BellaDora Soulmates- Don't worry, they're will be plenty of drama with Rachel! She's in some serious trouble and in this chapter and next you'll see why! I'm so happy you took time to read and review my story, and your lovely review means so much to me. Thank you.
TessaDK- Thanks for commenting on the whole Schue thing! I was really hoping someone would catch that. Next chapter, you'll see what Schue was up to… Thank you so much for your review.
Alex sweets- Yeah, I like me some Finn-bashing too! **high five** And I'm sooo happy you commented on me putting Bryan Ryan in too! I mostly just included him because I love NPH and I wanted to have people that the girls knew and trusted. Your review means so much to me.
Sweetlove14- Aww, thanks! And haha, Rachel was deemed "vacuum" by Sue because of her loudness. (Not one of Sue's best, I'm going to say.) Thanks sooo much for you review!
And here's the reviews from the third chapter, since I forgot to answer them last chapter! **Facepalms**
Ghostperfect—Thanks for voting! (I'm so happy that you were interested enough to vote!) And actually, at least one of the people you voted for will be showing up soon! (Keep reading and reviewing to find out!) Thanks soo much for being my first chapter 3 review!
Diana—Again, thanks sooo much for voting for my lame little poll! And actually, one of the people you voted for worked their way into this chapter (mwah haha) but you need to read to see! And at least one of the other people will soon be included….keep reading to see! Your review was so nice, and I could tell you actually took a second to think about it, which made me happy.
Lisa—Thanks for the review! And keep reading to see what happens with this story…
Nightlancer 600—I've seen you before, no? Thanks for being a constant reviewer to my story! It's so nice to see old friends reviewing! And I'm glad somebody has been liking the backstories, I've tried hard to think through what I wanted to do with them and where they're going. (Somewhere interesting, I promise!) Thanks so much for being a multiple reviewer! Woo!
JLP—Thanks, hon! :') I'm glad you're enjoying it. Your review means a lot to me, since it does take some time to write this little story! It's sweet people like you that keep me writing!
The room contorted into all sorts of odd shapes in her sleep; it grew to jaw-dropping heights, and then shrank until it was strangling her. She dream-saw herself falling, falling…getting crushed by the darkness surrounding her, her screams getting caught in her throat…Quinn, where was Quinn? "Help," she croaked. There was laughing, the demons were laughing at her…their laughs ate at her skin, clawed through her flesh until she was dead, never to see Quinn again…
Rachel sat up, suddenly aware of her surroundings. She rubbed her head, trying to work through her skull-splitting headache to make sense of where she was and what had happened…
Mr. Schue. But where had he gone? Rachel was alone in this window-less room, and as far as she could tell, she had been the only one in there in a while. The walls and floor were a cold, gray concrete, the only thing disturbing the dull gray was the metal door. Rachel leaned her aching body against the wall, shivering against the chill. She was in the same clothes she had been wearing earlier, though she had no idea how long it'd been. Rachel grimaced, remembering the hours of nightmares she had faced, though she actually had no idea how long she'd been in that feverish state.
Did anyone know where she had gone? Surely someone had seen Mr. Schuester sneak her out of the school…or maybe she was still in the school? Though Rachel had never seen a room anything like this is William McKinley High School. And what the hell did he want with her? Sure, she was talented, but how could encasing her in a concrete room help him at all?
Her head hurt. Her chest ached. And she was so thirsty. Rachel felt a sudden pang in her chest for Quinn, despite her anger at the girl. She shook it off quickly. I must still be a little feverish. She thought.
Rachel peered through a few small cracks in the hard floor. Was there anything down there that could help her? She tried to jam her fingers into the tiny cracks, feeling more hopeless by the second. After a few fruitless attempts, Rachel felt tears building up in her eyes. Get it together, Rachel. Did you really expect that to work?
She buried her head into her freezing hands and sobbed, really sobbed. Never had she felt so hopeless, never had she regretted all the selfish things she'd done in her life. She wished she could go back and give a few of her solos away. She'd take anything over this.
By the time she was done, she wasn't feeling any better. She sniffled a few more times and glared at the door. Damn that door. She stared at the hard floor, and silently cursed at the concrete too. Just as Rachel was about to cuss at the stupid tiny cracks that held false hope, she froze.
Somehow, those tiny cracks no longer seemed quite as bad. For peeking up from those little cracks, holding as much hope and light as sun beams, were a few tiny green shoots of plants.
SB-RQ-SB-RQ
"And so the training begins." Sue announced in her no-nonsense style. Quinn grimaced and tried to shade her eyes from the bright light. What time was it?
"C'mon, babies. We don't have time to waste." Quinn forced herself to sit up, suddenly not minding the uncomfortable little cot. Sue crossed the room and hauled her into the wheelchair, and Quinn managed the tiniest of smiles towards the coach. At least Brittany and Santana were too busy groaning due to the early wake-up to see Quinn getting helped into the stupid wheelchair.
Bryan Ryan poked his head into the room, hammering his head on the doorframe on the way in. "Ouch," he mumbled, rubbing his head with one hand while the other was firmly clamped over his eyes. "Everyone decent?" He asked.
"Keep your pants on, Skippy," Sue answered. "Everyone's fine."
His eyes popped open, wide with excitement. "Someone's here to see you."
The three girls followed the two adults sleepily, rubbing sleep out of their eyes as they stumbled through the rooms. Even Brittany was lacking her usual perkiness. Quinn glanced at her watch; it was barely after four in the morning. Good God.
They reentered the main room, the swimming pool still spitting and the computers still beeping. It held a new inhabitant, a man who was facing the computers in a way where they couldn't see his face. Brittany was the first to realize who it was; she gasped and ran towards the man, spinning him around and engulfing him in a hug.
It was Mike! Even Quinn, who barely knew him, was excited. She was surprised by how much of a relief the familiar face was. Just yesterday, everything was normal. She felt a stab in her heart when she remembered the fight she'd had with Rachel, but wedged the unpleasant thought into a corner of her mind.
They approached the computers, Santana silently fuming with Brittany's reaction, and Quinn just happy to see a glee club member that wasn't magical. Or was he? Questions swam through her mind, but she ignored them for now.
Mike scrambled to close the window he had open on the computer, but failed to do it fast enough. Quinn saw the article anyway: Four McKinley Students Reported Missing. The Police Have No Leads. Underneath were two pictures, one of Brittany, Santana, and Quinn in cheerleading uniforms, (Thank God that was taken before the wheelchair.) and one of Rachel. Quinn's chest tightened seeing the beautiful face.
"Chang, what are you doing here?" Santana asked coldly.
"I've been an intern for about," he glanced at Sue, "two years?" The coach nodded. "I found out accidently when Bryan Ryan visited the glee club. He left some papers on the piano that definitely had nothing to do with show choir."
Mr. Ryan looked abashed. Sue muttered under her breath, "stupid, stupid."
"And so you've been here ever since?" Quinn asked.
Mike grinned. "Yep. I still love to dance, but ever since I found out about this, I knew I wanted to help however I could." His grin evaporated, and he looked pitifully at Quinn. "I heard about Rachel. You doing okay?"
Quinn glowered at him. "Why does everybody keep asking that? I'm fine. It's not like we were dating or anything."
Mike shrugged. "Sorry I asked."
RQ-SB-RQ-SB
Quinn stood up from her vanity, running her fingers through her long hair. Did she need more makeup? She felt disgusted by her thoughts. Ever since she'd gotten back together with Finn that was the only thing on her mind. Just show up and look pretty. You don't care about them. They don't care about you either.
Once she was satisfied with her appearance, she grabbed her keys and headed towards the door. As she pulled the door open, about to head out for one of Berry's "emergency glee club meetings," she walked smack-dab into something. Ouch. Something hard.
She glanced down at her feet to the source. Berry. Quinn sighed loudly. "What do you want now? I already went to your stupid nose appointment with you, and I swear I wasn't going to skip your glee meeting—"
Rachel scrambled to her feet, dusting off her reindeer sweater. "Oh Quinn, that wasn't it at all!" Her brown eyes met Quinn's own, and Quinn felt bad for acting annoyed.
"What is it then, Rachel?"
"Well, Mercedes called earlier today and informed me that she had a dentist appointment, and then Mike had to rush off to something with Coach Sylvestor of all people, and so I called Kurt and we agreed that due to the circumstances—"
"Spit it out, Rachel."
"Well, the glee meeting is cancelled. Mike is our strongest dancer, and Mercedes, while a bit sloppy vocally, undeniably is one of our most powerful.." Rachel trailed off after seeing Quinn's face. "So I was wondering if, well…" for the first time in the conversation, Rachel stopped talking. Blushing furiously, she quickly finished with, "if you wanted to go out to eat with me!" Rachel glanced up and Quinn, and then added, "Of course, you don't have to, I just thought, to pay you back for coming with me to my appointment—"
"I'd love to, Rachel." Quinn was as surprised as Rachel by her response. "But I'll pay for my share."
"No, Quinn, I insist." Quinn sighed again. They would be there all day if they were going to do this.
"We'll talk about it in the car."
Twenty minutes later, Rachel and Quinn were sitting next to each other in a restaurant. Rachel was trying to do anything to keep the conversation going, and that included having a conversation with herself. "Do you think this restaurant is good? I myself think it's a little overrated, but I suppose I can see the sentimental value in it, since the glee club has been to many a celebration in here. I just think that for a restaurant named for breadsticks, the breadsticks themselves aren't that good—"
"Hey, Rachel," Quinn spoke up suddenly. "I don't think there's anything wrong with your nose." Rachel stared at her curiously, at a loss for words. Quinn blushed, and looked down. "I mean, if it counts for anything. Your nose looks…" Quinn studied Rachel's face. There were those deep, soulful brown eyes, digging into her soul. And Quinn had always loved Rachel's hair. (Not that she would admit it.) It was such a pretty color, cascading from her head like chocolate silk… And the infamous nose. It wasn't even that big; and truthfully, no matter how hard Quinn stared at Rachel's face, she couldn't imagine Rachel without that nose.Realizing how long she'd been staring, Quinn quickly added, "Your nose isn't that bad."
The waitress finally arrived, breaking the tension between the two. She handed them each a menu, smiling a toothy grin. "Can I help ya'll with anything? This a special occasion, an anniversary maybe?"
Both Quinn and Rachel protested at the same time. The freckled waitress' grin widened. "'S a pity. You two look like a cute couple." She winked over her shoulder as she walked away.
Quinn continued gaping towards the waitress until Rachel cleared her throat. "Quinn, perhaps in honor of this occasion, we should sing a duet in glee together. What do you think?"
Quinn stared at her hands. "I don't know, Rachel. I'm not nearly as good as you, I can't really sing that well—"
Rachel interrupted. "Nonsense, Quinn. You have a pretty voice. It's not as powerful as most, but I like it a lot."
Quinn couldn't hold back her small smile. "Thanks, Rachel." Rachel smiled back, a smile that lit up her whole face and made the entire room seem a little brighter. This isn't so bad. Quinn thought.
A song came over the sound system. I wish I could tie you up in my shoes…
RQ-SB-RQ-SB
Quinn was now sitting waist-deep in the spitting swimming pool, freezing her ass off and fuming at both Sue and the stupid water. Santana was with Bryan Ryan, training with him. Brittany and Mike had been nearby, trying to encourage Quinn during the lesson, but had left nearly half an hour ago because of the lack of progress. Maybe they were with Santana now. Maybe Santana had managed to do something more than make a few waves within the first three hours of training.
"Q, you can't resist water." Sue repeated for nearly the fortieth time. Even Quinn had been surprised with the coach's newfound patience, but part of her wanted the coach to yell at her. She was sick of the stupid water, and she was sick of Sue's condescending tone.
"Maybe the accident broke my Earthshaper powers," Quinn suggested stubbornly, for the second time that hour.
"No, you're breaking your Earthshaper powers. You can only do this if you listen to me and actually try."
"I am trying!" Quinn snapped, trying to get her new floating wheelchair to turn around. She was careening into the corner of the pool.
Sue groaned. "What have I been telling you? Use your fucking powers!" Quinn completely ignored her, instead trying to paddle herself away from the edge.
Sue helped her out, using her own powers to pull the chair through the water. "Let's try the waves again."
"We've tried the waves. Why can't we just move on?"
"Because we've already tried everything I can teach you. We can either do the waves or the underwater exercise. Your choice."
Quinn scowled as a response, and Sue took this as an answer. Swinging her arms wildly, Sue sent waves spiraling straight at Quinn. Quinn tried her best to "shape the waves around" her. Whatever the hell that meant. Mostly she just got knocked violently around the in the water.
Sue stopped the exercise and grimaced at the girl in the water, now looking smaller and sulkier than ever in a brand-new waterproof Earthshaper suit. Santana and Brittany had gotten similar ones, each suited to each girl's particular element. "Stop resisting it. You're too stubborn for you own good, Q."
"Well what the hell am I supposed to do?"
"Work with the water. Don't think of it as trying to control the water, you're asking it to follow your commands."
Quinn continued to glare at the coach. "Is there a difference?"
Sue rubbed her temple. "Have you ever heard the phrase, 'if you can't beat 'em, join 'em?' Try that."
Quinn concentrated with all her might at the waves crashing towards her. She was not going to let those waves get between her and Rachel. She forced herself towards them with all her might. You do not control me. I am not weak.
The coach turned away from the girl, hiding her worry. What were they supposed to do if Quinn wouldn't train? She shook her head silently, and turned back towards her student. "Let's work with healing a little again."
SB-RQ-SB-RQ
The girls were all in their beds, asleep early. It didn't take much to get them to go do bed, they were all tired from training. Not to mention that they would have to wake early tomorrow to begin their quest.
Bryan Ryan and Sue were talking quietly in the kitchen, trying to hide their concern from each other, and failing. Was this a suicide mission?
"How did Santana do?"
"Good. She took to the element quickly, but she lacks control. I wish I had more time to teach her, but she'll be fine." His voice betrayed his doubt.
"Q barely made any progress in anything but healing—"
Bryan interrupted. "That's a good skill to have." He said hopefully.
"Not when she can barely make a wave." Sue paused. "Would it be better to have her stay here and train longer while the other two go?"
"She'll never do it. And I doubt the other two will be willing to wait either, we barely have any time as it is. And they know it."
Sue sighed. "All we can do now is hope. It's up to them."
Two updates within a short amount of time. I'm on fire!
But pretty please with sugar on top review? I have over 50 people on story alerts, not to mention anons. Come on and talk to me, I don't bite! The time it takes me to update (C'mon guys! They're finally on their mission! You'll see more action, more drama! And the face of the bad guy will FINALLY be revealed next chapter! Hint hint, it's someone you know! And Rachel's discovering her powers! Who's excited to see that?) will depend on how many reviews I get!