DISCLAIMER: I neither own Glee nor the characters. They are the property of Ryan Murphy and FOX. This is purely for fun. Enjoy! :)
A/N: I hope you guys realize that her stalker won't stay a stalker for long. It's about to cross into the horror genre, get ready for some action!
Chapter Three: Intruder Alert
His hands were warm on her skin as he slowly crept them under the hem of her shirt, brushing his fingers lazily against her flesh while his tongue traced the insides of her mouth, tasting her, making her whole body flushed and hot. Her breathing sped up when his hands inched higher, and a soft gasp broke apart their kiss as his fingers lazily brushed the thin material of her bra, her eyes snapping open with a start. She looked down into his chestnut depths and the heat inside her grew even more strong as they continued their ministrations, losing themselves in the blissful moment that had taken over them.
She allowed him to continue his touches; feather-light and smooth as silk as the passion built around them. Ever since they had gotten back together, things with Finn had been extremely hot and heavy. He wasn't pushing her to do anything she wasn't comfortable with, but it was hard trying to keep control of her feelings when he elicited such reactions from her. He was making it too difficult to say no, even though she still stood by her decision to stay a virgin for a little while longer. She just wasn't ready yet, even if she was with Finn again. She loved him, but until she was ready to take that dizzying next step she had to be adamant about her boundaries.
Right now, he was treading them with great haste as his grip on her tightened, flipping her over until he towered over her, removing his lips from her mouth and moving them down the expanse of her neck. Her heavy breathing became pants as he nibbled on her collarbone, and the heat in her body started to overwhelm her as his free hand dipped under her skirt, caressing the sensitive skin on her upper thigh. The heat threatened to consumer her and she knew he'd gone too far.
"Finn!" She squealed, sitting up quickly and knocking Finn over, away from her body. She ran a hand over her face and could feel the heat on her cheeks as her breathing slowed down and her pulse ceased its rapid pace. He looked up at her with apologies written on his face already, and his fists were clenched as his own breathing slowed.
"I'm sorry, Rachel." He said, looking away from her. "I'm sorry I keep losing control like that around you, it's just. . .," he let the statement trail off and she couldn't help but feel bad for him. He was a teenage boy after all, and they did have needs. "You make me so crazy, Rach. I love you so much, and I just want you to feel the same way you make me feel." Nodding slowly, she knew that she was asking a lot of him, but she knew in her heart that she wasn't ready.
"How do I make you feel?" She asked shyly, desperately wanting to know the details of his affection for her. It was bad enough knowing he had slept with other girls; part of her wanted to know how she stacked up in comparison.
He looked at her with wonder in his eyes as he searched for the words. "You make me feel like I'm invincible, Rach. Like I can take on the world and win." He crawled up next to her and wrapped an arm around her shoulder, pulling her close. "You also make me feel like I could jizz in my pants at any moment, but you've always made me feel that way." Her blush fully encompassed her face as she slapped his arm playfully, scolding him for the dirty talk.
"I'm sorry, Finn. I know it's been hard for you, but I'm still not ready for that yet. I've just been so distracted, you know? I can't even think about sex when I know that there might really be a stalker after me." He stayed silent while she fell deep into her thoughts. As much as she wanted to lose herself in the bliss of her boyfriend and their blossoming love, she couldn't help but still fear the unknown threat that was lurking in the periphery of her life. She hadn't heard from her stalker since that terrifying day two weeks ago, and with the end of school only a week away she didn't know what to expect over the summer vacation. There had been no other notes, no other phone calls, but Rachel wasn't taking any chances as she moved through her life like she was walking on broken glass; waiting for the moment when she would slip and fall on the shards.
The fear followed her around wherever she went; like a dismal cloud that would not dissipate, she found fear in every aspect of her life. Her trust in others had diminished into nothing as everyone became a suspect in her eyes. She still trusted Finn; after all, he was her boyfriend and the man she loved. She had to believe in her heart that he would never hurt her, but the Detectives had planted a cruel seed of doubt in her head that had tangled into weeds of suspicion. However, besides his emotional outburst at the police station that night, Finn had been acting completely normal. Her fear was never too far from her mind though. She wanted to run, she wanted to hide, but part of her just wanted to ignore it completely. It had been a while since the initial threat, maybe it had only been a cruel prank? Maybe she was over-reacting and just needed to relax a little bit.
He kissed the top of her head and she closed her eyes, grateful for the distraction as he stroked her cheek lazily with the pad of his thumb. The simple caress rekindled the dying fire inside of her, and she sported a wicked smirk as her hands started to trail down his chest and towards his lap. She couldn't stay a prude forever; she was ready to start crossing the more intimate boundaries of their relationship, even if she wasn't ready to go all the way.
She looked up into his eyes and they were wide open with shock. "Rach? W-What are you doing?"
Amusement danced in her eyes as she felt an adventurous thrill flow through her. "Just because I'm not ready yet, doesn't mean I can't make you feel good." Her hands were almost over the obvious bulge in his pants and she could almost feel the heat rising off of it as she tugged at his belt, her heart pounding faster than ever.
"Shit." Finn's cell phone started ringing just as she was about to loosen his belt and she sat back with a huff, her momentary confidence gone as he took the call. "It's from Kurt." She had gotten so close! When he hung up the phone, he shot her a contrite look. "I have to go pick him up from a finals review class. He said his car won't start."
A thrill of panic shot through her. She didn't like being alone in her house and her dads wouldn't be home for another hour. "What about me?" She asked, trying to hide her fear.
"You can come with me. Kurt can come back with us, we'll all have dinner together."
She frowned as he moved to put on his shoes. "I have to start cooking dinner or else there will be nothing to eat." She was used to cooking for her dads; she followed a strict diet and they ordered nothing but Chinese food and pizza. "You'll come back right away, right?"
He sensed her unease and pulled her in for a hug that was meant to comfort her. It only filled her with a sense of foreboding that she could not shake off. "Of course, and I'll have company." She walked him downstairs and kissed him goodbye as he went to the front door. His mouth lingered on hers for far too long as the desire to pull him back upstairs to her room turned her cheeks pink and made her light-headed all over again.
"I'll be right back." He said, and she immediately closed the locks and deadbolt after him once he left.
She stood in her house and tried not to think about the fact that she was alone. The last time she was alone the stalker had called her, and he'd filled her with enough fear to socially cripple her since the initial threat. She hadn't left the house without an entourage once and the Bully Whips had been personally assigned to escort her everywhere around the school. Her locker combination had been changed, her cell phone number had been changed and the police were doing daily drive-by's of the house.
She still didn't feel safe.
She retreated into the kitchen, where the double paned patio doors led to the garden veranda where her fathers hosted their yearly barbecues and dinner parties. The in-ground pool was still covered for the end of spring, but she was sure her dads would open it for the summer soon. She made sure the locks were shut tight on those doors too before she took out the ingredients for dinner. She put the beans to the side that she needed to heat up for her vegan burritos, but she took out the beef that Finn and the other men would want with their meal and put it in a skillet to brown. She set the meat on low and set to chopping the onions, trying to keep her mind focused on something, anything except the fact that she was alone.
Then the doorbell rang.
"Damn!" She cursed as the knife slipped out of her hands as the doorbell scared her, and a thin trickle of blood started to drip down her finger as she stuck it in her mouth, panicking about the doorbell and shutting off the heat. The cut tasted like raw onions and the tang of metal, but she was more focused on the fact that she was all alone and that there was apparently someone at the door. Could it be Finn already? The school was close, but not that close.
She walked up to the front door and looked through the peephole onto her front porch.
No one was there.
She went into the living room and looked out of the window facing the front porch.
No one was there.
Her heart was pounding so hard it was making her chest hurt as she walked back into the kitchen, trying to ignore the fear that prickled at her skin. Could she possibly be hearing things? Had the fear consumed her sanity already? She picked up the knife to start cutting the onions again and the ringing of her doorbell elicited a true blood-curdling scream from the depths of her gut.
Someone was out there.
She reached into her skirt pocket for her cell phone, and right as she was about to dial the police, it started to ring in her hands. The number was restricted. She gripped the knife in her hands as a bone-chilling fear seeped into her bones and she picked up the call.
"Hello?" Hot tears filled her eyes as the voice from her nightmares filled her senses once again.
"Knock knock." The cruel voice taunted her.
"Where are you?" She grit through her teeth. "Why are you doing this to me?"
"You thought you could hide forever from me, didn't you? Did you think that because you were being followed by your lap dog and the other mutts you call friends that I wouldn't still keep track of you?"
"Please, just go away." She reached for her house phone while she had her stalker on the line, dialing 911 and trying to keep her voice as even as possible. All calls to 911 were traced, so all she had to do was get an operator on the line and they would send the police over automatically. She could hear a woman's voice on the line and she knew this was her chance. "Stay away from me or else I'm going to call the police." She hung up the house phone, hoping it was enough and not wanting to anger the stalker by giving herself away.
"Oh Rachel, the police would never get here in time." The doorbell rang once more and she started to shake uncontrollably, almost dropping the knife as she hid by the patio doors, the cold panes of glass pressing against her back. "I was lying when I said I wanted us to be together Rachel." The voice said, cold and cruel as the blood drained from her face. "I actually want you dead."
A fear that settled into her very core seized her, and she felt the panes of glass shake behind her as a dull knock could be heard. The cell phone fell from her hand as she slowly turned around, and she had to crane her neck all the way up so she could see her attackers face. Her horror was crippling as she stared up at a figure cloaked completely in black, with a white grinning ghost-face mask staring soullessly down at her.
This was no stalker. This was something else she was never prepared for.
She screamed as she flung herself away from the patio doors, still holding the knife in one hand as the cell phone lay on the floor, forgotten. She could hear the unmistakable sound of glass shattering and the crackle of footsteps as she ran up the stairs, blinded by tears, struck dumb by fear, and feeling more helpless than she had ever felt in her life. She barricaded the door to her bedroom with dressers and held the small kitchen knife in her hands like a sword, but the figure in black was adamant in his pursuit of her, and Rachel knew her barricade would not last long.
She looked to her window, her last means of escape and saw the edge of the garage jutting out to the side of the house. If she could get to the roof of the garage and then shimmy down the side, she could run to her neighbors house and hide there. The banging grew louder and Rachel knew this was her only chance as she stuck her leg out of the window, wincing until she found enough traction to keep her steady. She held onto the windowsill to maintain her balance as she tried to keep her footing, and she made the mistake of looking below her to see how high she really was above her father's beautiful veranda.
A shrill scream of surprise escaped her when she felt the strong hands of her attacker pull on her right forearm, the same forearm that gripped the window's ledge for support. She looked into the void that was the ghost mask and watched as he pulled out a large knife, much larger than the one she'd been using for the onions, and quickly cut at the arm he was grabbing. She let go of the windowsill from shock and a thick trail of blood was forming down the length of her arm as the pain registered, sharp and shallow. The cooking knife from before was being concealed in her left hand, and she and drove the knife into her attackers right arm, making him gasp in pain and release her.
Unfortunately for Rachel, she was no longer holding on to the windowsill and lost her balance, slipping on the loose roofing tiles and falling backwards towards her death. She saw the chilling ghost mask stare down at her while she felt, his eyes empty and void of all emotion.
The air came out of her in a giant whoosh as she landed on the cover of her pool, the filthy green water splashing around her while she tried to breathe in as much air into her shocked lungs as possible. While she was thankful she had landed in the pool and not on the hard concrete masonry, she panicked once she looked up at her window and realized the attacker was no longer there. She kicked against the pool cover, splashing up more filthy water while she made it to the edge and pulled herself out of the muck. She ran for the side of the house, hoping the stalker had simply left her for dead and was no longer after her, when she suddenly ran into a tall broad figure.
The scream ripped from her throat before she could stop it as large hands clamped on her shoulders. She closed her eyes, waiting for death to come. . .
"Rachel? What happened?" She opened her eyes and Finn was standing there, looking at her with shock plain on his features. She looked up at his face and had to crane up her neck as always to look into his worried eyes. She was used to it by now, but a dangerous thought entered her head. He's just as tall as my attacker was. . .
She recoiled from him like she was burned, her emotions out-of-control, her body still in escape mode. She was irrational as she backed up from him, and realized that she still had the small kitchen knife in her hands. She held it up and pointed it at Finn, feeling helpless, feeling trapped. "Stay back." She said, her voice dangerous and low.
"Rachel, what's going on? Why are you all wet?" His face grew dark. "Did something happen when I was gone?"
"Where's Kurt?" Her voice was shaking now, almost as much as her hands were. "You said you left to get Kurt, where is he?"
He put up his hands in a placating manner but she wouldn't put down the knife. This is Finn, her heart kept telling her, he would never hurt you! But she didn't know anyone who was as tall as Finn was, and he had left her alone and vulnerable while her stalker attacked. She needed to protect herself as the blood that dripped freely from the open wound on her arm reminded her of her torture.
"He wasn't there. He must have gotten a ride with Mercedes or someone, so I came back here." She could hear the roar of police sirens and her fear began to dissipate slowly.
She still wouldn't put the knife down though.
"Just stay away from me, Finn, okay? He was here, he just tried to kill me, and I don't know who I can trust anymore." She could hear a rush of voices and saw Detectives Traeger and McNally run up to her. McNally was older, and more out of shape than his younger partner, so she could hear him wheeze as Traeger pointed his weapon at Finn.
"Put your hands up, Hudson and put the weapon down, Rachel. We're here now." She slowly put the knife down until it fell from her hands, and she collapsed onto her knees as the detectives bent Finn over the hood of a police vehicle, snapping him in handcuffs. She didn't want to believe that Finn would really do this to her, but she was so scared she didn't know what to believe anymore as she gave the detectives her statements and got the slice on her arm cleaned out. Even if he were innocent, the evidence was clearly not stacked in his favor. Before they could put him in the squad car, however, she remembered something integral from her struggle with her attacker. She ran past the cops who were inspecting the house for clues and ran up to a handcuffed Finn, who was staring at her like she had broken his heart all over again. The cops were about to put him in the car when she approached them.
"Wait, I can tell whether or not he did it." She knew that the detectives viewed Finn as their number one suspect, but there had to be a way to clear him. She went up to his right arm and pulled up his sleeve to the shoulder. She ran her fingers over the flawless flesh and sighed in relief. If he were the attacker, then there would be a great bloody gash on his arm where she had stabbed him. She smiled in earnest and turned back to the detectives.
"He didn't do it! I was able to stab my attacker in the arm and Finn has no wound. You have to let him go." The officers shook their head.
"No. We're gonna keep him tonight for some questioning. You never know Rachel, he might not be working alone." The implication brought fear back into her system. The attacker said he wanted to kill her; if he were working with someone else, that meant that two people out there in the world wanted her dead. It was too much to handle as she felt her last tendrils of control snap like rubber bands stretched too thin. She turned to her boyfriend; her beautiful Finn that she loved more than anything, and the look in his eyes cut her deeper than any knife could.
"I'm sorry, baby." She said through her tears. What else could she say?
"Me too, Rach." His rueful smile did not reach his eyes. They put him in the back of the police car and Rachel's heart bled for him. He didn't deserve any of this, but boyfriends were always the number one suspects in scary movies.
Speaking of scary movies, the ghost-face mask of her attacker was still haunting her as the police escorted her to Mercedes' house so she could crash there for the night. Her fathers were staying in a motel until they could get their back door fixed and she was welcomed at Mercedes' house for as long as she needed. Mercedes could do nothing but stare as Rachel made herself at home, taking a shower before returning with an adamant request. "Do you still have the DVD of Scream or did you return it to Netflix already?"
"No I still have it, I waited until my brother got home from his semester so he could watch it too. But why? You thought it was too scary when we tried to watch it with Kurt." She closed her eyes and thought about her day, and the trauma she knew would haunt her nightmares for weeks to come.
"No movie could ever be as scary as what I just experienced. Come on, we have to do some research."
Rachel's Final Thoughts: Someone wants to kill me? But what did I do?
Until next time. . . (sings) Don't stop, reviewing!
Merci mille fois mes amis!