, it was not a good time.

Pete was fidgeting. Finally, he pulled out his phone to try to keep occupied. 1 New Voice Message(s) flashed up on it’s screen before he could do anything else with the gadget. “Hey, a message! But who…? Oh! Mike called me earlier, I bet it’s from him.” He speaks softly to himself before listening to the message. “Um… guys, you might want to hear this.” He played the recording on speaker for everyone to hear, and the girlish voice startled everyone, since the call was from Mike. Her message didn’t do much to help the situation either.

No one knew quite how to react at first. They all looked to each other for an answer, except for one person. “Guys, I know that voice. I don’t know why she’s talking like that, but I think I know who she is. She sounds exactly like Lizzy,” Joe said.