Blaine went along the crazy antics of the glee club, finding them somewhat endearing, and a bit annoying.  But he was glad that there were people that were willing to be around him, and he thought he could be friends with them soon.  He had promised to audition for the glee later that week, and they were all pleased.

The list of questions that he wanted to ask Kurt only kept growing.  He wondered why Kurt hadn’t moved on yet.  Was it revenge? What happened to the guys that killed him? He didn’t want to breach the subject of Kurt’s death with his friends too much.  They were already fragile as it was.

When his mother came to pick him up from school, she was pleased when Blaine told her a friend would be coming by later.  Blaine had asked Rachel to come by around five, so he could ask Kurt a few questions before Rachel came.  And Rachel said she had to do something before she came by.

“Kurt?” He called out when he was in his room.    

Kurt flickered into view.  “Hey.”

“So I met those friends of yours.” Blaine said.  “They seemed to gone crazy in your absence.”

“Really now? That’s good to hear.” Kurt had a sad smile.

“And Rachel’s coming by later.  She wanted to see you.”  Blaine said

“It’ll be nice to see her again.  The last time she saw me… well I suppose she already told you.”

After a few moments of awkward silence, Blaine decided to go ahead and ask.  “Kurt, can you tell me how you died? Please?”

Kurt’s image began to flicker.  And then it stopped.   “The bullies at Mckinley had this thing, where they would throw people in the dumpster. As a prank.  They would do it to me the most out of everyone.  I suppose at some point, they stopped seeing me as human, and more as trash.  It probably made it easier to do what they did.”  Kurt said.

“It was the usual group, Azimio, Karofsky, Strando, Cooper, a couple of others whose names I never bothered to learn.  Dad wasn’t home – he had to stay at the shop late, and Carole was at work.  Azimio and the others got Finn to invite them over, so he was expecting them.   We were in a middle of a fight.  I think Finn was getting really desperate – he’d never been bullied so much.  I don’t think he meant any of those things he said.” Kurt started flickering again.

“They came in.  We were doing Gaga week for glee that week, and I was wearing this sequined outfit that I had made. Gayest thing I ever wore, probably.” Kurt snorted.  “I was in the process of fixing it when they came in.

“I think Finn just thought they were just going to hang out.  He’s always been gullible.”  The temperature started going down.  It was getting really cold.

“They were just shoving me around, at first.  Karofsky was the worst.”

“Disgusting fag!” Karofsky’s face turned hateful as his fist connected with Kurt’s face.  “H-hey, what are you doing?”  Finn’s face reflected horror at the scene, while the other’s laughed.  “Y-you can’t do that here!” Finn shouted.  But he couldn’t move.  The other boys joined in.  Shouting insults at Kurt, punching him, kicking him. 

“Come on, Finn. We‘re just showing the fag his place!”  Azimio said as he laughed.

“Finn was so scared.  I realize that now.  He didn’t know what to do.”

Finn was on the floor sobbing.  “Please, stop. You can’t do this!”

“He couldn’t have anticipated what was going to happen.  I was supposed to be safe here.  He was supposed to be safe here.”

Then it really started to go too far.  Karofsky took Kurt and started  banging him against the side of his vanity.  “Stop, please,”  Kurt repeated over and over again.  Finn was white as a sheet. 

“Hey man, we were just going to scare them a little and leave.  We weren’t supposed to hurt him too much…”

Karofsky ignored him and wrapped his hands around his throat.  Kurt began to choke.  “You think it’s alright to prance around in your faggy tight pants?”  Karofsky banged him against the wall.  “You think it’s alright walk around in your faggy clothes, and your faggy voice, and make me like you?!  You made me a fag like you!” Karofsky punched his face some  more and turned him over.  Azimio tried to pull him off of Kurt.

“This is messed up.  Let’s just go, man.  We don’t care if you like Hummel-”

Karofsky began a ripping off Kurt’s pants.  “This is what a fag like you wants, right?”

“You can probably guess what happened next.”  Blaine was shaking, whether it was from the cold, or the anger, he didn’t know. “Everyone was shouting.”

“You can’t do this.  Come on!”

“Stop. Please!”

“Let’s get out of here man.”

“Get off of him!”

“Finn got over his shock, I suppose.  He tried to pull Karofsky off of me.  Karofsky held on to me tight, and I felt my neck snap. And suddenly I was watching him raping my corpse.”   

Blaine wiped away tears.  He couldn’t remember when he started crying.  “Kurt…”  What did someone say after a horrific story like that.

“Pretty gruesome, huh?”  Kurt said.  Blaine felt the temperature get back to normal.  “As far as deaths go, you know.  Fucked to death. Not how I imagined going out.”  Blaine nodded, still reeling from the story. 

“I think they stopped seeing me as a person a long time ago.  It was so easy for them, for him to…”

Kurt shook his head.  “I don’t know why I’m still here, Blaine.  I’m stuck here in this basement where I died, and I can’t leave.  I had all these dreams, about broadway, and leaving Lima.  I don’t have that anymore, but I can at least see my mother again.  I hear her calling out to me, but I can’t go to her.  I’m stuck here.  Why can’t I leave here?”  He asked Blaine imploringly, as if he had any answers at all.

Blaine opened his mouth and closed it, trying to figure out what to say.  He wracked his brain for any information he had on ghosts. 

“A-all the ghosts that I know of, you know, the fictional ones, they can’t leave because they have unfinished business.”

Blaine sensed that if Kurt was still among the living, he would be rolling his eyes at him.  “Blaine, I died when I was sixteen.  I left a lot of things unfinished.” 

“l don’t know, revenge, maybe?”

“Do I look like the revenge type to you?”  Blaine stared at Kurt’s flamboyant clothes on his ghostly form, and nodded.

Kurt sighed.  “Even if I wanted that, I can’t leave here.  I don’t even know what happened to those guys.” 

“Rachel can probably tell us that.” Blaine said.

Kurt sighed.  “I’m dead.  I just want to be at peace, you know.  Revenge isn’t going to do anything for anyone really.”

“There has to be something or maybe someone holding you back here.  Isn’t there anyone left that you want to talk to?”  Blaine asked.

“My dad, I suppose. I don’t know what happened to him since that night.”

***

“WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING TO MY SON?!”  Burt Hummel roared as he took in the scene in front of him. 

He had to take care of some things at the shop, and came home late.  When he came back, he saw a couple of cars in the driveway.  He frowned.  His son was too responsible to have a party without asking him first.

He heard shouting coming from Kurt’s room.  When he entered, he nearly lost himself in rage.  He focused on the teenager on top of his son, and snapped.  He yelled and pulled him off of Kurt.  He let go of the boy once he realized that Kurt wasn’t moving.  “Kurt?”  Burt turned him over, frantically searching for a pulse.  He couldn’t find one.

Then he noticed how Kurt’s eyes just stared up at him, unblinking, and how he wasn’t breathing.  Burt screamed.

“I tried to tell him that I was still there, but I didn’t know how to show myself to people yet.”

“Dad! I’m still here dad. Please, dad, look at me!”  But his father couldn’t hear him as he sobbed over Kurt’s body.  He didn’t notice that the boys that did this to his son all ran out of the basement.  Kurt tried grab his father’s shoulder, but his hand went right through him

“You!” His father’s voice rang out as he shouted at Finn.  “Where the fuck were you when this was happening?”  Finn shook as Burt grabbed him by his shirt.  He looked at him Finn in disgust as he let go.  He turned back to his dead son.  He closed Kurt’s eyes, kissed his temple, and covered him.

Then he got up leaving Kurt’s body and Finn.  “W-where are you going?” Finn asked nervously.

“I’m going to get my shotgun.”

“And that was the last I saw of him.  I want to know what happened to him.  I have to see him, tell him it wasn’t his fault, and that I love him.”

Blaine thought back to what Rachel said.  “I remember Rachel saying that he packed up and moved away, so I’m guessing he’s still around, somewhere.”

Kurt nodded.  “He never came back down here since that night.  Other people came and packed up my stuff.  I hope he didn’t use that shotgun.  I don’t want him in jail.”

The doorbell rang.  “That would be Rachel.”  He hoped that Rachel could give Kurt answers.  He wanted to help him in some way.  His mother led Rachel down to his room.  Blaine looked beside him, and saw that Kurt was no longer there. 

“Blaine, honey.  You’re friend’s here.”  His mother said.  Rachel smiled at him.

“Where’s Kurt?” Rachel asked, once his mother left.

“I’m right here, Rachel.”  They jumped as Kurt appeared behind them.

“Kurt.”  Rachel’s eyes brimmed with tears.  “I missed you so much Kurt!”