Panic Laser Fight

Ryan Ross woke up and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. He looked around, taking in his surroundings and realized that he was in a car. “W-Wha?” He was cut off.

“Good morning, sleepyhead!” Jon grinned, quickly glancing at him through the rear view mirror.

The guitarist blinked, “Heeey. Where are we?”

Brendon, who was sitting next to him and munching on Cheethos answered, “Montana. Remember… We all wanted to get away and explore a bit before writing a new album?”

Ryan slowly nodding, the memory coming back to him, “So, this is Montana, eh?” He rolled down the window, taking in the fresh scent. It was surprisingly different from the Las Vegas and Los Angeles air, “Wow. Remind me to visit here often.” he laughed, watching Brendon wipe his Cheetho fingers on the car seat. He opened his mouth to say something, but quickly decided against it.

They drove for an hour, the only sound coming from the radio. Finally, they arrived at the town. It was oddly vacant. They pulled up to the hotel they were booked at, “Hello?” Brendon called the moment they stepped in.

No one was at the front desk and it looked as if no one had been there in years.

“A-Are you sure this is the place?” Ryan asked Spencer.

The boy nodded, “Yes, sir. I called about, three hours ago, before we headed over here.” He approached the desk.

There was a note.

Dear boys,
Here are two sets of keys, for rooms five-eighteen and five-nineteen. I am so sorry I was not here to give you these in person, but an emergency came up. Enjoy your stay at Hollow Inn!
-Jones

Jon shuddered, “This reminds me of that 30 Seconds to Mars music video.”

Brendon nodded in agreement, “Where they stay at that hotel and it’s empty?”

All of them stared up the stairs, as if waiting for something, or someone to pop out.

-

After the boys got situated, they headed out to explore the town. “Hey,” Jon blinked. “I’m starving! Look, there’s a bar—“

“Saloon.” Ryan corrected.

“—over there. Can we head in there and order something?” He finished, giving his friend a small glare.

They headed inside the bar-slash-saloon. There was a man behind the counter; the only sign of live they had seen since arriving there.

“Excuse me,” Ryan said, approaching the counter. “Do you sell food here?” The man blankly stared at Ryan, “Food? F-O-O-D?” The boy repeated himself.

After a moment, the man answered, “No food here, boy. There hasn’t been any food in years. Beer? Yes, we have that, but not food.”

They all stared at him.

“Get out of here while you still have a chance.” He suddenly said, leaning over the counter, “Before the men in the black cloaks get to you. They’ll take you… one by one…” there was the sound of a plate falling in the back and a woman screaming, “Please… do as I have said. It’s too late for us, but you… you four…” he quickly scurried to the back.

Spencer was the first to break the awkward silence, “Weird-o.” He weakly laughed.

“L-Let’s head back to the hotel,” Jon suddenly said, his voice slightly shaking. “There should be food there… Besides, my Slash! Bears are lonely.”

-

Brendon was stretched out on the bed, reading the Watchmen comic, when it began to thunder. He squealed as Jon opened the room door, “Pete, Ashlee, and Patrick are here!”

“O-okay…” he nodded, setting the comic down, after marking his page. “Hey!” He greeted, bouncing down the steps.

“S’up?” Pete grinned. He was wearing his hoodie, and holding hands with Ashlee Blaine, his girlfriend of almost a year.

Ashlee smiled, letting go of Pete’s hand long enough to greet them individually. “Way to smell like Sensual Amber.” She laughed, giving Jon a kiss on the cheek.

Jon grinned, “That’s how I roll.” He leaned against the wall.

Spencer blinked, “Why don’t I get a kiss on the cheek?” He suddenly glared at Ashlee.

The girl snorted, “I’m sorry, Spencer,” she gave him a gentle kiss on the cheek. “Better?” She said as Pete wrapped his arms around her waist.

“Are there any extra rooms?” Pete asked, snuggling closer to her. Ryan handed him a set of keys, “We’re all sharing a room, and we have a set of keys for one more room.”

Patrick stared, “I’m… sharing… with Wentz?”

“Yeah, pretty much.” Jon laughed. “Hey, it’s better than sharing with Urie here.”

“Yeah, good point.” Patrick nodded, “Has he calmed down at least?” He questioned.

Ryan, Jon and Spencer stared at the strawberry blonde, “No.” They responded in unison.

“Well,” Ashlee stretched. “I’m going to unpack.” She took the key from Pete. Patrick nodded in agreement.

--

Once upstairs, Patrick sighed, setting down his suitcase and Ashlee’s down, “Great.” He muttered, trying to unlock his. Apparently, he used a lock so Pete wouldn’t go through his stuff.

Ashlee was about to say something, but the door suddenly closed. They glanced at each other, “D-Did you…?” She began.

“Wind.” He answered, going back to his lock.

Suddenly, the room got pitch black. “Patrick?” Ashlee called, her voice full of fear.

“I’m… over here…” Patrick stretched his arms out in front of him, trying to feel around the room. There wasn’t a response from the girl, “A-Ashlee? Ashlee? Ash--”

--

Pete pulled out his cell phone, frowning. They’d been up there a long time. “I’m going to check… make sure everything’s okay…” he heavily sighed, heading up the staircase.

All of them had been scavenging around, trying to find food.

“Ash? Patrick?” He knocked on the door, slowly opening it.

The room was empty.

Brendon was suddenly at his side, “I hate to tell you this, dude… but, I think they ran off and eloped!” He was screaming, for some odd, Brendon-related reason.

Pete smacked him on the back of the head, “Stoopid!” He glared, “They wouldn’t do that.”

“Or would they?” Brendon ducked another hit, “HA!” He hit his head on the door frame and fell to the floor.

“What’s all the commotion?” Jon called up the stairs.

Pete hurried down the stairs, “Patrick and Ash aren’t there. The room’s empty and the other rooms are all locked.”

Ryan looked thoughtful, “Come on, gang, let’s go find them.”

Spencer giggled, “Scooby-Doo. I call Fred!” He waved his hand frantically in the air.

Jon stared. “Okay. Well, then… Spencer and I will look down here. Ryan, you and Brendon will look upstairs. Pete… you… can… go with Brendon!” He grabbed Spencer and dragged him off.

--

Spencer groaned, “Can you hurry up?” He was on his knees and hands, giving Jon a boost up to see into the air vent.

“Aren’t in there.” He frowned, getting off Spencer.

“Really? I highly doubt two adults will fit in there…” he glared, massaging his wrists.

Jon stared after his friend, as he had began walking away, “Don’t get all technical with me, Smith!”

They were in the kitchen now. And, it looked as if it had just been cleaned. The dishwasher was on and there was a cake on the counter. “S-Should we--” He noticed that Spencer had already dug into the cake.

He was about to take a taste of the frosting when the lights went off, “Eep!” He heard Spencer squeal, “Jon…” he was grabbing onto his arm.

“Spencer, stop… you’re making my arm go numb!” He said in a failed attempt to calm his friend down.

“Sorry! B-But, I g--” Jon felt his arm being released; no finished response coming from his friend.

He held out his arms in front of him, gently feeling on the counter. He suddenly felt a sharp item dig into his hand, “Ow…” he muttered, holding his injured hand close to him.

Behind him, there were footsteps.

Jon’s first instinct was to dive to the floor, and he did so. The person behind him hadn’t noticed that and tripped over him. He scampered to his feet, taking his chance in getting away from the mysterious person.

He dashed out of the kitchen, crashing into the three other boys, “C’mon, c’mon!” He grabbed them and dragged them outside.

The weather was different now. It was snowing.

Jon shook his head, and led them under the light of the saloon. “Spencer… he’s missing… someone-someone was there.” He panted, shivering in the strange, new weather.

Ryan stared, “Are you telling me that my best friend of fifteen years--”

“And Patrick and Ashlee.” Pete interjected.

“—are missing?” He finished.

Jon slowly nodded, slowing, “The man…” he gestured towards the inside of the saloon with his thumb, “He was right. They know we’re here… and, they’re taking us.” He couldn’t finish.

“One by one.” Pete swallowed.

The guitarist frowned, “Who is they, though?”

Pete didn’t answer, nor did Jon, but stared off into distance. It was now heavily snowing, making it impossible to see where the road leaving the town was.