The night fell. The towers glowed, an enormous beam of light in the midst of lonely shadows. It was late, very late, and Blaine was at the gates, waiting and hoping for the one thing he came for.

Kurt arrived, gliding stealthily towards the gate. He didn't know why he was doing this exactly. It was just a feeling; a raw, twisting instinct buried at the pit of his stomach. It was a force to be reckoned with, allowing him to trust in Blaine so quickly and easily. And so he went.

From what Blaine could see, Kurt was clad in black silk that hugged his thin frame. He carried a small leather knapsack with him. Leaning close to the gate, Kurt whispered, "We have to go through the back. There's a tunnel there, underground. It…should be abandoned. I hope it is. I'll meet you behind the Towers. There's a fence there that's hidden beneath the brush."

Blaine swallowed thickly and nodded, setting off, sprinting alongside Kurt through the barrier.

The farther back they went, the messier and more unkempt their surroundings got. There was nothing farther back west than the Towers, so it was unnecessary for the groundskeepers to maintain the pristine condition where no one could see it. The two boys ran onwards, tripping over rocks and branches and overrun plantlife. Finally they reached the fence. The thing was filthy, dilapidated, and practically falling off its own hinges. Kurt turned, heaving, and faced Blaine.

"There should be some sort of staircase close by—I can't remember."

Blaine searched, eyes meeting old, knobbly trees and rotted brush. A little ways away, when the strong barriers picked up again, there was a small cement staircase. It only seemed to lead into the woods, however.

"There," Blaine said, pointing it out. "Is that it?" Kurt followed his line of vision.

"That's the one, yes. C'mon." Kurt began to walk over.

"Wait!" The other man turned, looking back at Blaine. "It—it just leads to the woods. At least…"

"No," Kurt said. His eyes shined with light mischief and he smirked. "Everything is not as it seems—especially not around here, Blaine."

Blaine raised his eyebrows and followed him, pushing through the rickety fence gingerly and trotting to keep up.

The boys reached the edge of the staircase, peering down. The ground had leveled out, and some choicely planted bushes and leaves would've lead an onlooker to believe that it simply did lead to the forest. Kurt knew better, however, and brushed the leaves aside to reveal a perfectly circular tunnel. It was about a 5-foot drop straight down, then it continued in an easy slope, deeper and further into the earth.

"Be careful. I'll go in first and call for you when I've gotten out of the way. Watch your ankles!" Kurt whispered, sitting himself down at the rim and pushing forward. Blaine heard a soft thud and some shuffling before Kurt called his name.

"You okay?" Blaine said softly, lowering himself to a sitting position the same way Kurt did. He heard a whispered affirmative and pushed himself forward, steeling himself for the fall.

It felt like a split second. He whistled through the air, stomach flipping in over itself, and Blaine landed smoothly on his feet. He looked up at Kurt. He held a flashlight in his hand, pointing toward the darkness.

"Good. Okay. I—we need to hurry." Kurt looked back into the abyss. "I don't exactly know how far this goes."

Blaine creased his eyebrows in worry. This was getting too risky; perhaps they should find some other way. And suddenly there was a tingling at the pit of his stomach, a visceral scream through his gut, a powerful instinct. They needed to keep moving forward.

Kurt and Blaine moved through the tunnel, traveling its winding paths and narrow hallways. They came to a widening in the tunnel, then. It was almost like a little room. There were a few small tables and chairs and torch-holders on the walls. Everything was covered in dust. Blaine was silent as the feel of death and abandon permeated the air.

The boys tried to make their way through the carnage, Kurt side-eyeing Blaine the entire time. When the tunnel returned to its old twisting ways, the tension that had thickened the atmosphere back in the room had dissipated. The boys stayed silent, however, even as the ground began to slope up, leading to a patch of land that was probably miles from where they had started. When Kurt brought a hand up to scale the last, steeper section of the tunnel, he sagged in relief as he felt cool, crisp air brush against his fingertips. They climbed up the ridiculous slope and pulled themselves up onto the grass.

The two sagged against a nearby tree. They were at a lake, or a marsh of sorts. Their surroundings were dark save for the reassuring twinkle of the stars and the moon in the sky. In the distance, they could see the Towers, looming over a shadowed valley, positively glowing, energy thrumming with the heat and intensity of the power it held over the people.

Blaine crawled over to the water, still and clear, and splashed his face, savouring the quiet relief that came with it. Far behind him, in the city, there came a loud boom, like a thousand explosions at once. Blaine's body snapped back as he pushed himself up against the tree.

The city was burning. The city was burning.

There were fireworks in the sky, lighting the whole countryside up further, as if the city hadn't been enough on its own. The Towers had begun to look unsteady, like they were cracking, even from the great distance at which Kurt and Blaine sat.

"Thank you." Kurt choked out, watching his home fall, as if the Earth was sucking it back into the ground. He knew now. Had he been there still, he would've been murdered, slaughtered. Worse. His heart swelled; he owed his life to this boy he barely knew.

Blaine looked over, tears in his eyes at the sight of the great, beautiful edifice crashing to the ground. He silently took Kurt into his arms and held his hands. He knew. They both did.

"You're safe now."