Vicky Genocidal: In Depth

Chapter Eleven: The Wrong Decisions

"We are gathered here today to celebrate the life of Johnathan Morgan Ross. He follows his sister, Isabella Arkensaw, along with her husband, Gregory in death. He is lived on through his youngest sister, Margaret Juliana Ross-Taylor, and his daughter, Victoria Lius Ross."

As the pastor continued, the girl spared a glance at her aunt, who sat beside her. The normally cheerful woman's face had been completely overcast by a grim expression. Tears edged near her eyelids, but the woman didn't dare to let them fall. Unlike a few of the other people who had gathered in the small church, who were all sniffling and sobbing loudly, her aunt remained silent, as did the girl next to her. No matter how many glares the pair received for not crying, they both knew why they weren't allowing sobs to escape their throats. For the woman, she simply willed herself to remain strong for the girl beside her. She would cry plenty later, in the privacy of her bedroom. But for now, she couldn't let her niece see her sadness. For the girl, she simply had no more tears left. She had cried so much; it was as if she was now dried out entirely. Now, an ever-present numbness completely overtook her subconsciousness.

The girl eyed the sleek, black coffin which held her father's mangled corpse. A closed casket funeral. She would've laughed if it weren't so sad, thinking back to a time when her father was rambling about how he wanted to leave this world.

"I want it to be a huge party." The man had said with a chuckle. "I want an open casket where I get to be dressed up in my favorite leather jacket, with Black Sabbath blasting in the background. I want people to laugh and share stories about me. I want it to go down in history as one of the happiest funerals ever."

That too was taken from him.

The girl and her aunt had tried to orchestrate his wishes, but no one laughed. No one swapped stories. Her father didn't get to wear his favorite leather. All because of how her father had died. No one wanted to laugh about such a gruesome homicide. No one could bring themselves to crack a smile.

Her dad would have hated it.

When Black Sabbath's "Heaven and Hell" started playing, the girl couldn't even bring herself to smile at the memory of her dad singing it goofily to her in the car. The song only brought pain to her now.

She looked back at her aunt, who was gripping her dress so tightly, her knuckles had turned white.

"Victoria! Are you listening to me?"

Victoria was snapped out of her daze as the principal snapped at her. She turned her attention back to him, clearing her throat.

"Yeah, sorry." She grunted, folding her arms over her chest as her aunt gazed at her disapprovingly. Victoria was currently sitting in the principal's office alongside her aunt after the debacle in biology.

"So, I'll let this one slide, as it was only a frog and not another student." The principal added emphasis to the word "student", eyeing Victoria suspiciously. "However, if anything like this happens again, I will have to suspend you, understand?"

"She's got it. This won't happen again, I promise." Her aunt Marge replied quickly before Victoria could answer.

The two briskly left the office afterwards. Marge walked in front of Victoria at a fast pace, barely waiting for Victoria to grab her school bag. She was quiet on the walk to the car, as well as on their way home. She said nothing as they entered the house. She only began to speak as Victoria sat down on the living room couch.

"I don't want to talk about it." Victoria groaned, rubbing her eyelids tiredly.

"Too bad!" Her aunt replied with a sharp tone. "I mean, God! What were you thinking, Victoria? I know you like weird things, but that's just..."

She shook her head, letting out an exasperated groan. "I'm sorry, I don't mean to yell. I just, why in the world did you do that?"

Victoria only shrugged, picking at the black polish decorating her nails. "I don't know... I just blacked out for a second. I'll try not to do it again, Marge. I'm sorry."

Her aunt was silent for a moment. Victoria continued to fiddle with her fingers, not wanting to look at her aunt. She felt the couch shift next to her as her aunt sat down. A paper was placed in Victoria's lap, obstructing her view of her fingers. At first, Victoria hadn't realized what it was, as she had forgotten in all of the chaos of that day. It was the paper Anna had given her, listing the details of her "party". Marge had probably found it in her schoolbag. Victoria gazed at the paper, then glanced at her aunt, who was eyeing her expectantly.

Oh.

Hell no.

"I'm not going." She quickly stated, shoving the paper back into Marge's chest. "It's just a pity invite. It's not like she actually wants me to come."

"You don't know that sweetie! This girl may actually want to be friends with you. This could be just what you need!"

"I'm not looking for friends, Marge. I'm looking to get through high school." Victoria folded her arms, nose wrinkling as she grimaced.

"Look." Marge stood up, placing a hand on Victoria's shoulder. "I know you're doing this whole "lone wolf, angsty sad girl" routine, but could you please just try this? For just one night, can you just try to make some friends? For me?"

Victoria felt her heart tighten, feeling both offended and guilty as she heard her aunt's words. Her eyes darted to the ground as she sighed through her nose.

"Fine."