Marvel owns the characters that you recognize, and we are not making one
red cent off this story. Jacques, Frances Benoit, Therese, Red Beard McCartney,
belong to Missy Red and Kaleidopy. If you use them without our permission,
we will send the Assassins after you, and they take no prisoners.

Devil Days
Part Six
MissyRed & Kaleidopy

Dusk, the three teenagers arrive at a large warehouse near the docks.
Walking inside they quickly shut the door and lock it. Hearing a noise
above them on the catwalk, all three turn their attention to the sound.

"Well," The huge man with a stringy red beard glares down at them. "Where's
th' brat?"

"We had him, Mr. McCartney, but he was with some lady in the mall." Wayne
was quick to defend themselves to their boss. McCartney was notorious for
his violent temper and he would not hesitate for one-second to kill someone
than look at them. "She was buying him a lot of things. We couldn't take
the chance of grabbing him in front of a bunch of people."

"What kinda idiot do ya take me fer, son?" McCartney walks down the catwalk
and meets them halfway in the middle of the warehouse, he spits a wod of
tobacco down at one of the teen's feet. "Th' boy is a homeless mutie! Ya
expect me ta believe somebody would take a freak ta a mall an' buy him
somethin'!"

"He's telling you the truth, Red Beard." Jarod butts in. "How Devil Boy got
some lady to buy him that junk we don't know."

"I don't want any of yer stupid excuses boys, I am payin' ya punks a grand
a piece fer that mutant kid." McCartney pulls out a cheap cigar and lights
it.

"An' th' money those clowns from Genosha are willin' ta pay me fer the
little demon boy, I could buy a hundred of ya punks with just th' interest
alone."

"Why those guys from Genosha want mutant kids for anyway?"

"If ya must know, they want th' kids before their powers manifest so they
can control them and their powers. What th' Genoshians plans are I don't
know or care." The man glares at the three. "I want th' kid and I want him
now."

"Why don't you get him yourself if you think it's so easy." Paul mutters
under his breath.

"What was that?" McCartney turns his fury on the teen. When the teen
doesn't answer, McCartney slaps him so hard that he falls to the ground. Standing
over Paul, the big man glares down at him. "Ya got something else ta say ta
me, punk?"

"Hey take it easy, man." Jarod helps his partner to his feet. "We're doing
the best we can. The kid has people taking care of him now. And from the
look of those purchases that lady was buying him, it must be some rich
people."

"I don't care if it's George Lucas takin' care of th' kid," McCartney
points his finger at Jarod, making sure that all three were listening to his every
word. "If ya three don't have th' kid by th' next time we meet, I'm settin'
up a deal with some people I know who would love ta have yer body organs."

The three knew that McCartney was not just making a threat, he was making a
promise. They have seen first hand how he has dealt with former associates
who didn't live up to his expectations. Most were never seen again and the
others, the three knew what horrible condition they were in now, they were
better off dead.

"Look, I give you my word Red Beard, that I personally will get Devil Boy
myself." Jarod says while backing away from the angry man. "If I have to
break into every house in New Orleans to find the mutant brat, I will."

"Yer last chance, punk." McCartney continues to smoke his cigar while
glaring at the three. " Those contacts fer th' boy will be here in two days
and if I don't have him in my custody they will not give me a second chance
and th' money is gone. If that happens, I will take it out of yer hides,
get it!"

"Yes, R.B." Wayne nods quickly as he and the other two leave the warehouse
and take off into the cover of darkness.

McCartney glances over at the small pipe sticking out of the side of the
warehouse. Walking over to it, he begins to laugh. "Ya kids hear that? We
gonna be sendin' ya off ta a new home soon enough."

Down below the warehouse is a hidden basement and a secret room a jointing
to it. In it holds ten children, none over the age of fourteen. The oldest,
a boy keeps trying to open the locked door but he was not having any
success. Several of the others were crying for their parents. A small girl,
holding her teddy bear comes over to the boy. "That boy is still loose
maybe he will get help."

"Didn't you hear what they said up there?" The boy angrily kicks the door.
"That kid has found somebody to look after him now, you must be dreaming if
you think he is going to come back here and risk getting caught again."

The little girl hugs her teddy bear close to her chest and waits over to
the wall. "I'm hungry, Michael."

"I know you are, Jenny, we all are." Michael replies as he walks over to
her and holds her. "McCartney will not feed us until that ship comes to get us
and he said that is not guaranteed." Hearing several of the other children
crying, he calls out to them. "Do you want him to come down here again? You
know what he did the last time he heard you crying. This time he might kill
you with that belt."

Michael's warning silences several of the children with the exception of
the very youngest about six years old. She continues to cry for her parents.
Still wearing her long silk gown and holding a stuff animal, her purple
hair covers her face as tears fall from her non pupil eyes. Her father is a well
known movie actor and no amount of money he has offered to the public has
gotten his daughter back.
__________________________________________________________________

Unlocking the front door, Tante allows the boy to enter before her so she
can lock the door back behind her once she gets inside. She reprograms the
security system. "I will go put these upstairs in your room, you can
entertain yourself until I finish." She starts for the stairs. "An' Chile,
stay outta trouble."

The boy manages to grin back at her, he knew exactly where he wanted to
explore but first he had to make sure that nobody would be around. He
glances upstairs to make sure that Tante was indeed up in his room before
he turns his attention to the locked door leading into Jean-Luc's private
study. What was in that room he didn't know but he was determined to find
out. He tries picking the lock, but he quickly finds out he doesn't have a
clue how to do it.

He kicks the door with his foot and almost cries out in pain but he holds
onto his anger. Hearing a key turning inside the front door, the boy runs
into the living room. Jumping on the couch, he grabs a magazine and
pretends to be reading. The door flies open and he looks up with an innocent look. "
'ello, Henri!"

" 'ello petite, you here by y'self?" Henri asks him as he unlocks the
study.

"Non, Tante, she be upstairs puttin' dose clothes up she brought for me."
The boy makes a face. "Don' like goin' shoppin' wit' no woman." He
complains as he walks over to the study and looks inside. Watching Henri going
through the drawers of the desk, he steps inside and stands in front of the desk.
Waiting for the perfect moment, the boy snatches the letter opener off the
top of the desk and stuffs it into his pant's pocket.

"Didn' like goin' shoppin' when I was your age either." Henri shuts the
drawer after finding the papers he wanted. "C'mom, got t' lock de study
up."

The boy follows behind Henri and just as he was about to close the door
back, the boy quickly slides the letter opener into the latch of the
doorway frame to keep the lock from connecting to the door. Hearing a clicking
sound, Henri quickly turns the key. "You have fun an' I promise I take you
ridin' around in my new car when I get back home."

"De red one?" The boy's face lights up with excitement. He adored Henri's
candy apple red trans-am. When Henri nods his answer, the boy grins
proudly. "Oui, Henri, I be waitin'."

Henri pats the boy on the head and rushes out the door. The boy watches
from the drawn curtains as Henri drives the car out of the horseshoe driveway
and disappears from sight. He glances quickly upstairs and runs to the study
door. He was thankful that Henri was in such a hurry he never checked to
see if the door was locked. Turning the knob, the boy finds his little scheme
had indeed worked, the door opens and the letter opener falls to the floor.
Picking it up quickly, the boy puts it back on the desk of the study.

Once inside the room, the boy is amazed how indeed the room looks. There
are no windows in the room, so it could not be viewed from the outside. The
huge room is part library, with hundreds of books inside three huge bookshelves
that reaches the top of the ceiling. A tall metal ladder on wheels is the
only way to reach the top of the bookshelf, the other part of the room is
part museum. A small display case catches the boy's eye.

Walking over to the display case, he sees a dagger inside. The handle of
the dagger is encased with a cross of jewels, a large red ruby is the center
stone of the cross, another large red ruby is located at the bottom of the
handle, the remaining stones that forms the cross are emeralds, sapphires,
and diamonds, the blade itself is solid gold. The case itself is layered
inside with velvet and solid silver catches hold the dagger in place.

"Petite?"

The boy jumps, startled by the voice that has suddenly taken him by
surprise. He almost falls to the floor but he is grabbed before that could
happen.

"Didn' mean t' scare you, boy." Jean-Luc holds him in his arms. He feels
guilty that he startled the boy to the point he is trembling. "Easy chile,
it's only me."

Regaining his composure, the boy angrily pulls out of Jean-Luc's arms.
"Don' you ever do dat again." His eyes lock on the man giving him the most evil
look he can muster. "Don' like nobody sneakin' up on me."

"I wasn' sneakin' up on you petite," Jean-Luc explains while holding his
hand out for the boy to take. Once the boy takes it, he picks him up in his
arms and walks out of the study and locks the door back. He looks at the
boy, his own eyes a little on the angry side, himself speaks. "You de one
who be sneakin' in a place you have no business bein', no?"

"But de door was open, " The boy strongly protests.

"Henri must have left de door unlocked," He responds even though he knows
the boy is lying. Henri would never leave the study door unlocked, he was
too responsible to make a careless mistake like that. Sitting down in one
of the lazy boys, he lets the boy sit up in his lap.

"M'sieu LeBeau?"

"Oui petite!"

"Dat dagger in dere," The boy points towards the study. "Where did you get
dat dagger? It's gotta be wort' a fortune."

"Oui boy, it is."

"You tell me 'bout it?"

"Not'in' t' tell." Jean-Luc answers quickly hoping it would ease the boy's
curiosity.

"Please, tell me more 'bout it." The boy pleads. It was clear he wanted to
know everything around him. "Does dis have t' do wit' de guilds?"

"Guilds? You been listenin' when we t'ink you haven' been, right petite!"
The man smiles slightly at the boy, who only nods. "Dere are words dat are
spoken in dis house dat are not for petites, like y'self t' hear, you
understand, boy?"

"Oui," He admits. Stalling for a second, the boy gets a worried look on his
face. "You not mad at me for doin' dat, are you M'sieu LeBeau?"

"Non, I never heard of a boy who didn' get into some kind of mischief one
time or anot'er." He pulls the boy into an embrace before sighing. "I am a
member of a guild dat you heard us talkin' 'bout de other day. Many years
ago, in order t' prove myself worthy t' b'long t' dis guild, I had t' do
somethin' dat nobody else could do." Jean-Luc smiles to himself, he knows
he has the boy's undivided attention, he continues. "De guild dat I b'long t'
has a very dangerous enemy. Anyway t' make a long story short, I stole dat
dagger from dem t' secure my place in de guild." He then adds to complete
the story. "De dagger, L' Couteau Du Destin, belongs t' de leader of my
guild's enemy."

The boy suddenly smiles. "You just made dat up, huh M'sieu LeBeau!" He
grins almost breaking into laughter. "Dat make a great bedtime story, did you
tell it t' Henri when he was younger?"

"You remember boy, you de one who asked 'bout de dagger." Jean-Luc tells
him. "It is up t' you if you want t' believe de story or not, petite."

"If you two are finished talkin' about the past," Tante walks into the
room. "I could use a little help gettin' supper ready." Jean-Luc allows the boy
to get down, and watches as Tante takes his small hand in hers. "Jean, this
chile's a handful now, I don' need you to be puttin' anymore ideas in his
head."

The boy turns back to Jean-Luc and smiles a devilish grin at him. Jean-Luc
quickly winks back at him and pretending to keep it a secret from Tante.