Chapter 368 Into the Darkness

Chapter 368 Into the Darkness
Lou allowed the man, her fiancee, to pull her down the road a few blocks before turning and walking up a grand set of stairs and into a large brick home.  Every room was bright and there was music playing and people mingling, all turning to look at her as he led her through the main doors.

“There is our angel!” 

An older woman stepped forward pulling Lou into a tight hug.  Benjamin scowled.

“Don’t encourage it, Mother.” 

A servant approached and offered Lou a glass of what looked like wine.  She looked around and saw people, staring and whispering, laughing and pointing at her stained dress.  She was definitely not dressed for a southern party, but not fitting into a southern party was something Lou did best.  She snorted into her drink. This was a role she could play, after all she’d done it hundreds of times before. 

“There you are!” 

A big, booming voice echoed through the crowded room as a large older man stepped into it. He wore a white suit that poorly hid his horrendous sweating as he dabbed his forehead with a handkerchief.  

“I’m glad you’re getting this nurse nonsense out of your system now. Once Benjamin takes you to wife when these skirmishes are all over you’ll have an estate to run.” 

Lou knew that condescending tone and judgmental look anywhere.  She’d seen it most of her life to know her relation to this man.

“Sure, Daddy.” 

She said.  There was no person this man could be but her father. The man snorted. 

“Well, you’re finally here now.  Go talk with the guests.” 

He waved her off.  Lou allowed the still scowling Benjamin to pull her around the room.  Luckily, he enjoyed a spotlight, it seemed, as Lou sat there silently while he made small talk.  She used it as a perfect time to search for the scalpel but not finding it anywhere amongst the ruffles and the bows and the southern hospitality. 

'It’s amazing how much the culture hadn’t changed in one hundred and sixty years,’ she thought.  The only difference between these parties and the ones she went to growing up with her father were the clothes. 

She continued to be led around and just had a feeling that scalpel would turn up when she least expected it.  Her thoughts went to Dominic.  She hoped he was okay and found an odd sense of missing him and just wanting him near.
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Dominic graciously accepted a second glass of whiskey. It was gut rot but he welcomed the warmth as it spread down his legs, helping to numb the throbbing pain.  Finally, he decided he’d been away from Lou long enough.  He set the glass down and stood up, doing his best to balance his weight.

“I need to go get her.”

The butcher shook his head. 

“You go marchin’ into that party. They’ll figure you out real fast. No, son, your best bet is to stay with me.”

“No, I got a bad feeling. I need to go get her.” 

Dominic took a few steps across the room towards a back door he’d been eyeing for a few minutes. The butcher sighed behind him.

“You’re really set on this ain’t you?” 

“Yeah something tells me I just have to go and bring her back here.”

“Hell, I ain’t one to shy away from divine providence but if you get caught, you don’t know me.”

Dominic was grateful as it sounded like this man was going to let him go to find Lou. Maybe the man was getting intuition pings, too. 

“I’ll point you in the right direction, but you’re slipping out my back door.” 

“Yes sir.  Thank you." 

Dominic said not wanting to look a gift horse in the mouth.

“Oh!  Before you go, someone dropped this by for her their last time passing through.  Said she’d need it.  I’ve got no clue what it is, but it ain’t my job to ask questions. I just do what I’m told.”

The man strode quickly towards his desk, pulled out a small parcel wrapped in brown paper and handed it to Dominic. Dominic grabbed the small parcel which weighed next to nothing. He’d wait till he was out of eyesight from this man to open it. 

“How do I find her?” 

“She’ll be at the Leslie Estate.  Go walking that way till you see a party, you can’t miss it. If you ain’t back in the hour I’ll no longer be here.” 

Dominic turned and walked out of the back door hobbling as fast as he could, grateful for the whiskey. It still hurt like hell but his adrenaline was moving now and was driving him faster. He waited for the door to close behind him, and he paused to open up the package. 

“Son of a bitch.”

He said as he was holding her silver scalpel with the red rubber tip.  He wrapped it back up and tucked it into his pocket and continued walking until he heard the music from around the corner ahead of him.  As he rounded it, he saw people wearing fancy clothes mingling, he looked down. He sure would draw attention in his torn and bloody uniform. He walked around to the back entrance, seeing servants coming and going.  He took the parcel out of his pocket, acting like he was there to deliver a package.   Dominic began walking up the stairs when a large man stepped in front of him.

“Can I help you, soldier?" 

Dominic turned on his southern accent.  It may be horrible, but it was better than nothing.

“Just here to drop off a package.”

He held up the parcel and the man stepped out of his way and gestured towards the back door.  It didn’t take him long from walking inside to see Lou standing, surrounded by a bunch of prissy looking women looking like she’d literally rather stab them all to death than be standing there. He almost laughed to himself because he knew that was probably what she was thinking.  The man who Dominic wanted to kill more than anyone else at the moment for having his arm wrapped around her waist, was standing there talking to one of the other men dressed in a nice suit. Lou felt Dominic's gaze on her and looked up, meeting his eyes.  Her body relaxed and she bit her lip to hide the smile at seeing him.  Even dirty and bloody, he was still the most handsome man in the room.  She could tell he was trying to blend in and not draw attention but he still exuded power.  She looked at the group in front of her, including her fiancee, and said something before turning and walking normally towards Dominic, stepping past him into the corridor.   She looked around and didn’t see anyone as they turned a corner away from any curious eyes.  

“Looks like you’re having a blast.”

“Only if you brought me enough C4 to blow the buildin’.”

She murmured and Dominic’s shoulders shook as he stifled the laugh that threatened to escape his mouth.  She really was the perfect woman for him.  

“What?”

She raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms over her chest, giving him an annoyed look.

“You.  Just you, Dragon Lady.  Look at what the butcher just handed me.”

He held out the parcel and Lou gave it a quick look before grabbing it and quickly unwrapping it. 

“Well fuck me sideways.”

“I wish we had the time.  Rain check.”

Lou was about to open her mouth to give Dominic a witty retort when they heard footsteps coming towards them.  Dominic saw a door to their right and turned the knob, thankful it was unlocked as he pushed open the door and pulled Lou in behind him just as the footfalls rounded the corner.

“Benjamin, there you are.  I’d like to make a toast, where is my daughter?”

“I was just off to find her.”

“Well do hurry.  McClaren’s men could show up any second.”

“I’ve got the paperwork on my desk ready to go.  Now help me find your daughter.”

The footsteps disappeared and Lou realized Dominic was still holding her to his chest against the door, both of them holding their breath.  They jumped back and looked around the room, both trying to calm the heat that was flooding their bodies.  They were in a dark office, book shelves lined the walls, a large desk lit by the moonlight streaming in through huge windows behind them.

“Fuck, that was close.”

“We have to go, Lou.”

“Right, but go where?”

“I think back to the butcher’s shop.  Did you know you and he are working with the Underground Railroad?  He said we have to be back in an hour or he’ll be gone.”

“I’m hearin’ you think we can trust him.”

“I wouldn’t tell him my secrets but for the purposes of our dream, my intuition is leaning heavy on getting back to that butcher shop.”

Lou chewed her bottom lip then ran a hand down her face.

“Alright, but how do we get out of here, Cowboy?”

"I came in through the back entrance, should be easy enough to go back that way.”

She nodded as he stepped past her, his hand almost touching the knob when they heard hurried footfalls coming around the corner in the hallway with Benjamin’s voice, a bit more stressed than before.

“Yes, I know.  Stall them in the parlor while I grab the paperwork.  Hurry up before they follow me!”

“Fuck.”

Dominic hissed as the door knob turned.  Lou moved swiftly and took two fast steps in the dark, moving past Dominic to position herself against the wall behind the door.  Dominic, distracted with trying to make sure she was moving to safety, didn’t move and just stood in the middle of the room as the door opened and the man stepped in carrying a candelabra with two lit candlesticks in his hand.  He was muttering to himself as he closed the door behind him, not turning to see Lou.  He stopped cold as he took a step forward and finally looked up and saw Dominic standing right there.

“You?  The soldier from the butchers shop? What in the hell are you doing in my office?”

“Um…sight seeing?”

The man set the candelabra down on the desk and reached for something on his desk when Lou silently launched herself from the shadows onto his back, twisting and turning while wrapping her legs around his neck and they fell to the ground with a loud thud.  Dominic saw in the soft light that Lou had untied and taken off her skirt which now laid on the ground next to the closed door, her legs covered in a pair of frilly white calf length pants.  Lou squeezed her legs around the man’s neck as he struggled in vain to get her loose.

“Stay down, mother fucker.”

She said through gritted teeth.  Finally, the man stopped fighting and laid still.

“He’s out, Lou.”

Dominic said, his voice sounded heavy.  She stood up and grabbed her skirt, pulling it back on, not wanting to draw more attention.  The sound of multiple pairs of feet coming down the hallway made Lou tense up.

“Bout to have company, Cowboy.”

Dominic stood there in the center of the room, just watching Lou with a dreamy look on his face.

“That was the hottest thing I’ve ever seen.”

Lou barely heard him as she was already rounding the desk at a sprint and grabbing the wooden chair, raising it over her head, and throwing it, shattering the big glass window.

“Come on, Dominic.  We’ve gotta go.”

“I’m so hard, I can barely move.”

“Put a saddle on that kangaroo and move.”

She hissed as she jumped through the window, landing with a soft thud on the cobblestones outside.  Dominic followed quickly and together they both began walking as fast as Dominic could back in the direction of the butcher’s shop.

They got to the back door of the butcher shop and knocked quickly.  It only took a few moments before the butcher threw the door open and yanked them inside.  He looked considerably more anxious than he had earlier in the evening. 

“Thank heavens y’all are back. The packages came earlier than I thought they would. We gotta move now.  Boy, you're gonna have to tough it out through that cut, you’ve got a lot of mileage to cross between here and the Mason Dixon.”

“I’ll care for him.”

Lou said, wondering why the butcher looked so confused by her words.

“So, you’re really going with him then?”

Lou looked from the butcher to Dominic as a realization hit her.  In both the dream world and the waking world it was a stupid question.  Where Dominic went, so did she.  She gave him a soft smile as he stood there, his bright blue eyes meeting her grey ones, seemingly understanding the train of thought that just jumped the tracks in her mind without her saying a word.

“Yes, I’m going with him.”

“Young love.”

The butcher said, shaking his head while waving them further into the corner of a back room.  It smelt like a tannery and was packed with hanging cowhides. He pulled up a wooden pallet in the corner, and Dominic and Lou looked down seeing eyes looking back up at them. 

"You got three, two men and their little sister.  They’re ready to go.  You better move now. 

There was sudden a banging on the back door. 

“I know you’re in there little lady come on out.” 

“Shit it’s my father.”

She whispered. Dominic rolled his eyes. 

“You know I can take care of him right now.” 

“No, you two go.  I’ll stall them.  Go.  Go now!”

He stepped back as Lou looked at Dominic who just nodded his head.  His intuition was pulling him down into the blackness of the hole in the ground in front of him. 

“It’s so dark.”

Lou whispered.

“You know the tunnels. Go! I gotta hide the entrance before they come in!” 

The butcher sounded more panicked by the second.  Lou took a deep breath as she and Dominic lowered themselves down into the darkness.