Kurt was the first person out of the office, Finn tumbling after him and screaming for Mercedes and Santana to lock the doors as Emma and Will rushed after him. Santana spun around and immediately did what she was told, but Mercedes remained rooted to the spot, staring in horror as Kurt clawed at his stepbrother's face. Finn was trying to grab Kurt's wrists to keep him from scratching his eyes, but Kurt snarled and sunk his teeth into Finn's forearm. Finn yelped, yanking his arm away, a sluggishly-bleeding crescent left torn through the skin.

Will had absolutely no idea what to do, so he stood on the sidelines like an idiot. Emma gasped next to him and backed several feet away, almost tripping over the risers. "This is so out of my league," he heard her whisper.

"Stay away from me," Kurt hissed, flecks of Finn's blood staining his teeth, and Will felt the ground sway under his feet. He didn't know how, after hearing the recording of Blaine and Kurt arguing, he'd still believed that Kurt was fine. Now, whatever naïve ideas he'd had of Kurt and Blaine just role-playing for NYADA auditions or something dumb like it were crushed into dust, and Will was paralyzed.

"Eleanor, you need to calm down," Finn said firmly and loudly, cradling his arm.

"NO!" Kurt screamed, his entire body spasming. His forehead was still bleeding from its encounter with the windowpane, a thick red tendril winding it's way down to Kurt's nose. "I'm always shoved into the back of Kurt's head and when I do come out, you tell me to shut up! I'm sick of it!"

"Holy…" Will breathed. He saw Santana grab Mercedes' arm and pull her towards the door, but Finn spotted them and ordered them not to unlock the door.

"Smart," Kurt spat. "Otherwise I might start biting people's necks." He flashed a furious grin, his head tilting to the side. Will felt Emma edge closer to him.

Finn winced but held his ground as Kurt bared his teeth. Will could easily see that Finn was trying his best to not crumple under the pressure smothering the room.

Kurt lunged again.

Outside the locked door, Rachel stood rigidly hugging her abdomen and leaning against the wall as she listened to the goings-on in the choir room. Artie was sitting in his chair beside her, just as quiet, and Tina and Mike stood behind him. Puck was leaning against the wall opposite Rachel. The bell had already rung for first period, so the hallway was empty aside from the five of them, and the only sounds were slightly muffled through the choir room door.

"Smart!" they heard Kurt's distorted voice exclaim, his rage seeping through the wall. "Otherwise I might start biting people's necks!"

Rachel flinched, squeezing her eyes shut as a few tears that she'd been trying to hold back escaped.

Artie craned his neck and pushed himself up on his arms, attempting for the umpteenth time to see through the narrow window in the door. "Can someone please tell me what's happening in there?"

"I don't want to watch," Tina said softly, leaning into Mike's side. Mike made a noise of agreement. Rachel and Puck said nothing.

A moment later, there was a loud yelp from the other side of the door, and Mike gave in to his curiosity and tilted his head to look through the window, only to quickly straighten up again with a nauseous expression.

"What?" Artie prompted.

Mike was about to reply, but a scream from Kurt stabbed through the door, making all five of them jump. Rather than dying out, the sound only stretched on and grew louder, and this time Puck was the one to peer inside.

"Holy crap," he said.

"What is it?" Artie pressed, annoyed that he wasn't able to look in himself. "What's happening?"

Puck didn't hear him. Finn and Kurt had somehow ended up on the ground, Finn pinning his stepbrother on the floor with his hands holding Kurt by the head, his palms covering the smaller boy's ears as Kurt screamed. Kurt's fingers were scratching desperately at the backs of Finn's hands, his nails drawing skin and blood. Somehow, Finn was paying no attention to his hands, and instead was looking Kurt firmly in the eye, refusing to let him move away.

"Let Kurt out!" Puck heard Finn demand.

Puck swore again under his breath as Kurt kicked at his stepbrother, still screaming incoherently (how the hell did he have space in his lungs for that much air?). Puck couldn't see Kurt's face, but he knew that even if he could, Kurt would look nothing like himself.

"What's happening?" Artie insisted. "Stop ignoring me!"

Puck pulled his eyes away from the window, turning around so he wouldn't have to watch any more.

At the moment, the only thing Finn gave a crap about was getting Kurt home. Kurt was already going to have enough trouble getting over the sheer indignity of having an episode like this at school for everyone to see (or hear, considering how much Kurt was screaming), and Finn knew from experience that sleep was usually the best cure for stress. Kurt tended to switch much more often if he didn't sleep well.

Finn needed to figure out a way to get him from the choir room to the parking lot in one piece, without letting anyone else get hurt either, but that was proving to be more and more difficult as Eleanor showed absolutely zero signs of letting go. While Finn kept him pinned against the floor, Kurt's vocal chords were beginning to wear out, his repeated screams turning hoarse. Finn had never seen one of Eleanor's fits last this long.

As Kurt's nails tore through the skin on Finn's hands and wrists again and again and again, Finn wished that he could ask Mr. Schue or Miss Pillsbury to help, but neither of them could even begin to understand what was going on inside Kurt's head at that moment. Hell, not even Finn understood it completely, but at least he had some experience.

"Let Kurt out!" Finn shouted, not allowing his grip on Kurt's head to loosen even though his hands were bleeding and beginning to drip onto the linoleum.

Kurt's screams didn't let up, but Finn wasn't sure if Eleanor was choosing not to respond or if she was simply too hysterical to comprehend anything other than her own rage. Now there were tears freely streaming out of Kurt's eyes, and Finn realized that he'd never seen Eleanor cry before.

"Finn, let me do something," Mr. Schue said behind him. Finn was pretty sure that Mr. Schue had repeated those words at least ten times since they'd arrived at the office to find Eleanor where Kurt should have been, but he was too preoccupied to actually answer.

Mercedes and Santana were frozen, standing by the drum set and just staring, and Finn felt bad for them. He almost told them they could leave, but he didn't want to risk Kurt making an escape if the door was unlocked.

Finally, Mr. Schue seemed to give up on asking for permission to help and knelt next to Kurt's head, grabbing Kurt's wrists and yanking them back with enough force to keep them immobile. Kurt's head twisted in Finn's grasp and his back arched rigidly, his entire body fighting with itself.

The frayed skin on Finn's hands burned, and Kurt's bloodstained fingertips rapidly curled and uncurled as Eleanor tried to break free of Mr. Schue's grip. The screams were at last beginning to die down, becoming less frequent and with longer pauses between. Kurt's lungs were heaving, trying desperately to get oxygen to his unhinged brain, his eyes wide but not really looking at anything.

"It's time to go, Eleanor," said Finn firmly.

Kurt hyperventilated for several more seconds before choking out, "I – don't – want to—"

"I know. But Kurt doesn't belong to you."

Kurt's eyes slowly moved over to meet Finn's, reddened and burning. "Yes, he does," he said.

And in a split second, Finn could see that Eleanor was gone. Kurt's limbs and muscles relaxed, his breathing evened out. His face went slack.

"…Kurt?" Finn ventured as Mr. Schue let go of Kurt's wrists. Finn took his hands away from Kurt's head.

There was no response, but somehow… Finn saw that Kurt could hear and understand him. He didn't know exactly what it was, but there was something in Kurt's eyes. Something alive.

"Kurt, if that's you, answer me," Finn said, panic starting to claw at the bottom of his stomach. "If you can't talk, blink."

No blink. No answer.

"Is… is he okay?" Mercedes sniffed from her spot near the drum set, her voice quivering.

Finn gave her an honest answer. "I don't know."

"M-Maybe ask him what his name is?" Miss Pillsbury suggested, teetering on her high heels.

Willing to try anything to get a reaction from Kurt (because the screaming fits were almost preferable to this…deadness), Finn did as Miss Pillsbury said. "Who are you?"

Kurt stared at him, his eyes the only part of his entire body that showed any signs of life whatsoever.

"Who are you?" Finn asked again.

"I'm no one."

Every person in the room flinched at the odd, almost unearthly voice that came from Kurt's mouth. Finn felt his heart clench – he didn't recognize this voice. "Who am I talking to?" he demanded.

"No one."

Finn turned to Mr. Schue, his eyes wide and scared. "I've never seen this before. We need to get him home now."