Disclaimer: See last chapter.
She screamed loudly, louder than she ever had before. She closed her eyes tight, screaming through the tears as she prayed that someone would hear her – anyone. Hot tears ran down her pale cheeks, not bothering to wipe any of them away before they landed on her bare feet.
Rachel clenched her hands into tight fists and screamed as loud as she possibly could, banging on the door over and over again. She finally slid down the floor, crying before huddling into a ball, rocking herself back and forth as she continued to cry, sobbing for someone to save her, her hand hitting the door every now and again.
Her body shook as she realized it had been nine whole months, nine months in hell. She shook her head, even more tears falling down her face as she cried harder, "Why don't you just kill me already?" She screamed at the door, knowing he was on the other side, waiting for a time he could walk in without the risk of her attacking him. She knew how stupid he was, she had tried to kill him six times and he still hadn't learned any lesson.
She bit down on her lip when the door began to unlock and she stood up slowly, "What have I told you?" He turned to face her as he walked through the door, shouting in anger and pan as her fist connected with his face before she ran. He laughed before grabbing her tiny and weak frame, yanking her down the stairs by her hair. "I've told you before, Rachel." He shook his head in disappointment as he forced her back into the cell.
She looked at him, tears falling down her face as she fell onto her knees, "Please kill me." She pleaded, before he grabbed her again and chucked her onto the mattress. She wasn't sure how much she could take now, she couldn't take one more day, she couldn't live. He shook his head, smirking, "Soon, my love.. soon." She cried out as he climbed on top of her again.
She hated him. She hated this. She wanted to die.
~ .. ~
She opened her eyes again when he was done, watching him walk out. She clutched her stomach in pan as the hunger rippled through once more – she hadn't eaten a full meal in three months now, just surviving by nibbling bread. She knew now that she was just a shadow of that girl her friends would have known nine months ago, she didn't care anymore and she would never see them again.
She shook her head, standing up to look around the room for something – anything, to end all the pain. Her eyes settled on the glass he had left days ago, just before he had given up on giving her food and drink. A small smile formed on her face as she walked over to it, reaching out before smashing it on the concrete floor. She was still in control, she could choose whether she lived or died, it wasn't up to him. This was her choice.
She slowly walked back to the mattress, brushing her hair from her face before pressing the glass against her wrist, looking at the door and looking back down again before digging it hard into her pale skin as hard as she could manage. And she repeated, and repeated.
She looked down, satisfied at the amount of blood dripping down onto the mattress before laying down and hiding them under the blanket, to prolong the bleeding, so he wouldn't notice if he did walk in. She looked around the cell one more time, whispering a soft goodbye before closing her eyes, hoping it would be the last time she saw this life, this room, his face. Longing for this to be the last time she felt his body on hers, his fist make contact with her face. Hoping and praying that this was the last time, the last time for everything.
~ .. ~
Five months after Rachel went missing:
Finn looked at the photograph he held close to him at all times, shaking his head. It had been five whole months, five months of pure hell. He looked down at the floor, before looking back at the photograph, his eyes wandering over her face and that beautiful smile he was so sure he would never see again.
"She's still alive." He jumped at the voice behind him, surprised to see his step-brother, Kurt standing behind him with red eyes as he slumped down onto the steps.
He shook his head and frowned, "Is she?"
"I can feel it.. we're best friends.. we tell each other everything. I know I may not be the best.. best friend ever but I know so much about her. I know she is alive.. surely you feel it, too?"
"I have hope.." Kurt just nodded, standing up slowly to walk over to the taller boy, hesitating before awkwardly wrapping his arms tight around him. He sighed and did the same to his brother, trying not to cry. Rachel's kidnapping had taken it's toll on everyone, the Glee club spent every moment of every day together, and Finn had never felt closer to the group as he found himself spending less and less time at his own home, and more at theirs.
Mr Shue had completely isolated himself, he would sit in his office and stare at the group photograph that had been taken just days before she went missing. Finn loved that photograph, Rachel just seemed to stand out from everyone else as she beamed at the camera, her arms wrapped around him.
Shelby usually spent time in the choir room, pacing back and forth – a trait Finn could only figure she had given to Rachel – as she spoke to herself, going over and over the whole situation as she tried to make sense of it, phoning the police now and again, but otherwise coming up with nothing.
Finn had to take time away from football, spending most of his time with the Glee club or on his own. The time off was supposed to be a break, a break from all the stares and the whispers about how he had "finally done off that annoying girl". And when he was finally ready to go back, ready to make a new start, he came back even worse than he was when he left.
He would lock himself in his bedroom with a photograph of him and Rachel at the beach, it was taken in the Summer. He would touch her face lightly, looking into her bright eyes as she grinned, trying to read her face, hoping there would be something there, some kind of clue. He read every single article on the case, watched everything to do with it and even talked to the FBI and the police working on getting the only girl he had ever truly loved, back in his arms. He'd phone them every single day, six times, asking if they had any news. It was his routine now, it would never change until she was back with him, back where she belonged.
He held tears back now as Kurt cling to him, both of them sniffing a little before pulling away to look at the photograph. "She's going to be okay, they will find her." He whispered before turning quickly, walking to the car.
~ .. ~
Mr Shue watched the Glee club fall apart, not knowing what to do. He blamed himself just as much as they blamed themselves, and none of them could sing anymore. None of them wanted a Glee club without the bossy, stubborn girl that had been a member since the club had begun. He walked into the choir room after summoning them all, "We have to snap out of this.. of Glee will be over." He finally said, hating himself for saying those words but he had been warned too many times by the principal and Sue.
He looked up, waiting for the shouts of anger and shock, but surprised when nothing came. He looked at them, sighing,
"Fine.." Puck said, "It's not the same without Rachel, anyway." The teacher could only watch as everyone else agreed,
"I am not going to give up on her, and you asking us to change how we feel, means you want us to." Finn finally spoke up, "I don't want to be here anyway. I hate singing, it doesn't feel right without her."
Quinn sighed, running her fingers through her long hair, "You can't force us to give up." Mr Shue nodded,
"I'm sorry then.. but Glee is over." Finn nodded, being the first to walk out of the choir room with his head held high, for the first time not caring that he had just lost one of the most important things in his life – he had a girl to find.
Six months after Rachel went missing:
"It's been six whole months," Finn slammed down his hand on the table, looking at the photographs and the articles they had stored in his house over the last month; the teenagers has started their own case, certain they would find the girl as the police seemed to be giving up.
"Finn, I know I have said this before but maybe we should consider the possibility that-"
"Don't you dare say it, okay? I would know if she was dead, don't even think about it." He turned around, punching the wall as hard as he could, he would know if she was dead. He loved her so much, he would know.
Mike put his hand on the boys shoulder, shaking his head, "Calm down." None of them wanted to think of the possibility that she could be gone for good, none of them wanted to believe that.
"She's going to be okay, she has to be okay." He muttered, shaking his head and looking back at the wall that had the whole case covering it.
"Right, so.. what do we have so far?" Artie broke the silence, looking around the room, "We know he was stalking her but we don't know exactly for how long and as soon as find out how long, we can find out where she met him and therefore come across a list of suspects."
"Okay.. so let's think.. when did she start.. acting a little bit strange?" Quinn bit down on her lip, deep in thought.
"The first time she told me that she could feel someone watching her all the time was about... a year and a half before she went missing. I didn't think anything of it.. I just laughed and told her she wasn't on Broadway yet." Kurt sighed, and Finn just paled at the thought of his girlfriend being stalked for that long.
"I remembered this yesterday.. that's why I never mentioned it before. I just brushed it off and told her to tell her dads, and put extra locks on her doors. I told her she was being stupid... she never mentioned it again until six months before she went missing, when she said she saw someone standing outside her house."
Finn nodded, remembering that moment, "That was a year ago, she called me to ask me to check it out. I stayed with her for over a week because she was terrified, and there was nothing. When I looked around, there was a stray dog but nothing else. She was convinced she saw the dog and never mentioned it again, not to me anyway."
"I went to hers for a sleepover four months before.. maybe a little more, but yeah.. one of the doors were unlocked, she was terrified and looked around to see if anything went missing but there wasn't.. so she locked it again and pretended like she hadn't just practically had a panic attack." Kurt sighed, they had gone through everything so many times, it was hard enough that they all blamed themselves for certain points when they could have done something.
"So.. at the moment, lets base this on starting a year and a half ago."
Suddenly, Santana sat up, "No wait.. what if we're looking at this the wrong way... we've gone through a list of friends, family, people in school... we've looked at everyone except the media."
Finn gulped, turning to face the wall again, "We should have thought of that before.. what happened two years ago in December?"
"Why December?"
"He must have taken her for a reason then, lets go on the theory that the date he took her was special to him, the date he first met her.." Artie nodded, typing something into his laptop,
"Rachel was in the papers on that exact day because she had come first in a local piano contest... it made it into the papers because the prize was a weekend at Juilliard."
Tina frowned and nodded, "I was at that competition.. my little sister was in it.. there was a girl who was a sure to win and then Rachel came out of nowhere.. and stole the first prize. My parents were shocked by how well she managed to play the piano.. she played an original song. But.. there were hundreds of people there that day.."
"We will go through those hundreds of people, we won't give up." They all nodded, ready to go through the large amount of press, or anyone connected to the media that would have been there that day. Finn smiled a little at the thought of finally having something to go on, and he was going to check out everything until they find her – no matter how long it took.
Nine months after Rachel went missing:
Finn clutched the steering wheel as hard as he could, they had finally hit the last man on the list they created and he couldn't decide whether he wanted it to be this guy – because that would mean Rachel was back and was safe with him – or if he wanted it to not be him, because that would mean if they had gone from the bottom of the list, they would have found her three months ago.
He shook his head, trying to stop the tears falling from his faced, this was the only lead they had and they had come so much further without the police – who had given up on the case two months ago. She had to be alive, she had to be okay.
He looked over at Kurt as tears fell down his face, he knew they all blamed themselves for not being able to see any of the signs, for not being able to help her before this started over nine months ago. He knew that if she was dead, none of them would ever forgive themselves, nothing would be the same again.
Kurt stared at the list in his hands, if this was their guy, he had been in front of them for months. He bit down on his lip, his tears dropping down on the list, it never should have happened. He wanted his best friend back, he wanted to tease her fashion sense and have those girly, musical nights in once more.
He looked behind him at Puck before turning back to the window, sighing when he thought about another person being lost forever. This never should have happened, they could have protected her from this. He bit down on his lower lip, sobbing lightly. He couldn't imagine a life without Rachel Berry, he wouldn't have said this two years ago, but he couldn't imagine a life without the girl.
The car finally pulled up, with Finn getting out first, slamming the door behind him, none of them knew what they were doing – wanting to call the police but not wanting them to take all the credit for their own detective work. And as much as he knew they should wait, he couldn't wait any longer as nodded towards Artie to phone the police.
He walked to the door, kicking it in without a moments hesitation with Puck's help. None of them cared for rules or laws anymore, none of it mattered because they were on a mission to find their best friend. They were on a mission to bring her back home, back where she belonged.
Puck was the first to spot the man as he tried to run, taking him down with ease – all of them could smell the blood in the house. They turned to look at each other before searching the house, none of them giving up until they heard a heartbreaking scream coming from the cellar. "Kurt?" Finn ran towards the scream, shaking his head and stopping when he saw the reason why.
His beautiful angel was laying in her own pool of blood, her face completely white, her lips a tinge of blue. "I-is she?" He bit down on his lip, staring as Kurt shook his head, taking a step back when Finn bent down to check the girls pulse – it was weak but it was still there. She could be okay, she could live through this.
Tears fell down his face when he heard the police upstairs, phoning for an ambulance. He clung onto Rachel as tight as he could, rocking back and forth, she couldn't die now, not now.. not when they were so close. "She did it to herself.." Kurt whispered, staring at the glass on the floor. They both bit down on their lips, as they realized Rachel had given up hope, on herself and on them. She had given up.
A/N: So, I decided to let reviewers decide: should she live or should she die? Opinions needed! Most wins.