One for the Penny Dreadfuls

        Alice Masterson tightened the stay-laces of her corset. She could barely breathe. It was not the familiar grip of the corset but anticipation that left her breathless. Months of planning would come to fruition tonight and she could not contain her excitement. She put on her best dress, the color of fresh blood. She stood in front of the mirror and ran a brush through her raven tresses once more. Finally, she slipped a small purple vial into her garter.
        The spacious apartment, which had a good view of the London skyline, was entirely bare aside from a small bed, the mirror, and the empty dresser it stood on. All of her possessions were in another apartment by the docks on the south side of the city. She had spent most of her savings renting this apartment for the month, but she hadn’t even slept there. The only sign of her presence there was a small red stain on the floor…
        Alice stepped out the front door of the apartment to find a hansom waiting for her. She gracefully climbed into the backseat of the carriage. For ten minutes, she sat there listening to the pounding of her heart in her chest. This was it, she thought, this will be the end of it.
        The hansom stopped in front of the house of Dr. Vergil Watley. Alice got out of the cab and knocked on the door. She was greeted by Vergil, a tall, gaunt man wearing a black dinner jacket and a gray waistcoat. “Sweet Alice!” he said warmly. “I’m so glad you accepted my invitation. Won’t you come in?”
        Alice entered the house. The foyer was lavishly decorated with all sorts of curiosities from the Orient. She followed Vergil into the dining room. The long banquet table was set at one end with two plates and candles.
        The two took their seats as a servant came out of the kitchen with two game hens and a bottle of Chianti 1857. “This dinner is quite overdue,” said Vergil. “It has only been a week since I met you, but when I first set eyes on you, I knew that I must get to know this enchanting woman.”
        Alice tried her best to fake blushing and replied, “You are too kind.”
        “And such modesty,” Vergil said. “You really are quite remarkable.”
        The servant returned to clear away the plates when they were done. Alice drew the vial and unscrewed the lid beneath the table. “We will have our dessert now,” said Vergil to the man as Alice poured the contents of the vial into Vergil’s wine glass.
        Vergil continued to talk as they waited for dessert. Alice watched anxiously as he took each sip of wine. She struggled desperately to hide her smile. She had him now.
        The dessert, two slices of white cake, was served and the servant took his leave for the night. Vergil had begun to look sickly and he was perspiring heavily. “Strange,” he said. “I suddenly don’t feel well at all.”
        “You’re wrong, you know,” said Alice nonchalantly as she took a bite of the cake. “You didn’t meet me a week ago.”
        “…How is that?” Vergil said sluggishly as his head began to ache. As he looked at Alice, it slowly occurred to him that he now had to look up into her eyes. “What’s happening?”
        “We meet for the first time six years ago,” said Alice. The joy of her victory was overwhelming, but she did not let it show just yet. “I’m not insulted you don’t recognize me. I was just a child of fifteen then, my hair was cut shorter...and my name was Alice Sorin.”
        Vergil gazed in shock at the beautiful woman sitting before him. He had known her as Alice Masterson, but could she really be the daughter of Beatrice Sorin? “Why?” he asked weakly.
        “Do not delude yourself,” Alice said harshly. “You know your sins, as do God and I.”
          Vergil now had difficulty looking over the edge of the table to see Alice. His jacket and shirt hung loosely around him as he continued to shrink. He fought through the haze the poison put on his mind. “You’ve got everything wrong. Whatever you think happened-”
        Alice jumped up from her seat, her eyes aflame with rage. “How can you defend yourself even now?! You killed her and you will confess this night.”
        Vergil soon found himself surrounded by the clothes he had been wearing moments ago. A hand soon reached into the prison of cloth and pulled him from the darkness.
        He found himself staring into a giant pair of brilliant emerald eyes. He looked down to see that he was standing on a woman’s palm. He let out a shout of surprise and fell over as he came to grips with what was happening. A booming giggle from his gigantic captor did little to ease his fears.
        “Wh-What have you done?” Vergil demanded.
        Alice lowered her hand so that Vergil could see her whole face if he craned his neck. “I’VE DONE WHAT YOU DID TO ME AND MY MOTHER SO LONG AGO,” Alice said triumphantly. “I’VE MADE YOU POWERLESS. I FOUND THIS AMAZING POTION IN AN APOTHECARY SHOP IN ‘WRONG SIDE’. THAT’S WHAT YOU RICH PEOPLE CALL THE SLUMS ON THE SOUTH SIDE OF TOWN, RIGHT? I’VE BEEN LIVING THERE FOR SIX YEARS NOW. IT’S ALL AN ORPHAN LIKE ME CAN AFFORD.”
        “Please,” the small man pleaded. “I can give you anything you want. Just change me back.”
        “THERE IS ONLY ONE THING I WANT,” Alice said, “AND THAT IS FOR YOU TO CONFESS WHAT YOU DID. IF YOU DO THAT, I MAY CONSIDER GIVING YOU THE ANTIDOTE AFTER I’VE HANDED YOU OVER TO THE CONSTABLES.”
        “You can’t expect me to confess to a crime I didn’t commit,” said Vergil. “I had nothing to do with your mother’s death. You must believe me.”
        “I MUST?” Alice said incredulously. “YOU’RE IN NO PLACE TO TELL ME WHAT TO DO.” Alice’s left hand snatched Vergil out of her right hand. She tightened her grip and watched as Vergil squirmed in her fist.
        “Let me…” Vergil said in gasping breaths. He felt the darkness of unconsciousness overtaking him when suddenly Alice’s grip loosened a bit. “Let me tell my side of the story.”
        Alice thought about this for a minute. Finally, she set Vergil down on top of the dinner table. She rummaged around in Vergil’s clothes until she came across a gold watch. She opened the watch and set it on the table near Vergil. It said eleven o’ clock.
        “YOU HAVE UNTIL MIDNIGHT,” said Alice. “IF I DON’T HAVE AN ANSWER BY THEN…USE YOUR IMAGINATION.” She sat down in a chair and leaned forward so she could hear Vergil’s story.
        “Right,” said Vergil to himself. Looking up at the face of the giantess, he began his tale. “I met your mother a month before her death. As you know, we started courting soon after.”
        “AND THEN IT ENDED,” said Alice. “SHE WAS A GOOD JUDGE OF CHARACTER.”
        “Yes,” said Vergil. “It was over all too quickly. I really did love her, you know.”
        Alice glared at him angrily. “IF YOU LIE AGAIN, I WILL CRUSH YOU.”
        Vergil hesitated before continuing. “It wasn’t until after her death that I learned that she had been in a great deal of debt. As a widow raising a child, she couldn’t get a loan from the banks, so she turned to a shadier lender…I guess she was too proud to come back to me and ask for money.”
        “WHAT DOES THIS HAVE TO DO WITH ANYTHING? WHAT HAPPENED THAT NIGHT?”
        “I think the loan shark wanted her to work the debt off, if you catch my meaning,” said Vergil solemnly. “Your mother was a virtuous woman, so she obviously refused. It is my theory that the lender had her killed.”
        “WHO WAS THIS LENDER?”
        “I don’t know. All I know for sure is that she owed money.”
        “HOW CONVENIENT.”
        “Your mother was killed on the 9th of October, right?” said Vergil. “I was at the Highwind Pub that night.”
          “I TALKED WITH THE BARTENDER,” said Alice. “HE SAYS THAT HE COULDN'T PLACE YOU AT THE BAR THAT NIGHT WITH ABSOLUTE CERTAINTY.”
        “When did you ask him?”
        “FEBRUARY OF ’89.”
        “That’s over a year after that night,” said Vergil. “Of course he can’t remember exactly, but I'm telling you I was drinking with Jack Gardner until last call. He knew your mother and he remembers I was with him the night she died. Ask him if you want.”
        “YOU COULD BUY A DOZEN ALIBIS WITH THE MONEY YOU MAKE IN A MONTH,” said Alice coldly.
        “If you discard any evidence you find unpleasant,” said Vergil boldly, “what chance do I have of convincing you? Besides, I was a suspect in the case and I was found innocent in an impartial investigation.”
        “IMPARTIAL, WAS IT?” Alice said with a dry, humorless laugh. “THE ‘INVESTIGATION’ ONLY LASTED A WEEK AND THEN THE CASE WAS BURIED BY YOUR GOOD FRIEND, POLICE COMISSIONER ROARK.”
        “First, you accuse me of murder and then you accuse the commissioner of corruption with no evidence?” asked Vergil. “You must admit, your theories do stretch credibility.”
        “IT ISN’T A THEORY ONCE IT’S PROVEN,” said Alice with a smirk. “ROARK CONFESSED TO BURYING THE CASE. YOU SEE, I ONLY USED HALF OF THE POTION ON YOU…”
        Alice remembered the night before. The tiny form of Roark running across the floor of her apartment as she slowly strode toward him. It only took two steps to catch up with the frightened little man. She raised her foot over him as he continued to run. She savored the moment of power and excitement before finally bringing her bare foot down on the dirty constable.
        “If he confessed, then why must I?” asked Vergil. “Surely, what he said either condemns or frees me.”
        “NOT SO,” said Alice. “IN HIS LAST MOMENTS, HE REFUSED TO DIVULGE WHO PAID HIM TO END THE INVESTIGATION. HE SAID IT WOULDN’T BE RIGHT TO BETRAY THAT PERSON. A CROOKED CONSTABLE WITH A CODE OF HONOR. WHO WOULD HAVE GUESSED?”
        “It’s just as likely that he was paid off by the lender,” said Vergil.
        “THERE IS NO LENDER!” shouted Alice as she slammed her fist down on the table. Vergil was knocked over by the force of the impact and he clamped his hands to his ears from the pain her yelling caused. He scrambled to his feet as Alice’s livid features towered over him. “HE’S JUST ANOTHER ONE OF YOUR LIES! ANOTHER PATHETIC ATTEMPT TO SAVE YOUSELF!”
        “Please,” said Vergil. “I’m begging you. I’m innocent. Why would I kill your mother?”
        “JEALOUSY,” said Alice after composing herself. “IF YOU COULDN’T HAVE HER IN YOUR BED, YOU WOULD PUT HER IN A GRAVE.”
        “Can’t you see, Alice?” said Vergil. “You’re too close to this. Your love for your mother and your thirst for vengeance has blinded you. So, you found the most likely suspect and immediately set out to prove he’s the killer. If you aren’t objective, you are going to make mistakes and you will end up punishing the wrong man.”
        Alice sat quietly, staring at the little man on the table. Doubt started to creep into her mind. What if she had gone wrong? What if she was missing something? Was Vergil just trying to trick her into questioning her theory? She couldn’t be sure of anything.
        “YOU’RE RIGHT,” she said, her eyes suddenly softening. “I CAN’T BE OBJECTIVE, BECAUSE I WAS THERE THAT NIGHT.
        “THERE WAS A FIERCE KNOCK AT THE DOOR. MY MOTHER SAID, ‘OH, GOD. IT’S HIM.’ THEN SHE TOLD ME TO HIDE AND SHE RAN INTO HER BEDROOM. I HID UNDER MY BED JUST AS SOMEONE KICKED THE DOOR IN. I LAID THERE AND I SAW A PAIR OF BLACK JACK BOOTS PASS BY MY DOOR. HE WENT INTO MY MOTHER’S ROOM…”
          “Alice…” said Vergil softly. “Don’t-“
        “I HEARD SUCH TERRIBLE NOISES COMING FROM THAT ROOM,” whispered Alice. Tears began to trickle slowly down her fair cheeks. “I WAS TOO TERRIFIED TO MOVE. IT PROBABLY SAVED MY LIFE...THEN, THE JACK BOOTS PASSED BY AGAIN AND I HEARD THE FRONT DOOR CLOSE. I FOUND HER IN HER BED, HER THROAT CUT. SHE WAS ALREADY DEAD.”
        There was a moment of eerie silence before Alice wiped away her tears and continued, “YOU WERE IN THE ARMY, WEREN’T YOU?”
        “Yes,” said Vergil. “Along with hundreds of thousands of other people.”
        “I SENSED THAT IT WAS YOU,” spat Alice. Even she caught the hint of uncertainty in her voice. “IT WAS THAT SAME FEELING I ALWAYS GOT WHEN YOU WERE AROUND.”
        “A pair of boots and a woman’s intuition isn’t exactly damning evidence,” said Vergil.
        “WHAT ELSE DO I HAVE TO GO ON?” Alice said. “A NAMELESS USURY? A SIX-YEAR-OLD TRAIL OF CLUES THAT GOES NOWHERE?”
        “I understand how you’re feeling,” said Vergil, “but if you kill an innocent man, that’s not justice. It’s just murder. There’s not enough evidence to prove my innocence or my guilt and I can see that you have your doubts. Change me back…I can help you find the real killer. I can hire some detectives, start a real investigation. We can avenge your mother properly.”
        “WHY DIDN’T YOU DO THAT SIX YEARS AGO?” queried Alice.
        “I didn’t know that the constables couldn’t be trusted back then,” Vergil said. “I figured if they couldn’t sort things out, then it couldn’t be done.” He looked toward the watch on the table and saw that it was 11:57. “I suppose it’s about time for your verdict.”
        Alice turned her attention to the watch as well, but she was not looking at the time. “THAT WATCH…I REMEMBER IT. MY MOTHER GAVE IT TO YOU.”
        “That’s right,” said Vergil. “I used to keep her picture in it, but I found it too painful to look at.”
        “I REMEMBER THAT YOU FORGOT IT AT OUR HOUSE WHEN MOTHER STOPPED SEEING YOU. I THOUGHT SHE PAWNED IT…”
        Vergil fell silent.
        “SHE KEPT THE WATCH,” said Alice as the revelation washed over her. “YOU TOOK IT BACK AFTER YOU KILLED HER. A TWISTED MEMENTO OF THE WOMAN YOU MURDERED. EVERYTHING YOU’VE SAID HAS BEEN A LIE. I CAN’T BELIEVE I LET YOU GET INTO MY HEAD LIKE THAT.”
        “…All right,” said Vergil with resignation. “I see there’s no point in lying anymore. I loved your mother, but she didn’t love me. I…I did it. I took the watch because I wanted to remember her as she was…and to remind me of my sins, I suppose. I’ve regretted what I did to her and to you every day for six years and now I’m ready for the gallows.”
        “THE GALLOWS ARE TOO GOOD FOR YOU,” said Alice. Her whole body was now trembling in anger.  “TOO QUICK, NOT ENOUGH PAIN.”
        “But you said if I confessed-”
        “THAT I MAY GIVE YOU TO THE CONSTABLES,” said Alice with grim satisfaction. She grabbed one of the forgotten pieces of cake and set it by Vergil. “HERE, I AM JUDGE, JURY, AND EXECUTIONER. YOU HAVE BEEN FOUND GUILTY OF RAPE AND MURDER AND I SENTENCE YOU TO DEATH BY DIGESTION.”
        Alice picked Vergil up between her thumb and index finger. Despite the constant protests and thrashing, she placed the little man on top of the cake. Pinning him there with one finger, she picked up a fork with her free hand.
        “Please, don’t do this!” shouted Vergil as the fork lowered toward him. The fork sunk into the cake to his right side and lifted the piece of cake he was lying on into the air. He began struggling more to escape, but Alice’s finger held him down as she slowly raised him toward her open mouth. “No!”
        Vergil continued to scream as he and the piece of cake entered into the humid darkness of Alice’s mouth. Her lips closed and she pulled the fork from her mouth. That same excitement she felt when she crushed Roark returned and she could feel herself becoming wet.
        Inside her mouth, Vergil attempted to battle Alice’s tongue, which pinned him to the roof of her mouth. His fighting only gave Alice more pleasure in her long-awaited revenge.
        With a final flick of Alice’s tongue, Vergil was sent hurdling down her throat and into her stomach. Alice swallowed him with a heavy gulp and smiled quietly to herself. She had done it. She had caught her mother’s killer and vengeance was hers.
        She ate the rest of her cake, drank another glass of wine, and then went upstairs. She hastily packed a bag full of Vergil’s clothes and any items he would be likely to take on a trip. She packed another bag full of valuables as Vergil was beginning to be digested by her stomach acid.
        Alice locked the door and left the house. If anyone were to look into the matter, they would most likely assume Vergil had run off with the mysterious Alice Masterson. If they looked further, they would come across the posh apartment rented out to Alice Masterson and find it quite empty.
        No one could possibly link her to his disappearance. She would sell the things she took and get a nice house in a nice part of town. She liked the sound of it, but she was a bit disappointed that she wouldn’t get to ‘play’ with any more shrunken people. Come to think of it, she seemed to recall the apothecary having several vials of the potion and there were plenty more criminals in London who wouldn’t be missed…