16. Under the Stars

He waited until everybody had gone to bed before he sneaked down the stairs and over to the office's door, which to his surprised wasn't locked, but still it moaned alarming as he opened it. The office was bathe in the moonlight, which poured into the room from the windows, so he didn't have any problem in seeing where he was going.

He therefore quickly walked over to the desk and tried to find the folder again, but it was without any luck. Instead he found another folder, which made him forget all about the first one. Inside this folder was there a photo of Neria and a case sheet about her. He hastily read it through and felt the relief as it confirmed, what she had told him. She had told him the truth.

He swiftly flicked through the other papers, which were photos and case sheets over persons that he didn't knew, and came to the very last sheet, which was a map over an area. He recognized as being the surroundings around the castle. On the map was there marked a spot, which laid around twenty miles away from the castle, and right away a plan began to form inside his head. He needed to know the truth about all this, so he put the map in his pocket and walked out in the dark night.

After a long walk along the main road he was able to get a lift with a friendly truck driver, so he was able to cover the distance in around an hour. The full moon hided behind some clouds as the truck driver dropped him off near the spot on the map, so it was pitch-dark as he began to walk the last part of the way. Therefore he took a card up from his pocket and used it as flashlight. The card lighted up a sign in the side of the road, which said: Keep out!

The road soon changed into a dirt road, but he kept walking. As he came closer to the spot on the map he put the card back in his pocket and only used the light for the moon to find his way. Shortly after he could dimly see some buildings in the scarcely light and he sneaked over to them. On his way over to them he detected a large amount of tripwires and other fun stuff, but he was able walk around them. There was definitely someone here, who didn't like to get visitors. In the same moment the night's silence was broke by a loud scream of pain, which made a shiver ran down his spine. Maybe the traps weren't meant to keep visitors away from this place. Maybe they were meant to keep someone inside the buildings from getting out.

He took out his bo staff and began to walk closer to the buildings as he scanned the area for ways to get in, but it all looked to be securely lock so he started walking around the buildings. After a while his patience was rewarded and he found a door, which had a lock so he could pick it. A second later he was inside in a white hallway, which was a directly contrast to the wilderness outside, as there wasn't even a grain of dust in there. It was all so sterile and white.

He suddenly heard the scream again, which sounded worse now that he was inside, and it brought long forgotten memories back to him. He quickly pushed them aside and began to walk in the direction of the scream. Every step he took was amplified by the hallway and was thrown back at him. First he was afraid that someone was going to hear him, but it didn't seem to happen, so he kept going.

He came to a corner in the hallway and was just about to walk around it, when he heard voices. He couldn't hear what they were saying, so he peeked around the corner and saw to men, who were talking together. One of the men had some kind of cloak on, so Remy couldn't see his face, and the other one he had never seen before. The two men talked eagerly together for a while, but then the man with the cloak slapped the other one and walked determined away. The other one looked as the man with the cloak walked away, but then he turned around and walked through a door to his left.

Remy didn't move until he was sure the coast was clear, then he walked over to the door and looked into it's pane of glass. He could never have been prepared to see the sight, which met him. He had seen so much in his life, but never something like this, which almost forced him to throw up. Still he couldn't take his eyes away from that as he realized how evil people could be. He needed to do something about it.

Suddenly he felt a hand over his mouth and someone behind him started to pull away with him. He first tried to fight it, but that only made the hold around him stronger, so he relaxed and waited for his chance. He was pulled through the hallway and through the same door as he earlier had come through. Outside he saw his chance and was able to get out his attacker's hold. He quickly turned around and was about to attack, when he recognized his assailant.

"Grandma Francisca?"

She nodded.

"Yes, it's me, Remy, but there isn't time to explain. You need to get out of here."

She began to walk away from the buildings as she strongly pulled Remy, who realized she had to be a mutant, after her. Like a professional soldier she was able to detect all the traps and they got safely away, but still she didn't stopped before they reached the main road.

"You should never have come here!"

He felt the anger rose in him. He had been in there and seen what they did, but still he hadn't done anything to stop it.

"Are you working for them?"

She froze in her moment and looked back at him.

"No! I try to stop them, but I don't want you to get hurt."

Remy was just about to say something, when a truck came driving down the road and stopped next to them. Francisca hastily walked over to the driver and talked shortly with him and then she walked back to Remy.

"He has agreed to take you to Paris, there I have a friend, who can help you."

Remy hesitated.

"Why? I have to go back to…"

She walked over to him and forced him to look into her eyes.

"You can't stay here anymore. You have seen what they do here at The Factory and they know it, so you aren't safe here anymore. Going away is the best way you can do to help yourself and your family."

Remy still hesitated.

"But what about Louis and Edmond?"

She smiled dimly.

"I will find something to tell them, but now the most important thing is to get you to safety."

In the same moment the truck driver honked impatiently so Francisca pulled Remy over to the back of the truck, where she helped him get in. The truck driver started the truck again and just as they were about to drive away leaned Francisca close to Remy and kissed him on the cheek.

"I love you and remember that you will always have a family here, my grandson."

The truck driver changed gear and they began to drive away. Remy looked back at the old woman, who had surprised him so much this night, as he tried to gather his thoughts to figure out what just had happened.