"Kurt, just stop for a moment."

Kurt brushed past his father, accidentally knocking him back against the wall with what he meant to be a light nudge. Sometimes when he was angry or overwhelmed he would forget his own strength. Burt stared at him in shock. The light thump of his father hitting the wall brought the teen back to his senses.

"Oh my god, dad," Kurt rushed over to put a hand on his father's shoulder. "I'm so sorry. I wasn't thinking. Are you okay?" Burt looked at his son sympathetically, albeit cautiously.

"I'm fine kiddo. Your old man doesn't break that easily. Will you just slow down though and talk to me?"

"You don't understand! This man is evil! He's already tried to kill us... more than once, and he has Blaine!" Kurt tried to brush past his father one more time but Burt grabbed his son's shoulders and stopped him.

"Look, I know that I'm pretty new to this whole world. It doesn't make much sense to me, and to be perfectly honest I'm kind of hoping that I'll go to sleep tonight and wake up to find it was all a dream. I had the same hope last night though... and look where we are."

Kurt cracked a small smile then, remembering how incredulous he'd been when he was first called. Honestly his dad was handling things incredibly well.

"I need you to stop and think, son. This doesn't make any sense."

Kurt opened his mouth to argue but Burt interrupted him.

"Let's look at this logically. You were in the garage and he was in the house... at the same time. Out of nowhere you went all crazy." At Kurt's indignant look Burt just shrugged. "Sorry kid, but you did look a little crazed. Anyway, you shouted that 'he' had taken Blaine and rushed into the house. Only seconds after you ran through the garage door, Blaine came rushing through it from the other side. How on earth did you even miss each other?"

Kurt's eyes widened and he grabbed his father by the shoulders.

"You saw Blaine?! You saw him?!"

"Yes, that's what I've been trying to tell you," Burt grunted, "Can you please loosen your grip? Geez, you're like a goddamn vice!"

"Sorry," Kurt grimaced, letting go of his father and awkwardly patting his shirt back into place. "I don't understand though. You can't have really seen Blaine. Like you said, I would have passed him in the garage. It must have been... I don't know, an illusion or something."

Burt looked at him skeptically.

"He looked real enough to me."

"What happened? What did he say?" Kurt ran his fingers through his hair anxiously.

Every nerve in his body felt like it was on fire. His instincts were screaming for him to dash out of the house with no further thought, and tear the town apart until he found his boyfriend. He knew he couldn't though. This was exactly what Chelsea was always talking to him about. Sometime he was rash and reckless. His impressive talent and sheer luck had always kept him from harm when he acted without thinking, but this time it wasn't just about him. It was about Blaine and Chelsea, not to mention his father was now involved. He had to force himself to stop and think logically. He had to be calm and in control. He had to grow up.

It sucked ass.

"He said that, whoever this guy is, was after you too... that he was going to control you or something." Kurt snapped his head up in shock at that.

"Control me?"

"Yeah, he was pretty panicked about it." Burt was looking at his son uneasily, like he was wondering if there were invisible hands moving his son like a puppet. Kurt rolled his eyes.

"I'm not being controlled dad!"

"You've gotta admit that what happened in the garage was pretty freaky, Kurt! Someone or something caused you to think and feel things. You don't think that's a form of controlling you?"

Kurt just stared at his dad, feeling equally uneasy now. He quickly shook his head though. No, that was too weird. No one was controlling him... right?

"What happened then, dad?"

"He ran off then! That's what happened! I tried to stop him, but the kid is strong."

Kurt groaned in frustration and turned to pace back and forth.

"No matter what happened I still need to go after him!"

"You're not going after him until we make some sense of this." Burt crossed his arms stubbornly. Kurt's eyes narrowed and he took on an equally stubborn stance that mimicked his father.

"What do you expect me to do, dad? Just sit here and wait to see what happens? I'm the Slayer! It's my job to protect people!"

"You're not thinking clearly though! Something is seriously wrong and we need to figure out what's going on before you go charging out there!"

"I'm not just gonna go charging out there!" Kurt threw up his hands in frustration. "I am thinking clearly!"

"You're not actually."

Father and son turned in surprise to see Brittany dash into the room breathlessly, with Finn close on her heels.

"What are you doing here, Brit?" Kurt asked anxiously. "And what do you mean? How do you know..." he pulled back warily when she stepped right up to his face, eyeing him carefully. She reached out a hand and began swatting around his face. She peered at the air around him in concentration and kept swinging her hand around, occasionally pinching her fingers together as if squashing an invisible bug. All three guys just stared at her like she was insane.

"Brit, what in the..."

"Shhhh." She shushed Kurt as she swatted a couple more times. "You need to be quiet, dolphin. I'm trying to clear your aura. You're surrounded by confusion and blindness." She looked up then and glanced around the house curiously. "There are trails of it all over the house."

She reached into a satchel at her side and pulled out a handful of some bright blue dust. She sprinkled it over his head while muttering some words under her breath. Kurt simply closed his eyes and let her work. He had no idea what was going on, but he knew Brittany well enough by now to trust her completely, both in her instincts and in her spellwork.

Burt watched the blonde sprinkle what looked like glitter over his son with wide eyes, not sure whether to be freaked out or feel grateful that she was trying to help him. Finn just blinked his eyes repeatedly, looking as if he expected to wake from a dream at any moment.

Out of nowhere, Kurt gasped, gripping at his stomach as if he had been punched in the gut. He sank to the floor with a tiny moan, pulling his hands up to clutch his head. Burt let out a small noise of dismay, and made to dive down next to his son, but Brittany held out a hand and shook her head.

"You can't interrupt. The counter charm needs time to settle in fully."

"Counter... what?" Finn stepped forward with a raised eyebrow.

"How do I know for sure that you're not doing something that's hurting him?" Burt snapped, realizing the moment he said it that he was probably being overly-protective. Who could blame him though? In the last seventeen hours he felt liked he'd been thrown into an ocean of deep and magical waters, with no life jacket.

"I'd never hurt him!" Brittany looked at Burt in shock. "He's my dolphin!"

Burt just looked more confused than ever, while Finn chuckled under his breath. Even without having a clue of what was going on, Finn was still amused at Brit's way of completely throwing people off. None of them had a chance to say anything more though, as Kurt chose that moment to climb to his feet unsteadily.

"Oh my god..." he turned anxious eyes to Brittany and gripped her shoulders. "Please tell me that what I'm seeing now isn't true."

She looked back at him solemnly, then spoke in a moment of eloquence and conciseness that showed how dire the situation truly was.

"I can't. What you're seeing now is the truth. The whole truth. Some of what you saw has already happened. Some of what you saw is in the process, and can't be stopped no matter what we do. Other parts are what he intends... and what will happen if we don't change the course of this battle. I've cleared your mind of everything false, and have shown you what I've seen."

Kurt shook his head slowly, a tear forming in his eye.

"Which parts will I be able to stop and which parts are inevitable?"

"I can't tell you that," she whispered. "Only time will tell."

Kurt let go of her shoulders, shaking his head faster as he stared at her in disbelief.

Burt and Finn jumped in surprise as a tortured wail escaped his lips. He whipped around desperately and grabbed the first thing he saw, a small end table, and threw it across the room where it shattered into thousands of pieces. The Slayer breathed heavily for a moment before wiping away a tear angrily. With another sharp cry, he made to dash away.

"Going after Blaine right in this moment will only make things worse," Brittany said softly, stopping him in his tracks. "You will be playing right into his hands."

"What do you expect me to do?!" Kurt swirled back around, glaring at all three accusingly, though he knew deep down that it wasn't their fault. "I can't just let him..." he choked before he could finish the sentence.

"I didn't say that we weren't going to do anything at all," Brittany said calmly. "We just need more information and a plan at the very least before we start this. I don't know anything beyond what I showed you, Kurt. We need to try and get ahold of Chelsea. She'll be able to help us."

Kurt's head shot up. He had a look that said he wanted to be hopeful, but couldn't bare to let himself.

"Chelsea? So, she's..."

"For the moment," Brittany responded softly. Kurt sank back against the wall, covering his face with his hands.

"What the fuck do we do? I've never felt so helpless."

"You are going to go and pack up some supplies, enough for the both of us. Take everything we can easily carry. I'm going to explain some of what is going on to your dad and brother. They deserve to know. We'll go from there."

Kurt nodded slowly, wanting to say something, anything to the people in from of him. He wanted to apologize to his father for ruining everything in their lives. He wanted to explain things to Finn, who looked like he was fairly certain he was in the Twilight Zone.

He wanted to thank Brittany. Not only had she saved him from making a terrible mistake, she had taken charge and cleared up the confusion in a way that only she could. Part of the beauty of Brittany, was that when push came to shove, she could be one of the most clear-headed and thoughtful people he knew. The witch wasn't nearly as daffy as people believed her to be. She just saw things differently than everyone else. She saw truths that most people missed. Moments like these, when circumstances necessitated it, her unique wisdom shone brightly.

Kurt wanted to fix this. To be the leader they all needed. Brittany would only last for so long. He wanted to... but he couldn't. Not yet. He nodded at them while looking at the ground, before patting each on the arm as he passed and quickly making his way to his room to start packing.

There was a moment of silence after he jogged up the stairs where the other three looked at each other uncomfortably, trying to figure out their next move. Finn broke the silence first.

"Um, I feel like this is probably unnecessary to point out, but I think that Kurt might be taking steroids. Is anyone else concerned about that?"

"Oh," Brittany responded with her usual cheery grin. "It's not steroids. It's caveman magic. Some of the same benefits, but without the shrunken testicles."

Finn opened and closed his mouth a few times, a couple of unintelligible sounds coming out as he gaped at the witch.

Burt thunked his head back against the wall with a groan, unable to believe that their apparent fate was in the hands of teenagers.

Kurt's hands shook as he ripped open the door to his closet. He slipped out of his jeans and t-shirt, pulling on the close fitting, yet comfortable combat clothing he saved for special missions with Chelsea. He tossed on the vest with all of the hidden compartments, filling each pocket with stakes of varying sizes, holy water, knives, and even a few charms that Brittany had made for him in the past.

As he pulled a lightweight backpack from under his bed to start filling with weapons and supplies... it happened. He broke. He didn't know what to do at first. He never broke.

Panic swirled up inside of him. He couldn't breathe. His eyes burned and tears started running down his cheeks. He choked and gasped for air as broken sobs exploded from his chest. He shook his hands out in front of him desperately, as if he hoped to shake and toss away the fear and anguish that were radiating from his core.

After a moment though, he realized that it wasn't possible. There was no ignoring these feelings. There was no pushing them aside. There was no escape. He had to feel them. He had to let himself be overwhelmed, just for a moment. One moment of pure weakness. Then he could be strong again.

He sank and collapsed on the floor, letting himself wallow in fear, anger and absolute grief for the first time in his life.

When he had heard people prattle on about how they just wanted to die when something horrible happened in their lives, he had always scoffed, annoyed at their weakness. Now he knew though. It wasn't always an exaggeration. If the things that he had seen came to pass, he would want nothing more than to die.

That was the most terrifying part of the whole scenario though. If their enemy's plans came to fruition, he would be the only one left standing... and it would be his fault that everyone he loved was dead.

"Okay, short and sweet," Burt said with a sigh. "Tell me what the hell is going on."

He, Finn and Brittany were sitting at the kitchen table while Kurt was preparing things for their departure. Finn opened his mouth to speak with a furrowed brow, but Burt held up a hand to stop him.

"Look, bud. I know you have a ton of questions, and I promise that you'll get filled in. Right now it's more important that I know exactly what is happening. I'll tell you everything I know soon. Okay?"

Finn nodded with a hard swallow, sinking back into his chair. He had never felt quite so lost before. Apparently someone had been kidnapped, there was some evil enemy out there trying to kill people, Brittany was suddenly and freakishly in charge, and his brother had been possessed by cavemen... and they all seemed to think that it was perfectly normal. Burt sighed.

"Okay Finn. I'm going to tell you something and you just need to take me at my word and not question me, because I don't have the time to really explain. Your brother is a vampire slayer, i.e., he spends his days killing vampires. Some, special magical calling kinda thing. His boyfriend has apparently just been taken by somebody really bad and we're trying to figure out how to keep people from dying."

Finn nodded slowly.

"Sure," he choked out. "Vampires. Magic. People dead. Kurt's got a mystery boyfriend. Got it."

Burt patted his hand appreciatively then turned back to Brittany with an expectant look on his face.

"Okay," the witch nodded, eyeing Finn sympathetically. "Well, this is what I know. There is a man out there, well, not a man, a vampire, who is mortal enemies with Chelsea."

Burt nodded quickly, while Finn nodded woodenly.

"Sure," the teen muttered. "Mortal enemies. You hear that word in real life every day."

"Well," Brittany continued, "This is what I know of their history. Chelsea shared it with me when she asked me to keep an eye out for Blaine and put special wards around him. She swore me to secrecy," she said uncomfortably, "but with everything that's happened, I think it's okay to tell you. This man, this vampire, was in an alliance with the counsel a few years back. He supplied information and acted as a spy. I think that at one time he had a genuine desire to help. Kind of a more recent 'Spike'."

Finn and a Burt looked at each other in confusion. Finn whispered, "What's a spike in their language?" Burt shrugged, figuring that it didn't make much difference seeing as he caught the gist of what she was saying. The witch didn't seem to notice their confusion and went on talking.

"He fell in love with a woman though, who was definitely NOT interested in helping the counsel. I'm told she was this exotic beauty, and had this... 'magical aura' about her. Most men, humans, vampires, demons... all of them... fell in love with her the moment they met her. They couldn't help themselves. Personally I believe that she had some relation to a kumiho."

Again, Finn and Burt looked at her like they were positive they were hearing her wrong. This time she noticed.

"A kumiho is something like a European fairy."

"Sure, European fairy," Finn spoke quietly, nodding. "Makes sense. I didn't think it sounded like an American fairy."

"Actually," Brit went on, wrinkling her forehead in concentration. "It's more of a fox that can turn into a woman..."

"Yup, the spy fell in love with a fox. Got it."

Burt rubbed at his eyes and sighed heavily. He didn't know whether he was more annoyed with Finn or Brittany at this point.

"Just," he shot out in exasperation. "Can you please get on with it?! I'm sorry, honey. I'm not trying to be rude, but we're on a timeline I'm thinking. Please just give me the basics. And Finn, I could do without the commentary right now."

Finn shrank back into his seat and muttered a sorry, while Brittany nodded quickly.

"I'm sorry. I get distracted easily. Anyway, he fell in love with her. She was evil and had plans to overthrow the whole counsel and destroy the line of slayers. Chelsea was pretty new as a Watcher back then, and hadn't even had her first charge yet. She was the connection between our spy and the counsel, and the first to realize that something was wrong. She confronted him and there was a fight. Chelsea ended up killing the woman, but our traitor escaped. He caught them one night, not long after, Chelsea, Marc and Blaine... and killed Marc right in front of them. Blaine was twelve when he watched his father get murdered."

Burt clenched his fist on the table, wanting nothing more than to pull that boy into a hug. He felt like he had been punched in the heart when he suddenly remembered that Blaine was most likely in this man's clutches.

"Chelsea and Marc's sister, Janelle, hunted him and all of their followers down almost single-handedly. They trapped them in a building and burned it to the ground. It was assumed that he was destroyed along with the rest... until now."

"So this man is out for Chelsea because she killed his... um, 'lover'," he coughed, uncomfortable with using that word. "Now he's trying to capture Blaine to try and get to her. That's basically what's happening?" He looked at her with narrowed eyes, sure that there was something else. The devastation and anguish on his son's face had told him that much. Plus, the words Blaine had spoken were echoing in his head still, and now made the kind of sense that caused him to feel ill.

He's going to control him. He's going to use Kurt to kill for him.

Brittany just stared for a moment, unsure of how much she should disclose. This man was Kurt's father. It would probably destroy him to learn what was planned for his son, and there was absolutely nothing he could do to stop it. No, it was better to leave him in ignorance as far as that part was concerned.

"For the most part," she said slowly. "He plans to kill them both. He also plans on killing thousands more. Kurt is naturally in the middle of this. Chelsea is his Watcher, Blaine is his boyfriend... our enemy will use that to his advantage, play to his weaknesses so to speak. He's going to use these things to lure Kurt in, and... get him out of the way."

"Why does this man care about my brother so much," Finn asked in a dangerous voice, realizing for the first time how much danger Kurt was in. "I mean, obviously he's not gonna want his 'watch-lady' to get hurt, or his boyfriend, but why does this man care so much about getting Kurt out of the way?"

"Finn," Brittany said gently. "Kurt doesn't just kill a few vampires here and there. He is charged with protecting us all from evil and harm. It's his calling. He is the first person who will need to be dealt with in our enemy's mind."

Finn wavered for a moment in his chair, then ran a hand through his hair distractedly before muttering, "Well, shit", under his breath.

Burt watched Brittany evenly, knowing full well that she was holding something back. He decided not to push the issue for the moment.

"Explain what happened today. That whole freaky mind game he somehow played on the boys. What was that about?"

"It was a spell," Brittany sighed. "A powerful one, and a crazy difficult one too. It causes confusion and blindness for those whom the spell is cast on. In this case, he sent both Kurt and Blaine visions of his plans. There was truth in the visions he showed them, in that he fully intends to cause these things to happen. The deception came when he made them believe that those things had already taken place. He also caused them to be blinded to each other, so that they would believe the other had already been taken."

Realization sank in fully when Burt remembered both Kurt and Blaine's actions. They had seemed crazed and possessed, almost as if their actions weren't their own. Was this what Blaine had been talking about when he said that the man was going to control Kurt? Somehow he wasn't satisfied with that explanation. Some important piece of information was missing.

"How do you know these things?" Finn asked in confusion. Brittany shrugged.

"I have visions sometimes. I saw it all clearly at school today. When I cleared Kurt's mind, I shared my own true visions with him.

"The thing that really bothers me though, is that I didn't think this man was capable of a spell like that," Brittany spoke in a concerned voice. "It's such advanced magic. It took a precise combination symbols marked on the ground, an incantation that must be translated perfectly, and a very rare crystal. Like, there are probably only three of these crystals left in the world, and once it's been used, it can't be used again."

"Why is it so concerning that he can do magic like this? Isn't that normal?" Burt asked in a tight voice.

"No," Brittany whispered. "It's not actually. We are already talking about an incredibly powerful being, who could beat most of us with his sheer strength. You add the fact that he's a little bit insane and that makes it tens times worse. Add on top of that that he can perform powerful magics... and it's downright terrifying."

Finn and Burt stared back at her, having no words and feeling more helpless and nauseatingly afraid than they ever had in their lives. They had no words to respond. Brittany saw the sheer terror in their faces, and tried desperately to come up with something comforting. Before she could find anything suitable though, she heard a rustling behind her, and whipped around.

Kurt was standing there with his arms crossed, looking at them all solemnly, confidently. He was fully decked out in his sleek combat gear, high boots laced up to his knees, bands strapped to his left arm and right leg containing discreetly placed weapons. His hair was mussed and spiked, as if he had been continually running his fingers through it in distress. He had a lightweight bag strapped to his shoulders, and another for Brittany hanging from his now fully healed left arm. His eyes were just the tiniest bit red and puffy, but his expression was calm and even. Almost too calm, like the quiet before a storm.

"He doesn't know what terrifying is," Kurt said calmly. "He's never really faced me, not like this. He's fucked with the wrong person, and I'm not going to let him get away with it."

The silence was so heavy it seemed difficult to breathe. Not one single person knew how to respond. None of them had seen Kurt this way before.

The Slayer seemed to realize this and nodded his head briefly, before giving each of them a tight and forced smile.

"Brit, I've texted Chelsea. I haven't heard back yet, but we can't wait. You're right, we need her advice, but we also can't just do nothing about finding Blaine. At the very least, we need to scout him out. Please place some protective wards over my family. I'll set them up with weapons and we'll be on our way."

The witch nodded and stood to pace around Finn and Burt, muttering under her breath and occasionally sprinkling them with something or other. Burt looked weirded out and Finn kept sneezing as sparkling dust settled in his nose.

Kurt moved silently to hand Finn and Burt some basic weapons. Stakes, crosses and holy water. Should they be attacked, he didn't want them to worry about firing something like a crossbow, and be killed before they had a chance to figure it out. In this case, simpler was better. He gave them an extremely brief overview of how use them, should it be necessary, then pulled them both into a tight hug.

"Be safe. Don't leave the house. Remember, do not invite anyone in. Not anyone, Finn!"

"I won't, I won't!" Finn held his hands up defensively. "Hey, um... good luck, like, killing your vampires little bro," he finished awkwardly. Kurt smiled genuinely then, and hugged his brother once more. He moved to turn away when Burt spoke up.

"You come home tonight, mister. Your curfew is midnight, and you're in some serious trouble if you break it!"

Kurt looked back at his father, who was trying desperately not to show how distraught he was by joking around. The teen smiled another soft and genuine smile.

"I'll be back, dad. I promise."

Burt nodded, swallowing away a painful lump in his throat. He thumped Kurt firmly on the shoulder once, then watched as his son and the blonde walked out the front door, wishing more than anything that he could believe those words.

Blaine walked down the secluded alley, confusion clouding his brain as his wits returned to him, bit by bit. The magics that had taken him over were finally fading away. He slowly came to a stop, a sick feeling clenching in his gut.

Gradually, the swirling visions full of fear and horrifying events faded away. They were replaced by the knowledge that somehow those thoughts and pictures had been falsely placed in his mind. He had been controlled and possessed by those thoughts. His actions hadn't been his own while his judgment was clouded with the fear and lies. He hadn't even thought about where he was going. He had just known that he needed to get to Kurt, somehow, wherever that was.

The realization of what had most likely happened hit him like a ton of bricks.

Him.

He screamed his anger out loud.

Fucking hell! It was him! It had to be!

Blaine didn't take the time to try and figure out exactly what the motives were or how it had been accomplished, just that he had been tricked one more time... and he wanted to throw up at his own stupidity. He took one moment to deliberate whether any of these things might be even partially true, but pushed it aside.

The important thing right now was that he had been fooled. He had put others in a dangerous position once again, and he was in an extremely unprotected and unsafe place. He needed to get back to the Hummels. Now.

He whipped around, ready to run full-out... and cold fear ripped through him when he saw that he was surrounded. Twenty of the animalistic and brainless vampires were closing in on him. He had no weapons. He had no plan. There was no escape.

Chelsea and Janelle were both slumped down on the broken-in couch, surrounded by piles of books and empty mugs of coffee. Janelle had wanted to crack open a bottle of wine, but Chelsea had responded with a leveling glare, so her sister-in-law had wordlessly put on a pot of coffee instead.

Chelsea was just getting to the point of desperation, feeling like they would never find any answers, when Janelle popped up in her seat, waving to the other woman excitedly to gain her attention.

"Attends une minute! Décrit-moi ces vampires une fois de plus Chelsea. Ceux qui étaient rassemblés à l'extérieur de ta maison."(Wait a minute. Describe those vampires again, Chelsea. The ones that were gathered outside your home.)

Chelsea fought to hold back her excitement and anticipation at the thought of finally getting somewhere, and tried to think clearly.

"Incapable de prendre des décisions d'eux-mêmes. Obstinés dans leur prise d'action au point de prendre des décisions stupides, celles qui peuvent leur couter leur propre vie. En bref, des sous-fifres sans cerveau."(Lacking in the ability to make any decisions of their own. Single-minded in their actions to the point of making foolish decisions, ones that would cost them their own lives. In short... brainless lackeys.)

A tiny, triumphant smile spread across Janelle's face, but it was only there for a moment, before she turned serious. She solemnly moved the book onto Chelsea's lap.

"Je pense que j'ai peut-être trouvé ce que nous cherchions."(I think I may have found what we're looking for.)

The Watcher quickly scanned what her sister-in-law had handed her, but furrowed her brow as she looked back up.

"Ca correspond mais je ne comprends pas le but. Ce sort est fait pour les humains et non pour les vampires. L'utiliser sur un vampire, cela paralyserait leur esprit jusqu'à ce qu'ils perdent la capacité de réfléchir de manière rationnelle. Il doit bien y avoir une meilleure façon d'inspirer la loyauté aux foules. Il les perdra rapidement à la folie s'ils ne sont pas tués en premier. Quel peut-être son possible but?"(It fits, but I don't understand the goal. This spell is meant for humans, not vampires. Using this on a vampire would numb their minds until they lost all ability for rational thought. There must be better ways to inspire loyalty from the masses. He will soon lose them to madness, if they aren't killed first. What could his goal possibly be?)

Janelle looked back in disbelief.

"As-tu oublié à qui nous avons affaire? Bien sûr qu'il n'en a rien à faire de ses partisans. Il n'a pas besoin d'une raison. Il leur tranchera la gorge aussi tôt qu'ils auront accomplit leur tache. Alors pourquoi ne pas les rendre fous avant?"(Have you forgotten who we're dealing with? Of course he doesn't care about his followers. He doesn't need a goal. He would as soon slit their throats the moment they accomplished their tasks. Why not drive them into madness first?)

Chelsea closed her eyes, looking as if she were trying to hold on to her patience with every bit of self control she had.

"Je ne demande pas s'il pourrait le faire. Je demande pourquoi. Il est diabolique et malveillant. Nous savons cela. Nous savons aussi qu'il ne fait jamais rien sans raison. Alors quel est son motif?"(I'm not questioning whether he would do it. I'm questioning why. He is evil and malicious. We know this. We also know that he never does anything without motive. What is his motive?)

"Peut-être qu'il le teste?"(Maybe he is testing it?)Janelle responded uncertainly. "Qu'il essaye le sort sur une créature à laquelle il ne tient pas? Peut-être qu'il veut l'utiliser sur quelqu'un de bien plus important une fois qu'il saura que cela fonctionne. Chelsea, et s'il voulait l'utiliser sur Blaine et sur toi?"(Trying the spell out on creatures that he doesn't care about? Maybe he wants to use it on someone much more important once he knows that it works. Chelsea, what if he wants to use it on you and Blaine?")

"Non." (No) Chelsea shook her head firmly. "Il n'y a aucun doute dans mon esprit qu'il me veut uniquement morte, et il a clairement exprimer son souhait de vouloir la même chose pour Blaine."(There is no doubt in my mind that he only wants me dead, and he's made it very clear that he wants the same for Blaine.)

She sighed in in frustration, sinking back down into the couch with a groan. It didn't make any sense. Janelle sank back next to her with a sigh of her own, closing her eyes to think. The blonde jumped when Chelsea sprang from her seat, eyes wide with fear.

"Kurt," she gasped out brokenly "Il veut contrôler Kurt."(He wants to control Kurt.)

Janelle mirrored her expression but it was coupled with genuine confusion.

"Pourquoi?"(Why?)

"Ne le vois-tu pas?"(Don't you see?)Chelsea shot out desperately, jumping away from the couch to pace. "La simple revanche n'est pas suffisant pour lui. Je n'ai pas seulement tué son amant, je lui ai tout enlevé. Son amour, ses partisans, son control...Tuer Marc n'était pas assez. Me tuer ne le sera pas non plus. Même tuer Blaine ne suffira pas. Il nous tuera...mais pas avant que je sache qu'il a réduit en esclavage mon guerrier. C'est ce qu'il veut. Il veut prendre tout ce que j'ai."(Simple revenge isn't good enough for him. I didn't just kill his lover, I took everything away from him. His love, his followers, his control... killing Marc wasn't enough. Killing me won't be enough. Even killing Blaine won't be enough. He will kill us... but not before I know that he has enslaved my Slayer. That's what he wants. He wants to take away everything I have.)

Chelsea had ended her rant, still pacing back and forth, with her back to the other woman. She whipped around with narrowed eyes, looking the blonde over incredulously as a tiny bit of laughter bubbled from her mouth and a smile spread across her face.

"Je sais depuis un bout de temps que tu es un peu frapadingue, mais puis-je te demander quelle pourrait bien être la raison de ton sourire?"(I've known for a while now that you are a bit nuts, but can I ask what there possibly is to smile about right now?)

"Oui, tu peux,"(Yes, you may)Janelle smiled. "Si ce que tu dis est vrai, alors il est en train de miser la totalité de son plan sur le succès de ce sort."(If what you say is true, then he is banking his entire plan on the success of this spell.)

Chelsea nodded with a dubious expression.

"C'est un plan infaillible. Quand cela est proprement fait, le sort est imbattable."(It's pretty fail safe. When done properly, that spell is unbeatable.)

Janelle shot her a satisfied smirk.

"Sauf si tu connais le contre-sort."(Unless you know the counter-curse.)

Chelsea was almost holding her breath in anticipation, barely able to believe what her sister-in-law was saying.

"Les incantations du contre-sort ont été perdu il y a déjà plusieurs années de cela."(The incantations for that counter-curse were lost years ago.)

"Ceci très cher,"(That my darling)Janelle leaned in to place a kiss on her cheek before darting across the room to grab a dusty manuscript from a high shelf, "est la raison pour laquelle tu es venu à moi."(is why you came to me.)

Chelsea ran through the concourse at full speed. She had called the airline as soon as she and Janelle had made their discovery. She was able to snag a standby seat that left in an hour, so she had quickly shoved the ancient incantations into her bag, kissed her sister goodbye, and dashed out of the small apartment to catch a cab to the airport.

Breathlessly, she ran up to the counter at her gate. The attendant behind the counter gave her a bright smile.

"Are you my standby filler?"

Chelsea nodded, still trying to catch her breath.

"You're fine," the attendant smiled again. "You'll be boarding in just a couple of minutes. Go ahead and take a seat. Catch your breath."

Chelsea smiled in relief before walking over to the waiting area. She reached in her bag, double checking that the manuscripts were still there, ready to study them thoroughly once she was on the plane. Her heart rate quickened though when she caught a glimpse of her cell, flashing that she had received multiple text messages.

"Shit!"

Several people glanced in her direction with offended looks, but she paid them no notice. Slinging her bag over her shoulder and snatching her phone up, she ducked down a small side corridor for some privacy. Her breath caught in her throat when she read the message from Kurt.

3:20pmBlaine's gone. 'He' tricked us. I don't even totally understand how yet. Please call me. I don't know what to do. -Kurt

3:50pmIt's been thirty minutes. You haven't called or texted. I'm trying not to freak out... and believe that you're okay. Please be okay. I'm going after Blaine. He must have been captured by now. I don't know what else to do... Love you, Chelsea. I'm so sorry I let you down. -Kurt

Chelsea felt her knees start to buckle beneath her and her hand trembled as she tried to text back. Tears were stinging her eyes and a violent sob strangled her as she tried to breathe.

Her eyes popped open in alarm and her heart stopped beating for a moment when an ice cold hand closed around her neck like a vice. Her phone was pried away from her by another glacial hand, and was crushed to pieces as if it were a leaf.

"Now, now, now," a menacing voice whispered. "We can't have you contacting you little padawan learner, now can we. That would ruin everything."

The grip tightened suddenly and she gurgled an unintelligible protest as she felt herself being lifted from the ground. Her toes scraped desperately at the floor as she clawed at the freezing cold fingers.

Frosty breath rushed against her ear as she felt her airway being cut off. Her vision clouded and her thoughts became fuzzy as she struggled to stay conscious.

"He will control your Slayer. Your Slayer will then kill your son... before slaughtering thousands. That's just a friendly message that I was told to deliver before killing you."

His grip tightened impossibly. She wasn't sure how she was still alive by this point. She could barely see or think. Her brain processed his next sentence through a fog.

"Oh, I almost forgot. I was supposed to end it with 'Loving Regards, Cooper'."