A/N: Over 1k readers and only a few reviews? Cue a-lot-of-dialogue-chapter.
vvvVVVvvv
'Where am I?' Quinn thought to herself. She found herself in a completely different world. Time seemed to have slowed down with things moving at snail-speed. Beneath her feet were large cobblestones and the sky above her seemed to glow a sickly shade of green. Then a putrid stench assaulted her nose. It was the same stench she smelled when she was confronted with Hades in the form of Russell Fabray. She couldn't see him anywhere though, but she could hear his voice.
"My dear daughter. Look at you. You're so pathetic."
Quinn searched frantically for the source of the voice, but it seemed to have just come from every corner surrounding her. "Where are you?" she dared to question.
"Where am I? Why, I'm right here!" replied the menacing voice.
Looking around, she still couldn't find the source of the voice. "Where?" she questioned again.
"Here, inside you. I'm in your mind, your body, your soul!" he replied, followed by his cackling laughter.
"No!" she screamed out in panic. "No! Get out! Get away from me!"
vvvVVVvvv
Rachel and Santana were both trying to hold down their struggling friend. Quinn was thrashing about on the queen-size bed, now wearing only a pair of trunks and a tank top. Brittany had helped change her out of her damaged clothes. The safe house was none other, but Shelby Coroccan's apartment, hidden away in Greenwich Village. Her guest room was the makeshift infirmary. Quinn's body was covered in beads of sweat, her face was pale as the two women were trying to calm her.
Kurt approached them and placed his hands on the sides of her temples. Closing his eyes, he tried to concentrate on calming her mentally. "Come on Quinn. I need you to calm down," he whispered under his breath.
"Is she okay Kurt?" asked Rachel as she continued to cling onto Quinn's thrashing arms.
"I can't seem to reach her. She really knows how to build up mental barriers, even while she's unconscious. Something's very wrong though. She's fighting something. I think it must've been from the spear that struck her," he replied defeated.
Santana took a drastic measure and slapped her unconscious friend across the face, hoping to snap her out of the nightmare.
"Santana!" screamed out Rachel.
"What? I thought it could work. Berry, you know how tough she is. A slap won't kill her. I was just hoping I could slap her back into reality."
"And how is that working for you so far Santana?" Rachel asked sarcastically.
Quinn's thrashing died down a little, but her body was still going into spasms, her breathing was irregular and with incoherent mumbling coming from her mouth.
"Leave," ordered Rachel quietly, but sternly. "Both of you, leave."
Without any questions the two other people occupying the room left, leaving Rachel alone with an unconscious Quinn.
vvvVVVvvv
"WEAK!" he yelled out.
"No! You are taking nothing from me!" Quinn replied boldly.
Bolts of lighting came flashing out of her hands as she struck it in every direction. She could still hear her father's voice, though now it sounded like fingernails on chalkboard.
"You think you deserve Rachel? You've got to be kidding me! That sort of beauty doesn't belong to someone like you. That immense potential of power she has should be mine. She will belong to me."
"No! You can't take Rachel away!" she screamed out, tears stung her cheeks. Quinn fell to her knees and cried out quietly, "No, you can't take her. I'm not losing her again. I've already waited for ten years."
"The power she harbors," said the wicked voice, "will soon be mine."
"I will protect her," she growled out through her teeth. Her fists clenched by her sides as she slowly stood up again. "I will protect her with my life. If you want her, you must get through me first."
His laughter surrounded her, "You foolish child."
"I am not a fool. You're the one who seems to have sold his soul to the devil. You're incomplete. What is a man, no, what is a person without love?" she boldly questioned.
"A person without love? Invincible," stated her father's voice.
"Then, you are the foolish one."
Slowly a dark mist surrounded her and seemed to want to squeeze the life out of her. She struggled against it as her breathing became more labored. She tried to scream, but empty words only came out. She looked around in panic as the world around her slowly became engulfed in darkness. She thought she saw a hooded figure, but soon she couldn't see anything. Quinn felt as if her chest was being constricted. Panic tried to take over, but she focused on keeping herself calm. Then she felt it, warmth. It was coming from behind her. She turned around and saw a glowing figure. It floated in front of her. She reached up to touch it, her eyes transfixed on its glowing face as if she were in a trance. Soon her ears were filled with a song. It was gentle and seemed to calm her senses. The glow warmed her, and its presence calmed her. A pleasant smile crossed her face as the glowing form in front of her took a more solid shape. She recognized the figure and the voice.
vvvVVVvvv
Rachel held onto Quinn's hand while she tried to wipe away some of the sweat from the blonde's forehead with a cool towel. "Come on Quinn, come back to me. I know you're somewhere in there."
Quinn's eyebrows were furrowed as she continued in her internal struggle. Her fists clenched and unclenched. Now and then she whispered out a small panicked, "No!"
Rachel leaned forward and placed a lingering kiss on Quinn's forehead. She wanted to kiss whatever pain the blonde was going through away. Her thumb caressed the unconscious woman's cheek, "I'm right here Quinn."
How's my luck
But somehow I'm with you
Let's leave now
Let's leave them
And their point of view
My favourite place is me and you
The song lyrics rang true in Rachel's heart as she sang quietly, only for Quinn's ears to listen.
Morning sun warms our skin
Distant sounds
The day begins
Soon their world will come calling for us
But this is space they cannot touch
I just hope I am good enough to keep you
As she finished the song, Rachel picked up the small towel again by the bedside to wipe away the sweat on Quinn's forehead. The blonde had calmed down and was no longer twitching or making noises. Rachel smiled down at the sleeping woman and then caught the little mumble from the injured woman's lips, "Rachel."
Rachel smiled at Quinn's resting face. She continued to caress her hair and looked for another song in her head to sing to keep the blonde at peace.
vvvVVVvvv
A little while later Shelby's head poked around the corner behind the bed room door, "Rachel? Am I interrupting anything?"
Rachel looked up from Quinn's face to see her biological mother standing at the door. With a weak smile she invited her in, "It's okay, you can come in."
"How is she?" asked the older brunette woman as she entered her own guest room.
"Well, she's much better now," she replied, her eyes still locked onto Quinn's sleeping face.
"That's good to hear. Look, Rachel I think I have to tell you more about your gift and what happened tonight."
"What about it mum?" she asked quietly. "And what has it to do with Quinn's father? What happened to him?"
"Okay, I can see you have many questions."
"Yes," she replied bluntly.
"Let's start with Russell Fabray then, shall we? You remember how I told you about the prophet that came to Lima?"
"Yes?"
"Well, when Quinn's parents found out about it, Russell went berserk. He thought it was completely ridiculous and even tried to destroy the gift the prophet had left for Quinn."
"You mean the gift like the empty book you gave me?"
"Yes. That empty book, I'll talk about it later. Firstly, back to Russell. He left when Quinn had Beth, remember?"
"Yes, I remember. Wait, where's Beth?"
"She's okay, I've left her with my parents to be taken care of back in Ohio. Once it's safer here she'll be back."
"Okay, good," said Rachel of her young step-sister. "Sorry, back to your explaining."
"We haven't heard from Russell since then until tonight."
"What do you mean?" asked Rachel.
"About several months after he left, nobody had heard from him." Shelby took in a breath as she tried to remember what had happened. After her short pause she then continued on with the story, "Judy actually tried to find him, she still loved the man, even if he broke her heart and was unkind to his own children. Her searches always ended with a dead end though, so she finally reported him as missing. We all thought he had died, then we heard the rumors."
"What rumors?"
"There was a body found along the bank of the Ottawa. Do you remember that news report?"
"I vaguely remember it," Rachel replied trying to recall what she may have heard over the radio during that time.
"Someone said that they couldn't identify the body. They did in autopsy on it, but then the day after the body had disappeared."
"So, are you telling me that body may have been Quinn's father's?" asked Rachel.
"I believe it was. News came to Judy that the body could have been Russell's. One of the medical examiners was a close friend of the family and told Judy that the face of the unidentified person was severely scarred, but he swore that it could've been Russell."
Rachel nodded at what Shelby was telling her. She shifted her hand from Quinn's forehead to her hand. She placed her hand over the unconscious blonde's.
Shelby continued, "he went to look for Russell's dental records to check with the x-rays they had taken before the body went missing. Judy waited for the news, but it never came."
"What do you mean it never came?"
"He disappeared."
"What do you mean he disappeared?" questioned Rachel, immersed in her mother's explaining.
"Their friend, the medical examiner, disappeared. Not only him, but the dental records and all other medical records of Russell Fabray disappeared!"
"How odd. So, who or what is Russell Fabray now?"
"Hades. Well, a representation or a servant of the underworld."
"So he's like the human version of Hades?"
"A human vessel, but still with his own will. Kurt picked it up when he tried to contact your girls earlier tonight in the park. He nearly lost his mind trying to tap into Mr. Fabray's consciousness. The information he found though was frightening."
"What did he find out?" asked Rachel, as she stared curiously at her mother. Her hand didn't leave Quinn's.
"The darkness that the Prophet spoke about? It's coming soon. Quinn's father has a task and it's to open the gateway to unleash he'll on earth. It's already started, and you've already seen his power. It's only 20% of the power of Hades so for him to be able to use it 100% the gateway must be opened."
"And how is this gateway supposedly meant to be opened?" Rachel asked with a quizzical look on her face.
"With you."
Rachel's thumb that had been running gently over Quinn's hand stopped. She looked at her mother with shock, "What?"
"You are the key. But, you're incomplete. You are the key when you are able to read the music that is in the book I gave you."
"But I can't even see anything in it," Rachel stated firmly quietly, making sure not to wake Quinn. "How on earth do I sing something I can't even read?"
"It's because you're not ready for it. You could be soon though," Shelby replied as she looked down at Rachel's hand that was holding Quinn's. "Very soon actually. Russell knows this now and he wants you."
"I still don't get it. The book is blank! How do I read it?"
"Love, Rachel. Pure love. When you experience and understand it you will see. The the song will reveal itself to you."
Rachel looked at her mother dumbfounded. Her eyes glanced back over to Quinn's face. "Pure love, huh?" she spoke under her breath.
There was another quiet knock at the guest room door. Santana opened the door ajar and looked in. Her eyes moved in between Shelby and Rachel then Quinn. She looked back at Shelby, "Sylvester's here."
vvvVVVvvv
A/N: The song Rachel sang is 'Space They Cannot Touch' by Kate Miller-Heidke. I will be trying to keep this updated each week, but remember reviews are highly appreciated and can also be useful in helping me shape this story. Thanks to those who have left reviews :)