XO (FOB FanFic ft. Brendon Urie)

[Chapter 11] Will They Ever Be Found?

23 DAYS LEFT...

It's been a week since the whole incident.

Surprisingly enough, Claire was right and XO did leave more pictures. Not many though. And they were really bizarre and didn't make any sense.

Like one day we got three pictures, one for each of the guys. They were all tied up in straight jackets, all in different rooms. Pete seemed to be in a room with a bunch of headless mannequins, Joe was sitting on a stage with bright lights shining on him, and Andy was in a room with an old fashioned TV - on the TV, him, he was being filmed right then and there and it was being played back on the television.

It didn't help me really at all with where they might be. I'd never seen the rooms before in my life.

Along with the pictures we also got more messages. Just like the pictures, they made no sense to me. And when I did try to make sense out of them, I just end up confusing myself and putting ideas into my head.

For example: Hey young blood, doesn't it feel like your time is running out? -XO (Young blood? What the fuck is a "young blood"?)

And: I'm going to burn everything you love then burn the ashes. In the end, everything collides. -XO

Also: This is what I do, baby, I nightmare you. -XO (Since when has nightmare become a verb?)

I don't know what XO's trying to do, speed up the thirty process? As if thirty days wasn't quick enough...

*****

It was the evening of the twelfth day I've been with Claire. Eighteen days left to find the guys.

Claire and I were in the kitchen, making something for dinner. Well, she was. I was just standing there, keeping her company.

I leaned against the counter and watched the TV that was mounted over the fireplace. The news was on. The headline on the bottom of the screen read Band Still Missing - Will They Ever Be Found? A few seconds later, and with the blink of my eye, the banner switched from Band Still Missing - Will They Ever Be Found? to New Details About Where Band Might Be.

I unconsciously peeled myself away from the counter and walked into the living room, snatching up the remote and turning the volume up.

"...rock band, Fall Out Boy..." The news anchor was saying, "...has been missing since February 4th, twelve days ago. At the concert they intended to announce their new album, the four musicians were all performing, when at the end of the first song of the set, they all passed out. The stadium went black and when the lights turned back on, the band had disappeared. Here to talk about it with the frontman's wife, Elisa Stump, is our investigative reporter, Larry Yellen."

"Elisa," I murmured under my breath, lowering myself down onto the couch.

The screen changed from the news studio to my living room. My wife was sitting on our couch and an older looking man with white hair sat in the matching arm chair adjacent to the couch. I only assumed the man was Larry. He was looking directly into the camera.

"Thank you, Jeff," Larry spoke into a microphone with the news station's logo on it. He turned towards Elisa, "Good evening, Elisa."

"Good evening, Larry," She replied kindly, a smile appearing on her face. I never really realized how much I loved her smile, and how much I missed it.

"So, let's get down to business, you married Patrick a year ago, correct?" Elisa nodded her head yes. "When you heard about what happened at the concert, what was your first reaction? Where were you?"

She let out a quick breath before replying to him, "I was with my mom that night. You know, when Patrick's on tour with the guys it can get pretty lonely, so I tend to visit my friends and family a lot. I actually didn't even find out about what happened until the next morning. I didn't want to believe it. I mean, who's heard of an entire band just...disappearing?" She laughed nervously. "But when I tried calling Patrick...he...he wouldn't pick up. His phone rang, but he never picked up." The smile she had on her face turned into a frown, which in turn made me frown. I hated seeing Elisa upset.

"Now, it's said that you actually saw him the next day," Larry commented.

She nodded her head yes, "Yeah. I...um...I came home from work for my lunch break when I got this...feeling. Like someone was in the house with me. You know? So...I walk upstairs and...I find him in our bedroom."

"He's disappeared once again, is that right?"

Elisa stared at Larry for a little while before stuttering, "Y-Yeah. Um...he actually told me that-"

The screen went black.

"Hey!" I exclaimed, looking up to see Claire standing over me, the TV remote in her hand. She threw it down on the couch. "What was that for?"

"Dinner's ready," She simply used as her excuse.

She walked over to the table where she had set up our dinner. I heaved a sigh and dragged myself over, sitting across from her. I pulled my chair in and looked down at the plate of spaghetti set in front of me. Claire picked up her fork and began swirling the tomato-sauce covered noodles around it. I began to do the same.

The two of us sat there in complete and utter silence.

"I could've gotten some new information if you let me watch the news report," I muttered under my breath, but loud enough for her to hear, breaking the reticence.

"What information would she have that we don't have?" Claire murmured in response, not looking up from her plate where she just twirled her fork around and around, never picking up the utensil to put the food in her mouth.

"I don't know, that's why I was watching," I replied sassily, setting my fork down and crossing my arms over my chest. She finally looked up at me. "Claire, we haven't gotten any closer to finding them." She slowly set her fork down and rubbed her hands on her thighs. "We have to do something different. Because what we're doing now is getting us nowhere. It's been twelve days and we have no clue where they are, even with XO's help!"

"Well what do you want me to do!?!" She screamed, rising to her feet so that she was standing over me, "I've given you a safe place to stay and I've done everything I can to help you find your fucking friends, who, for all we know, could be dead!" I stared at her blankly. They can't be dead. The thirty days isn't up yet. She spun around and stormed off to her bedroom, slamming the door behind her.

I sat there for a little before getting up and walking back over to the living room. I picked up the remote and turned the television back on. Unfortunately for my situation, the interview with Elisa was over and they were onto the weather.

"...it's predicted that Chicago will receive a good two feet of snow overnight," The weather person reported, waving their hand in front of the state of Illinois, where a varying-shades-of-blue splotch was moving towards the city on the map. "As for surrounding cities-" I turned the TV off, uninterested in what the weather person had to say.

I sat down on the couch and put my head in my hands. I'm never going to find my friends. The pictures and notes didn't do justice and only made me worry more. They didn't give me any hints as to where the guys might be. What I needed to do was to meet up with XO. Find XO. Talk to them. My head jerked up. "That's what I need to do," I mumbled to myself, rising to my feet, "I need to find XO."