The Brocade Baby (Rewrite) Chapter 17

Chapter 17: Ambroise, Louise and Eulalie

13 Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.

John 15:13

 

A few weeks ago....

 

Elio had no idea what he was getting himself into. Usually, he would be told about who the target was by whoever hired him and he would be able to do some research before deciding on whether they deserved to live or not. He made it very clear that should his employers try to deceive o manipulate him into taking an innocent life, he would make them pay dearly. As he waited outside of the home of the target, he prepared his gun as he needed to make sure that it was activated properly before using it. From what he was told by Raoul, his most recent client, the target was a "gold-digging whore" who married his brother just so she could get rich herself and that her son was a spoiled brat who was threatening his life. Though Elio had a suspicion that Raoul wasn't being entirely honest with him, especially with his rather shifty behavior, Elio decided to confront him about this later but only after he confirmed as to whether they really were deserving of death or not. As he waited outside the window, he began to feel a certain gut feeling that would arise whenever he felt that something was terribly wrong. It didn't help that it was getting pretty late and everything was getting dark to the point where he easily blended in with the shadows.

"Calm down Elio," he whispered to himself. "Just wait for the target and see what happens."

As he aimed his gun at the window where the target "Louise" and "Ambroise" were supposed to enter at any moment (as the window that he was waiting at was supposed to show the living room), he tensed up as he heard someone walking in. He watched as he saw a woman with long flowing blonde hair walk in the room along with another woman who had ebony black hair that went down to her shoulders along with having pale skin and blue eyes that followed after her. He recalled from Raoul's description that Louise was apparently blonde with fair skin, a slim build, light freckles that ran across her nose and brown eyes. Judging from the first woman's appearance, he assumed that had to have been Louise. However, what surprised him was not the fact that she had a handmaiden with her but rather, she had a baby in her arms that definitely took after her.

"Wait a minute," Elio began in a shocked tone. "If that's supposed to be Louise, then the baby is..."

He nearly gasped in horror when he realized what he almost did. His shock immediately turned into cold anger over the fact that Raoul not only tricked him into murdering an innocent life but he nearly made him break his code of not harming children. Seeing that he needed to have a little "talk" with Raoul over this gross misuse of his abilities, he immediately left the premises while Louise and the handmaiden were oblivious to what nearly happened. Raoul's home wasn't too far away, as he lived in a rather lavish chateau that was only a few minutes away from Louise's home. Once Raoul arrived, he was greeted by a butler of Raoul's who let him in but only after Elio pointed his gun right in front of his skull with barely restrained fury. The butler quickly brought Elio to his master's office where the man in question was busy looking through some documents on his desk as if he had nothing better to do. When he heard the sound the door opening and someone entering, he didn't even bother to look up as he was more focused on his documents.

"Alain," he began in an annoyed tone. "How many times do I have to tell you to not interrupt me while I'm-"

 

*click*

 

Raoul immediately stopped talking when he heard the sound of the gun and slowly looked up only to see Raoul glaring down at him behind the table with a pistol in his hand. Realizing that he was in grave danger, he immediately put his hands up while forcing himself to smile in an attempt to ease the tension. The butler himself stood at the side of the door as he was too afraid to move lest Elio decide to kill him as well.

"E-Elio!" Raoul began in a terrified tone. "I-I didn't expect to see you so soon! Did everything go well for you today?"

"Cut the bullshit Raoul, you know why I'm here," Elio began in a cold tone. "I checked the house where the target lived only to discover that Louise's son was still an infant. Care to explain why I wasn't informed of that?"

"Well, I-I mean I figured that you wouldn't care if the target was a man, woman or even a child and assumed you would-"

"I MADE IT VERY CLEAR TO YOU THE FIRST TIME WE MET!" Elio shouted in anger. "I! DO NOT! MURDER! CHILDREN! NOR DO I TARGET AN INNOCENT LIFE! NOW YOU BETTER TELL ME THE REAL REASON AS TO WHY YOU WANTED THEM DEAD SO MUCH OR ELSE I'M BLOWING YOUR BRAINS OUT! NOW!" Seeing that Elio was serious, Raoul sighed before getting up and putting his arms down.

"Fine, I'll tell you the real reason as to why I wanted her and that brat dead," Raoul began in a dark tone that revealed his true nature. "When I went to check on the will that my older brother left in case he died, I found out that he planned to give most of his estate to Louise and her son whereas I would only get a measly 10%! Can you believe it?! 10! Percent! His gold-digging whore of a wife along with her spoiled brat of a son get more money than me while I'm basically left with nothing but zilch! Well I didn't spend the last 50 years being his closest friend only for him to betray me like that! That's why I hired you to kill Louise and Ambroise. I wanted to punish both them and my brother for thinking that they could screw me over something like this and get away with it."

When Elio heard this, he was both shocked but at the same time, deeply unimpressed. He had heard many ridiculous motives and reasons from people who hired him to kill certain people ranging from family members to acquaintances but this was the most idiotic motive that he had heard. He knew that Raoul was a greedy and self-centered man, not to mention incredibly dishonest, but the fact that he was willing to kill his own sister-in-law and nephew over something so petty was just pathetic.

"You really are a piece of shit aren't you?" Elio responded in the still cold tone that he used before. "You wanted to murder your own family members all because you got a smaller portion of the inheritance that your brother was supposed to give you? How pathetic. You just gave me more reason as to shoot you dead."

"Oh I don't think so," Raoul replied with a sinister grin. "ALAIN!"

Elio quickly found himself being pulled back in a full Nelson by the butler who it turns out stayed behind in case Raoul needed help. He was caught off guard to the point where he accidentally dropped his gun, allowing Raoul to pick it up and aim it at the incapacitated hitman.

"How unprofessional of you, Mr. Shadow of Death," Raoul taunted with a sinister chuckle. "I expected you to not let your guard down when it came to my butler. Did you really think I wouldn't expect you to turn on me the moment you found out about my lies? Don't be such a fool. I was prepared in case you decided to show up uninvited and try to kill me. Honestly, I'm disappointed over how things turned out. Guess I'll just have to hire someone else to do the job for you. Now that I have you in my clutches, you will do exactly as I say. Capisce?"

"Fine, do your worst," Elio growled as he found himself being forced to move alongside Alain as Raoul motioned for the butler to bring the hitman close to the window. Once that was done, Raoul managed to cock the gun close to Elio's face in an attempt to intimidate him. Annoyingly enough, Elio continued to glare at him as if he was unimpressed with Raoul's attempts at threatening him. Nevertheless, Raoul felt that he had the upper hand and continued to taunt him.

"It's quite amusing if you think about it," Raoul began in a haughty tone. "The great and terrifying Shadow of Death, being taken out by a mere noble who hired him in the first place. That would make great headlines don't you think?"

"Yeah, yeah I get it," Elio responded with a grunt.

"But you know what would make an even greater headline?" Raoul asked in a sinister tone.

"What?" Elio asked suspiciously.

"The Shadow of Death being responsible for killing the noble's butler thus forcing the noble to kill him in self-defence!" Raoul replied in an eerily cheerful manner.

"Quoi?!" Alain replied in shock as he tried to process what he just heard only to feel nothing but numbness as Raoul immediately shot him right through his forehead. Elio could only watch in astonishment and horror over how Alain's body slumped over and fell flat onto the floor while Raoul coldly watched with no remorse on his face.

"W-what?!" Elio cried out. "What did you do?!"

"I merely had to get rid of a loose end that's all," Raoul responded nonchalantly as if he did not just commit murder. "After all, can't leave any witnesses around to potentially tell the tale can you?"

"But he was serving you loyally! How could you let him die like that?!"

"Oh please. He was just a mere servant. No need to shed tears over the help. Besides, you'll be joining him soon enough."

Raoul quickly shot another bullet at Elio, injuring his left arm and right leg in the process along with one of his shoulders. He ended up backing into the window but was too injured to stand properly, as he tightly gripped onto his left arm in an attempt to stop the bleeding. Raoul cruelly smiled at him as he aimed the gun at Elio who could only glare at him defiantly.

"Oh and one more thing," Raoul began. "Even if you had gone through with offing those 2 idiots, I wouldn't have actually given you the money like I promised. It would be too much to waste on a dead man walking."

As he finished those words, he immediately shot Elio in the stomach, who ended up crashing through the window and falling out of the building (as they were on the second floor which was pretty high from the ground).

"RAOUL!" Elio cried out in anger as he fell back onto the ground with an audible thump. The glass shards didn't help with his injuries at all but he was able to endure it due to having been through even worse injuries than this. He looked up only to see Raoul looking down from his room and pretended to play dead in an attempt to avoid suspicion. After a few seconds, Raoul went back into his room to presumably get rid of the evidence while Elio made a run for it as fast as he could.

"Got to.... get... to... Louise...." Elio whispered to himself as he panted in agony over his injuries. Even though he was trained to endure these kinds of injuries, the feeling of having glass shards and bullet wounds embedded into his skin made it even more painful than it should be. The fact that he had no time to properly recover didn't make things any better. Nevertheless, he was willing to endure it so he could do something that he should have done earlier, namely protecting the young mother and her infant son from the maniacal hands of Raoul. Once he finally arrived at Louise's home, he breathed a sigh of relief before desperately banging on the front door. The door opened, revealing the handmaiden to be the one who greeted him as she stared at him in shock and confusion.

"Um, bonjour?" the handmaiden greeted as politely as she could.

"Look I don't time to explain but I need to see your mistress right now! Please!" Elio cried out as he begged for the handmaiden to listen to him. Seeing that he was being serious, the handmaiden nodded and let him in.

"Alright, come in," she responded as she brought him inside and guided him to the living room where her mistress was sitting on the sofa with her son in her arms. Louise looked up only to be greeted with the sight of the bloody man and could only gasp in shock while her son slept peacefully in his mother's arms without a care in the world.

"Eulalie," Louise began in a soft yet clearly nervous tone. "Who is this man and why is he bleeding?"

"I don't know, madam," the handmaiden, whose name was Eulalie, replied. "I found him like this and he told me that he wishes to speak with you."

"Alright then," Louise responded. "But first, could you please get the first-aid kit. I wish for him to be properly treated before I can discuss with him over what happened."

"Oui, madam," Eulalie responded with a slight bow before leaving the room to get the necessary supplies. Elio didn't know whether he should sit or not but Louise felt great sympathy for him and pat down on the spot close to her on the sofa.

"Come, sit if you must," Louise responded with a reassuring smile.

"Oh no, I shouldn't-"

"It's fine, monsieur. You need to rest a bit before you start talking."

"Alright then."

As Elio sat down on the seat that was next to Louise but a bit further away from her, he couldn't help but feel awkward. He was sent to kill her and her son but refused out of moral obligation and feared that should she and her handmaiden find out, they would either kick him out or try to kill him out of anger over what he almost did. Worse, they might not believe him and simply laugh it off as nothing serious, thus making it difficult for him to protect them. Either way, he knew that he would have to confess soon or else they would all be doomed. Once Eulalie arrived with the first aid kit and started patching up his wounds, with him being forced to take off his shirt and roll up his pants for treatment. Thankfully, the bullets weren't lodged in too deep and could be removed (though the process was quite painful and forced Elio to grit his teeth in order to endure the pain) with some gauze and disinfectant being used to close up the wounds and prevent any ailments in the long run.

"How are you so good at this?" Elio couldn't help but ask out of curiosity.

"Oh that," Eulalie replied with a small blush. "I was a nurse in the past before I ended up working here."

"Is that so?"

"Yes. There, your wounds are patched up now and should be able to heal properly."

"Grazie, signora. Though I don't think I'll be able to rest for a while."

This alarmed Eulalie and Louise as they wondered over what was going on with him.

"What do you mean by that, monsieur?" Louise asked.

"Look, I know this may sound crazy but listen very carefully when I tell you this," Elio began before taking a deep breath. "You are in grave danger!"

"Quoi?!" Eulalie and Louise exclaimed at the same time as they tried to process over what he just said.

"Yes, you heard me, danger!" Elio repeated again. "Please let me explain because we don't have much time."

As Elio began explaining things to Louise and Eulalie over what was going on and why they were in danger, they became more horrified over what they were hearing, The fact that Raoul wanted Louise and Ambroise dead was both terrifying and unbelievable but his reasons proved to be incredibly petty and infuriating. Louise could only sigh in both disappointment and frustration over this piece of information.

"Somehow I am both surprised and unsurprised," Louise stated. "I knew he never approved of me being with Janvier but I had hoped that we would be able to improve our relationship with each other over time, especially when Ambroise was born. But now I see that it was all for nothing as he is that desperate to have all the money to himself at the cost of our lives."

"What should we do?!" Eulalie asked nervously. "Shouldn't we call the police or inform the authorities about this?"

"We can," Elio replied. "But given that Raoul is planning to kill me, Louise, Ambroise and anyone else who knows about his plans, it's not safe here and we cant afford to take any chances. We'll have to escape tonight to Brussels as that is the closest place from here."

"But Brussels is an hour away from here, can we really make it?" Eulalie asked.

"If we get a head-start we can," Louise replied. "However, I don't think it's safe to bring Ambroise with us as I don't want to risk getting him killed should we get ambushed."

"Then where should we keep him?" Elio asked.

       "There is a small town that I've been to and it's said to be one of more peaceful and safe towns in Belgium," Eulalie revealed.

"Really?" replied Louise. "What is it called?"

"It's called Amable and it's not too far from Brussels. It's just 20 minutes away from there, that way we can lead Raoul's men away from Ambroise while making sure that he's in good hands."

"Alright then, let's go." Elio replied. "We don't have much time to waste."

"Right," the 2 women replied as they quickly prepared for their journey. Louise brought Ambroise to her room where she found an old wicker basket that was given to her in case she needed to carry things with her. She placed Ambroise on the bed before grabbing the basket and emptying its contents. Once she did that, she placed the basket on the bed next to Ambroise before looking through her closet to find something that she could wrap her baby in. As she sorted through her closet, she found an old brocade that was hanging on one of the shelves inside. It was the purple one with the golden carnations and vines on them that she was given for her birthday by Janvier.

"Oh Janvier," Louise said with tears in her eyes. "If only you were here to help stop the madness that your brother is causing," She knew that he was busy in America as he had to attend a business meeting involving another company there. Though he left in July, he promised to be back by August as he felt that it wouldn't take too long. He at least made time to be with his family after his wife had given birth to their son and Louise remembered how he cried tears of joy when he first held him in his arms that day. Louise smiled fondly at the memory before realizing that she had to get ready and survive for the sake of both her husband and her son. She took the brocade out of the closet and quickly swaddled Ambroise in it before placing him in the basket. Surprisingly, he was still asleep despite everything that was happening, especially with his life being in danger. Then again, he was only 3 months old and had been fed earlier so it should come as no surprise especially to Louise over how sleepy he can be at the most inopportune time. She decided to let him sleep as to not alarm him or have him to accidentally give away their location to the enemy before gently placing him in the basket. Louise then went to her desk before quickly grabbed her blue fountain pen and a piece of paper as she wished to write something down in French. She wanted to make sure that whoever received this letter and agreed to take care of Ambroise would be trustworthy and generous enough to care for him while she was absent. She didn't want to leave him in the hands of strangers but felt that she had no choice lest the enemy track him down first. Though she wanted to leave him in an orphanage at least, she feared that it would be the first place Raoul would have his men check so that option was a no go. If Amable really was the best place for Ambroise to stay in until his father came back, then it was her only hope of saving her son. Once Louise finished the letter, she sealed it within an envelope before taping it to the side of the basket where her son was. She put on a black cloak that she also had in her closet before bringing the basket with her son and the letter out of her room. Once she returned to the living room with her son, she saw Eulalie also wearing a black cloak while carrying something that was swaddled in a soft baby blue blanket.

"Eulalie," Louise began in a nervous tone. "What do you have there with you?"

"Oh this," Eulalie replied in a sheepish tone. "While you were upstairs getting ready, me and Elio discussed over what we should do as a contingency plan in case things went south. I suggested that we use this as a decoy in case." Eulalie then uncovered the blanket to reveal a baby doll that slightly resembled Ambroise except its eyes were of a glassy brown color with pale skin, and blonde hair that was slightly darker compared to the actual baby's hair. Louise found herself being slightly creeped out over how realistic yet uncanny the baby looked, especially since its purpose was to serve as the decoy.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Louise asked with uncertainty. "What if they realize that the baby is a dummy and go after me and Ambroise anyways?"

"Well, given that we're wearing the same outfit," Eulalie pointed out. "We should be able to confuse them enough especially since its so dark now."

"I see," Louise responded. "Very well then, let's go."

"Right," Elio replied with a nod. "We should escape to the back of the house that way the enemy won't know where we escaped to. We should also get to our destination on foot as the enemy might expect us to use a vehicle and may cause an accident in order to impede us."

"I see," Louise replied as she saw that Elio had a point. The 2 women and the hitman turned off all the lights in the house before escaping to the back where Eulalie made sure to keep the decoy covered. Elio checked the area and saw that there was no one, prompting him to signal the other 3 that it was safe to leave. Louise held onto the basket as tightly as she could before moving with the others to their destination. It was pitch black with no moon out, making it somewhat harder to see but at the same time, making it easier for them to sneak away without any suspicion. After about 10 minutes, the 4 of them were able to walk through the wooded area that led to the town of Amable when all of a sudden...

 

*BANG*

 

The sound of gunshots filled the air, causing Eulalie to nearly shriek in fright whereas Louise was too shocked to say anything and could only gasp in horror. Elio turned around only to see shadowy figures following them along with the sound of someone reloading their gun and flashlights swerving around to scan the area.

"Oh no," Elio responded with horror. "They're here already. We gotta go now!"

He pushed the 2 women as all 3 of them ran for their lives. Their hearts pounded in their chest as adrenaline coursed through their veins, with Elio occasionally turning around to check just how close the criminals were. It seemed as though no matter what happened, they seemed to be getting closer and closer much to the group's distress. They were forced to hide behind some trees as some of the criminals unknowingly passed by them but knew that they would get caught eventually if they didn't have a plan.

"What do we do?" Louise desperately asked Elio as she clung to the basket.

"I... I don't know," Elio responded.

"I do," Eulalie replied in a firm yet shaky tone. "Remember the contingency plan?"

"Oui," Louise responded. "But what does that have to do with.... no."

"I'm sorry, mademoiselle," Eulalie replied. "I have to do something to get those hooligans off our backs. We also can't lead those thugs to Amable or they'll kill everyone there."

"No!" Louise cried out. "You can't! I won't let you do this! You're my friend! You're like a sister to me!"

"And so are you," Eulalie responded with tears in her eyes. "You were always kind and patient with me even when I made mistakes like getting you the wrong tea or accidentally breaking the antiques in the house. You were willing to let me take breaks and understood me the most when almost no one else did. For that, I am truly grateful and I pray that you and Ambroise live on without me."

"No..." Louise replied with tears in her eyes as well. "No, please don't say that! Please don't..."

"I'm sorry," Eulalie replied. "I will no longer be of any service to you, Louise." As she finished her sentence, she quickly wrapped her arms around Louise in a tight embrace while making sure to give her former mistress a kiss on the cheek as a sign of farewell. She also made sure to pat the baby's head as he continued to sleep peacefully before turning to Elio with a stern expression. "You better protect them both while I'm gone. I mean it."

"Yes, I will," Elio replied. "I promise."

"Bien," Eulalie said before bowing her head to Louise and Ambroise. "Au revoir!"

Eulalie quickly ran with the decoy baby in her hands as she yelled out to the criminals who were still looking for them. They heard her cries and immediately ran towards her, with Louise and Elio being forced to watch in both anguish and heartbreak. The sounds of gunshots were heard along with some yelling though whether Eulalie survived or not was anyone's guess. They both winced at the sounds of the bloodshed and cruelty but couldn't do anything about it. Despite Louise not wanting to leave Eulalie at the mercy of those horrible men, Elio had to nudge her to move.

"Let's go," Elio began in a terse yet somber tone. "We cannot afford to waste any more time."

"R-Right," Louise responded. "Let's go, mon fils."

The 2 of them ran through the forest which was referred to by locals as "The Forest of Shadows" and made sure to carefully avoid the various roots that would cause them to trip over and impede them. Fortunately, they were able to stay on the small path that led to the town where it was quiet and indeed peaceful like Eulalie said. They cautiously walked through the park and the town square where there was nobody around at all. A few lamps were lit to guide their way but the emptiness of the area gave off an uncanny feeling towards Louise. Elio stayed close behind her as he made sure to look around and see if anyone followed them. So far, nothing happened and they safe for now. They managed to find a house that looked decent enough for Ambroise to stay in and approached it, with Elio staying behind just in case. Louise nervously stood outside of the door before putting the basket down but not before holding Ambroise in her arms and nuzzling her face against his.

"Oh my poor baby," Louise responded with tears in her eyes. "I am so sorry for leaving you like this. I never intended for anything like this to happen to you. I can only hope that God will provide you with a good surrogate family in my absence and that we will meet each other again in the near future. Please forgive me." She gave him one last kiss on the forehead before putting him down which was enough to finally wake him up. Ambroise stared at his mother with bright eyes before scrunching up his face as he began to let out a loud cry as if sensing that she was going to leave him. Louise felt tempted to stay with him but had to leave him for his sake before anything else happened. She quickly ran to where Elio was standing before running off to hide on the left side of the house. Soon enough, Ambroise's cries caught the attention of someone as the door opened with the sound of dogs barking in the background. There, standing in front of Ambroise was the boy whose name was Timotheos Blumenthal who quickly called out for his mother before bringing the baby in along with the basket.

 

Back to the present...

 

"So now you know full story of how Ambroise came here," Elio explained as he finished his story. Everyone around him had mixed expressions ranging from sadness to anger over what happened. Audrey and Timotheos had tears in their eyes whereas Julien, Brielle and Miranda had contemplative expressions on their faces. Barnim lowered his head as he too had an expression of heartbreak over what happened. Even the dogs seemed rather sullen and somber over the story. After a moment of silence, Audrey finally spoke up.

"But what happened to Eulalie?" she asked.

"I'm afraid I don't know," Elio responded. "I haven't seen or heard from her after that as I was too busy making sure that both Louise and Ambroise were safe. But given the gunshots that were heard that night.... I doubt that she even made it."

"Poor thing," Miranda responded. "But wait, how did you end up so injured earlier?

"Ah that," Elio responded. "After I took out the guy who almost shot Ambroise at the park earlier, I ended up in a scuffle with some other mercenaries and thugs who were after the kid. Turns out, they were a lot more crafty than they looked as they were able to overpower me for a moment. However, they too underestimated my skills as I managed to kill them all without much effort."

"So that's why you came to our house all bloody and bruised earlier," Miranda said. "You really are something if you're able to survive gunshots and falling out of windows."

"Well, I am the Shadow of Death after all," Elio replied with a wry grin. "But enough about me, right now we need to focus more on protecting that baby while defending the town."

"What do you mean by that?" one of the officers asked.

"Now that 2 of the criminals know where the baby is, more of them are bound to invade the town and potentially slaughter us all if we don't do something!"