A/N: Wow, I am shocked at the response for the first chapter :o Thanks so much guys for all the follows, faves, and reviews! You guys rock! Now as promised, here is chapter two :) I would leave to hear any feedback you have on the story, so please feel free to review or message me! I don't bite. Hard ;)
- Cassie xoxo
Rachel's POV
After engaging in small talk for approximately ten minutes, we all set out with all of our camping supplies. We hiked through the dense woods located directly behind my house while we engaged in even more small talk. The weather was surprisingly warm for late winter which made the trip that much more pleasant. After about twenty minutes we found the clearing where I regularly went camping with my fathers.
With everyone lending a hand with the set up, camp was established in no time. Two tents were brought along; one rather large tent with a max occupancy of six people and a smaller one which could accommodate up to four.
"The sleeping arrangements for the evening are quite simple. In the large tent will be the five girls present, and in the smaller one will be Kurt, Blaine, and Noah." I explained simply, grinning with excitement and anticipation for the evening.
Santana sneered. "Great, I'm stuck with the dwarf." I rolled my eyes at her declaration of disapproval, but Brittany grabbed Santana's hand and squeezed it.
"I'll be there with you too Sanny. We can have some sweet lady kisses." Brittany said innocently and Santana smiled softly at her. Quinn visibly paled.
"I'm sorry Brittany, but there will be no sexual interactions on this camping trip." I said firmly. Brittany pouted, causing Santana to glare at me. Puck looked at the ground disappointed. Quinn looked relieved.
"Thank god. I've walked in on them five times before, and I never want to see it again." Quinn admitted.
"Cockblock." Santana mumbled and Quinn rolled her eyes.
"You can always join us Q, we know you love sweet lady kisses too." Brittany chirped and Quinn froze in her spot.
"T-Thanks for the, uh, offer Brittany, but I think I'll pass." Quinn stuttered nervously as Santana laughed at Quinn's expression.
Shortly afterward Puck declared that he was starving so we started up the bonfire. With the help of Kurt the culinary master, our meal consisting of chicken stir-fry. I of course had prepared my own separate dish of vegan stir-fry. We chatted some more over dinner about school and Glee club. It escalated quickly when Santana and Kurt did a surprisingly spot on interpretation of Mr. Schue and Coach Sylvester arguing (Kurt being Coach Sylvester) and everyone doubled over in laughter.
When everyone finished their meal, Puck said that he had a surprise for us.
"May I present to you, the dessert!" Puck announced proudly, holding up a bottle of whisky.
"Absolutely not, Noah. I thought I told you earlier today that alcohol isn't permitted on this camping trip." I scolded Noah, who was smiling slyly.
"Oh lighten up Berry, what's the harm in a couple shots? There are no adults here to yell at us. It's just us, this bottle of whisky, and the great outdoors." Noah said while opening the bottle. I looked around the circle to examine the facial expressions of my teammates. There was a mixture of excitement and reluctance, and Santana was downright giving me the death glare. I considered my options; either we consumed the alcohol and had some while although completely out of our wits, or I could be the so called "party-pooper" and ruin everyone's fun while being on the receiving end of Noah's whining and Santana's rudeness. I decided to compromise.
"Fine, Puckerman. We'll each take a few shots if at least one other person stays sober to make sure we don't attempt anything stupid." I stated reluctantly and Noah grinned.
"Now we're talking!" he cried gleefully.
"I volunteer not to drink." Quinn stated, eyeing the bottle with distaste.
"I am going to be with Quinn on this one. I'd prefer to be in a clear state of mind while in the wilderness, thank you very much." Kurt huffed and Puckerman grinned.
"Let's party!" Brittany cried out, grabbing the bottle from Puck.
Soon before long everyone was a little bit tipsy aside from Kurt and Quinn who decided not to drink.
Quinn's POV
Whoever said hiking at night was a good idea is clearly an idiot. Or in this situation, utterly drunk.
Too bad that the only people who can see that are the two sober people in the group.
For a while Rachel, Puck, Santana, Brittany, Tina, and Blaine were taking turns while taking shots, and eventually they were even more drunk than Rachel probably intended to happen. Obviously this was the case or Rachel wouldn't have made her next suggestion.
"Who's up for some hiking!" Rachel had randomly exclaimed excitedly, and Kurt looked at her incredulously.
"Rachel, you are joking, right? It's eleven in the evening." Kurt said concerned.
"Of course I'm not joking. It will be so much fun!" Rachel squealed. "Aw don't worry Kurty, I know these woods like the back of my hand, trust me!" she tried to convince Kurt.
"You are not reassuring me at all, and no, it is a terrible idea." Kurt stated and Rachel pouted.
"I'm with my Jewbro on this one. Sounds like fun, and who am I to say no to my hot little Jewish American Princess." Puck said backing up Rachel who now grinned.
"All in favor of hiking?" Rachel asked and of course everyone but Kurt and myself raised their hands.
After much debate and reluctance, well, you can probably realize by now what the outcome of the situation was.
It was about midnight. Rachel and I were standing in the front of the group holding flashlights while everyone else trailed behind us. I shot a quick glance over my shoulder to look over at Kurt, who was holding hands with his drunken boyfriend. We made eye contact and I could easily see he was as nervous as I was. I gave him a reassuring smile before looking forward.
I switched my glance to take a look at Rachel who was walking all over the place, checking out all the sights the dark forest had to offer with a huge, megawatt grin on her face. I smiled despite my nerves, just glad that Rachel was enjoying herself even though she was drunk.
As I was openly staring at her, Rachel turned around to look at me. I gave her a small smile and she returned it with a huge goofy grin. She walked closer to me and grabbed my hand. My heart fluttered at the feeling of our skin coming in contact and I tried to shake off the feeling.
"Your hand is so soft, Quinn." Rachel commented while clutching my hand and I could feel myself blush bright red. Thank god that it was dark outside.
"Um, thanks." I said shyly, mentally slapping myself for acting this way around the brunette who I have secretly harbored feelings for god knows how long. Although I would probably never act on those feelings, I don't want to be acting like a fool around her either. Rachel's friendship means everything to me and I won't be screwing that up.
Luckily for me, she ignored my awkward answer and began speaking again. "It's so pretty walking through here at night. It's like an entirely different world. It's soooo romantic." She then leaned her head against my shoulder as we walked and I had to suppress a gasp. I quickly stepped away in shock, surprised at her action.
"That's great, Rachel." I answered lamely. Before Rachel put me into another awkward situation with her needy-drunkedness, Kurt interrupted us (note to self; thank him later.)
"Hey Quinn, can you shine that light back over there? I think I just saw something." Kurt said and I shone the flashlight in the direction he was pointing in.
What the light revealed was a mass of rock randomly placed in between the trees. It took a minute of staring at it before I realized that there was an opening to the wall of rock.
"It's a cave!" Brittany squealed excitedly, running up to the cave entrance while staring at the rock mass in wonder.
"That's odd, I've been down this trail a million times and I have never seen that cave before." Rachel mused, her curiosity shown clearly through her facial expression. Kurt looked at his best friend with wide eyes.
"Please don't tell me you're thinking about going in there." Kurt pleaded frantically with Rachel.
"Eh, why the hell not? I'd rather be exploring a cave than bunking with Berry. Don't be such a party-pooper Lady Lips." Santana retorted.
After much debate, it was decided; we all made our way into the cave.
As we entered the cave, I was immediately struck with an air of mystery. Have you ever been somewhere and you could swear that a place had a certain feeling to it? That's what it was like for us right now. The cave itself seemed to be alive. There was no other way to describe the weird feeling hanging in the air.
"Okay, now that we went inside, let's head back to camp and get a good night's sleep." Kurt said nervously after ten steps into the journey, trying to retreat to the entrance. Blaine grabbed Kurt's hand to keep him from running.
"C'mon Kurt, there's nothing to be scared about. Rachel and Quinn have flashlights, and so far there's nothing to see but rocks and even more rocks." Blaine tried reassuring his boyfriend, and Kurt sighed in defeat. Kurt wasn't about to let Blaine see how much of a coward he was.
"Okay, fine. I just don't like the atmosphere in here. It's almost…otherworldly, for lack of better term." Kurt explained. The rest of the group processed the word for a minute. Otherworldly; that would be the exact word I would use to describe the feeling of this cave.
"He's right. The atmosphere of the cave seems to be otherworldly, as Kurt put it, and it's unlike anything I've ever experienced before. I find this interesting; it also gives us more of a reason to continue exploring the cave!" Rachel rambled, determined to find what set this cave apart from any other she explored.
"As much as I hate to say it, the Hobbit has a point. We're already in here, so let's finish exploring. Being from Lima Heights Adjacent, I don't do anything half-assed." Santana put in her input.
We slowly progressed through the cave. Besides the sound of shuffling feet it was eerily quiet; almost too quiet. As creepy as the quiet was, I was just glad that mostly everyone had sobered up and wasn't wandering off blabbering nonsense. As we moved the flashlights pierced through the darkness, though there was not much to see except for, as Blaine put it, "rocks and even more rocks".
After walking for ten minutes my eyes found the silhouette of a wall. I immediately put my arm out to keep anyone else from walking any further.
"Wait." I commanded and everyone froze in their spots. I cautiously walked with my flashlight towards the wall to take a closer look at it. Upon instant inspection, a small tunnel was discovered at the bottom of the wall.
"Please don't tell me you guys are thinking about crawling through it." Kurt whispered horrified after spotting the tunnel which was illuminated by my flashlight. Puck sneered.
"Don't tell me you're chickening out now. If it makes you guys feel better, let me go first. The Puckasaurus isn't afraid of a tunnel." Puck said, and Rachel frowned.
"I appreciate your bravery Noah, but I would prefer if you would stop referring to yourself as 'the Puckasaurus'." Rachel commented.
Puck sneered and began crawling through the tunnel. After a moment of silence, we could faintly hear Puck exclaim, "Whoa this is crazy shit. Guys, come here and see this."
After a moment of debate the rest of us crawled through the entrance. Rachel, followed by Brittany, followed by Santana, followed by Tina, followed by Blaine, followed by Kurt, followed by me to make sure everyone went in. After I was done crawling through the tight, claustrophobic space I gasped at what we saw.
The large cavern we were now in held walls that were filled entirely with some sort of crystal that emitted an eerie blue glow, illuminating the rest of the space. There was a little stream toward the back of the room which could be heard clearly. In the center of the room was a circular stone tablet raised on some sort of stone pedestal. It looked liked something that exists only in movies.
Our group of eight was silent as we processed what we were seeing. Rachel was the first to break the silence.
"What is this place?" she asked stunned.
"Your guess is as good as mine." Tina said, and then I took a step towards the stone tablet. The rest of the group followed me until we were all surrounding the strange structure.
Inscribed on the tablet was what appeared to be ancient symbols. Also as odd, there were eight sets of imprints that looked like handprints outlined in white. The stone itself seemed to be pulsing with the same energy that the whole cave possessed.
"I think we should put our hands in them." Brittany said fitting her hands in the indentations. Strangely enough, her hands fit perfectly in the indented outline.
Not wanting to say no to Brittany, one by one we slowly placed their hands in the outlines. The last one to do so was Kurt.
"I have a really bad feeling about this." Kurt said before placing his hand in the indents.
Santana snorted. "You have a bad feeling about everything. Besides, what's the worst that can happen?" she said as Kurt placed his hands on the tablet.
Suddenly, the blue glow in the room seemed to pulse and the cave began to shake. Going into panic mode Kurt tried to pick his hands up and run, but he couldn't move.
"What is going on? I can't move!" Tina exclaimed before Kurt could, and the room started to shake more violently. The pulsing light grew brighter and brighter and the last thing I remembered was the blinding light full of such power that seemed to engulf us before passing out.
A/N: So what did you guys think? What do you think will happen next? I promise you, all will be revealed in time and I will try to make the next couple chapters longer. I've been busy with school but I will have plenty of time this weekend to write. So FFR and thanks so much for reading!