Among the Darkness Stirs

And just as she thought it, she was plunged into darkness.

Audrey willed herself not to become emotional or hysterical. She would find her way out. She must be patient and calm. When she heard the sound of someone coming towards her, she turned. Thank God! She was not alone. Henry had found her. She heard a match being struck, and one single gas lantern flared to life. When the gas lantern entered the room, she saw the face of Joseph Caldwell.

“Joseph! What are you doing here?”

He smirked and shook his head. “You should have left well enough alone, countess. You really should have.”

Audrey grew cold. “That was you in the mortuary. And you attacked Henry.”

“I was only following orders. You can’t fault me for that.” He shrugged.

She glanced around at the horrors surrounding them. “Whose orders? What is this place?”

“This place is the reason for it all.”

“The reason for what?” she asked, but he gave no answers.

He tsked. “It’s a damn shame, countess. I liked you. I did. But you have one of those annoying traits modern women have.”

“Which is?” she asked.

“You’re too smart. Too smart by half.” Joseph looked behind him as if he was waiting for someone, then footsteps approached.

Audrey’s face fell. “Levi? You too?”

Levi shrugged nonchalantly. “It pays, don’t it? That’s all I care about. The money.”

“Money for what?” Audrey asked them both.

She was about to ask them again when someone else joined them, whistling as they came. Dr. Samson Beesley.

“Welcome to my humble museum, Ms. Wakefield!” Dr. Beesley said, his hands flung wide like a showman.

“Your museum?” Audrey questioned.

“Of course! This is my museum. It’s called The Obscene!” He grinned wildly.

Audrey looked warily at the three men before her. “Your name is quite apt. Everything here is obscene. I’m amazed you haven’t been shut down,” she spat at the doctor.

“Oh, but, my dear, we have. Several times. Right, boys?” He grinned at Levi and Joseph. “But we have something exceptionally rare, and certain people pay top coin to see it.”

“What is it that you have that’s so rare?” Audrey asked him quietly.

“We have fresh corpses every other day that can be dissected and put on display. Imagine that?” Dr. Beesley smiled. “For an extra coin, our patrons can even try their own hand at dissection. I have one man who comes here and takes his aggression out on the corpses.”

Audrey shuddered. “A modern-day Frankenstein.”

Dr. Beesley sneered. “It’s a marriage made in heaven. The workhouse supplies us with fresh flesh in part thanks to our dear Matron and we transport the bodies here.”

Everything clicked into place. “You falsify the documents to say they died of the plague so no one questions where they go and cremated them so no one expects a body.”

Dr. Beesley looked pleased with himself. “As young Joseph said, too smart by half.”

“It’s atrocious!” Audrey told them. “How can you take these men and women and dissect their bodies and put them on display for a shilling or two? It’s disgusting.”

“Actually, Ms. Wakefield, it’s none of your business.” His stare was flat and cold. “And if you and your paramour hadn’t been nosing about, we wouldn’t have to make the unfortunate decision we now must do.”

Audrey’s heart skipped a beat. “Which is?”