Tales From the Beyond (Short story collection)

The Little Girl

There was once a little girl. One day, mommy and daddy died in a car accident, leaving her all alone. The girl was sent to a big house to live with the other unfortunate children who had lost their parents or never known theirs. The Little Girl thought this could be the beginning of a new life. A life where she wouldn't have to feel alone anymore. She couldn't be more wrong.

The first few days at the orphanage were tough for her. The Little Girl tried to befriend the other children, but she was ignored. The Little Girl attempted to participate in their games, but they quickly shunned her. It left her wondering. On one fine afternoon, The Little Girl went to the bathroom to hide away from doing chores. One of the two stalls was already occupied. So she took the other one and locked herself in. The Little Girl heard two voices from the other stall. They didn't seem to realize that the subject of their current conversation was practically sitting next to them because they didn't even bother to lower their voices. The Little Girl stumbled upon the word "peculiar" spoken by Nellie, the youngest of the two.

"Exactly. Peculiar. I don't like the way she's looking at us. She's just staring. It's creepy." Said Cameron, the older one.

They rambled on, insulting The Little Girl without any remorse. The Little Girl could no longer hold her tears. Her sobs reached the next stall, and the two girls stopped talking.

"Is someone there?" Nellie called out. "Hello?"

"Forget about it. Let's come out before Nancy finds out we're ditching chores," Camron said.

The Little Girl stayed a while to contemplate what she had just heard. After drying her tears, she went out only to get caught by one of the maids and forced to do chores.

The Girl decided she didn't like it there. She wanted to get out, but it seemed there wasn't a way. The fence surrounding the orphanage was too high for her to scale. Even if she could, she wouldn't be able to find her way around. She wouldn't survive out there on her own.

At night, The Little Girl couldn't sleep. She was thinking of a way to get out of there and into another house where she could finally live comfortably. And then, a thought crossed her mind.

What was the very thing that got her to the orphanage in the first place?

The Little Girl sneaked out into the kitchen. She rummaged through the silverware until she found what she had been looking for. She clutched the handle as if her life depended on it. For her, though, that was the case.

The door behind The Little Girl opened. The clattering of silverware had awoken somebody.

"Who goes there?" Asked the person standing under the doorstep without knowing the coming peril.

STAB!

Old maid Nancy was the first to perish. The knife still stuck through her ribs as her lifeless body hit the floor. The Little Girl managed to pull it out with some effort.

The Little Girl entered the maids' chamber, slithering from bed to bed.

STAB! STAB! STAB!

Three more maids went down.

Mr. Wallace, the head of the orphanage, was soundly asleep when a frantic knock on his door woke him up. He grumbled to himself as he opened the door to greet his wicked visitor.

Mr. Wallace didn't have the chance to register what he saw as a knife plunged into him immediately as soon as he opened the door. With Mr. Wallace dead, there were no more adults at the orphanage.

The Little Girl cleaned the knife and washed her hands. She went to sleep that night feeling content with what she had done. There wasn't a doubt in her mind that it wouldn't be long until she had to be moved away again to another place. Another orphanage, in which she hoped things would be much better.