The Suffering

Disclaimer: I own nothing. These characters belong to the creator of Glee and The Suffering.

Pairing: Rachel/Quinn

WARNING: Profanity, blood, sexual content, death, and twisted plot!

Rating: M

Chapter Four

Your Mistakes Do Not Define You

"Who's there?" The girl shouted out into the darkness as Quinn snapped a twig, taking a step closer to her. Quinn watched as large brown eyes widened in shock and fear, as she looked up at the blonde inmate.

"Calm down, I'm not going to harm you in any way." When the small brunette still looked uncertain she added, "I promise." This seemed to alleviate some of her fear surprisingly. Her tense body relaxed as she looked back at the gravestone in front of her. Quinn moved slowly and cautiously toward the mysterious woman, kneeling down beside her silently, not saying anything. She did not wish to startle her again.

A few minutes passed in silence and neither woman said anything, sitting and staring at the gravestone. Hazel eyes looked over the writing. 'Finn Hudson.' Was the only thing carved into the stone, she presumed it was the name of a young man who was important to the brunette. A man who was a prisoner and was put to death on the island for his crimes. Quinn wanted to ask about it, she wanted to break the silence, but she decided to be patient and wait for the other to do so.

"He was my fiancé; he was convicted of several accounts of first degree murder. I never knew, he seemed so sweet, so perfect, so loving."

"Yet, you still visit his grave…?" Quinn wondered quietly.

"Of course I do, I loved him dearly." Pausing she gave a sidelong glance at the blonde. "You are an inmate here correct?"

For just a moment she contemplated lying, but knew it was pointless. If she weren't an inmate why would she be wearing the uniform they were forced to wear? "Yes, I am an inmate here."

"Do you think that your mistakes that you have made, whatever they may be, define you as an individual?"

"I believe that they play a part in who I am, yes."

"They do play a part, but you do not only consist of your mistakes. Neither did he, I loved him for the other parts, the beautiful parts." She turned and caught hazel eyes with brown and Quinn caught her breath at the sight. She was breathtakingly beautiful. "I am certain that you have beautiful parts to yourself as well, you simply need to learn to love them and let go of the mistakes. It is too late for him, but it is not too late for you."

"How can you say that? You don't even know my name."

"In that case, tell me."

"What?" Quinn asked confusion evident on her face.

The brunette chuckled under her breath, her brown eyes shimmering. She seemed too innocent to be on the island. "Inform me of your name, please. I am curious as to who I am speaking with."

"Quinn. Quinn Fabray."

"Quinn? That is a lovely name. I am Rachel Berry, and although I do wish that the circumstances were different, I am pleased to make your acquaintance."

Honestly, the blonde inmate did not know what to say. She did not know how to respond. She had never met someone so genuinely open and kindhearted; this woman she hardly knew was pleased to meet her? Despite meeting her on her fiancés grave, in the middle of the night? Despite knowing that she had done something worthy of death row? It was baffling.

She did not have time to ponder on it as they were both suddenly drawn away from the conversation by a voice.

"And then this inmate begged me to give him a weapon to defend himself. Can you believe those balls?"

Rachel looked to Quinn, her eyebrows knit together in confusion as to who the voice belonged to.

There was another voice. "I let some of mine out right after the quake, then one cocksucker tried to shiv me. Some thanks, eh?"

Another voice. "Typical. If it wasn't fer the inmates, none of us would need to be on this godforsaken rock in the first place. I gave 'em a chance when I first got here, but those fuckers never cut me an inch of slack."

"They're no better'n rabid animals, way they treat each other, way they treat us."

"That's right. I got shit down by this punk just last week. Fuck, that's the worst. It's a goddamned zoo in there!"

"Hey, that Inmate's got a gun! Drop her!" One shouted and Quinn's hazel eyes widened, knowing that he was speaking about her. She was not scared to die, but for once she was scared, because she did not want Rachel to get shot. She did not want her to die.

"Quinn, they are right behind you." Rachel said with a quaver of her lip as she glanced over the blonde's shoulder, seeing the three officers, preparing to shoot at the inmate.

"Get down, Rachel."

"But—"

"—get down!" She growled out, this time the brunette did as she was told and ducked down, lying flat against the ground. Brown eyes stared up and watched as Quinn quickly turned, dodging the bullets before shooting her gun three times. After each shot rang out into the darkness, she heard a thud in the dirt, presumably the sound of the officer's bodies falling. It should have terrified Rachel, but it did not. There was something behind those hazel eyes that made her trust the other woman. Most thought that she was insane when she said that she was a little bit psychic, but she was, and she could tell Quinn was not evil. Conflicted, most definitely, but not evil.

The blonde walked back toward her after putting her gun away, she looked Rachel over to see if she had terrified her, before reaching out her hand. "Come on, we have to get to the asylum."

"The asylum?" She blinked up at her as she reached out a small hand in order to take one of Quinn's, before being pulled to her feet. "Why would we ever want to go there?"

"We have to find what is interfering with the radio transmission, or we will remain trapped on this island forever."

O

"Why are you in prison, Quinn…?" Rachel whispered out into the darkness of the field, trying to make conversation in order to keep her mind off of their surroundings.

Taken aback by the question, she mulled it over, before muttering. "I don't remember."

"What do you mean that you don't remember?"

"You would think I was crazy if I explained." Quinn whispered with a sad smile as she looked down into Rachel's eyes.

The small brunette smiled back up at her, nudging her side with her body. "You would be surprised Quinn, I am a rather open-minded individual."

The blonde inmate laughed. "I suppose you must be if you are trusting me, an inmate, to deliver you to safety." Rachel nodded her head quickly in affirmation of the statement. Honestly, Quinn had nothing to lose. If the other woman did not believe her, then it would just be the same as everyone else in her life, the same as her own wife and family. "It's kind of difficult to explain actually." She realized. 'How can I possibly explain this to her, when I do not even understand it myself?'

"Just give it a try."

"Well—" Quinn started, but then her voice died out and her gaze wandered to a little girl standing in front of the water tower in the distance. She was a little blonde with curly hair, she was her daughter. Catching her breath she stared, tears welling up behind her hazel eyes. She did not move toward the little girl though, knowing that it could not possibly be her daughter. Her daughter was dead.

"Quinn, what are you looking at?" Rachel wondered aloud as she looked over at the blonde who was staring off into the distance. At first she had thought that Quinn was just staring at the water tower near the asylum, but she had been staring for a little too long. She feared it was another one of those creatures that they had encountered earlier, and she held on tighter to Quinn's arm.

The apparition spoke up, her voice like music to the blonde's ears. It broke her heart; she missed her daughter so much. "Has the devil trapped you mommy? You're not a bad guy mommy, you have to believe."

With those words the child faded away into the darkness, leaving Quinn to feel the emptiness once more.

"Quinn." She heard, and felt her body shake. "Quinn, what is it?" Rachel's voice pleaded frantically.

"I thought that I saw my daughter."

Rachel's head snapped in the direction of the water tower and she looked around for any sight of a little girl. "Your daughter, what would your daughter be doing in a place like this? It is not safe."

"Don't worry about my daughter, Rachel." Quinn whispered, a tear rolling down her pale cheek, over her long neck.

"She could die, Quinn." She stated in a panic.

"She is dead, Rachel."

This silenced the small brunette, she did not know what to say, she did not know what to think about those words. Why had Quinn said that she had seen her? Was that why she did not remember? Was she mentally ill or was she connected to the other side? Rachel focused her attention forward on the asylum, never letting go of the blonde's strong arm.

"I did not mean to scare you; I told you that it was difficult to explain." Quinn spoke softly, her own eyes also focused on the asylum. Only her vision was plagued with death, ghosts of patients wandering the grounds. Some tied up in straightjackets, others with their mouths sewn shut. She knew that Rachel could not see them.

One of the women in a straightjacket walked by her, and spoke. "The doctor made it all so easy…"

Quinn focused her attention down on Rachel and the voices seemed to fade into the distance, she watched as the other girl held onto her for dear life and she smiled softly. She enjoyed protecting the girl. She enjoyed being around her.

It had been a long time since she had trusted God with her prayers, but she sent up a prayer in that moment. A prayer that Rachel would live through this and a prayer that she would not leave her like everyone else had when she knew the truth.

O

Authors Note

Hope that you all enjoy this chapter!

Leave me some encouragement please, I love hearing from you all.

Thank you so much.