Autumn Leaves

Disclaimer: Don't own Victorious

A/N: This story I am writing gets its base from a dream my grandfather told me about long ago that he wanted me to write. I don't remember much, but what I do remember is enough. I've not done a story quite like this. It will detail the inner fight with oneself. A complex tale, I'm sure you will enjoy.

Chapter 1 (Flashes of Crimson)

Lightning cracked through the bleak sky as rain poured down, drenching the twenty year old woman's caramel brown hair and concealing her tears. Trina Vega held her stomach and clenched her teeth as pain jolted through her body. Her hair fell before her bruised face and swollen cheeks, and blood trickled from the corner of her lip.

Hatred flowed inside the cesspool of emotions swirling within her gut. Her eyes drifted up, peering through the strands of hair before her eyes. "Sinjin!" The shriek rang aloud in her head as the gunshot echoed in the sky. The memory of her boyfriend falling to his knees, shot in the back by a man she'd turned down.

That man was the son of one of LA's most powerful judges, Samuel Ross. "I'm not going to go out with you, I have a boyfriend!" Trina pushed Ross away and stormed out of the college doors, ignoring Ross as he threatened her and her boyfriend. As if his threats would get her to dump Sinjin for him. The sky lit up with a dangerous flash, signaling Trina's gaze. She watched as the rain shimmered in the moon's luminescent glow. Her chest heaved as the thunder continued to conceal already unheard sobs.

She brought up the threat to her father in hopes that he would do something, but he didn't. The man just laughed it off, as if she wasn't worth the time. Holly was too busy texting her damned boyfriend to care, and of course Tori's friends pretended to be blissfully unaware of anything.

Tori however, her sweet little sister did seem concerned, even if it was a mild concern. She told her it probably wasn't anything serious, and tried to reassure her things would be fine. That went well until her friends entered and Tori had to start acting like she didn't see Trina anymore.

This exchange happened only two weeks ago. Three days before the worst day of Trina's life. It started out like any other, a strangely warm day for the first day of fall. She never liked the season, even though it was supposed to be beautiful. Spring was beautiful, fall was the harbinger of death. The trees would lose their leaves, growing bare, and leading into winter, the coldest and most dreadful time of year.

"Looking forward to tonight's movie?" Sinjin asked. Trina tangled her fingers with his and looked up to him as they stopped in the shade of a maple tree. The wind blew through her hair, causing the leaves to tear from their branch and shoot past her in the breeze. Sinjin reached for a stray leaf stuck in her hair, laughing as he gently removed it.

"I can't wait for the movie to start, just like I can't wait for this season to end."

"Fall hasn't even started yet, Trina."

"I know! I'd be perfectly content with spring all year around." He laughed again, which brought a smile to her face. She let her head drift to his shoulder and closed her eyes. "I love you so much…" It was then that she felt a strong force push her, followed within a millisecond by a deafening boom. Her eyes widened as blood splashed out onto her and Sinjin started to fall. "S-Sinjin! No!" She twisted around to see Ross pointing a smoking gun. He smirked as she fell to her knees, trembling beside Sinjin as his crimson blood stained the golden leaves on the ground. She felt a jolt of nausea, disbelief, fear, and anger coursing through her veins as she cradled Sinjin's dying body. "Sinjin no! Talk to me! Sinjin! Please don't do this to me!" Her head dropped to his chest while Ross merely laughed. Destroying her.

"You shouldn't have turned me down, bitch…"

She gained no sympathy from Tori's friends after the murder, but they didn't understand. It mattered little to Trina that they didn't realize how close she'd been to him. They expected her to just bounce back and get over it, like he was some sort of freak. They didn't understand how much she loved him! Only her sister. Her father arrested Ross, but there would be no trial. There would be no outstanding arrest. Ross's dad used his power and affluence to keep his son and his own name clean.

Sinjin would see no justice.

Trina finally picked herself up and went to confront him, to tell him to turn himself in. She wanted to beat him, she wanted to fight him, but she knew with his father's power, he would just turn it against her. The asshole thought she was going to come crying to him, acting as if he hadn't committed a grisly murder.

She refused him again, called him an asshole and a murderer, but he laughed in her face. Swearing not to get into a physical fight, resisting every powerful urge to strike him, Trina turned to leave. When she did, he slammed her against a wall and proceeded to beat her.

His fists dug into her abdomen, her jaw, and when she'd fallen to the ground, he kicked her in the ribs. The only thing stopping him from killing her had been his father running around the corner. When Trina picked herself up and limped away, Ross had threatened to finish the job if she tried to go to the police.

It had been raining when Trina returned home, and she was drenched. When she entered the house, she was startled to see all Tori's friends sitting around the living room. They couldn't see her tears or the bruises. "Geez what happened to you?" Beck asked with his cocky, arrogant tone. She creased her forehead and locked her jaw as she stared at him. She hated him as much as she hated the others. This man would constantly restrain her, insult her, and he never once apologized. None of Tori's other friends were any better. She didn't need their pity.

"I fell…"

"Fell?" Beck started to laugh, injuring Trina without throwing a single punch. After a minute, Jade smacked his shoulder and he shut up. "Sorry, I just figured-I don't know…I guess no one's ever faulted you for being coordinated."

"Beck shut up," Andre jeered. Trina's heart lifted for a second as she hoped someone was finally going to stick up for her. "It's not the girl's fault she was built clumsy."

"I am not clumsy!" She exclaimed at the top of her lungs. She was a damned black belt in martial arts, and a gymnast when she was five! "You assholes don't know what you're saying!"

"Dang Vega, don't be so touchy, we're just teasing…"

"Well maybe I don't want to be teased right now…"

"Guys she's right," Jade came to her defense, or so it seemed. "She might have gotten mud on her clothes. Look, her shirt's all smudged." Trina peered down at her shirt and moaned at the dark spots.

"That's it. I want you assholes to leave the house!"

"What's going on now?" David came around the corner and raised an eyebrow at her. "Trina, are you giving them a hard time again?" He put his hand to his forehead and groaned. "Sorry, can't think right now. Dealing with your mother is not pleasant."

"Don't worry dad, I'm sure whatever issues you're dealing with are more important." She glared at the friends, then her father, still remembering that the man never wanted her around anyway. She turned away just as Tori started making her way into the room, then fled the house.

As the thunder roared above her, she pulled her knees closer to her chest and buried her face into them. She'd ran all the way to Hollywood Arts and was sitting at the very spot she first met Sinjin. "Y-You wouldn't let them talk to me like that. What am I supposed to do now?" Her voice was hoarse and her throat burned. She gazed up to the sky, continuing to bargain with whatever God that was up there.

She used to be Christian, she still was, but it was getting harder to believe in a benevolent God. There was a church nearby, she could have run there, but she didn't feel like praying was going to help her out now. "I hate them…I hate them!" She screamed her profanities into the wind. "I'm not going back there-I can't go back there…"

"I thought I heard someone out here…" She tensed and snapped her icy glare towards the speaker. There was a man standing under the roof of the outdoor cafeteria. He had dark shaggy hair with bangs hanging in front of his onyx gaze. He was clad in a black leather jacket, black jeans and a dark olive green shirt. "Get out of the rain unless you want to get pneumonia."

"I could hardly care about getting sick right now." The man leaned back and Trina turned away, expecting him to leave. As she watched his shadow on the ground, created by the moonlight, she was startled to see him still standing.

"Come on. You don't look like you even belong here."

"No offense-but neither do you."

"Well! I see we've found common ground." She rolled her eyes and shot a violent glare towards the man. "So…forgive me for prying-" He sat on the edge of one of the table benches. "Why are you crying out? Who wronged you so much that you're willing to just give it all up? That is-if you're planning on that…" She scoffed at him and shut her eyes. Suicide? She'd considered it very strongly on her way over. She knew it wouldn't be right, though.

"I don't want to die…"

"No? Then get out of the rain." Frustrated and past the point of caring, she rose up and walked under the roof. She pat down her shirt and pulled her hair back. The man took one look at her face and frowned. "What happened? What coward of a man hit you?"

"The man that murdered my boyfriend…my sister's friends don't even care and the asshole's getting away with murder."

"Are you fuckin' serious?"

"I guess it doesn't matter now." She made her way to the table and sat beside him. She wiped away her tears and struggled to calm the beating of her heart. "All I want is-I don't know."

"You look like you're in a lot more pain than just a beating."

"If it's any consolation, I'd rather not talk about it right now-but thanks for your concern." She was grateful for any concern at the moment. She took a deep breath and clenched her fists on her legs. "I-I have nowhere to go. I can't go back to that house right now."

"There are dry clothes in the school with my friends." She studied him closely, suspicious, but at the same time she felt oddly comfortable. This was the first time anyone was showing her some real concern, and she appreciated it. "Tiffany and Vivian will help you out if you'd like."

"What are you doing in that school? You look too old to be here, plus it's closed." She froze and her eyes drifted towards the building. Was this place a gang hideout? Was this man a part of a gang? Her heart began to pound and a sudden urgency swept over her. "I…You know, I don't care. If I can clean up, that's enough for me. I'm Katrina…Katrina Vega. You?"

"Jesse Klein. Good to meet you, Katrina-or do you prefer Trina?"

"Doesn't matter." She hopped off the table and started for the school. Her hand hovered over the doorknob as she contemplated entering the building. On one hand, it was trespassing and wrong, but on the other hand, she had nowhere else to turn to. Would anyone care if she broke the rules? No. None of that mattered anymore. "You…I won't ask what you and your friends do, but do you lead them?"

"I am the boss, yes." Jesse walked up behind her and reached around, carefully opening the door and holding it open for her. He seemed to understand the meaning behind her question. "Let's get you cleaned up."

"Thank you…" Swallowing her uncertainty, she entered the old school. There were a group of three men and three women near the lockers. The women looked up to her and Jesse walked ahead, informing them that they needed to escort her to the laundry area. As the door closed behind her, she questioned what she had just walked into.

That door closing is symbolism and there is meaning behind "autumn leaves". Also if you get a chance, look up "Autumn Leaves" by Trish-it is not at all what inspired this story, but a song shown to me by a friend that said the premise of this tale reminded her a little of the song, that it goes just a bit with it. Before you ask, Ross only beat her up, nothing more. The further pain Jesse mentions is the sadness in her eyes in regards to everything else going on. And yes, if you recognize Jesse's name, there is a reason, he's the same Jesse from "Pariah" but different at the same time. He's not the antagonist. The antagonist is an antagonistic force-the inner struggle. Let me know what you think so far, I hope you'll stick around for the ride! Enjoy!