Viktoria's Monster (Skeith Takahata II & Applepoisoneer)

[Skeith Takahata II]

When everything you are is already an abomination in the eyes of God, is it truly possible to worsen your inevitable and eternal sentence? When everything you love is stolen from you and the world bleeds you dry of your happiness and hope, is it selfish to want to steal it back?

London, England.

The late 1800's...

Well before grief and madness had threatened to claim her mind, a young hopeful in London's scientific and medical community was already an abomination in the eyes of God and her frustratingly pious peers. The young Viktoria Von Frankenstein had been born to a pair of demanding parents. Both were experts in their respective fields. Her father a brilliant physician and her mother a mechanical engineer. Propelling electricity and diesel fuels into the new norm for the city. Both were achievers, and children were not what achievers needed. Despite making it clear from an early age that Viktoria was an unwanted distraction, Viktoria worked desperately for their approval. Her youth was dedicated to her books. Learning both of her parents trades. She studied diligently and excelled in school, earning the respect and adoration of her peers and professors. Having grown to be very close friends with a fellow student. As she grew older, and into young adulthood, her career was beginning to take shape. One after the the other, both her parents passed away. Her mother claimed in an unfortunate electrical accident, and her father poisoned by one of the many venomous snakes he kept to make antidotes from. Viktoria refused to grieve for them. Both died failures in her eyes. Having underestimated the dangers of their work and paying the price.

Having inherited her parents estate, a brilliant mansion in the center of the city, she worked diligently. Combining her parents respective labs into one, and adopting her father's study as her own. Only stunted by society's difficulty taking a female scientist seriously. Then she was distracted by that which distracts all young and lonely people. Love. Engaged to be wed to a young man by the name of Henry Applewood, she was enraptured by his charm. Unable to see the harm that he caused her.

Our story begins late one night, you Viktoria toiled in her lab. Her dark red hair tied up in a bun. Her fiance entered the lab, passively examining her work. "Where is your assistant?" He asked, looking around at the caged test animals.

"She's out right now. I didn't need her tonight." She glanced at him briefly, returning to her work.

"I was thinki ng, since we are getting married. Is it not time for her to move? She is an adult." He began before Viktoria cut him off.

"She's my oldest friend. Her family and fiance have died. What would you have me do? Put her on the street?
She has nothing and no one else!"

"Okay. Okay. Just thinking out loud." He turned back to the cages, peering into a cage only to anger the snake it held.

"Careful love." Viktoria warned, turning to face him. "That's how my father died. Best not to underestimate serpents."

"Twas one that tempted Eve to eat from the tree of knowledge, yes?" He replied, chuckling softly. "Come now, darling. Must you spend another evening in this dank dungeon? I thought that we might spend it together?" As he spoke Viktoria had turned away. "Perhaps such sciences are best suited to men." As he spoke, he quietly slipped her notes into his pocket. Unbeknownst to Viktoria, he had been publishing her studies under his name.

"Ha! And pursue what exactly? Child rearing? Home building?" She scoffed at the notion.

"Would it be so bad?" He asked approaching her.

"Henry, please. I'm already becoming a wife before I am ready. Must we speak of children? I have work to do."

Henry scoffed, turning her to face him. "Really, Viktoria. I grow tired of these games. Put away your toys and become a woman." He tugged at the top of her dress, breaking several buttons.

Viktoria grunted as she was turned. "Ow! Henry? Not right now! I'm busy-" Her voice was cut short as he forced an aggressive kiss on Her, pushing her back onto the table. Sending notes and tools crashing to the ground. She struggled at first, before giving in. He was her future husband after all. She had certain responsibilities.

When he was finished, and left the lab, she sat up, disoriented. She rubbed a choke mark on her neck, righting her clothing as best she could. "Did he really have to finish inside?" She held her hand over her belly, grumbling deservedly. "I had better note become pregnant." A child would ruin her career for certain.

Some hours later, Viktoria found herself eating alone, again, still rubbing her neck absent mindedly. Henry always stayed out late with his peers. She trusted him though. Not like he was the type to spend all night at a brothel or opium den. She passed on the glass to drink wine straight from the bottle.

 

[Applepoisoneer]

Charlotte 'Lotte" Pembrook had few reasons beyond neglect and boredom to be studious. Her father was born into money and managed land investments to keep them in the black. Her Mother had never done a day's work in her entire life, and had no expectations for her daughter other than get married and move out of the house. Her father expected her to at least bring home good marks and stay out of trouble.

Boarding school opened her up to an entirely new world of things to do and learn; dance, writing, and most importantly, horticulture and minor botany. She found herself spending more and more time in the greenhouse, cultivating, cross-breeding, and preparing all manner of herbs for use.

It wasn't long after her graduation and debut that her father contracted pneumonia. It was a year long battle of ups and downs, but Charlotte stuck close to her father; as close as the team of physicians and her mother would allow. After he had passed, her mother couldn't retain command of the house or the subsequent land holdings to keep them afloat.

With their last ounce of notoriety, her mother arranged a match for her. An import-export merchant named Claudius Van Hillenberg, who was at least fourty years her senior. The two had nothing in common. Initially, Charlotte had refused to marry him, but had "seen sense" long enough to become engaged. Under the circumstances, she moved in with he and her mother.

Claudius died afew days before their wedding, face down in a bowl of soup. The strain of it all pushed Lotte's mother over the edge and landed her in Bedlum.

Charlotte wasn't lost for long, before her dearest friend Viktoria asked her to assist in her ground-breaking experiments. At first, she'd felt like a third wheel, intruding upon a newly engaged couple. But the strength of her feeling for Viktoria compelled her to push the social conventions aside and live with the two of them. In the small collection of things she'd managed to take from home to home, a few things from her boarding school; a fan from her first gala, a little wooden horse her father had brought her from Italy when she was small, and a book of poetry she'd written, almost entirely on the subject of Viktoria, and even included a lock of hair she'd taken from her schoolmate's hairbrush and a lace handkerchief embroidered with a "VF"


Charlotte pattered into the room on cat-like feet. She wore a simple dress with a long canvas coat. "I've just been to the Ratcatcher for his latest pouch of Serpent's Delight." She laughed. It had been an in-joke they'd developed, and it managed to stand up well to the ghastly faces pulled by "the man of the house".

 

[Skeith Takahata II]

Viktoria had only eaten about half of her meal when she heard Charlotte's joke from behind her. She quickly raised her collar to hide the choke marks on her neck. She gave a hearty laugh before standing to face her. "Lotte! When did you get in? I've been worried about you." She pulled her friend into a close hug, smiling as she did so. She stepped back, motiining to the table. "Have you eaten, dear?" She motioned to the plate she always made for Henry that he was rarely home to eat.

"Care to join me? Henry is out with his lodge mates again. So, I'm dining alone." She smiled a sad and lonely type of smile. Having Charlotte in her life again had eased much of the difficulty of living with Henry. Despite their plans to we'd, he was hardly very loving or attentive. She found most of her intimacy in her friend. Viktoria was clearly concealing her feelings. She was upset about Henry's aggression that day. As well as his increasing absence.


Elsewhere in the city, Henry had gone from the local publishing company to spend the money from Viktoria's work to spend it on alcohol and women. Anything to avoid staying with his fiance that night. He suspected she would be upset about his behavior in the lab.

 

[Applepoisoneer]

"I haven't had a bite all day." Charlotte admitted bashfully. Her heart began to flutter at the thought of sharing a table with one she'd coveted for so long. Even if it was by pure luck. She stopped herself from slipping away entirely. "But are you sure Mr. Applewood won't mind?"

Formality had been woven into her every atom, and thus was her reason for asking. Otherwise, she had only the highest contempt for the man, and would have loved to eat a plate of anything while he starved to death.

 

[Skeith Takahata II]

Viktoria's smile faded slightly when Charlotte hesitated. She returned to her seat with a small sigh. "I've lost track of how many meals I've prepared for Henry that wound up wasted due to his absence." She smiled up at her friend before once more motiining to the meal. "If you haven't eaten then I insist. I would appreciate the company."

While she began eating she looked up from her meal as she remembered something. "Charlotte, have you seen some of my notes? I've noticed some have gone missing from the lab. I don't know if I've simply misplaced them or what."

She thought about Henry's suggestion that Charlotte leave and that Viktoria prepare for motherhood and felt her stomach churn. Both possibilities troubled her greatly. Especially if Henry was as insistent as he had been about sex earlier.

 

[Applepoisoneer]

Charlotte sat and took up the utensils. "I haven't seen anything lying about outside the lab. I wonder where they could be. You usually keep everything in such neat order."
She began eating, savoring the food Viktoria had prepared with her own two hands; hands that Charlotte had watched flutter through experiments like determined butterflies, hands she longed to hold in her own.

 

[Skeith Takahata II]

Viktoria nodded softly, still eating while she thought more on it. Charlotte wasn't wrong. Viktoria kept her lab quite organized. It wasn't like her to misplace anything really. "Perhaps Henry knows something about them. I'll ask him when he gets home."

She glanced over at her friend and assistant, smiling softly. "So, tell me about your day. I spent most of mine in the lab."

 

[Applepoisoneer]

"If only you could see how shocked I am." Charlotte jested. Viktoria spent virtually every moment of every day in the laboritory. That is, every moment that Henry didn't steal. Charlotte might have spent it with her if there weren't errands to run, and the smell of antiseptic made her a triffle queasy when exposed for too long. So she went out into the rank air of London, which couldn't have been much better for her.

"I had to go to two different sewing shops before I could find the right color of thread to mend my chartreuse dress. And I found the right lace to fix your plum hat." She took a bite of food for pause, and when her mouth was clear she continued. "I can fix your stockings too now. After that, I tracked down the rat catcher. He tried to...to handle me again. Honestly, if we didn't need the drowned rats rather than the poisoned ones, I wouldn't see him anymore." She turned her nose up in shame and indignity.

 

[Skeith Takahata II]

Viktoria looked over at her with a smile. "That's very kind of you." She'd been running short on stockings due to Henry's sexual aggressiveness. In truth, most of her damaged clothing was because of that. "I'm sorry that the rat catcher is such a vile man. Perhaps, I should be the one going to see him from now on."

She reached her glass of wine, taking a long sip. "Still, our serpents will be thankful to you for the meal. Those left over I can use for experiments."

She was silent for a moment, dwelling on the rest of her day. "Henry brought up the prospect of children again today. It's exhausting to be honest. I can not be in two places at once. How would it be possible to conduct my experiments and raise offspring?" She rubbed at her brow tiredly. "What's more, I will have to mend my dress, following his Stubbornness. Such is life with a man, I suppose." She didn't mean to vent to her friend but she didn't have anyone else.

 

[Applepoisoneer]

Charlotte peered over her own glass of wine with concern darkening her eyes. It seemed things with Henry were getting more aggressive. It meant that she would have to expedite her plans. No good could come of waiting for their marriage, as she had first planned. At least then she might have gotten something useful from the Applewood estate. But by now, the risk had far outweighed the reward.

"Perhaps you should let me speak with him." She offered confidently. "I realize it might not do much, but I could at least soften him with a good meal."

 

[Skeith Takahata II]

Viktoria looked over at Charlotte smiling softly. She didn't want to burden her friend with her problems, but she simply had nowhere else to turn. Perhaps some third party observations were what Henry needed. "Oh, Charlotte. Truly I don't deserve you." She sipped more from her wine, sighing softly.

Viktoria focused on finishing her meal before rising from her seat. "I suppose I should see to cleaning up and feeding the snakes. Henry should be home soon. It won't do to have the house a mess."

 

[Applepoisoneer]

"I'll prepare his meal tomorrow then." Charlotte nodded and picked up the dishes. "In the meantime, I'll be sureto take care of this if you'd like to go and feed the snakes. It shouldn't take me more than a minute." Just before she crossed the threshold,she paused. "I think I'll bake him a blackberry tart. Thatmight settle him down." She spoke it as though she were thinking aloud, and passed into the darkness of the hall.

 

[Skeith Takahata II]

Viktoria could not have been more thankful to have a friend like Charlotte. Always there when she needed her and always going above and beyond. If she didn't know any better she might have mistaken Charlotte's devotion for something more. Was it possible that Charlotte... sure not. She had previously been engaged to a man, after all.

Viktoria finished up in the kitchen and made her way to her lab, taking her time to feed each of her snakes. "Spper time my lovelies." She whispered softly, pausing to very gently pet a couple.

From there she went to bed, stripping from her dress and sliding into a shear night gown that left very little to the imagination. She let down her hair and eased into bed, dousing her lamp as she did so. She did not stir when Henry came home, though she could certainly smell the alcohol on him. And something else. A flowery scent. Perfume? Of course not. Surely Viktoria was simply imagining it.

The following morning Viktoria was out in town, making necessary purchases for her experiments, while Henry remained at home, hung over and trying to decide on something for breakfast.

 

[Applepoisoneer]

After Charlotte had cleared the clutter from dinner, she put on her outer layers and went into the forest surrounding the estate. The game keeper had warned that there were birds who had died mysteriously, andsuspected the little fools had gotten into something that killed them. Charlotte, with her background in poisons, had a vague idea of what it might've been. She'd had them in mind for a few days now; dark, sweet berries that would take your breath away in an instant.

Under her shoe, she found a little rabbit who wasn't old enough to know better. His eyes were glassy and a thin, translucent film bubbled around its jaws. She smiled and thought of Henry in the same state. Pressing on, her lantern caught the glint of something black in the dark. Belladonna! She had found them. Very delicately, she took each berry in her gloved hand and dropped them into the little basket she'd worn on her arm.

The next morning, with nosleep between preperations, Charlotte brought a tray of goodies up to Henry's bed chamber. Piping hot bacon, a blackberry tart, coffee with a little pot of milk, and a bit of cheese and fruit.

"Mr. Applewood? " She called sftly and knocked at his thick door. "I've brought you some breakfast, if you'd like it."

 

[Skeith Takahata II]

Henry heard a voice from beyond the door, assuming it to be his fiance's assistant. He groaned softly, more from his hangover then anything. "Ms. Pembrook?" He sat up in his bed, taking in a deep breath. "Come in." When the door opened, he smiled tiredly. "You're much too kind, Ms. Pembroke. What brought this on?" He took stock of the woman. She truly was a beautiful specimen. If it weren't for her constant habit of coming between him and Viktoria, he may have even made a move on her.

Elsewhere, Viktoria was beginning her trip home. She knew Charlotte was a planning to try to reason with Henry, the sweet girl that she was, but she could not have been prepared for how her life would be irreversibly changed when she returned home.

She gave one last look to her list and another glance around the market. "Hmm... Perhaps so should by something for Charlotte. Something to say thankyou." With that she approached a cart selling hand made sweets, eyeing a box of chocolates for her friend.

 

[Applepoisoneer]

"I realize I have been a more permanent fixture than I had meant to be. And that Viktoria has been a touch...difficult lately." She began. The words nearly sticking in her throat. The things she was saying with such conviction threatened to raise her bile. But she had to convince him. "I hope this trifle will begin to make amends." She presented the tray like an offering. "

 

[Skeith Takahata II]

Henry's expression was one of pleasant surprise. "I think It's a fine start." His eyes explored her hungrily. "Hopefully, Charlotte will come around as well. Always holed up in that lab is no way for a lady to be." He accepted the tray that was offered, inhaling the scent of the meal with a smile. Yes, he could get used to this. Slowly, he began to eat. At a pace that would certainly be considered frustrating, he took his time making his way to that fateful tart.

Viktoria began unlocking the front door, box of chocolates in hand. She was nervous about the result of Charlotte's attempt to reason with Henry, but was thankful to her for making the effort. She entered the manor, walking into the kitchen, setting the chocolates down. At that moment, she heard a loud clatter from up stairs, causing her to jump. "Henry? Charlotte?" She began making her way to the stairs.

Upstairs, Henry had finally begun to eat his tart and it was beginning to work it's magic. His body concluded, foam bubbling from his lips. His wide panicked eyes desperately looking for aid before life began to fade from them entirely.

 

[Applepoisoneer]

Charlotte leaned against the door, barring Vicktoria's entry. There was no reason she should have to live with a sight like this. It was admittedly a little more difficult than Charlotte had imagined it being the second time around. Her first kill had been nerve-wracking, leaving her sleepless for months. But the lion's share of that anxiety was centered upon what her life would be after the death of a fiance; no prospects, her mother nearly destitute. But she knew where she saw herself in five years now, and the answer was, with Viktoria!

Her eyes glassed over as she watched him choke on his own bile and feverishly pass his hands over his face. Deja Vu. She grinned madly, clasping her hands over the knob of the door. All those cold winter nights spent with poetic visions of her brilliant love; verse upon verse of anguish logged between two leather covers. All that heavy fog was lifting now. And all it took was the death of two, disgusting, useless men!

 

[Skeith Takahata II]

When Viktoria reached the door she was beginning to panic. "Henry? Henry what happened? Are you alright?" She pressed her ear to the door hearing movement, choking, and gargling. "Henry!" She grabbed the knob finding it not budging. "Charlotte? Charlotte let me in! Charlotte what happened!?" She began shaking the door as tears began to fall. Beating on it with her fist. Then the room feel silent. No more movement. No more choking. The door stopped shaking as Viktoria released the knob falling to her knees.

She wasn't stupid. She knew he was dying or had died already. "Charlotte?" She quietly pleaded. "Is he alright?" She dropped her head into her hands. "He's gone isn't he? Charlotte please!" She began weeping in the hall. "T-tell me He's okay..."

 

[Applepoisoneer]

Charlotte waited until his thrashing and grasping had subsided, then wiped the foam from his lips with the blanket and turned round and placed her hand on the knob. She molded her features into those of abject horror and sorrow as best she could before opening. "Oh Viktoria... I'm so sorry." She stepped aside and allowed her friend in. "He choked on something, I'm not sure what...my tart I think. I tried, but the position in which he was sitting didn't... I couldn't... I'm so sorry." She covered her face with her hands and tried not to think about the lie she had to tell her dearest friend and secret love.

 

[Skeith Takahata II]

When the door opened, Viktoria stood up quickly. Her face was one of fear, makeup running and tears streaming. She looked at Charlotte in horror as she tried to explain what happened. "No! It's not true! Don't say that!" She pushed past her, running to the bed. "Henry!? Henry wake up!" She moved to the bed, slapping his cheek while crying. "Damn it! Don't do this! Don't leave me! I'll do anything! Quit science, become a mother, anything! Please?" She pulled him into her lap weeping. "Henry? Why?"

She held him for several minutes, looking over to Charlotte. She stood up, moving to Charlotte quickly, wrapping her arms around her waist tightly, burying her face in her shoulder. "Why Henry?" She mumbled while crying. "I'm all alone again..."

 

[Applepoisoneer]

"You're not alone Viki..." Charlotte cooed into her hear, stroking her hair soothingly. "I'm here with you." She held her friend tightly around the waist and rubbed her back. "I can't undo what happened, but I'll always be here for you. I love y-" She stopped, her mind temporarily correcting her, reminding her that she'd already pushed it by calling her Viki. But Charlotte knew the word love meant many things to many people, and began again. "I love you Viktoria, and m...m...mean it."

 

[Skeith Takahata II]

Viktoria was to grief stricken to read any further into Charlotte's confession. It seemed nothing more than a friend offering her support. "Thank you, Lotte. Thank you so much." She wept into the crook of her neck for a long time. Remaining there til she was simply too exhausted to cry anymore. "I... I must make the arrangements. The body will need to be taken and a funeral needs to be arranged."

Viktoria was crushed and it showed in her preparations in the following days. She refused to sleep in the bed that once was used by her and Henry. Instead she would sleep in the sitting room or a guest room. She'd even taken to drinking.

The night after Henry's body was taken from the house, Viktoria drunkenly stumbled into her study, slumping back into her desk. She reached into the drawer pulling out her father's revolver. She was lonely, grieving and drunk. Suicide was more than attractive.

 

[Applepoisoneer]

A few weeks before Henry's "untimely" death, Viktoria had ordered a microscope to use in the lab. It was cutting-edge, top of the line stuff, and had just come in the mail. Charlotte returned from the post office where it was waiting and called for her friend. She tried not to sound so cheerful, as the house was still in mourning, but she thought the new scientific toy might pick Viktoria up at least a little.

"Viktoria!" She sang into the study. "Look what's-" She gasped and nearly threw the box into a chair. "What on Earth do you think you're doing with that?" She asked sternly, and bustled over to arrest her friend's wrist. "Viktoria, how could you?"

 

[Skeith Takahata II]

In her drunken state, Viktoria hadn't the strength or dexterity to resist her friend's action. "Y-you weren't supposed to be here!" She slurred drunkenly. "I was gonna do it this time!" She loosened her hand, letting the weapon fall away. As it fell to the ground, she slumped forward, crying into her hands.

"I just can't keep going like this. I need him Charlotte. I want to be with my Henry again." She looked up at her friend. "How do I go on? What am I to do?" She stared at her, desperate and vulnerable.