A/N: Thanks for clicking on this story! I have had so much fun working on this. This chapter is very long - I'm hoping that the ones to follow won't be as large. Happy reading.
He wasn't in his down-feather mattress, cocooned in his velvety sheets. He was on a hard floor, and the warm glow of the night light was nowhere to be seen. Kurt Hummel sat up, his back aching. There was a rising lump on his head. He must have been here for a long time. A couple hours, at least.
"Hello?" He knew it sounded stupid. But it seemed like the natural thing to do. Kurt stood up and blindly stumbled around until his hands found a wall. He winced as he felt the cement scrape his nails.
Suddenly, a beam of light shot through the room, illuminating the empty buckets and the rotting walls. Kurt jerked his hands away from the thin layer of mold.
"Hungry?"
Kurt's stomach plunged. Was that...yes. It was.
Sebastian Smythe descended the stairs.
"Actually, I just lost my appetite. And, excuse me, but what are you, a mobster?" Kurt blurted. "What is this, some c–cheesy crime drama?"
Sebastian snorted.
"Y – you're scared you'll lose regionals, so you're trying to freak me out!" Kurt's voice edged on hysteria and delirium. Sebastian thrived on his fear.
"I don't see any cameras, Hummel, and New Directions will do just fine without you," said Sebastian smoothly. "But I doubt Blaine will."
Blaine! Kurt remembered, and it was like Sebastian had slapped him.
"What is your angle here?" Kurt crossed his arms as the Warbler advanced further down the steps until they were nose-to-nose. He flinched as Sebastian's minty breath slid over his face.
"My angle? I don't have one," Sebastian mimicked Kurt's defensive posture.
"Are you trying to get revenge on Blaine? By what – kidnapping me?" asked Kurt incredulously. He crossed his arms tighter. "You are insane," he quavered as the smirking Meerkat traced Kurt's jaw with his finger.
"Exactly," Sebastian grinned.
Kurt tried to be brave. Courage, he imagined Blaine whispering in his ear. He tried to push past the smirking Warbler, but quick as a wink, Sebastian had him pinned against the wall. Hard. His nails bit into Kurt's shoulders, and the sting helped Kurt stay conscious. He was on the edge; he could tell. Sebastian seemed blurred, tilted, out of focus...everything was happening so fast...
"You'll go to jail." breathed the terrified boy. He stared into Sebastian's cold eyes and wondered if the Warbler was really all there.
"Not if I don't get caught," Sebastian hissed through his teeth.
"I'm not scared of you," whimpered Kurt.
"I think you are."
"Hey Kurt, wake up!" Burt called through his son's bedroom door. "You gotta get up, takes ya two hours on a normal day, let's go!"
There was no answer. "Kurt! Kurt?"
He pushed open the door. "Hey, Kurt, I know you're in here, because the raspberry waffles I made are still on the table, and –"
He stopped. The bed was empty.
"What are we doing here so early, Mr. Schue?" Rachel Berry yawned and rested her head on Finn Hudson's broad left shoulder. The choir room seemed so bright, but Mr. Schue had called them all that morning to come in for an emergency Glee meeting.
"Seriously. I don't know about the rest of you imbeciles, but I need my beauty sleep," Sugar Motta glared at the curly-haired teacher.
Mr. Schuester's face was blank when he said, "Kurt is missing."
Mercedes Jones choked. "What?" She scanned the room for her best friend.
Finn bristled. "THIS IS WHY I HATE WORKING OUT IN THE MORNINGS. I MISS EVERYTHING."
"Didn't Burt call you?" Mr. Schue asked him, his brow creasing.
"I ignored his call because I thought it was about how I stole his iPod before I left," Finn waved the thin white square apologetically.
"Sebastian did it," Santana Lopez immediately chimed. "It's so obvious. He wants to get rid of Kurt for good."
"Now who am I going to NYADA with?" whined Rachel. Finn glared at her. "Also, he's one of my best friends and stuff." she quickly added.
"You guys!" Mr. Schue snapped. "This is serious. We need to know where Kurt ran off to and why he did it."
"Kurt would not just run off!" yelled Mercedes. "Kurt was totally kidnapped."
"This is so scary," whispered Brittany. "I think I'm on CSI Miami. Am I? Really?"
"This is very confrontational," Rory whispered from his chair. "Maybe Kurt just went for a morning jog."
"Well, he does hate running," Puck sighed.
"Excuse me, everybody," a deep voice interrupted the rising chatter. Heads turned to face a hirsute man in a cop uniform. "My name is Sergent Boo."
"Buh." Puck snorted.
Boo gave him a stern glance. "I am the officer in charge of locating Mr. Hummel. And I need you to tell me everything you can about him.
"You should go talk to Blaine Anderson," Sam Evans piped. "He's his boyfriend."
Boo seemed taken aback for a second, but to his credit, recovered quickly. "Very well. I shall consult Mr. Anderson. Where is he?"
"He's in the hospital," Santana said quickly. "He scratched his eye when he... fell...into a pond." She and Rachel shared a brief glance.
Boo nodded. "I will be in contact with you again."
And with a final nod, Sergent Boo and his sizable girth waddled out.
Mr. Schue could tell that the singers where still in shock about Kurt. Their numb replies to Boo, the ridiculous suggestions...he was in shock, too. Who would have guessed that Kurt would just disappear? Puck, maybe...but Kurt?
"Oh Kurt," Mercedes breathed when Boo had left. "I hope you're okay."
Sam tried to put his arm around her, but Mercedes shrugged him off and buried her face in her hands.
Quinn Fabray, who had been silent up until this point, decided that she was going to find out what happened on her own. Maybe then she'd earn back some respect.
If only she had a magnifying glass, she mused. Then she cursed herself for thinking like a dumb blond.
After the first confrontation with Sebastian, Kurt was hesitant to go near him again. Sebastian, after terrifying him more than Karofsky ever could, had simply released Kurt's shoulders and walked back upstairs, locking the door behind him. Never looking back. As though he'd already forgotten his prisoner.
The consuming darkness was lifting as the sun rose slowly from the horizon. Kurt could see it from a high window, too small and too far up for escape.
He slid down the green-speckled wall and tried to sort out the facts. He was actually kidnapped. Really. Kidnapped. Sebastian had abducted him in his sleep. He was here as a pawn in a revenge plot against Blaine and possibly the New Directions, wherever "here" was.
Sebastian was truly insane. A lone tear trickled down Kurt's cheek; he was more afraid than he had ever been in his life.
He was in danger, at the complete mercy of a lunatic.
The popcorn would not pop fast enough for Sebastian Smythe. First World problems, he thought to himself, smirking as he flicked on the television. The rec room in Dalton was the best place on Earth. Cozy couches, giant television sets, free popcorn, rotating walls; it was extremely pleasant. Sebastian could finally relax.
Yes, he had actually kidnapped Kurt Hummel. It wasn't hard, it was laughably easy; he had stole away into the Hummel-Hudson residence, knocked out the boy with a crowbar, – which was pretty pointless, since he was asleep – and carried him out of the house and into his Chevy, which was parked a block away. It was kind of fun.
Sebastian knew what he had done. This past week, this Michael Jackson week; it had let him unleash his inner villain. Singing that duet with the Latina had reminded him of his love for crime. Upgrading his ranking from ass...to badass.
So he had kidnapped Kurt Hummel. He had mostly done it because he loved making people cry, which Kurt was sure to do – but he also did it to hurt Blaine, like Kurt had guessed in the basement. Blaine deserved to feel the agony, a hundred times worse than that rock salt in his cornea. This pain would drive straight into his heart.
The commercial for surfing tattoos ended and the local news began.
"Police are frantically searching Lima Heights for a missing juvenile named Kurt Hummel. Kurt was last seen in his own residence last night at 10:00 p.m."
The screen showed a picture of Kurt beaming in a blue pea coat outside of the mall. The shot was obviously recent. His carefree expression irked the Warbler.
"Anybody with any information is urged to come forward. Please call the hot line at the bottom of the screen if you can aid us in bring Kurt Hummel back home. Now, back to you, Sue!"
He was impressed that the news had reached the news so quickly. The Hummel-Hudson's must have woken up early, too.
Sebastian turned off the television. Searching frantically. He scoffed. Nobody would look for the little diva in Dalton Academy, particularly in the large basement that was seldom mentioned and hardly ever used.
Yes, this was the place that Kurt Hummel would occupy for as long as Sebastian wanted him to. He would enjoy breaking Kurt – he had a feeling it wouldn't be too hard. It wasn't long before he could move on to the next stage of his plan; Blaine.
The whole operation would be so much easier if the other Warblers would mind their own business. He would have to work hard at keeping his little friend quiet. As the faint bustle of Dalton Academy students burst in, Sebastian slipped quietly into the crowd, just another boy in a blue and red blazer.
A/N: Did you actually read all the way through this? Thank you, also, wow.
I don't know when I'll post chapter two - I have a bunch written but I don't want to put it all out before I finish. Please review, it gives me pleasure and motivates me to write more. And subscribe - I swear I'll see this story to the end! :D
And I blame you, Skittles, for making me post this chapter early.