Disclaimer: I don't own Glee

A/N: hey guys, sorry this was late X.X my room's getting a makeover so my connection to the internet was very limited, plus my wonderfully ancient charger broke on me leaving a laptop with a dead battery, so I wasn't able to do any writing until recently (my dad repaired the charger ghetto style). Thanks so much for the sticking with me if you're still reading! Also, on guesses on who the teacher is…keep guessing ;) I'm keeping tight lipped on this one heheh Oh, and matchbookjealousy lol I only chose a pineapple because it symbolizes hospitality, after the Hummel's invited the Hudsons to live with them in the first season I thought it would be fitting if a little oddball-ish :)sorry about not answering your question in the last chap!

…

Chapter Ten

Don't Wake Up

…

They were driving down the highway with the sun burning in their faces. He pulled the blind flap down and settled in his seat, for once completely relaxed and silently praying the drive would last forever. It had been a while since he could finally relax.

He looked to the driver with a smile. He seemed to be just as serene as him. Finn couldn't blame him. They had just saved a life, an accomplishment like that would brighten anyone's day.

"Where to?" Kurt asked calmly, casting a quick glance to him.

"Youngstown, I think," Finn answered after thinking hard for a minute.

His stepbrother nodded, turning on the radio to a station dedicated to chill music. Finn was surprised, he expected him to tune into a popular station that overplayed songs with repetitive lyrics.

They drove on in pleasant silence for a few more miles until Kurt was forced to slow to a stop behind the mob of traffic piled up before them. It didn't damper their moods though. They weren't in any particular hurry, especially since they had no idea what would lie at the end of their journey.

Kurt chose that moment to say something random. "This is kind of nice for an out of the blue cross country trip."

Finn raised an eyebrow at the smaller teen, "yeah except this isn't a trip."

Kurt rolled his eyes. "You know what I mean," he turned to him with a warm smile, "it's doing you good, I can see you're old self coming back."

"I could go play football and make you fall in love with me again if that's what you want,"Finn teased. Kurt shot him a scandalized look ruined by the glimmer of amusement in his eyes.

"You are impossible," he scoffed dramatically, "as if I'd make the same mistake again."

"Oh come on, you can't resist my charms," Finn leaned over the driver with a devious grin. The shorter teen shrank in his seat with a small laugh before their lips were pressed together in a slow kiss.

…

When Finn woke up, it was with a frown. The dream felt too real and too weird to be normal. Instead of melting away as soon as he awoke, it remained in his head. He couldn't understand what kind of meaning it held other than it was probably important.

But why would he kiss Kurt? They were brothers. And he wasn't gay.

He sat up tiredly and looked around his empty room blearily. The sun had brightened up everything to near blinding point. It was probably the reason to his waking up. With a sigh, he stared at his hands on his lap for a good few minutes as he waited for his body to wake up with the rest of him.

He was getting tired often lately. There was barely any energy left in him to get out of bed these past few days. Finn blamed it on the medicine the nurses kept throwing at him.

His lip curled in disgust at how bony his hands had become. His arms were thinner too, no longer holding the muscular power of his old self. Kurt had told him several times that he was losing a lot of weight, but he never realized how bad it was until now.

Again, he blamed it on the medicine. Pretty soon he was going to shrivel up and disappear. He wouldn't be surprised if Sam would follow soon after, he didn't seem his usual fit self either.

Someone giggled.

Finn looked up and spotted a familiar blonde girl standing by the door. His hair stood on end. "You…" he whispered fearfully.

Alice giggled even more and ran straight towards the nearest wall at break neck speed, phasing through it like a ghost with a resounding bang. Finn jolted and tried to settle his nerves. Unfortunately there was no time for that. There was a strange rumbling echoing throughout the room, and it was coming from the ceiling.

Finn slowly looked up. The walls were tilting in, slowly at first, and then picking up speed as they caved further inwards, threatening to crush him.

Screaming at the top of his lungs, Finn fell off his bed and threw an arm protectively over his head, wind gusting over him as the walls came ever closer to hitting the ground.

Nothing happened though.

Hesitantly, Finn peered an eye open. The room was back to normal, the walls had never moved.

Breathing heavily, his heart pounding in his throat, Finn lay on the floor, trying to get his bearings.

What was that?

…

Interrogating, Kurt thought guiltily to himself, was not his thing. The fact that it was Christmas Day and he and Rachel had interrupted a festive meal didn't sit well with his stomach either, especially with their suspect all dolled up in a cheerful red and white jumper with reindeer and snowflakes, and a Santa Claus hat.

Coach Beiste was sitting in the living room with them, a cross between hurt and anger written over her face. In the background in the little dining room table were her friends enjoying a hefty dinner. Despite his guilt, Kurt's gut twisted in jealousy over their happiness on a holiday that he should have been celebrating with his family. With Finn.

"And you think I'm responsible for those kids," the burly woman asked quietly.

Rachel quickly shook her head, "no, we're only asking because you're a new teacher and Kurt said that the killer is a teacher who's been going through schools."

"You're not the only one being asked," Kurt added, "we've got other teachers we'll be asking." Beiste still looked upset, "I'm only doing this because I want Finn home, he's miserable in Apate."

The woman nodded, pursing her lips thoughtfully. "I know. I've heard a lot about that place lately, it's supposed to be the best institution for troubled teens to go," she sighed, rubbing her hands on her knees, "I've taught at about three other schools, but does that matter? Even if it's a teacher, he or she could be going around off the job…" she paused thoughtfully, "and why a teacher? Where'd you get that kind of information?"

At this, the two teens looked at each other uncertainly. "We have our…sources," Kurt said lamely. Beiste gave him a withering look, "okay, it was Finn, but I believe him, I mean, it's a lead, right?"

"How did Finn find that out?" she asked bemusedly. Again, Kurt and Rachel looked uncertain. "Guys," she shook her head, leaning forward to rest her elbows on her knees. "I know it's hard to have a close friend suffer in a dark place by himself, it's not easy," she started gently, "and I don't want to sound harsh, but Finn's got a mental illness you can't be sure that everything he says is one hundred percent accurate. He's not himself right now, you have to understand that." Kurt looked away, biting the corner of his lip and blinking furiously against forming tears. She was saying all the things he didn't want to hear, but it was true. He knew he shouldn't be taking Finn's words to heart. But he wanted to believe him so badly. Something inside him told him to trust his stepbrother, even if he was a raving lunatic. "Have you asked any other teachers?"

"No," Rachel said shortly, shaking her head. "I was thinking of talking to Ms. Holiday before you since she's a sub, but I couldn't find her, I think she's gone out of state for the vacation."

"A lot of teachers have," Beiste shrugged. Both teens nodded, shoulders slumped in defeat. The coach sighed, rubbing the back of her neck. She hadn't meant to knock down their hopes this much. "Listen, if you really believe this teacher theory report it to the police. With everything that's going on it's too dangerous for you guys to play detective," she shook her head grimly, "we've lost enough already."

Nodding, they stood up and made to leave with apologies for interrupting and an unenthusiastic 'Merry Christmas.' By the time they got into Kurt's car, all the energy they had started with was sapped out of them.

"Square one again," Rachel muttered, resting her head on the back of her seat, staring out towards the street ahead that was packed with parked cars and light snow.

"She's right though," Kurt started the the ignition and quickly turned on the heat. "How am I ever going to get Finn out of that place?" he ran a hand through his hair, not caring that he was messing it up. "He's not happy there, Rachel, I've seen him, he's not getting better, he's getting worse!"

"I know," Rachel rubbed the bridge of her nose. "But what can we do? We might as well report it to the police like Beiste said," she thumped the armrest of her seat in frustration, "what did Mr. Schue say about the case?"

Kurt snorted bitterly, unwillingly brought back to the phone call he got last night from the Spanish teacher. "No proof, no case," he shook his head, "and they told him that Apate was the only institution that could help the victims, there's no way they're shutting them down." He turned to Rachel, who was looking at him disbelievingly, "that's what they told him, the only thing they didn't do was kick him in the rear out the door."

"But that's…" she clenched her fists in ill contained rage, "locking Finn up isn't going to help him!"

"You know what's worse?" he smiled sullenly, "they didn't bat an eye when he told them Carole lost all memory of Finn." He pulled out of his parking spot, and drove down the street, which was cheerfully and mockingly covered in Christmas lights, inflatable Santa's, and mechanical reindeers, "no one's helping us. We're alone."

…

His head felt fuzzy. He wasn't sure what happened, or how he ended up unconscious, but the one thing he could feel was dullness everywhere. His arms were dead weight by his sides, he could barely twitch his fingers, and the more he became alert, the more alarming this inability to move grew. He scrunched his shut eyes, somewhat helping to clear the fogginess in his head.

There were bandages all over him, he could feel them tugging against his skin as he tried to move. What followed this brief moment of awakening was the stench of sanitary cleanliness that could only be associated with hospitals. It was cold.

"That's it, wake up," an unfamiliar voice encouraged warmly, her soft voice reaching his ears like the touch of an angel. He peered his eyes open a fraction, blinding light swarming in his unprepared vision. "Morning sunshine."

His vision adjusted somewhat. The woman talking to him was standing in front of the sunlit window, her face cast in shadow. She was a little short and dressed in a white doctor's coat and glasses. Glancing around only confirmed to him that he was indeed in the hospital, but for what he couldn't imagine.

"What happened?" his voice could only whisper, too weak from painkillers to speak any louder.

"Do you remember your name?"

He blinked several times caught off guard by the question, and the fact that he was having trouble remembering it amongst the stuffiness in his brain. His name…what was his name? It was on the tip of his tongue, started with a... "…B-Blaine – "

"No, that's not your name," she placed an icy hand over his bandaged arm. "You don't have a name," she smiled. The patient couldn't muster up the energy to argue. She was so heavenly and sweet, that he couldn't argue. Maybe she was right. "You have a unique gift, and I want to help you take control of it," she squeezed his arm gently; he felt like putty in her hands, "I'd like to take you with me to Babylon."

…

After going through an intense verbal battle with security and several nurses, Kurt and Rachel were given permission to visit Finn in his room. It was unusual for Apate to be so stubborn, and it only served to make Kurt fear the worst. Something must have happened to Finn for them to try to block him from visitors. One look at Rachel and he knew she suspected the same thing.

"He's probably asleep by now, the nurses had to give him a sedative," the guard escorting them said when they stopped in front of Finn's door.

"What?" Kurt said sharply. Before the guard could say anymore, he swung open the door so fiercely that it banged loudly against the wall. Two nurses huddled by the desk up ahead turned to him in alarm. "Finn!" he rushed in to where the tall teen was curled up under the desk, rocking back and forth with his eyes tightly shut. "Finn, it's me, it's Kurt," he reached out to grab his shoulder.

"Kurt," Finn lunged at the smaller teen, pulling him into a tight hug that threatened to suffocate him. He was trembling terribly, mumbling something the startled boy couldn't understand.

"It's all right, we're here," Rachel knelt beside them, cautious of not touching her boyfriend. "What happened?" she glared at the nurses, both who gave her scathing looks.

"We were going to calm him down when you two barged in," one of them said, turning her pointed nose up at them self righteously, "everything was under control."

"You're no longer allowed in the patient's room, visiting hours are only in the visiting room," the second nurse said pointedly.

"We got special permission," Kurt countered, running a hand soothingly up and down Finn's back, "and as you can see, he's calmed down, there's no need for a sedative." And it was true, although he was still shaking; Finn had relaxed visibly, loosening his hold on Kurt somewhat. The nurses weren't pleased of this, and their stay was quickly becoming unwanted. "Can we please have a few moments alone, I do have rights to my time with him."

Scowling, both women stood and wordlessly left the room. Kurt tried not to act to surprised, he'd been prepared for fight.

"Finn, is it okay now?" Rachel asked gently, still not getting any closer to the troubled teen, "can you see normally now?"

Hesitantly, Finn opened his eyes and saw with relief that everything was as it should be. He slumped into Kurt's arms, resting his head on his shoulder. After the scare from earlier he was exhausted from being tense for so long.

"Are the visions getting stronger?" Kurt asked worriedly, "you haven't reacted like this in a while, did you lose the blindfold?"

Finn shook his head miserably, "I-I couldn't find it," he said quietly, "it's always been monsters that I see…but this time the whole room changed," his face contorted in an effort to keep from crying. Rachel crawled closer and held him from the other side, "there were faces and…and hands all over the walls trying to grab me. I didn't know what else to do – it was like something from the other side was trying to kill me," he was holding Kurt tightly again, desperate for comfort, "I…I can't do this anymore, they're getting worse."

"Don't say that, you can beat this, Finn," Rachel said tightly, "we'll find a way to get you out of here and get you real help, Mercedes is already seeing less of the clown now and she's been going through the same thing you are, just hold on a little longer."

Finn shook his head, "She keeps telling me I need to help them, but I don't know what to do…I can't…"

"Who?" Kurt frowned.

"Suzy Pepper."

Rachel and Kurt exchanged startled looks. Suzy Pepper was dead. She's been dead for almost a month now. Kurt swallowed thickly. This was what Beiste warned them about. Were they wrong all along? Was Finn more gone than they'd hoped? Talking about a dead girl as if she were alive was certainly a sign.

Kurt held Finn tightly, feeling that if he didn't, the other boy would disappear. Maybe it was true. Maybe…He shut his eyes grimly. Maybe Apate was the right place for Finn to be after all.

…

Her collection was far from complete. Laurence knew this as he quietly watched his boss flip through the endless papers he'd given her. Profiles of patients he'd recently gotten from Apate. They were on their way to the airport, and though he was comfortable with working around patients and bringing them into his institution, there was something unbearably suffocating about being in such closed quarters with a woman powerful enough to cease his existence, and two boys with the potential to tear him limb from limb without touching him. He wasn't at all surprised at their subdued faces. They were under her control now.

Unconsciously, he shrank more into himself as if that would make him safer. The limousine was nice; it had leather seats, a small bar, a tv, wi-fi, the works. It was a nice change to his usual austere black car, and welcome. The company wasn't. He had good reason to fear his boss.

"You've got a demon in Apate," she said, eyeing a profile with an impressed grin.

"Would you like him?" Laurence asked, part of him hoping the answer was no. She had enough power already.

She hummed thoughtfully, tapping her finger against the photograph. "He's interesting, but he's not the anomaly I'm looking for." She looked over the top of the papers to peer at her assistant. "You still haven't found him, have you?"

"His ability has made it hard for us to pinpoint him," Laurence admitted regretfully, "for all we know he could be in Apate already, just under the disguise of another ability."

His boss hummed again, looking back at the profile she was still mulling over. To Laurence's disappointment, she turned to her reflection on the window.

A little blond girl in a summer blue dress looked back at her with an innocent smile.

"Alice," the drifting teacher said, "go."

Nodding, Alice vanished from the window.

…

They weren't allowed to stay longer like they had yesterday. With just barely getting permission to see him in his room, Kurt and Rachel were only given about ten minutes before they were kicked out. Ten minutes wasn't enough time for them to settle down and talk, just the first five alone were occupied in calming him down from his hallucinating episode.

His mother was doing well, Kurt told him. She made the pot roast, gingerbread cookies, a Yule log cake, kissed Burt under the mistletoe. Then after the festivities reached their end, they couldn't wait until the next day and spent the night opening presents.

Without him.

Kurt said he hadn't opened his, and wouldn't until Finn would come home, but it still hurt. This was the first Christmas, the most important one, that Finn was missing, and only Kurt seemed to care.

He held the silver pineapple ornament up in the moonlight, running a thumb over the words in the back. Christmas may have been over, but when he'd get home, he was going to put the ornament on the tree, then they would all have a proper Christmas, no matter how late they were. They'd have it in May if it came to that.

Finn smiled slightly at that, imagining himself donning a Santa hat in sunny May complete with the cheesy red hand knit sweater with the white snowflakes, sipping eggnog in a living room filled with the humid air of early summer. He could only dream.

It was attainable…right? He wouldn't be stuck here for the rest of his life, that'd be too cruel. There was still so much to do. He had to beat the championships with his football team, go on a proper date with Rachel, bug the hell out of Kurt in typical brotherly fashion, win regionals…

Go to college…

Get a home…

Build a family…

Those were words Kurt said to him just before leaving.

"You can beat this, just hand on a little longer," he told him, giving him a final hug.

Staring at the ornament, glimmering in the moonlight, only made him yearn more for home, and feel a sense of security at the thought of his stepbrother. He wondered if this was what all brothers felt of each other. It was still a little weird to think of Kurt as a brother when just a while ago he was just another member of glee club and the son of the man his mother was dating. He used to be pissed that Kurt had set them up to get closer to him, but now he couldn't find anything to complain about. If Kurt never got the family together, he wouldn't be visiting him almost every day like this. Or give him the ornament as a present.

His mother would still be lonely. And he would be left to suffer the hallucinations by himself. With no one to lean on.

Man. On the long run, Kurt really was an awesome person.

Finn's thoughts were broken at the sound of alarms blaring throughout the halls outside, followed by the stampede of security guards and nurses rushed about. Baffled, Finn slipped out of bed and looked through the little window on the door.

It was a mass of chaos. Red lights were flashing, guards had their flashlights out, and nurses were scrambling through room after room of patients, a look of panic on their faces. Finn had only observed this for a few seconds before his door opened nearly sending him to the floor.

A nurse's head poked through the door. "Mr. Hudson please go back to bed, there's nothing to worry about."

"What's going on?" he asked, looking over her head to the continuing mayhem in the hall.

The nurse pursed her lips. She was so distracted that it didn't take long for her to decide to tell him exactly what was happening. "A patient is missing," she replied grudgingly, "It's you're friend, Sam Evans. If you find him, please report to us." And after peering around his room with hawk eyes, she left with the slam of the door. Through the haze of yelling and ringing, Finn could hear the clicking of his door being locked.

He stood there, shaken. Sam was gone? He escaped? What was going on?

"Finn."

He whipped around. Suzy greeted him with a small wave and tiny smile. She walked to the wall, the spot Alice had disappeared through earlier. Finn watched, his heart in his throat as the dead girl placed her palm on the wall, then turned back to him with her hand stretched out for him. The ornament in his hand threatened to break through his skin in his tight grip. His head was a buzz of white noise and the growing anticipation that maybe….maybe this was it.

Suzy's smile widened.

"Don't wake up."