Kurt struggled to get his thoughts in order, pain and fear starting to take over. He searched around for something useful, anything to aid his escape. Kurt gasped as he spotted a phone of the wall and quickly grabbed it. He clumsily punched in Blaine's number, misdialling a number of times before he succeeded in typing in the code correctly, sobbing with relief.

"NO!" Kurt screamed when a voice in his ear started talking that was decidedly not Blaine. This call could not be connected. Please check the number and try again.

Kurt slammed the phone against the wall with an anguished scream, the phone splitting and cracking under his hands. Kurt dropped the phone and it clattered to the ground with a thump, shards of the cheap plastic fanning out across the floor.

"No, I need Blaine," Kurt ground out, trying to stop the tears. "I have to get out. I need Blaine. I need to get home." Kurt kept repeating to himself, needing motive to get out before Karofsky came back and did God knows what to him. It was far too tempting to just crumble on the floor and never rise again.

But it was clear that Karofsky was struggling with his sexuality, so far in the closet that even Narnia couldn't find him, which made him dangerous, leaving Kurt with only one option. Kurt strode into the living room and picked up the chair he had been tied to. He took a deep, steadying breath. With a cry of pain Kurt swung the chair and released it. The object went flying through the air and straight at the window, colliding with it. Glass smashed and sprayed everywhere. Kurt shielded his face with his arms as glass poured over him. Panting, Kurt slowly straightened himself out, chancing a glance at the window which, thankfully, now only existed now in the shards scattered across the floor.

He was tired and cold and the pain was slowly chipping away at him. He had no idea how much longer he could do this.

"Got to get to Blaine," Kurt gritted his teeth and headed to the window. He smashed out the few shards of remaining glass, whimpering at some that had embedded itself in his hand and looked around. He went to the kitchen and pulled another chair over to the window. Kurt steadied himself and climbed on to the chair, willing his legs to hold him, though he was in so much pain that he could barely stand. He climbed onto the ledge of the window and jumped through.

He landed on the ground, but his knees buckled and he fell over, crashing to the ground. Kurt moaned and pushed himself back up to his feet shakily. He looked around and was surprised that the forest was bathed in a silvery glow. Kurt looked skywards and saw that it was nearly full moon and it was providing some sort of light.

Kurt started moving, eager to get away from the house. He followed the driveway, knowing that he needed to stick to it, otherwise he would get lost. He had never been to the lake, he and Blaine never wanting to hang out where their tormenters went and they tended to opt for more enjoyable places. Annie, Edward and Burt usually took him and Blaine to the beach during the warmer days. The beach wasn't one of his favourite places but he enjoyed it; he always enjoyed going anywhere with Blaine. Going to the beach always meant lots of sunscreen because Kurt never tanned, only freckled and got burnt. Blaine loved the beach and always came back tanned and glowing, which admittedly, Kurt enjoyed seeing. He would take the beach over this any day; never again would he complain about it.

Kurt stumbled his way down the driveway, dripping over loose rocks and sticks, one arm pressed to his chest, as if he could push away the pain. He followed it for about ten minutes, falling to his knees once or twice when the reality of the situation came crashing over him and the terror built up again.

Finally the forest started thinning and the main road came into view. Kurt sobbed with relief, closing his eyes briefly before stepping on to the road. Kurt started walking in the direction he hoped led him back towards Lima, though he was so confused and dizzy right now that he could barely decipher which way was up. He stuck to the side of the road and kept looking behind him with blind terror, in case someone drove past or worse, Karofsky came back.

Blaine ran downstairs, tripping over his feet in hast as he hurried to get down stairs. "MUM! DAD!" Blaine cried, dashing through the house.

"Blaine?" Came Annie's voice, clouded with concern, from the direction of the kitchen. Blaine sprinted to the kitchen and came to a skidding halt in front of all the adults.

"What is it?" Edward asked, setting down his newspaper. Blaine tried to pointedly ignore the headline that read 'Lima Teen Snatched from Car Wreck'.

Blaine couldn't speak and all but threw his phone at Edward who took it. Edward scanned over the messages and his eyes widened. "Call the police," Edward said, voice devoid of any emotion. He couldn't let himself get his hopes up.

"What is it?" Annie asked, picking up the phone and dialling 911.

"It looks like Kurt's kidnapper made contact," Edward said, giving Burt a look that clearly read 'don't read the messages, don't do it, please don't do it'.

Burt ripped the phone out of Edward's hands, ignoring his non-verbal warnings, and read the messages. He knees buckled and he went pale, falling back into his seat. "Bastard," Burt growled dangerously. "I'll kill him."

"Yes, hello? I need Officer Matthew Tudor. It's about Kurt Hummel," Annie said, voice high and bordering on hysterical. "Yes, Officer, we have some news for you…"

Ten minutes later, Matthew was striding into the Hummel-Hudson home with a team of policeman behind him, carrying a large silver suitcase.

"Tell me exactly what happened," Matthew instructed.

Blaine took a deep breath and started explain that he had gotten home, went to Kurt's room and received a message from an unknown number. Matthew took the phone and read the messages, Blaine catching the brief look of horror on his face before his professional mask was put back in place.

"I've brought some experts with me who will be able to trace the messages," Matthew said, handing the phone over to a nerdy looking man who moved to the table and opened up the silver suitcase. It was filled with wires and a keyboard, a screen attached to the inside of the case. It looked like something out of an episode of CSI. Finn watched anxiously as the man started connecting wires to the phone and typing rapidly at the key board.

"Has anybody else had contact?" Matthew asked.

"No," Burt replied, shortly. His brain was still short-circuiting, trying to process what the messages had said and resisting the urge to punch something.

"OK, I'm going to put a couple of officers on the house," Matthew said. "It's clear that the kidnapper has been stalking Kurt for a while and knows about Blaine. This is just a precaution."

"Thank you, Officer," Carol answered for them, everyone looking too horrified to answer. Blaine shook with terror at the thought of this creep with Kurt, doing god only knows what to him. The computer suddenly emitted a stream of loud beeps and everyone turned to the nerdy looking officer who was hunched over the silver case.

"Sir," he started. His voice had a distinctive nasal quality. "The number's running through the system now." Matthew went over to him and stood behind him, watching the screen intently. The others waited anxiously and jumped when the computer started dinging. "Got it," the guy informed him.

"Good work Steve," Matthew said, clapping him on the shoulder.

"It belongs to a Dave Karofsky," Steve replied, peering at the screen.

"Dave Karofsky!" Finn yelped, looking shocked.

Matthew and everyone else turned to him sharply. "You know him?" Matthew demanded.

"He goes to McKinley…he's, er – he's on the football team with me," Finn answered. "He's the biggest homophobe in the school."

"Not by the sound of those messages," Blaine growled, fists clenching.

"Officer Stan, take Jimmy with you and go pick up Dave Karofsky," Matthew said. Two of the officers nodded and quickly departed.

Blaine watched them go, swallowing heavily. They knew who had taken Kurt. There was chance that he was ok, that Kurt would be returned to him safely. The thought made Blaine's knees weak and he trembled with anticipation. "Harold and Tim are going to stay with you," Matthew said. "I need to get back to police station to question Karofsky when he's brought in. I'll ring you as soon as we find anything."

"Thank you," Burt said heavily, voice thick with emotion.

"Thank you so much," Annie whispered and Carol was nodding in agreement, tears streaming down her cheeks.

Matthew nodded politely and swept out of the room. Steve began packing up the silver suitcase. With a brief nod he was out the door too, leaving them alone with only Harold and Tim.

Annie went to Blaine and pulled him into a hug. "Are you OK, darling?" Annie asked and Blaine shook his head.

"I need Kurt," Blaine whispered painfully.

"I know you do," Annie said. "But we know who's taken him and they're going to find him and Kurt's going to be OK." Annie still had tears streaming down her face and hugged Blaine tightly.

"Come on," Edward urged quietly and led them to the living room. Blaine sat down heavily on the couch, his knees no longer able to hold him upright. Carol, Finn and Burt joined them in the living room, collapsing on the nearby available seats.

Finn stared at the TV, his face blank. He couldn't believe that it was Karofsky who had taken Kurt. The guy was the biggest jerk and biggest homophobe at McKinley. Why on earth would he want Kurt? Finn guessed that when both Kurt and Blaine had come to watch New Directions perform, Karofsky had seen them then. Finn felt a wave of guilt pass over him. He was the one who had invited them. New Directions had basically introduced Karofsky to Kurt. Shit. All this time, Blaine had been blaming himself, when actually it was all Finn's fault. How would Blaine ever forgive him for this? Worse, how would Kurt?

Burt was holding Carol tightly, his hands shaking with anticipation. He needed his son to be OK, to be unharmed. Too much had already happened to that boy and now this? What more could life throw at him, at Blaine too? He silently prayed that they would receive the call soon. The wait was killing him. He could see that it was killing Blaine too.

An hour later they were still in the same position. Blaine had gotten up and started pacing, unable to keep still, needing to do something, anything. The sharp shrill of the phone broke the tense silence and Burt jumped up, grabbing it tightly.

"Hello?" Burt asked, breathlessly. "Yes, we'll be right there," Burt said and hung up, turning to face his audience. He tried to remain impassive, but couldn't stop the grin growing on his features. "They have Kurt."

Blaine let out a strangled sob of relief and the girls burst into more tears.

Kurt had been walking along the main road when he heard sirens. He gasped and looked around blindly. He debated running off the road, in case it was police but then he saw the red and blue lights and knew that they meant home. The cars skidded to a halt and Kurt shielded his eyes against the bright lights.

"Kurt?" Came a deep, unfamiliar voice. Kurt whimpered in response. The figure came closer to him and Kurt stumbled back in fear, falling back onto the tarmac with a thud. He curled in on himself, adopting a foetal position. He knew he was safe now but he was still so scared.

"Kurt, I'm Officer Matthew Tudor," he said gently, bending down next to the boy. "It's ok. You're safe now. We're going to take you home."

"Blaine?" Kurt whimpered, opening his eyes to look at his saviour.

"Back to Blaine," Matthew told him, smiling tentatively. Kurt smiled for the first time in hours – though it felt like years – and uncurled. "Can you walk?" Kurt considered this for a few moments before shaking his head. There was simply no strength left in his body. "OK, let's get you home." Matthew reached out his arms and picked Kurt up, holding him close to his body. They started towards the police car, but Kurt was unconscious by the time they got there, his pulse fading until it was barely noticeable. On noticing this, Matthew started to panic.

"Shit, no!" He cried, bundling Kurt into the passenger seat and roaring off into the night. We can't lose him, not now…