A/N: Quick update. Thank or blame the thunderstorm. Favorite weather, favorite month, good day. : )
Chapter Four
Mr. Schuester set out drinks and cookies on the coffee table in his living room for everyone. Finn was the only one leaning forward and grabbing anything. Kurt sat stiffly on the edge of the little bit of room next to him on the couch. Mercedes and Quinn were on Finn's other side, and Rachel was planted primly in the armchair across from them. Puck was in front of the coffee table on the floor leaning his head back on Rachel's crossed knees, and surprisingly, she permitted it. Tragedy brought people together in mysterious ways. Jacob Ben Israel was sitting with plenty of space in between them, next to Puck on the floor. Finn was eyeing him strangely as he bit into another chocolate chip cookie and reached for the glass of milk in front of Mercedes after draining his own.
Mr. Schuester came back into the room from the kitchen and handed Rachel a water bottle, because milk was on the vegan no-no list. She accepted graciously, and Mr. Schue stayed standing, crossing his arms over his chest and looking at everyone like he wasn't sure where to start.
It was Kurt that got the ball rolling in getting everyone to meet at their teacher's apartment, though, and he rose to his feet. After what he and Finn walked in on yesterday, news traveled fast and not a single member of Glee Club showed up to school the next day. It was mid-afternoon now, and Kurt was running on two hours of sleep. He and Finn had to go to the police station and go over and over what they saw when they got there and why they were there in the first place. Kurt told the truth but was looked at like he was crazy. When they were finally allowed to go home, he stayed up all night researching, and after finding what he did he got Finn to help him organize a group meeting.
"What is Pasty Face doing here?" Puck jerked his thumb at Jacob. "He's an alternate. He was never really a part of the club. Plus, he's fucking annoying."
"I haven't even said anything yet." Jacob mumbled in his scratchy whine of a voice.
"See?" Puck jerked his thumb out again.
Jacob's shoulders slumped but he went silent again against the threat of poking Puck's wrath.
"I asked him to come." Kurt explained.
"Why?" Quinn shook her head and closed her eyes. She looked perhaps the worst out of all of them. Kurt knew how far back her and the other former Cheerios went, and his heart swelled for her. The hurt he was going through must be mirrored in her times a hundred.
Kurt was about to explain when a knock at the door interrupted. Mr. Schuester's brow furrowed in confusion since they were all already here, plus Jacob, but he excused himself and went to the door.
"Uh, can I help you?" His confused voice traveled back to them.
"Yeah, we're here for our money." Azimio's deep voice answered.
"Do you got it or what, cause we're kind of in a hurry." Karofsky added.
"What the hell?" Finn set Mercedes' glass of milk down after taking a big gulp and got to his feet. The new arrivals walked behind Schue back to the living room, a particularly puzzled look on their teacher's face, and Finn stepped around the coffee table, 6'3" and mad. "What the hell are you doing here?" He barked at them. "Two of our friends just died. This is private. If you're here to start shit, I swear to God-"
"Finn! Finn." Kurt rounded the coffee table hurriedly and put a hand on his chest, stepping between him and the two unimpressed jocks. "I asked them to come."
"What? Why?" It was Mercedes' turn to be baffled, and he didn't blame her.
"Because what I have to say is relevant to all of us. And some people who I'm not sure how to get in touch with." He thought of the others he saw get off the bridge before it collapsed and he tried hard to remember something that would tell him who they were until he remembered the articles in the newspapers. He googled the Sysco County Zoo Tragedy and quickly found a list of survivors, people who were interviewed after getting off the bridge in time. Some of them were from out of state, so he would have to think quickly about the best way to get in touch with them. He had no idea how to start the conversation that he needed to have with them.
"Where's our money, Hummel?" Karofsky glared at him.
Rachel sat forward bewildered. "I'm sorry, what money?"
Azimio sauntered over to the coffee table and grabbed a handful of cookies, deepening Finn's scowl. "Hummel called and said Glee Club was giving out a raffle, and me and Dave won fifty bucks."
Mr. Schuester raised an eyebrow, and Quinn's face was screwed up with confusion before turning to disgust. She looked away from them and laid her head on Mercedes' shoulder weakly.
"Yes, I made that up." Kurt informed them matter-of-factly. Azimio threw his arms up. "It was the only way I could think to get you to come."
Karofsky glowered. "Look, I'm not into crashing wakes even to ruin it for you. I don't know why you'd want us here anyway."
Kurt sighed in disdain. "Trust me. It's not to reminisce about all the fun times
the three of us have shared over the years. Dumpster dives and slushies," he feigned a swoon. "How I'll miss thee." Karofsky frowned. "Can you please just sit down? I'll explain."
Azimio had already plopped down in front of Quinn to have better access to the cookie tray. He drank out of Mercedes' half-drained glass of milk. Finn wrinkled his nose. Apparently, drinking after Mercedes was okay, but seeing Azimio drink after him was a step toward disgusting.
Mr. Schuester dragged a couple of chairs from his dining table over and Karofsky sat in one, dragging it a little farther from Jacob than Schuester set it. He scowled at the obnoxious school gossip, and Jacob shrank away from him, freezing when he realized he was shrinking toward Puck and getting the stink eye from him too.
Mr. Schuester took the other seat so Finn lowered himself cross-legged to the floor and reached up to pull Kurt down with him, but he shook his head slightly and stayed standing to address the group.
"I know how hard today is on everybody." Kurt began. In fact, he didn't think he would ever get the image of Santana's swinging body out of his mind. Knowing how far back Quinn went with the girls, he just felt grateful that she did not have the same image in her head. "I know what everyone thinks happened. But Santana and Brittany didn't commit suicide."
Quinn straightened, lifting her head off Mercedes' shoulder. Rachel's back was so straight she was beginning to arch, and Puck shifted at her feet.
"Kurt…" Mr. Schuester started slowly. "They found handwritten lyrics to Annie Lennox's 'Dark Road' on the piano. It was left there as a note. I never should have pushed you guys to express yourselves through music and perform if you weren't ready. They killed themselves."
Kurt frowned. They took the assignment to an extremely dark and twisted place if that's what Mr. Schue thought happened. But that's not what happened. He knew it as sure as he knew anything.
"This isn't the first time something like this has happened." He disregarded their teacher's assumption about the events. It was certainly what the police thought too, but he knew better. He walked past the coffee table and stood in front of the fireplace, for a better view of the circle of people in the room. "A few years ago there was another high school in New York going on their senior class trip. One of the kids had a vision about the plane exploding and got himself and several others off. The plane exploded on takeoff."
"We already know you think you had a vision, Kurt." Mercedes said dryly, and he paused. That was the first trace of an opinion he had gotten from her on the subject. She didn't believe him if her tone was any indication.
Puck shifted uncomfortably on the floor, pressing his back against Rachel's chair and draping his arm around her legs. Again, she permitted it, and even pat his arm gently with one of her small hands. Finn didn't say anything, looking up at Kurt and squinting in concentration as he tried to follow his train of thought.
Kurt gave Mercedes a look and went on. "A couple of years later, another group of kids our age were on their senior trip. You probably remember this one from the news. The rollercoaster they boarded at the amusement park they went to broke and several students were killed."
Quinn's eyebrows knit together and she nodded down at her lap remembering. Mr. Schuester nodded as well.
"Before the ride started, one of the passengers freaked out." Kurt explained. "The girl and a few of her friends got off. She claimed to have had a vision of the rollercoaster coming apart before it did. Those visions saved those people's lives."
"Look, we get it." Puck said in annoyance. "You're a fucking genie wizard and we're all super indebted to you for keeping us from becoming shark bait. What does this have to do with Santana and Brittany? They killed themselves. Are you saying you had a vision or whatever about that too?"
"Kind of." Kurt answered, spurring the exchange of many looks within the group. "I didn't see anything, but I knew it was going to happen. I got this really ominous feeling, and then I started seeing these signs. I didn't know what exactly was going to happen, but I did know it was coming for Santana and Brittany."
"It's true." Finn backed up. "He freaked out. That's how we were the ones to find them." He swallowed and looked at the floor. Kurt wanted to go to him. "He knew something was going to happen to them."
"Wait." Quinn held up a perfectly manicured hand that was squeezing a tissue. "What do you mean 'it' was coming for them?"
Now for the hard part. Kurt looked around the group and had second thoughts, especially when his eyes roamed over Azimio and Karofsky. It was going to be incredibly difficult to not sound like a psycho. But he had to try.
"Those weren't the only times something like that happened." Kurt gathered up his courage and went on. "But they all had one thing in common. The deaths didn't stop there. All of the survivors started dying in mysterious ways soon following the tragedies."
He waited for a reaction, but no one seemed to know what to make of his news.
"So…'it'…is," Quinn's eyes rolled to the side. "…the Grim Reaper…?"
Kurt ignored her condescension, because it did sound ridiculous. Interest piqued, Jacob whipped out his video camera and barely pointed it up at Kurt before Puck swiped it out of his hands and tossed it until it rolled to the foot of the fireplace. Jacob frowned but wisely made no move for it.
"I don't know what it is," Kurt replied, "but the people who survived those events all died in the order that they would have died if someone in their group hadn't had a vision and prevented their death in the first place. That's how I know for sure that it's happening to us. Santana and Brittany were the first to die in my vision down in the aquariums. It… Death… Whatever, it's circling back for us."
Azimio burst into laughter on the floor as he stuffed his mouth with another cookie and spoke through bits of crumbs, "You're even crazier than I thought, fairy boy."
Finn and Puck kicked a leg out at the same time, ramming the table and making it slide into Azimio's chest with a thud. He shoved it back in place and glared at them in turn. Mr. Schuester eyed the boys wearily but ignored them.
"Kurt, you're under a lot of stress. All of us are." Mr. Schuester rubbed his temples and closed his eyes. "No one here is going to hold it against you if you want to take a breath and step back."
"Yeah, whatever, but you still owe us fifty bucks." Azimio made a face at Finn when he leaned forward and swiped the last cookie before he could take it. Azimio leaned back and scowled until his back brushed Quinn's legs and she smacked the back of his head until he moved.
"I'm not crazy. I know how this sounds, but it's true."
Mercedes sat back against the couch and shook her head. "What are you even talking about? Kurt, you of all people-you don't even believe in God."
He hesitated at her lack of faith in him but figured everyone had their limits. "I've never had proof of a higher power before. Whatever this is it isn't God. It's violent and hateful. The people dying aren't going peacefully in their sleep."
Some of the morgue photos he found on the internet scarred him for life. There was one guy whose death involved a barbed wire fence that he would never forget no matter how many psychologists and hypnotherapists he went to.
Mercedes crossed her arms, a sure sign that she wasn't backing down at all. "What then? The devil?"
Kurt had tried to form a solid theory for hours, but there was no way for him to be sure of anything. "I don't know. Maybe something even worse."
"Worse than the devil?" Mercedes raised a perfectly shaped eyebrow. "You really don't know anything about church, do you?"
Kurt crossed his own arms now and frowned deeply at her lack of support. "Look, what I'm saying is, don't you have to accept the devil into your life-like let evil in or ask for it or act on evil or something for the devil to affect your life?" At least that's what he gathered from movies. "The righteous versus the wicked, right? Willpower and choices determine who's good and who gets the trapdoor pulled open under them at Heaven's gate? None of us chose anything or did anything. There was an accident and something decided that we have to die. The visions. Maybe the visions are God. Maybe that's why we have a chance at all, because our deaths weren't meant to be and we're being played with. By something that got the trapdoor."
"Hold up!" Mercedes raised a hand incredulously. "The vision is from God? So now you're a prophet?"
"I believe you." Finn spoke up from the floor, and Kurt looked over to see him staring straight at him levelly. His shoulders relaxed with relief, because being rejected or dismissed by Finn would have undone him.
"Of course you do, White Boy, you're a fool." Mercedes said unapologetically.
"Hey, do you have a better answer for how Kurt saw what happened at the aquarium before it happened?" Finn snapped back testily. "He saved our lives. And I was there when he started feeling weird again before Santana and Brittany… I'm telling you, he knew something was off." He waved at Kurt. "And if this has happened before, I think we owe it to him to listen. If it's true, then one of us is next! Right? That's how it works?"
"This is too much for me." Mercedes didn't even look at Finn, shaking her head and standing. "I'm sorry, but Santana and Brittany killed themselves. It is awful and tragic and ugly, but that's what happened. If you need to come up with some divine plan, so that you can feel more in control of everything that's happened, that's on you. But this is not for me."
She began maneuvering past Azimio to leave and Quinn stood after her, responding quietly. "I'm with Mercedes. This is crazy."
"Wait. Mercedes, please." Kurt called after her, but she didn't even turn.
"None of this makes any sense." Rachel looked down at Puck, appealing to someone who shared her religious beliefs.
Puck met her eyes and shook his head, jaw set angrily. "The only person who I go back farther with than Santana and Brittany is Finn, and that's why I'm not punching your face in, Hummel. But what you're saying is bullshit!" He got to his feet and stormed after Mercedes and Quinn for the door, spinning around and walking backward as he exclaimed in frustration. "We're alive! Yeah, I wish Lauren and Artie and all of our friends were here with us too, but they're not! And I'm not going to kill myself over it or let you put the survivor's guilt whammy on me! Fuck all of this. I'll see you assholes at graduation."
Mr. Schue's elbow was in his lap and his head was in his hand, and for once he didn't get after Puck for not restraining himself. Kurt guessed he was feeling the same way. He didn't know how to convince him, but he knew how important it was for Mr. Schuester, out of all of them, to take him seriously.
Because, according to his vision, he was next.