A/N: Thank you for all the author/story/favorite story alerts and reviews. You guys are so awesome and I really appreciate it. : ) changed Q's wardrobe a little from the episode hah…
Some dialogue taken from A Very Glee Christmas
"Please! Why are you doing this?" Rachel croaked her voice scratchy from the hours of screaming. She yanked at the iron chains pinning her down, tears streaming down her face as she struggled against the bindings.
A chuckle echoed in the room; Wet hands, stained red with blood fondled her face as a rough tongue slid up her cheek. Rachel shuddered uneasily as the Creature gave a menacing smile.
Her eyes slammed shut as pale yellow eyes stared through her body and right into her soul; the Creature dug its nails into her cheek and attempted to force her to watch.
She refused.
The Creature grimaced as it slapped her cheek lightly with its bristly palm. Its sharp nails scratched along her cheek.
"Watch," it gurgled, its voice prickling over her form like a dozen spiders. She shuddered once more; "Watch or we'll defile the Angel!" it yelled right into her ear, shaking her body as it gripped her neck roughly. One eye slid open and stared down at the sight in front of her.
Rachel swallowed down the bile that rose to her throat at the image that would forever be ingrained in her mind.
"Yes! Yes, watch as we devour him from the inside out, leaving him," its foul breath washed over her face, "hollow and empty; empty just like you."
The brunette felt a shiver pass through her body; she bit her lower lip hard to keep from crying out as the Creature nuzzled her neck before sliding its slick tongue along her ear.
"Watch and behold the mess you've made, Child of-"
xxx
Rachel jolted straight up, her eyes wide and panicked as she took in her surrounding area in a frazzled manner. Her tense body instantly relaxed; she was in her room and…late for school.
"Shit!" she exclaimed as she scrambled off her bed, getting tangled in her sheets as she tried to free herself from the confines of the light material. She finally managed after her third attempt, stubbing her toe as she fell off her bed and ran into her bathroom, curses falling from her lips as memories of her disturbing dream faded from mind.
"You're late, babe," Puck whispered in her ear as he cornered her at her locker before wrapping an arm around her waist. Rachel rolled her eyes as she slammed the cool metal shut, pulling out a compact mirror and fixing her unruly hair with a slight pout gracing her features.
"I overslept, Noah. For some reason my alarm didn't go off…" she mumbled as she thought about the strange occurrence from that morning. Her clock had stopped in the middle of the night, paused on 3:00 a.m. which she thought was a little weird but wasn't too worried about it. She would just have to change the batteries when she got home.
Puck smirked as he squeezed her waist, "Yeah? Partied hard this weekend, huh?"
Rachel rolled her eyes once again as she crossed her arms before huffing, "I did no such thing, Noah Puckerman. For your information, I was indisposed all of Saturday and spent most of Sunday recovering. I seem to have caught a cold from one of those germ infused patrons from the competition Friday evening."
The mohawked boy chuckled as he pressed a kiss to her temple before releasing her and reaching into his pocket, "That sucks, babe. Anyways," he pulled out a folded up slip of paper, "Here's that information you asked for Friday. I went to the school library-which I totally didn't know we had-and looked it up,"
Humming in appreciation, the brunette took the slip of paper and opened it up, scanning the words intensely as her eyes brimmed with intrigue. Puck watched her with furrowed brows as something passed over the tiny girls features only to be replaced by a grimace.
He stopped and placed an arm on her shoulder, "What's up, Rach? What did you need that information for anyways?"
Rachel kept her gaze locked with the paper for a few more seconds before glancing up at him with a bright, fake smile, "Oh, I just needed it for a project I'm doing in glee. Please refrain from telling anyone about this," she waved the paper in front of his face before pocketing it in her admittedly short skirt, a skirt Puck fully appreciated.
The mohawked boy leered at her legs that were covered in tight white stockings before his eyes flickered back up to her face. A flash of concern passed through his eyes, "You ok?"
"Yes," Rachel swallowed as she held her books to her chest before adjusting her maroon hat, "If you need me, I'll be in the auditorium," she whispered as she smiled up at him before beginning to walk away.
Puck watched her go with a frown, running a hand over his Mohawk as he called out to her, "Hey! What about Glee?"
She paused, her shoulders sagging before straightening out as she turned her head back towards him and gave him a small smile, "I'm afraid my presence isn't needed for practice today, Noah. I'll see you later."
His frown deepened as his girl strode away; the mohawked boy stuffed his hands in his hoodie pocket and tilted his head as worry flowed through him. Rachel had been acting weird, even weirder than her normal eccentric self ever since she had broken up with Finnpotent. He had seen the way she shook as if her body couldn't get enough heat while simultaneously being hot to the touch. If the deep bags were any indication, Rachel hadn't been getting a lot of sleep either. His girl was falling apart and he wasn't sure there was anything he could do to help her.
Puck ran a hand along her face as a troubling thought pushed to the forefront of his mind, 'And what do demons have to do with Glee anyways?'
"I've fallen out of favor, and I've fallen from grace, fallen out of trees and I've fallen on my face. Fallen out of taxis and out of windows too. Fell in your opinion when I fell in love with you," Rachel sung softly, her fingers stroking along the cool ivory of the piano pieces as she played, tears stinging the corners of her eyes as her heart thudded painfully.
"Sometimes I wish for falling, wish for the release, wish for falling through the air to give me some relief, because fallings not the problem, when I'm falling I'm at peace, it's only when I hit the ground it causes all the grief."
"Rachel?" a delicate voice broke her from her thoughts; Rachel whipped her head around and her eyes widened when they landed on a frowning blonde. The brunette's dark eyes softened as they took in her ex-rival. Quinn had her arms crossed and was standing not far off from where she was sitting. The blonde was gazing at her with an unreadable expression and scowling uneasily. Rachel bit her lip as her gaze swept over the head cheerleaders form. Quinn was not only wearing her customary cheerleading outfit but also a pair of red and white striped stockings and a soft, green billowy scarf along with her letterman jacket. Rachel thought she looked adorable.
"Hey," she murmured softly, scooting over a bit and patting the piano bench invitingly. Quinn flashed her a small, almost unnoticeable smile before walking over to her. Rachel watched as the blonde looked around nervously before smiling gently, "It's okay, Quinn. No one's here…no one will see you talking to me."
Quinn nibbled on her bottom lip before glancing down at her. The blonde visible deflated as she ran a sweaty hand over her skirt and took a seat next to her. Quinn placed her hand on top of the piano top and sighed, her eyes closing as she inhaled shakily, "It's not that, Berry-
"It's quite alright, Quinn. I never expected our relationship to change just because you sat with me once-
"Goddamnit, Rachel, would you shut up and let me talk."
Rachel's eyebrows rose pass her hairline at the blondes tone, her body recoiling backwards for a second as she frowned at the scowling girl. The brunette chewed on her bottom lip before placing a comforting hand on the older girl's shoulder, "Ok, Quinn. I'm sorry for interrupting."
Her soft tone washed over the blondes frame; Quinn's body un-tensed and the head cheerio exhaled roughly before turning to face her. Hazel orbs connected with puzzled brown ones before looking away.
The blonde nibbled on her lower lip before sighing and closing her eyes, "I just-I, well. Why weren't you in class today?" she demanded, her voice a harsh whisper. Rachel was pretty sure that wasn't what Quinn wanted to ask her but she let it go.
Rachel made a soft noise in the back of her throat before frowning and glancing down at her clenched hands. She sighed as her brow furrowed; "I wasn't feeling well and I'm pretty sure I know all I need to know about irregular verbs."
Quinn laughed lightly at that, nodding in understanding as she re-crossed her arms before smiling timidly at the girl, "But you're feeling better now?"
Chuckling softly, the brunette let a beauteous smile grace her features as she played another note on the piano, "I suppose so, but I'm sure you didn't seek me out to ask me how I'm doing. Did you need something, Quinn?"
A few minutes passed without an answer; Rachel looked up and bit her lip when she took in the blonde's suddenly tense frame. Tilting her head, the brunette opened her mouth to change the subject when Quinn beat her to the punch.
"What song were you playing when I came in?"
Rachel couldn't help the amused smile that twisted her lips; the random change in subject was Quinn Fabray language 101. She was surprised she didn't receive it sooner.
"It's called Falling by Florence and The Machine. It's soothing,"
"Oh," Quinn muttered as she faced her once again, her lips turned up in a small smile, "I love them but I haven't listened to all their songs. That's pretty impressive, the fact that you can play that on the piano."
The brunette flushed at the compliment, growing uncharacteristically shy as she beamed at the other girl, "Would you like me to show how to play?"
Quinn's brows scrunched up in concentration for a second and Rachel was sure that she was going to refuse but before she could negate her line of questioning, the blonde smiled brightly and nodded, "Sure."
Rachel giggled, happiness flowing through her as she took the blondes left hand and placed one of her fingers on top of the keys, "Okay, here's what you do…"
Rachel hummed merrily along with the rest of the New Directions, placing the pretty ornaments on the decrepit tree with a content smile on her face. After her hour long lesson with Quinn, which went way smoother than she had anticipated, the blonde convinced her to come to glee with her so that they could decorate the tree Finn had found abandoned on the side of the road. At first, Rachel was rightfully hesitant. After all, she really didn't want to see Finn and besides, she was Jewish. Even though one of her daddies was Christian, she didn't feel like celebrating this holiday with her fellow glee members when all of them refused to acknowledge her Jewish faith. They didn't even ask if she had anything she wanted to bring to the meeting to celebrate her religion.
Jerks.
But after a soft pestering from Quinn, Rachel reluctantly agreed to accompany her and followed the blonde out of the auditorium and into the choir room.
The brunette couldn't help but smile when she Quinn and Sam sing together, 'They really are cute together,' Rachel thought to herself, a frown passing over her visage only to disappear a second later as she turned back towards the tree. She ran her fingers along the soft bristles and focused on placing a snowflake ornament on one of the branches.
"Hey , guys. What's this?" Brown eyes flickered over to their instructor. Rachel let a cautious smile twist up on her lips. She was still a bit uneasy when it came to Mr. Schue after his blow up at her a week ago, but she figured that as long as she steadily avoided him, it wasn't a big deal.
Finn, always the 'leader' answered for all of them; "Oh, we're trying to get into the Christmas spirit, Mr. Schue! Christmas is totally my favorite holiday," Crossing her arms as if to protect herself, Rachel glanced over at Finn and gave the boy a diminutive smile. He wasn't so bad when he wasn't annoying and or threatening her, "I found it on the side of the road. It must have fell off some guy's car."
Will gave a half smile, his eyes lit up in disbelief, "And the ornaments?"
Santana answered with a snarky grin; "The guy who lives next door finally killed off his eldery mother," Rachel turned her gaze towards the Latina, unsure whether or not she was serious or just joking before shaking her head and letting it go, "When they carted him off, they left the house wide open. I think she was a holiday hoarder."
"Uh-And the presents?"
"I lifted them from a display at the mall, but don't worry. They're empty," Rachel's lips pinched up in a grimace as she stared disapprovingly at the mohawked boy. She really needed to talk to him about his criminal ways.
"Guys, I appreciate the effort but this isn't what Christmas is supposed to be like,"
"For us it is. This tree is like a mascot for the Glee Club. We won sectionals two years in a row and according to everyone at this school, we still suck."
Rachel canted her head to the side and nodded, agreeing wholeheartedly with what Mercedes was saying. She had seen Mercedes, Mike and Tina get slushied this morning; they must have taken a page out of her book and brought an extra change of clothes.
"No, no I'm not going to let you guys throw yourself a pity party. Look, I'm the first one to say that things haven't turned out exactly how I would have liked them to this year but Christmas is about being grateful for the things that did."
"I thought that was thanksgiving…" Puck mumbled under his breath. Mr. Schue must not have heard him because he kept rambling on about togetherness and forgiveness and whatever. She tuned out under the words, "Caroling." And "class room to class room," flowed through her ears.
Her lips pursed as she shook her head but kept her mouth shut. There was no way to talk Mr. Schuester out of this so there was no point in wasting her breath.
"So let's start rehearsing! Cause this year, Glee Club is going full Santa."
Rachel could only hope they'd make it out alive.
A/N: lyrics taken from Falling by Florence and the Machine.