Sorry for the cliffhanger. I wish I could say sorry, but I'm not. Don't hate me but there might be another one here as well ( |D hahahaha!)

The usual disclaimer applies


Content warning: Some rather bad words will be said by that nasty stalker man. If you don't like bad language, please don't read it.

Chapter 12

It all happened so fast that the couple had a moment of abject silence before they realized what had occurred. Ekland fell backwards into the room with the force from the weapon discharged so close to him. As his body slammed down onto the carpet, an audible thud was followed by a spatter of blood from the wound on his chest.

Rachel heaved and then screamed as she recognized the tall features of the man who had pushed past the legs of the fallen officer and slammed the bedroom door shut.

"Shut the fuck up now!" He waved the gun at Rachel. She screamed again, unable to stop herself. "I said shut up!" The menace in his voice was clear and Quinn reacted by yanking Rachel down and wrapping her arm around her wife's mouth to stop her screaming again.

Quinn's heart was beating so fast she actually thought it might actually break through her rib cage and jump across the room. It was strange but as a police officer lay bleeding to death on the bedroom floor, it was this thought than entered her mind. 'Where are you San?' she thought. 'Please help us. We don't deserve to die.'

Detective Lopez was in the bathroom listening. She was pretty sure Ekland was down and for a moment the grief ripped at her throat. She wanted to just rip open the door and shot the guy right between the eyeballs, but the moment she turned the door handle, he was likely to shoot something and she couldn't risk the gun being pointed at her friends. Rachel had stopped screaming at least so he was probably less spooked, but where the hell had he come from? And how did he get through the cordon?

Santana had to put questions aside and just think now. The gun had made a noise, and Nelson was on the other side of the door, probably worried that someone was going to beat down the main entrance and storm the place. He's going to want a hostage so for now at least, Rachel and Quinn are more use alive than dead.

She had already turned off the sound on her radio so she took out her phone and sent a text to Karofsky. She told him to keep everyone back and not let SWAT anywhere near yet; the last thing she needed was that bunch of crazies breaking the door down and causing a shoot-out with her friends caught in the crossfire.

Karofsky texted back to say SWAT were lining up ready to go as soon as the commander gave the word. 'So much for that plan' she thought to herself.

Quinn looked at Nelson. He was staring at the wheelchair.

"Admiring your handiwork Rick?"

"It's true then? Kind of funny really." He kept looking over his shoulder and had the gun firmly trained on the pair of them huddled in the corner.

"I'm so glad you're amused."

"Shut it with the sarcasm, you stupid bitch! I meant because you were so 'inspirational' back at senior prom with that standing up shit. What an odd coincidence to find you back in the chair again now." There was actually a sly grin on his face.

Quinn glowered at him, over the top of Rachel's head. Her wife was on her knees, holding around Quinn's waist; the two of them grasping each other out of fear and the need to at least be together if they were going to die. The thought again entered Quinn's mind that Santana was still absent and then she wondered if Rick had got to her too. Maybe she was dead already. A solid cold lump of fear and horror settled in the pit of her stomach.

"Why are you doing this? What did we ever do to you?"

He laughed maniacally. It reminded Quinn of the Joker from the Batman movie, so out of place was it at that particular moment. And then he just stopped abruptly.

"I couldn't say anything back when we were in school, because … well because Rachel was a bit of a dork, right up until prom and then she goes and gets prom queen and." He stopped again. "How did that even happen? She wasn't a nominee." He shook his head. "Anyway, after that, she wasn't a dork anymore and she went off to New York and got that part in Funny Girl. I went to see it just out of curiosity really and then she saw me and smiled and that was the moment I realized she liked me. I couldn't understand why she ever went out with Finn Hudson, total loser."

"Don't go there," Quinn looked at him with daggers.

"I told you to shut up, Fabray. No one cares what you think anymore. You might have been able to hold court at McKinley but you don't have the power in this room; I do!"

She continued to stare at him but stayed quiet.

"Anyway, where was I? Oh, right. Finn Hudson, giant prick, anyway with him out of the way, I knew we were destined for each other and it was just a matter of time. I wrote to her so many times and just thought she was probably too busy to reply." His face changed then. It became dark and menacing. "Then I read that she was in love with someone else. It was in all the magazines. The people that I worked with didn't believe me when I said it was a mistake, that really she was in love with me, but they laughed at me. They. Laughed. At. Me!"

Santana could hear his voice getting louder. She read another text message. SWAT were at the front door and were minutes from entering. They were going to put in a stun grenade to try and surprise him. Santana took a deep breath. A tactical entry here was a mistake but she couldn't risk Nelson finding out where she was. He would lose it and the first two people in his way would be her friends.

She closed her eyes and concentrated. In her mind she could see the layout of the room. He wasn't going to turn his back on the window or the door. He had gotten in the house and the room without being seen; he wasn't stupid. She imagined he would be where she had positioned herself earlier. She listened to where his voice was coming from; holding her breath so even that wasn't a distraction. She could hear Quinn's voice occasionally but it was fainter, so they were in the opposite corner of the room.

Santana needed Rick to start ranting so the sound of his voice would hide the noise of the door catch opening. She couldn't risk trying to kick it open; that would be foolish. She had to judge this just right; ever had a decision to act been so critical.

'Think, damn it!' She mouthed the words silently and then turned.

"Do you have any idea how it feels to be ridiculed by everyone you know? Like you are something that was scraped from the bottom of a shoe? Of course you do, you were pregnant in school. So you know what that's like. You understand why I couldn't let this go. It's your fault. Imagine how," he seethed with rage "how angry I was when I found out that she wasn't just in love with someone else. She was in love with another woman and that woman was you of all people." He almost spat the words out. "They humiliated me, you humiliated me and I just couldn't stand it anymore. The both of you ruined my life and so now it's time to pay for that. Feeling that knife rip into you was satisfying, but you are just too stubborn to die, Quinn Fabray. Why do you have to be so stubborn?" He stepped closer.

"Rick, please." Rachel was the one who spoke up this time. "Please, you don't need to do this. I'll do whatever you want."

He looked at her like she was dirt. "What can you do now? Everyone knows you're gay already. It's too late for that."

Santana held her breath, counted to three and on hearing those words, she gently turned the handle.

It squeaked a little.

He was just taking the safety off the gun when he heard a noise and turned. He didn't have time to think, the gun just naturally turned the way he was facing and he pulled the trigger.

-The VIPs-

"Officers down," it was Quinn on the floor yelling into Santana's radio. "Officers down, somebody please call the paramedics!" She placed the hand that had picked up the radio back on top of the other one. "Don't you dare die on me Santana Lopez, do you hear me. You better stay alive or I am going to go all Lima Heights on your ass for a change."

Rachel was staring into the eyes of her stalker. They were open but she wasn't sure they were seeing anything.

"Rach, honey. Forget him, check on the cop," she tried to get her wife's attention, but the brunette was just looking at the pale face of the man who had made their lives a misery for months. "Rach!"

Suddenly the shorter woman looked at her and it was as if something suddenly came back to life inside of her. "Sorry," she looked at him. "I don't know if he's alive. There's so much blood."

"Pulse. See if he has a pulse."

"Right, pulse."

Rachel was in shock, not the surprise kind; this was the medical kind. Her hands were shaking and her teeth were chattering even though it wasn't cold. She looked at the stricken police officer and gingerly placed her fingers near his Adam's apple on the uninjured side and pressed. She couldn't feel anything. Then there was a very faint flutter. "It's weak, but I think he has one."

Before anything else could happen, the room was filled with uniforms.