Meghan was sitting across from Mark, eyeing him suspiciously. She had only agreed to meet with him in hopes of finding out what he was up to. The campaign couldn't afford anymore drama. The fire had actually helped them recover from Mark's last article, but they couldn't withstand another blow. Meghan was getting tired. This year's election was supposed to be easy. Instead, it had been a battle. She had just learned about Elaine leaving James, and she didn't like the looks he was giving her. She liked James, she really did, but she had no interest in becoming the second Mrs. Anderson or a convenient sex partner until he found his next wife. Maybe it was time for her to bail.

Ten minutes later, she was sure it was time for her to bail.

"Mark, I don't know anything about voting reports and bribes. Honestly, I don't!"

"I know you don't. This was Phil Williams at his finest. That's why I'm telling you now."

"I don't understand."

"Look Meghan, we may not agree on politics, but I know your history and I know your track record. You're not dirty. I'm giving you a heads up so you can leave before the story hits. I know you didn't do this. This was Williams and Anderson."

Meghan shook her head. "Actually...I'm not sure James knew about this. Phil handled this type of stuff. James probably didn't know what he was up to."

Mark looked doubtful. "You can believe what you want about Anderson. I'm giving you a heads up so you can bail before things get hot."

They sat in silence. Meghan felt bad. She hated to leave James when everything else in his life was going south but...she had her own career to think about. Something like this would make her political poison. She looked at Mark.

"I appreciate your giving me a heads up but, why? Why are you warning me?"

Mark smiled. "Let's just say I have a new positive influence in my life."

Blaine was a bad boy.

A very, very bad boy.

A very evil, sadistic, cruel boy.

And he didn't give a shit.

As long as Kurt never found out.

After Saturday's match, Blaine and Kurt returned to Blaine's house. Blaine took a shower while Kurt made lunch. After lunch, they made love and took a nap. That evening they went to the movies and then Kurt went home. He and Carol were going to the Lima Flower Show on Sunday and then they were having a Hummel-Hudson family dinner. Blaine wouldn't see Kurt again until Monday. One day too long as far as Blaine was concerned, but he knew they needed to start preparing for longer separations. The summer would be over soon and they would both be back in school. There were college applications to complete and SATs to study for. Blaine was not looking forward to returning to their Friday – Sunday hang out schedule.

After Kurt left, Blaine was on his way to his room when he glanced down the hall. He had completely forgotten about his father. He walked down to his parents room.

James was still lying on the bed, but he had managed to shift to his back and prop himself up on the pillows. He had taken his shirt off and was lying there feeling exhausted and hungry but too weak to move. He'd been trapped on his bed since Friday night. He was too embarrassed to call anyone. Besides, who would he call? Phil was gone and the thought of calling Meghan or one of his other friends was too much. How would he explain what had happened? He looked at Blaine standing in the doorway.

"What do you want?"

"Nothing."

"Then get out."

Blaine didn't move. The darkness was slithering around his brain. Evil, evil thoughts were nibbling at his mind.

"I have a question. Why didn't you inherit the darkness from your father? Why did it skip you?"

James's eyes were cold and full of hatred. "Well, according to my father's voodoo bullshit beliefs, the gods or whatever, skip a generation to make sure a family doesn't grow too powerful. Fortunately, this freak shit will end with you because you certainly aren't going to have any children. Unless of course you plan on getting Kurt pregnant."

Blaine thought about that. He wished he could get Kurt pregnant. Barefoot and pregnant. That would be nice. Then he would stay home.

"I'm going to live with mom."

"Of course you are. That's fine with me. I don't want you here."

Blaine turned to leave.

James should have kept his mouth shut.

"Does that kid know what he's signed up for?"

Blaine turned back around. "What are you talking about?"

"Does he know what he's gotten himself into, dealing with you? You're an evil little fuck Blaine. Just like my dad. He enslaved my mother and then he killed her. All because of this evil, sick, dark power shit. Does Kurt know that you're going to kill him? Do his parents know? Because, you will Blaine. Trust me. Just like my father. You're going to kill him. Just like you killed Phil."

Blaine stumbled back a bit. No. That wasn't true. He loved Kurt. He would never hurt Kurt. He wasn't going to be like his grandfather. He was going to do better.

"That's not true. I love Kurt. And, your mother and father had an agreement. She wanted to die."

"Bullshit! She had no fucking choice! My father was a selfish, evil bastard who made her agree to die with him! She would have never left her family, her children if he hadn't forced her to."

Blaine opened his mouth and then closed it. Was that true? Had O been wrong? Or worse, had he lied?

James smugly watched his son struggle with this new information.

"You're just like him Blaine. Just like him. An evil, twisted, abomination, straight from hell. Poor Kurt. He doesn't stand a chance. He looks so fucking delicate. You will either fuck him to death or just kill him. I'm guessing you will kill him."

Blaine shook his head. No. He would never hurt Kurt. Never. He loved him.

James laughed. "Shake your head all you want. You're no good Blaine. You're evil. And Kurt will pay the price. Just like my mother."

Blaine stared at his father. He didn't want to hear anymore. He folded his arms, closed his eyes and unleashed the pain.

James screamed.

Unfortunately for James, his words left Blaine in a dark, miserable, vengeful mood.

Maybe his dad was right.

Maybe he is pure evil.

Well...in that case...

Blaine trapped his father on the bed and increased the pain. He stood there and listened to his father's screams.

After a few minutes, Blaine decided to experiment. Could he stabilize the torture? Could he start it and keep it going if he wasn't in the person's presence? How long would it last?

Kurt would not approve of him experimenting on his father.

Oh well. Blaine just wouldn't mention it.

Blaine focused his mind and his energy, increasing his father's pain along the way. He concentrated hard, locking his thoughts.

And then he left.

He went to his room and put on some music.

He read some magazines.

He could still hear his father's screams.

He traded texts with Kurt.

He called some of his Warbler friends to catch up.

Still screaming.

He searched apartments online.

He went to bed.

And down the hall, James Anderson lay trapped and under constant torture, his screams echoing throughout the house.

Blaine listened and smiled. It was a nice way to fall asleep.

X-X-X-X-X

The next morning, Blaine showered, dressed and walked down to his parents room.

James didn't look too good.

His eyes were bloodshot, his skin was red and cracked, his body, limp and weak. His voice was gone. His breathing was shallow.

Blaine stopped the pain and sat down next to him on the bed. He reached over and moved his father's head to face him. James could barely open his eyes.

"Good morning! I hope you slept well last night. I slept great. Listen, here is the deal. First, you are going to be very accommodating towards mom in the divorce settlement. You are going to pay her a generous alimony and, if she wants the house, she gets it. If not, you will pay for her apartment or condo in addition to the alimony and she can have anything she wants out of the house. Also, you are going to continue to pay my tuition for Dalton and you are going to pay for my college and law school at NYU. The Anderson Family Foundation is going to grant this year's, full, 4-year scholarship to Kurt Elizabeth Hummel so that he can attend NYU for fashion design. Lastly, you are to stay away from me, mom and Kurt. I don't want anything to do with you ever again. Do you understand?"

James was silent.

"Do you need more pain to help you decide?"

James found the strength to shake his head. Oh, God, please, no more pain.

"Well?"

James managed to nod in agreement.

"Great. I'm glad we had this little chat. Bye dad."

The rest of the summer was busy, but fun.

Elaine and Blaine moved into a beautiful three bedroom apartment in downtown Westerville. Kurt designed an interior decorating plan and helped Blaine downsize his belongings in order to make everything fit in his new bedroom, including his huge bed. Blaine refused to purchase a smaller one.

Blaine was pleased to watch Kurt and Elaine form a friendship. Kurt did a complete makeover of Elaine which made her look 20 years younger. She was more beautiful than ever and plenty of men took notice. She and Joel went out constantly, but Elaine wasn't ready for a full, romantic relationship. They agreed to be friends, but Kurt could tell that Joel was just being patient. The moment Elaine gave him the sign, he would be all over it. He was already in love with her.

Blaine turned 18 the second week of August, so Kurt planned a birthday party for him at the country club. The Warblers came along with everyone from New Directions, Mark and Tyler and Burt and Carol. Blaine actually felt a little embarrassed by all the attention, but planning the party had made Kurt happy and that was all that mattered to Blaine. Publicly, Kurt said the birthday party was his gift to Blaine, but privately, he gave him a three volume set on the history of voodoo. It talked about the various stories, spells and magic of voodoo and, there was even a small section that talked about the dark power of control and torture. Little was known about Blaine's abilities because they were so rarely granted. Despite his earlier claims of doubt regarding the voodoo priestess story, Blaine found the books fascinating.

Mark and Tyler became Blaine and Kurt's double-date couple. They went to the movies together and concerts and even traveled to Cincinnati to see Billy Elliot, The Musical. Kurt delighted in showing Mark and Tyler where Blaine proposed and Tyler backed up Kurt's assessments regarding the gay ducks.

As he had promised, Blaine took Kurt back to Silver Creek. Kurt knew this four day visit was going to be sexually punishing. As the school year grew closer, Blaine was growing darker and more irritable as the reality of their coming separation set in. Blaine was spoiled. He and Kurt had sex almost everyday that summer. Now, they would be lucky if they were able to have sex once or twice on the weekends, depending upon their parent's schedules. Kurt knew this weekend was for Blaine to get as much of Kurt as he could. It was going to be a four day fuck fest.

Blaine set the rules for the weekend. Kurt was not allowed to jerk off the week before they left. Once there, he was not allowed to wear clothes, except for his apron when cooking. And, they would have chair sex once a day. Kurt closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Kurt loved the position, but the severity and intensity was almost more than he could withstand. It was so punishing and yet, Kurt couldn't wait. Blaine sensed his mixed emotions. "I'm going to make you take it. Hard. I will show you no mercy, but I promise I will take care of you afterward."

In between all the sex, they discussed their future. They both knew things were about to change.

Their conversations were difficult.

They both agreed they would attend New York University but from there, things got tricky. Kurt wanted to live in the dorms. He wanted the full college experience. Blaine wanted to get an apartment. They finally agreed to room together in the dorms.

The real trouble started when Kurt explained how things would work after they graduated. Kurt would need to intern at fashion houses and not necessarily ones in New York. He wanted to go to London and Paris. Blaine would be in law school.

They would be apart. On separate continents.

Blaine's eyes were burning. "No. It's out of the question. You are not leaving the country without me."

"Then I suggest you find a law school to attend in Europe."

"I can order you to stay with me."

"Yes, you can. And if you do, I will stay. But, is that what you really want to do?"

Blaine had never felt so conflicted before in his life.

"You're my slave. You need to be with me."

"Yes, you're right. Do you think this will be easy for me? Being away from my master? Worrying about you losing control of the darkness? Even now, it's hard for me to be away from you. But, we have to establish our lives and this is a part of doing that."

Blaine didn't say what he was thinking. That if Kurt would just agree to be a stay-at-home husband, they wouldn't have this problem. Blaine would need Kurt while he was killing himself in law school. He needed him to take care of him. Kurt couldn't take care of him if he was running around Paris. The darkness swirled angrily.

For the first time since that day at O's house, the enormity of their relationship and responsibility to one another truly set in.

A week into the new school year, the first in a 5-part series of articles on bribery in the Central Ohio board of election offices appeared. Meghan had resigned a month and a half earlier, and James hadn't bothered to assign a new campaign manager. He was running things himself. With the appearance of the first article, he announced he was withdrawing from the race. The republican party scrambled to find a new candidate while James arranged for legal counsel. Fortunately for him, none of the bribed officials had ever met him. They had all dealt directly with Phil. As a result, James would be able to claim ignorance and possibly avoid jail time.

Once again, the articles shed the spotlight on Mark Madison's journalistic abilities. Offers from media outlets around the country started coming in. He agreed to join the staff of the Washington Post, but struck a deal to serve as a correspondent in Ohio for at least another year. He wanted to wait for Tyler to graduate. Tyler was applying to Georgetown and American University, both in D.C. They would go to Washington together.

The school year was hard for Blaine and Kurt, but especially for Blaine. The summer had left him spoiled and addicted. His body ached for Kurt during the week. By Friday, he was a sexual stressed mess, and depending upon what their parents were up to, they sometimes didn't get to have sex at all. Blaine didn't say anything to Kurt, but there was no way he was going to allow Kurt to leave the country after college. Blaine figured he would cross that bridge when they came to it.

So for now, they spent time together when they could and focused their conversation on their future dreams, minus the pesky details. Blaine was determined to be a partner in a law firm by the age of 35 if not earlier. Kurt was determined to have his own successful fashion house by age 30. They would live in New York's upper east side in an apartment similar to Charlotte's from Sex in the City. Blaine would stare at Kurt and listen while he chatted about how he would decorate their apartment and what their bedroom would look like, and Blaine would swear to himself and promise in his heart, that he would make it all possible. He would give Kurt everything he wanted and more. He would love Kurt and protect him forever, and even after that.

He would be a good master.

All Kurt had to do was love him.

And be a good slave.