Ch 27

The musty smell of year old books drifted across the span of the town's public library. Dozens of ratty old books lined the walls and aisles of the aging bookstore. My eyes stared blankly on a page that I had been rereading for the hundredth time, trying to understand it. But it was no use, I was beyond exhausted. I couldn't read anymore.

I lazily lifted my head up and over the mound of books that surrounded me on the table, peeking over at Tina. The girl had her face planted into the book, a low wheezing sound emanating from her lithe body. I leaned back in my chair and looked at my phone. It was almost 11 at night. I grabbed one of the many wads of paper at the table and chucked it at the sleeping body.

Tina slowly sat up, her face smeared with drool. She blinked a few times before looking over at me.

"Shit…. Sorry." She mumbled out, rubbing her eyes.

I shook my head. "Look, we've been here for the past few nights and we still haven't found anything useful."

"I know." Tina agreed.

"There's not going to be anything in these books because this has never happened before."

"I thought maybe it was worth a shot. You know, maybe something would've clicked or we'd find out if what we saw in those dreams was real."

I bit the corner of my lip and pulled out the pictures I'd drawn. "No book is going to tell us what's to come." I muttered hopelessly.

"I've missed you." Her voice spoke softly against my ear.

"Me too." I whispered as I looked up at my ceiling.

"I feel like I haven't seen you all week!" Rachel sighed out.

"I know, it's just this project with Tina has got me a bit rattled."

The girl hummed lightly into the phone. "What class is it for?"

"History." I nodded.

There was a slight pause on the phone before I heard shuffling. "How do you two have a project together when you guys aren't even in the same class?"

"Uhhm- w-what do you mean?" I asked, suddenly remembering a vital detail.

Rachel has history with Tina. SHIT!

"Tina and I have history together and as far as I know we don't have any upcoming projects. I mean- I would be the first to know." The other girl retorted slowly.

I could feel my face burning red. I sat up from my bed, rubbing a hand down the side of my face. "I meant that she's been helping me on my project. I promised that if she helped me with my project then whenever she'd get hers I'd help her out… ya know." I lied hesitantly.

"Huh…" was all that sounded from the other side.

"I s-should get going. It's getting pretty late."

"Right." The other girl commented. "Well then have a good night. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Yes. I'll see you tomorrow. Have a goodnight Rachel."

"You too Quinn. Try to get some sleep."

Darkness surrounded me. Nothing…. There was nothing. My eyes finally opened and once again I was under water. A small panic started to stir within me when I realized I was back in the car. The seatbelt was still strapped against me as I tugged and pulled at it. I looked over to the driver side. Dark hair floated all around the figure next to me.

Rachel!

The driver began moving around. A moment later Rachel's face was revealed as her perfect brown eyes landed on me. This time I tugged harder and harder on my belt, clawing and scratching at it. I could feel my nails breaking and bleeding with each scratch and tug. Rachel tried to do the same and when hers didn't budge I saw her trying to tug at my belt. Nothing was working.

Suddenly there was a loud knock. Rachel and I both looked at the windshield. Both of us jumped when we saw a figure there floating, eyeing us. His eyes were deep red, his cheeks hallow. There was a malice gleam in his eyes as he just stared at us. There was a large chain wrapped around his waist. It looked broken from what I could see.

The figure turned his eyes toward Rachel, really looking at her. A large smirk crossed the man's face before he turned his wretched eyes on me. A moment later he started laughing. The laughter grew louder until I felt the water start to shake.

Bubbles suddenly popped up from every crevice of the car until I couldn't see anything. I could feel the car sinking further and further into the darkness. I looked over at Rachel. She was looking back at me until the bubbles completely took over. Everything was growing dark again until suddenly the bubbles disappeared and a face appeared before me.

I gasped in shock as burning yellow red eyes blasted through me. An intense pain seared through my body, burning me alive. I screamed and looked down to see small black tentacles latched onto me, scratching down my bare forearms, drawing blood. Every part ached in my body as the burning increased with intensity. I screamed out in pain but there was no sound.

A dark and heavy voice boomed from all around me. "Soon, I will show you the depths of your heart. I will show you the darkness that lies within. And I will show you pain like no other. Death follows behind you and everyone you love."

I flew up from my bed, drenched in sweat. My heart was racing faster than ever as I shakily got up and quickly turned on the lights. My body felt like it was still burning but not as strongly as before. I looked down at my forearms. There was blood dripping down. Four large cuts ran vertically down on each of my forearms.

"Oh my gosh." I breathed out.

My fingernails were torn up and bloody. Even the slightest pressure on my fingertips shot a roaring pain through my hands. I quickly gazed around the room on high alert. Without a moment's notice I quickly left the room and inspected the house. Lilly was still asleep in her room. There was no sign of a break in. There was no sign of anyone. My arms started tingling once I finally made it to the bathroom. The coolness of the water against my skin felt refreshing. I groaned as a small stinging pain roared while cleaning up the wounds. Once my cuts were cleaned I inspected the rest of my body but nothing else seemed out of place. The burning within my body had slowly gone away. I gazed up into the mirror. My eyes were bloodshot, my lips swollen, cheeks flushed. I clenched down on my jaw as those dark words filled my head.

Death follows behind you and everyone you love.

"Quinn?" a voice called out to me.

I blinked and suddenly a hand was waving in front of me. I shifted my gaze and met a pair of dark brown eyes staring down at me. A hand was then pressed against my forehead.

"Are you okay? You look like you're sick." Rachel asked, worry etched in her voice.

I shook my head. "No I'm fine." I stated as I realized that Glee was over.

"You don't look fine." Rachel commented.

"Ouch. Way to put a girl down." I threw out as I quickly stood on my feet.

"I'm worried about you. What's going on?" Rachel asked, lightly grabbing onto my shoulder. "Have you been sleeping?"

I scratched at my forehead and then quickly adjusted the long sleeves from my shirt, pulling them down further. "No not really. I've been having some pretty messed up nightmares. But it's not a big deal."

I could feel Rachel trying to make eye contact with me. I looked at everywhere but her cause if she saw she'd know something was wrong.

"Come on. Let's get going!" I encouraged with a large smile.

We walked down the hall together, Rachel stopping by her locker. I stood off to the side and patiently waited as she switched out her books for the night.

"What's this?" Rachel asked as she leaned in and pulled something out.

"What's what?" I asked, eyeing her.

Rachel pulled out a medium sized envelope. A large smile grew on her face as she eyed me. "I see… What have we got here?" She slowly opened up the envelope. The smile from her face quickly dropped. "What- what is this? Is this supposed to be some kind of joke?"

I stood beside Rachel and looked down to see what it was. My jaw fell open. Pictures. They were all pictures of Rachel. Dozens of them. My heart started racing. Rachel continued flipping through them. Mostly they were all of her. I could see me in a few of them, us kissing or hugging.

"Tell me this is some kind of joke?" Rachel urged out, looking at me.

My eyes were seeing red as I grabbed the pictures, flipping through them. Pictures of Rachel at her house, in her bedroom, changing. The last picture made my heart stop. My blood boiled over. Rachel was asleep in her bed. Someone had taken a picture of her inside her bedroom.

I quickly spun on my heels and stormed off down the hall.

"You're telling me that you guys can't do anything about it?" I screamed out.

"Quinn-"

"Look we understand how upset you-"

"YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT I'M FEELING RIGHT NOW!"

"Ma'am-"

"SOMEONE WAS IN HER FUCKING BEDROOM!"

"We can put up a patrol car for a few nights. Right now we are reviewing tape of the school's corridors to see if we can find out who did it."

"You guys are pathetic." I spat out, throwing open Detective Ramirez's office door.

I rushed out of the police station, Rachel following behind. A hand reached out and grabbed my arm. I winced and quickly pulled away. Rachel eyed me and then looked down at the arm she grabbed. Before I could make a move she'd already pounced and lifted up my sleeve. Her eyes went wide as she took in the four large pink puffy wounds.

"It was a rabid dog. He came out of nowhere when I was walking home from school. It's nothing." I uttered, removing my arm from Rachel's grasp and covering it back up.

Rachel shook her head in disbelief. "Why are you lying to me?"

I looked up at her, shocked. "What?"

"You're lying to me. First about that project with Tina, then about you feeling okay, and now this?" she nodded to my arm.

"I'm not-"

"Don't tell me that you're not lying to me! I can see it!" Rachel argued.

I roughly scratched the edge of my jaw, staring at her. She knew I was lying. But what could I say? I couldn't tell her the truth.

"You know what? Just- Just go home Quinn. Get some sleep. I'll call you tomorrow." Rachel rattled off.

"I'm NOT leaving you alone. Not when there's some fucking freak that's following you around." I shoveled out.

"That's not your decision to make! Quite frankly, I really don't care to be around you right now, not when you're acting like this. And especially not when you're lying to me!"

"Rach-"

"Go home Quinn." Rachel finished off before taking off down the street to her car.

I stared after her, growling under my breath. "Like hell I am." I muttered.

"Are you really alright man cause you look a little sick." Puck commented.

I glared at him. "I'm fine."

"You sure about that? Maybe you should sleep-"

"Puck, someone is stalking my girlfriend. Someone is breaking into her house and snapping photos of her while she is sleeping."

The boy nodded, a stern look on his face. "Let's get the son of a bitch."

We sat in Puck's truck about a few houses down from Rachel's house. A police car was parked out front. Rachel and her dad were at home, the lights still on.

"So girlfriend huh? I can't say I expected that!"

"Me either." I responded.

"How long have you two been…"

"A couple of weeks." I nodded.

"Ahh, so you're the reason why they broke up." Puck remarked.

"They were having problems way before I showed up." I shot back.

"Hey, Hey! Don't bite my head off alright! I was just kidding."

I sighed and tiredly rubbed at my eyes.

"Look, why don't you take a nap. I got the first shift. And then we can switch off." Puck stated.

"Okay." I blew out.

I leaned back in my seat, staring at Rachel's house. A part of me was doing everything in my power not to sleep. I didn't want to, especially after that last dream. I couldn't stop thinking about it. It scared the hell out of me. What was it supposed to mean? And those scratches…. My eyes began drooping ever so slightly. Why the bridge? Why the water? Why the car? Why Rachel?

And then darkness draped over me.

"I WILL SHOW YOU PAIN LIKE NO OTHER!"

Flashes of images busted through my head. I screamed in agony as pictures burned into my head. Suddenly I was in the middle of a desert. Red sand….. Just like Tina's dream. I looked up. The sky was ripped open. Chains were falling from the sky. Dozens of screams pierced through the land. It was just like Tina had described it. Giants were fighting against humans. Blood…. Blood was everywhere. A crash of thunder sounded, winged creatures from the skies flew down. A few of them started killing humans with swords. More wings fell from the sky. I watched as they crashed into the ground, rattling the sand. The angels stood at 15 ft, their wings drawn out. I looked closer at their wings. Something was off about them. Their color….

Just then an immense pain seared through my head as flashes quickly zoomed by like a rollercoaster. Wings attacking wings. Blood falling from the sky. The bridge. The car. Water. Smoke rising from a building. Rachel crying, holding a lifeless body. Chains. Fire. A white bathtub. A gold necklace. Red eyes. A woman with two swords.

I gasped for breath, my eyes opening.

"Come on Quinn. Stay with me. Come on!" Puck uttered.

I coughed loudly, rolling off to the side and throwing up. A hand gently rubbed my back. My hands were pressed against pavement. A fresh cool breeze wafted around me. My heart began to slow down. When did I get outside?

Steady hands slowly lifted me up until I was leaning against Puck's truck. When I looked at the taller boy his eyes were staring at me, horrified.

"Y-you were sleeping a-and then all of a sudden you started gasping, l-like you couldn't breathe." Puck started off. "Then your eyes rolled to the back of your head and you started shaking. I got you out of the truck and laid you down. And then you just-"

"I what?" I asked fearfully.

Puck continued staring at me. "You stopped breathing." He barely got out.

"But you got me back up and running." I stated, trying to play this off.

"Quinn you stopped breathing for a full minute."

"I'm fine!" I ground out.

"Your nose is bleeding."

I quickly wiped it away with the edge of my sleeve. "See, all gone."

"You need to see a doctor Quinn."

"Not you too." I shook my head.

"This isn't right. That- That's not normal!" Puck spouted out.

"Well it's normal for me." I replied back, opening Puck's door and grabbing my stuff.

"You can't be serious! Quinn you stopped breathing for a minute!"

"AND I TOLD YOU I'M FINE!" I shouted, slamming his door.

"Where are you going?"

"Keep an eye on Rachel." I ordered before taking off down the street.

Bet you didn't expect one so fast? Lol, I told you I'm back baby! Sorry it's a little short. But I'm building some stuff up here. You like? Want to find out what's going? Tell me! Let me know! Leave me a little love note down at the bottom. Your thoughts? What do you think is happening? Is Quinn going crazy? Find out next time!- Firebluez

Shout out to Meggie Cooper, J, Nekary, and Mythic-Lionheart for leaving me your love. I love you guys too! :)