"Kurt, I'm sorry. I messed up; I really messed up."
"It's okay, everything's okay."
Everything was not okay. Kurt's hands were shaking; his mind playing a never ending chorus of 'He has Blaine; Karofsky has Blaine, dammit, dammit, dammit...' But Blaine's voice was high with fear, his breathing getting tight and panicked and Kurt had to say something to calm him down.
"I should have listened to you," Blaine said. "He told me everything, how he was torturing you and making you do things and I didn't listen, I didn't..."
"Blaine, you need to breathe," Kurt said.
"I-I can't." And Blaine's voice was suddenly trembling, "I'm scared."
"I know, I know, I'm scared too." There was a yell of pain on the other end of the line, "Blaine? Blaine, what's wrong? What's happening, are you okay?"
"He's fine." Karofsky.
"You let him go," Kurt said.
"... Don't you love that part of the game when everything goes just a little bit wrong? Heightens everything, doesn't it? Makes you feel just a little bit more alive."
"Let. Him. Go!"
"You know, I have played this game over and over again. And this is still my favorite part. See, you fags aren't very good at following instructions. Especially little Blaine here." And Karofsky started laughing, "I had to come and get him myself! In the middle of the night, when you were sleeping in his bed. Did you hear him screaming for you, Kurt?"
Kurt winced, wanting to pull the phone away from his ear.
"You always wind up losing the first round. And so I up the stakes. I take it to the next level."
"And what are the rules?" Kurt asked.
"It's sort of like... hide and go seek. You can enlist help in this round; talk to the police, tell everyone you know about me. And you get to search for ten days. Every day I'll call you, and every day you get to talk to little Mr. Blanderson here. We'll have a party. But if ten days pass and you haven't found us... I get him. And then I get you."
Kurt gagged; the tone in Karofsky's voice left no doubt as to what he meant. "I can tell them everything I know?"
"Everything," Karpfsky said silkily. "But I should warn you, Kurt, I never lose this round. I'm very good at making people believe what they want to believe. And in the interest of full disclosure, I'm going to send you on a little quest, okay?"
"What?"
"Oh, you can decide not to go, of course. But I'm afraid it will make finding Blaine that much harder in the end. And I know it seems like ten days is a lifetime, but you'll find it really isn't that much time at all. I have to make the game interesting, you know."
"What do you need me to do?" Kurt asked.
"Oh, you're more cooperative already. What I need you to do is go to a bus stop on the corner of 5th and Rowe. That should be about two blocks from the charming little cafe where you and Blaine used to get your afternoon pick me up. I'll expect you there in about an hour, shall I?"
"Yes."
"Lovely. Oh, and Kurt? If you're worried about my intentions, you can always tell Blaine's roommate where you're going."
Kurt locked eyes with David Warbler who sat across the room wearing nothing but a towel and a quizzical expression. "David, I need you to do something for me."
...
An hour later, Kurt sat at the bus stop by the Lima Bean. The bus had come and gone, Kurt's phone had rung no less than six times, but none of the calls were from Karofsky. Most of them were from his Dad; Kurt chose to ignore them. Dad would only yell at him for being stupid enough to walk out of the school alone with a psycho on his tail. Kurt didn't need that kind of stress on top of everything else.
A few passing strangers gave him sideways glances, obviously curious about the pale, dark haired boy with his determined expression and wrecked appearance, sitting alone at the stop as though waiting for something much more important than a bus.
Kurt counted the minutes he'd been waiting and began to wonder whether it had been a bad idea to wait here alone. Was Karofsky only doing this to mess with him, or had the jock decided to take him, too? Kurt wasn't sure how to best help Blaine, but he was fairly certain being kidnapped himself was not exactly helpful. Kurt was just deciding that it did no good to wait here any longer and he'd better head back home when a voice sounded behind him.
"Hey, Hummel."
Kurt spun in a circle, taking in the person who had met him in one glance. Kurt gasped and felt all the blood in his face drain down to his toes.
Dave Karofsky was standing in front of him.