Black.
That was all Santana could see, hear, feel.
The compressing blackness that surrounded her made her feel numb, as if she'd just been dipped in a cryogenic freezer. It took over her body, her muscles frozen in place. What place that was, she didn't exactly know.
She clawed at her eyes desperately, willing them to open. To save her from the black demon that was consuming her. It was a few minutes before she realized that she was only imagining her tan fingers ripping at her eyelids. There was no way she could physically move right now.
How had this happened? One minute, Santana had been mindlessly doodling on the margin of her Geography notebook, sneaking discreet looks at her best friend, Brittany, and the next, she was frozen. She let her mind wander back to the moment, considering there was nothing else she could do.
Santana sat, staring mindlessly at the map that her bore of a teacher was pointing to. She was too zoned out to make out anything but the enthusiastic tone her teacher was using. She sighed and started drawing figures on the inside of her text book. It was only after a few minutes that she realized she was drawing a stick figure that was supposed to represent Brittany. Santana quickly erased the drawing and shook her head. She looked over at the blonde that was sitting next to her. Brittany was focusing intently on the teacher, but Santana knew there was nothing academic going on in that mind of hers. That was one of the reasons Santana loved her. Santana straightened up a little, catching her thoughts. She didn't love Brittany like that, she told herself. It was a best friend kind of love, a sisterly love.
Santana was just trying to clear her head, when a high pitch ringing sound entered her head. It was so high pitched it pierced straight through her mind. She grimaced and put her fingers on her temples, shutting her eyes. What the hell was happening? She opened her eyes slightly and looked over at Brittany. Brittany was doing the same thing she was, her eyes closed so tightly it looked like they'd disappeared.
All of the sudden, Santana heard a thump from the front of the room. She looked up and saw that her teacher had fallen to the floor. More thumps. The students had all fallen this time, except herself and Brittany. She shot up out of her seat and walked to the nearest fallen student. A thin line of blood was trickling from their ears, and nose. Santana bent down and put two fingers on the wrist of the student. No pulse. Santana gasped and stood up quickly, backing away. A few more steps and she toppled over another student. Dead. Everyone was dead. She ran back over to Brittany's desk and grabbed her friend by the arm, yanking her up to a standing position.
"Britt, open your eyes. We need to leave." Santana tried to keep her voice calm, knowing that if Brittany opened her eyes and started freaking out, there'd be no way she could get her to move.
"What's happening? Tell Principal Figgins to turn the bell DOWN." Brittany fumbled for Santana's hand, still not opening her eyes. Santana put a hand to her own head, the pain in her skull increasing.
"I don't know B, but we have to leave. When you open your eyes everyone is going to be lying on the floor, but that's because they're playing a game. They're just playing a game." Santana said the last part, more for herself, wanting to believe that she was the victim of some sort of school wide prank. She watched as Brittany opened her eyes, taking in the figures on the floor surrounding her. A glaze fell over Brittany's eyes and she allowed Santana to pull her from the classroom.
In the hall they were greeted by more bodies. Teachers, students, faculty. They were all collapsed in the hall, like they had all fallen asleep at one time. Santana ran, dragging Brittany along with her down the hall. She suddenly felt Brittany's weight drop behind her, and she was pulled down to the floor with her. Santana shook Brittany's shoulders, urging the blonde to wake up. She grabbed Brittany's wrist and searched for a pulse. There were a few panic stricken seconds before Santana felt a faint pulse. It was there, but it was fading and Santana knew it. She wanted to do more, call for help. She opened her mouth to scream, but no words came up. She felt an icy chill start in her head, and make its way down to her throat. She tried yelling again, but now she couldn't even open her mouth. She started to stand when she felt her muscles tighten, and fill with that same icy feeling her head had. She collapsed back to the ground and curled herself around Brittany's body, letting the ice take over her body…
"She's alive."
Santana jerked her mind back to the present, or, what she assumed was the present. She realized that the voice she had heard was not a product of her imagination. It was real.
She willed her mouth to open, so she could say something, anything, to the voice. She felt her jaw open, and she grimaced. It was like moving a limb that had been set in one spot for ages. She felt foolish as she opened and closed her mouth like a fish, trying to regain the action she knew she could do at one point. She felt a warm hand press against her cold chest. She could feel the pressure of the touch on top of a faint heartbeat that she knew had to be hers.
She opened her eyes slowly, adjusting to the light. She blinked a few times before fully focusing on the scene above her.
Two people were standing above her. She recognized them both, having a few classes with each of them. Finn Hudson and Rachel Berry. Star quarterback, and freaky hobbit. She coughed a few times as Finn helped her sit up against the lockers.
"What happened? Is everyone-" Santana's voice was croaky, like she'd just woken up from a very long sleep. Finn pursed his lips together and looked down at Santana.
"We don't know. We've found a few more survivors. They're all in the choir room. We can take you there." Finn offered a hand to Santana. Rachel stood slightly behind Finn, her hands clasped behind her back. She was chewing on her bottom lip nervously.
"Sure, but we have to take Brittany too." Santana looked over to where Brittany's body should have been. Instead, all she saw was emptiness. Panic instantly took over Santana and she wiped her hands over the ground where Brittany had been. "Oh, God. Britt. Brittany! Where is she?" Santana looked up at Finn and Rachel quickly, searching for an answer before she tried to stand, landing awkwardly on her knees. "Brittany! Britt!" She yelled down the hall, trying once more to stand, almost tumbling down again. Finn caught her by her elbow and stood her upright. He put his hands on Santana's shoulders, spinning her around to face him.
"Brittany is fine. She's alive. She's in the choir room with the others." Finn looked in her eyes, trying to get her to calm down. Santana's heart rate slowed just a bit, hearing that Brittany was safe. She nodded and tried walking in the direction of the choir room, but as soon as she took a step, her knees collapsed under her. Finn scooped her up in his arms and carried her toward the choir room, Rachel in tow.
Finn carefully walked through the doorway of the small choir room, making sure not to damage Santana. He set her down on one of the red plastic chairs, made sure she was okay, and then walked to the center of the room.
Santana looked around at the other survivors. Rachel, Finn and herself were there, but a few others scattered the room too. Including Quinn Fabray, ex-Cheerio and one of Santana's good friends; Kurt Hummel, resident gay; Mercedes Jones; Noah Puckerman; Sam Evans; Blaine Anderson; Tina Cohen-Chang; and Mike Chang.
Just as Santana was about to call for her, Brittany walked through the door with a guy in a wheel chair Santana knew to be Artie Abrams. Brittany was carrying a large jug of water, and Artie was cradling plastic cups in his lap.
After the water was distributed and Brittany had taken her place next to Santana, Finn cleared his throat and everyone's eyes were on him.
"I know this is weird, and I still have no idea what happened, but we need to figure out what's going on and get help."
"I've tried calling the police, my mother, and anyone else in a twenty-mile radius," Quinn piped up from the back, her voice firm, but Santana could tell she was scared, "Nothing."
"Then I guess we're going to have to go find help the old fashioned way. By foot." Finn conceded, nodding at Quinn.
"Well, that's a dandy idea, but most of us can't even stand up. Let alone walk five miles to the nearest police station." Kurt said, looking over at where Tina was sprawled out over a few chairs. Mike was stretching her, helping regain some of the feeling back in her legs.
"Let's get a help party together then. People who have full use of their legs back." Rachel stepped up beside Finn, looking determinedly at the crowd.
"I can go. Rachel, Sam, and Brittany can come." Finn beckoned for the people he called to come forward.
"Oh, hell no. If Brittany is going, I am too." Santana stood up shakily and Finn looked at her, ready to spring forward and catch her if she fell. Santana glared at him and he relaxed, but still looked like he wanted to tell her no.
"Fine. We'll go and come back with help." Finn started walking out the choir room door, the search party close behind him. They walked down the hall and to the main doors. Santana peered out the windows of the doors, looking at the surroundings. All was calm, almost as if nothing had happened.
Suddenly, something wet and slick hit the window and Santana jumped back. The rest of the part crowded against the window, looking at the thing that had hit the window and slid to rest on the top step. Santana gasped when she saw what it was.
A human body, contorted and bloody was lying in a heap on the steps. Santana heard Brittany whimper and instinctively reached out to intertwine their fingers.
"Are those..teeth marks?"
Santana squinted to assess the body more carefully and saw two huge gashes on the body's side that looked like someone had taken a huge bite out of the person. Santana's eyes widened and she stood in front of Brittany, shielding her from the sight.
A sudden thump on top of the building made everyone jump, and Rachel let out a small scream. They watched as a huge creature jumped off the top of the building and onto the steps. It was green and scaly, and was slick from some kind of gel that covered its skin. Its body was a deformed mess, and Santana couldn't tell what was its head, and what was its limbs. Finn pulled everyone down to the ground as the creature turned around, sensing movement inside the building. Santana's breath was heavy, and she placed a hand over Brittany's mouth, willing her not to scream. She looked around to see that everyone was just as scared as she was. She heard loud footsteps get closer, and closer to the building and her heart sped up to an unnatural pace.
What the fuck was going on?
A/N: Sorry this chapter is LONG. I wanted to get everything pretty much established before I continued writing. PLEASE REVIEW! I want feedback, do you like it, dislike it, want more of it? There's a lot more story lines and plot twists, so I just hope you guys like it enough to continue reading!