Mercedes POV
I came to the meeting, just barely. The pain that constantly radiated through my abdomen was more intense today than usual. I knew what it meant even before the house doctor told me. We were close to the end. The end of it all. But that's what I was here for.
The group gathered, trickling in one by one, dropping like slugs into our seats, the weight of another long day on our shoulders. But as the clock struck midnight, a mysterious thing happened. A thing that only happens with this group. The weight fell away. Midnight chimed the beginning of a new day we'd lived to see. And we intended to celebrate that together.
Sam stood, coughing as he reached for his cup of water, pulling the handkerchief to his mouth to disguise the blood we all knew was behind it. Tonight was his turn, it was his floor and we were all his audience, until this show was over.
Sam POV
The only time I didn't cough, the only time the pain inside fell away, was when we were here, in this room and I was telling a story that wasn't my own. It was like escaping from the prison my own body had turned into and finding a place, for however long, that was free of this constantly aching pain, of the crushing pressure in my lungs, the sound of my own labored breathing.
It was a dark cold storming night, and outside the windows of the small two-story house, the wind was raging, tree branches scraping the roof with a low scratching sound. Annie Depane sat curled up on her couch, the throw from the couch tucked tightly around as the small click seemed to reverberate through the house that was instantly filled with darkness.
"Oh COME ON." She huffed into the empty house, pushing off the couch in annoyance, "Fine, whatever, I'll just go to bed." Her sigh was riddled with teenage angst as she carefully took the stairs that lead to her room. Unable to preform her nightly rituals of doodling in her journal about the high school boy she had a crush on or how unfair it was that her parents hadn't let her use the car tonight because they just had to go on a date, Annie took solace beneath the blankets, listening to the sounds of the rain on the windowpane of her room.
"Annnniiiieeee." A low hushed voice cut through the night, "I'm coming up the first step..."
Brushing the strands of hair from her face, she turned her head from the pillow, straining with both ears to hear what she was certain she could not have heard.
"Annnniiiiieeeeee..." it called again, "I'm coming up the second step."
Sitting up quickly, her eyes darted to the door, her own voice shaking as she cried out, 'Wh...Who's there..."
"Annnniiiieeeee..." it said in response, "I'm coming up the third step."
Backing into the corner, trying to be one with the wall, she tried again, "Who are you? What do you want?"
"Annnniiiieeee..." the soft creak of the stairs sounded through the house, "I'm coming up the fourth step"
"My...,my parents...my parents will be home any minute now. You better leave."
"Annnniiieeee...I'm coming up the fifth step."
Trying to gage her surroundings Annie remembered her phone, springing from her bed to grab it. cradling the receiver in her hand, she began to dial, "Annniiiiieeeee...I'm coming up the sixth step."
There was no dial tone, tears slid down her cheeks as she pulled the cord, grasping it's end between her fingers, remembering she'd unplugged it that morning when Micheal refused to stop calling. "Annnnniiiiieeeee..."I'm coming up the seventh step"
Scurrying on the floor, she felt with her fingers along the floor board, trying to find the jack to plug into, her breath catching in her throat at the sound of the voice continueing, "Annnniiiieeee...I'm coming up the eighth step."
Her fingers found the hole, the plug clicking into place, but she knew. She knew there were only 12 steps, but still she had to try, "I'm calling the police" she screamed back at the intruder.
Bringing the phone to her ear, she heard in whispered stereo, "Annniiiiiieeeeee..."
"Nooo" her sob was almost silent as his voice continued in her ear.
"I'm coming up the ninth step."
Searching, searching, her eyes looked for a safe place to hide, "Annnnniiiiiiieeeeeee...I'm coming up the tenth step."
She could hear the heavy imprint of his footsteps now, the shallow hissing of her own breathing "Annnnnniiiiiieeeeee...I'm coming up the eleventh step."
She dropped the phone, pressing to the ground as she tried to slide beneath the bed, "Annnniiiiiieeeeee...I'm coming up the twelfth step."
She pushed an old sock to the side, watching her door with baited breath, the tears soaking the floor beneath her, "Annnnniiiiiieeeeeee...I'm coming to your door."
The creek of the hinges announced his arrival, his large building filling the frame as the lightening strobe lighted the expression on his face and Annie's eyes closed while she silently prayed it wasn't for the last time.
Mercedes POV
When Sam stopped talking, we all hung on with baited breath, sure he just needed a drink until that smile crossed his face and he sat back down. "Oh, come on!" I sounded like a bad impersonation of the girl at the beginning of the tale. "You have to finish it. What happened? Did he kill her? Did she get away?"
"Did her parents come home? You can not leave us hanging like this!" Rachel demanded.
Sam spread his hands, raising his brow as he laughed, "I don't know. That's all I have. You have to create your own ending."
"Your just wrong, you know that?" Quinn said with a shake of her head.
"Geez, dude." Puck laughed, handing Sam another glass of water as a coughing fit took hold, "That was a good one."
"I'm sooo going to have nightmares about that tonight" Rachel whined with a laugh
"I bet Puck will let you curl up with him," Kurt teased her as tanner turned several shades of red.