Living Hell (Louis James Moriarty short story)

Part 10: The Infiltration

The day that Lily feared has finally come - her first murder with the Lord of Crime.

Despite the dark and chilly ambiance of the night, Lily, Louis, and Fred managed to reach Count Ridgewell's estate with ease.

"I'll scan the perimeter and spot where our target is...", Fred said in his soft voice. Louis gave him a nod and Fred was off to climbing trees.

On the other hand, Louis is aware that this is Lily's first murder, so he tried to encourage her spirit. "You'll do fine. I'm right here."

"...that's...comforting...", Lily snarkily replied. 'Right here to also kill me if ever I unintentionally mess it up too...', Lily thought to herself.

"Are you ready, Lily?", Louis asked.

But Lily could only give him a nod because she was really not ready for this; however, she was already aware of the consequences if she didn't meet his standards.

Not so long, Fred came back as he jumped down from the tree. "Our target is in his office. Most of the servants are in their quarters although about 3 of them are still roaming around."

"Thank you, Fred. Let's move.", Louis said.

The three of them hustled quietly around the estate's border. Despite Fred's height, his agility allowed him to reach the top of the wall. He extended his hand to help the others climb over.

"You first.", Louis prepared his stance to boost Lily up and reach Fred.

Lily placed her right foot onto his palms and he hoisted her up. Fred gripped her hands as he pull her over. Once Lily's settled, Louis followed.

"Follow me...", Fred commanded and the rest did so. Soon, they reached the estate's back door, and Fred opened it for them. "I'll stay here and guard..."

"Noted. Lily, let's go.", Louis said and the two of them went inside the house.

~***~

It was pitch black the moment they entered. But as their eyes adjusted with a little help from the moonlight, they could tell they were in the kitchen. It seemed that not a single soul was in sight in that room. 

"There must be no witnesses tonight.", Louis advised.

Thanks to Lily's suggestion that she shared earlier, none of the servants will perish; they'll just be sedated until tomorrow morning.

They stealthily exited the kitchen and pass through the hallways and stairs. Thanks to William, the blueprint helped them navigate through the manor in no time!

Suddenly, a door opened down the hall and a butler exited. Because of Lily's muscle reflex, she threw her homemade tranquilizing darts and it hit his neck. The butler was about to collapse, but Louis managed to reach him on time and catch him before he could even hit the floor. He looked around to see if there was a place where he can put him down without making it look suspicious in the morning.

"Louis...over here!", Lily whispered loudly as she pointed to a sofa.

Louis followed her suggestion, and he plopped the butler right there on the sofa. He took off the dart from his neck, and they ventured on into the hallways again.

As they passed one of the rooms, they could hear some maids chattering.

"...Jane couldn't even get 'er loaf of bread by the time 'er savings yer up.", said maid #1.

"*Siiiigh* there goes Jane again. I told that wee gorl to prioritize 'er savings!", said maid #2.

Just outside the door, Lily looked up at Louis and asked, "...should we sedate them?"

Louis took a moment to calculate the risk if they let them stay awake. It didn't take long for him to decide not to let them live through this night. "Yes."

"How are we...", Lily tried to think of something on how to target them without them noticing. Since the door's ajar, she tried to peek inside what does the room look like. Apparently, it has a lot of cabinets just for linen and the two maids were folding each of them.

In Lily's peripheral vision, she noticed that Louis was about to open the door. Lily put her hand on his to stop him; Louis looked at her while his hand was inches away from the doorknob. She gave a little nudge to the door and it opened slowly. Thank God it didn't make any squeaky sound!

With enough open space, Lily took the opportunity to throw her tranquilizing darts and it worked like a charm on those 2 maids. As the both of them lie down on the floor, Lily needed to retrieve those darts back.

"Nice work, Lily!", Louis looking proud at his student.

"That's 3 servants...I guess it's now time to meet the master?"

"You are correct, my dear disciple."

They walked out of the room and passed 1 more flight of stairs. In just a few seconds, they managed to reach the Count's office door.

"This is it...", Lily said as the both of them stood outside the office door.

"On 3...", Louis placed a hand on the doorknob. "1..."

"2...", Lily counted along, preparing more tranquilizing darts in her hands.

"3!", Louis barged the door to open wide, revealing the Count's office.

But they didn't expect that their target person would also have company...