Warning this chapter mentions a very dark and cruel aspect of history. One that should be eradicated along with similar gatherings and groups. Reader is advised.
It was well after dark, and she was up in her room combing out her hair and rubbing cream into her skin before she retired into bed. She knew her beauty was not what her sweetheart loved about her most but she still felt it important for her to look her best for him. So she went out of her way not to let her hair be seen as tangled or unkept by him, nor would she allow him to see her with dry skin or blemishes. That was a wifely duty after all but perhaps she did feel just a little insecure about her appearance. He was just so beautiful, his skin was flawless without a single spot and his hair looked fine whether he combed it or not.
"Miss Magne! Come quick!" She heard Niffty call from downstairs.
She quickly put on her lace and chiffon robe, hurrying out of her room and down into the drawing room where she had heard Niffty's voice come from. She watched as Niffty and Mr. Pentious carefully lowered Husk down on to the sofa. She was horrified by the state he was in. The poor man was horribly beaten and bruised, rope burns had been made on his dark skin and his eyes had been hit so hard that they swelled shut. But there was no blood.
"What happened?!" She cried out, immediately grabbing quilt from the trunk and covering him with it.
"It was the Klan Miss Magne." Mr. Pentious said in a tone full of disgust. "The barbarians jumped him on his way home, tied him to a post, and beat him for Heaven knows how long."
She was relieved by Mr. Pentious's reaction to this cruel injustice. She knew that he could be quite the bigot. Like many other white men around here, he considered darker toned people to be inferior. But even he was mortified and repulsed by the Ku Klux Klan. To him, racial segregation was one thing, but torturing and killing someone just because of their skin color was unacceptable.
"They're cowards with no sense of honor! All of them!" He declared.
"Mr. Pentious, take Niffty outside to get ice from the box." She said. "After that lock the doors and the windows, and don't let anyone in without consulting me first."
Without question, the servants went outside to fetch ice from the shed where they kept it cool and when they returned, Mr. Pentious locked all the doors and the windows while Niffty and her mistress wrapped ice into wash clothes which they carefully placed on the Husk's wounds.
"Oh Husk." She sighed, almost tearful at the condition the servant was in. It was painful for him to see him this way, especially since underneath his rough exterior, was a most gentle soul. "How could they do this to you?"
Husk opened his eyes the best he could and looked at her.
"Don't you worry about me sweetie." He said, trying to be strong. "They left me a battered man but not a broken one. They'll never break me. Nobody breaks me."
"For Heaven's sake, stop acting like you're not in pain." Niffty scolded quietly. "Be quiet and rest."
"Niffty stay here and tend to him, I'm going to send for the doctor."
"No need for that." Mr. Pentious said. "The master has already paid him a visit and asked him to come over."
"Thank goodness, where is he now?"
A distressed look crossed the butler's face, as if he was contemplating what answer he should give her. She knew that wasn't a good sign. That look always meant that he knew something bad and his master, her sweetheart, had ordered him not to tell her. His master was a gentleman, sometimes too much of gentleman. He believed she and no other woman should would be exposed to evil, violence, or horror, so he would try to keep the darker aspects of his life a secret for he did not want to trouble her mind or her heart. And while she appreciated his kind determination to protect her, withholding information about the dark can sometimes be just as dangerous.
"Tell me." She pleaded. "Where is he? What's going on?"
"I swore I wouldn't say." Mr. Pentious said.
"Please, I love him and if I'm going to be his wife, there can't be any secrets between us."
"Forgive me, but he insisted that it would be for your own good that you not know."
"He's leading a rally against the klan." Niffty confessed.
"Niffty!" Mr. Pentious snapped.
"I'm sorry, but she's right. She is to be his wife and our mistress, we cannot keep the truth from her."
"What do you mean he's leading a rally?" Their mistress asked.
"It's retaliation for what they did to Husk. He knew the police wouldn't do anything, so he's gathering up all brave men with a desire for equality to help him drive out the klan. We tried to stop him but...Well considering what happened to his parents, he just couldn't ignore this."
"Oh no." Her heart was instantly sick with worry. "Vigilantism is against the law. If he's caught by the authorities they'll hang him. I...I have to stop him."
"No Miss Magne, it'll only make things worse if you interfere." Niffty protested.
"But I can't just let him do this! At least not alone!"
"There's nothing any of us can do for him now, except pray. If you follow him then those men will use you to hurt him and I think you know very well how they'll use you."
She shuddered at the maid's implication, knowing what she meant indeed.
"Yes Miss, to the master, seeing such a vile act being inflicted upon you is a fate worse than death." Mr. Pentious confirmed. "It's best to just let things lie. The master has made his choice, all we can do is hope for the best now."
As painful as it was for her to acknowledge it, the servants were right. In times like these a woman just couldn't run out and try to save the day. Not on her own and not against forces like the Ku Klux Klan. She could only pray that the man she loved would be able to come back to her.
For hours, she and the other servants waited and prayed while healing Husk's wounds. The waiting was agony for her, the constant fear for her sweetheart's life. Not knowing if the next time she saw him, it would be in a wooden casket. She needed to keep such wretched thoughts out of her mind or she would make herself ill.
Once Niffty had assured her that Husk would be fine, she returned upstairs to her room and pulled out the only thing that could calm her nerves at time like this. The music box that he had given her. She lifted the lid of the box and let the melody play, easing her worries and putting her fears to rest. She closed her eyes and imagined all the wonderful things that were to come in the future. Her wedding day, her new life, her new family, her years of cold and bitter loneliness fading away into nothing, and then be replaced by years of warmth, friendship, and love.
The next time her eyes opened, she could see a man from her window walking toward the house. She recognized him as her love and his body was bruised and scraped but he walked with pride, and a smirk of victory was on his face. That could only mean one thing. He had succeeded. Overjoyed, she rushed downstairs, threw open the doors, and ran to embrace him.
That's when Charlie awoke again. Once again she was waking from a strange dream that she did not understand. A dream that seemed to take place in the far past but with people she knew in the near present. Why did she keep having these dreams? And...And where was she anyway?
She realized that she was laying on a blanket and that she was on the ground, in the middle of the cemetery. How did she get here?
"Charlotte! What in Heaven's name are you doing here?!"
She heard someone's voice call out to her in a tone that expressed shock and concern. She looked behind herself and found Alastor standing across from her, looking confused and holding a bouquet of lilies.
"I...I...I." She said, feeling very dazed. "What are you doing here?"
"I came to visit my mother's grave and replace the now dead flowers I left last week with live ones. Imagine my shock to find you out here, and after dark no less."
He offered her his hand, she accepted it and allowed him to carefully pull her onto her feet.
"My dear, didn't I clearly state that it was terribly unwise and risky to go out after dark? Lucky thing that gators prefer more moist and wet soil, otherwise one would have surely gobbled you up by now."
"I know and I'm terribly sorry." She said. "But Angel and I- Oh no! Angel! He's still down there!"
"Still down where?"
Charlie paused and took a minute to think about what she would say next. How on earth was she going to explain to him what happened without looking insane? There's a club for demons underneath your cemetery and the demons tried to eat us. Who the hell would believe that without seeing it themselves? Then again, Alastor had confirmed to her that he believed in ghosts and some forces that logic couldn't prove. But maybe he was just humoring her?
"Charlotte could you please tell me what's going on?" He asked her. "Is anyone else out here? If so you must tell me. This is a very serious matter. A bayou is the last place you want to be in at night."
"I don't know if you'll believe me but what else can I say? Angel is...I think he's underground. Under the graveyard."
"You mean he's dead? A guest died on my property? Oh mon dieu above! That means a police investigation and a possible lawsuit!"
"No! He's alive! At least I hope...You see we...We saw someone in the graveyard. Someone who Angel believed was there when he was attacked. We followed her and...And this is crazy but she led us down this secret stairway that took us underground that was like another world. And there were these things, these creatures...Demons! They were demons and they were trying to kill us and...I...It was all so strange and frightening!"
"Calm down. You're shaking."
"What's happening here? What kind of place is this? I want this all to just be a bad dream but I know it's not." She tried to stay calm but she just kept getting more afraid. "Do you believe me? Or do you think I'm crazy?"
"Right now I think you are in no state to be out here any longer. I'm going to take you back to the house, Rosie and Niffty will take care of you. I will search for your friend and this time I'll be calling the police."
Charlie couldn't bring herself to speak again as they walked together. She was too shook up, scared, and confused by everything. She was 95 percent sure that all this supernatural stuff was real but the other 5 percent was the fear that she this was all done delusion and that she was going mad. She didn't know what which be more scary. The possibility that those monsters she saw actually existed or the possibility that she was losing her mind.
"You're not crazy." Alastor told her throughout the walk, as though he could sense what she was thinking. "Do you hear me? You're not. I don't know what answers to give you right now, but I swear that you are not crazy."
Alastor almost held her to him protectively. He didn't like seeing her so scared and distressed. It made him feel guilty and ashamed. As if he blamed himself for her feeling this way. He would never want to hurt her in away. But despite his good intentions, maybe he had? If so, then he would never forgive himself for it. Never.
P.S although this story is fictional, the subjects mentioned are very real. Groups like the Ku Klux Klan are disgusting, inhuman, and unacceptable. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion whether it be wrong or right, and I try to respect that.
But no one has the right to torment or kill someone just because of their skin color, culture, religion, age, or gender. We are entitled to live and no one has the right to take that away. Any one or any group that does such a thing is wrong and evil. And tragically it still happens today. Pray that someday these groups will be stopped permanently and pray for the innocent souls who suffered at the hands of these evil groups.