I am sorry to announce that there will be no Frankenfic this year. I came down with Covid in September and only recently made a full recovery so I wasn't up for organizing the event this year.
While we don't have anything new to offer, there are three years of Frankfic tales available here!
Frankenfic 2022: "Stage Fright"
Summary: In their latest scheme to fundraise for Regionals, The New Directions decide to host the spookiest haunted house that Lima, Ohio has ever seen. But when strange things start happening on the set of their haunted house, it may be the spooksters themselves who get the biggest fright.
Chapter 8
By Esperanto (@esperantoauthor)
“Well, come on old lady, be quick about it!” Puck called out. He had a point. The shimmering figures were swirling just a few feet above their heads, faces contorted into expressions of despair and rage.
A shiver ran down Santana’s spine as Lillian Adler glared icily at Puck.
“They can’t hurt you,” Lillian explained, rolling her eyes. “Poor things are incorporeal. And they’ve been stuck In-Between for decades. You’d be furious too.”
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Sure enough, one of the ghosts’ heads separated from its body and plummeted toward Rachel, who yelped and managed to leap out of the way just before the silvery globe came shooting toward her and sank halfway into the stage floor. Behind her, the headless phantom fumbled around wildly for its lost body part. Just as Rachel was regaining her composure, one of the ghost’s arms reached straight through Rachel’s chest, fingers wiggling just under her chin. Rachel gasped, looked down, and then jumped backwards with an ear splitting shriek. Unfortunately, she jumped right through the ghost. They all watched in horror as the creature retrieved its head and reattached it with a horrible rotating movement, as if screwing in a lightbulb. Rachel stood there, trembling, but remarkably unharmed.
Finn ran to her, grabbing her shoulders and looking her up and down, making sure that she really was all right.
“I believe you said something about a plan,” Santana said pointedly, tapping her foot.
“I did indeed, young lady. There is something I’ve been looking for all night but I can’t seem to find it. If one of you can locate it, then I just might be able to exercise some control over the poor lost souls of my students.”
“Just tell us what it is! I know we can find it!” Finn declared confidently.
“My conducting baton. I can’t seem to find it anywhere.” A wistful expression passed over her face. “Oh, we made such beautiful music, she and I.”
Mike turned to Sam and mouthed, “She?” Sam shrugged.
Rachel, predictably, took charge. “All right, we need to split up so we can cover more ground. We should be okay now that we know the ghosts can’t hurt us. Mike? Sam? You two search the choir room. Tina? Artie? You check all the rooms backstage. Puckerman? Finn? Check the Spanish room. Rory? Joe? Search the teacher’s lounge. Mercedes? Santana? Investigate the basement storage under the stage.”
“And what will you be doing, praytell?” Santana glowered.
“Uh, I will be…holding down the fort. Someone has to stay here in case someone finds something. Or the others come back.”
“Oh, hell no! All day you have been ordering everyone around, making sure you never have to get your hands dirty. I’m sick of it. Why don’t you search the filthy, dank basement this time Princess and I will wait for Brittany to come back. If it’s going to be anyone, it should be me.” Santana stared down the tiny brunette, silently daring her to disagree.
“Th-that works too. Mercedes?” Rachel held out an arm and Mercedes linked her arm through it.
“Um, did you forget about me?” a voice called out from just behind one of the curtains.
“Quinn!”
“Where have you been?”
“I was backstage. Actually being useful. Since no one’s phones seem to be working we need a way to communicate.” She held up a handful of plastic and wires. “I found the stage crew supplies. Should be enough for each group to take a headset and radio.”
“Quinn, you genius!” Rachel declared, throwing her arms around Quinn and planting a kiss on her cheek. Quinn turned pink and cleared her throat.
—
“Brittany, we got the door open. We can go back to the auditorium now,” Kurt said gently, still rubbing comforting circles into her back.
“I can’t,” Brittany whispered. “Not yet.”
“Why?” Kurt asked.
“We need my spellbook.”
“Where did you leave it?” Blaine’s voice was so gentle.
“I hid it in one of the stalls. For safekeeping. Here, I’ll show you.” Brittany rose to her feet and carefully counted the stalls until she seemed to have located the one she wanted. Kurt and Blaine crowded into the stall behind her; Kurt looked around in confusion, not seeing a book anywhere. Brittany grasped the porcelain cover of the toilet tank and wrenched it off. She shoved it at Blaine, who wrinkled his nose but took it without protest. Inside of the tank, was a large leather-bound book. Brittany clapped her hands in delight and pulled the dripping book out.
“Brittany, it’s soaked,” Kurt pointed out, as gently as he possibly could.
“Well, there’s no way I could have known that would happen,” she replied dismissively.
“Actually, I—” Blaine started, but Kurt shook his head. There was no point.
Blaine replaced the lid gingerly and then immediately went to the bathroom sink to wash his hands. Kurt hoped the suds would not summon any more ghosts.
Together, they patted the book down with paper towels as best they could. Brittany cracked open the book, flipping the pages until she found the one she was looking for.
“Can you still read it?” Blaine asked nervously.
“Mostly,” Brittany said brightly.
Kurt could only hope that it would be enough.
—
Static crackled. “Come in, Frankenteen. Are you there, Frankenteen? Over.”
“Sam, no one else is on this channel. I told you there is no need for pseudonyms,” Santana barked.
Sam’s voice replied, “You’re supposed to say ‘over’ when you’re done talking, Santana! Over.”
“If she had left me in charge, I would remember to say ‘over,’” Rachel commented.
Mercedes just shook her head in disgust. She turned on her flashlight and crept deeper into the basement and wondered why she had ended up with the worst assignment and the worst partner.
Rachel, of course, screamed every time they found an animal floating in formaldehyde or a particularly odious theater costume. Mercedes’ nerves were frayed near to their breaking point.
“Oh my god, what do you think this could be?” Rachel called out.
Mercedes grumbled but dutifully joined her partner. Rachel had found a dusty wooden box labeled, ‘ Do not open.’
“Clearly, someone doesn’t want us finding out,” Mercedes responded.
“Wait! Look at this.” Rachel blew the layer of dust off the top of the box to reveal another word. Mercedes coughed a few times and then peered at the box. It wasn’t a word; it was someone’s initials.
L.S.A.
Mercedes traced the letters a few times. “L. S. A. Rachel! Do you think this box belonged to Lillian Adler?”
Rachel gasped. “It must have! We have to open it!”
Rachel pulled the box off of the shelf and settled it on an empty folding chair. Mercedes wasn’t sure what she thought might be in the box, but she took a step back.
For a moment, nothing happened. The lid of the box came off and revealed a very ordinary collection of personal mementos. Mercedes could see old Glee Club programs, photographs, ticket stubs.
Then she couldn’t see the box at all because bright, shimmering figures began to surround the box. The ghosts gathered in a circle around the box, their numbers growing quickly. Rachel leapt back, shivering at the coldness of the spirits passing through her. “Not again,” she muttered under her breath.
“It must be in there,” Mercedes insisted.
Rachel nodded gravely. “Lillian Adler said it had the power to control the ghosts. That must be why they came. We have to get that box.”
Mercedes shook her head. She absolutely did not want to get any closer to those ghosts but her friends needed her and Rachel had already dealt with the ghosts twice. It was her turn. She gritted her teeth and threw herself into the circle of ghosts, grabbing the box in both hands. She gasped and nearly dropped the box. She felt as if she had been plunged into a bathtub of ice water and for a moment, she forgot how to breathe.
Yank.
She was free. Rachel had pulled her out by the back of her jacket.
“Thanks.”
“Run!”
—
Santana was starting to regret staying behind. No one had spoken over the radios in five minutes and she was equal parts bored and creeped out.
Then, she heard the rhythmic thudding of running feet on carpet, growing louder as they grew closer.
“Santana!”
Brittany burst into view, followed closely by Kurt and Blaine, running hand in hand. Santana jumped off the stage and met them halfway, wrapping her arms around Brittany and swinging her around in a circle. Brittany’s hands found her cheeks and her lips found Santana’s own; she breathed in the sweetness of her favorite person in the world and breathed out relief at having her back in her arms. Suddenly remembering that they weren’t alone, she set Brittany back down.
“You tell, you die,” she said sharply, glaring at Kurt and Blaine. Blaine looked suitably alarmed and Santana already trusted Kurt not to blab. Satisfied, she relaxed her expression and gave them a smile.
“Where’s the new light? Didn’t you two go to Home Depot?”
“No! We’ve been locked in the lobby this whole time.”
“Did you at least make out?”
“I-”
“We-”
The boys were too flustered to get more than a few syllables out.
Santana smirked. “Well, I think that answers my question. Well done. Took you long enough.”
Static crackled over the headset and Rachel’s annoying voice came through, far louder than it needed to be. “We found something!”
“Berry, my ears!” Santana complained.
“We’re on our way but we’re not alone. The, uh, the ghosts seem very interested in whatever we found.”
Santana jumped into action, instructing the rest of the Glee Club to rendezvous back in the auditorium and calling out to Lillian Adler, who had floated up near the catwalk.
One by one, each member of New Directions burst in through one of the entrances to the auditorium. Last to arrive, Mercedes and Rachel came tearing up the stairs followed closely by a roiling mass of ghosts. Blaine jumped into Kurt’s arms in terror. Santana decided not to tell them the ghosts couldn’t harm them just yet. This way was funnier.
Lillian Adler soared in a large spiral, soundlessly clapping her hands together. “Yes, oh, yes! I can feel it.”
Mercedes dropped the box as if it were burning her hands and kept running, Rachel at her side, until they were well past the ghosts, who began to circle the box.
Lillian Adler dove straight into the hurricane of ghosts. For a moment, Santana feared that they had somehow consumed her. After all, Lillian had never said that the ghosts couldn’t hurt one another. But then, triumphant, she emerged with her baton in hand. It was the first object the ghosts had been able to touch. It glowed faintly in her hand. She tapped it on the edge of a music stand and the ghosts froze. She cleared her throat. “Students! Gather, please, it is time for rehearsal.”
Spellbound, the ghosts floated into orderly lines and began to sing scales.
“How?” Santana blurted out.
“I was the choir director here for thirty-six years. For thirty-six years, young people opened themselves up to joy and this little stick has been soaking it up. Ended up with a lot of power.”
“Now what?” Rachel asked. “That’s great that you have them singing instead of wailing but our auditorium is still full of ghosts. We’re supposed to be having a haunted house here in—” she checked her watch, “— thirty minutes !”
Lillian Adler cackled with laughter. “Young people really haven’t gotten any cleverer, have they?”
“There’s no need to be so rude,” Rachel snapped.
“You’re telling me that in order to raise money for Regionals, you need to make this auditorium as terrifying as possible so the people who come through will tell all their friends to come and you want me to get rid of the ghosts ?!”
“I…oh… oh! Do you think you can get them to behave?”
Lillian Adler scoffed and gestured at her choir of ghosts who were now singing Superfreak in perfect three-part harmony.
“This is going to be the best haunted house ever!” Puckerman yelled.
Five Hours Later
“We’re rich!”
“This is enough money to get us to Regionals and Nationals.”
“We have to qualify first, don’t jinx it.”
The members of the New Directions high-fived and hugged, satisfied that for once a fundraiser had gone well.
Kurt cleared his throat. “Not to put a damper on things, but… the auditorium is still full of ghosts. And I don’t see Lillian Adler anywhere.”
Kurt was right. While they seemed less agitated than before, the ghosts were very much still there, circling up near the rafters.
“That’s why I brought this,” Brittany declared, holding out a slightly damp book. “It’s the spellbook I used to summon Ms. Adler in the first place. I think there’s a section on banishing.”
The New Directions crowded around Brittany as she paged through the book, searching for the right page. “Uh oh. I was worried about this.”
“What is it?” Kurt gulped.
Brittany read from the book. “In order to permanently extinguish a haunting, the spirit must first resolve any uncompleted tasks that may be keeping the spirit stuck in The In Between. While a simple exorcism will often temporarily rid you of a haunting, the ghost is likely to return so long as it has not Moved On. ”
“Are you telling me these ghosts have unfinished business?” Sam squawked.
“Exactly right.” Lillian Adler floated through the wall and joined their conversation.
“Oh now she shows up,” Rachel groaned.
“Hush! The truth is that these poor singers never got to perform at Regionals. There was a horrible bus accident on the way there. Terrible business. Ten killed. I myself was in the hospital for several weeks.”
“Are you telling me we have to perform with a ghost choir at regionals? Badass!” Puckerman pumped his fist.
“We can’t bring ghosts to regionals!” Rachel protested. “The audience will be terrified.”
“Only if they don’t think the ghosts are simply very convincing special effects. And I think we proved here tonight that you can show real ghosts to hundreds of people and have them leave none the wiser.”
“We’re going to have to completely rewrite our set list,” Kurt pointed. “But it’s doable. We just need to make it part of the theme.”
“When has needing to rewrite the set list at the last minute ever stopped us,” Finn reminded him. “I think this is just the fresh new edge we need to make it all the way to Nationals.”
Tina pulled out her iPod and began scrolling. Her eyes lit up.
🎵I was struck by lighting, walkin' down the street
I was hit by something last night in my sleep
It's a dead man's party, who could ask for more
Everybody's comin', leave your body at the door
Leave your body and soul at the door🎵
The ghosts immediately joined in. With Finn, Blaine, and Artie still in full zombie makeup, the effect was quite powerful.
Lillian Adler surveyed the scene on the stage as she conducted her ghosts through their impeccable choreography. While she hadn’t managed to get rid of that horrible director, she had accomplished a lot tonight. Kurt and Blaine finally admitted their feelings to one another; she chuckled to herself in amusement, hardly believing that she’d had to go so far as to lock them in together before they finally figured it out. Santana was getting closer to feeling ready to open up to the Glee Club. The New Directions earned enough money to make it to Regionals. And best of all, her dear, dear students would finally be able to rest. And with that, her own unfinished business would finally come to a close. She was satisfied with the knowledge that it would be her last Halloween stuck In Between. She smiled as Blaine shyly took Kurt’s hand and spun him around. She hoped they would never know the pain of being apart from one another. She was looking forward to seeing her own dear Jane again very soon.
🕸The End🕸
Author's Note: Happy Halloween, Everyone!! That's a wrap on the third annual "Frankenfic."
Thank you to all of the creative authors who shared their talents and collaborated so wonderfully to create this story. I hope you are as proud of what we were able to create together as I am. It was really fun figuring out how to tie it all together!
Thank you for reading this story! I hope you will take a moment to leave a comment and let us know what you thought.
The song referenced in this chapter was "Dead Man's Party" by Oingo Boingo.
Frankenfic 2022: "Stage Fright"
Summary: In their latest scheme to fundraise for Regionals, The New Directions decide to host the spookiest haunted house that Lima, Ohio has ever seen. But when strange things start happening on the set of their haunted house, it may be the spooksters themselves who get the biggest fright.
Chapter 7
By JustGleekOut (@justgleekout)
“Dear Kurt, after our conversation from the other day (about our favourite Halloween snacks) I was thinking about you, so I thought I’d make you some of your favourite gingerbread cookies. Actually… I’ve been thinking a lot about you lately. About your smile, and your eyes, and the jokes you tell. I guess I would like to tell you that, I like you, Kurt. I like you a lot. And I think it would be great if we could, maybe, go out sometime? If you want to, that is! It’s okay if you don’t. I really wouldn’t want this to ruin our friendship.
Anyway, I hope you enjoy the cookies.
Xx Blaine
Ps. I gave some of the ghosts little bowties to remind you of me.”
Blaine looked at Kurt from behind. Kurt was staring at the note in his hand, reading it over and over again. After what felt like ages, Blaine spoke, “Ehm, Kurt, please say something, I’m kind of dying here,” he said and fumbled with his hands. The surge of confidence he had felt when he handed Kurt the note, had shifted back into nerves. The fact that he couldn’t see Kurt’s face in the position they were in, was killing him.
“ You like me… ” Kurt whispered.
Blaine swallowed. His heart was pounding in his throat. “ I– ”
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Kurt turned around in Blaine’s arms and sat up slightly so that he was kneeling, facing Blaine. He looked from the piece of paper in his hands to Blaine, who smiled at him nervously.
“You like me,” Kurt repeated, more surely this time. A smile grew on his face as what was happening started to sink in.
Blaine’s smile grew more confident in return. “Yes, I like you, Kurt. I thought it was obvious. Even Brittany said I– hmpf ”
Kurt had thrown his arms around Blaine’s neck and kissed him fiercely. It felt electric . Blaine inhaled deeply, breathing in the scent of Kurt.
“I like you, too,” Kurt said, smiling. He moved back to look at Blaine and put his hands on Blaine’s shoulders. His eyes were sparkling with glee.
Blaine let out a shaky sigh of relief. “You do?”
“Of course I do, silly! You thought you were obvious? I thought I was obvious!”
Blaine couldn’t believe his luck. He smiled back at Kurt. This was definitely the best possible outcome for this whole situation. Well, ignoring the fact that they were still locked out of the auditorium, that is.
But then, out of the corner of his eye, Blaine saw a flicker of movement behind Kurt. His smile dropped, his eyes widened, and his face turned stark white. “ K-Kurt? ” he stammered. He raised his arm to point behind Kurt. “Gh-ghost.” Blaine cowered against the wall.
—
Expecting to see the kind ghost face of Lillian Adler, Kurt turned around. What he wasn’t expecting was a not-so-friendly-looking ghost hovering in the middle of the hallway. This ghost wasn’t white and bright like Lillian; he was a muddy dull grey. His clothes were rags and he seemed to be missing half of his right arm. He was moving across the corridor in a half-limping, half-floating way, looking around in confused anger. Then, Kurt saw another grisly ghost; a woman in a bloody dress was floating high in the air, and she appeared to be crying. And then, another ghost faded into sight; this one was holding their head under their arm. More and more ghosts appeared around them in the hallway.
Kurt swallowed hard. What the fuck was going on? Then, suddenly, he felt a hand on his arm and he shrieked. Blaine hurriedly shushed him and Kurt realised it was Blaine who was holding onto him, looking absolutely terrified.
“Kurt,” Blaine whispered. “When you were talking about a ghost leading you here, you didn’t say it looked like that! ”
“That’s because it didn’t! My ghost was perfectly nice, okay? I have no clue what these things are doing here! We really need to get out of here!”
“I tried that, Kurt, but the doors are all jammed!” Blaine cried, fear starting to take over.
“How is that possible? I just came through that door!” Kurt pointed to the door to the courtyard. “Let's try again. Alright?” He stood up and held his hand out for Blaine.
Blaine hesitated but eventually took his hand and let Kurt help him up.
“Together?” Blaine asked once they got to the door.
Kurt nodded.
“Okay, on three,” Blaine said and they took the handle together. “One… Two… THREE!” They both pulled at the handle and… the door flew open. They were free!
Then, a high-pitched scream echoed from behind them.
Kurt and Blaine whipped their heads around to where the sound was coming from and then looked back at each other in horror. “ Brittany! ” They exclaimed in unison.
Without a moment of hesitation, they dashed back into the hallway towards the sound, letting the door fall shut behind them again. As they rounded the corner they saw soap bubbles flooding out of the girls’ bathroom.
They rushed inside and saw a tall ghost towering over Brittany, who was standing in the corner of the bathroom.
“Hey! Ghost man!” Kurt shouted. “Try picking on someone your own kind!”
The ghost turned around swiftly and looked angrily at Kurt and Blaine, but didn’t advance on them. Instead, it grunted and floated up and away into the ceiling.
“Brittany, what did you do!?” Blaine said exasperatedly, looking at the scene around them. A stream of bubbles floated out of one of the sinks and filled the room.
“I- I was trying to get rid of the show choir lady!” Brittany cried. “I thought I knew the right spell. I-”
“Brittany, the whole school has been overtaken by ghosts!” Kurt exclaimed.
“I’m sorry,” she whimpered. Her shoulders jerked and she hugged her chest. “I didn’t mean to.”
Kurt sighed and walked to Brittany wrapping his arms around her to comfort her. “I guess that what’s done is done. We need to find a way to get rid of these dark spirits.” He rubbed her shoulder as she cried against his chest.
—
“What does a straightforward woman like you have to be afraid of?” Lillian Adler spoke to Santana.
Santana opened her mouth to make a snide remark, but the sudden appearance of a second much more frightening-looking ghost with a dislocated jaw changed her mind. She stumbled backwards and pointed to the apparition. “Something like that! ” she yelled.
Lillian Adler turned around and groaned. “I told the girl not to meddle in things she didn’t understand!”
“You mean Brittany summoned this creep?”
Lillian cocked an eyebrow “I bet my death she did– Oh my word!” More ghosts were floating into the auditorium now. Through the walls, the floor and the ceiling.
The New Directions that were gathered in front of the stage freaked .
Rachel started screaming, hysterically throwing her hands up in fright. Puck picked up one of the prop weapons from the stage and started slashing at the ghosts. “Come on you phantom freaks! Show The Puckster what you got!”. Finn backed him up with his best karate moves, though he made sure to stay well behind Puck. Mercedes, Tina, and Quinn threw random objects at the ghosts to defend themselves, yelling aggressively at the ones that came particularly close. Step ladders, microphone stands, rolls of tape, and piano stools flewwere flying towards the approaching spirits. Artie quietly started rolling away towards the nearest exit. Rory sank to the ground crying, “I should have stayed in Ireland” . Sugar offered bribes to the ghosts, holding out hands full of money and waving it in front of the ghosts faces. Joe, looking particularly frightened, started to pray and murmur bible verses to ward off the dark spirits, and Mike and Sam started a game of rock paper scissors to decide which of them would sacrifice himself to save the other.
“You kids need to calm down!” Lillian Adler bellowed. “Your hysteria will only anger them!”
They all froze.
“Now– I have a plan, but we need to work together for it to succeed.”
Author's Note: I enjoyed reading all the previous chapters so much! I hope y’all enjoyed mine as well, I feel like I took it in a slightly creepier direction, but I still tried to keep it light! I feel so lucky that I get to collaborate with such talented people! These fic projects are always so fun and such a great challenge! Thanks for organising, Esperantoauthor! <3 and also thanks for beta reading! You are the best! <33
Frankenfic 2022: "Stage Fright"
Summary: In their latest scheme to fundraise for Regionals, The New Directions decide to host the spookiest haunted house that Lima, Ohio has ever seen. But when strange things start happening on the set of their haunted house, it may be the spooksters themselves who get the biggest fright.
Chapter 6
By MissFlurry (@missflurry)
Kurt immediately regretted letting go of Blaine because he had smelled really, really good. He took a moment to process it, (was it more of a fresh pressed laundry smell or like the smell of spring almost coming?), before he remembered the reason he had let go in the first place: the screams of his friends.
“Oh no!” Kurt exclaimed, putting the pieces together. “The ghost! She must be with the others! She-” He turned back to Blaine. “Please don’t freak out, please don’t think I’ve gone insane but… I just saw the Ghost of Lillian Adler.”
Blaine’s mouth fell open.
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Kurt braced himself for a laugh or a gasp of disbelief, but then Blaine put his hand on his shoulder. “Kurt, whatever happened, we’ll figure it out.” His eyes were full of understanding, even when faced with something incomprehensible. “What did you say, the ghost of… Lillian Adler?”
“Yes. She’s the old Glee club coach from years ago. I’m freaking out, she wanted something from me and… from you. She talked about us and it was almost as if…” Kurt promptly went silent. For one ridiculous moment he had thought that the Ghost of Lillian Adler specifically wanted him to talk to Blaine.
It had felt almost as if she weren’t a ghost, but more like a messenger. Hearing Blaine’s and his own name put side by side wasn’t that scary after all. It was… comforting. Kurt Hummel and Blaine Anderson. If the ghost needed him, it was only logical that Blaine would also be there, because Blaine was more often than not by his side. Kurt’s mind had even slipped and thought that maybe this ghost had been the result of his daily 11:11 wish that Blaine Anderson would also be into him. If that kind of superstition is true, then why wouldn’t the ghost of an old choir teacher be there to deliver the message?
On the other hand, neither he nor Blaine had known Lillian Adler. Why would she defy the laws of nature, just to try two bring two teenage boys together? What could she even do? Lock them up in an elevator, spook them into kissing? Kurt sighed about his own outrageous thoughts. No, he must have misunderstood her. Gladly, he had realised this before he had said it out loud. Kurt felt touched that Blaine wanted to stand by him, even if he'd seen a ghost – but imagine his reaction if Kurt had told him that there was a ghost AND that the ghost might be there because of his crush on Blaine.
His thought were interrupted by Brittany, who consolingly patted his hair
“There’s no need to panic,” Brittany said. “I asked her to come.”
“WHAT?!” Blaine and Kurt shouted in unison.
“What did you think the soap was for?” Brittany said casually, raising her shoulders. “I did it as a favor for Santana.”
“Brittany…” Kurt began hesitantly. “Do you also know how to… get rid of the ghost?”
Brittany shook her head. “I’ve only read the chapters about summoning a ghost. I didn’t really need the rest yet.”
Kurt hid his face in his hands and lowered himself to the ground. If he hadn’t seen the ghost of Lillian Adler with his own eyes, he would never have taken Brittany this seriously. But evidently, with some unknown soap-related ritual, she had summoned a ghost from the afterlife. A freaking ghost.
“Don’t worry, Kurt,” Blaine said softly. He crouched down so he could see eye to eye with Kurt. “We will fix this.”
“I thought that you two might want to help, but now I see that I’ve made you sad,” Brittany said with a trembling voice. “I will fix this,” she exclaimed, after which she ran away.
“No wait, Britt!” Kurt screamed, but Brittany was determined and was already turning around the corner.
“Great,” Kurt sighed. “She's the only one that might have an idea about, I don’t know, which soap brand we have to use to get rid of the ghost, or something.”
Blaine hesitantly put his arm around Kurt’s shoulder and laid the side of his head against Kurt’s to comfort him. He didn’t know if this was okay, and held his breath when he heard Kurt do the same. But then, Kurt pushed the side of his head closer to Blaine’s curls and let out a deep breath. They could of course run after Brittany. But maybe they could wait another five minutes before they followed her.
__
After they had arrived at the choir room, The Ghost of Lillian Adler turned around to face Santana.
“Santana,” she spoke. “Brittany has asked me to talk to the Glee club, but especially to you.”
“Britt did what?!” Santana exclaimed. She knew Brittany was a secret genius, but she never would have expected that Brittany was able to summon a higher power.
“She told me that you have been talking to her about the Glee club needing a new leader,” Lillian spoke. “Yes, indeed. I have been informed that a great evil has been coaching the Glee club. A great evil by the name of William Michael Shuester.”
Santana was still terrified by the ghost, but honestly, this was some true tea.
“He’s as good as a teacher as funyuns are a nutritious breakfast,” Santana said.
“I see,” Lillian said. She sighed dramatically and sat, or rather, hovered above a chair. “I’ve wanted to get rid of him for a while now, but my ghostly hands cannot strangle him.” Santana’s face went white. “Believe me, I’ve tried,” Lillian said with a wistful grin. “So, I will need your help for the job.”
“You want me to… kill him?” Santana asked with a hoarse voice. Her usual expression of fierce confidence showed signs of breaking.
“No, no, my dear. I could live with the consequences, or rather, I wouldn’t live, so there wouldn’t be consequences. You on the other hand… well, I won’t burden you with them.” Lillian hovered away from the chair towards the piano. “Glee is about opening yourself up to joy, and this man has taken it upon himself to be a puppeteer, to vicariously live his own dreams through the lives of teenagers. He is abusing his power to teach, prioritizing not the kids’ growth, but his own love life and obsession for old Journey songs.”
Santana was hesitating. “You know, I agree with you on a lot of things, but I'm not sure he deserves a punishment as severe as death. He is not all bad.”
Lillian made a skeptical face. “Please elaborate.”
Santana took a deep breath and felt some of her confidence flowing through her veins again. “Believe me, I’m the first person to sign a petition to get him fired as a Spanish teacher,” she said. “He really has some personal shit to work through. But still. I do believe, even with all the man-child behavior, he cares for us, like no teacher has ever cared.”
Lilian still looked skeptical, but she was nodding as if she was processing what Santana was telling her.
“Also…” Santana bit her lip. “Some of the classes, like when we sang ‘Born This Way’, made me realize something. Something that I’ve kept hidden all this time, cramped up like a kid stuck in a porta-potty. Something that I’ve been afraid of.”
The light above them flickered. The Woman raised a transparent eyebrow. “What does a straight-forward woman like you have to be afraid of?”
__
After ten minutes, Kurt’s head had slid from the side of Blaine’s head to his shoulder. Blaine was still trying to breathe normally, but also trying to sit really quiet, as if one wrong move would make Kurt want to raise his head and stand up again. Blaine stated in his mind that some shoulder petting suited the context. Not stroking Kurt’s shoulder and just sitting still as marble would be even weirder, right? So his fingers traveled over from Kurt’s shoulder to his neck, his hair…
“Blaine?” Kurt asked. Blaine’s fingers froze while his heart beat in fearful anticipation. “I, um, I kinda have to change the way I sit because my neck hurts but… I just want to let you know that I think you are really good at… stroking? I mean ehm…” Blaine saw a light blush on Kurt’s cheeks in the dim light of the evacuation-lights of the hall. “Forget it,” Kurt said. “I just mean ehm – it’s nice.”
“I can keep… stroking… if you want me to,” Blaine answered slowly.
“Yeah,” Kurt answered softly. “That’d be nice.”
While stroking Kurt’s hair, Blaine’s thoughts got caught up in the smell of Kurt’s hairspray and how he wanted to hug Kurt even closer to him – but he abruptly brought himself back to the moment. There was something he HAD to talk about before he let his mind wander like that.
“Kurt, I… have to tell you something.” Blaine gathered all his courage to keep talking, which was more difficult than ever, because Kurt’s head was almost laying on his chest and he probably could hear Blaine’s heartbeat.
“I’m sorry if I... came on too strong last week. I just… wanted to do something special, but maybe it was too much. If I had a second chance, I could maybe do it differently, but…”
“Wait, Blaine,” Kurt interrupted, while he looked up. “You can proceed in a minute but… I just have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“The cookies,” Blaine said promptly.
“What cookies?” Kurt said with a confused frown.
“Don’t—are you teasing me?” Blaine said with a blush. “The… ghost-shaped ones… I left them on your porch.”
Blaine didn’t know if Kurt felt his heartbeat, but he now definitely felt Kurt’s. It was a comforting, steady beat, just a little bit faster than before. Did it mean…
“I never saw cookies on my porch,” Kurt said. He turned to face Blaine, and Blaine could see in his eyes that he wasn’t teasing. He didn’t get the cookies, so he also must not have gotten the note.
“Wait…” Kurt said. “I have seen Finn eating cookies from a little purple carton box inside a plastic wrapper… He said something about a reverse trick-or-treat…”
“Oh,” Blaine said. He opened his mouth and closed it again, his lips forming silent words.
Kurt’s eyes lit up. “You… baked me cookies?”
Blaine’s confused lips curled up in a smile. “I… did.”
Kurt laughed. “I’m gonna kill Finn. No one has ever baked me cookies before! That’s adorable!”
Blaine felt like everything was going so well right now and he didn’t want to ruin it. But he had to tell what was in his heart. He couldn't survive another week of the rumination in his head.
“I attached a note to it,” Blaine said. “But maybe Finn threw it out with the carton box.”
“I would’ve loved to read that note,” Kurt whispered. He looked to a place just below his eyes before he looked up to his eyes again.
“Well, it’s your lucky day,” Blaine said more confidently than he felt. “I, eh, was practicing before I wrote it down. I might actually have the draft…” Blaine began searching his pockets, “Right here.”
Blaine took the folded bit of paper out of his pocket and handed it to Kurt. Kurt, still laying in Blaine’s arms, lifted a slightly trembling hand and looked into Blaine’s eyes as if he was trying to read his mind. Or maybe he was trying to make a wish. Blaine just hoped that it was a wish in his favor. He felt his heartbeat rise when Kurt opened the letter.
__
Author’s note:
Thank you to Esperanto for beta-reading this chapter and for just being an awesome person that helps me grow in my writing, and organizes fun things like this! I’m so happy to be part of it :D
Also good luck to JustGleekOut! I really hope you like where I’ve led the story ^-^ <3
Frankenfic 2022: "Stage Fright" Summary: In their latest scheme to fundraise for Regionals, The New Directions decide to host the spookiest haunted house that Lima, Ohio has ever seen. But when strange things start happening on the set of their haunted house, it may be the spooksters themselves who get the biggest fright.
Chapter 5
by @snarkyhag
Kurt stood back against the wall of lockers, trying to get a bit of space between himself and The Woman. His head still ached. He rubbed his eyes and took a deep breath, hoping that when he opened them again it would turn out that this had all been in his head. It wasn’t. Lillian Adler stood, well floated, before him. A bluish white light emanated from every part of her..
“What do you want with Blaine and me?” Kurt asked.
“Not just you,” she replied.
“Huh,” Kurt said, dumbfounded. Did he have a concussion? He pinched himself. Nope, this was really happening.
“You play your part, the rest will do theirs. Come, you and I have things to do,” she said, floating down the hall away from him.
Kurt followed.
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__
Bang, bang, bang.
“Why isn’t anyone answering,” Blaine asked aloud as he pounded on the heavy door. Brittany shrugged and put her ear to the door. She closed her eyes and tried to listen.
“I can’t see anything,” she said. “She probably wants us to wait here.”
Blaine tried pounding on the door again. If there was anyone on the other side, they either could not hear him or were not going to answer. Maybe Brittany was right? He slumped down onto the floor and waited.
__
“If you can hear me, come to my voice.” Tina called out into the darkness. “I’m just beyond the wings.”
Voices clamored as they each called out where they were and how they were making their way to the open area just backstage. The group slowly came together in the darkness.
“Roll call everyone,” Rachel insisted.
“That better not be you touching my arm, Berry.”
“Okay, Santana is accounted for,” Rachel continued. “Everyone else?”
They each called out their names.
“We are missing Brittany, Kurt, and Blaine,” Tina said. “I wonder what happened to them? What do we know so far?”
“Blaine went to get ketchup,” Finn said.
“And Kurt went to get a new light after I narrowly escaped the falling fixture. Someone might have it out for me.” Rachel added.
“How very Phantom? Any other clues, maybe a pipe organ or a cape?” Santana quipped.
With their phones dead and the power out, the backstage area was pitch black.
“Um, I’m not the only person freaked out right now, am I?” Artie asked.
Everyone agreed. Unsure of what to do, they decided to stay there until their eyes adjusted better.
__
The hallway felt endless, Kurt was sure they had already passed the astronomy classroom twice.
“Where are we going?”
“Honestly, dear, I don’t know where you are taking me,” The Woman responded.
“Me taking you?” Kurt was confused.
“Yes, and it is getting to be a bit much. I’m old. I can’t keep going in circles forever. You’ve got to make a choice,” she said.
Kurt did not fully understand but he took her advice and made the next right, opening the door out to the courtyard. When he turned to speak to her again she was gone. He stood alone in the darkness, the cool air snapping him to his senses.
His mind was awake but his limbs still felt tired. He took a seat on the concrete steps and thought about what just happened. He had led himself right outside into the darkness, alone and a bit cold. It was different, but no better.
He thought back to how he got to this spot. How this evening had gone sideways, how distracted he has been. He really wanted to talk to Blaine. But then, he always wants to talk to Blaine. He had been hoping to get some time with him tonight before all of, whatever this was, started happening.
Oh.
Kurt knew what he needed to do. He stood and ran towards the auditorium’s foyer.
__
“I’m just saying that fire makes light,” Puck suggested.
“Oh my god,” Artie sighed.
“No, no fires. Guys, we can figure this out. The show is gonna go on,” Finn exclaimed. He had been feeling pretty useless most of the evening. Rachel squeezed his hand. It felt good. He tried to think of a plan. “We just need to…” Finn trailed off. A dim light was coming through the curtain, growing stronger and slowly closer. Finn thought it was a flashlight. “See, rescue is here.” He smiled to himself.
The light got brighter as it moved through the wings, something came into view along with it. It floated above most of their heads. It was an arm.
They all screamed.
__
Blaine and Brittany heard the screaming on the other side of the doors.
“Wow, they are finally getting good at it. That last one had me convinced,” Brittany said.
“Brit, I think that was real. Something bad is happening in there!” Blaine tried the doors again to no avail. He put his full body weight into it, yanking hard. It was tiring, and before long he had to give up. “We can’t just sit out there while our friends—”
“And lovers,” she added.
“While the people we care about are trapped inside!” Blaine started to pace. He tried to think of other ways back into the auditorium.
“She told me to wait, but I don’t like it,” Brittany said. “We need to get back to our lovers.”
“Wait for what?” It was hard enough for Blaine to follow her train of thought under normal circumstances.
“The Woman. She has a plan, and I really like it. But this is getting scary and when I am scared Santana always holds my hand. I want to hold hers right now, just like you want to hold Kurt’s.”
“Kurt and I are just friends,” Blaine replied.
“Don’t be silly. I’ve imagined you two making out a lot and I know it works. Plus you don’t need a burglar alarm.” She rested her hand on Blaine’s shoulder. “Kurt has great lips. You need to get on that.”
Just then, Kurt burst into the hallway from the outside.
“Blaine!”
“Kurt”
They ran to each other, slamming into a tight hug.
“I thought you were trapped in there with everyone else,” Blaine said.
“I was but then, well, I can barely explain it. Anyway, I am here now.” Kurt let himself catch his breath. Blaine was still in his arms, closer than normal. He decided to take a leap. “I need to tell you—”
Kurt’s sentence was cut off by another set of screams from inside the auditorium.
__
“Shh, children, please. Get yourselves under control,” The Woman commanded. “Now, let’s try that again. We start in Middle C.” She brought her hands up.
“Listen up, ghost of show choirs past,” Santana said. “We aren’t here to play your little games. Now turn the lights back on and unlock the damn doors.”
“Fine, William can wrangle this ragtag crew instead,” the Woman said. She held out her hand to Santana. “Miss Lopez. Come with me,”
Frankenfic 2022: "Stage Fright" Summary: In their latest scheme to fundraise for Regionals, The New Directions decide to host the spookiest haunted house that Lima, Ohio has ever seen. But when strange things start happening on the set of their haunted house, it may be the spooksters themselves who get the biggest fright.
Chapter 4
By Yuè (@forabeatofadrum)
“Kurt?” Blaine asked, but there was no reply. This made Blaine frown. He didn’t really know what happened, but he heard Kurt yelp and then a long silence followed. “Kurt?”
More silence.
Blaine banged on the door, calling out Kurt’s name.
“Kurt, Kurt, Kurt!” Blaine yelled. He was starting to get worried. After all, Kurt didn’t scare people for fun.
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Blaine heard some footsteps and he looked over his shoulder. Brittany was walking towards him with a tired look on her face.
“Britt… what is wrong?” he asked.
Brittany shook her head.
“I don’t know either.”
Blaine tried to think of something to say. He quickly recalled everything that Brittany had told him, but he didn’t understand either.
“What about that, uh, Woman? Did you find her?” Blaine tried. He didn’t want to encourage Brittany’s antics, but he didn’t know what else to say.
“I can’t find her,” Brittany said with an exasperated tone in her voice. This surprised Blaine. He’d always known Brittany as the sunny and upbeat person. She always had a reason to stay on the bright side.
So, Blaine was locked in the lobby of the auditorium, with a newly-frustrated Brittany, and without a phone.
And Kurt was on the other side of the locked door, presumably also on his way to the parking lot.
And Kurt went silent after he let out a worrisome yelp.
Think, Blaine, Blaine paced around. After all, the doors weren’t going to budge. He needed a plan. He needed to think clearly. It was so easy to let his anxious thoughts overtake him and a part of Blaine wanted to give in, but Kurt needed him. Brittany needed him. Something was clearly going wrong, which meant that all of his friends needed him! And if he were to fail them, then everyone would fail and then the haunted house would fail and then they wouldn’t be able to go to Regionals and all their hard work would be in vain and-
“It’s okay.”
Damnit.
Turns out Blaine gave in to his thoughts after all.
“It’s okay,” Brittany repeated. The frustration was gone. Now she looked at Blaine with kind eyes. “We’ll figure it out. It’s okay to be worried, but I have faith that we’ll get out of here. The Woman said she had a plan and that everything happens for a reason.”
Blaine didn’t really believe in whoever this Woman is, but Brittany’s confidence reassured him nevertheless. Maybe it wasn’t too bad to be stuck with her, even if she occasionally stroked a soap dispenser with affection. Said soap dispenser was currently leaning against the wall. It looked like Brittany even turned her back on her ‘soap babies’ to talk to Blaine.
Blaine took a deep breath and he tried to get his thoughts back on the subject.
“Where did Kurt go?” Brittany asked once Blaine had calmed down.
“I don’t know,” Blaine admitted. He tried to visualise where they were. Blaine and Brittany were stuck in a sort of ‘lobby’ of the auditorium. Both sets of doors - the doors back to the auditorium and the doors to the parking lot - are locked.
Kurt was on the auditorium side.
Maybe he just walked back to the auditorium, to the others, and Blaine’s mind was playing tricks on him.
But Kurt really did yelp. And it sounded like he was surprised by something.
Blaine quickly told Brittany all of this and a fond smile formed on her face.
“You really care for Kurt, don’t you?” she said with a knowing tone in her voice.
How does she know? Or more importantly, how does she know while Kurt is still clueless? If Brittany knows, then Blaine might be obvious and Kurt definitely knows, so did that mean that Kurt is deliberately ignoring it?
Well, assuming that Brittany actually knows about Blaine’s feelings. Blaine didn’t rule out the possibility that his own anxiety is acting up again. He’d tried very hard to not be obvious about it, but he was still dreading Kurt’s rejection.
Brittany kept looking at Blaine. Blaine laughed it off, trying to aim for something lighthearted.
“Of course,” he said with a cheerful smile, “He’s my best friend. I care for him the same way you care for Santana, your best friend.”
“I know you do,” is all that Brittany said back. Blaine was about to ask what Brittany meant by that, but then Brittany scooped up her soap dispenser and said: “So, let’s find a way out, shall we?”
She turned on her heel to face the door that led to the parking lot.
“Britt, that isn’t going to work-”
After all, Blaine had tried. Nevertheless, Brittany started pushing and Blaine had nothing else to do, so he decided to help her.
__
Kurt’s head was hurting.
He groaned as he tried to open his eyes. What just happened? Kurt remembered a flash of light and then nothing.
Once Kurt had somewhat composed himself, he pushed himself on his feet and he looked around. He was no longer in the auditorium, but he could recognise that terrible McKinley stench everywhere.
Well, that still didn’t explain how he got here. How did he go from the inside of a locked auditorium to… wherever he was now? Kurt tried to clear his mind and with a jolt he remembered that he was talking to Blaine.
Blaine, who was also locked within the building.
Now that Kurt was out of the auditorium, he could look for Blaine.
Kurt started walking, but he soon realised that he wasn’t very steady on his feet.
Really, what happened to make Kurt black out and wake up in a different location? Things weren’t making any sense. Weird things had been happening all day.
Kurt steadied himself against the wall and he pulled through. The thought of finding Blaine was fuelling him. Maybe he was disoriented from the blackout, but he had a hard time recognising where he exactly was, which was strange, because Kurt had been roaming these hallways for years.
He turned a corner and he stopped in his tracks when he realised someone else was there.
There was… a person. It was hard to make out anything else, since they were surrounded by a beam of light. This beam of light was similar to the light he saw before he was taken (transported?) out of the auditorium.
The light was slowly dying down, but Kurt still squinted his eyes in order to get a better look, and after a while he could make out more details. He was looking at a familiar face. He saw that face during every Glee club meeting.
But that can’t be possible, Kurt thought to himself. After all, he walked past the commemorative plaque only a few minutes ago, together with Santana.
“Hello Kurt,” the figure said, which startled Kurt even more. Kurt was also certain that whoever this was wasn’t supposed to know his name. The figure smiled and Kurt hated the fact that he really did recognise this face. “I know you know me under a different name, but for now, you can call me the Woman. I have been waiting for you.”
Frankenfic 2022: "Stage Fright"
Summary: In their latest scheme to fundraise for Regionals, The New Directions decide to host the spookiest haunted house that Lima, Ohio has ever seen. But when strange things start happening on the set of their haunted house, it may be the spooksters themselves who get the biggest fright.
Chapter 3
By Jeanne (@kuiinncedes)
“Shit,” Santana hissed, jumping away from the wall slightly. “Ugh, these plaque things always creep me out.” She turned away while Kurt leaned in closer, a slight shudder running up his spine; there was something… off about the photo of the old glee club director.
“Does… does the plaque look different to you?” He didn’t remember Mrs. Adler’s gaze being so… direct. Piercing, even through the haze and blurriness of the old photo. Like her eyes were actually making contact with his.
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Santana turned halfway back with a raised eyebrow. “It’s a plaque. Do you need to get your eyes checked, Hummel? Maybe that would explain why they’re always so inexplicably attached to a certain someone.”
Kurt rolled his eyes that did not need to be checked, and followed Santana away as she continued to tease, “Maybe you have magnets inhibiting your vision that need to be removed. Must be hard never being able to look away.”
“Takes one to know one,” Kurt said, a grin tugging at his mouth.
“We’re going back to the sheet,” Santana said firmly, not acknowledging his comment and walking slightly faster away.
There wasn’t a long distance to go, though, and especially not when they saw what they were looking for and slowed down, staring in confusion at the fake bed in the air that they most definitely had not finished, and no sign of anyone around who might have done it.
“Did Rachel…?” Kurt started, realizing Rachel had not been with them on the way over. Had she gone ahead to finish the bed? It didn’t seem like she would, with all the strict and unforgiving delegating she’d been doing for the haunted house for weeks, but…
He trailed off just as he heard Rachel’s voice from the stage again, and he and Santana turned to see her with Finn on a spotless, glass-free stage. Rachel looked a mix of slightly annoyed and mostly pleased, and Finn just confused. When they walked over, he said with wide eyes, “Someone cleaned it up. I didn’t do anything. And I don’t think anyone else has been on the stage.”
“Didn’t I tell you guys to go back to the sheet?” Rachel interrupted.
Kurt and Santana glanced at each other, and Kurt said hesitantly, “It’s… done, but—”
“The sheet’s done? Perfect! Amazing job, guys, everything’s going great! We had some hiccups, but we’re on schedule.”
Santana scoffed. “No, Berry, listen—something’s going on here—”
“Kurt, you can go to Home Depot instead. I’ll send you what we need.”
“I thought you—for fuck’s sake,” Kurt muttered, giving up on the objection and heading out to the lobby. “Good luck, Santana.”
He twirled his keys in his hand as he approached the doors, somewhat looking forward to getting away from Rachel for a bit and possibly seeing Blaine, maybe getting some time alone with him for the first time in a while. Kurt wanted to talk to him about it, just to make sure that Blaine knew he could tell him anything, and that Kurt would give him space if he needed it, even though every day that went by without talking to Blaine made him feel just a bit more like he was dying inside.
Kurt pushed on the heavy doors, but nothing happened.
“Push harder, Hummel!” Santana called from the stage.
“Goddammit, Santana—” he said, fully leaning his body weight into the door while facing the stage. She gave him a smirk and disappeared backstage, where Kurt assumed everyone else had gone as well.
“Well thanks for the help!” He rolled his eyes and went back to pushing the door, but it didn’t budge.
“Wait, Kurt!” A familiar voice said from the other side.
“What—Blaine?”
“And Brittany!”
“Oh, hi Britt… why are you guys—can you open the door?”
“I think they’re stuck,” Blaine replied, almost sounding guilty, if Kurt knew Blaine’s voice as well as he liked to think he did (knew Blaine as well as he thought he did). “I thought I propped them open when I left, but I turned back and they were closed. I can’t pull them open either.”
Kurt pressed his lips together. “Wonderful. Love that for us.”
“I’m going to go see if the Woman can help!” Brittany’s voice chirped.
A silence followed, with Kurt simply trying to make sense of her words in his head.
“Yeah, I don’t know—she just showed up with a soap dispenser and talking about the Woman and bubble babies or something, sorry, let me see if she can help us get the door open, though, maybe if we all work together—”
“Blaine, it’s fine, just—” Kurt was suddenly plunged into darkness, the tell-tale thud of the stage lights turning off echoing through the auditorium. “Um—who turned off the lights?” he yelled, irritated, in the general direction of the stage.
No one answered.
“Hello? Santana? Rachel? Finn?” There was just silence except for the quickening of Kurt’s heartbeat in his own ears.
He pulled out his phone for a flashlight, but it wouldn’t turn on. Of course, he thought.
“Everything okay?” Blaine asked.
“Well, if you count the lights going off, no one responding to me, my phone being dead even though I swear it was at like at least fifty percent—among other things—as okay, then yeah, everything’s perfect.”
In a way, he was kind of alone with Blaine now—which is what you wanted, Kurt’s brain unhelpfully supplied. The thought didn’t do much to calm his rapid pulse.
“You’ve gotta stop charging it every night, I’ve told you—” Blaine’s familiar teasing response lifted Kurt’s spirits for a moment before they sank right back down when he said, “Oh—wait, mine’s dead, too. That’s… weird.”
Kurt bit his lip and fought the urge to throw his head back and his arms in the air, maybe falling to his knees on the ground and shaking his hands to the sky, bellowing, “Whyyyy?”
“Maybe they’re… practicing?” Blaine suggested weakly. It was true that part of the haunted house plan was to cut the lights for a period of time, but Kurt didn’t see how it was at all helpful to test it right now. And he didn’t see why they wouldn’t tell him anything. And it didn’t answer the question of what was up with their phones.
He told Blaine as much. “Well… guess we’ll wait for a little bit and see what happens.” He sighed.
The darkness was the all-encompassing, unforgiving kind that seemed to swallow any and every sound, seemed to shrink the space around him, seemed to go on forever like an ocean he was drowning in.
“Hey, Kurt…” Blaine’s voice was hesitant and a little nervous, but Kurt still latched onto it in the growing dark and quiet, “if nothing’s, like, horribly wrong, I guess… I just, uh, wanted to ask you…”
A wave of light from the stage filled the room as suddenly as the darkness had before, and Kurt yelped in surprise, squinting and shielding his eyes against the brightness.
Author’s Note: thank youuu to esp for beta-inggg <3333 and for organizing this :D tbh i have not rly written in Forever so this was a bit of a struggle lmfao but it was very fun lol tysm for reading <33
Summary: In their latest scheme to fundraise for Regionals, The New Directions decide to host the spookiest haunted house that Lima, Ohio has ever seen. But when strange things start happening on the set of their haunted house, it may be the spooksters themselves who get the biggest fright.
Chapter 2
By Sophie (@sopheadraws)
Not much trumped Blaine’s tendency to shut down and spiral when things became difficult, but he was a deeply loyal friend before anything else (often to the extent of neglecting his own needs). Kurt received the bulk of Blaine’s unbridled devotion –after all, they say love drives you crazy– but Blaine’s patience toward Rachel was greater than most, and he could recognize her scream of terror via the quantity of spiders that crept into McKinley High. He instinctively rushed back to a door leading into the main auditorium, which he’d left propped open knowing the heavy, metal doors tended to jam shut against their wooden frames, but it closed behind him... regardless.
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“Dang it. Nononono. Open you stupid- ” Blaine muttered as he pulled at the door handle with both hands, his shoes slipping against the cheap carpeting.
“You should say ‘fuck’,” said a female voice near one of the bathrooms, “Bewitched words take away bad feelings.”
Blaine looked over his shoulder carefully at first, but his tense arms relaxed by his sides when he identified the voice as a deranged-looking Brittany S. Pierce. The Cheerio stood in place by the men’s bathroom, only wearing her uniform skirt and a zebra striped bra. Brittany shed clothing on a regular basis, but Blaine had never seen her cradle a soap dispenser like a baby before. Blonde hair fell out of her signature ponytail by the hairspray-matted lock while they stared at each other, but she didn’t seem to notice.
Several silent moments passed between them before Blaine responded. “My family doesn’t say those kinds of words. Well, my parents aren’t in charge of me! I just don’t like being crude, and...” he cleared his throat, “Can you help me open this door so I can make sure Santana didn’t kill Rachel?”
“No. I don’t like Rachel; Santana should kill her. Also, The Woman told me to protect the bubble babies with my life. That’s more important.”
Blaine felt like screaming himself. He liked Brittany just fine –they both liked petting zoos, Disney marathons, and colorful bow ties– but sometimes it felt like she didn’t even try to leave the fantasy dimension only Santana understood when they needed her. He slumped against the door to avoid ranting about something even more embarrassing than his family’s policy on curse words. Like his feelings for Kurt.
And Brittany just stood there, staring into nothing and stroking the soap dispenser, thinking about whatever Brittany thought about.
—
On the other hand, Kurt faced the reality of Rachel Berry’s hysteria, which wasn’t as enjoyable as Blaine’s panic-stricken plight might suggest. New Directions –several of whom Kurt didn’t even know were there– came pouring out of every nook and cranny the auditorium had to offer when Rachel screamed out. Unsurprisingly, she found the flitting of nearly a dozen confused high schoolers unhelpful: Finn stamped on the glass, loudly shattering it further; Santana broke into inappropriate laughter upon seeing Artie’s half-applied makeup and bald cap, and Rory tripped over his own feet running down the house.
“I appreciate your concern for my predicament, but I must do as Galinda would and ‘rise above it’,” unstifled squeaks revealed the cracks in Rachel’s conviction. “I can handle the faulty installations of April Rhodes’ incompetent electrician if everyone else stays on track!”
“Babe, you’re being very strong, but we don’t have wiring tools, and you wouldn’t know how to use them if we did,” Mercedes pointed out.
Having a plausible explanation and plan –even if she had no chance of succeeding and would certainly just get upset again in the process– seemed to revive Rachel. “Then you can help me! Santana isn’t really doing anything, so she can do Artie’s bald cap instead.”
“I’m doing the sheet thingy with Kurt,” Santana rebuked.
“Exactly; you’re not doing anything. Kurt will join Mercedes and myself since he fixes cars, and, as long as the rest of you stick to the schedule, my blueprints will create the best haunted house Lima has ever seen.”
It took some haggling, but the others ultimately let Rachel go on her wild goose chase with the condition that Santana replaced Mercedes as the second companion (a decision Santana would later deny personally suggesting). So, Rachel led them on a fruitless search through every closet while she talked incessantly about Finn, and Broadway, and Finn again, and her newfound passion for journaling. By the time she finally gave up looking, Kurt was about one more “you’re in-the-closet” joke away from killing them both.
“I’m going to Home Depot, and you’re going back to the sheet,” Rachel announced after they finished rummaging through a particularly boring janitor closet in the dressing rooms.
Kurt almost let her go, but he knew Rachel needed her perfect exhibit more than he needed to get away from her. “Didn’t Blaine already go out to buy something? I know Finn tossed him his keys, and he hasn’t been here since. It’d make more sense just to call him to pick everything up.”
Santana smirked, “This place hasn’t had phone signal all day, but if hearing Anderson’s dull blabber is that important to you, maybe you should go instead.”
They argued back and forth as they headed back to the stage, but upon reaching the door, they stopped in their tracks. The plaque of Lillian Adler stared right back at them.
—
Author's Note: Thank you to A.) my bed for literally supporting me when I cried over this project B.) my father, who offered to write this for me because I cried (his hypothetical subplot about Sue carving pumpkins naked would have been better than this) C.) and my beta, Cathy :)
Summary: In their latest scheme to fundraise for Regionals, The New Directions decide to host the spookiest haunted house that Lima, Ohio has ever seen. But when strange things start happening on the set of their haunted house, it may be the spooksters themselves who get the biggest fright.
Chapter 1
By BlurglesmurfKlaine (@spookyklaine)
—
“Braaaaaains… Braaaaains… Blaaaaaine!”
“Ha, ha, very clever.” Blaine said, the smile on his face betraying his dry tone.
Finn held his arms straight out stiffly, mimicking a zombie. Blaine pushed Finn away as the quarterback for the McKinley titans tried to live up to the undead makeup on his face and faked taking a bite out of Blaine’s head.
“Braaaaains,” he repeated.
“Yeah, you don’t have any,” Blaine replied, playfully shoving Finn.
🕸 Keep reading below the cut or on Ao3 🕸
“Wow, uncalled for,” Finn retorted, instantly reverting back to his non-zombie self.
He and Blaine had just spent an hour in the McKinley High Auditorium dressing rooms while Tina worked her magic and painted their faces. Upon exiting the makeup chair, Rachel had immediately sentenced them to setting up the main stage of their haunted house.
So far, they had set up a few old chairs, and a sarcophagus-like fixture, where one of the New Directions would hide while patrons walked through. Slowly, a red light would glow behind them in the coffin, while the thrill seeking visitors were distracted by Artie’s portrayal of a mad scientist, and the guest would be treated to the jump scare of their lives.
A haunted house in the auditorium. It was quite the scheme to come up with the money they needed for Regionals. Still, at least they didn’t have to sell taffy.
But they did have to deal with Rachel and her… perfectionism.
She came marching right up to the two boys on stage. “If you’re already in makeup and costume, might I suggest staying in character? People can tell if you’re just pretending!”
“Isn’t that the point of acting—” Blaine muttered. If Rachel heard him, she showed no indication.
“Be the zombies.” The boys have her half hearted thumbs up in response to her expectant stare. “Makeup and outfits look great, though!”
Blaine refrained from rolling his eyes, but if he pursed his lips wryly in response, he couldn’t be blamed. Totally involuntary.
“She’s right,” Finn said once Rachel had strolled off.
“We need to become actual zombies?”
“No, about our outfits looking sick as hell!” Finn burst out into an uncontainable grin, gesturing to the old football jerseys Coach Beiste had loaned them for tonight, torn and tattered. They coupled well with Tina’s impressively realistic zombie makeup.
Finn held his hand up for a high five and Blaine readily obliged.
“I just wish we had some fake blood or something, I think it would really tie it together.”
“I’ve got a bottle of ketchup in my truck.” Finn offered.
Blaine blinked. “Um… why?”
“You never know when you’re going to come across a hotdog.”
“You know you’re supposed to refrigerate ketchup after opening it, right?”
“Dude, ketchup doesn’t go bad. Everyone knows that.” Before Blaine could correct him, Finn’s eyes widened. “You know what, I do have some food coloring and corn syrup in the back. You know how intense Kurt gets about his murder mystery dinner parties.”
Blaine’s stomach swooped just at hearing Kurt’s name, his heart speeding up at the mention of his best friend.
They hadn’t spoken since their last Glee Club rehearsal on Wednesday. It was only Saturday, but in the three years he’d known Kurt, they’d never gone this long without contact. The worst part was that it wasn’t intentional, at least not on Blaine’s end. They’d made loose plans to see a movie on Friday, but neither had followed up with the other to confirm.
Maybe Blaine had been too obvious, too awkward, and had scared Kurt off. Surely, Kurt could tell Blaine had feelings for him, and in Kurt was just running out the clock until graduation so that he could avoid rejecting Blaine until they went their separate ways for good and never had to see each other again, and god, why did Blaine think it was a good idea to tell Kurt how he felt—?
“Finn! We need your height over here!” Tina called from backstage, where she and Quinn were attempting to toss a rope with a dummy on one end of it over the railing.
“Coming!” replied the quarterback. He dug in his pockets for his keys, swiftly tossing them to Blaine. “She’s yours for the night,” Finn said, doing his best impression of Burt. “Not a scratch on her, young man!”
Blaine grinned at his friend’s goofiness, throwing back a mock salute. “Yes, sir.”
He hopped off the stage and headed down the aisle to the lobby of the auditorium, pulling on the large green doors that led to the parking lot and—
Nothing.
He pulled on the doors once more, harder this time, but they refused to open. His heart skipped a beat, and not in the same way it did when he was around Kurt. He was just being ridiculous. Maybe these doors were push instead of pull. He tried the former, only to be met with the same thudding sound and the unmoving green entrance doors.
Were they locked in?
Before Blaine could even begin to panic, a loud crashing sound followed by a high and shrill scream drew his attention away.
—
“Ooooooh,” Santana wailed, holding the white sheet that was supposed to eventually become a fake bed in the air, shaking it around.
“Are you the ghost of show choirs past?” Kurt asked, unamused.
“No,” she replied in her ghoulish voice. “I’m the ghost of my social life since I joined this stupid cluuuuub.”
“Will you two quit the jibber jabber and get back to work?” Rachel barked at them, appearing out of seemingly nowhere. It was more like yapping, really. Kurt was sure Rachel envisioned herself as the leader of the pack—maybe something fierce and regal like an Irish WolfHound—but all he saw was a teacup shitzu in Mary Jane’s who thought herself three times her size, yipping and yapping away while not actually doing any of the heavy lifting. “We open tonight, and if our patrons aren’t scared out of their wits, we’ll have hoards of underwhelmed trick-or-treaters demanding our money for Regionals back! I’m going to check on the smoke machine, and when I get back, I want these backdrops painted and you two in makeup chairs.”
Santana muttered something about Rachel’s outfit being scary enough while she went off onstage to criticize Finn and Blaine’s acting. “People can tell if you’re just pretending! Be the zombies. Makeup and outfits look great, though!”
“Am I the only one getting sick and tired of being bossed around by canal street knockoff Fanny Brice?”
Kurt stared wistfully at Blaine, laughing and horsing around with Finn as they walked offstage, in opposite directions.
Things had been weird between them recently, and Kurt wasn’t sure why. Blaine had been acting strange, fumbling his words more than usual. He could tell there was something he needed to get off his chest, but he wasn’t sure what. Kurt’s stomach twisted in anxiety at the idea of Blaine keeping something from him.
With graduation coming up in May, Kurt wanted to savor every moment they had left together. He wasn't sure how well that hope would fair if things between them didn’t clear up.
“Okay, clearly you’re too busy making moon eyes at your man who isn’t even your man, I will take my beautifully crafted insults to someone who will appreciate them.”
“I am not making moon—”
A loud crashing sound and blood curdling scream forced Kurt and Santana to snap their heads in the direction of the ruckus.
It was Rachel. On the stage, white as a sheet, a broken light fixture at her feet, where she had just been standing not seconds ago.
Summary: In their latest scheme to fundraise for Regionals, The New Directions decide to host the spookiest haunted house that Lima, Ohio has ever seen. But when strange things start happening on the set of their haunted house, it may be the spooksters themselves who get the biggest fright.
Chapter 1
By BlurglesmurfKlaine (@spookyklaine)
—
“Braaaaaains… Braaaaains… Blaaaaaine!”
“Ha, ha, very clever.” Blaine said, the smile on his face betraying his dry tone.
Finn held his arms straight out stiffly, mimicking a zombie. Blaine pushed Finn away as the quarterback for the McKinley titans tried to live up to the undead makeup on his face and faked taking a bite out of Blaine’s head.
“Braaaaains,” he repeated.
“Yeah, you don’t have any,” Blaine replied, playfully shoving Finn.
🕸 Keep reading below the cut or on Ao3 🕸
“Wow, uncalled for,” Finn retorted, instantly reverting back to his non-zombie self.
He and Blaine had just spent an hour in the McKinley High Auditorium dressing rooms while Tina worked her magic and painted their faces. Upon exiting the makeup chair, Rachel had immediately sentenced them to setting up the main stage of their haunted house.
So far, they had set up a few old chairs, and a sarcophagus-like fixture, where one of the New Directions would hide while patrons walked through. Slowly, a red light would glow behind them in the coffin, while the thrill seeking visitors were distracted by Artie’s portrayal of a mad scientist, and the guest would be treated to the jump scare of their lives.
A haunted house in the auditorium. It was quite the scheme to come up with the money they needed for Regionals. Still, at least they didn’t have to sell taffy.
But they did have to deal with Rachel and her… perfectionism.
She came marching right up to the two boys on stage. “If you’re already in makeup and costume, might I suggest staying in character? People can tell if you’re just pretending!”
“Isn’t that the point of acting—” Blaine muttered. If Rachel heard him, she showed no indication.
“Be the zombies.” The boys have her half hearted thumbs up in response to her expectant stare. “Makeup and outfits look great, though!”
Blaine refrained from rolling his eyes, but if he pursed his lips wryly in response, he couldn’t be blamed. Totally involuntary.
“She’s right,” Finn said once Rachel had strolled off.
“We need to become actual zombies?”
“No, about our outfits looking sick as hell!” Finn burst out into an uncontainable grin, gesturing to the old football jerseys Coach Beiste had loaned them for tonight, torn and tattered. They coupled well with Tina’s impressively realistic zombie makeup.
Finn held his hand up for a high five and Blaine readily obliged.
“I just wish we had some fake blood or something, I think it would really tie it together.”
“I’ve got a bottle of ketchup in my truck.” Finn offered.
Blaine blinked. “Um… why?”
“You never know when you’re going to come across a hotdog.”
“You know you’re supposed to refrigerate ketchup after opening it, right?”
“Dude, ketchup doesn’t go bad. Everyone knows that.” Before Blaine could correct him, Finn’s eyes widened. “You know what, I do have some food coloring and corn syrup in the back. You know how intense Kurt gets about his murder mystery dinner parties.”
Blaine’s stomach swooped just at hearing Kurt’s name, his heart speeding up at the mention of his best friend.
They hadn’t spoken since their last Glee Club rehearsal on Wednesday. It was only Saturday, but in the three years he’d known Kurt, they’d never gone this long without contact. The worst part was that it wasn’t intentional, at least not on Blaine’s end. They’d made loose plans to see a movie on Friday, but neither had followed up with the other to confirm.
Maybe Blaine had been too obvious, too awkward, and had scared Kurt off. Surely, Kurt could tell Blaine had feelings for him, and in Kurt was just running out the clock until graduation so that he could avoid rejecting Blaine until they went their separate ways for good and never had to see each other again, and god, why did Blaine think it was a good idea to tell Kurt how he felt—?
“Finn! We need your height over here!” Tina called from backstage, where she and Quinn were attempting to toss a rope with a dummy on one end of it over the railing.
“Coming!” replied the quarterback. He dug in his pockets for his keys, swiftly tossing them to Blaine. “She’s yours for the night,” Finn said, doing his best impression of Burt. “Not a scratch on her, young man!”
Blaine grinned at his friend’s goofiness, throwing back a mock salute. “Yes, sir.”
He hopped off the stage and headed down the aisle to the lobby of the auditorium, pulling on the large green doors that led to the parking lot and—
Nothing.
He pulled on the doors once more, harder this time, but they refused to open. His heart skipped a beat, and not in the same way it did when he was around Kurt. He was just being ridiculous. Maybe these doors were push instead of pull. He tried the former, only to be met with the same thudding sound and the unmoving green entrance doors.
Were they locked in?
Before Blaine could even begin to panic, a loud crashing sound followed by a high and shrill scream drew his attention away.
—
“Ooooooh,” Santana wailed, holding the white sheet that was supposed to eventually become a fake bed in the air, shaking it around.
“Are you the ghost of show choirs past?” Kurt asked, unamused.
“No,” she replied in her ghoulish voice. “I’m the ghost of my social life since I joined this stupid cluuuuub.”
“Will you two quit the jibber jabber and get back to work?” Rachel barked at them, appearing out of seemingly nowhere. It was more like yapping, really. Kurt was sure Rachel envisioned herself as the leader of the pack—maybe something fierce and regal like an Irish WolfHound—but all he saw was a teacup shitzu in Mary Jane’s who thought herself three times her size, yipping and yapping away while not actually doing any of the heavy lifting. “We open tonight, and if our patrons aren’t scared out of their wits, we’ll have hoards of underwhelmed trick-or-treaters demanding our money for Regionals back! I’m going to check on the smoke machine, and when I get back, I want these backdrops painted and you two in makeup chairs.”
Santana muttered something about Rachel’s outfit being scary enough while she went off onstage to criticize Finn and Blaine’s acting. “People can tell if you’re just pretending! Be the zombies. Makeup and outfits look great, though!”
“Am I the only one getting sick and tired of being bossed around by canal street knockoff Fanny Brice?”
Kurt stared wistfully at Blaine, laughing and horsing around with Finn as they walked offstage, in opposite directions.
Things had been weird between them recently, and Kurt wasn’t sure why. Blaine had been acting strange, fumbling his words more than usual. He could tell there was something he needed to get off his chest, but he wasn’t sure what. Kurt’s stomach twisted in anxiety at the idea of Blaine keeping something from him.
With graduation coming up in May, Kurt wanted to savor every moment they had left together. He wasn't sure how well that hope would fair if things between them didn’t clear up.
“Okay, clearly you’re too busy making moon eyes at your man who isn’t even your man, I will take my beautifully crafted insults to someone who will appreciate them.”
“I am not making moon—”
A loud crashing sound and blood curdling scream forced Kurt and Santana to snap their heads in the direction of the ruckus.
It was Rachel. On the stage, white as a sheet, a broken light fixture at her feet, where she had just been standing not seconds ago.
Summary: In their latest scheme to fundraise for Regionals, The New Directions decide to host the spookiest haunted house that Lima, Ohio has ever seen. But when strange things start happening on the set of their haunted house, it may be the spooksters themselves who get the biggest fright.
A Halloween round robin Glee fic, coming soon to Tumblr and Ao3!
Each chapter was written by a different author to create a seamless spooky tale to get you in the mood for Halloween. The final chapter will post on October 31st!
An incomplete guide to how to talk to young children (3-5 years old):
- Do not assume they understand your instructions the first time. They will ask you the same question three times. Answer it the same way, patiently. They will get it eventually.
- Children will ask strings of “why” questions. They’re not trying to be annoying; they don’t have a lot of the context older people have. Answer until you can’t, then admit you don’t know and ask them a question back. They’ll get distracted for the moment, and trust that you take their questions seriously.
- If you need a kid to do something, give a reason, but don’t give up at “I don’t want to”. If they don’t listen, it’s okay to say “I explained why, and I still need you to do it.” Be calm, and firm. Usually, kids will listen the second or third time.
- If a kid doesn’t listen to an instruction repeatedly, there’s probably something in the way. Ask them why they’re not *without accusing them*, and they’ll tell you what’s going on most of the time. Common reasons: I’m scared, I don’t know how, I miss my parent/sibling, I’m tired, I’m angry/frustrated/sad, I need help. Address the roadblock and help find a compromise that works for the both of you.
- Threats are only as good as you can enforce them. If you threaten them with a countdown, you need a consequence to back it up that is appropriate to the request. For example: “I need you to stay in your chair. I’m going to count to five. If I get to five, and you’re not sitting in your seat with your feet on the floor, I am writing down that you were not listening during snack time on your behavior report.” Keep in mind that these threats only work if the consequence is at the right level; too harsh, and they’ll get overwhelmed and shut down, but too light, and they won’t see it as a consequence. A kid who doesn’t care what their behavior report says won’t worry about a bad report as a consequence.
- Never scream at a child. Never hit them. Never continuously escalate consequences until they do what you say. These behaviors cause a child to panic, and their fear response will prevent them from doing what you want them to, as well as make them more distrusting of you in the future. It’s not just cruel, it is actively counterintuitive to correcting their behavior.
- Make a point to notice and compliment/reward good behavior, especially with kids you are biased to view as “rude” or “badly behaved”. Kids take the views of adults seriously, and if they feel as though they can’t redeem themselves in your eyes, they won’t waste energy trying. Complimenting good behavior when you see it will encourage them to repeat good behaviors to earn your praise. In addition, if there’s other children nearby, they will also mimic the complimented behavior to earn the same praise. Give it.
- Kids want to feel heard. If they want to show or tell you “something cool”, and you have a few moments, watch/listen and compliment them *regardless of if you get it or not*. If you don’t have time, say “That sounds really cool! Can you tell me after we do [insert thing]?” This tells them that you care while still making sure they do what they need to.
- Kids can be downright frustrating sometimes, especially when they need to do something and they just *won’t*. Recognize when you’re getting angry, and learn to stop talking before you direct that anger at them. Take some deep breaths, remind yourself that this too shall pass, and try a different approach.
- Always understand why you’re asking a child to do something. Not only does this help you tell them why they need to, it helps you find replacement behaviors if they can’t/won’t do it. For example: “I need you to lay down and try to sleep, because your friends are sleeping and what you’re doing right now is waking them up. If you can’t sleep after trying for a while, we can work together to find you a quiet activity that you can do at your cot.”
- Don’t expect from a child what you wouldn’t expect from yourself. Could you stand laying still and staring at the ceiling for an hour when you’re not tired? No? Don’t ask a kid to do it. Could you stand staying out in the cold for an hour without a jacket? No? Don’t ask a kid to do it. Could you stand someone yelling at you without feeling angry? No? Don’t ask a kid to do it. Even if you think you could do it, consider if you could do it with the same limitations this child has. Could you do it without the emotional regulation and impulse control you’ve developed as an adult? Could you do it without the inference skills you’ve learned after years of social interactions? Could you do it when you felt angry, tired, overwhelmed, hungry, thirsty, desperately needing to pee with no bathroom nearby? If not, don’t ask a child to do it.
- Don’t react to potty words, insults, or offensive language. Don’t laugh, and don’t act upset. Use the same tone you would if someone said something innocuous, and correct them in that tone. “We don’t say that; that’s a hurtful thing to say to someone.” Or “That’s not funny. Let’s talk about something else.”
- Kids don’t (and should not) have a sense of sexual innuendo or puberty. A four year old doesn’t understand that reaching up to hug you and touching your breasts in the process is gross. A five year old doesn’t understand that “why aren’t you a mommy?” or “why does your face have red dots on it” are weird questions to ask random people. Enforce boundaries without delving into details. “Don’t touch me there; that makes me uncomfortable” and “That’s just how it works sometimes” can be used to great effect. Importantly, don’t act angry or use a tone that indicates they did something wrong; this will seem to them like you’re arbitrarily angry.
- Kids at this age don’t have a strong sense of cognitive empathy or predicting the future. The idea that actions have consequences beyond the immediate result is a very, very new concept to them. Be prepared to explain the obvious of “why can’t I bite her when she makes me mad?”, “why can’t I steal his toy when he stole mine?”, and “why do I have to do what you tell me when I don’t want to?”
- Give explicit instructions. “Stop that” isn’t likely to be understood by a four year old. “Stop throwing the toys; please put them in the bucket gently” is far easier for a kid to follow.
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