Supposed To Be Our Time
By SomniusLumen
Chapter 1: Run Joey Run
Summary: It was supposed to be their time. They were finally going to win Nationals and no longer would New Directions be tormented. But when a series of seemingly unrelated murders begin occurring at the Chicago hotel, New Directions must win or else pay the cost: their lives. Klaine, Brittana, Finchel, Fabrevan, Tike.
Santana Lopez hummed quietly as she looked through her closet, admiring the wide array of dresses she brought with her. She had to find the perfect one for tonight. After all, she had a date with the perfect Brittany S. Pierce.
Aside from the anticipation of an extremely great date and some sexy time afterward, Santana was beyond elated. New Directions had made it past the preliminary competition for Nationals—a task they had failed last year due to some hobbit and her Frankenstein boyfriend. They were part of the top ten show choirs of the nation. Now, they simply had to crush Vocal Adrenaline to assure their victory. It was a piece of cake; after all, Santana had helped bring down the Warblers, Aural Intensity, and any other pathetic group that dared to stand in her way. With her fierce Troubletones and her über set of friends in New Directions (which strangely sounded like Nude Erections, now that she repeated it in her head), Santana knew victory was three songs away.
The group had spent the entire day rehearsing their numbers. Paradise By the Dashboard Light was a total bitch to choreograph, especially with Finn's awful sense of orientation. At least the dwarf could dance; otherwise Santana would have totally gone all Lima Heights Adjacent on her. It didn't help that Quinn was struggling to even perform the Edge of Glory number, let alone even learning the lyrics.
Pushing all the stress aside with a simple brush of her hair, Santana finally selected a voluptuous red dress that hung loosely on her frame, but tightly around her hips and waist, accentuating everything she wanted. It ended right above her knees, and she had the perfect set of heels to match.
"Have a hot date with Brittany?" Santana shuddered as she heard Sugar Motta's high voice. However, she couldn't complain; the girl was the money behind the Troubletones.
"Yup," Santana replied calmly as she applied some foxy red lipstick. Sugar smiled gleefully and jumped on the bed, giggling slightly. Sugar always brought a weird sense of joy and energy into the room; something Santana slightly envied.
"So basically, we have three days to rehearse and then we get to crush those other show choirs, right?" Sugar repeated what had been said to the groups after they had placed in the top ten. Santana nodded absentmindedly, her mind drifting toward Brittany. Sometime in her thoughts, Sugar had left and Santana was left to finish applying her make-up. This date had to be perfect. Santana wanted to keep everything perfect especially with the impending and inevitable date coming right around the corner: graduation.
It wasn't that Santana wasn't excited about graduating. In fact, she could not wait to be out of McKinley. But she was worried for Brittany. She knew the other girl was so carefree that sometimes grades were not a priority for her (not that they were a priority for Santana, but learning to copy Straight-A Fabray was a skill she knew she would forever hold). In case the two had to separate, Santana wanted the perfect date to keep them together forever.
For a moment, Santana felt goosebumps rise all over her body. She shivered, quickly passing it off that the hotel room was too damn cold and her bare shoulders were just reacting. But something made her turn around. Nothing was in the room, and Santana giggled to herself. Although, for a moment, she felt as if someone was watching her. If some sleezy perv is watching me, I swear I will—
Santana's phone suddenly vibrated and she eyed it for a moment before reaching for it. When she glanced at the screen, however, she giggled. Brittany had sent her a picture of a crayon drawing: The first symbol was a lopsided drawing of an eye—brown, like Santana's. Then, the next picture was actually a set of words. It read: "Mrs. minus the ring." The final picture was a smiley face, with a pony-tail and a cheerio's uniform. Santana blushed as she deciphered the message: I miss you.
Whoever said Brittany wasn't smart? She was so innocent and beautiful. It almost made Santana feel that she had to protect the girl from anything that could possibly taint her pious purity.
Grabbing her purse, Santana marched outside her hotel room. Mr. Schue, Ms. Pillsbury, Coach Beiste, and Coach Sylvester had mapped out the rooms to accommodate everyone: Mercedes and Kurt, Santana and Sugar, Brittany and Quinn, Tina and Rachel, Joe and Rory, Sam and Mike, Puck and Finn, and Artie and Blaine. Those 8 rooms were booked for New Directions, along with 2 more rooms for the chaperones.
Taking the elevator down, Santana smiled to herself as she only imagined how the perfect date would unfold.
"You and Sam are so cute!" Kurt squealed as he gushed over their newest Facebook picture together. Mercedes blushed, but playfully punched Kurt's shoulder.
"At least he didn't lie to me and tell me he was interested in Berry!" Mercedes laughed jovially with Kurt. Truthfully, both were slightly tipsy. Kurt had snuck in a bottle mixed with vodka, cranberry juice, lime juice, and an orange-flavored liquor: essentially, a homemade cosmo. The two had promised each other if they won the preliminaries for Nationals that they would celebrate together by a drunk chick flick night.
"Can you believe I thought he was gay?" Kurt hummed slightly, "but he is so fine! But so is Blaine!" Kurt blushed slightly as he continued to gush about attractive guys. Mercedes continued to laugh, excitement running through her veins. The two then shifted to sit on the bed beside each other, starting a re-run of Mean Girls. By now, the two had memorized basically the entire movie.
"So, Kurt," Mercedes held her best friend's hand, "how excited are you to get into NYADA?" She squeezed his hand. It was a superstition she had: whenever she talked about someone else's future, she always made sure to squeeze their hand, as if passing on her hopes to them.
"Honestly, I think it'll be awesome! I'm so excited! Finn, Rachel and I in New York, with Blaine coming next year! It's perfect!" Kurt grinned, sighing slightly as he propped his back against the wooden frame of the bed. There was a momentary silence as Cady Heron pounced on Regina George, only for the movie to go back to normal.
The two friends continued to chat, although Mercedes felt goosebumps tickle her shoulder. Attributing them to the alcohol, Mercedes brushed off the occasional uneasy feeling. After all, she was at the top and nothing could bring her tumbling down. She was going to show the world that Mercedes Jones was and is a star.
Yet, she swore it wasn't the alcohol that made her feel like someone was watching her. But instead of running the night for Kurt, Mercedes continued to smile and nod her head, excited to spend the next three days with her closest friends.
I watched quietly as everyone trickled toward the lobby that next morning. It was unfortunate that she had to go. She knew too much.
Rachel's eyes shot open angrily. While Tina was a perfect roommate for her to practice her ranges as she slept, something was disturbing her sleep. Sitting up quickly, Rachel turned her head toward Tina. Surprisingly, her protégé was fast asleep on her bed with needles and dresses beside her. Rachel heard the slamming again and groaned when she noticed Tina was in too deep of a slumber to answer the ratchet noise.
Slipping into her slippers (can't risk catching a cold!), Rachel walked toward the door. As she made her way, she glanced at the time. It was three o'clock in the morning. Who would dare ruin the sleep of Rachel Berry as she prepared for one of the biggest nights of her life?
When Rachel opened the door, however, she was surprised. At her door was a pale Ms. Pillsbury, who looked as if she had seen a ghost, She urged Rachel to wake up Tina and meet her at the lobby in ten minutes. Rachel had no time to ask any questions before Ms. Pillsbury scurried to the next room, waking up Kurt and Mercedes.
As she looked at the other side, Rachel noticed Quinn and Brittany yawning and rubbing their eyes. Rachel winked at the light, her face scrunching in annoyance. Quickly pivoting her heel, Rachel marched toward Tina and woke her up.
"Huh? Wha? I'm here!" Tina mumbled as Rachel repeated Ms. Pillsbury's solemn warning. Rachel predicted it was a surprise rehearsal. She had heard that some Broadway directors would bring in their cast members at obscene hours in the night to reinforce the power of the scene and teach the stars a new perspective on acting.
Tina quickly shuffled out of the room with Rachel as she, Rachel, Quinn, Brittany, Santana, Mercedes, Sugar and Kurt squeezed on an elevator. They finally reached the lobby, only to be horrified with flashing lights and yellow caution tape. Rachel immediately felt Kurt squeeze her hand, his eyes widened.
"W-What's going on?!" Rachel marched forward, walking to Mr. Schuester. Mr. Schue looked as if he hadn't slept in days, and even Coach Sylvester looked even more unpleasant than usual.
"Rachel, girls and Kurt, please take a seat. The police would like to ask you all some questions—"
"Hold up," Santana raised her index finger, "I am not answering anything without a lawyer." To everyone surprise, it was Sue who replied to Santana's quip.
"Sandbags, this isn't a joke." Sue solemnly replied, her eyes full of brazen fury. Everyone pursed their lips, confused and worried. The elevator sound behind them only frazzled their nerves even more as Coach Beiste and the boys walked into the lobby, similar questions being thrown into the air. Ms. Pillsberry also arrived with Jesse St. James, both adults looking visibly worried.
"Wait, what is going on?" Finn's confused face looked even more confused. He blinked a few times, clearly still adjusting to the bright lights of the lobby. The grim-faced police chief walked forward and shook his head.
"You sixteen students are now suspects of interest," the police chief gravely, "for the murder of a Vocal Adrenaline student."