Glee Fic: Magic

[neaislove]

Title: Magic
Rating: R for violence
Summary: Kurt gifts Tina a spellbook for her birthday. The results aren't anything they expected.
Warnings: Character Death (but it is a halloween story)
Words: 10,810
A/N: Mostly from Tina's POV.

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Somewhere along the way Tina lost sight of what she was about. She had lost her spirit. She'd lost her soul. No really. She was lying on the ground, staring at a demon, and she was losing her soul. She'd had such high hopes for her senior year too. It had all started off so well.


Her first week started off normal enough. It was slow like always. And soul crushingly lonely. Every now and again she'd see someone she knew well enough to wave to but for the most part she was friendless and solitary. The glee club that she'd hoped to be a part of her freshman year had attempted another revival but it never lasted more than a few days before it fizzled out. Tina had since learned her lesson to not get her hopes up. But having your hopes and dreams skimming the scummy surface that was the cesspool of McKinley wore on a person. That's probably why she latched on so quickly to Kurt Hummel.

Kurt was handsome. He was funny and fashionable. And he didn't scoff at her sixties mod fashion sense. It kind of sucked that he was gay. Tina knew that most girls in more cultured cities would kill to have a gay best friend but Tina didn't get it. She'd rather have a hot boyfriend than a hot gay friend she never stood a chance with. Maybe she was just too low brow to get it. Kurt didn't make her feel that way though. Whenever he talked with her she felt like a New York socialite. She felt like she was going somewhere. Within a few days of knowing Kurt Tina had gone from no friends to being the center of a clique. She had people. She had things to do. Crazy wild things she hadn't dreamed of doing since she was a freshman goth.

It was fun though. There was something heady about learning spells. She never dreamed they would work. She thought, just like she was sure Lauren and Sugar and Mack thought, they were all fake. It was just like role play. They got together, read some dusty books and giggled over candles. Kurt came and went from those. Sometimes he would come and ask Tina to predict the name of his future husband. Other times he would bow out at the last minute with a flimsy excuse. They'd just thought the magic stuff made him uncomfortable. Looking back on it all Tina still couldn't place why things worked out the way they did, why they all turned on him.

If Tina had to pin down the moment when it all really went downhill she would have to say it was the month before her birthday. By then her and the girls were well into their magic club meetings and very much invested in finding something that actually worked. Not that they thought they'd find anything. But it was a goal. You couldn't live in Lima without one. She was getting off track. During the month before her birthday Kurt came around to the idea of her little magic get togethers. And as a sign of his unwavering support he bought her a book.

0 0 0 0 0

“I just...” Kurt held up his gift bashfully. His face was in full blush and Tina wished once again that Kurt was a little more interested in the female body. “I know I was the one who said you should get back into your passion and I haven't really been all that supportive.”

“Oh Kurt.” Tina smiled and took the gift. It had the heavy feel of a good old book. “You found me friends who are interested. So you're not into everything I do. How many friends are one hundred percent in tune?” They shrugged together and linked arms, smiling all down the hall. Together they huddled together and wound through the non-pulsed masses all the way to history. It was a joke class really. Most kids spent their time there doodling in notebooks or scrambling to finish projects before they got to their more attentive teachers. Tina took that day to open her gift. It was a book. It was a thick leather bound tome with cracks around the binding. The front cover had no title, just a symbol, and all the pages were thick with dust. A cursory glance in Kurt's direction showed that he was still the consummate student, paying rapt attention even as the teacher droned on about yesterday's topic.

Tina wanted to text him or throw a paper ball in his direction, but she held back. Instead she focused all of her excitement into reading the book. It wasn't in English. Most of it anyways. Every now and then she'd spot a scribbled word or two in the margins. The print looked like Latin. It wasn't offered at McKinley but what good magic obsessed goth girl didn't know at least a few words? Tina could barely contain her excitement. Kurt had found her a spell book. A really old, legitimate spell book. It had to be the real deal. There were drawings and diagrams between paragraphs of spell work and ingredient lists. She could just imagine her and the girls reciting one of these spells in the dead of night. They could summon animal familiars or change the color of their eyes. Maybe they could even curse a few of the jocks into acting human.

Kurt would get a kick out of that. He seemed to take the brunt of the beating. Tina had to give it to him though, he bore it with a great amount of dignity. More than she thought she would be able to muster if it were directed at her. With that in mind Tina began searching for a page about curses. She knew enough to guess the gist of things through context clues. And what she couldn't guess at the drawings were covering. She wasn't sure what the benefit of growing ram horns on your chest would be but it was there. Or maybe it was a side effect warning page. She'd have to brush up on her Latin to be sure. They could all do it together. They could set up in her room and translate the book in sections. Then they could introduce Kurt to the simple stuff and work him up to the more vindictive stuff. By her birthday Kurt would probably be able to curse Karofsky and Azimio into growing breasts or something.

Her research carried her through the end of the period. When she finally pulled herself from her notes Kurt was standing over her with a smile on his face and a handful of history notes. “You like it then?”

“Like it? I love it. I've never even heard of some of this stuff.”

“Well it's in Latin so...” Kurt nudged her out of her seat and out the door. Tina let herself be swept away by Kurt's comments on McKinley's lack luster education. Normally she'd grouse right along with him but her mind was still set firmly on the book. She barely even noticed when he said his goodbye and headed towards his French class. Lauren was enough to pull her out of her thoughts though. She was a hulking presence in her home economics class, dominating what should have been a three person station for just herself and Tina. She said she preferred to cook in solitude and that Tina's occasional presence as poison tester was an organized risk she was willing to put up with. It almost made her feel all warm inside.

“What's up Asian Dumpling? I haven't seen you so happy since Mike Chang soaked his shirt in chem.”

In lieu of answering Tina slid the black leather book across the desk. Lauren looked at it skeptically from behind her thick glasses. The raised eyebrow and twisted little mouth told Tina all she needed to know. Interest was peaked. “Kurt gave me a little early birthday present. A spell book.”

“An actual spell book?” The skepticism was heavy in her voice. Tina slumped and slid into her stool while dropping her bag to the floor.

“Well yes and no. I mean it looks legit. Someone probably wrote it a long time ago thinking it worked. But well...it can't hurt to try it out right?” Lauren nodded and tried to slide the book closer to herself. Tina caught it just in time, inching it back towards herself but opening it nonetheless. She wasn't quite ready to share it like that yet. Trying to cover up her potentially offensive behavior, Tina flipped to a page with a very graphic drawing of someone in pure agony. Violence spoke to Lauren like magic spoke to her. “Maybe you can try something on Puckerman?” Those seemed to be the magic words. Lauren let her little faux pas slide. Just like that Lauren was in to try out the new book. Together they slipped between blending cake mix and imagining up recipes for spells all shades of dark.

By the time school was over the word had gotten out to the rest of her little coven. Before she knew it all of them, this time with Kurt, were sitting up in her room reading through page after page of Latin translation. They all had up different translation sites and different little paperback help books. The work was slow going but there was an energy to it. It wasn't like their usual tiny rush of giddiness when they tried slumber party parlor tricks. This was something real. Something that could potentially yield results. The difference was palpable.

“So where did you say you got the book Hummel?” Mack was anything but subtle. Very much like the rest of Tina's new friends, sans Kurt. Maybe that was why they worked. Something about the two of them needing a push. Kurt certainly looked like he needed one. Preferably not off a cliff into mountain lions. All eyes were on him and no amount of slouching could hide him behind his laptop screen.

“A thrift store in Columbus. I was up there looking for jackets and I saw a book bin. Everything was ten cents so I started digging. It was near the bottom.”

“Wow. You got the girl a ten cent present. Even I'm not that cheap.”

Kurt sighed and tossed a pleading look to Tina. She knew. It was the thought that counted. Whether it was ten cents or twenty dollars didn't matter. This book was the best gift she'd ever gotten. It had history. And potential. It was what they all needed. She wasn't sure how much longer their new group would have held together if they kept up the same old same old every weekend. “It's fine Mack. I love it. And if he feels that bad he can get me something else on my actual birthday.” She was teasing but Kurt would probably get her something anyways. He was just that kind of guy. If he weren't gay, well she could think of a few things they could do.

It was obvious that she was thinking along the same lines as Sugar if the next thing out of her mouth was any indication. “Let's try this love spell.” Like dogs on a squirrel all attention snapped to Sugar. And as always Kurt tried to be the voice of reason.

“How do you know it's a love spell?”

She picked up the heavily dog eared translation book then tapped insistently on her computer screen. “I can read same as you guys. I'm doing my work. And my section of the book is obviously about love.” Sugar looked to the ceiling and hugged her chest like some starlet in a rom-com. When no one came forward to cheer her on Sugar came back down to Earth and crawled towards the book at Tina's feet. “Come on guys. We want to do magic. We want something to work. This could be our big break. Nothing bad is going to happen. If it doesn't work it doesn't work. And if it does what do we have to worry about. It's love.” Sugar knew how to make a point. Even the vaguely constipated look on Kurt's face had eased a little. Love was hard to mess up.

When Sugar went to pull the book towards herself Tina hoisted it into her lap and flipped to the section she'd photocopied for her. “Well what kind of love spell is it exactly?” Sugar squealed and bounced around, sending her side ponytail flailing in all directions. Once she finally calmed down she leaned forward on her knees, urging the others to crowd in.

“One to make a boy fall madly in love with you. Forever.” The way forever rolled off her tongue like a whispered promise, like a lover would make in your ear, it sealed the deal. Tina was sold. Even if the other girls weren't. As far as first spells go that seemed to be the best bet. Having a guy spend the rest of his life and yours loving you and treating you like something precious seemed like a great use of magic. A public service if you will. Who didn't benefit from seeing long lasting love? No one that's who. “It's a few pages in. The one with the drawing of the heart. The gross kind not the Valentine's kind.” The page in question was dominated by an intricate drawing of an anatomically correct heart. There was little in the way of preface for the spell and only two short sentences after the drawing to sum it up. It seemed straight forward enough.

“Okay. We'll do it. But for who and to who?” Tina spent a little while tracing her finger over the swoops of the drawing. So long that she didn't notice the way the whole room had crowded up against her. When she looked up four pairs of eyes were eagerly staring her down. “Me?” Tina scooted back as much as she could, shaking her head and trying to banish the very thought from the room. “No. No way. Who would even-“

“Anyone you want Asian Dumpling. That's the point.” Lauren held her hand out expectantly for Sugar's copy of the love spell. It was handed over eagerly, all without ever looking away from Tina. In no time at all Lauren was reading through the ingredients, all scribbled out in Sugar's loopy handwriting. “Seems pretty straight forward. A little hair, a drop of your blood, some beeswax. Then we say the words and bam, you've got yourself a boy toy.” Lauren looked at Tina over the top of her glasses like she was daring her to put a stop to it all. Tina wasn't ready to handle that wrath. And she was due for some love. She was a single senior, never before dated. “So who's on your mind-“

“Mike Chang and his delicious abs.” The whole room burst into laughter. Once that died down there was a round of appreciation for the work of art that was Mike Chang. Even Kurt felt the pull. Now that they had a course of action it was like the tension had eased. There was definitely still something there, a pressure in the group like a dense fog. They wanted it to work. They wanted magic. But now that they had a direction to fly in it wasn't so suffocating. Instead of winding themselves up and wondering they were making plans and moving forward with the love spell. Step one was to get some hair. Kurt volunteered his services for that.

The next day when he passed a folded tissue to Tina with a smirk it was like a bomb had gone off. Like it had detonated inside of her and filled her up with all of it's energy. They were doing this. They'd already gotten over the hardest hurtle and everyone was still there. They were going to preform a spell after school. A real one. They were witches.

It was decidedly less exciting when they preformed the spell. In the spirit of the night they all dawned black clothes with a single red or pink accessory. For theme and photo purposes. Even though they all wanted it to work, even though they all knew it would, they didn't actually expect it to. Dressing up was a way to carry on the night after the disappointment. But before that feeling could settle in there was a lot of awkward. Huddling together with your friends to drop hot wax over blood and hair was nothing short of weird. Chanting together in Latin that you didn't fully understand was even weirder. And after all of that there was nothing. There was no flash of light, no ominous smoke, no clandestine phone call. The wax congealed, the words puttered out, and the five of them spent the rest of the night binging on ice cream and watching sad movies.

Waking up the morning after was if possible even more disheartening. Tina thought her stomach would just lie there on the floor when she got up. When she got up to answer the door she felt like she might have left her heart there too. She couldn't imagine her friends would want to stick around much longer after a disaster like last night. There were so many disappointments a group could take. Tina trudged down the stairs to the front door without a thought to what she looked like. It was probably just one of her mom's book club friends anyways. They'd seen her look worse. Like that time she tried raccoon eyes and blue lipstick. It'd been a dark weekend for the family.

Without even bothering to look through the peep hole Tina opened the door and gestured for whoever it was to come in. Had she actually been looking straight ahead and not at the twist in her sock she might have saved face.

“Red's good on you.”

Tina's head shot up. It was Mike. Mike Chang, the Mike Chang that she fantasied about more than once in the privacy of her bathtub. He was standing on her porch with a single rose and a bashful look. When her lungs figured out how to pull in air again Tina took stock of herself. Her hair was a tangled mess of bobby pins and sparkly scrunchies and at least one of her socks was on backwards. Never let it be said that you needed to get drunk to wreck yourself. She hastily fixed what she could of her hair, giving barely a thought to Sugar's scrunchies as they landed on the floor. “Oh well, you know, I've been trying color.”

“I've noticed. That pink and black dress. It was like checkers kind of...”

“Houndstooth. Vintage.” The two of them stood quietly, observing each other. Mike was a little less discrete in looking. The look in his eyes was nothing less than smitten. Odd considering Tina had spoken hardly a word to him since their freshman year. “So what brings you here this morning?”

“I wanted to ask you on a date.” Mike thrust out the rose. His smile was friendly and earnest, so sweet Tina thought she'd melt. She took the rose and held it gently to her nose for a quick smell.

“This is all so sudden.” Even more sudden was Mike's next move. He dropped to his knees at her feet, looking up at her with pleading eyes. His palms were warm against her knees, even through her jeans she could feel it.

“Please. Please go on a date with me. It'll be the best date you've ever been on. I promise you won't be sorry.” Tina reached out, almost touching Mike's hair, but she hesitated. She dropped her hand to her stomach and smiled down at Mike. The tension in his shoulders lessened just so.

“Of course I'll go. I'll just give you my number so-“

“I've got it. I called around last night.” And with that Mike left in a flurry of motion. He was graceful and light on his feet. It was like his happiness helped him float out the door. Tina stood in her entryway, frozen with shock and joy until her friends came filling down the stairs. It was Kurt who caught sight of the rose. He took it from her gently and held it up for the girls to see until they understood. The resulting cheer was so loud her parents almost made them all go home. It wasn't even just about Mike. Which in itself was great. She had a boyfriend. She had a life long love that would never let her go. But that wasn't all. They had done it. They had made Mike that way. With magic. They were witches. Actual witches with actual spells and actual power. It was a whole new world.

The problem with living in a new world was the work that went into it. The demands of your people and the resources you had to juggle to meet those needs. Tina finally understood why Mr. Schue hadn't fought harder for glee. Tina was only in charge of a few girls, on an assumed basis and it was exhausting. Making a small love spell work set a spark off in the others. Like they all felt their bombs go off too. As nice as it was to see them at at her level of passion it was kind of wearing on her. They all wanted to try new spells. All of them wanted a different one. They all thought the group should go in different direction. They all had their own ideals and projections for the future. They only thing they could all agree on was more magic. Kurt was the closest to her in all of it. He took an interest in a little bit of everything. But mostly he stuck to reading the book. He joined in with everyone's talk and wild theories but he made few of his own. If anything he seemed to be waiting for another unified front. That's what Tina wanted too. She didn't want to randomly prank members of the student body or deface public property with her new powers. She wanted to do something. And she wanted to do it with her friends.

That's why she kept carrying the book with her everywhere. She was hoping that she'd find something substantial, something that took a lot of time and effort that they could work on together. Maybe a series of spells or a combination of them that would change the world. Or at least McKinley. Mike was a great help. He was always there, ready to give out a helping hand or to just listen. Tina didn't share her magic with him. She was worried what might happen to him if he found out it was a spell that brought them together. She knew that it was going to get out one day but she hoped it would be in the distant future. He was a great choice. It seemed like he'd loved her before the spell and that the whole thing was just a push in the right direction. Her direction. It was actually his unwavering devotion and love that gave her an idea.

Tina poured herself over page after page until she came up with the best plan. They could summon something. Something big. Something ancient that could be a presence in their lives and help them. Protect them. She found a passage near the center of the book. The words were redundant and obscure. And there was no illustration. That boded well for a series of events that wouldn't lead to complete agony. If all worked out well they would have a personal bodyguard spirit. She wasn't sure yet if the spirit or being would operate on a possession basis or if it would follow them around. She was working on it.

During the time that Tina worked out what her friends could do next, Mike was a constant. He was always there to ask about her day, to walk her to class, to wish her goodnight over the phone. He was always around, his eyes as full of love and devotion as ever. It was actually getting kind of annoying. She felt like she couldn't even go to the bathroom without Mike being interested. It was getting a little ridiculous. At first glance, having Mike follow her around like a puppy was amazing. It was just the constant being there, the constant want and need. She felt like she was being drained dry. Even hopelessly in love married couples had separate interests.

So once the overwhelming joy of having the Mike Chang follow her around wore off, Tina started casually brushing him off. She'd 'forget' to meet him at her locker. She'd be too busy to call after dinner. Just little things, here and there. But shaking him was proving difficult. No matter what her excuse, no matter how intricate her out of the way route, Mike always found her again. It was feeling less and less like love the longer it went on. If anything it was obsession. Bone deep, soul burning obsession. When she ran out of ideas, she brought it to Kurt's attention. Who, by the by, had noticed but was surprisingly unhelpful regardless.

“I just want some space.”

Kurt nodded, his eyes downcast and his fingers occupied with a notebook. “Have you tried telling him that?”

Tina threw her hands up and scowled. “Have I tried? What haven't I tried? Come on Kurt. He won't leave me alone. I feel like I can't even go to the bathroom. What am I suppose to do?” She put her hands over Kurt's, stilling him and finally drawing his eye. “Please.”

“Just...avoid him okay. Tell him you want some space and don't take no for an answer. Go home, get in bed, and tell your parents you don't want to be interrupted. Simple as that.” Simple as that. Maybe she was making it too complicated. It wasn't like Mike could break into her house or anything. And if their spell really made Mike love her for all of eternity or whatever he wasn't likely to shun her for over one quiet night. She was over thinking things. It was the book, the magic. It was making her skin itch. She could use a good night in bed with a B movie and a bowl of ice cream. With a plan in mind it was a little bit easier to deal with Mike throughout the day. A little bit.

That day she managed to tactfully dodge Mike at nearly every opportunity. By the time she'd made it home and into her pajamas she felt lighter, freer. Like she could breathe. She settled into bed with a bowl of ice cream and her book. The book. She hadn't made too much headway translating her own section of the book. As the self proclaimed leader of the book she'd felt responsible to translate a little of everything. Just to help out. And she was curious. Each section of the book was wildly different. It seemed like a waste to limit herself to one type of magic.

Before long her movie was over and looping on the menu screen, ignored. Her ice cream had melted down to a frothy soup and her phone was lost somewhere on her floor. She was caught up in the words and dusty pages. Somewhere between illusions and glamor her phone lit up for the last time, the screen showing forty missed calls. Tina was able to make it through another handful of translations something tore her away. She heard a tapping on her window. At first she assumed it was a bird or a tree branch caught in the wind. But it was constant and steady. Finally she couldn't take it anymore and snapped the book shut, setting it aside. Tina whipped her face towards the window, ready to scare away the bird or break off the branch.

Instead she gasped. It was Mike tapping on her window. He was crouch on the top of a ladder, tapping away at her window with a manic smile on his face. Tina scrambled out of bed and made towards the window. At the last second she hesitated, fingers curled an inch away from the latch. Mike didn't look right. He looked crazy. She straightened herself up and looked at him. Really looked for the first time since the spell. Mike was usually the picture of composure. Even when he wore open flannels over plain tanks he held himself with a certain grace and carefree style. Now that grace was gone.

His hair was a wild mess and his clothes were wrinkled. His face looked drawn and tight like his smile was pulling his skin taught. It wasn't right. Maybe she'd cast the spell wrong. That had to be it. She'd been too overzealous and now Mike was suffering. She had to fix it. She had to let him in and calm him down. She unlocked her window and slid it up quickly, expecting Mike to climb in. She reached for him, worried that in his frenzied state he'd slip and fall.

“Tina. Oh Tina. Tinatinatina.”

“Mike...it's okay. I'm here. You can-“

Mike smiled at her, just as wide and desperate as before. He lifted her hand from his arm and kissed it. Then quick as a flash he stood. Balanced on the top of the ladder Tina could see his dancer's grace. One of the reasons she loved him so much. Too bad she couldn't appreciate it for the circumstances. “Mike! Get down from there.”

“I will. I will Tina. Tina. Oh Tina. I love you so much. I think about you when I wake up. I think about you at school. When I eat. When I lay down at night. Your smile is the light that guides my day. Your voice is the siren call that gets me to school. I love you so much it hurts.”

Tina felt her heart sink. It settled like a rock in her stomach. Mike was talking like a crazy person. And he was still balanced precociously on the edge of the ladder top. Tina leaned farther out her window, trying to hold into Mike's legs and urge him inside. He needed help and he needed it fast. They had to reverse the spell. She couldn't do it alone. Someone had to wrangle Mike while someone looked for the reversal spell. With Mike still singing her praises and seemingly steady on the ladder Tina pulled herself back in. She moved backwards to her bed, blindly searching for the book.

Her hand groped backwards across her sheets, upending her melted ice cream. She turned, just for a second, while she shook the mess from her fingers.

“My heart belongs to you Tina!”

Tina nodded absently and turned back to the window, still concentrated on the sticky mess on her fingers. “Yeah Mike I love you t-“ She looked up in time to see him pull a knife from his back pocket. Before she could even properly process what was happening he plunged the knife into his heart and fell from the ladder, limp. Tina rushed to the window and threw her upper body through it. The sill of her window dug painfully into her stomach and the ice cream on her fingers sent her hand sliding painfully into the corner. The sharp pain radiating through the side of her hand grounded her, kept her from completely losing her cool at the sight of Mike's still body. He was sprawled in the grass, his face finally softened and calm.

Tina watched him for a while. Her mind was going a mile a minute but her heart was calm. She had to fix this. She had to do something. Bring him back or turn back time. Something. When Tina finally pulled herself back into her room her face was cold from the wind and the ice cream on her hand had dried into a tacky film. She could still feel a distant throb from the way her hand slid. That was good. Great even. She deserved at least that. Almost on auto pilot she dialed Kurt's number. He would know what to do. He was so level headed. He was their peace keeper. He was strong enough to drag Mike's body inside.

“Something's happened. Come over now.” She listened to Kurt's soft, genuine worry passively. When he finished she pushed on like he'd said nothing at all. She didn't need words right now. Words got her into this mess. She needed action. “Just get here. Quietly. We'll call the other girls later.” She hung up before he could reply and went downstairs to check on her parents. The fact that they hadn't heard Mike's many decelerations of love was nothing short of amazing. She descended the stairs slowly, still eerily calm. Her parents were in the living room, slouched together watching a movie. She stood next to the couch quietly, waiting for them to acknowledge her. They sat engrossed in their movie, completely ignoring her until she spoke up first.

“Mom. Dad.” They didn't seem to have heard her, or didn't care. “Kurt's coming over. The girls too. We're having a slumber party okay.” Nothing. They were still wrapped up in each other and the movie, continuing on like she'd never spoken at all. “They'll be here any minute now.” Still receiving no response Tina stepped in front of the television. “Mom, dad?”

“That's lovely dear.” Tina's mother didn't look at her when she spoke, still intent on seeing the movie around Tina. But Tina took it as approval and moved on. She slipped on her shoes and stood on her porch, waiting patiently for Kurt to pull up in his car. His big, built for transportation, car.

When Kurt did pull up he rushed to her, immediately hugging her and smoothing his hands through her hair. “You're freezing. What happened. Let's go inside. Come on.” He tried to lead her inside but Tina resisted. She took his hand and lead him around the side of the house to the back yard. From here Mike's body was hidden by her mother's flower bushes. “What? Did you make a Audrey II or something by accident?” While Kurt chuckled at his own joke Tine lead them quietly around the bushes to the base of the ladder. When Kurt saw Mike his laughter stopped.

“What happened?”

“He fell.” Tina sat beside Mike's still body on her knees. There wasn't as much blood as she expected. Movies made everything seem so much messier. “We have to get him inside.” She pulled the knife from his chest and watched a feeble trickle of blood flow out. “Fix it.” She felt Kurt's hands on her shoulders. If she'd been in the right state of mind she'd have been startled. She hadn't even heard him move.

“It's going to be okay. We'll fix it.” He grabbed her under her armpits and helped her up. With an arm around her shoulder he lead her back inside and told her to go clean up in the bathroom. By the time she'd warmed herself up and washed away the ice cream and blood Kurt was sitting primly in her desk chair and Mike was lying on the floor next to her bed. “In case your parents peek in.” She saw that her ice cream bowl was sitting on her nightstand and her sheets had been changed. How long had she been in the bathroom? “I texted the girls. They'll be over soon.” He took his hand off his knee and held Tina's. “We'll find something. We have to.”

They sat together quietly until they heard the rumble of Lauren's junker coming up the street. Kurt went downstairs to let them in. It was obvious by their smiling faces that Kurt hadn't been very forthcoming with the reason for their impromptu meeting. Sugar was practically bouncing in place. “Kurt said it was about Mike. Did you two...” she leaned forward, her hand shielding the side of her face, “have sex?” Kurt cocked a single eyebrow then crossed to the bed, sitting and crossing his legs at the foot of it. Then he loftily gestured to the floor beside it.

Tina thought it best to interject there. “Something went wrong with the spell. I was going to call you guys over to help me fix it. But Mike fell and...” The girls didn't need any further prompting. They circled around the bed and saw Mike. Kurt had laid him out like he was in a coffin, clothes smoothed and hands clasped on his stomach. Lauren was the first to break the silence.

“You said he fell. On to your kitchen knife? There's a hole in his chest Tina. What did you do?”

Tina stood and faced Lauren, her eyes fierce and wild. “I didn't do anything. It was that spell. It went wrong. He just...”, she flicked her eyes to the wall beyond the bed then back to Lauren, “he just loved me too much. I looked away for a second and he stabbed himself. Then he fell.”

“So why are we here. I'm not moving a body.” Alongside Lauren's declaration Sugar was nodding, teary eyed and frightened.

“We're not asking you to move a body. If you're so scared I'll do it myself. What we want to know is if you want to help with a spell?” Kurt was standing now, arms crossed and chin tilted up. He was just daring Lauren to turn them in. It was amazing really, how far Kurt was willing to go to protect his friends. Tina felt humbled by it. If not a little confused at the moment. Did Kurt already know a spell to bring Mike back? All eyes were on him at any rate.

Lauren even matched his cool stare. She wasn't one to be intimidated. Especially not by someone like Kurt. “Here's the deal Hummel, you know something we don't and I don't like that. When I find something I don't like I punch it. So spill before you end up like lover boy over there.”

Kurt huffed and uncrossed his arms. Then he picked up the spell book from Tina's bed. “We can't bring Mike back. We've skimmed through every page in this book and there's nothing about bringing a person back to life.”

“Digging yourself into a hole here Hummel.”

Kurt clucked his tongue and looked to Tina. It was his 'I'm surrounded by idiots face'. But for once Tina wasn't in on the joke. She had no idea what he was getting at. “We can't bring Mike back. But we can probably summon something that can.” He flipped to the back of the book. It was a section Tina was familiar with. She'd wanted to summon something, a protector. Kurt's idea was even better. “Look, what happened to Mike isn't just Tina's fault. We all stood in that circle. We all helped cast that spell. We all need to help fix it.”

“Yeah, yeah we need to help.” You can always count on Sugar. She still looked frightened but at least she was on their side. It was Lauren they needed to worry about. She was an unmovable force. The only way they'd get her help is if she was good and ready to help. Kurt didn't seemed too worried. Maybe he figured it was only a matter of time before she got bored with being left out. Either way Kurt moved straight to Sugar, taking her hand and smiling.

“We'll fix this. We can do magic. We can do anything.”

Lauren threw herself onto the bed. To herself she mumbled “Except bring back the dead.” Tina couldn't help but agree with her.

It wasn't too long after that, that Kurt and Lauren loaded up Mike's body and took him away. Tina didn't want to know where. Neither did Sugar. Instead the two of them stayed behind to research more about summoning a demon servant. Or a ghost or some sort of essence that could help them. The section they needed was near the back of the book and was completely devoid of any scribblings. Whomever had owned the book before was obviously not interested in anything so heavy. Which was a shame, even a stray word or two would have been useful.

It seemed that they had a bit of a choice before them. There were all kinds of things they could summon. But at the moment they had no idea which could help them bring Mike back. Or, as a dark little voice in her head pointed out, a being that could erase Mike's existence. They needed something powerful. But not something so strong it would attack them. They needed to find something that would need them to survive on this plane, or something that's whole purpose was to serve. But skimming through the book looking only for key words was difficult. What they needed could be worded in so many different ways.

Tina felt her sense of calm slipping away the closer she got to the end of the book. She was almost resigned to just letting Sugar do the reading when she saw the first pen mark in fifty pages. A word, no a name, was underlined and underneath it in a chicken scratch scrawl was 'help him'. A supernatural being that needed help? That would give them the upper hand. “Hey Sugar?”

“Hm?”

“How do you feel about making a deal with a demon?” Obviously pretty damn bad. The look on her face more than said she didn't want to make a deal with a demon. A ghost maybe, or something magically light like a fairy or an elf, but not a demon. Sugar sat up straight and put her hand over the words in the book.

“I don't think that's smart. I mean demons you know. Those are like worse than Ms. Sylvester.”

Tina slid the book out from under Sugar's hand and tapped the word help. “He needs help though. We can do a little exchange. Fix up Mike for us and we'll help him out.”

Sugar tilted her head to the side and looked at Tina like she was a poorly misinformed little child. “Yeah but like we already have a huge problem. What if he needs help taking over the world. Or what if he wants help being a dad. Like pregnancy Tina. Like little demon babies that claw their way out of our vaginas?”

Tina snorted and shook her head. “I don't think that's his problem. Whoever owned this book before wanted to help him. Don't you think-“

“I think whoever owned this book before probably did something stupid like we did and decided to get rid of it.” Sugar looked unnaturally somber and serious for once. It was a little unsettling. But Tina knew she was in the right. This was their best bet. If they could get a demon indebted to them they could get anything they wanted. They could bring Mike back. They could make the football team sorry. They could get into the colleges they wanted and the jobs they wanted. A demon would solve everything.

Tina stood, pulling the book with her and holding it to her chest. “This is our only option. We're doing it. I'm going to go see if I have some of this stuff laying around.” She didn't wait for Sugar to answer. Nothing she said would make any difference. This demon was their only option. Now all she had to do was make them all see that. She was their leader. She could do this.

While Sugar tried in vain to find another, less risky, way to solve their problem Tina researched what they would need. Some of it would be simple: beeswax candles, rock salt, a silver knife. She had all of those things lying around her house. It was the offering she was having trouble with. It seemed that the purer the offering, the better. There also seemed to be a correlation between the amount of offering given and the degree to which the demon would help. The farther Tina read into the more and more she thought the “offering” was suppose to be a human sacrifice. Or a blood giver at the least. That could be a serious problem. It wouldn't really be beneficial to bring a person back from the dead by killing someone else. Same problem different body.

Tina skirted around the whole issue of death until Kurt and Lauren called. She tried to think about how they could offer a blood sacrifice without doing any permanent damage. And if they could figure out a way who would they use? Sugar, not being in the know, spent the car ride to Kurt's house prattling on about fairies. She thought maybe they could summon some of those instead because they should be friendlier. It was ridiculous. Not only did their spell book not contain a single reference to fairies but fairies were actually pretty malicious. Most stories about fairies are about how they steal children and replace them with dolls made out of plants. At least with a demon they knew what they were getting into.

Kurt's house looked dark. His father's truck wasn't in the driveway. Tina didn't bother making small talk with Sugar as she got out of the car and stalked up to the front door. Grabbing the spare key from the flowerpot Tina let herself in and left the door ajar for Sugar. The dim hall light was on but nothing else that she could see. “Kurt? Lauren?”

“He's downstairs.” It was Lauren. She was leaning against the basement doorway with her arms crossed. “Notice anything?”

“Mike isn't bleeding on the carpet?”

Lauren purses her lips. “Papa Hummel. He's out. As in lights out.”

“He's...dead?” Sugar says dead in that little squeaky voice. The one that Tina usually thinks is cute. But tonight she just wants to rip out her vocal cords. Burt can't be dead. It's be all over school.

“Not dead, just in a coma. Heart attack probably. I saw a pamphlet on the table when we were coming in.”

“That's...sad.” Tina's not sure what else to say. It is sad. She couldn't remember the last time she'd actually seen Mr. Hummel. Who knows how long he'd been going home to an empty house, just waiting for a friend to call. And the first time she calls him over it's about...well it's all a big mess. After the demon fixed up Mike maybe it could help out his dad.

“What's sad?”

The three girls all jumped and gasped a little, Sugar even letting out a little yelp. Kurt had come up from the basement, quiet as death. Now that Tina knew something was up, it was easy to see the difference on his face. He looked tired, drawn and anxious. Some of it was probably because he'd just moved a dead body, but still. “Um...Lauren's old wrestling buddy. He uh had a seizure. Sugar's jacket reminded him.” Quite possibly the worst lie she'd ever told. Kurt knew something was up. His bottom lip was doing that little quiver thing. “So where's Mike?”

Kurt took a deep breath and looked down the stairs. “My basement. The deep freezer actually. We wrapped him in trash bags though so he shouldn't get freezer burn or anything.” How considerate. No really, she hadn't thought about him rotting or anything. Kurt was always thinking about the little details. For a moment the four of them just stood in the hall looking awkwardly away from one another. They were hiding a body. They were inadvertently responsible for killing their classmate and now they were hiding the body until they could find a magical solution. Tina wasn't sure if this was the change she wanted for her Senior year.

“I think I have a solution for our problem.” Tina pulls the magic book from her bag and flips it to the right page. She rests her finger on the scribbled help and shows Kurt and Lauren. “Someone tried to help this being. Maybe if we agree to help him he'll help us.”

“But I think that's a stupid idea. He's a demon guys. We should try something nicer like fairies or something.” Sugar nodded along to herself and crossed her arms. She stood with her hip cocked to the side and her eyebrows up. It was obvious that she expected everyone to agree with her.

“Summoning a demon? I'm down. That's what I joined this sorry little group for.” Tina hadn't been worried about Lauren. She'd made it very clear in the early days that she intended to mess around with heavy stuff. She wanted the full on dangerous experience. Sugar may not be sold but she'd go along with it if she was worried they'd ignore her over it. It was Kurt Tina was worried about. He'd always seemed so reluctant to fully embrace magic. It just wasn't his thing. More often than not he went along with it just to make her happy.

As Kurt edged forward and eyed the page Tina studied his face. Maybe it wasn't just the magic club. Maybe he was just tired in general. One of Kurt's flaws was that he was so interested in other people he barely took proper care of himself. Tina saw it when he recklessly stood up to Karofsky and Azimio when they harassed her. She saw it when he refused to park anywhere other than near the dumpsters even though he knew he'd get thrown it. She saw it now. His father was in the hospital and could be dying but he still rushed to her to help out. Kurt was better than all of them. She almost felt sorry for everything.

“I'm not sure Tina. Demons can be...well demons. And isn't there a sacrifice involved?”

“Just a little bit of blood. We don't have to kill anybody. We just have to offer some blood.” Tina dug her finger harder into the page. Why couldn't Kurt understand that this was a win win. They help a demon and the demon helps them. Who doesn't want a personal demon lackey. It's everything they've ever wanted. It's security. It's power. It's magic. Gritty, real, intense magic. The kind that meant no one could ever mess with you again. “Just think about it Kurt. We don't have a lot of time.” Kurt sighed and walked past them to the kitchen.

When the girls joined him he was hastily shoving papers into a drawer. While they stood around, no less awkward than before, he started pulling out mugs and a pot. In no time at all they were sitting around the table drinking warm milk. One by one they finished their milk and drifted away. Lauren took the guest bed and Sugar made herself at home on the couch. Tina left the table last, trailing up to Kurt's room quietly. The house was quiet. If she strained her ears she could hear Kurt's steady breathing. She let herself in, toeing off her shoes at the door and slipping slowly into the bed. She kept herself to the edge and watched Kurt sleep. His face was relaxed, all the worry and stress gone under his peaceful dreams. He looked like an angel.

It was that thought that stuck with her all through the night. She barely slept a wink, instead cradling her open spell book to her chest as she watched Kurt. He was the purest person she knew. The most selfless, the most caring. He was the ideal sacrifice. It would be tricky. There's no way Kurt would do it willingly. The one thing he seemed to hate more than magic was blood. But Tina knew what she was doing. With an offering so pure they'd only need a little bit. He wouldn't be in any danger. She slipped out of bed before he woke up and rounded up the girls. They only had one shot at this.

“We need to meet in an hour. We can do it here in Kurt's basement. Go home. Take showers. Wash off anything synthetic. That means no makeup, no perfume.” Sugar put up a token fight but was silenced by the look on Lauren's face. When they left Tina started gathering supplies. She'd originally intended to get the things they needed from her house but she didn't want to risk letting Kurt in on what was going to happen. Instead she raided his house for the things they'd need. There was a bag of rock salt in the garage, and a silver letter opener next to the bills. Tina searched high and low for candles, finally finding a small bundle of them tucked away in the basement with Kurt's mother's things.

Just as she was coming up the stairs Kurt was coming down his. “Mornin'. What are those for?”

“A little calming spell. To center us.” Tina smiled and gestured to the kitchen.

“Where are Lauren and Sugar?”

“They went home to change. They'll be back soon.” Tina herded Kurt into a seat and pulled down a pot. While looking for the spell ingredients she found some sleeping pills. It was for the best really. Tina couldn't think of a scenario where he would willingly volunteer to be the sacrifice. So Tina blocked his view with her back and crushed some sleeping pills into the pot. Then she poured some milk and vanilla over it and waited for it to warm. With any luck Kurt would stay asleep until after they cut him. Just as it started to simmer she poured it into Kurt's favorite mug. It was a stylish black thing with an almost square rim.

Kurt drank like a frozen man. He held the cup close to his face and breathed in it's sweet scent, then took long slow sips until the cup was empty. “Oh...must have been more tired than I thought.”

Tina smiled and pulled the mug away from him. “Go take a nap. I'll wake you up when they get back.”

“Oh I couldn't poss-“

“I insist.” Tina placed the mug in the sink and helped guide Kurt to the couch. He lowered himself down carefully, tucking his face into the back pillows and curling up his legs just so. Tina pulled the afghan from the couches back and draped it over him carefully. For a moment she was still, sitting on the coffee table with alert eyes. She listened to him breathe, listen to the way it slowed and evened out until she was sure he was under. Then she got to work.

In the basement Tina set up a long plastic foldout table. She set the bag of rock salt and the candles next to the table and made her way back upstairs. Getting Kurt downstairs was more difficult than he thought. No matter how slight he looked he was still heavy. She had to grab him under his arms and drag him down the stairs backwards. Under different circumstances Tina would take more time and care undressing her friend. She'd always wanted to see him naked. As it was her mind was so focused on the spell requirements she barely spared a glance over Kurt's body as she hoisted him onto the table.

She secured his arms and legs to the table and tied a scarf around his mouth for good measure. With him settled and unable to move Tina started setting up the rest of the room. She poured rock salt in a circle around the table, making the flow heavy to ensure no breaks. The rest of the room was easier to set up. All the furniture was pushed against the walls. The little windows were blacked out with dark sheets and duct tape.

Waiting was the difficult thing. It seemed that with each passing minute Mike's body was decaying faster. That Kurt was one step closer to waking up. That the demon would get sick of waiting for help. Tina can feel her skin crawling, jittering off the bone like she's strung out on drugs. But it's all nerves. She's teetering on the brink of something big, something monumental. Her life will never be the same after this. And all that's standing between her and a new world order is a friend's drive. To keep herself sane she paces, walking the length of the table but not straying too close. She doesn't want to break the salt line. Throughout her pacing Kurt didn't move, not even a twitch. His body was as limp and still. If Tina looked at him for too long she started seeing Mike there. It was almost too much for her.

She was saved from her thoughts by the sound of a car. The girls were back. Tina made her way up the stairs to greet them at the door. It would be best to keep them in the dark for as long as possible. Strictly speaking Kurt wasn't a willing participant. But it was for the best. Kurt needed sleep. He was getting that now. Kurt needed someone to protect him. Tina was going to give him that. Everything was going to be fine so long as Lauren and Sugar kept calm. She moved confidently towards the door, letting them in as if it were her own house. Tina paid no attention to Sugar's insistent worries or Lauren's sour look. Instead she lead them to the hall outside the basement.

“We're doing it now. Everything's set up downstairs. First things first-“

“Where's Lady Hummel?”

“Downstairs Lauren. This is important. We're not changing our hair colors or making some jock itchy, we're summoning a demon. If this doesn't go right who knows what could happen. So first thing, don't break the salt circle. It protects us. Second, do not interfere with the offering. It's going to be okay. No one dies tonight. I've got it under control. And third, don't contradict me, don't challenge me, don't yell at me. We have to present a unified front or the demon might get some ideas. I'll act as leader and you need to follow my lead. Once we have a deal things will go back to normal.” Tina didn't leave any room for argument. She was the clear choice, the owner of the book and the head of the coven. She was going to bargain with this demon whether they liked it or not. Tina lead the way downstairs, not bothering to call after them or speak anymore. It was time. They were either in this or against the coven. Anyone against the coven was against their demon.

“Kurt? What have you done? You can't-“

“Relax Sugar, Kurt is offering blood. We need a pure sacrifice and I can't think of a purer person than Kurt. No one's going to die tonight.” At a loss for words the girls stood deathly quiet, each looking at Kurt's prone body in turn. The sound of metal dragging broke the spell. It was Tina picking up the knife. “After I cut repeat after me: Tolle hunc sanguinem. Hanc accipere sanguinem. Uti unus sanguinis tenuiorem. Get into position. We have to form a triangle around him. I'll light the candles, then we'll begin.” The stark white walls of Kurt's basement gave them enough light to see by, even without the candles. It took away some of the terror in their hearts. They could see every detail of Tina's movements, the way she dainty held the long match and the way the smoke curled around her and Kurt. It still didn't feel real. Like they were at another sleep over, getting ready to ask the spirits about marriage.

Candles lit, the room took a yellow tint. They weren't in black robes. They weren't in a murky warehouse or burned out building. They were in Kurt's basement, wearing school clothes. So when Tina drew the knife again and pressed it lightly to Kurt's stomach they said nothing.

It was harder to keep quiet when she drew blood. Kurt jerked, pulled from his drugged sleep by the sluggish pain of being cut along his belly. It wasn't deep but long. His head rolled listlessly looking for help, his eyes catching neither Lauren or Sugar's. The girls were chanting now, their arms thrown wide towards each other repeating the same thing over and over while Kurt whined and begged to be let go. They continued on for several minutes, never pausing, never stuttering, even while Kurt's cries grew more distressed and desperate.

“Tina! Tina please! Please let me go. T-Tiiinnnaaa.” Kurt began crying, his face splotched red and covered in tears. Tina snapped. She swung the knife down digging a deep cut across his abdomen. Blood gushed out spreading across his belly and dripping onto the table. His scream was high and loud, finally breaking the others from their chanting.

It all devolved very fast after that. Lauren flat out ran around the table and shoved Tina from Kurt. “That's enough! Look what you-“ Her rage was cut short when Tina plunged the knife into her belly.

“It's not my fault. It's YOURS! It's all of yours! There isn't enough,” Tina grunted here to pull the knife free and plunge it deep into Lauren's chest, “BLOOD!” When she whipped the knife free Lauren fell to her knees, her hands clasped uselessly over her bleeding wounds. Her blood sputtered and dripped inside the salt circle until she collapsed into it. With Lauren down Tina turned her attention to Sugar. She was cowering in the corner, crying and too terrified to move. Tina stalked to her, bloody knife raised, and swept it down slashing her chest. Sugar cried out and ran, right to the circle.

This time when Tina came at her she blocked. The knife caught her arm but she worked through the pain shoving Tina and knocking the knife onto the floor. For several seconds they wrestled on the floor, neither getting a good grip, slipping in all the gore. Sugar won the battle for the knife and swung recklessly at Tina, catching her throat. The strangled yell she let out seemed inhuman, almost impossible with the cut. With wild eyes Tina flung herself forward and used her body weight to jam the knife into Sugar's side. Their blood mixed with Lauren's, soaking into the salt and pooling under the table.

Lying there, gasping for breath and growing cold Tina heard a rumbling and a gasp like a man taking his first breath after drowning. The demon. They'd done it. She just didn't live long enough to see her creation.

0 0 0 0

“No. No please. No.” Kurt struggled weakly against the restraints as the demon stood at the base of the table. He was slight, with broad shoulders and a thin waist. His wild curly hair and tanned skin masked the evil blackness in his eyes. “No...”

The demon tore the restraints at Kurt's feet and grasped him at the hips. His hands were fiery hot and his long pointed nails dug in drawing blood. With a great tug he pulled Kurt forward, breaking the rope around his wrists and nestling the boy against him. “No. No big scary demon. Don't eat me.” Kurt broke off into a chuckle and draped his arms over the demon's shoulders.

“My, my, you evil little thing. How on earth did you manage this,” the demon looks around the room at the blood, the three lifeless girls, then back at Kurt, “carnage? Willing blood, unwillingly given by untouched maidens still in youth. Quite the task.”

“They're teenage girls Blaine, not professionals.” He slid his hands down from the demon's shoulders, over his biceps and inward to touch his chest and stomach. “I've been waiting to see you for fifty years. How much longer are we going to talk about some silly humans?” Blaine answered by tangling his fingers deep in Kurt's hair and tugging him forward. The brutal kiss was all the answer he needed.

0o00o0o0o0o

Bwahahahaha! Kurt was planning it the whole time. So if any of this seemed familiar it's because I based it very very very very very very very loosely, and I do mean very, on Bible Black. Which is a hentai series that is well...just don't watch it. It'll melt your brain.