DISCLAIMER: I neither own Glee nor the characters. They are the property of Ryan Murphy and FOX. This is purely for fun. Enjoy!

A/N: It's time to learn the truth about our killers!


Chapter Seven: The Vendetta


Her heart was pounding out of control as Finn pulled her around the back of her house, her feet practically tripping over themselves in her haste to escape the killer. She refused to turn around, lest she see the figure from her nightmares chase her with his bloody knife, making all of her previous nightmares come true right in front of her eyes. She turned the corner of the house to the back patio and realized that her fathers had not only fixed the back door, but they had opened the pool up to entertain guests. Looking at the crystal clear waters of the pool, she could remember the horror she had felt falling off the roof during the first attack into the murky waters, but that paled in comparison to the way she felt now. Right now she felt helpless, trapped, and at the mercy of whoever wanted her dead.

"Come on, in here!" Finn pulled her into the garage and covered her mouth with his hand, pushing them as far into the back as possible. They were surrounded by the landscaper's tools, and Finn took a metal rake into his hands as a weapon while Rachel cowered in the corner. They were trapped in here and the killer was on his way.

"We're gonna die," the words escaped her lips in a whimper and Finn turned his head sharply towards her.

"No we're not, Rachel, not while I can help it. Try and call the detectives again." She tried once more and couldn't reach anyone, so she called 911 instead.

"911 Emergency."

"Hello, this is Rachel Berry and I'm calling from my backyard on Hawthorne Street. The killer is here and he's trying to get to us." Before she could elaborate, she could hear the door creaking open, and she hung up the call and hid as far back in the garage as possible. Finn held his weapon in his hands while they could hear the soft pattering of feet approach them. Her heart was in her throat as the killer stepped into view, the bright mask standing out against the darkness in the room.

They stood facing one another for a tense moment where no one who who would react first. The masked menace in front of them was mocking them, she could tell from the way he paced in front of them slowly, ready to strike.

All of a sudden, Finn took the initiative as Rachel watched on in horror. "You stay away from her!" He ran forward with the metal rake in his hand and the killer grabbed it by the handle, so both he and Finn were battling for control of the weapon. Finn was one of the strongest people she knew, but the killer was still overpowering them as she froze in fear, doing nothing but staring at the scene in front of her.

"Rachel, run! Go get help!" Finn's screaming snapped her out of her trance and she shot up from her hiding position and ran for the door, causing the killer to hesitate for a split second while Finn took control of the weapon. She escaped and headed for the front yard, hoping to catch the detectives when they arrived. As she ran from her backyard she could see the squad car already parked behind Finn's truck in the driveway. The relief she felt was so strong it was like a kick to the chest as she ran forward towards the car. She could see Detectives Traeger and McNally in the front seat and she ran to them, her arms waving in the air as she screamed for their help.

They didn't move from their car.

"Detectives, we need your help! The killer is in the backyard with Finn!" She screamed as she approached the car, but when she looked in the window she had to cover her mouth to stifle the gasp of horror that fell from her lips.

They were dead. Sitting in the front seat next to one another, their throats had been slit just like Jesse's had been. Opening the driver's side door, she had to hold in her cries of distress as she reached over the bleeding body of Detective McNally so she could grab the police radio. She shot a worried look towards her house where Finn was still fighting the killer as she took the communicator in her hands.

"Lima Police, Detectives Traeger and McNally are dead. I repeat, they've been killed. This is Rachel Berry and I need as many police at my house as possible, the killer is here." She could hear a loud, masculine scream coming from the backyard and she dropped the receiver from her hand so she could run to help Finn.

But what if he had lost his battle against the masked killer? What would she see when she went back into the yard? Would she be killed too? She had no weapon, no way to protect herself against the deadly threat that plagued her life. However, too many people had been killed because of her already. It was time to end this once and for all before she lost the one person she had ever truly loved.

"Finn!" She called his name as she ran towards the backyard, knowing deep down that she was probably running right towards her death. She turned the corner and could see nothing but her crystal clear pool and her patio furniture. "Finn?" She called out once more as a chill settled into her bones. No one answered as goose bumps prickled up and down her arms. Something wasn't right.

"Rachel. . ." She could hear someone moaning her name, a low keening cry as she followed the voice behind her garage. There, lying on the floor, was her beautiful Finn, lying in a pool of blood as he grabbed the stab wound on his side, trying to stop the blood from pouring out. She whimpered in fear as she grabbed at his bloody clothes, trying to put more pressure on the wound.

"Don't worry Finn, it's going to be alright, I promise you. You're going to be okay." She was just letting words fly out of her mouth right now because she was in no state of mind to actually think rationally. She knew that the killer was just waiting for her to emerge so he could finish the job, but she wouldn't leave Finn like this; bloody, stabbed, and half dead.

"Rachel, I didn't know. . .there were two of them. You have to get out of here," he coughed weakly and she could see blood gathering in his mouth as his eyes started to flutter closed.

"No, not while you're like this, Finn. I called the police and they should be here soon."

"I didn't even think. . . I should have realized it before. . .Puck was right. . ." Finn was starting to babble in his delusion and Rachel put as much pressure on his side as possible while the blood continued to flow. "It was them, Rachel. That's why they killed Jesse. . ."

"Who was it, Finn? Tell me baby. . ." She stroked his hair while she tried to blink through the tears. He was losing too much blood, he needed to get to a hospital.

"Rachel you have to go, they're coming for you. She never really forgave you. She wants you dead." His voice became weaker and weaker as her panic started to flare. Shaking his body, his eyes closed and would not open after his last statement. She checked his pulse and while it was faint, it was still there, but the loss of blood was definitely not helping.

"Finn? Finn!"

"I don't think you need to worry about him anymore." A deep voice could be heard behind her, and when she turned around she was facing two figures, cloaked in shadow. The first person stepped forward in the mask, and when he lifted it off, she was staring into the cruel hard eyes of Dustin Goolsby, the director of Vocal Adrenaline. He stared at her like she was lower than dirt. "I think it's time for us to be honest, don't you Sunshine?" Rachel stared in horror as the other figure stepped out from the shadows and sent Rachel a wicked smile. Sunshine Corazon was one of the few people she had a height advantage over, but as she stared down at her tiny frame she could barely believe her eyes.

"Sunshine?" Rachel asked, incredulous as the girl in question stared at her with unabashed hatred glowing in her eyes. "I don't understand."

"Hello, Rachel. I hope things have been well with you since I saw you last." Rachel could see the bloody knife in Sunshine's hand that glowed with the sheen of Finn's blood and she could feel every nerve in her body tense up as she stared at her glee club rivals. What ever happened to the concept of friendly competition?

"What's going on here, Sunshine? You're seriously trying to kill off the competition now?" She asked as she crossed her arms. "That's pretty damn low, even for Vocal Adrenaline."

"Is it though?" Dustin said as he watched on with amusement. "I make my students work so hard they bleed, cry, and even pass out on stage. I won't lie, some students have even died on stage before but the lawsuit said it wasn't my fault. I make sure their lives are nothing but show choir; 24 hours a day, sleep and food be damned." He laughed to himself, but Rachel found no humor in the situation at all. "But you and your bunch of mouth breathers always find a way to win, even without all that hard work." He scoffed to himself. "You didn't even write the songs until the day of competition! Do you even know what a rehearsal is, you lazy brats?"

Rachel stared at him, completely incredulous. "What are you even talking about, we lost Nationals!"

"Yeah, we know that, but if it weren't for the little kiss you shared with that man-giant you call a boyfriend, you probably would have placed in the top ten. And we can't have that next year." He lifted up his knife. "No, we can't have that at all."

"So you're going to try and kill all the members of my glee club? So you can win another National show choir competition?"

"No, not all of them, just the ones that pose a threat to our victory. You, the meathead over there that's drowning in his own blood, and maybe that black diva chick but we'll have to see how they perform next season without you two before we start killing anyone else." He started to approach her, but Sunshine held up a hand and Dustin stayed still. She still couldn't believe that little Sunshine Corazon was the mastermind behind these murders and she had a right to know why.

"No, Goolsby. Your part in my plan is over now. You did a great job, and I really valued how stupid and gullible you truly are." Dustin looked down at Sunshine with confusion marring his features.

"Huh?" Rachel and Dustin both had the same reaction.

Before she could answer them though, she brought up the knife in a sharp, swift motion and started to stab Dustin in the gut, right in front of Rachel's face. She screamed as blood splattered on her from the close proximity and could do nothing but stare in horror as Sunshine stabbed Dustin to death on the patio in her backyard. When the body had slumped to the floor, dead, she turned to Rachel with a wicked grin on her face.

"Ah, I'm glad that's over with. Why does killing have to be so messy though?" Sunshine smiled as she wiped the excess blood off of her knife and Rachel stood there in shock, wanting answers.

"What the hell is going on here, Sunshine?" She yelled as she tried to avoid the puddles of blood that were accumulating on her patio. She wondered idly if Finn was still okay, but there was nothing she could do for him until the police arrived.

Right now, it was just Rachel and Sunshine, and she was ready to know why this girl wanted her dead.

"It's really easy to use people, did you know that? To plant ideas in their heads and make them think they're geniuses just so they could play into my master plan. It worked with Goolsby, it worked with St. James, and I'm sure it will work with the police when they finally show up." She fluttered her eyelashes and faked a smile while her voice sounded as sweet as sugar. "I'm just a tiny foreign exchange student with a big voice and even bigger dreams tying to make it in America!" She scoffed. "Yeah right."

"Sunshine," she had to will her voice to stop shaking. "I thought we had talked during Nationals. I thought we were friends now. Why are you doing this?"

"Why am I doing this?" Sunshine repeated as she started to laugh. "Why am I doing this?" She yelled, almost hysterical as Rachel took a step backwards. She was practically hysterical and Rachel could see her quickly becoming unhinged. "I wasn't lying, what I had told you in the bathroom in New York. Vocal Adrenaline had broken me, in more ways than one, but by that point the damage had already been done. I had snapped a long time ago, you see, and it was all because of you."

Rachel swallowed the panic that started to rise into her throat like bile. "Sunshine, I already said I was sorry. . . " The tiny Filipino cut her off.

"You sent me to a crack house, you selfish bitch! I was new to this country; I was scared and I trusted you and you still sent me to a crack house. Do you know what happened to me there, Rachel? How it changed me? Do you even care?" The girl was screaming now, and Rachel could see the pain and anger radiating off of Sunshine in waves. She had no idea that Sunshine still held such a powerful vendetta against her after all of this time.

"Of course I care, Sunshine, I want to help you!"

"It's too late for that, Rachel! I wanted to stay at McKinley. I loved it there and I wanted to belong there. I could have had friends and support and a real high school experience. It was your fault that VA was able to recruit me so easily, and I went willingly because I thought it was my one chance to beat you. To rub it in your face that I was better than a selfish spoiled bitch like you!" She paused just long enough for Rachel to see a single tear drop from her eye. "And then I cracked. Vocal Adrenaline broke me with their hardcore flush diets, reverse psychology and never-ending rehearsals. Every single day was torture and it was all your fault. That's when I started formulating my plan. It was all about you from the very beginning, but I had to find a way to cover my tracks, you see. When I spoke to you at Nationals, and you said that you had sent me to the crack house out of jealousy, that's when I really decided to act on it. I brought in Dustin and Jesse to serve as my scapegoats while you went on with your life blissfully unaware of my intentions."

"Jesse was involved in this?" She asked as her blood ran cold.

"Barely. I told him that we were trying to scare you with a stalker, so he was the one to give us your address, phone number and locker combination. He was so hurt after you lost because of your relationship with Frankenteen over there that he wanted to find a way to get back at you two. He also made the initial phone call, but I never told him of our true intentions. By the time he figured out what we were actually doing there was no need for his service anymore."

"So you just killed him?"

"Of course! He'd come here this morning to warn you about me, so I had to find a way to silence him for good. Now when the police find your bodies, they'll see Jesse and Dustin and think that they were the ones who planned it all. Dustin still has the stab wound on his arm as proof that he's the killer. It was way too easy to manipulate him into my plan. As far as competition goes, he would do anything to help his team get the advantage, so his involvement seems completely natural."

"And Jacob? What about him?"

Sunshine scoffed and waved her hands in dismissal. "He's just a weird kid who's really obsessed with you. I didn't even have to plant those pictures of you, he had them all already. He was the best scapegoat I never even planned for."

"So you've had this vendetta against me all this time? You killed all of those innocent people just because of me?"

"You sent me to a crack house over a stupid, insignificant solo because I posed a threat to your position in the club!" The tiny girl screamed once more and Rachel could practically feel the pain and anger that soaked through her every word. "You're a selfish, jealous bitch who needs to die!"

Standing across from the threat that had plagued her for weeks, the threat that had chased her out of her house and killed her friends, she knew now what she had to do. The threat that had haunted her dreams and kept her up at night was waiting for her revenge, but Rachel refused to give up. She had been genuine in her apology to Sunshine; she really regretted what she had done in the past, but now it was too late and she had to face the consequences.

A strange sort of calm settled through her as she stood across from her enemy, and as she looked into the eyes of the killer, she realized that she was no longer afraid. Holding her head up high, she looked at the bloody knife in Sunshine's hand before staring into her cold eyes and addressing her with a hard, but even tone.

"Then come at me, Sunshine. We end this now."


Rachel's Final Thoughts: I might be jealous sometimes, but at least I'm not a serial killer.

Until next time. . .sings. . .Don't Stop, Reviewing!

Merci mille fois, mes amis!