“Rachel, you're being paranoid. I'm sure it's just a coincidence. That Lauren girl was eighteen, right? She might not even be missing. Maybe she just was under too much pressure, freaked out and ran off. It doesn't mean that there's some madman on the loose hunting down NYADA applicants,” Kurt concluded, waving his hands emphatically. He picked up his coffee and took another sip.

“I need a refill, I'll be right back,” Blaine said, taking his empty cup and hurrying away from the conversation.

“I can't help it, I'm just so scared, Kurt.” Rachel's face twisted up and she began to cry.

Kurt got up from his chair and wrapped Rachel in a soothing hug, resting his chin on her hair. “Shhh, don't be scared, sweetie. Who would want to hurt Rachel Berry?”

Blaine returned with his coffee and reclaimed his seat, scooting closer to Rachel and patting her shoulder.

“Kurt, is that a New York City subway token on your bracelet? It's so cool, it looks vintage.” Rachel pulled Kurt's wrist up to her face and examined the trinket. It featured a cut-out “Y” shape in the center, and had been ringed with silver and attached to a short cord. “Where did you get it? I want one just like it.”

Blaine shot Kurt a startled look.

“Oh, I just got it on the street, somewhere random.” Kurt replied, extricating his hand and tucking it under the table, out of sight.

* * * * *

Kurt fiddled with the radio until it picked up a Chicago-area Top 40 station. There was some static, but as they drew closer to the city the signal cleared up.

Kurt was antsy. He drummed his fingers on his knee and looked out the window. The sun would be down in an hour, and he would have preferred to already be in the city by now. Blaine had wanted to sleep in that morning, and then insisted on driving for some reason, so Kurt couldn't even speed to make up the lost time.

Blaine cleared his throat. “Kurt? Can we talk about something real quick?”

Kurt opened his eyes extra-wide and fluttered his eyelashes at Blaine before he responded. “Of course. If something's bothering you I want to know about it. What's on your mind?”

Blaine chewed his lip, taking in Kurt's face, then stared at the road ahead as he continued. “Why are we going to Chicago?”

“To check out the competition, of course,” Kurt replied.

Blaine sighed. “To check out the competition, or, to, you know 'check-out' the competition?”

Kurt suppressed a giggle. “An honest and open relationship is important to me, Blaine. If you want the truth, then no, I had no intentions of leaving Pendleton or Canada alive.”

Blaine clenched his hands around the steering wheel and breathed deeply. “What about Lauren in New York?”

Kurt patted Blaine's forearm and smirked. “Oh, honey, that was a genuine accident. If only she hadn't sung that particular song...”

“How long is this going to go on, Kurt?” Blaine asked, his voice rising in desperation. “Do you have a plan? When will it stop?”

“Don't worry about that,” Kurt said with a wave of his hand. “I just wanted to take out these two, and then give NYADA a chance to reconsider. At this rate, the midwest will be woefully underrepresented in the entering class.”

“That sounds... reasonable...” Blaine said.

“And if that doesn't work, we'll figure something else out,” Kurt grinned, with a wave of his hand.

Blaine was silent for a long time. “Kurt, you know I love you. You're the love of my life. But this is really difficult for me. I don't know if I can...”

Kurt cut him off with a whine. “Blaine! You said you'd do anything to help me. I can't possibly do this without you. Think about it, you've kept me safe, helped me clean up... I would have been caught long ago without you. If you leave me now, it's hopeless.”

“It's okay, It's okay! I'm not going anywhere” Blaine sighed. “What exit am I looking for, sweetie?”

* * * * *

With Pendleton safely bound and gagged in the trunk, the boys continued up the interstate towards Milwaukee. They stopped and parked the car in front of an old duplex in a quiet, but somewhat run-down section of the city.

“I'm glad you're taking some precautions, finally,” Blaine remarked as Kurt snapped on a latex glove.

Kurt arched an eyebrow in his direction. “Does it give you ideas, lover?”

“Um.... what? You know what, never mind, I don't want to know,” Blaine said following Kurt out of the car and around the back of the house.

After gaining entrance through a hatch to the basement, the boys quietly ascended the stairs and snatched Canada out of bed, gagging him with a pair of underwear snatched from the floor. They eventually managed to carry the struggling boy to the basement.

“Hang on a second, I have an idea,” Kurt said. A Blaine held Canada down, Kurt ran up the stairs and reappeared with two belts, one red and one brown. He looped the brown belt around the boy's neck and pulled it snug, stepping lightly on his chest. Blaine pinned Canada's arms and legs down to the floor.

“What do you think, Blaine? Kurt panted, momentarily out of breath. “Do you like this one? Do you want us to have some fun with him first?”

“I'll defer to you on that one,” Blaine said, raising his hands briefly before quickly putting them back down again when Canada kicked.

“No, no sweetie, it's your turn to pick. Do you like this one or should we skip it?” Kurt emphasized his sentences with a few sharp tugs on the belt to discourage Canada from struggling.

“He's... he's fine, but I'm just not feeling that right now. But I will if that's what you want,” Blaine said.

“Save yourself for later, it's perfectly all right. We can skip this one.” Kurt winked at Blaine saucily.

Canada stared up at Kurt with impossibly wide, pleading eyes, working around the gag. “Mmmph... ulgh... rrr you gon' let me go?”

Kurt's laughter rang out through the basement, as high and clear as a child's laugh. “Of course not! This is the last night of your life whether we fuck you or not. Anyway! Blaine, help me flip him over. And fix that gag.” Canada screamed, muffled by the gag and Blaine's fist.

Kurt spent the next thirty minutes asking Canada yes-or-no questions about his NYADA audition, tears streaming down the boy's dark brown cheeks. When he could think of nothing else to ask, he calmly stood up, stepped on the boy's back and yanked the belt as hard as he could.

“Er... what was the other belt for, then?”

Kurt looped the belt around his waist and buckled it, twirling with his hands on his hips. “Red is so my color, don't you think?”

* * * * *

“Kurt, honey... you're getting blood on your clothes,” Blaine pleaded.

“Oh baby, won't you play me Le Jazz Hot maybe...” Kurt carved the bowie knife down the midline of Pendleton's nude, bound and gagged body. “...and don't ever let it end.”

“Kurt, baby...” Blaine said, “I know you never wear knock-offs, but...” this earned a warning glare from Kurt, “...that sweater REALLY is the real deal, isn't it?”

“I tell you, friend, it's really something to hear...” Kurt swiped the blade upward to Pendleton's face, neatly slicing off her left ear. “I can't stay still when there's that rhythm near me...”

“What if you stop for a minute and take your sweater off, and I'll soak it?”

“Oh, so baby, Le Jazz Hot may be...” Kurt arced his arm overhead and sliced horizontally across Pendleton's abdomen, exposing coils of intestine to the night air. “...what's holding my soul together!”

“Kurt... you're going to regret this in the morning.”

Kurt sighed and sat back on his heels. “I know. You're being so sweet, but I'm having too much fun to stop! I'm so fucking hard right now. I want you to get down here with me and feel this, too.”

Blaine knelt in the freshly-dug pit next to Kurt and Pendleton. “But... that's a girl...”

“It's not the girl! It's the blood! The heat.” Kurt lapped experimentally at the blade of the knife, smiling at the taste. Red crept up his teeth as he smiled at Blaine.

Blaine's eyes grew dark as he watched Kurt lick his lips. “Kurt, no... don't do that...”

Kurt's face fell. “What's the matter, sweetie?” he frowned.

“Remember what you said before...” Blaine reached out a hand to caress Kurt's waist. “...after I swallowed that guy's come?” Blaine's voice hitched, but he continued. “That he was a part of me... and that you thought it was hot...”

Blaine grabbed Kurt's shoulders and kissed him hard enough to bruise, mouth opening wide and tongue pressing aggressively to part Kurt's lips and teeth. He didn't let up on his attack until he had licked every trace of blood from Kurt's mouth.

Kurt pulled out of the kiss and caught his breath, placing a restraining hand on Blaine's chest. “I'm about five minutes away from jumping you, and I need you to help me make absolutely sure she won't be able to run away by that point.” He pointed to Pendleton with his knife.

“Well... that's easy...” Blaine said, unbuckling his belt. He was wearing his second-favorite pair of jeans and he really didn't want them ruined, though his shirt was a lost cause after the kiss. “Slice behind each of her knees.”