Chapter 9- Did You Hear The Rain?
Sam's eyes rolled back into his head as the world turned tumultuously around him.
When he looked around, there was nobody around. None of the Glee Club. Kurt, who was just holding his hand, was no longer present, having disappeared somewhere that Sam could not think of right now.
"Kurt?" He called into the big, open space. His voice carried into the blackness and echoed loudly around him. Sam blinked, wondering where Kurt got to, and began to walk.
He mentally counted his steps to pass the time spent looking for Kurt. One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Six. Seven. Eight. Nine. Ten.
"SAM?" Kurt's unmistakeable sounded from a distant way away from where Sam was walking. He picked up his pace. Eleven. Twelve, Thirteen, Fourteen, Fifteen, Sixteen, Seventeen, Eighteen, Nineteen, Twenty. His heavy footfalls resonated loudly in the vast wasteland of darkness.
"KURT!" Sam had spotted him. He was walking with his back to Sam, his pace increasing with every step that Sam took. Sam inhaled deeply and took off running after Kurt. It was like of those horrible daydreams when you can't quite reach what you're running after. They just keep getting further away until you are resigned to the fact that you're never catching up to them.
"SAM?" Kurt still had not noticed that Sam was running directly behind him, which the blonde boy found extremely disconcerting, especially in his current state of mind. Everything had just disappeared and suddenly he was running after Kurt, who could not notice him. Sam laughed bitterly as a comparison to the start of the year took shape in his mind. Sam had chased Kurt, but had continuously rejected him, not believing that he was gay, thinking that Sam or Finn had instigated a plot to humiliate the gay kid by getting his hopes up that the hottest guy in school had a crush on him. Sam had had to ask to kiss him and then follow through with the action to even partially convince Kurt that he had feelings for him. Kurt had laughed loudly when Sam had kissed him, thinking that he had been dreaming. Sam still remembered the exact volume, pitch and duration of that laugh, the very one that had solidified his already very potent feelings for the blushing countertenor.
A snigger caught Sam's attention. In his nostalgic stupor, he had not noticed the fact that Kurt had been joined by two blackly attired figures, one either side of him. They were both taller than him and beefier. They looked menacing and threatening standing next to him. Sam took off running once more, desperate to help Kurt.
The left man grasped Kurt into a tight headlock, forcing his head down, impacting it with his knee, sharply hitting Kurt's nose.
No! Sam internally screamed. Please don't hurt him. His beautiful face...
He knew that screaming aloud would alert the attackers (well, if they noticed him) so he settled on sprinting and fighting them off without them knowing that he was there. The second man brought his foot upwards and struck Kurt's stomach. Kurt was doubled over, the first man having released him quickly, and they resumed into beating him up. Kurt stood his ground, looking as beautiful and majestic as ever, before the second man produced something from his pocket that made Sam's stomach turn ferociously. He was running, but they seemed to move at a pace parallel to his. He would never reach them. Sam did not stop running, however, desperate to stop them.
The man held the cold steel of the gun against Kurt's temple threateningly. Kurt visibly tensed.
"SAM, HELP ME! PLEASE!" Kurt screamed, before the first man wrapped a firm hand around Kurt's mouth, stifling his screams.
Kurt's pain was tearing Sam's heart right out of his chest. He couldn't physically do anything to help Kurt, which was killing him. Kurt, I'm sorry I can't get to you.
The echo of the gunshot ricocheted wildly around the area, ringing in Sam's ears like a haunting melody that would not relent. Kurt's motionless form crumpled to the floor sickeningly. The men vanished in a glow of purple light.
The barrier that Sam was pushing against collapsed invisibly. His automatically moved feet carried him to Kurt's slumped body. The shot to the temple had been instantaneous. Kurt was dead. Yet Sam refused to believe it was true. Not now. They had so many more adventures left.
"Kurt, no you can't die on me now. Not now. We've only just gotten together. I love you so much. We're leaving for New York at the end of next year. You're going to Julliard and I'm going to NYU. It's our plan, Kurt. It's all we've got. It's all I've got. You're everything to me. You don't realise how much you mean to me. I can't live without you. It sounds melodramatic but now I can't imagine a life where you're not there every day to correct my algebra homework or tear up at American Idol. I don't want to live in a world where I can't hear your laugh anymore. Where will I belong now? I was made to be with you, Kurt. Please don't give up on me. FIGHT. FIGHT. KURT, I SWEAR TO THE GOD YOU DON'T BELIEVE IN THAT IF YOU DON'T FIGHT, I WILL KILL YOU. Please." The last word slipped out as a broken whisper, a defeated Sam struggling to overcome the tears that poured freely from his eyes.
From a distant space away from the boys, Brittany watched in horror as her best friend's spirit left his body. It floated up and suddenly Kurt was right there.
"Kurt, you're here."
"I know, Britt. I died, too. I guess this paradoxic world punishes us for loving. Sam loves me and it would kill him if I died, so it kills me in punishment."
"You can go back, though right. Look, there's the light. Just don't approach it. Hold on to me."
"You know it's not that simple, Britt. I was shot in the temple. I can't come back from that unless something miraculous happens and we both know that my Atheism means that God isn't going to do me any favours anytime soon. I have to go..."
"Kurt Hummel, you listen to me. I will absolutely not have Santana and Sam both mourning the loss of their soulmates. You will return because Sam needs you. Because Santana, Quinn, Rachel and Mike need you. You have no idea how much I am selfishly wanting you to stay with me so that I'm not alone, but you can't. You can go back."
"There's no way back, sweetie. I'm with you for the long haul. Remember what I said to you before..."
"You...you said that when you die in a nightmare, you die in reality. Gone, just like that. And Sam had to watch. That was painful to see. He lives for you. You are his everything."
"And he is mine. He will never truly understand how much I feel for him, he can only speculate. I love him like nobody else. My death will hurt him deeply, I'm sure, but I will be able to watch over him. To protect him and to listen to him. I'll be there every day. Just like you will for Santana. We have to go."
Kurt put one foot in front of the other, walking slowly, as though he expected to change his mind or for Brittany to bring up a convincing point to make him reconsider. Instead, she walked solemnly behind him, lips pursed as though refraining from saying something that she desperately wanted to pose.
"Well...here goes."
Kurt reached a trembling hand in front of himself and cautiously touched the now brightly glimmering light.
Author's Note: This was completely draining to write. It has actually broken me right now. Hope you enjoyed. Next chapter is the last.
The chapter name was taken from the seventh track on George Ezra's stunning debut album Wanted On Voyage. All of the album is magnificent and a huge inspiration for me.
