The Price of Desire

Disclaimer: I do not own Victorious

A/N: Here we go

Chapter 4 (Payment in Blood)

As Trina unfolded the letter, a picture fell to the ground. She looked down at it, but the backside was facing her. Whatever that picture was, she wasn't so sure she wanted to see it. Her heart was racing a mile a minute and her body had become too tense. Her eyes scanned the letter and her heart ceased its incessant beating. Her hand slowly moved up to her necklace and her lips parted in shock. Now she had to investigate that thing. There was no way her little sister knew, and it could have cost her big time.

Miss Vega, we know you have something that belongs to us, and we know you may not be so willing to negotiate, so we're here to offer a fair 'trade'. That pathetic policeman can get off our tail, we don't really care, your daddy doesn't know much about us. Now. Your 'precious' little sister bought you a rather expensive gift, a gift that was intended to be bought by another businessman.

Hidden in that necklace is a little computer chip that contains some very important information regarding our buyers and our sellers. Information that could be worth…well, let's just say it's worth more than every hair on your sister's dainty little head. Now all we're asking for is the chip, you can keep the necklace, we don't really care.

Now we know you're probably thinking, 'I'll call the cops!' 'The cops will do something.' The cops ain't going to do shit, they'll take weeks just to scope us out, nor will they give us what we so desire. We hoped to get it just by finding your sister, but were displeased to find that you were already wearing it, nor were you at the house. That is when we got the idea…You're a reasonable woman, and we are reasonable businessmen…Bring us the chip and we give you your family. If you stall, waste any time, or attempt to go to the cops, well then Miss Vega…enclosed is a picture of what will happen to the rest of your family and friends. We will give you one week to decide whether you will help us or be the one to slaughter the rest. We'll be in touch."

Her body trembled as she turned her gaze to the photograph. What did they mean by 'the rest'? Her blood started to boil as she thought of all the horrors the gang might have put the others through. As she carefully lifted the picture up, she couldn't help but think about that gang. "Reasonable businessmen my ass…" Slowly she moved to the center of the living room, daring herself to turn the photograph over. Would she be ready for whatever she saw? She had to prepare herself, no matter the cost. Just how far were they willing to go for what they wanted? How far was she willing to go for her family?

She took a deep breath, her back turned to the open door. When she turned the photograph over, she saw a grisly sight that made her blood run cold and the color flee her skin. They were all sitting in a circle, all except Mr. and Mrs. Vega. Several men and women were behind them, guns pointed to their heads. Each of them, tied to wooden chairs. Cat's face, forever frozen in horror as she bawled, screaming at the top of her lungs. Next to her was Jade, her eyes wide, and for the first time, tears were running down her face. Beck was sitting next to her, glaring at the camera. His head had a bandage sitting on the top left of his bruised face, he must have been hit with a baseball bat. Andre and Robbie were frozen in shock as they stared ahead, both beaten and bloody.

But in the middle of them all was a sight that made Trina fall to her knees, crashing down with everything around her. The picture fell to the floor and her hands fell beside it as tears started dripping down her nose and cheeks. In the center of all the friends was a brunette, her head bowed with her chin touching her chest and her hair falling in front of her face. Her clothes were stained with blood and her throat had been slit. Trina's hand flew to her mouth as she closed her eyes and began to sob frantically. A mixture of sadness, disbelief, and rage began shooting through her.

It couldn't be her! They couldn't have killed Tori. She'd give anything to believe they didn't kill her baby sister. Those maniacs had the others and they were going to kill them too! What would Tori want her to do? She couldn't think, she couldn't for the life of her figure out what she needed to do now. "Those…those bastards!" She remembered Tori's words, asking her to promise nothing would ever happen. Like Cat and Jade, their brothers were probably the furthest thing from their minds, but the two probably worried about them. What would they think if their sisters were gone? Like Tori was? No. She shook her head, tears flying everywhere as her hair stuck to her lips. No, Tori couldn't be dead. This picture, it had to be a lie!

"They said some sister of the girl had it, I didn't know it'd be you," A familiar voice echoed from behind. Trina's head flew up and her eyes grew large. Her heart stopped and her blood started boiling even more. Rage shot out in her body, fueled by adrenaline. She turned her head and saw Sinjin staring at her, his arms lowered and a gun in his right hand. Sinjin? What was he doing here?

"Y-You're with them? The ones…who did this…"

"Yeah, I didn't know you were the one they were talking about." Sinjin slowly walked over to her as she bowed her head and started to sob.

"They…they killed my little sister! You…You did this to her!" Her eyes flew up once more, filled with wrath. He threw his hands up and chuckled slightly.

"Now come on, you know me, I wouldn't have done that to her if I knew. Honestly…" Maybe he was right, how was she to know? She lowered her head to the picture and stared at the dead girl. She was wearing Tori's favorite shirt, the one that Trina got for her on her last birthday. "I know it's rough. They just want the chip, that's all…I don't think it was supposed to be like this, Tri." Her body trembled and she started to sink towards the ground. She should have been here! She should have answered the call! Now she was sitting here with Sinjin possibly trying to comfort her.

"Trina!" Sikowitz's voice flashed in her mind, along with his walking stick. She shook her head and slowly opened her eyes. Her tears wouldn't stop. "Get up." She couldn't. She didn't want to get up, she wanted to curl up and die. Of course, Sinjin would get help, wouldn't he? The guy was a dumbass, he wasn't capable of murder. Who was she kidding? Maybe she didn't know him much, but everyone trusted him more than they would, someone like Damian "Trina!"

She opened her thoughts to what Sikowitz had been saying earlier in the day, his story about that person that he knew in the past. "My mistake was trusting too much." Sometimes what you don't believe may be the closest thing to the truth and what you believe to be the truth may be the farthest thing from the truth. That was something her own martial arts instructor once said. "If you're faced with someone who you don't believe could possibly do the things that you see before you. Even if you're at your weakest…do not falter one minute, one second." Look up.Her heart slammed against her ribcage as she slowly moved her eyes up and peered at Sinjin through her bangs. He was standing straight, his gun aimed for her head. Shit!

"I'm sorry it has to be like this Trina. All they want is the chip. You know they're just going to kill you once you had it over to them. You and your entire family, the others too…you know too much…" She narrowed her eyes and parted her lips to say something, but no words came out. She was speechless! Sinjin was turning against her. Why shouldn't she be surprised? "I have to do this. There's too much valuable information on that chip. In the wrong hands, someone could easily destroy the gang."

"I don't fucking believe you…" She lowered her head and chuckled. "You are responsible!" She heard him click the gun and suddenly the adrenaline flowing in her spiked. With a powerful roar, she rose from the ground, grabbing his wrist with her left hand and slamming her right fist into his jaw. He let out a shout and released the gun just in time for her to slam him against the wall. "You asshole!"

"Whoa! Trina hold on!"

"Don't you ever think you can get away with pointing a gun at me!" She threw him onto the ground, fire burning in her eyes. In a mad scramble, he tried to reach the gun. She jumped over and kicked the gun away from him, then stepped on his right hand, glaring at him as he screamed out. "You're going to tell me where I can find these assholes who killed my sister. They may not want me to go to the cops because they'll kill my family? Fine, but they just made a big mistake." She started pressing hard onto his hand, causing him to cry out more as his bones started popping.

"Please! I'm sorry! I won't do it again!"

"Oh I know you won't." She reached down and pulled him up, then hoisted him over her shoulder. With rage feeding inside her, she slammed him down against the floor. His head bounced hard against the kitchen tile and a loud moan left his lips. He brought his hands to his head as she placed her foot to his chest. "Now…" She sneered, the photo etched permanently into her memory. "They'll be paying the price for what they want. I'm going to take out each and every one of them until I find my family. Got that, Sinjin? And you're going to tell me where the hell I'm going to start my search…or else."

"Okay, okay! I'll talk! Just please, don't hurt me anymore!" He whimpered as she lowered herself to him and locked her eyes with his. She clenched her fists and clicked her tongue.

"Good. Now start talking." What was going on with her? It was like she'd lost all control. Could anyone blame her? She couldn't go to the cops, her sister was dead, she was forced to play her hand. Backed into a corner. And now, Sinjin just tried to kill her! "Sikowitz was right, I can't trust anyone other than my closest friends."

"Sikowitz? What does he have to do with-"

"Just tell me what I want to know so I can kick you out of my house."

"Okay! I'll tell you everything. I don't know where they're holding your family and the others, but I can tell you anything you want to know about the gang and their hideouts!"

"That works for me."

After several minutes, Sinjin poured his heart out to her. She wasn't in the mood to be forgiving, not for someone like him, so she handcuffed him to the couch with one of her dad's cuffs that were lying around amid the wreckage. She was now sitting at the table with a tiny flathead screwdriver and was starting to pry off the square that Christy pointed out before. Sinjin continued his frantic pleading for her to let him go, but she ignored him.

"Just this once Sinjin, you're not fooling me. I let you go, you go for that gun, it isn't happening."

"No I promise I won't!" She moved her head away from the necklace and narrowed her eyes at him. She'd seen him eyeing the gun the entire time. He was just a part of this gang, and what that meant was, they would fight dirty. Dirty meant sob stories, pity parties, dirty meant Sinjin would try to win her over with compassion and then do her in.

"I'm not taking any chances, Sinjin. So, please, shut your trap." She was thinking, she couldn't do this alone. She needed help, but who? Maybe Jason and Christy would be willing to help, after all, they were good fighters too. Maybe Sikowitz, he seemed to know what to do in situations like this, hopefully.

Tears ran down her cheeks as she finally pried open the back of the necklace. She didn't care if the necklace was the gang's or not, it was still a gift from Tori. A gift that she would cherish, no matter what. When she removed the square, she saw a small memory card that could be plugged into a computer. Her eyebrows rose as Sinjin turned his head to her. "H-Hey, what are you going to do with that chip?"

"They want this thing back, right?"

"Yeah."

"So if they want it back…" She opened her laptop and pushed the SD Card inside. Sinjin yelped out and started struggling in vain against his cuffs.

"That's not for you to look at!"

"Shut up, ass." Instantly the chip brought up several important documents. One mapped out drug trades from California all across the world. "Whoa…Dad was right. Brazil, China, Russia, some groups in the United States? This could put the Assassins out of business, they're raking in millions. Or at least starting to…" She clicked onto another document and tilted her head to the side. The leader of the entire gang was some rich millionaire that owned a casino in Vegas. "Well then…"

The chip also contained security codes that allowed the gang to access their own personal 'bank' and withdraw several millions of funding for whatever purposes they desired. She licked her lips and started making copies of all this information, just in case she lost the chip. When she was done, she closed her eyes and rose, shutting the laptop and replacing the chip in the necklace.

"What are you doing now?" Sinjin was sweating, scared, nervous, and beyond rational thought. If she had to guess, she'd say he was having a withdrawal attack. When was the last time he had any drugs? It didn't matter. She'd let the cops come. They were going to notice Mr. Vega was missing. They'd come looking. That was, unless the gang decided to try and cover it up or force the police to look away. Either way, she was getting her family back, and she would make them pay for what they did to Tori, to her baby sister. Oh yes, they would pay with blood.

"They can have their little 'chip' back, Sinjin. After all, it's worth more than the hairs on each of their fragile, individual little heads." He swallowed hard as she stared upstairs. She'd need a new wardrobe, a better one. She did have a very nice black jumpsuit that was very easy on the body. "But there's a price for the things that they desire, and they're going to pay. They'll get their chip back…when I shove it down their throats!"

There are no words to describe this chapter. Intense, emotional, dramatic, those seem to fit. Right now, though, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't want to be in the gang's shoes...