17. Faith, hope and love

The truck suddenly stopped and he woke up form his sleep as he heard the door to the driver's cab being opened. Therefore he climbed over to the back end of the truck and looked out under the tarpaulin, but he couldn't see anything out there in the dark, so he felt back on his temporary bed and hoped the truck driver just needed to take a leak.

As the minutes past and nothing happened he began to get worried, so he climbed back over to the back end of the truck and out in to the night. Straight away he was blinded by a flashlight, which someone shined right into his eyes. He was just about to take a card from his pocket, when suddenly someone began to talk.

"What did you do it?"

He immediately recognized Edmond's voice and relaxed a little, but still there was a hit of something in the voice, which he never had heard before.

"And I haven't done anything yet. Oh well, sorry, but I just don't like not being able to see."

Quickly he hit out after the flashlight, which he luckily was able to beat out of the holder's hand, so it felt down to the ground and broke into thousands of pieces. It took his eyes a couple of seconds to get use to the dim light from the moon, but then he saw them. Edmond and Louis was standing in front him and Edmond came closer to him as Remy tried to read his eyes, but they told too much.

"I don't want to fight you. I just want to understand why you became a traitor. I know that I should have looked more after you, when you disappeared, but the pain was just too big. Are you trying to punish me for that?"

Remy didn't understood anything of what just was happening, so he stepped back and took his bo staff out as he realized that maybe he was going to be the next victim in The Factory.

"I don't have any ideas about what you are talking about, but I'm not going to used as a guinea-pig in one of your sick experiment out at The Factory… Not without a fight!"

Edmond stopped in the movement and frowned his eyebrows.

"Sick experiments out at The Factory? What are you talking about?"

Remy took another step back, so he had his bask covered by the truck.

"They aren't so easily forgotten, but hey let me give you a hint. I found the folder on your desk."

"What folder?"

"It had a rather good photo of Neria in it, but much more interested was the extremely nice map at the end, which showed where The Factory was!"

Remy stared at Edmond, who looked to be very confused over what Remy had told him.

"I don't know anything about some factory or something and I don't know anybody called Neria."

Edmond tried to walk closer to Remy, but Remy stopped him with the bo staff.

"That's because she died in my arms!"

Edmond, who was shook over how the things had develop, was just about to say something, when they heard a click like a pistol being loaded from the shadows around them.

"Monsieur Edmond, please step away!"

The person stepped out from the shadows and into the moonlight so they could recognize him. It was Max and he was holding a pistol, which he had pointed at Remy, in his hand. Louis walked over to his best friend.

"Go away, Max. This is only concerns the family."

Louis tried to take the gun away from Max, but Max pushed him away.

"Don't make me repeat this, Monsieur Edmond, please step away from that impostor."

Edmond turned around and cast a glance back at Max, but still he didn't move away from Remy.

"Max, do as Louis said. This is only involves my sons and me."

Max began to laugh and nodded over in the direction of Remy.

"He is not your son. He is just an impostor, who has been trained to get close to you."

Edmond looked surprised back at Max.

"What do you mean about that he isn't my son?"

Max took his backpack off without lowering the pistol and pushed it over to Louis.

"My computer is in the backpack. Turned it on and you will see."

Louis took the computer out of the backpack and turned it on. After some seconds an article appeared on the screen, which Louis began to read, but then Max became impatient.

"It's a article that I just have found on the net from a small tabloid in Louisiana, or if you want it closer define, then it's from Chalmette, which is a city near New Orleans."

Louis, who just had finished reading the article, grasped and looked startled over at Remy and Edmond, who still was standing just a few feet from each other.

"They have found the skeletons of a woman and a baby, which…"

Louis stopped in the middle of the sentence as he realized what he was saying. Max therefore finished the sentence as he looked over at Edmond.

"Which are your wife and son, the real Philippe!"

Edmond, who felt like a train had hit him, immediately turned around and met Remy's eyes. For seconds none of them said anything, but Remy could see the doubt in Edmond's eyes. Remy took a hand down in his pocket after a card so he could escape, when the chance allowed it, but Max, who thought he was reaching after a gun, fired the pistol. Edmond, who realized what had happened, quickly jumped over to Remy and pulled him down to the ground as he tried to protect him from the shoot.

Louis quickly ran over to Remy and Edmond, who still was lying on the ground and lifted Edmond away from Remy. He was then shook over to see that Remy was covered with blood.

"Are you okay?"

He tried to catch Remy's eyes, but Remy kept staring at something. Louis followed the look and saw that was a little hole in Edmond's chest. Quickly he laid Edmond down at the earth and pressed down on the wound, but still he could feel the blood oozed out of the wound. Remy, who had snapped out of his trance, took his coat off and pressed it against thewound.

Edmond opened his eyes for the first time since the shoot and looked up at Louis and Remy, who was working together as they tried to stop the bleeding, and smiled.

"My sons. I'm so proud of you."

He tried to say more, but coughed some blood up instead. Louis helped him get it out.

"Don't talk, father. You need to save your strength."

Edmond tried to shake his head.

"No, this is the end for me. Please promise me that…"

Louis felt the tears run down his cheeks so he wiped them away with his sleeve.

"I will do anything for you!"

Edmond's eyes had begun to get a milk-white membrane over them, but still he tried to focus on the two younger men as he took their hands and put them together.

"Promise me that you always will be there for each other."

Remy and Louis's eyes met as the nodded, but then they felt Edmond's grasp in their hands disappear and they looked down at him. The life had left Edmond's eyes and they starred back at the two younger men without any expression in them.

"NO!"

Remy and Louis looked up and saw Max, who still was standing with the pistol in his hand. Louis read the expression on Max's face like an opened book, so he quickly stood up and ran over to him, but still it was too late. Without taking his eyes away from Edmond's body took Max the pistol up to his forehead and pressed down on the trigger. Instantly Max collapsed and felt down on the ground, where only the hole in his forehead showed what had happened. Louis jumped over to him and tried to save him, but it was too late.

Louis looked over at Remy, who still was sitting at Edmond's body, as the tears ran down his cheeks, but this time he didn't noticed it.

"Are you a traitor?"

Remy met Louis eyes as he shook his head. Louis then walked over to Remy and gave him a hastily hug.

"I believe you, but you have to run away now. They are coming."

Remy took his coat and stood up, but then he hesitated as he looked back at Louis. In the same moment they say the lights from the approaching cars coming down the hill behind them. Louis stood up and tried to push Remy away.

"Run! Let me take care of them."

Remy still hesitated, but then he saw Louis's eyes, so he turned around and began to run. Behind him he could hear Louis yell after him.

"I will find you again, my brother!"