Disclaimer: I don't own Glee.
Chapter 1: Closing time
He could see a sign to his right and squeezed his eyes trying to read it, the rust had taken away most of the letters and the only part that was clear was: welcome to … voices.
Voices?
What a crappy name he thought.
He remembered his parents talking about this place, his father complaining about the waste of space it was, the things he could make with it bla bla and more bla, but when his father had mentioned the accidents he had listened, his mother had tried to cover his ears while she shushed his father.
But the moment his mother fell asleep, his father had came back with the gossip.
A few years back they had tried to construct a place similar to a mall just outside Lima's limits, some had complained and made a great scandal about it, but his father had insisted that they were a group of morons that they knew nothing about progress, in spite of the protests the construction started and everything had gone smoothly… until the accidents began.
It started with small things, a hammer on a worker's toe, tools that went missing, knots that just seemed to untie themselves and beams that fell from the sky.
But the construction kept on going, until someone died.
He lifted his hand to cover his eyes, the sun didn't let him see the road, he cursed under his breath and kept on going.
He could see a couple of building ahead just liked his boss had said to him, he grabbed the steering wheel as tight as he could and pressed the accelerator, closing his eyes.
One minute and counting.
He could hear the sound of the rocks hitting the car.
50 seconds.
Probably another layer of dust was covering his car right now.
30 seconds.
He wanted to open his eyes so bad, so he squeezed the steering wheel until it hurt.
10 seconds.
He opened his eyes and pressed the brakes before he could crash against the building that was in front of him.
The moment the car stopped he let go of the breath he had been holding, he put his hand on his pocket and took out a handkerchief passing it through his face, drying the sweat that it had formed there, he put his head back against the sit and laughed.
His boss was right after all.
The pull to leave the place was really strong, almost crashing his car seemed to be the solution to enter, but he could still feel it like little ants crawling under his skin, fortunately he had a solution for that and it was called alcohol.
He took out a beer from the pack he had on the passenger seat and took a long sip, he didn't let go until it was empty.
He did the same with the second bottle, the third,…
He went out of his car and passed a hand through his mouth cleaning the little drops that had fallen, he moved the bottle up and down, but nothing else came from it, he looked at it and threw it across the field with all the trash that there was around.
The place was dead.
He put himself against his car's door and took out the paper he had on his pocket, he read the list very quickly, it seemed easy, his boss had given him all the materials he needed.
He put his head through the car's window and started looking for his flashlight, it wasn't there.
"Fuck" He said, trying to move but ended up hitting his head.
"Fuck, fuck, fuck" He repeated grabbing his head with his hand, he looked between his fingers at the sky, luckily it was still day but not for long, he grabbed the paper that had fallen on the floor and looked for the little bag that had the ingredients he needed.
He passed his hand through his hair one last time and walked to the building, it was clearly abandoned, dirt everywhere, one could get sick just by standing there. He looked down at the map that was drawn on the paper and tried to follow the instructions, he turned right, then left, then right again, but the moment he saw the light coming from outside, he realized he had been walking in circles, the beer wasn't helping him.
"Fuck" He said, he turned around and started again, after the second time he made it, he looked around the big room that he was in but he didn't see anything at all, it was just empty.
He walked to the center of the room and threw the contents of the bag on the floor, he looked down at the paper and tried to read the words that his boss had written there, he heard a screeching sound and lifted his head.
There it was.
"Fuck" He said again, it was a big cube, his boss was right, this was the part where he started getting nervous. He walked to the big cube and looked at the only door that was there.
He opened it and looked at the eternal darkness that awaited him; he looked down at the line of light that separated him from the room. His hands were shaking.
"Hello" He said, he knew his voice was trembling.
"Be strong, don't believe his words, just don't cross the door, if you do that the darkness will eat you up"
His boss's words resonated against his head, giving him a little more confidence, he screamed again.
"Hello, my name is Walter, I just want to ask you a few questions"
He looked down at the floor again; the darkness seemed a little closer to his feet but may be it was his imagination. He lifted his head and squeezed his eyes trying to see something, but it was impossible. He left the door opened and took a step back to look at the room, he walked around it and put his hands against the cube, it was cold and flat and very very dark, he kept on walking until he stood before the door again. He was disappointed, he had expected more.
His voice had stopped trembling, so he screamed again
"Hi!" He said putting his hands around his mouth, he step closer to the door.
"Walter" Walter lowered his hands and looked at the darkness with wide eyes, it had answered him. He breathed hard and put his hands together, squeezing really hard, a bad habit he had had since he was a child, he had scars on his hands that he had made with his nails.
"That's a bad habit, Walter" The voice that came from the darkness said to him.
"I know" He answered back without thinking.
"First rule Walter, Don't play his games"
"So questions?" It said to him, the voice sound so normal and it had a sarcastic tone in it, it was the voice of a man.
"What's your name?" He asked the first question and the most important, if they knew his name they could find more information about him, that's what his boss had told him and he believed him after all he owned that man his life.
Two years ago he had been in a bar drinking, he was so drunk.
A beautiful woman had sat on his lap and put her big breasts against his face, Walter just laughed; he hadn't been surprised, he wasn't an arrogant man but he knew he was handsome,
Just 22 years old with striking blue eyes and caramel hair, so he had put his head against the woman's breasts and kissed her there. The next day he had woken up with one eye and a "woman" next to him eating it like it was chicken, Walter had screamed.
A man had entered the room and put a bullet in her head.
Then the explanations came, demons, ghosts, supernatural things that could eat you, the man had explained what the woman was, but Walter was so drugged up in the hospital bed that he had to repeat all over again a few days later.
After that he had become the man's lap dog, he did everything he asked but his boss never let him go to dangerous situations, he just delivered stuff but never asking what was inside. He had taken a few strange requests in the past, but not as strange as this one. Go inside that room, open the door and asked him his name, his boss had said along side a few warnings.
So Walter did it.
"Ahhh that question" The voice said and laughed a little.
"You don't like your name or something?" Walter asked scratching his head; he had to take a bath he thought.
"No, I like it, it's quite simply actually, but names have power Walter, especially for people like me, do you know your boss name?" He answered to him.
"Burt, Burt Hummel" He said to him with a smile on his face, his boss was the best, he was a good man.
"Are you sure, Walter?" The voice said to him, he could feel a smile in a pair of lips that didn't exist.
"I'm sure" He said with a little less confidence.
"Tell me Walter, did he tell you about the others?"
"The others?" Walter walked a little closer to the door and stopped himself before he passed the line of light.
"You know the others that came here before you and tried to ask the same questions, unfortunately dear Walter I don't control my prison and it's not my fault the darkness is so hungry for new... meat"
Walter's bad habit started again, this time his hands bleed, Burt hadn't said anything about others.
"Oohh don't worry your little head with this new information, Burt didn't send them, he really is a good man, if you just follow the rules there is no danger, I'm reaalllyyy sorry for you, Walter. It was fun while it last" The voice said a little disappointed.
"What are you talking about?" Walter screamed at him already forgetting everything that Burt had mentioned to him. First rule Walter, Don't play his games.
"Look down at your feet" And Walter did, he started at his feet for a long time and for some reason he remembered his mother.
"Please, I don't want to die" Walter begged him in a small voice.
"I'm sorry but I didn't make these stupid rules, like I told you before I don't control my prison, Walter. Goodbye." The voice faded away, leaving Walter there alone.
He kept on looking at his feet, he put his hand in his pocket and grabbed his phone, he dialled a number and put it against his ear.
"Hello" A voice said from the other end.
"Hi Kathy" He answered.
"Walter, Hi, how are you?" She said with her usual cheerful voice, Walter couldn't help but smile.
"I'm fine, How is the baby?"
"He is kicking right now, I'm sorry but I have to go to the bathroom... again" She said with a exasperate tone in her voice.
"That's all right, its Burt there?"
"Yes, bye Walter! I hope you come back soon, there is roasted meat waiting for you"
"I can't wait!" He answered, a few tears escape from his eyes.
"Hi, Walter" A man's voice said to him.
"I'm sorry Burt, I didn't follow the rules"
He heard silence from the other end.
"Are you sure?" Burt asked him.
"Yes, I'm sure" Walter said with a sad smile on his face.
"I'm so sorry" Burt answered him.
"It's all right, It was my fault, just don't send anyone else here, I never thought that the darkness could be so smart!" He chuckled.
"Thank you for everything, Burt" He hanged up while he heard his name being called from the other end.
The phone started ringing; Walter grabbed it and threw it across the room. He heard it shattered.
"Come one!" He screamed looking down.
"Just don't step into the darkness and you are going to be fine" Burt finally said to him putting a hand on his shoulder and squeezing, after a long hour of warnings.
He shouldn't be drunk for this kind of things; one would think that after losing an eye he would stop."Are you listening to me Walter?" Burt asked him again.
"Yeah, yeah, don't play along with "the thing" games" He said making quoting marks with his fingers while Burt frowned at him.
"Don't step into the darkness, stay behind the line of light, bla bla bla"
"Walter! If you don't take this seriously you shouldn't do it" Burt said to him.
Walter sat up straight lifted his hands in a non threatening manner and looked at Burt in the eye.
"I take this seriously, you know that, Burt" Walter answered, touching the patch that adorned the left side of his face, a new nervous habit that he had gain over this two years.
"I know, just be careful, ok?" Burt asked him.
"I will be all right" Walter smirked at him.
He looked down at his feet, he couldn't believe he was going to die because he didn't tie his shoelaces right, so pathetic, like him. Only one was inside the darkness, but Walter could feel that if he moved, it would follow him; this prison was made so nothing could get out and nothing could enter.
His mother was right he should learn how to tie his shoes.
Walter took big breaths and took a step back.
The darkness ate him up and the door closed.
Burt looked down at the phone with sadness, he shouldn't have sent him there, he was just an irresponsible kid who couldn't follow simple rules, Burt squeezed the phone, he could hear the plastic cracking.
"It's everything all right?" His wife asked behind him.
"Everything is all right, honey, why don't you go upstairs? I'll be there in a minute" He said to her, watching as she grabbed her rounded stomach.
"All right, I'll wait for you in our room" She walked to him and kissed him on the lips whispering goodnight.
Burt watched her go and put the phone on the table, he walked to his office and closed the door, he pushed his back against it for a second and closed his eyes thinking about Walter. He knew it would be useless calling him now.
He opened his eyes and sat down on the red armchair that had belonged to his father, it was just an investigation mission, nothing else, it was the first time it was fatal knowing the rules. Burt had made sure to read everything he could before sending Walter there.
The moment the accidents began, "people" started to notice and Burt had been one of them, at the beginning they had thought that it was a simple poltergeist playing pranks on the workers but when death started to surround the place, they realized they were wrong, something had woken up and was trying to keep people away.
The construction ended and they took the opportunity to do a real investigation, they had taken all the precautions but nothing had prepared them for that.
Psychics had watched in surprise at the prison while people liked Burt had seen nothing, but with a little help, they opened his eyes.
One of the investigators had opened the door without thinking and the moment he had step on the darkness, it swallowed him. But humans were curious beings and a second person had walked to the door but instead of trying to walk in, he had just said a word.
'Hi' and something had answered him back. They didn't know what it was; they just know it liked to play games, asking really uncomfortable questions to everyone who bothered opening the door.
With the years they had understood that the place was some kind of prison but they didn't know what was inside, just that the darkness was the guardian and you don't mess up with it.
People had asked the thing a lot of questions over the years, some had come back crying, others screaming and even blushing at his words. In resume, the thing was a bastard but all he could do was talk and nothing else.
The only question that Burt had cared about was its name, with that he could look for the origin.
So he went, he opened the door and spent an hour hearing as the thing made fun of him.
He thought he could keep Walter safe, he was wrong.
He grabbed the album that was under the table and opened it, a collection of smiling faces stared back at him, they were so many of them. He passed his thumb across some of them and smiled, he found himself with a blank page and put the album on his lap, taking the wallet out of his pocket. He opened it and looked inside, grabbing one of the pictures that were there; Walter's face stared back at him. He grabbed the album and put it on the blank page, after he was finish; he closed it and left it on the table.
"He is dead, isn't he?" A voice said behind him.
"Yes" He answered, looking at the album one last time before he turned to look at his wife, standing by the door's office.
He got up from the armchair and grabbed the car's keys that were laying inside the bowl that was on top of the table, a colourful gif from his mother in law.
He looked at his wife, standing there with her arms crossed, looking at him with a frown on her face, surprisingly she moved to the side and let him pass, Burt eyes widen at the display. He walked to her and kissed her on the forehead, while she grabbed him and planted a big kiss against his lips.
"I'll be back soon" He said to her, putting his arms around her waist.
"You better, Mr." She said smiling and kissed him one last time. She put her hands around her stomach and watched as his husband walked away, she felt her son kicked.
"Everything will be fine, kiddo, it won't hurt him, I made sure of that" Kathy walked to the armchair and sat down, she grabbed the photo album that her husband had been watching a moment ago and passed her hand through it.
"So many lives" She said in the empty room, but she didn't open it.
"Why can he leave that place alone? Should I tell him, kiddo? The name of the thing?" She asked to her rounded stomach while she looked down.
"May be when I'm gone" She said with a sad smile on her face.
"Yes, that would be better" Her eyes started closing and she fell asleep, the photo album fell from her lap.
Burt went out of the car and stood there looking at the abandoned building. He grabbed a lantern and lighted his way to the inside, after a few minutes he found the prison, it was still visible. What Walter had done will last a few hours at least.
He point the lantern and walked to the cube, he moved it to the sides and something shine to his right, Burt walked to it and lighted it with his flashlight, it was a cell phone, more precisely Walter's cell phone and it was destroyed, he paused a second looking at it and turned around, watching at the cube with distrust.
He walked to the door and opened it.
"Tell me what happened?" He screamed inside the darkness.
"Ohhh you are back!... and bald" The voice answered with a joyful tone.
"I asked you a question!" Burt said without moving.
"He wasn't careful, that's all, it was like an accident, I can't control my prison, if I could I wouldn't be here" It said.
"I know" Burt said to it, the voice stayed quite.
"Don't" It growled at him.
"This thing is dangerous, you are dangerous, I have to do it" Burt said while he pointed the light into the darkness even thought he knew he couldn't see anything inside.
"Don't!" It screamed.
Burt ignored it while the thing screamed at him to come back and walked outside of the building, he put his hand on his pocket and took out a wooden box, he had paid a lot of money for this but it was worthy, he had made the decision the first time he had opened the door but with the years it started to collect dust on the back of his closet, it wasn't much. It was a charm that will make sure than nobody come here sniffing around and found the prison by accident.
He put the box on the floor and passed his fingers through the symbols that were on the top, a blue light surrounded the box.
Burt closed his eyes while the light shined and when it was over, he opened them again. He lifted his head to look at the buildings and realized that one was missing.
Before they were married or more precisely before they were even friends, Kathy had explained the spell to him and Burt had nodded not understanding a word she was saying.
"It is like a perception filter" She said looking at the box that was on the top of the table. He nodded.
"You know what a perception filter is, right Hummel?" She looked at him with a raise eyebrow and a smirked on her face; he just stayed quite and didn't say anything.
"All right, the box is just a wooden box, all right? But when it is activated it had the effect of directing attention away from something or someone, making them unnoticeable." Seeing Burt's expression, she rolled her eyes and grabbed the box.
"I'll show you" She grabbed his wrist and took off his watch.
"Hey, give me that back" He demanded.
"Ohh don't be a baby, I'll give it back" She put the watch near the box and passed her hand through the top of the box.
"There, now look!" She said when she was finished, she walked to his side again and they watched the box together, for a few seconds nothing happened then the box started emitting some kind of light and the watch disappeared.
"Guau!" He jus said.
"I told you" She said with a smile while she elbowed him on the stomach.
"Ouch"
"You really are a baby, the watch is still there but you just can't see"
"So it's invisible?"
"Not really, that spell takes a lot of power, it is just unnoticeable that's all"
"So the spell is called perception filter?"
"What? No, I took that from a TV show, I have no idea what is it call"
"You are so strange, ouch, stop hitting me"
Burt smiled at the memory.
"This was for the better" He thought but for some reason a tiny part of him was doubting his decision, he knew they would asked questions, they were as intrigued as him by the prison, something invisible, timeless and unknown but he couldn't risk another incident. He will deal with them later.
He looked at the empty space one last time, and made the promise to himself that he would never come back there again.
He entered his car and drove back home, to his family.