La Douleur Exquise
Sebastian Smythe straightened the lapels of his jacket, muttering curses in French as he did so.
"Why are we doing this again?" he asked, his tone clearly annoyed.
Hunter Clarington, Sebastian's best friend and partner, just rolled his eyes and turned to look at Sebastian, while still concentrating on not crashing the car, which were currently moving through Ohio.
"There've recently been a strange suicide around here, it seemed like our kind of thing" he explained, and Sebastian sighed.
"I know, but why are we in uniforms?"
Hunter smirked at that "We need to blend in. We're the new students. Hunter and Sebastian Marshall, we're stepbrothers" he explained, and Sebastian rolled his eyes.
"Why are we students? Why can't we be cops?" Sebastian whined, and Hunter shook his head.
"How much do high school students trust cops?"
Sebastian didn't answer, part because Hunter was right, and part because they were at their destination.
Dalton Academy was a boarding school located in Westerville, Ohio. It was an all-boys school, known for its very strict anti-bullying policy and its glee club, an a capella group called the Warblers.
Hunter stopped the car and took a deep breath. Sebastian turned to look at him.
"Who's the poor bastard?" he asked, and Hunter found his folder for the case.
What Sebastian and Hunter did was a little… strange. Some people might even call it nuts, but they knew better.
Sebastian and Hunter were hunters of supernatural evil, demons, vampires, ghosts etc. etc., and they were working on a case.
Hunter found the newspaper cut-out and handed it to Sebastian, who began to read.
High school tragedy.
Dalton Academy have fallen victim for a pure tragedy. Late Wednesday was the student, Blaine Anderson, found death in his room at the prestigious boarding school. The act was presumably suicide, seeing as Blaine Anderson was found hanging from the pillars in the ceiling by his tie.
The young man was found by student Kurt Hummel, who has refused to speak with the press. His suicide confuses both Anderson's family and friends, seeing as they all found him a very happy person.
"He was always smiling. I don't think I've ever seen him upset or in a bad mood" says Jeffrey Sterling, a close friend to the young Anderson.
"It's such a shame. He was a great kid. Very popular and very bright too" says the principal of the Dalton Academy, Mr. Timothy Miller.
We have been unable to get a statement from Anderson's family.
Dalton Academy faculty are now considering…
Sebastian stopped reading, the rest wasn't important.
"Why do you think this is our kind of thing?" he asked, handing the cut-out back to Hunter, who shrugged.
"There's just something fishy about it" he said "Why would a kid, who get great grades, friends and are the captain of one of the best show choirs in the country decide to hang himself? It just doesn't add up.
"Also, he was hanging by his tie. Look at these ties" Hunter tugged a little in his own tie as he said it "They're quite short. It would take a serious effort to hang yourself with it"
Sebastian listened and nodded.
"Yeah, you're right. Won't hurt to look into it" he stated, and opened the car door "You coming?" he said, as he left the car.
Hunter was right behind him, and together they walked towards the school.
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"Well, Mr. and Mr. Marshall" the principal, Timothy Miller, a tall balding man, said as he looked up from Sebastian and Hunter's, fake, papers "It is a pleasure to welcome you to Dalton Academy"
"The pleasure is ours, sir." Hunter said; he was always the polite one. Mr. Miller smiled.
"One of the school prefects will be here in a minute, he is going to show you to your rooms and will answer any questions you might have"
Hunter smiled politely again "Thank you very much, sir."
Mr. Miller was just about to say something, when the door to his office barged open, and a boy hurried inside the office.
"Sorry I'm late. Warbler practice dragged out and-""Kurt. It's fine"
The boy, Kurt apparently, took a deep breath and turned towards Hunter and Sebastian "I guess you are the transfers" he said, a polite smile on his lips "Nice meeting you. I am Kurt Hummel"
Sebastian took a second to really take in Kurt's appearance. He was… Pretty, this was a surprise, most boys Sebastian had met was hot or sexy, not pretty. Kurt was, however, pretty. He had very pale skin, a tone that would seem unhealthy if it wasn't for the red glow on his cheeks, chestnut colored hair, and pretty blue eyes.
"Hey Kurt, nice meeting you too" Hunter said, and dragged Sebastian out of his thoughts "I am Hunter Marshall, this is my stepbrother, Sebastian Marshall"
Kurt shook their hands, the polite smile still on his lips.
"I'll be showing you to your rooms, so if you'll just follow me" he said, and then left the office, a small strut in his walk.
Sebastian and Hunter quickly followed Kurt, not that they were afraid to get lost, but they had to keep up the act of new students.
"What are the Warblers?" Sebastian asked when they were a little away from the office.
"Excuse me?" Kurt said and looked at Sebastian, who just smiled.
"I asked, what are the Warblers? You mention something about Warbler practice, and I don't guess that you're actually training Warblers around here" Kurt chuckled at that, and Hunter rolled his eyes, but didn't say anything.
"No. We're not that posh" Kurt said, and smiled "The Warblers is the school's glee club. A show choir"
"And that's not gay at all" Sebastian noted, receiving a death glare from the brunette. Whoops. Wrong joke.
"Do you have anything against gay people, Sebastian?" Kurt asked his tone icy. Hunter laughed and Kurt looked at him, death glare still in place.
"I'm sorry, Kurt. I didn't mean to laugh" he said, still chuckling "It's just that-""I'm gay"
Kurt kinda stared at the two boys, his mouth taking the shape of a small "o", and then he blushed.
"I'm sorry. I didn't-"he started out, but Sebastian broke him off, smiling "It is okay. You couldn't know"
Kurt blushed again, and Sebastian found that he liked making Kurt blush. Wait, what? Sebastian Smythe didn't like to make boys blush, unless it was because they were aroused, that was just ridiculous.
He was dragged out his thoughts by Kurt's voice.
"I guess I'm still kinda defensive about it. It wasn't like they were that welcoming about it in old school"
Sebastian looked at the boy with a worried expression, and was about to ask about when Kurt seemed to snap out of it.
"So, this is your room, Hunter" he said, his voice cheerful and polite again, as he stopped in front of a door "Your roommate is Jeffrey Sterling, called Jeff. He is very nice, but a little… energetic"
Hunter didn't seemed fazed by this, and he retrieved his key from Kurt without comment "See ya later, Hunt" Sebastian said, as Hunter unlocked the door to his room and went inside "See ya later, Seb" and the door fell shut.
Sebastian turned to Kurt, who was still looking at the door.
"Shall we?" he said, and it seemed to startle Kurt, because he flinched. Sebastian chuckled a little.
"Relax; I am not going to hit you just because Hunter isn't here"
Kurt blushed.
"I know. I just… Never mind, this way" and before Sebastian could even blink he was halfway down the hallway.
Sebastian hurried after him, a little confused by the boy.
He walked up on the side of the boy, and smiled at him, a smile that was only reluctantly returned.
"So, I read about the Anderson boy" Sebastian said, not really know why, but telling himself that it was because of the case "Tragic, really"
Kurt froze a little by the mention of Blaine Anderson, but he quickly snapped out of it, and continued walking.
"Yeah, tragic" he muttered, his voice undeniably sad.
"I read in the paper that you were the one that found him. Must've been terrible" Sebastian continued, ignoring the obvious shift in Kurt's mood.
"Can we not talk about it?" Kurt asked, his voice pleading. Sebastian looked at him.
"Why? Were you close?" he asked, forcing an innocent tone into his voice. He knew that he was pushing, but he knew what he was doing. He had developed a talent for playing people so he could get things his way. A talent that was very well appreciated when they were on a job.
"You could say that" Kurt snapped. He seemed to regret the words the second they left his mouth though, because he quickly added "He was my boyfriend"
"Oh" was all Sebastian could muster. That was… surprising. He didn't even know why he found it surprising, it should have made sense "I'm sorry?" he said, his tone questioning. This was weird. Sebastian usually knew just what to say to people, this freaked him out. Kurt sighed.
"It's okay. You couldn't know, I'm just kinda touchy about it, I guess" he smiled, but his eyes still looked sad "Well, this is your room. You're going to be rooming with me, hope that's okay"
Sebastian smiled.
"That's fantastic"
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"You're insane"
Hunter sent Sebastian an 'I told you' look, but he didn't say anything. Sebastian just sighed and drew a hand through his hair.
"Kurt, I know it sounds a little strange-""Oh, you think so?"
Kurt began pacing, and Hunter rolled his eyes again.
"Two boys, that I barely know, come and tell me that boyfriend didn't commit suicide after all, no, he was killed by an angry spirit, and now I need to help them kill said spirit. How could that ever seem strange?" Kurt spat, and Sebastian flinched. Yeah, it did sound rather crazy, but this was important.
"Kurt, please. Just listen" Sebastian pleaded, looking at Kurt with begging eyes "You have to believe us. This spirit killed Blaine, and we have reason to believe that it will kill you next"
Kurt rolled his eyes.
"That's ridiculous!" he snapped. Sebastian looked like he was about to retort, but Kurt cut him off "I won't hear another word of this. You are both crazy" he grabbed his blazer jacket and left the room without another word.
Sebastian slumped down in a chair.
"Well, that went well" Hunter stated, and Sebastian turned to glare at him "Shut up"
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Kurt was angry. Really, who did Sebastian Marshall think he was? He was not that stupid. He sighed and flopped down on his bed, already dressed in his nightwear, and ready to go to sleep. He thought that Sebastian was his friend that was at least what he had been telling him.
They had grown quite close, even though the Marshall brothers hadn't been there for long, and Kurt had actually liked being around Sebastian. He groaned and covered himself with the blanket. Well, that was the past now.
Sebastian hadn't returned to their room. It might have something to do with the fact that Kurt had his key, and he had locked the door. Whoops.
Kurt snuggled up in bed, still mad at Sebastian for making fun of him like that, when he heard something. He looked up, and saw that the light was on in the bathroom. He frowned; he was certain that he had turned it off when he went to bed, anyway, he rose from his bed and walked towards the bedroom when he saw something. He froze.
"Who are you? What are you doing in my room?" he snapped.
The person, a boy, turned around and looked at Kurt, who gulped. The boy was a little smaller than Kurt, he was wearing a Dalton uniform, but it looked old, his black hair was flat, and matted to his forehead. Kurt was certain that he had never seen him in his entire life.
"Fag" the boy said, his voice sounding like it came from another world, raspy and kinda distant.
"I-I beg your pardon?" Kurt stuttered, and the boy smirked.
"Fag" he repeated, an evil glint in his eyes.
Kurt swallowed the lump in his throat and straightened his back.
"Dalton has a very strict anti-bullying policy, so I suggest that you go to your own room before I have to report you to the headmaster" Kurt managed to say, surprising himself with the steadiness of his voice. The boy just smirked at him.
"Is that so, fag?" the boy said, and Kurt felt the anger rise in him.
"I am serious. Get out of my room. I don't even know how you got in here in the first place the door is…" his voice trailed off as the boy suddenly disappeared.
Kurt felt his mouth go dry, and he looked around in the entire room. People didn't just disappear. That wasn't possible. He had to be in here somewhere.
Unfortunately, he was right. Kurt was about to give up and just go back to sleep, when he felt something tighten around his throat.
As he moved his hands to it, he realized that it was the tie from his uniform. He gasped for air, but the tie was held tight around his next. The boy laughed behind.
Kurt was just about to give up every hope when he heard a familiar voice.
"Kurt?!" Sebastian yelled.
Kurt tried to form an answer, but all there came out was a raspy "Seb".
It was apparently enough though, because soon someone began barging at the door, and Kurt could only assume that it was Sebastian.
He was seeing black spots for his eyes when the doors bust open and Sebastian barged into the room and… was that a shotgun he was carrying?
"Step away from him!" he snapped, pointing the shotgun at the boy behind him, who hissed.
Sebastian seemed to lose his patience, and expertly fired a shot at the boy, who, by some reason, disappeared.
With nothing holding him up, Kurt fell over, gasping for breath.
Sebastian was over him a second later, holding him up so that he could breathe properly.
"Are you okay?" he asked, worry clear in his green eyes, Kurt nodded slowly, still trying to regain his breath.
"Hi, Seb?" he said, his voice still raspy from almost being choked.
"Yeah?" Sebastian said, still holding Kurt up.
"I think I believe you now"
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"So we have to burn the bones?" Kurt asked in a suspicious tone. Sebastian nodded.
"Salt them, and then burn it. Then you should have no more ghost troubles" he said, his voice cheerful, Kurt snorted.
"Nice. Perfect even" he snapped, Sebastian just chuckled at him, and Kurt sent him one of his infamous bitch glares "This is not funny Sebastian!"
Sebastian chuckled again.
"I know. You are just adorable, that's all"
Kurt's glare disappeared immediately, and he blushed. Sebastian chuckled again.
"Also, you don't need to go with us. Hunt and I found the grave, and trust me; we've done it enough times. We can handle it"
Kurt had insisted that he wanted to help Sebastian and Hunter get rid of the ghost, and if that meant that he had to salt and burn some old bones, then so be it.
This however, this was kind, this was Sebastian offering him a way out of this, because he obviously didn't want Kurt to be dragged into this. The paler of the two was stubborn though.
"I am sure, Sebastian. I really want to do this" he said, and looked at the taller boy.
Suddenly both boys realized just how close they were sitting. They were almost sitting chest to chest, only few inches separating them, they were close enough to kiss, all it would take for Sebastian was to just lean down and… Kurt moved.
He scooted a little away from Sebastian, a blush clear on his pale cheeks. Sebastian just smiled, and acted like nothing happened. Nothing was supposed to happen anyway.
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"Here it is" Hunter said, or rather groaned, when his spade hit wood. Sebastian jumped down in the grave to him and helped him get the coffin free from dirt.
Kurt was sitting on the ground, or, actually, he was sitting on Sebastian's blazer. They had been out there for about an hour, Hunter and Sebastian taking turns at digging. Kurt had offered his help, but they had both just kinda snorted and told him not to get his hands dirty.
A groan was heard from the grave as Hunter and Sebastian opened the coffin.
"Well, don't you look ugly?" Sebastian said with a smirk. Kurt didn't understand, he had just opened a coffin, how could he be so relaxed?
Then the thought struck him, they had probably done this a million times before. This was what they did. Kurt shivered.
"Hey babe" Sebastian said, and Kurt had to smile at the endearment "Can you give me salt and the petrol?"
Kurt nodded, and rose from the ground to grab the two tanks.
He handed one to Sebastian and another to Hunter, where the former smiled at him and the latter just took the tank and went back to the grave.
The two boys began to pour the contents over the bones, and then they both got up from the grave.
Sebastian retrieved a blank zippo lighter from his pocket and handed it to Kurt.
"Do you want the honor, babe?" he asked, smirk still in place.
Kurt bit his lip and considered to say no for a moment, before he grabbed the lighter and nodded. He went to the side of the grave and looked at the bones, now almost drowned in salt and petrol.
He could smell the petrol as he lit the lighter, and he could feel the heat when he threw it on the bones.
"You will not harm another boy" he muttered, as the flames consumed the last remains of the ghost who had taken his boyfriend away from him.
"You okay, babe?" Sebastian asked, worry clear in his voice.
Kurt nodded slowly, and turned to look at him.
"I just wished I could have stopped him earlier" he said, his voice sounding broken, and Sebastian felt so bad about it.
"I know" was all he could say, but apparently it was enough, because Kurt began to tear up, and then wrapped his arms around Sebastian's waist and hid his face in his chest.
Sebastian was surprised by the gesture, but he still wrapped his arms around Kurt and tried to comfort him, while Hunter began to cover the grave again.
The sun was slowly rising, and Dalton was now ghost free.
All was well.
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"Leaving so soon?"
Sebastian turned to look at the voice speaking, and was not surprised to find Kurt Hummel standing there. Arms crossed in front of his chest, and a disapproving look in his eyes. Sebastian smiled.
"The job is done. Hunt and I need to move on, there are more supernatural evil to kill" he said, like it was the normal thing to say in the world. Kurt smiled.
"And you thought you could leave without saying goodbye first?" Sebastian shrugged.
"I didn't realize that you would be said if I didn't" "I would"
Sebastian arched an eyebrow, and Kurt sighed as he moved in closer and began to pop down the collar of Sebastian's polo shirt.
"I'm just asking you not to get killed out there, okay?" he said, sounding serious.
Sebastian was about to make some stupid retort, but then he looked down and met Kurt's eyes, and every smart comment that he had died in his throat.
All he could do was nod and say "I'll try" in a slightly raspy voice.
They were standing ridiculously close, or so Sebastian found it. Were they supposed to be standing this close? Did Kurt realize?
"You better" Kurt said, a small smile playing on his lips "I would miss you too much if you went and died" he added, still meeting Sebastian's eyes.
Neither of them really realized what happened, but suddenly Kurt's arms were around Sebastian's neck, and Sebastian's were around Kurt's waist and their lips were pressed together in a passionate kiss.
Kurt's hands found their way to Sebastian's hair, and dragged him closer.
Eventually, the need for air became too big, and they pulled apart, only just, and rested their foreheads against each other's, both smiling like idiots.
"I have wanted to do that since I first laid eyes on you" Sebastian admitted, and Kurt giggled.
"Glad to help you then" he said, blushing just slightly.
Sebastian grinned, and gave him a quick peck on the lips.
"Hunter is waiting in the car" he said.
"Screw Hunter"
"There is someone I would rather screw- ow"
Kurt rolled his eyes, and pulled a little away.
"You're such an idiot" he said, but the fond smile on his lips told Sebastian different.
"But I'm you idiot" he said, and leaned down to kiss Kurt again, and the smaller boy happily obliged.
Before the kiss could get too heated though, Hunter slammed the car horn, and they had to pull away.
Sebastian smiled, and handed Kurt a piece of paper with a number written on it.
"This is my number. Just call me if there is anything okay, then I'll be right back with you" he said, actually sounding as serious as he tried. Kurt smiled.
"Don't tempt me" he said, and Sebastian had to lean down and kiss him again, which resulted in another car horn fanfare from Hunter.
Sebastian pulled away and sighed.
"I'll see you around, babe" he said, and went towards the car.
"Don't get killed" Kurt yelled after him, and Sebastian smiled.
"I won't. I promise"