gothic victoria

A little girl no older than eleven walked the city streets alone. She carried a large, oddly coloured box with many intricate designs and shapes all over it. The wind and rain tore at her delicate, pale skin, but she continued to walk on. She had nowhere to go or to sleep for the night, so all she could do was walk. Her dress, which was tattered toward the bottom, was completely soaked, causing it to appear much darker in shade than it really was. The tattered dress and the holy socks provided her almost no protection against the elements. She was freezing and drenched from head to toe, but there was nowhere for her to go for the night. She had no home, no parents, and no family to turn to. She had absolutely nothing save for the clothes on her back and her strange little box.
Some time passed and she found herself at a large, beautiful house. The lights were still on suggesting that the family was still awake, so she walked up to the door, extended one of her shaking, pale hands, and knocked as loudly as her frail muscles would allow. In a moment, the door was answered by a handsome man about twice her size. He appeared very friendly by the smile on his face, which made the little girl's previous anxiety shrink away.
"Hello, young lady," the man greeted, speaking gently. "What can I do for you?"
"I... My name's Victoria," the girl began, her quiet voice shaking from the cold. "I... I was wondering if maybe... if it's not too much, could I stay here for the night?"
"What of your family?" the man asked. "Aren't they going to be worried about you?"
Victoria shook her head sadly.
"No, sir. My parents are dead."
The man tried to hide his shock for a moment before regaining his composure.
"I'm very sorry to hear that, Miss Victoria. Of course, you are welcome to stay here for as long as you wish."
The man stepped aside to allow Victoria into the house. She gratefully stepped in and looked around in wonder. It was beautifully decorated with many candles and portraits that looked as though they had come from the 1600's. The floor looked as though it was made out of gold. Victoria felt so out of place in such a beautiful setting, but it didn't bother her. She was in a nice house, shielded from the rain, and that was all that mattered to her. She was warm and she was safe.
"I'll have to let the Master know that you are here, Lady Victoria," the man said as he closed the door. "Is there anything I can get for you? Clean clothes, perhaps?"
"Yes, some dry clothes would be very nice. Thank you."
As the man walked away, Victoria realized there was one more thing she needed.
"Uh, if it isn't any trouble, could I maybe have some food?"
"Why, of course, Lady Victoria. The family was just about to settle down for dinner. Would you like to join them after you clean up?"
"Yes," Victoria agreed, a smile plastered on her unusually pale face. "I'd like that a lot."
In a few minutes, Victoria was dressed in warm, dry clothes and sitting at the table with the family; a husband, a wife, two children, and the butler that had originally greeted her at the door. The table was large and covered with more food than Victoria could remember seeing in one place. It seemed like an awfully large amount of food for only six people, but Victoria did not care. She was finally eating a decent meal and surrounded by a lot of nice people.
Victoria had set her box down next to her on the table while she ate. She did not appear to view anything strange about it, although the family thought quite differently.
"Miss, if I may ask, what is in your box?" the man of the house asked politely.
"Nothing," Victoria answered, sounding a tad defensive. "There's nothing in it."
"Really?" one of the children asked, hopping out of his seat. He walked over to the box and began to lift the lid, only to have it slammed onto his hand by a very frustrated Victoria.
"Don't!" Victoria whined, just as children do when they are upset. She pulled her box into a hug as if trying to protect it from anyone who might want to peer inside of it. She stared at the other child for a moment as if he had done something truly horrible. He stared back, shocked. Victoria calmed down after a moment and hopped out of her chair.
"I'm not really hungry anymore," Victoria mumbled, looking at the ground almost distraught. She then looked to the butler. "Sir, can you show me where I may sleep for the night? I'd like to go to bed."
After a moment of hesitation, the butler stood and led her to the guest room. This room was very large and very blue. The walls were blue, the carpet, the bed sheets and covers. It was a very relaxing room, thought Victoria. It even had its own bathroom which had an underwater theme to it. Victoria thanked the butler and he left, leaving her all alone in the large, blue room.
"This family's really nice, Annette," Victoria muttered, looking down at the box in her hands. "I'd really like to stay here a while."
Yawning, Victoria set her box on the small table next to the bed before climbing into the large mess of blue blankets and sheets. She lay on her side and stared at her box, almost unblinking. Hours passed, which was easy to tell by the ringing of the large grandfather clock she had passed on her way to the room.
Nine o'clock.
Ten o'clock.
Eleven o'clock.
Midnight.
She had remained awake for hours, just staring at the strange box. Shortly after midnight, she hopped out of bed, picked up her box, and silently crept to the bathroom where her wet clothes were drying. She had asked the butler to leave her clothes there until morning and was happy to see that he had respected her wish. She set down her box and picked up one of her striped socks, pulling out a large knife. Victoria grinned, noticing her reflection in the blade of the knife. She picked up her box, holding the knife so that it was concealed under the box.
"Look, Annette," she whispered so quietly, it was almost impossible to hear. "I have five people for you. That's three more than last time."
She silently crept into the butler's room first, and slashed his throat skillfully as if she had done the same action an innumerable amount of times before. He was dead almost instantly and without a sound.
"Here's some nice blood, Annette," Victoria murmured. She opened the top of the box a small amount and allowed a small amount of the butler's blood to drip into it. She repeated the process with the children and finally with the parents. When she had finished with the parents, she smiled triumphantly and opened her box all the way, revealing the decaying, severed head that was inside. The stench of the rotting head was almost unbearable, but Victoria had gotten used to it and was able to ignore it.
"See, Annette? I got you a lot of blood tonight. And when I get enough, you can come back to life and we can play together again, just like when we were younger."
Smiling, she closed the box and set it on the ground. Victoria then climbed into the bed between the two dead adults and slept between their corpses, just as she had with her own mother and father. By the time the police came the next day, Victoria had slept, woken up, eaten, and left. As always, she had left no evidence behind.