A/N: The cat's out of the bag. We have our killers.
Now time for answers.
"HOW COULD YOU!"
Trina smiled as she focused on her shiny knife.
"How could I?" she replied mockingly.
She held the tip of the blade against her younger sister's face.
"Baby sis, this was a long time coming."
"The FUCK does that mean?" Tori demanded.
Trina looked back at her partner in crime. Linda's eyes motioned toward the hall.
"You know what?" the older Vega said. "Hold that thought. Linda, dear, be sure to bring our special guest. We're not all here."
"It's okay," Linda smirked as she danced out of the room. "I'm not all there either."
Trina stared at her younger sister, gun firmly in hand.
"What?"
"I mourned you, goddamnit!"
Tori's eyes were ablaze. All of the guilt she felt for what befell her sister, only to discover the whole thing was a put-on. More than that, her darling sister continued to fan the flames to driver her insane with fear. Worst of all, she hurt her friends.
"I'd say it's nothing personal but we both know that's a lie."
Trina then looked up at the return of her cohort.
"Ah, there we go."
Tori saw Linda dragging her father into the kitchen, bound with the same plastic ties that incapacitated Jade.
"Isn't she a sturdy bitch?" Trina smiled.
"I brought rope, but these are so much more convenient," Linda huffed, checking the tightness of her restraints on the cop.
The older Vega rolled her eyes and began pacing around the room, refusing to make eye contact with Tori. She was strutting around like she was in front of a captive audience in a theater and this was her soliloquy.
"Come on dad! Tell her the truth!"
Tori looked down at her bound father. There was tape on his mouth. His eyes were darting about in panic.
Trina tossed the knife handle first to Linda, who caught it in midair without fail. She handed Trina the gun immediately after she gestured for it.
"Bet daddy never told you that he cheated on mom months after I was born. I found out one day when looking for my birth certificate. Then I came across yours. Saw a name I didn't recognize: Aileen...Kessler. So I asked dad who she was and he tearfully told me the whole story. Holly wasn't your real mother, Tori." Trina made a smug look. "He begged me to promise to never tell you. Oops!"
Tori couldn't believe what she was hearing.
(Oh, she's lying. She lied about everything else, Trina's just trying to screw with me.)
"I didn't want to believe it but...it happened. Aileen was dad's old partner. They were assigned to each other for two years. One night they were on stakeout and one thing led to another. Nine months later, you came along but you were a high-risk pregnancy and Aileen didn't make it. With nobody to claim you, they ran a DNA test and that's when the tea was spilled. Not only did father have to come clean about his infidelity, but now he was saddled with living with the byproduct of his mistake..."
She turned back toward Tori and locked eyes with her.
"You."
All of this was too much. If it were true, everything she knew about her family was shaken to its foundation. But Tori had a horrible feeling in the pit of her stomach that what Trina was telling her was the truth. She was crazed and unhinged but something in her eyes; Tori couldn't put her finger on it, made her believe that she wasn't making shit up.
Tori turned back to her father for confirmation but all she saw was a hollow look in his eyes.
(FUCK ME! Trina was telling the truth?)
"Dad?" she whimpered. "You didn't. YOU DIDN'T!"
"Oh he DID, Tori!" Trina chortled menacingly, pressing the knife to her cheek. The cold of the metal made her wince. "He definitely did."
"And...that's why..."
Trina smirked, "That's why they divorced."
David laid there, closing his eyes with guilt.
"That's why mom left?" Tori sobbed, looking at her dad.
Trina grabbed Tori's face, her hand felt as tight as a vice.
"Don't you EVER CALL HER THAT!"
She then forced her to look down at their father.
"Because of your mother, Tori" she shrieked. "I lost MY mother! She couldn't bear to live with dad after what he had done! You were a constant reminder of what destroyed her love for him." Trina then began to tear up.
Crying Trina didn't make Tori feel any safer than in the presence of angry Trina.
"She left us," she said and then stared daggers at Tori. "No. She left ME!"
Trina charged toward her younger sister and the latter closed her eyes. The way she was poised with the knife, Trina looked like she was going to do the deed right here and now.
"So your mom died, so what? Why did I have to lose mine too?"
"Trina..."
The young woman glowered at her father who had managed to push out the tape over his mouth with his tongue.
"Shut up, old man!"
"Listen to me, please."
She charged right up to him.
"It's not too late; we can..."
"I SAID SHUT UP!"
Trina swiftly kicked him in the jaw, sending him to his side facing away from them.
"It's too late. There's no going back."
Linda stepped aside, allowing Trina to pace a bit around the kitchen.
She then marched over to Tori and grabbed her by the collar and pulled her up.
"Remember that day we were staying at mom's but dad dropped us off early? And you walked in on her and Gary?"
"I hated that day," Tori said. "Don't need to be reminded."
The older sister grabbed Tori by the hair and dragged her close to their father.
"Gary was protective of mother to the point that he worried enough to keep the infidelity to himself for our sakes. He took the fall as the one who drove a wedge between our parents and..." Trina pointed with her knife toward David. "And he let him. How cold-hearted can you get?"
"I hated you so fucking much, Tori. I just wanted you GONE!"
"Why didn't you just kill me?" asked Tori.
"Believe me, I tried." Trina wiped a tear. "Why weren't you in that fucking car?"
Tori and her dad looked silently at Trina.
"You were supposed to go out of control, Tori. YOU were the one meant to DIE!"
Trina gave a slap so hard, that Tori spun around and landed on the counter.
"It wasn't enough you killed your own mother, you had to trick me into killing mine? You were the one she asked to go to the store and then she decided to go herself because you had so much homework."
Trina slammed her hand down on the countertop. Her hand's refusal to form a fist indicated that she hurt herself doing that.
"Not to steal your thunder but get to the part where you frame that idiot Ryder."
She took a deep breath and regarded Linda for a moment. Tori was still red in the face from the slap.
"What's there to tell, it was really fucking easy. You humiliated him in front of the school, so he had the motive. But no balls to carry anything out for revenge. Just planted some incriminating evidence at his house. He really sold it by having a shitty alibi because he was two-timing two girls at the same time and didn't want to spill the beans. Guy was so retarded that he didn't comprehend he was on the hook for a murder!"
"In all fairness, that was a public service," Linda quipped.
Trina nodded.
"I knew the car plan was impulsive...messy. I had to come up with something else; more controlled, to make you pay."
She wrapped her hand around Tori's throat.
"But it wasn't just your blood I wanted. I wanted your sense of security... I wanted your loved ones... I wanted your sanity... Then when you had nothing left, only then would you have my permission to perish."
Trina released her and Tori massaged her bruised neck.
She coughed before being able to speak.
"I know you were hurting, Trina" Tori managed to get out. "But this isn't the way."
"FUCK THIS!"
The sisters turned at Linda's outburst.
"Enough of this sad-sack bullshit! When do I come in?"
"Okay, okay," Trina smirked. "Fucking around and finding out on the dark web for how to stage a crime scene; I found this crazy bitch."
Linda made a pose with her knife under her chin.
"Linda here had ambitions. She was grooming herself to become one of the greatest serial killers of all time. She just needed some targets. I thought, let's help each other out."
Trina shoved Tori onto one of the chairs by the kitchen table. She had her gun fixed on her while Linda held the knife.
"It started with Leonard. A young EMT," Trina mused. "Not a bad fuck. Didn't take him long to fall for me. What can I say?"
Linda giggled.
"Then I cooked up this sob story about an abusive father and how I wanted to disappear, but I was afraid of his reach as a cop."
Her expression changed like she was doing a dramatic reading.
"I need to get away, Leonard! Will you help me, pleeeease?"
The killers chortled.
"He was like butter," Linda noted.
"I even left a fake diary for him to find."
"My idea," Linda said, biting her lip.
"I knew I needed lots of blood to sell the scene, so we spent weeks extracting my blood and he kept it in the fridge in his garage safe until the night. He gave me a syringe of a medicine that could slow my heart rate enough so I would look dead to a layman if they found me. But that was a precaution since Leonard was sure to be the nearest ambulance when I was discovered."
"And being a paramedic, he could easily Trojan Horse me the fuck outta there before anyone noticed."
"He had the meeting spot," added Linda. "That's when I would strike."
Trina nodded.
"Told him to text Linda if there was any change. Apparently, he had a friend with him."
"I was so excited to make my first kill," Linda smiled broadly as her whole body shook with adrenaline. "Turned out to be a two-fer. I might have gotten a little carried away in my excitement. The look on Leonard's stupid face. He had no idea he was never going to make it out alive!"
Trina stepped in to wrap things up.
"So, blah, blah, blah, stabby stabby, blah, blah...here we all are."
Tori tried to get up, but the pair pushed her back down.
"Don't think you know how a killing spree works," Trina said. "You can't just tap out. This isn't fucking laser-tag you know."
"This is only the beginning," bounced Linda. "I've tasted blood and I'm far from done!"
Trina rolled her eyes but kept her attention on Tori.
Meanwhile, Linda hopped around the kitchen like a child on a sugar high.
"They're gonna find everyone in this house dead and the killer...ahem...killers are long gone. And where did we go? We set up shop in the next town. We could say we're sisters," then Linda gasped. "How about a couple? That would be hilarious. We ingratiate ourselves with some of the locals. Then we lure them one by one into an all-new massacre. And then we split to the next town and start all over again."
Linda held her sides, she was cackling so hard.
"It'll be great! You and me, Treen. We'll be Thelma and Louise meets the Railroad Killer!"
"Sorry, babe. There won't be another massacre."
Linda looked confused as Trina turned and shot her in the shoulder.
"Fuck!"
Trina rushed over to get a closer target, but a sharp pain hit her ankle. Jade, still bound on the floor, was biting her.
The older Vega screamed and pulled herself free and stomped the goth in the stomach.
"NO!"
Tori bear hugged Trina from behind, making her drop the knife. Linda, still with her own blade, lunged for Trina.
But Trina was quick and turned to throw Tori onto Linda, forcing them both to the ground.
Linda pushed Tori off, seeing in the melee the knife was sticking out of Tori's side.
She looked up and Trina was gone.
"Oh no you don't, BITCH!"
She then noticed the other knife on the floor and scooped it up, leaving Tori for dead.
"You think you can just use me and throw me away, huh?"
Linda threw a small antique table, smashing the vase into many pieces on the floor.
"YOU'RE DEAD WRONG, VEGA!"
Trina crouched down behind the sofa; knife clenched in her hand.
"I'm not some pencil-dick nerd you tricked into doing your homework," Linda went on. "And I'm not some bulldog-"
She stopped when she noticed the sizable old couch. Big enough for someone to hide behind.
"...that you can just...chain up..." Linda crept closer. "...when she mis-BEHAVES!"
The shiny knife came plunging into Trina's shoulder, eliciting a painful yelp.
Linda wasted no time pulling out the blade and coming down for another stab, but Trina was quick enough to dodge it.
Now she was running out the room and down the hall, one hand desperately trying to keep pressure on her fresh wound.
"I gotta admit, Trina. That was quite a performance that night."
Linda was on her heels, but Trina couldn't get away any faster.
"But nothing compares to the real thing," her accomplice teased. "I really wish you had your wits about you when I iced your fuckboy and his friend. The sounds they made," the brunette chuckled to herself. "Like something out of a slaughterhouse."
Then a heavy book struck Trina right in the back of the head, making her fall. Felt like a Stephen King first edition.
Trina made a pathetic thud on the hardwood floor.
Linda forced her onto her back and straddled her "partner."
"Damn, Vega. And you didn't think they'd throw the book at you."
The psychopath couldn't help but giggle at her bad joke.
She kept her body weight on Trina, preventing her escape, as she raised her knife.
"Say hi to your moms for me," Linda said. "Maybe they'll fight over you. You know, which one wanted you the least..."
BLAM!
Linda flew backwards like she was struck with an invisible force.
But Trina knew that sound. It wasn't invisible, just very, very small.
Gary emerged and assessed the room. Linda looked down for the count and Trina appeared to be conscious.
"Trina?"
He kneeled down to her level, looking completely bewildered.
"You're alive?"
The older Vega sister coughed, some red in her saliva.
"Thanks for the assist."
The cop groaned when he got stabbed in the side.
He caught these two after Trina went down but unbeknownst to him, she never parted with her blade. It was still very close.
Gary went down and Trina pulled herself to her feet.
She relieved him of his pistol and shot him in the head.
"Tall and handsome, but nothing between the ears," Trina sighed. "Fuck, Holly. Did you have a type or what?"
After checking her work, Trina then went toward where Linda fell but she was gone. Just a few drops of blood on the floor.
"Fuck," she whispered.