AN: Surprise (waves sheepishly) I haven't abandoned this fic. Just had a hard time figuring out if I wanted what happened in this chapter to happen now or later. After many edits and some creative rewrites...ta-da! Again I own nothing except the plot and all spelling/grammatical errors. That shit is all mine.
"You still up for singing Ray?" Puck asked his sister as the walked towards the choir room.
"In all honesty Noah, I don't know as I'm already exhausted." Ray began and smiled as Quinn slipped her hand into hers giving it a gentle squeeze. "But the dancing and shit, as much as it will be strenuous, will go a long way to pissing off Schuester. I mean Fuck him for his insinuations yesterday." Ray grumbled out.
"What insinuations?" Quinn asked softly.
"Schuester implied during our meeting with Figgins yesterday that the only way we could pass back to back Spanish exams, would be because we cheated and not because we could possibly be fluent in the language." Puck answered as Ray tried to control her anger.
Quinn stopped walking which caused Ray to instantly stop beside her. The HBIC cupped Ray's cheeks and forced the vampire to look at her.
"He isn't worth your energy baby. If anything at all just ignore him unless he starts going on about Finn. Then put him in his place and call him out on his bullshit."
Ray's gaze softened as she listened to her mate's words. Ray placed a hand over Quinn's and leaned into Quinn's hand for a few moments before placing a gentle kiss on Quinn's palm. Ray didn't say the words out loud but she let the blonde see the love in her eyes as she gazed into Quinn's eyes. Seeing the emotion in the Quarterback's eyes, Quinn gently pulled Ray's face down for a chaste but heartfelt kiss, while Puck scowled at any one who stared at the two girls for too long. Once the kiss broke, Ray rested her forehead against Quinn's, eyes closed and a small but happy and peaceful smile on her face.
"I hate to break up the love fest sis, but we need to get to Glee." Noah spoke up softly.
Quinn laughed as Ray let out a petulant sound and mock glared at her brother before sighing and held out her hand for Quinn to take.
"So I hear that you went the bitch route and charged Hudson after losing the fight last night." Karofsky taunted from behind the trio as they reached the choir room.
Ray let out a low snarl before slowly turning around, ignoring Quinn's pleas for Ray to ignore the other jock.
"And what fight was it that I lost last night David? The one where Hudson came up behind me and sucker punched me outside his daughter's day care while she was in the car I might add. That same fight that after I had planted him on his ass for what I thought was the final time he pulled a switchblade on me?" Ray caught the shocked look on the other football player's face. "Yeah you heard that right. I had deemed the fight over as I honestly didn't want to seriously hurt him, despite the crap he had just pulled and the fucker pulled a switchblade on me." Ray lifted her shirt and showed Karofsky Finn's handiwork. "Your boy lost a one on one fight and then he 'pulled the bitch move' by pulling a weapon and attempting to strike me with it from behind. If I hadn't heard the 'snick' of the blade, he would have literally stabbed me in the back. I got the gash because I was turning to face him."
"Bullshit."
"You think so?" Ray challenged before continuing at David's nod. "Ok guess you can see for yourself when it goes to court next week as there is video footage of the fight from multiple cctv cameras in the area including the daycare's security footage." Ray replied blandly. "You see David it doesn't matter to me if you believe me or not. I know what happened, Quinn knows what happened as she witnessed it and soon the rest of Lima will see that Golden Boy Hudson isn't so Golden. You're throwing your support behind a guy who would just as soon throw you under the bus in order to gain further popularity for himself before he defended you in any way. He has no loyalty to anyone and looks out for only himself. Right now he seems to be cozying up to Lima's biggest bigot, because said bigot is currently footing the legal bills against his own daughter." Ray paused for a moment before continuing. "You may not like me David and to be honest it's no skin off my lily white ass, but if I were you I'd re-evaluate which horse you want to be backing during this time."
Ray turned away from the other jock and pulled her brother along by his arm into the choir room where the Gleeks were trying and failing to hide the fact that they had eavesdropped on the conversation. Puck glared at the room while Ray just shook her head and ignored the stares as she and Quinn sat in front of Santana and Brittany.
"You still good to do this Berry?" Santana had leaned forward to whisper in the Vampire's ear. "You're looking like a hot mess right now, you're paler than usual and sweaty as fuck."
"Wolfsbane." Was all Ray was able to whisper back in return as Mr. Schuester had arrived.
"The Fuck?" Santana whispered furiously as the teacher wrote on his whiteboard.
"It's a plant that is highly toxic to people, and can cause death. The most common symptoms are fever like sweats, nausea and being exceptionally pale." Ray whispered back knowing that Kurt and Mercedes were eavesdropping. Kurt was concerned and Mercedes was looking for gossip. "It was on the switchblade that Finn used last night." Both Diva's gasped loudly giving away that they had been listening in.
"Alright guys as most of you know, Finn was arrested during lunch today." Schuester began as he shot Ray a look that she couldn't quite decipher but it made her wary of the teacher.
"I'm surprised he's even here and not trying to post bond to get his golden crush out of jail right now." Noah whispered causing Ray to let out a snort of laughter as the UnHoly Trinity held in their giggles.
"Do you find this situation funny Ray?" Schuester demanded.
Ray stared at the teacher for a moment before she thought to herself 'Fuck it. I'm tired of being nice.'
"No I find it sad and unproductive and completely inappropriate for you to be bringing it up during what is supposed to be our rehearsal time to get ready for invitationals and selecting songs for sectionals. But really I'm not surprised. You Mr. Schuester are so far up Hudson's ass that you can't see anything beyond your 'golden boy'."
"That's completely.." Will began as he flushed red in angry embarrassment.
"Shut up." Ray growled out at the man. "I am so sick and tired of you putting that oaf on a pedestal. You don't even know what happened and I already know that you were going to try to get us to rally around Finn and show support and try to convince us to give statements that he's not like that, that he couldn't have possibly assaulted anyone with a weapon. Every time that moron gets into trouble you run to defend him and bail him out. Why is that Mr. Schuester? Hmmm? Is it because you have a crush on him? Or is it because you blackmailed him into joining Glee by planting a dime bag of pot that you got from Sandy Ryerson in his football locker?"
"You, you don't know what you are talking about." Will finally spluttered out as he began to sweat.
"No?" Ray asked in a deceptively sweet manner.
"No you don't and I don't appreciate the slanderous accusation and demand an apology."
Ray began laughing at the teacher. It took her a minute to get herself under control.
"Did anyone bring their laptop with them?" Ray asked as she stared the Glee director down.
"I did." Artie spoke up as he wheeled his way over to where Ray was sitting. Once he was in front of her, he quickly brought it out of his backpack and handed it to her.
"Thank you Artie." Ray made quick work of hacking into the archived files of the schools back-up server and pulled up the video of the boys locker room. All cameras were pointed directly at the lockers and one on the door to show the comings and goings of all who entered.
"You know, I wonder how angry Finn would be at his favourite teacher if he ever got to see this video footage." Ray casually commented as she pressed play.
Ray stared down mister Schuester as the footage revealed him walking into the boys locker room. It then showed the man opening Finn's locker, looking around before he pulled out the dime bag. Ray paused to zoom in showing 'The Chronic Lady', Ryerson's brand so to speak, on the bag. She left it zoomed in for a few moments letting everyone see before zooming out and resuming play. The club watched as the teacher planted the bag in the locker and walked away. Ray stopped the video and pulled up the second one.
"And two days later a random locker search was done and who happened to be on the crew that searched the lockers, oh that would be you mister Schue. Funny how you exactly where to look to find the bag."
Ray pressed play and the club once again watched as the Glee director opened Finn's locker and reached in and pulled out the bag from where he had hidden it behind Finn's gel and deodorant. Ray had zoomed in to show that the bag wasn't visible upon opening the locker and that only the person who had put the bag in there would know where to look for it. Once the bag had been grabbed, Schuester palmed the bag and closed the locker without moving anything to indicate a search had been done. Once the video was done Ray backed out of the server and erased her tracks from having ever accessed it.
"Now the rest of you know why and how Finn joined. I may have my own personal issues with the giant oaf, but this is wrong on so many levels. This was a gross abuse of power. Finn claimed his innocence, was even willing to take a piss test on the spot, but was instead blackmailed into joining Glee, was told that it didn't matter if he did the test as just having the drugs in his locker was enough to get him expelled. If Finn had been a little bit smarter who would have demanded to have the security footage examined to show when he allegedly put the dime bag in his locker but we all know that he isn't as he was too busy being afraid that his mother would be called in." Ray had handed back Artie's laptop as she spilled the tea of how Finn had joined.
"So here's how it's going to go Mr Schuester. From this point forward anything that happens outside of Glee, stays outside of Glee, unless a member asks for assistance. Secondly as a Club you all have a decision to make. Finn has attacked me twice, unprovoked, since school has begun and it has only been two weeks. He has assaulted the mother of his child here in the hallways and it has been caught on video by multiple people so a restraining order was filed against him where he must keep no less than 100 feet away from myself and Quinn. So here is the decision you need to make, DO you let Finn stay as a member of this club and lose at least five members as if I leave, my brother will follow and if Quinn leaves, so will Santana and Brittany. Or do you vote to kick him from the club and only lose one member, maybe two if family forces the second to leave in solidarity."
"How did Finn assault you Quinn?" Mike asked softly as he broke the silence that the club had been shocked into.
The HBIC looked at Ray who nodded encouragingly. Quinn took a deep breath as she stood up and rolled up the sleeve of the shirt that she was wearing under her Cheerios top and revealed the large bruises on her upper arms. The girls gasped in shock while Sam and Mike cursed and began to mutter to themselves. Kurt had covered his mouth in horrified shock a few tears rolled down his cheeks as Blaine hugged him. Quinn rolled her sleeves back down and sat down once again beside Ray. The entire time Ray had been watching Mr Schuester and knew that he was going to storm over in a fit of anger. He grabbed the front of her Letterman jacket and hauled her to her feet. Once again she waved Noah off as he vibrated in anger. It was Sam and Mike who rushed forward and pulled the teacher off of her, accidentally elbowing her in the side causing her to hiss out in excruciating pain.
"What the hell is happening in here!?" An enraged voice demanded from the doorway.
"This is none of your concern Sue. This is a Glee Club matter." Will replied as he tried to regain his dignity as he jerked free from Mike and Sam's hold.
"Oh no William I make it my concern when I see a teacher manhandling a female student."
"I think I'm going to be sick." Ray whispered as she let out a small burp.
Sam raced over to the trashcan in the corner and raced back handing it to Ray just in time. As soon as the plastic bin was in her hands, Ray's stomach heaved and the vampire's lunch made an appearance. Brittany rubbed Ray's back and whispered an incantation under her breath as she touched the vampire. In a few moments the urge to vomit passed. Ray took the bottle of water that was handed to her and rinsed her mouth out.
"Pierce take care of that garbage can." Sue demanded softly knowing that her niece would know to take the bin to the incinerator.
"What made you sick white girl?" Mercedes asked in only the way that Mercedes can.
"Aside from being exposed to Wolfsbane? The pain from being elbowed just a few moments ago." Ray stopped at The directors scoff of disbelief and stared the man down as the rage burned in her eyes.
Ray removed her Letterman jacket and ripped her shirt off not caring that she had ruined it and it left her standing in just her sports bra. A new gasp was heard from the doorway of the choir room and in the back of her mind she registered that it was Miss Pillsbury. She stared the director down as she showed him exactly what Finn had done to her, not noticing that she was bleeding slightly.
"Tell me Schuester, have you ever been sliced with a razor sharp knife that meant to stab you in the back? Have you ever experienced the less than pleasant side effects of being exposed to wolfsbane? Never mind the fact that the illegal knife that your golden boy used to attack me last night was dipped in oil made from wolfsbane." Ray snarled out at the man finally letting her anger seep out at the teacher. "Your precious Finn intended to cause me serious harm last night and he succeeded. Had I been any slower I probably would be laid up in the hospital with a stab wound in my back." She moved to get right in the Schuester's personal space. "If you EVER put your hands on me like that again, I will let Noah rip you apart after I have knocked you on your ass."
Ray felt Quinn's hands on her stomach calming her down and pulling her away from the now petrified Glee director. The remaining members looked horrified at her wound and worried that it was bleeding.
"Q take Ray to the Cheerios's first aid room. Puck go with them. When you're done come to Figgins office." Sue directed.
Ray nodded once and turned to follow her mate when she felt the Director's hand on her shoulder. Ray spun around and drove her fist into his face as she turned, effectively knocking the man out.
"Ray," Quinn began in a warning tone. "Remember what I said earlier."
The vampire backed away from the Glee director and didn't turn around until she was beside the piano. She let Quinn pull her out of the room and down the hall. Once the trio had reached the first aid room, Noah made quick work of cleaning the wound and checked the stitches and was satisfied that they were all still in place.
"Noah, go take Quinn to pick up Beth." Ray demanded of her brother once Sue had walked into the room.
"Gut feeling?" He asked her knowing from past experience that her gut was never wrong.
Ray nodded tiredly. Quinn kissed Ray's forehead and left with Noah.
"So what caused you to toss your cookies as we both know that normal vamps don't usually vomit." Sue asked conversationally as she applied a pressure bandage after applying a healing balm on the wound.
"Too much pain in a short amount of time. The herbals were wearing off already and the pain was coming in small waves. The accidental elbow from Sam as he pulled Schuester off me was too much." Ray replied in a voice that was filled with pain and exhaustion.
"You were right to send them to get Beth. I just got word before I walked in here that Russell was trying to get someone inside the daycare to get her right now." Sue replied calmly.
Ray let out a low rage filled growl at the information. Sue wordlessly handed the light herbal that she had pilfered from the vampire's jacket to Ray. After a few moments of silence between them Sue spoke again.
"The shadows have kept me well informed as to what is going on. It's one of the things that I am a master of. I am nowhere near the level of mastery as the UnSeelie Queen herself, but it is enough that I know everything that happens in this town. It's how I knew it was you and your brother that rigged the lockers with the glitter bombs that first week even though the video footage showed nothing. I was impressed with how the both of you maintained your innocent and clueless expressions."
Ray let out a snort at the woman's compliment.
"I meant what I said though. As long as nothing permanent, destructive or involves any undeserving Cheerios, I'm willing to look the other way regarding the pranks." Sue paused as she watched the vampire smirk at her words before continuing.
"Now Figgins wants to discuss with you the events that happened last night and during lunch. He has received copies of the restraining order and the arrest report. It's entirely up to you if you wish to bring to light what went down in the choir room today at this meeting or if you want to wait until tomorrow after you and your brother have written your exams for Spanish. His actions will be brought to the school board and it will be up to them if he remains employed here or if he is temporarily suspended while they conduct their review. And as much as it pains me to say this, the Glee club will not be disbanded. Emma has offered to be the club's 'teacher' advisor."
Ray laughed softly at the Sidhe's disgruntled look when she said that the club wouldn't be disbanded. Sue scowled at Ray's laughter before throwing a black athletic t-shirt at her. The vampire smiled her thanks before putting the shirt on.
"I grabbed your other shirt as well. Up to you if you want to try and salvage it or burn it."
"Burn it. I have more like it at home." Ray replied while tucking in the shirt. She felt the effects of the herbal kick in and sighed. "Alright let's get this over with."
Ray grabbed her Letterman and shrugged into it before leaving the room, not noticing the distant thoughtful look on the cheer leading coach's face.
"Ray," Sue called out behind the vampire before continuing in a distant voice. "Something scared Beth at Daycare just before your brother and Quinn arrived. The woman who takes care of Beth isn't talking but she's scared shitless. They just pulled into the parking lot. Go there first." Sue shook her head after relaying the information. It had been awhile since she had to talk at the same time as the shadows whispered information to her.
Ray had taken off in a sprint as soon as Sue had finished her words and spotted the tiny tot shaking in her mother's arms as soon as she burst through the doors that led to the parking lot. Noah had pulled up as close to the school as he could get and was unsurprised to see his sister come barrelling through the doors. No sooner had Quinn unbuckled her seat-belt, the jeep's passenger door was opened. Beth flinched and whimpered until she heard Ray's voice.
"Hey cutie patootie." Ray greeted the tiny blonde softly.
Beth immediately reached for Ray from her perch on her mother's lap. Ray carefully grabbed Beth from Quinn and held the tot close, purring lowly as Beth snuggled into Ray. The wind whipped around them and Ray carefully wrapped Beth in her Letterman shielding her from the wind and sand that was being whipped about. Despite how much pain Ray was in, The vampire easily supported Beth's weight in one arm and held her hand out for Quinn to take,at the same time acting as a wind block. Noah joined them and blocked the wind from his sister as the three hurried back inside the school.
Beth was sucking her thumb as she tried to snuggle in as close to Ray as she possibly could. Quinn scowled as the anger burned through her veins at the fact that her daughter had been so badly frightened and traumatized in a place where she was supposed to be safe. When they had arrived, Quinn could hear the fear filled wails coming from her daughter and had sprinted inside the small building to get to the small area where the infants and toddlers were kept. Puck was right on her heels as he had heard a low snarl followed by a growl. When they got to the room, Beth was shaking and screaming as she tried to hide in a small cubby. The woman who was responsible for the infants and toddlers was white as a ghost and smelled faintly of urine but what really stood out to him was the smell of wet dog. He could hear the sound of paws running around the rear of the building that bordered onto a wooded area. Puck wouldn't tell her what he could smell and hear, just shook his head and tapped his ear twice in warning as he pretended to scratch it when she went to question him. It took a few moments for Quinn to cajole Beth out of her hiding spot but once she crawled into her mother's arms the tears were never ending. Quinn and Puck left the daycare immediately as the woman's eyes kept darting towards the back door in fear. Puck hustled Quinn out the doors and into the Jeep as he kept an eye out scanning the area. Once Quinn was buckled in, Puck put the jeep in gear and peeled out of the parking lot and raced back to the school.
Once inside the doors of WHMS Puck looked at his sister in a voice that left no doubt regarding how serious the situation was. "The parentals need to come home."
'Fuck a duck.' Ray tiredly thought to herself as she held Beth closer and wrapped an arm around Quinn's shoulders.
AN 2: and tea has been spilled. Next up meetings, exams to ace and the over protective vampire Dads come home.
