The sky had been painted with strokes of maroon and lightly brushed with delicate yellows and oranges with a hint of violet and blue. Strokes of sunlight pierced across the edge of the horizon, the sun beginning to dwindle behind the buildings that stood tall within the city. A small breeze pushed up against the cheeks of the many inhabitants of the village of Chelsea, as they made their way through the maze of civilians mobbing the streets; all with different directions in mind. With the graze of wind, a pair of sharp cat-like eyes fell behind a messy clutter of dirty blond strands of hair, staring off into the distance blankly and immovably. Inside the mind of the female figure, were thoughts racing uncontrollably, spinning around like an untamed circus ride loose on its hinges. Silky strands of hair fell upon the eighteen year old’s shoulders, as she scanned the sidewalks for any familiar face. Chelsea, was, if anything, a place filled with a variety of things Victoria Leanne Avery was unaccustomed to. There were fancy shops, streets paved with something a bit more than concrete, beautifully crafted buildings, elegant streetlamps, and was possibly the most fashionable area in all of England. Of course, Miss Avery was well-acquainted with riches and jewels, and extravagant accessories that became necessities in her every day life. Her parents had become hand-in-hand with that sort of stuff. Victoria had been quite spoiled as a child, to say the least, and it just so happened to turn out rather shamefully. Because the eighteen year old waitress had moved out of her house the day after her high school graduation (thank the lord for that), and had not spoken much to her parents since. She had rented out an apartment in the area known as Belgravia where she now resided and did not plan to move elsewhere. At least, she wasn’t moving back to her wretched house, with her controlling and ill-tempered parents with nothing on their agenda other than smiting all of Victoria’s ways in every single area of her life imaginable. All of that seemed like hell compared to where Tori was at now. She was pleased with her condition, with living on her own, and she needn’t regret the move she made away from the people who had brought her up to be what she was today. In her opinion, their lack of a good upbringing had caused her quite a bit of trauma, pain, and lack of manners which she often portrayed well upon meeting innocent bystanders. Victoria, being the opinionated almost backstabbing, heartless human that she was, took hardly any regret on anything she had done in her life. Everything she had ever done was motivated by some deep and grim feeling, at least anything with importance. And this was why Miss Avery felt no need to look back upon what she had accomplished in the past, or lack thereof. There certainly was no need. What was done, was finished and complete, and there was no stopping the future that lie ahead of her.

Miss Victoria Leanne Avery, daughter of Renqhuise Avery and Violetta Bulstrode, had once been said to be the princess of the thieves, the mistress of schemers, the ultimate lady of crime-- the scavenger of jewels. Her nicknames, given to her throughout her seven years of almost hell spent at school, had been assigned to her for good reason. Despite the real fact that Tori came from a family who had inherited an abundance of money from their ancestors, Victoria had always been one known to be rather untrustworthy and sly. It wasn’t a mystery that Victoria had stolen before, and not just from one shop owner, but from many. Actually, whenever her friends had put her up to something remotely dare-devilish throughout her school years, Victoria would do it in a heartbeat. She wouldn’t even spare a moment to look in the mirror and spot her egotistical self. For the most part, Tori had been Queen of the Tricksters back in high school, being apart of one of the popular cliques and all of its glory. She was one of the most stubborn, yet equally open and outgoing students of the bunch. “The bunch” being the group she had belonged to during her school years. Things really hadn’t changed. Victoria was still just as much of a living on the edge kind of person as ever. However her problems had let her to much more horrible habits than just stealing and pulling pranks. Tori now had an addiction to smoking- cigarettes and cigars, not to mention her drinking problem which was usually solved whenever her friends convinced her to stop and took her home completely trashed. It wasn’t a rarity to find Miss Victoria out upon the streets late at night wasted with her friends, or at a pub drinking in the back corner. No doubt that the eighteen year old found pleasure in ways that other people might find either humiliating or dull. Things that Vickie found amusing were a waste of time to others. But Tori had all the time in the world to waste. She had her own apartment, and was a waitress at the nearest restaurant. As an added bonus she came from a family of enormous wealth and splendid gifts. Tori’s apartment had been furnished so well that her friends often asked where in the universe she had gotten all of it. She needn’t explain to them the whole story- just that her parents had supplied her of all of it. For all they knew, Tori and her parents were just fine, got along like a happily married couple, and were meeting for dinner next Friday evening.

Curiosity had led the pertinacious girl into one of the considerably large, graceful looking shops that lined the extensive walkways of King’s Road. It was filled and compiled with expensive clothing of all types: dresses, shoes, jeans, jackets, shirts, blouses, suits, coats, hats, scarves, you name it. Victoria’s eyes glistened at the sight of it all. There were rows and rows of tee-shirts, all looking both well made and worth large sums of money. Mannequins were dressed in fanciful clothing with mounds of jewelry upon their necks and wrists. The whole view of it all was rather ethereal. Victoria stepped further into the luxurious picture, her blue-green eyes scanning the shelves and wandering throughout the clothing racks. The store was bustling with people, all mumbling and chattering about their business. Some surveyed themselves in the tall mirrors, turning to examine themselves in the clothing they had just tried on. Victoria wandered over to a rack of shoes in which she found to be rather lovely indeed. It didn’t take long before Tori was dragged into the shopping sensation, as she began to try on shoes and shirts, and skirts and dresses. In fact, she was enjoying herself a rather whole lot just shopping by herself and wondering what to try on next. That was the thing with Victoria, she could do things on her own and have a considerable amount of fun doing them. There was absolutely no stopping her while she was shopping, either. She knew that dragging a friend around would probably have been worse for her, considering Tori loved to do whatever she pleased, and she often wouldn’t take the complaining or crap from anyone else to try and bribe her to go to another place. And so, Victoria found herself with an armful of clothing that she knew she would positively wear, and headed to the cashier. She was determined to buy every single one of the pieces of clothing she had collected as if it were written in stone. And so she did. Every single essential piece to her outfits. The sum it came to was a high amount, but nothing to Victoria, as she exited the store with a pleasurable feeling; satisfied that she had once again blown her parents money on something insignificant, but lovely.

Carrying the multiple bags beneath her arms, Victoria made her way across the streets of King’s Road once more, this time spotting a place to eat. People gathered in line outside of the shop that was giving off a delicious and appetizing scent. Tori followed the flow of people who were heading in the direction that she had wanted to go, and found herself across the street at a rather quaint diner. Feeling rather starving, and sick to her stomach at the same time, Tori inched her way into the restaurant. “Agh, well this will have to do. At least it’s not like those filthy pubs you might find back at home in Belgravia, the kind that make your stomach twist and turn until you have to leave without even getting one bite to eat.” Victoria rolled her eyes, pushing her way past a few customers rudely. Slamming her bags upon the table, Victoria heaved a sigh and sat down in a booth by herself. “Horrible service, really. If it were my job I’d be over here in two seconds flat- half the time it takes these lard arses to get over here. Victoria rambled on and on within her mind. I honestly don’t even know how my act of desperation for food led me in here…” The voice inside her head traveled off once more as Tori snatched a menu with her bony fingers. There wasn’t much to choose from. The dinner menu consisted of soup, salads, and sandwiches in which made Tori cringe. Everyone within the diner looked as if they hadn’t slept in weeks, and Victoria was beginning to feel a bit embarrassed for the lot of them. Growing impatient, Victoria slammed down the menu and grasped her bags, leaving the diner without another moment to waste. “Whatever the hell I was thinking it’s over with now. “The eighteen year old thought once more within her mind, which seemed to be ranting nonstop.

Edging around one of the corners of the sidewalk, Victoria felt an enormous force press upon her, and before she knew it, she was falling backward, slamming hard onto the concrete with gravity laughing directly in her face. “What the ‘ell!” Victoria exclaimed, her bags now ripped from the fall, her clothes spread across the sidewalk. Tori’s vision came to focus upon all of her clothes, and the feet that stood in front of her without moving. “You have got to be kidding me! I just bought these clothes and you’re telling me that I—“ Tori’s voice trailed off as she looked up at the anonymous person who had mistakenly run into her. It was none other than Miss Hailey Rowand, the innocent twit that had already run her over before at the diner. Glaring at the female standing before her, Victoria began to gather her clothes as quickly as possible before brushing herself up and standing upon her feet. “Well, thank you ever so much for that! And for helping me up, really, your assistance is astonishing and ever-so helpful. You know what? Why don’t you ever seem to watch where you’re going? Like, have you gone blind within the last few weeks and just cannot seem to walk in a straight line? Or are you literally in lack of that much knowledge, or brain cells for that matter, to keep running into people like an imbecile!” Victoria stammered, her fists clutched at her sides. “I should have known it was you, really. The next time I hear that the sky is falling or a rain cloud is hanging over my head, I’ll assume you’re the one to blame. You’re lucky I haven’t found you in the middle of the night and littered your lawn, pressed charges, or wrung your neck by now!” The eighteen year old was now feeling extremely heated, and could hardly bear the situation. She despised the sight of Miss Hailey Rowand, not to mention merely talking to her. It made her cringe and grind her teeth together so hard that she often got migraines from it. “And you think you’re just Little Miss Innocent, don’t you! Well, news flash! Stay in your own territory or you’ve got another thing coming…” Victoria grasped her bags and held her ground, wanting to jump at the girl like a rabid animal. “Next time I see you, or have to painfully feel the force of your figure crashing into mine like a hurricane you may as well leave the country,” Victoria threatened her, knowing very well that her temper was rising far too high to keep herself calm. Tori picked up the rest of the clothing that had fallen out of the bags, and slowly surveyed the blond-haired girl with disgust and disappointment. Beyond their view was a city that was quietly, but surely being taken over by darkness, as night eased its way upon the rest of them. And while Miss Hailey Rowand was lost for words, Victoria Leanne Avery pushed carelessly on by her, a bit of a stomp within her step.