A Light on in Chicago

“Hey. I know you’re probably having girl drama about now, but I don’t care. You and Joe need to let them out on the town today. We need a band meeting. Now.”

That was all Patrick was told after he was woken up by his phone. Pete didn’t call band meetings early in the morning. Ever. This was serious. So when he told Joe about the call, it was no surprise he didn’t believe it until Pete text him, confirming it. Soon the band was sitting in Pete’s living room while their guests explored L.A. with Ashlee.

Pete was not happy. “So Bill called me. Woke me up too, the bastard. Said there was somebody that wasn’t him in the mirror. Same exact crap from the Mess video, so I thought he was just messin’ around. But then Brendon calls me too. Says the same thing, except he’s genuinely freaked out. Says the Dandies are out to get him.”

All of the boys didn’t quite know what to do with this information. After talking over all the possibilities, they decided to take their friends somewhat seriously and watch out for anything weird. If even Brendon was worried, something was up.

Later, once Ashlee came back home showing off Bronx’s new outfits, the group decided to go out for supper. They made a reservation for a nice restaurant downtown and got all dolled up and ready to go out. When they got to the restaurant there was still a bit of wait time, even with reservations, so the hostess handed them a card to be called when their table was ready.

“Hey look! We got the Queen of Hearts. Aren’t we special,” Andy said once he was given the card.

“Is that what it is? I can’t see anything. I’m gonna go get my glasses; I think I left a pair in the van,” a squinty-eyed Patrick said. He returned shortly with his spectacles that made him look like some kind of office worker or tech support in a bad action movie.

Scout started to rag on him for his choice in eyewear, but was interrupted by the hostess calling their card. The party sat at their table and was enjoying their meal until Pete’s phone rang. “It’s just Mike, he can wait,” he said before ignoring the call.

Their meal was going smoothly once again until Marcelle started getting a bit sick, sneezing as quietly as she could into the fancy napkins of the restaurant. Once she started sneezing though, it took a few hours at least for her to stop, so her napkin wasn’t an option for long.

“Hang on; I think I left some tissues in the glove box of the van. I’ll go get you some. It’ll be easier than trying to find the bathroom in this place.” Joe was turning out to be a good boyfriend. He returned to the table a few minutes later with more than just tissues, looking worried. “Guys, there was a whole bunch of cards in the glove box. They’re all Queen of Hearts cards. Look.” He threw his handful of cards on the table, where almost everyone just stared at them, trying to figure out what it meant. Bronx just picked one up and started crumpling it in his hands.

Scout was the first to freak out. “Saturday. It’s the fucking Saturday video. Guys, somebody wants to kill you.”