A/N: So, I'm home from England and in possession of a computer once more! And somehow the weather cleared up just before my cousin's wedding and it was a perfect day. Congratulations to Lisa and Rich, the tallest couple in history!

In other news, I am once again astounded by the sheer awesomeness of my loyal reviewers. You guys make my day when you drop me a line, so keep up the good work! This chapter credit goes to LittleMissCheese, sparklylulz, LiveLoveLaughLife, MK300, Tayler, OMG (once again, I ADORED the long review), Agronymous and Bella1992.

The chapter title comes from Toy Soldiers by Eminem.

DISCLAIMER: If I owned Glee, I would be busy writing scripts involving lots of Matt and Mike actually speaking instead of creating this warped story… *sighs*

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Much to Quinn's relief, Puck's group arrived back intact about a half hour after the others. Overcome by emotion, the former cheerleader bolted across the room into his waiting arms. Puck gave a surprised grunt but wrapped her up unquestioningly in a fierce embrace. Quinn leaned into his muscular chest and coughed out a muffled sob.

"Baby?" he said, his voice surprisingly gentle. "Baby, what's wrong?"

"It… I… Tina…"

"What?"

"Dude," Matt said in a subdued voice. "Tina's dead."

"Fuck," Puck swore. His grip on Quinn intensified. "What? Who? How?"

Matt gave a bleak shrug of his broad shoulders. "I dunno man… Quinn found her in the bathroom. Her- her wrists were slit."

Puck gave a low whistle. "She killed herself?" he asked incredulously. Matt nodded at the same time as Quinn shook her head.

"Quinn," the dark-skinned footballer murmured, his voice smooth as silk and painfully imploring. "Quinn, the note…"

He held up the ugly, dark thing gingerly between thumb and forefinger. The cruel words danced accusingly in the still air between them.

"She didn't write that!" Quinn said. Her voice was rising hysterically. "Matt, Tina would never do that to herself. To us. To Artie. She couldn't!"

"It is a bit hard to believe," Puck murmured. He stroked Quinn's perfect blonde curls, finding solace in the familiar rose petal scent of her shampoo. "I know Tina was into the whole Princess of Darkness thing, what with all those freaky clothes and the batshit crazy makeup… but that was it. She wasn't into all that self-harming shit. She wasn't. The girl was… she was pretty freakin' happy, wasn't she?"

An uneasy silence fell. The three of them knew Puck's words were true. Of all the glee kids, Tina was one of the brightest souls. She was gentle and sweet and the most loyal friend any of them could possibly imagine. No matter what anybody did, Tina was always willing to see the good in them. Even just after babygate, when the rest of the group pretty much hated their guts, she always had a shy smile or a compassionate nod for Puck and Quinn when she passed them in the hallway of William McKinley High. She hated confrontation, hated violence of any kind, physical or verbal. That was why she never argued when Rachel demanded the rights to a solo she herself yearned for; she was too kind-hearted. And then there was Artie… They could all see it. When Tina was around him, it was like her own private sun was glowing inside her. He moved, she moved. She revelled in his company. That infectious smile of hers rarely left her face when he was around. She was happy.

So happy that there was no way any of them could imagine her ending her life like this.

So happy that there was no way she could end her life.

So happy that there was no way she would end her life.

"If Tina didn't kill herself…" Matt said slowly. He raised his head to look at the other two, his fearful expression mimicking theirs. "Who did?"

"It's got to be one of us," whispered Quinn. "One of the glee club."

As one, they glanced around the room at the others. It seemed that the rest of the group had picked up on the maudlin vibes hanging heavy in the air, that some invisible force had allowed them to gain realisation of what had happened. Even Brittany, normally so childlike and naïve, seemed to understand. She was sitting next to Santana on the sofa, silvery tears slipping down her creamy porcelain cheeks. The dark-haired cheerleader embraced her tightly and stroked her fair ponytail with a curiously blank expression. Her smoothly beautiful face betrayed no trace of emotion. Puck nudged Matt.

"No!" Quinn hissed furiously. "I know what you're thinking, but no. Neither of them could do this. Brit's too dumb. She can't even tie her own shoelaces for Christ's sake!"

It was a mark of how serious the situation was that Quinn Fabray had used the Lord's name in vain. Matt shifted uneasily.

"OK," he said slowly. "Maybe not Brit, but Santana…"

"Dude, you don't really think…"

"Puck, I know you don't want it to be her. Hell, I don't either. Santana was the first girl I ever kissed. I'd really prefer it if she wasn't a psycho killer, but think about it. Tina went missing right after Santana brought her to the bathroom last night. And we all know she's got a dark side."

Puck shivered unconsciously. "I hate to say it, but…"

Angrily, Quinn pulled away from his embrace. She had fallen out with Santana after falling for Puck, but she still thought of the other girl as her friend. She had grown up with Santana. The Lopezs and the Fabrays were close friends. The two girls had been through all of life's milestones together. To think that Santana was capable of… Wait.

She whirled around to face Matt and Puck wearing a defiant expression. Arms akimbo, she narrowed her eyes dangerously at the two boys. They looked at her like she was mad.

"Santana couldn't have done this," she said quietly. The others opened their mouths to interrupt, but her icy glare was so fierce that they shut their mouths rapidly. "She couldn't."

She turned her gaze on Puck. "Did Santana leave the group at any point today?" she asked him, a challenge in her voice.

"Well, no…"

"Then she didn't do it. Tina's body definitely wasn't there before you guys left, everybody used the bathroom before you set off. Somebody dumped her while you were gone."

"OK," Matt said evenly. "So Santana didn't do it. At least, not on her own."

Once more, three pairs of eyes scanned the room. Artie was ramming his chair against the wall like he had at Sectionals, but with so much force that the room shook.

"No chance," Quinn whispered.

Rachel and Finn were whispering quietly in the corner.

"I don't think even Berry wants a solo bad enough to kill off the competition," said Puck. "And Finn did go on ahead a couple of times, but he's too dumb to pull off something like this. The dude's like the male version of Brittany."

Mercedes was pacing again, frantically running a trembling hand through her weave. Her fingers flew over cell phone keys as she attempted to make contact with her best friend to no avail.

"They were tight," Matt said, an air of finality in his rich calm voice. "She's too much of a sweetheart." His gaze lingered on the chocolate-skinned diva an instant longer than the others' did. Then he moved on to land on the two teachers. Will was seated in the armchair, his face pale. A vein throbbed in his neck.

"The guy's dealt with a lot of crap this past year," Puck said fairly. "Maybe…"

"Oh come on, you've got to be joking!" exclaimed Matt. "Don't you remember To Sir, With Love? Mr Schue is glee club. He'd never hurt any of us." He allowed his gaze to flicker to the doe-eyed redhead standing behind their curly-haired coach.

"Now who's jokin'?" Puck snapped. "You can't be serious. Miss P has a heart attack if you get a speck of dust on her desk. She'd never be able to butcher Tina. Would she?"

They all watched Emma carefully for a moment, but then the idea passed. It was perfectly ridiculous. The pretty guidance counsellor was about as capable of cold-blooded murder as a My Little Pony. Their faces relaxed momentarily before they glanced at each other cautiously.

"So," said Matt, feigning nonchalance. "Back to square one, huh?"

Puck bobbed his head in agreement. Quinn, however, crossed to the window and stared into the dim light outside. She crossed her arms over her chest and hugged herself fearfully. Outside, the rain which had been falling earlier had intensified. She had never before understood the expression 'rain falling in sheets'. Now, however, its meaning was plainly clear. The rain was indeed falling in sheets, drumming against the window panes and turning the sky a nasty shade of grey. The dirt track leading to the house was muddy and slick with rain.

"You OK Quinn?" Puck asked gently, snaking his arms around her thin waist.

"Wha- oh, yeah I'm fine," she replied shakily, feeling anything but. She had that feeling her grandmother sometimes talked about, the feeling that she was being watched. Like eyes trained on her, raising hairs on the back of her neck.

"You sure babe?" he pressed gently. He dipped his head to place a light kiss on her exposed neck.

"Don't."

"Quinn, are you sure you're OK?" Puck asked again. "You're acting weird. Actually, you have been for a while now. Since… since Beth." He tripped slightly over the name.

"I don't want to talk about that, not now," said Quinn in a tight voice. She shot him a hurt look from beneath her lashes. "Tina is… and we don't know… just not now, Puck."

"Quinn, you never want to talk about it," Puck pressed. "You're really worryin' me, babe. All those medical dramas on TV say you're not supposed to bottle it up-"

"I said-"

"and this was a big trauma and-"

"I said leave it, Puck!" Quinn shrieked, slapping his hands away. "I don't want to talk about it! I don't want to talk about the fact that I gave up the life that was growing inside me for nine months, and I don't want to talk about the fact that a girl I used to taunt on a daily basis is lying dead in the bathroom down the hall and I don't want to talk about our relationship and I don't- I don't…"

She broke off, overcome by tears that blurred her vision and streaked down her cheeks. She gave Puck one last, blazing look of pain and whipped out the door in a streak of peaches-and-cream skin and pale blue button-down blouse. He tried to follow, but the girl had already disappeared into the maelstrom.

"Dude," Matt said quietly from behind him. "When we were running through the suspects, we forgot about…"

He trailed off as a scream pierced the air. It was a high-pitched scream, one that many people would attribute to a female owner. But the two boys standing in the rain, sopping wet and with eyes wild with panic, knew otherwise.

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Kurt Hummel was not happy. He had already tripped over a tree root and stained the knees of his new Marc Jacobs capri pants. In addition, Mike had reverted to his usual silent persona and had not uttered a word since they got separated from the rest of the group. And to top it all off, it was raining.

"Great," he muttered, pushing his sopping fringe out of his face. "That was a waste of a deep conditioning treatment."

He picked his way gingerly along the muddy trail in Mike's wake. The tall dancer had no qualms about the weather and was walking with a quick pace. His shoulders were hunched over, and Kurt was sure he recognised something in his posture. It was the gait of unrequited love, a shape he had adopted himself when he realised that all hope of convincing Finn of his true feelings. He felt a pang of guilt for ever suspecting that Mike was involved in Tina's disappearance and quickened his pace to catch up to him.

"Hey Mike," he said cheerfully, turning the thin beam of his torch on the taller boy. "Are you alright?"

"I guess," Mike mumbled. He didn't meet Kurt's eyes.

"Worried about Tina?" the fashionable boy ventured. Mike nodded. "I'm sure she's fine. Tina's a clever girl, she would never do anything stupid and get herself hurt."

A dark shadow passed over Mike's face.

"I guess," he said again. He shifted uncomfortably. "I need to tie my shoelace. You go ahead, I'll catch you up."

Kurt had a bad feeling about this, but he supposed Mike wanted to be alone. He had seen some dark emotion in the other boy's eyes and figured he didn't want any witnesses as he succumbed to tears, the ultimate weakness for a teenage boy. So he shrugged his shoulders in his Gucci trench coat and continued to walk. Mike was a good athlete, he could catch him up.

Nervously, Kurt began to hum the faint strains of Defying Gravity. He wasn't a big fan of the dark, and dusk was beginning to fall. He shivered and clutched the torch tighter in his numb fingers.

Behind him, a twig cracked. Kurt gulped.

"Mike?" he whispered. "Mike, stop fooling around."

Another twig snapped. Kurt sped up, past caring about the mud splattering his trousers.

A low chuckle echoed behind him. Kurt stiffened and made to turn, but then the wind whistled as someone hefted a heavy object. Something sharp hit him between the shoulderblades. He managed to choke out a scream before the world tipped sideways.

And then everything was black.

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A stitch pulled at Quinn's side and she was forced to stop running. Panting with exertion, she wiped fiercely at the tear tracks on her face and bent double.

Once she had recovered, she stood up and attempted to get her bearings. She had run through the undergrowth blindly and now had come to a halt on a small path of gravel leading around the edge of Lake Witkeel itself. The bad weather tossed the waters into dangerous, choppy waves. Quinn shivered.

She shouldn't have run off like that. Puck would be so worried. Frantic, she scrambled for her cell phone, but she found no signal. She shivered again.

The trees behind her rustled.

Quinn felt her muscles tense. She backed away from the foliage.

Another rustle.

She searched blindly for something to defend herself with. The best she could do was a sharp rock. She clutched it tightly in her palm.

Another rustle, and then a figure emerged. Quinn opened her mouth to scream, but as the figure stumbled towards her she recognised him with relief.

"Mike," she breathed heavily. "Jeez, don't do that. You scared me."

Mike didn't say a thing. He just continued to walk towards her, his expression as blank as Santana's had been back at the lodge.

As his eyes locked on Quinn, she realised he had blood on his hands.

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A cliffie of sorts (I apologise!)… Please forgive me and review! I value all ideas/suggestions/predictions…