The world was settling back into place and Kurt realized he was sitting on a bench, outside some large building. There were fences with electrical wiring topping them all around him and what looked like a guard tower. Was this a prison? What the hell was he doing sitting on a bench randomly outside a prison? He stood up and looked around. The ground was bare aside from some weeds and dying grass. Nearby was the gravel that led to the front gates. So he wasn't precisely actually inside the prison. But he was on prison grounds. He watched as the gates began to slide themselves open there was a white bus waiting for entry. New prisoners. Kurt swallowed.
That steady beeping was now beating in his ears like the sound of his heart in his chest. There had to be a reason why his subconscious had brought him here. And now he was starting to get the gist of the fact that yes, there was something even worse than gothic Kurt. He tried to shove that out of his head. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad. There was no way of knowing exactly what the Kurt in this reality had to do with a prison. But Kurt was feeling tense as though he subconsciously knew what he was going to find.
The bus pulled to a stop at the front of the building and Kurt stayed where he was, standing by that bench. He watched the doors to the bus open and the guards surrounding the bus stuck out their hands and pulled roughly on the cuffs of the first prisoner. It was Finn. Kurt felt his heart skip a beat and he looked to the sky, hoping beyond hope his real stepbrother didn't know what he was seeing here. Finn was being sent to prison. This was bad, really bad.
If that wasn't bad enough, Kurt found himself even more struck by the fact that Finn was followed by Artie, whom Kurt had found had never been in that paralyzing accident in this reality as he was walking. His glasses were slightly askew on his face. Other than that, he didn't look anything like the boy Kurt knew. Kurt swallowed. What followed Artie was perhaps the first one that didn't really surprise him much. It was Puck. Well, that wasn't too far off. After all, Puck had ended up in juvenile hall the previous year. He must have not learned his lesson in this reality.
But if those were surprises and what not, things that made Kurt wonder what they could have done to end up in prison, it was nothing compared to the fourth and final person who stepped off that bus. Though he was completely unrecognizable, Kurt knew it was him. His heart literally stopped beating for a few seconds as he watched himself. The handcuffs were firmly on his wrists. His hair was scraggly and reached his shoulders in length, a fact that made Kurt wrinkle his nose in disgust. Never in a million years would he have let himself get that unkempt. But the thing that startled him the most, there was a dragon tattoo creeping up his arm and though he couldn't see his face, he was quite sure that he had piercings to go with it. Kurt decided, he didn't like this Kurt.
He knew he didn't have a choice now but to follow the four prisoners into the big house. What had happened? What had happened that had turned Kurt in this reality, into this creature? What had he done that led him here? At eighteen, Kurt was aware that he was old enough to be put in the big house. How long would he have to be here? Were Finn, Artie, and Puck involved in whatever had happened? They had to have been. No way were they all going to prison for a different reason.
The guards were rough, forcing the four of them forward into the prison. There seemed to be so much commotion surrounding the arrival of the new prisoners that thankfully, no one seemed to take notice of Kurt entering casually behind them all. He had to know more. He had to know what was going on. How they had landed here. How long they were going to end up being here. God he hoped it wouldn't be a life sentence. Kurt swallowed hard and kept following the guards and the prisoners.
The four boys were led into a room and Kurt was just able to slip in undetected before the door was slammed. A man was pacing with his hands clasped behind his back. All was silent for several moments until the man stopped pacing. "Finn Hudson," he said, looking at Finn with a bit of a sneer. Kurt took this guy to be the warden or whatever. "Fifteen years assisted murder!" he spat. Kurt stared wide-eyed. Assisted murder? Finn had assisted in a murder? "Artie Abrams, fifteen years for assisted murder plus three years probation for withholding information!" Oh good God. Kurt paled even more. "Noah Puckerman," and Kurt saw Puck wince at the use of his full name. No change there. "Twenty years for assisted murder, assaulting a police officer, withholding information, and previous unrelated incidents already on record." Puck looked bored. But now came the big moment. Why Kurt was there. "Kurt Hummel," the warden guy went on and his voice was dripping with utmost loathing. "Thirty years to life without the possibility of parole for murder in the first degree!"
Murder in the first degree? Kurt found himself unable to breathe for the next ten seconds or so. He tried the door to the room, realizing with gratefulness that it was not locked. Quickly, he slid out and shut it quietly before turning and pounding his feet down the corridor, running right out of the prison and back to that bench where he fell down onto the weeded ground. Tears were leaking his eyes. The Kurt here had committed murder in the first degree. The others had assisted him apparently. But who, who had he killed? Who would seem like such a bad threat to him that they had driven him to the point of taking their lives? Kurt would never have dared to do this in a million years.
"Horrible isn't it Kurt?" Kurt looked up to see Mercedes sitting on the bench. Had she been there when he had arrived? He was breathing heavily. "Sam did warn you," she went on. It was his Mercedes. It was the one he knew in his own reality. He didn't want to learn anymore about this one. He wanted to get the hell out of it already and just move on and make his way home. The sooner he got out of this one the better. Kurt was more scared now than he had ever been in his life. He tried to steady himself on the ground, not wanting to move.
Several moments passed before he was able to find his voice. "Murder? Mercedes, I could never murder someone. Never! Mercedes looked down at him with a sympathetic expression. "How could this happen! Finn, Artie, and Puck involved to!" He pulled himself to his feet and started pacing back and forth. Breathing rapid and heavy.
"In our reality, you're right. You could never murder anyone. But this isn't our reality Kurt. You have to remember that." Kurt looked at her for a moment before he eased his pacing and dropped down on the bench next to her. He was scared still. He wasn't sure he wanted to know the story behind all this but he had a feeling it was part of the lesson. He was going to get something from Mercedes. Just like he had gotten information from both Rachel and Sam.
"I'm going to regret this but what happened? Why am I in prison with such a severe conviction hanging over my head?" he asked. Mercedes looked at him for several long moments. He had a feeling that she probably wasn't going to like telling him this anymore than he was going to like hearing it but it had to be done. At least, the gut feeling in his body told him that it had to be.
Mercedes sighed heavily and looked down at the ground for a moment before turning and looking back at Kurt. "It starts with you and Blaine." Kurt opened his mouth to say something but she held up her hand to signal she wasn't done yet. He shut his mouth and allowed her to go on. "Yes, you were together in this reality." She seemed to collect her thoughts. "You've always been kind of delinquent here, never the feminine fashionable lovable gay boy we all know you as, but you and Blaine were an item nonetheless." She turned her gaze on one of the fences surrounding the prison grounds. "But than came Sebastian." Kurt could feel his face burning. So Sebastian had come along and tried to break them up in this reality too. So far, things were a bit similar but he had a very sick feeling he knew where this was going.
Taking a deep breath, he gave his head a short nod. "Go on," he said, urging her to go on with the story, though he was scared of hearing what else she had to say. Mercedes turned her eyes on him again.
"He won Kurt. Sebastian succeeded in claiming Blaine for his own." Kurt paled. He knew now more than ever that he wasn't going to let that happen when he got home. "You were furious. You told Finn, Artie, and Puck what happened. That's how they got involved. The four of you made a plan." She stopped again and looked behind her at the building in which Kurt knew the four were probably getting sorted to cells or something right than. He didn't know what happened after that little meeting. "It resulted in Sebastian's death – something you had planned – and Blaine getting severely injured – something you hadn't planned. Sebastian's dead Kurt. You killed him." The last of these words were spoken in a very quiet voice.
Again, Kurt stood and started pacing. More than once, he had wished that bastard dead. He hated Sebastian for his attempts to get Blaine away from him. But he had never been serious about the boy being dead. In his mind, it was just an expression. He could never honestly wish dead on anyone. Truthfully, all he wanted was for Sebastian to back off, leave him and Blaine alone, and stay out of the picture. But in this reality, it became apparent that death was the only answer to the Kurt here. Sam was right. Gothic Kurt seemed like nothing compared to this murderer Kurt.
Mercedes was already starting to waver as he looked back at her. Had she told him enough? Kurt didn't care. He didn't want to know anymore anyway. Blaine was in the hospital here and it was all his fault. "Time has come for me to leave you Kurt. I hope to see you for real when you wake up. You have to wake up. We miss you." Kurt was able to offer her a small smile. And before she could completely waver away, he threw himself forward and hugged her tightly. He wanted to go back to them all and hug all his friends for real. Mercedes' last motion before she wavered out completely was a return smile. Encouragement. Kurt's determination to get home grew again.
He didn't think he had ever been so glad to see the world around him start whirling and blur the colors. He wanted away from the prison, away from this reality. Any other reality had to be better than this one. Though something in his gut told him that the next one was going to be a different kind of shocker for himself. Was he ever going to land in a reality that he actually enjoyed seeing? One that would make him happy? Something told him probably not. He was battling his way out of a coma. If this was just some joy ride vacation trip, than maybe but he was in a depressing state in his world. No way would he see anything happy.
Kurt stood still as the prison reality blurred away and he tried to brace himself for where he was going to land next, something he didn't have any idea of. He was kind of worried. What would he find on the other side of the tracks? Or however you explained it here. Little did he know how very different his next self would be from all the selfs he knew, include his real self.
And that beeping got just a tad closer.
A/N: I know, I wasn't going to update this story again until I'd done the other three first but I couldn't help myself so enjoy chapter four! Yes, I'm cruel and I really hate the character Sebastian if you couldn't tell. Nothing against the actor. He plays the role brilliantly. Just being a major Klaine shipper, I hate the character with a passion. What will Kurt discover next though? I already have that figured out. Stay tuned! Please review! They keep me writing!