This chapter contains dark themes (relating to death) and strong language. Enjoy! ;D
Will was unashamedly staring at Emma, because when you were in a room with nothing but a Neanderthal skull and a huge array of historical information, it was easy to become distracted.
Emma knew that he was watching her. She'd known since they'd first entered the museum that he wasn't exactly focused on the exhibits, but strangely, it didn't bother her.
"Would you like any extra information on this artefact, miss?" came the over confident voice of the curator. Emma wanted to say no, but as her eyes locked onto Will's, she found that she couldn't say no; in fact, she couldn't say a thing. Instead, all she could do was nod, which the woman responded to with a smug smile. "Neanderthals, also known as Neandertals, Neanderthaloids, Homo sapiens neanderthalensis and Homo neanderthalensis..."
Will didn't take in much of the information, but he pretty much memorised each little change in Emma's body movements, and the way her eyes would stare at him before fluttering away in embarrassment, and the fake smile that she'd flash at the curator compared to the genuine smile she'd save for him. It didn't matter anymore that she wasn't interested in him; he was through with trying to force them together (he conveniently ignored his eagerness for the two of them to visit the museum alone).
"There is evidence for some amount of social networking between Neanderthals, including-"
"MySpace and Facebook?" Will didn't know why h'de said that, and Emma didn't know why she laughed. The curator, who had been babbling on for the best part of an hour, looked abashed and infuriated, which didn't help Emma's sudden onset of giggles. "I'm sorry, that was totally out of line," Will said in a half laugh, "this is all very interesting, th-thanks for talking to us."
Emma pulled a tissue from her handbag to try and pretend she was sneezing as opposed to crying so hard that tears were rolling down her cheeks. The curator sniffed indignantly, looked at her watch, then began to head towards one of the adjoining rooms that housed many other exhibits.
"If you can excuse me, I'm afraid I have another tour group waiting for me." She didn't wait for any more apologies, and instead flounced out of the room, not even bothering to grant them both a smile.
Emma waited until the woman had left before gawping at Will in shock. "That was unexpected," she giggled, wiping away the remnants of her laughter.
"Come on Emma, you can't deny that her ability to gain enthusiasm was a little lacklustre? I'm usually eager to learn anything and everything, but her voice was like a bee buzzing in my ear." He shrugged with a grin. "Besides, I think we've outstayed our welcome in this part of the museum. Let's see if we can make another curator feel incredibly awkward."
And then Emma smiled like she had just seen the sun for the first time, and Will Schuester was positive that nothing more beautiful existed in the world.
Now here he was, driving aimlessly up and down a dark, foreign road, looking for two girls that were missing, the two he least expected it from. Will pulled over to try and calm himself down whilst checking his cell for the countless time that night; still no news.
It made no sense. They could rule out kidnapping, because one of the others would have heard the commotion, right? Right, that's what Will kept telling himself; kidnapping just didn't fit the criteria.
It couldn't be a runaway attempt, because for one thing, Rachel had left Finn behind, and for another... well, it just wasn't plausible. He didn't know what Tina's background was like, but Will knew Rachel had nothing to run from, especially while they were on vacation.
Which meant that they'd probably gone somewhere together without letting anyone know.
But that was very irresponsible, and Rachel Berry and Tina Cohen-Chang were anything but irresponsible. Maybe he'd missed a note, or a phone call, or something? Something had to point them in the right direction, because Will was out of ideas and it was getting later by the second.
His phone buzzed once, and he didn't hesitate to answer.
"Hello, what is it, are they back?" he said in a rushed, erratic breath.
"It's Emma, and no, they're not back yet."
Will felt his whole body slump with exhaustion; he was positive that he had to be dreaming. "Oh, but you have some news?" he asked dejectedly.
"Yes, and it's good news Will." Will straightened himself up, everything focused on what Emma was going to say next.
"Go on."
Glee!
"I'm having second thoughts about this, Rachel," said Tina quietly as they waited in the small line beside the lake.
"About what exactly?" asked the little brunette. Her eyes were too busy shining with excitement to notice Tina's apprehensive grimace.
"I don't understand why we've come so late." Her voice was soft and thoughtful, since she didn't want to upset or offend Rachel. "Isn't it dangerous to be doing this at night?"
Rachel resisted the urge to roll her eyes. "They wouldn't travel if it was dangerous," she said slowly, like she was talking to a small child. "Besides, when we visited yesterday, I decided to read the information board, and the twilight rides are supposed to be the most breath taking and exhilarating." Tina raised a sceptical eyebrow. "And they are no way related to those books about vampires."
"That's such a shame!" Rachel and Tina both jumped at the intrusion to see two girls smiling wildly in front of them in the queue.
"Excuse me?" sniffed Rachel in a slightly cold manner. The stranger looked taken aback.
"Oh, I'm sorry, I was listening to you talking and-"
"I'm Candice, and this is nosy Rosie," began the slightly taller of the two. She held out her hand to Rachel, but only Tina was polite enough to shake it.
"I'm Rosie," the other girl repeated with a grin.
"Nice to meet you both," smiled Tina shyly, "my name's Tina, and this is-"
"I'm Rachel Berry, future New York Broadway star."
Rachel couldn't help it sometimes. When she felt intimidated by others, she responded with a defensive manoeuvre. This was a perfect example; here stood two classically beautiful girls, and all Rachel could think about was making herself look good (which didn't seem to impress Tina).
"New York? That's where we're from!" cooed Rosie. Candice nodded as she wrapped her arms around herself to stay warm.
"R-really?" asked Rachel. She tried to hide her jealousy and curiosity, but didn't really succeed.
"It's not all it's cracked up to be you know," Candice insisted, "we don't have such quaint little amusements like this!" She looked towards the lake, her eyes fixated on the boats.
"So, are you girls-" began Rosie, but Rachel was already bored by the conversation.
"If you can excuse us, I need to talk to my friend." All three girls were surprised by the hostility in Rachel's voice; Candice's eyebrows knitted together in frustration, Rosie managed a pained smile, and Tina simply looked embarrassed.
"Sure, we'll just... yeah," apologised Rosie. She turned back to Candice, leaving Tina looking a little outraged.
"There's no need to be so rude," she began, but Rachel simply shrugged.
"I don't appreciate people interrupting conversations like that, especially strangers." She turned her nose up at the thought of what had just happened. "So, where were we? Oh yes, coming so late. Hopefully it will enhance our experience."
Tina gritted her teeth. "And why couldn't we tell the others?" she asked shortly.
Rachel huffed in exasperation; it really was like talking to a toddler. "Because Finn would have managed to talk me out of it; he has a strange power over me that I can't always overcome." While Rachel stared at the stars and sighed at the thought of Finn, Tina looked at her watch guiltily. It all seemed like a very bad idea; maybe Finn was controlling or whatever she was getting at, but Artie would have understood... almost certainly... probably... maybe...
Well, he might have understood a little?
"Maybe I should call Artie to make sure he got the note," she said, mainly to herself.
Rachel snapped out of her daydream, and placed her hand on Tina's shoulder in what she assumed was a comforting gesture. "Don't worry Tina, I left it in clear view. Ooh look, the line is moving!"
Glee!
Finn had never really had a good sense of direction. It was one thing to get confused in broad daylight five minutes from his house, but it was another to be completely lost in the middle of nowhere, alone, in the darkness that was slowly scaring the shit out of him. He was a big boy and everything, but who liked the dark, apart from vampires? And his mom had told him so many things, like how you weren't supposed to walk down a creepy alley late at night, or how to always stick to the path that was lit up by streetlights.
Finn slowed to a stop, breathing heavily, his legs aching. He had no idea where he was, which pissed him off, because he should have paid attention to the scenery when Mr Schue drove them down to the beach the day before. What had he been doing? Oh yeah, sleeping 'cause he'd been sick.
"Shit," he hissed loudly as he gazed up at the sky. There and then, he wished he was one of those Red Indians who could read maps from the stars (and unashamedly, he even squinted really hard to see if any of them looked like Rachel).
His phone buzzed in his pocket. He'd never hoped for anything so much as he did then, but as he retrieved his cell and saw the name Mike flashing on and off, he was sure that God had something against him.
He didn't answer.
Glee!
Artie had been a mess until he'd found the note. To be honest, being in his chair was something that he was never thankful for, but in times like these, he hated it with a passion. Finn was out there looking for his girlfriend, and Artie was stuck inside with Quinn and Miss Pillsbury, both of whom were trying desperately to cheer him up.
It seemed silly, looking back at the initial panic. No one had bothered to search the beach house for a written explanation, and before Artie had been able to understand what was going on, everyone had disappeared, intent on finding Rachel and Tina when they had no leads or ideas.
He'd seen it on the small table beside the door. It wasn't the biggest piece of paper, but it was big enough to be noticed, and he'd only found it because he'd been trying to escape. He liked Quinn, and Miss Pillsbury, but their constant 'Are you okay? We'll find them Artie, we'll find them' had driven him mad. No he was not okay, and there was no 'we' about it; he just had to sit and wait.
So he'd tried to make a metaphorical run for it. He would have made it as well, if his attention hadn't been diverted by the piece of crisp, white paper that had Rachel's pretty scrawl all over it. As he lifted it in his hand, he almost ripped it with nerves and excitement, because this was the answer that everyone had missed, and finally, he could help them find the girls.
Finn, Artie and everyone else that is concerned about our safety-
Tina and I, Rachel Berry, have taken a trip to the section of the beach that we visited yesterday to try out the speedboats. Though the actual ride lasts no more than fifteen minutes, I expect there is a high demand for seats. Therefore, I'm not sure when we'll be back, but we'll return as soon as we're done.
See you soon!
"M-Miss Pillsbury! Quinn! I kn-know where they are!"
It felt good to be the hero now and again.
Glee!
Mike Chang was a dead man, or as close to one as he could get. Mr Schue had been insistent that they weren't allowed to split up, and yet stupidly, he'd somehow lost Finn. If it wasn't bad enough that his assignment partner and crush were missing, one of Mike's best friends had disappeared too, and now he had no idea what he was doing.
His first thought was to call Mr Schue and explain the situation, but Mike hesitated; Finn had distracted him for a reason, hadn't he? Maybe he knew something that Mike didn't, and maybe he had to find the girls on his own...
He was screwed big time. He thought about contacting Matt, because the two of them were practically brothers, but he didn't want to worry him either. Besides, Matt would only tell Mercedes and Kurt, then the gossip would spread like wild fire.
Mike tried calling Finn, but for the third time in the last ten minutes, the call had been rejected. At least that meant that the idiot was still alive (though that would probably change once Mike got a hold of him).
"Relax," he whispered out loud. Getting stressed wasn't going to help. No, he'd have to try and find Finn in the infinite darkness, that was all.
His cell played a strange, remixed sound that made Mike sigh in relief. "Hello?" he said breathlessly, waiting to hear either Finn or Tina on the other end.
"Mike, this is Miss Pillsbury. You're partnered up with Finn right?"
Oh shiiiii- "Yep, he's here with me," he lied, smooth as he could be.
"Could you two hurry and head back to the beach house? We know where Tina and Rachel are, and once everyone's back, we're going to go pick them up. Can you get here as quickly as possible?"
Mike nodded numbly until he realised she couldn't see him. "Sure thing, that's great news, great... Bye." He had to stop himself from throwing his cell phone onto the grass and smashing it under his heel. What the hell was he going to do now?
He tried calling Finn one last time, but since he was cut off again, he assumed he could handle it by himself. Maybe he knew where they were? Maybe he'd found them already?
He headed back to the house in a quick jog. Mike Chang was a dead man.
Glee!
Rachel and Tina had been waiting for almost twenty minutes for their turn on the boat. The silence had started off as acceptable, but as each minute ticked by, it seemed to get more and more awkward. Rachel was fine with amusing herself with her own thoughts, but all Tina could think about was the two girls that Rachel had alienated. They were still stood in front of them, waiting for their own turn, but neither of them had dared to even look behind them, and Tina couldn't help but feel responsible for her friend's behaviour, even if the girl had been the best Butterfly team member.
"Excuse me, Rosie and Candice?" Tina's voice was extremely quiet, so much so that she was surprised to see the girls turn to face her (though both of them looked a little wary). "You said you were from New York? What's it like there?"
That's all it had taken for the strangers to become comfortable again. Tina was bombarded with all kinds of stories and jokes, and though it was a little overwhelming, she decided that she liked Rosie and Candice, despite Rachel's reservations.
Rachel didn't contribute at all. She couldn't put her finger on it, but the girls were too perfect. She judged that they were three or four years older than them, which meant that they were probably old enough to drink alcohol, and that was a big deal for some people. Rosie was just a little taller than Tina, and Candice taller than Rosie, and both of them were extremely skinny, despite having, Rachel noticed with a hint of jealousy, rather large boobs. While Candice's hair was short and blonde, Rosie's resembled Rachel's, though if anything, it was a little longer (yet Rachel was sure her colour was from a bottle).
And yes, it went without saying that they were both beautiful; this was what irritated Rachel the most. How was it that some people were blessed with everything, while others had to simply rely on their amazing, angelic voices? Quinn Fabray was exactly the same way; blonde, beautiful, perfect body, average singing capabilities, and she was popular; Rachel didn't know the meaning of the word.
But, when it all came down to it, Rachel was jealous because if Finn had been present, he would have been impressed. Though he was a model boyfriend most of the time, she couldn't expect him not to look at other girls, and these two would have enticed him for sure.
This is ridiculous. You're worried that Finn would fall for these bland strangers when he's not even here! This relationship will never work unless you trust him! I'm your conscience, and I know these things!
"Rachel, are you okay?" Rachel looked at Tina with a frown on her face; had they asked her a question?
"Why wouldn't I be?" she snapped, causing Tina to wince.
"Sorry, just come on, it's finally our turn!" Tina (rather reluctantly) grabbed Rachel's hand and pulled her towards the lake, where Rosie and Candice were being handed life jackets.
"Orange, seriously? Excuse me sir, do you have any other colours, like pink? This doesn't compliment my outfit at all." Rachel rolled her eyes; this Rosie girl needed to meet Kurt Hummel.
"Sorry, orange is all we got," said the boat's driver in a gruff, unimpressed voice. "If you wanna ride you gotta wear the jackets, a'right?" The girls looked like they wanted to complain, but with a bit of a fuss, they managed to get them on (and Rachel agreed with Rosie's statement; it didn't do her any favours). "Everyone on, and then we'll go through the safety procedures!"
Glee!
Will was ashamed to say that he'd broken the speed limit as he'd raced back to the house, but that was understandable in the circumstances. Emma had suggested heading straight to the beach on his own, but with the shock and confusion of the night already, Will wanted to make sure that everyone was safe and accounted for.
He finally arrived at the house, and almost drove straight through the window in his haste. He entered the room, counted the numbers, then counted them again.
"Eleven, including me? Eleven?" He scanned the room again. "Eleven? Who's missing?" His eyes finally rested on Emma, who looked guiltily towards Mike.
"Finn disappeared. He told Mike that he'd seen the girls, and whilst he had him distracted, Finn made a run for it."
The words went in one ear and out the other. What the hell was Finn playing at? Strangely, Will found it amazingly easy not to scream down Mike's throat, because it obviously hadn't been his fault. No, the time for screaming and shouting was over; this had to be taken care of calmly and swiftly.
"Have you tried calling him?" he said, hoping that they'd simply overlooked that simple gesture.
"A few times," Mike whispered. "I'm so sorry Mr Schue, I don't know what happened-" Will strode forward, and though it probably made the kid feel incredibly awkward, he wrapped a supportive arm around his shoulder.
"It's not your fault. Finn's probably taking it a lot harder than the rest of us, but don't worry, we'll find him too."
"Not if I find the fucker first," snarled Puck. Emma gasped like a little child while Quinn sighed in exasperation.
"Puck, this is not the time-"
"Of course this is the time!" he yelled at the blonde. "For all he knows, Rachel and Tina could have been dead, and he thought it was a good idea to run off and be the frickin' hero!" Puck had a problem with his temper now and again, and only after he'd yelled did he realise what he'd actually said. He turned to Artie immediately with guilt written across his face. "Dude, I'm sorry, I didn't-"
"Mr Schue, can we go now?" the boy in the wheelchair asked weakly. "We need to find them all."
Will nodded sombrely. "We'll all go. If Finn comes back to an empty house, he'll know to call us. Is everyone ready?"
Glee!
The 'safety procedures' had been nothing more than common sense; don't remove your life jacket, don't stick your hand near the engine, don't throw yourself overboard, and don't distract the driver. Tina and Rachel had taken their seats beside Rosie and Candice (not Rachel's choice) and a fairly old couple who enjoyed a weekly boat trip at night.
With their life jackets on and the sound of the roaring engine, Rachel was beginning to have second thoughts about their decision. Maybe Finn had been right; was she ready for this? She'd been so determined to go through with it to prove him wrong that by the time she was ready, she realised it was the last thing she wanted to do.
"A'right then, hold on tight!" called the driver. Rachel wanted to protest, wanted to get off, wanted to run back to Finn and admit that she was a coward, but the boat was suddenly moving, and she was stricken with an overwhelming fear that something was going to go wrong.
"Oh my God, look at how fast we're going!" laughed Tina in Rachel's ear.
"Y-yeah, cool!" she shouted back, despite having her eyes scrunched tight.
"Oh hoho, is the Broadway star a bit of a baby?" giggled one of the girls over the sound of the engine. Rachel opened her eyes with a scowl.
"I'm not a baby," she huffed, glaring at the brunette (Rosie? Candice? Who cared?) with as much force as she could muster. She managed to turn her attention to Tina, who looked like she was going to topple over into the water. "Tina, move back, that's really dangerous!" she insisted before grabbing her friend by the arm. Tina tried to shake her off, but had no luck; Rachel's grip was amazingly strong.
"Rachel, calm down and try to enjoy yourself! Look at how beautiful the beach houses are from here!" Tina pointed towards the land, and for the first time, Rachel realised that yes, the lights in the darkness did look rather beautiful, though she would have appreciated them more if they hadn't been going at over forty miles an hour.
"Actually, this is kind of thrilling," she managed to breathe (she was sure she'd been holding her breath since the beginning of the ride).
"It would be more thrilling if I didn't look so hideous in this thing!" called Rosie, who had decided to start adjusting the straps on her life jacket. Despite her dislike of the loud, perfect strangers, Rachel wasn't stupid enough to ignore that. They had to wear the jackets for a reason, and messing with them even slightly was a one way ticket to trouble.
"You shouldn't do that!" she shouted, gesturing to her own jacket. "They're supposed to save you, not make you look like a beauty queen!"
Rosie waved her off. "Chillax little strawberry, we're going to be fine." Rachel wanted so much to be able to wave her own concern off. She knew that she was seen as a bit of a party pooper (and other things besides), but this wasn't just a case of turning down the music; this could end in a fatal disaster, something the silly girls didn't seem to understand.
"I'll tell the driver!" she threatened, but her pleas fell on deaf ears.
"This is amazing!" screamed Tina as the boat jumped over the water with ease. Rachel tried to smile genuinely at her, but all she felt was an impact, and all she saw was the darkness.
Glee!
Somehow, Finn had made it. Somehow, he'd managed to stumble across the only section of the beach that was faintly familiar to him, even though he was pretty sure he'd made a few too many detours.
But hell, what did that matter? All he knew was that he was a five minute sprint from the boat place, and (hopefully) a five minute sprint to Rachel and Tina.
His goddamn cell phone began to buzz again. Out of frustration, Finn pulled it from his pocket, hit answer, then shouted down the phone. "What the hell do you want?"
"Finn, where are you? This is Miss Pillsbury."
Under any other circumstances, Finn would have felt like a complete douche, but he had bigger things on his mind.
"I'm at the beach, I think Rachel and Tina might be here."
"Oh, that's wonderful, we're on our way. The girls left a note to say they were going on a speedboat or something?"
Finn began to run in elation. He'd been right after all; if that wasn't a sign of true love, he wasn't sure what was. "Yeah, that's what I figured, I'm almost there," he panted, falling into a comfortable jog that allowed him to speak on his cell. "Sorry that I left Mike, I just needed to do this on my own."
"Don't worry about that, we're just glad that you're safe. Are you almost there?"
"I think so. There's a small queue near the lake, and-" Finn didn't stop talking, but his words were drowned out by a deathly scream.
"Finn! Finn? What's going on?" cried Emma, but she went unanswered. Finn could see perfectly what was going on; fifteen people in orange jackets were thrashing in the water next to a capsized fucking speedboat.
"They've crashed," he choked before hanging up on the shell shocked guidance counsellor. His body went into overdrive because he didn't have time to stand crying and screaming and shit.
He ran directly towards the queue of horrified people, some of whom were sobbing helplessly.
"When did it happen?" he managed to ask. He had to shout a few times before he was heard, but finally, a young boy, slightly younger than Finn, turned to face him, fear etched on his features.
"Just now. We were just waiting for our go and it just overturned man! What are we gonna do?"
Finn scanned the scene, trying to work out the best plan of action. He needed a boat, any kind of boat, 'cause they were too far out for him to swim there.
"Is there a small boat nearby, or a raft, or anything?" he shouted. The onlookers seemed to be coming to their senses, and after a few moments of hysterical behaviour, a few people stepped forward to help.
"There's a dinghy tied up over there!" called a middle aged woman, and Finn wasted no time in jumping in.
"I'll help," volunteered the young boy, who was followed by an elderly man and his granddaughter.
"We need some oars or something, right?" breathed Finn, who was having a hard time staying calm. The man pulled the plastic oars from the side of the boat, and once he'd managed to untie the rope, they were ready to go.
"Here, you take this one and I'll take the other. Are you ready? And row, row, row!"
Finn didn't think about the likelihood of injuries (and deaths), because in his mind, everyone was going to be alright, especially Rachel and Tina. Especially them.
"Row, row, row, row!" the man continued to shout, and though a little slow at first, the dinghy picked up gradual speed in the direction of the accident. The closer they got, the more jackets Finn could see, yet he still couldn't spot the two faces that he desperately needed to find.
"We're almost there! Try and help as many into the boat as you can!" he shouted hoarsely, his eyes fixated on the water.
Closer. Closer. Closer. All Finn could see was the orange of the jackets, because unsurprisingly, it was incredibly dark on the water. They needed to be even closer to help, even closer to find Rachel-
"Here, help him up!" Finn's head snapped towards the old guy, who had found the first straggler. With a groan and a tug of team work, Finn, the boy, girl and man managed to pull a frightened kid into the dinghy.
"Th-thank you, thank you so much! Can you help my mom? I can't find her!" he choked, spitting water over the edge of the boat.
Finn was disgusted to feel angry at the boy. For a split second, he wanted to tell the kid to forget about his mom and everyone else, but this notion passed as quickly as it had begun. He'd have to rescue Rachel and Tina as they went along, but not before, as painful as it was.
"We need to get a bit closer!" called the girl, who pointed towards a cluster of orange jackets. Finn dragged the plastic oar through the water in time with the old man, his eyes looking for any trace of Rachel (and Tina, don't forget about Tina!).
And then Finn heard the words he never wanted to hear. "There's someone drowning over there, can you see her long brown hair?" His arms moved incredibly fast, too fast for the elderly man to keep up, and before he knew it, Finn was leaning into the water, pulling his dying girlfriend from the darkness.
"Someone help me!" he screamed, his eyes filling with hesitant tears. He saw another pair of hands latch onto Rachel's clothes, and with one swift movement, she was in the boat, no longer breathing.
"Quick, we need to get the water out of her lungs!" suggested an anonymous voice. Finn felt his whole world become dizzy, because Rachel was motionless and pale. He knelt down beside her and tried to brush the hair from her face.
"Move out of the way kid!" cried the old guy. He began to press clumsily on her chest, trying to restart the heart that had given up, but it was no use; none of them knew what they were doing, and there were other people to save.
"Finn! Finn, is that you? Help, Finn, help, I can't hold these people up!"
Finn was staring down through a flood of tears at the dead body of his girlfriend, yet he could clearly hear her voice... from behind him. He rubbed his eyes roughly and held back his tears, because he was sure he could hear her, he was sure he could hear Rachel Berry shouting to him.
He turned to look into the darkness, where orange life jackets littered the water. He heard his name again, and saw Rachel paddling towards him, three people clinging onto her arms.
"Rach-" He turned back to the still girl that lay awkwardly in the boat, and without his tears clouding his sight, he realised that she looked nothing like Rachel, apart from her hair.
He didn't waste any more time. With the help of a stranger, he lifted three people into the boat, each as thankful as the last. Finn reached for Rachel's hand, but she didn't respond.
"I have to find Tina! I have to help the others!"
Now was probably not the time for Finn to tell Rachel how much he fucking loved her.
"I need to borrow your jacket," he pleaded to one of the passengers, who was more than happy to hand it over. Though it was extremely tight on his chest, Finn pulled it over his head, and without a moment's regret, he dived into the water, ready to save as many people as he could.
Glee!
"Will, hurry, put your foot down!" screamed Emma. The glee club were a mess. Everyone had heard Finn's declaration, and unsurprisingly, no one was taking it lightly. Puck had already been sick twice, Brittany couldn't stop crying, and Artie had gone into emotional shock, unable to process what was happening.
"I can't go any faster unless I kill everyone!" Will yelled back. His knuckles were white as his hands clenched the steering wheel in despair, his face was pouring with sweat, and his heart was beating a mile a minute.
"Here, it's here, it's here!" Emma insisted, ready to jump out of the bus as soon as it slowed.
"Everyone stay here, me and Miss Pillsbury can handle this-"
"Like hell you can! They're our team members-"
"Let me out, I can swim-"
"I can carry Artie-"
"Shut up!" screamed Will, his breathing haggard and erratic. "There is NO point in everyone risking their lives! Once the-"
Will was cut off by the blaring sirens of two ambulances and a police car. Everyone stared in unison, in shock, as the vehicles sped past onto the sand, spraying debris over the windscreen of the bus.
"Fuck it, I'm going." Puck was out of the bus and running straight for the lake before Will had time to adjust himself. He was closely followed by Mike, though he managed to stop Matt before he fled too.
"Wait, we need to stick together. Everybody grab someone's hand, and once we're all in a chain, only then will I open this door again. Got it?"
Glee!
For ten long, excruciating minutes, Finn, Rachel and the other helpers worked to find everyone lost in the lake. The driver had been found, as had most of the passengers, but Tina, Candice and a young boy were still missing.
"Rachel, go and rest, you're exhausted," shouted Finn over the commotion. Rachel ignored his concern, because there was no way that she was abandoning Tina.
"The lifeguard is on the way!" called an anonymous voice. "Come and wait in the boat, they'll do the rest!"
Rachel ignored the stranger's concern too, because out of the corner of her eye, she could see Tina holding onto two other people; bingo. A sudden, last burst of adrenaline pounded through her veins, willing her tired body on, strengthening her legs and arms as she swam. She could feel Finn behind her somehow, like her guardian angel, and that was a great comfort, more than she cared to admit.
"Tina," she gasped as she finally pulled her friend towards her. She looked cold, understandably, and shaken, but she was alive, as were the two beside her. "Come on, Finn and I will help you three get to the boat." Tina struggled to hold on, but with the strong grasp of Finn, she managed to paddle slowly towards the boat, Candice and the boy following closely behind her. There was a flurry of activity, a mass of eager hands, and with a shaken sigh of relief, Tina was pulled into the boat that was crowded with shocked, thankful survivors. Candice was next, then the nameless boy, and as a chivalrous act, Finn offered Rachel to be helped up first, though she refused to let go of his cold, shivering hand.
The lifeguard sped towards them too late, though people were pulled onto the new boat to combat the overcrowding. No one had time to focus on the one motionless body that sat amongst the friends and family, because now was not the time for mourning; now was the time to be thankful for everything in life. As Finn held Rachel tightly against his chest, he was thankful for the help of strangers, and Rachel, who clung to Finn's sodden shirt, was thankful for her boyfriend.
Glee!
The lake had gained many spectators since the accident had occurred, despite the time and the chill in the air. Amongst the crowd stood ten terrified students and teachers from McKinley High, another to make eleven was hanging awkwardly in Puck's firm grasp. None of them had known what to expect, or known how to act, but with the emergency services on hand, there was little they could do apart from watch like all the other drama-hungry vultures, some who speculated about the number of dead bodies that the lifeguard would recover.
Painfully, the two boats made their way back to land, filled with terrified victims and rescuers and everything in between. Will's eyes were tear-free, because he needed to know who was safe, and he needed to know who wasn't. Puck could feel Artie trembling in his grasp and could hear him sobbing quietly. He wanted to tell him that things would turn out okay, but every time he tried to speak, he was worried that he was going to cry too. Kurt wasn't afraid to let the tears fall while Mercedes couldn't stop shaking from side to side.
The lifeboat was the first to pull up against the beach. The police stopped people from bombarding the survivors so that the paramedics could intervene, but no one needed to move to see the white body being transferred to a stretcher. Attempts were made to start her heart, to breathe air back into her lungs, but she was gone; all the glee club saw was a small dead girl with long brown hair; Santana let out a terrifying, heart wrenching scream.
"Rachel! RACHEL!" she screamed incessantly, taken over by honest, raw grief. "Rachel!"
Rachel was huddled in the dinghy, unable to process anything but the sound of her name. The voice was filled by so much pain and sorrow that she had to pinch herself to make sure she was alive.
"Am I dead?" she whispered dumbly to Finn, who squeezed her even tighter than before.
"No, you're alive Rachel, I would never have let you die." Finn pressed his face into Rachel's hair, only to hear Santana's screams. "Is that... that's not Santana, is it?" The couple squinted into the darkness, unable to pinpoint the location of the noise. Rachel scanned the crowd of onlookers, only to see Rosie, the girl who had adjusted her life jacket, lying dead on a stretcher.
"Oh my God," she choked, unable to stop herself from weeping instantly. She should have saved her, she should have saved her!
"They think it's you Rachel," Finn said in a whisper. "I thought it was you. I thought that you'd... I thought-"
Despite the strain in her legs and the breathlessness in her chest, Rachel struggled from Finn's grip and waded as fast as she could through the water, towards the beach, towards the group of people that had never realised how much they'd really cared about Rachel Berry.
As she got closer, the sight of Rosie's dead body suddenly made her scream uncontrollably. She should have saved her.
A/N: To be continued in the next chapter. I'm hoping I pulled this off okay, because I literally changed my direction two days ago (my original plan was to have Rachel and Tina in critical conditions, but I decided against that).
Thanks for your reviews, and hope you enjoyed this slight twist in the story!