Early the next morning Remy felt someone tugging on his bedcovers. " Leave me alone," He grabs a pillow and covers his head with it. When the pillow is jerked away, " Go away I want t' sleep." He angrily mumbles to whom ever was in his room without his permission.

" Get up, we got company comin'." Henri yanks the covers off his younger brother. " It's nine Remy, you plannin' on stayin' in bed all day?"

" Don' care what time it is, I ain' gettin' up, now go away." He sticks his head under another pillow and tries to go back to sleep. He vaguely hears another person come into the room. As soon as a hand pats him on the back, he knew he had to get up. Remy starts whining, hoping that it would buy him another hour of sleep. " Papa, I don' wanna get up right now. I'm still sleepily."

" Petite, you want Henri t' get you out of bed de hard way?" His father asks him, not so much as a question but more of a threat. When Remy sits up, he yawns twice before laying his head into his father's chest. Jean-Luc only shakes his head, " No more stayin' up past your bedtime, Remy. When school starts you goin' t' bed even earlier, you understand?"

" Huh?" Remy suddenly wakes up when his father made that announcement. " Papa, I'm awake! You don' have t' change de time when I go t' bed." He climbs out of the bed and suddenly remembers what his brother had said when he first tried to wake him up. " Who's comin' over here anyway?" He asks as he changes his clothes.

" I have invited a couple of Guild members t' come over here wit' dere families so dey can meet de family." Jean-Luc answers as he gets off the bed and motions for Henri to follow him. " Hurry up an' get downstairs b'fore company arrives. Dey should be here b'fore noon."

Remy nods in agreement as the two men leave his room. He grins after the door is closed. Running to the door, he presses his ear to the door to make sure that they had indeed gone downstairs. He quickly runs to his closet and pulls out a huge box that he has hidden in the farthest part of the corner. Opening the box and looking inside, he smiles. " Hiya doin' Jake? Got somebody for you t' meet in a lil while." He quickly closes the box and pushes it back into the corner before closing the door.

Noon, Therese sat at a table trying to get Remy to continue reading. She along with Tante had taught the boy how to read and write. Both had made sure that he would be caught up with the rest of the children his own age group before school begin. " I can be just as stubborn as you are Remy. You are not getting up until you finish this last chapter and I mean it." Therese tells him as she pulls out another sheet of paper and sticks it in front of him.

" Papa, it's Saturday, why do I have t' do dis stuff on Saturday?" Remy yells over at his father.

" Because you pretended you were sick three days this week, that's why." Therese opens the history book and points her finger at the book. " Now read it!"

" Papa!"

" You leave me outta dis, Remy." Jean-Luc answers while playing cards with Henri. He tosses down a card and slaps his oldest across the back. " Dat makes a thousand you owe me, Henri." He stands up and glances over at the table where Remy and Therese were sitting. " Dere is always a penalty for lyin', mon fils an' you are payin' dat price now."

Sighing in defeat the boy begins to study the history lesson that his sister was demanding that he complete. He was on the last paragraph when the phone rang and it was announced that their company had arrived. Therese clears the table. " All right you are finished for the weekend. I want you to put this up in my room on my desk." She gives Remy the books. " And don't be snooping in places that doesn't concern you, ok?"

Remy runs upstairs to his sister's room and puts the books on her desk, he glances out the window to see his father greeting three people, a man, woman and a boy who looked to be around twelve. Remy studies the boy very carefully, watching for any sign of weakness he can use against the boy. Watching them until they were out of his range, he sits down on Therese's bed, thinking about what to do next. His daydreaming was interrupted by his father's voice calling him. He quickly leaves the room and goes downstairs.

" Dis is Philip, Remy." Jean-Luc introduces his son to the boy, who looked Remy up and down and decided he wasn't impressed. " Why don' you take Philip upstairs t' your room an' entertain your guest, fils."

" Oui, Papa," Remy replies as he motions for the boy to follow him upstairs. He knew almost instantly he didn't like this boy. Once he was inside the room, he started his plan into action. " Why you pretendin' t' act so tough? I bet you scare easily."

Philip snorts disgustingly " There's nothing a shrimp like you can do that will scare me." He starts laughing. " You going to turn the light off and yell boo?"

Remy didn't waste anytime, he wanted this kid out of his room. He opens the closet door and pulls out the large box. Pulling the box into the middle of the room, he opens it. " Take a look at what's inside."

Philip walks over and looks inside. " It's a fake!" He announces with a shrug.

" If it's fake, pick it up!" Remy dares him trying hard not to laugh. He watches as the boy leans over into the box and pulls out the ten foot long python snake. When the snake's tongue slithers in front of the boy's face, he screams. He throws the snake down and runs out of the room still screaming as loud as he can. " Good boy, Jake, I knew you wouldn' let me down." Remy picks up the snake and puts it back in the box. He hears the boy still screaming downstairs mixing with angry adult voice's as well. A sudden door slamming and a car cranking up with tires screeching away told Remy that his plan had worked. He lays in the floor laughing until the door flies open and his angry brother's face was glaring down at him. " What you lookin' at?" Remy looks up and asks him.

Henri wasted no time in yanking his brother off the floor and half carried him downstairs where their father was waiting. " Put him down, Henri." He tells his son as he stands with his hands on his hips. " What did you do t' dat boy, Remy?"

" I never laid a finger on dat boy, Papa, I swear." Remy answers as he looks into his father's eyes. " He was de one who said dat Jake was a toy, I only proved him wrong."

" Jake!" Therese suddenly shouts out the snake's name. " You were told to get rid of that thing." She was almost hysterical. " Unc''''------ -!!—•"'?

Henri eyes his brother carefully before doing as he was told. He came back with the large box in his arms. " Dis is de last time I do dis, Remy. I'm gettin' tired of cleanin' up after your stupid pranks." He disappears out the sliding side french doors.

Therese simply grabs Remy by one of his ears and pulls it hard. When he yells out in pain, she lets go. " You give me a good reason why I shouldn't tell Tante that you didn't mind her when she told you to get rid of that snake days ago when it got loose and slithered into my bedroom."

Remy looks at her almost in shock, his sister has never threaten to squeal on him before and the thought of it happening was a little upsetting. He knew he had to win her back before Henri got back. His brother was not easily fooled, Remy was having to work harder at pulling the wool over his older brother's eyes to get his own way. " I forgot 'bout Jake, T'erese, honest I did." He uses his smile that he knows that still works on Therese and Tante, his father and brother were another story. " You forgive me, don' you?"

" All right, I forgive you, Remy." Therese picks him up and holds him. She didn't see the victorious smile that creeps across his face.

" Sebastian is bringin' his family over later today an' I want you on your best behavior Remy." Jean-Luc says as he circles around Therese to speak to his son. He takes him from his God daughter and makes sure the boy was listening to him. " Dere better not be anot'er snake in dis house when Sebastian an' his family visit us later today, in fact de only t'ing breathin' in dis house better be human."

The boy makes a face but shakes his head. " I promise Papa, no more pets." He wraps his arms around his father's neck and hugs him.

No sooner had Henri made it back in the house did Sebastian Renault, his wife and their thirteen year old son appear. " Jean, dis is Adrienne an' our fils, Maurice." Sebastian introduces his family. Henri shakes their hands already noticing out of the corner of his eye, his brother's slight smile.

Remy wiggled a little to let his father know he wanted down. Once on his feet he goes outside to sit under a large tree, he knew that the older boy would be coming out soon enough, he only had to wait a few minutes. Maurice glances at him once before sighing. " I didn' wanna come here but Pere told me dat I have t' stay here while he is gone overseas." He suddenly stares at Remy. " Dey told me dat you were a mutant but I didn' know you had demon eyes. You're creepy lookin'."

It took everything in Remy's power to control himself. He wanted nothing more than to beat the crap out of this older kid, but he also knew Maurice would be the victor. He had another idea. " You mean t' tell me dat your father didn' tell you 'bout me?"

" What 'bout you!" Maurice snorts angrily. " You jus' some stupid kid dat needs his nose wiped an' it looks like I got de job."

" Non, you don' understand, de real reason I have dese eyes is b'cause of who my father is, didn' M'sieu Renault tell you what is suppose t' happen tomorrow night?" Remy asks him. He leans closer so the other boy could get a good look at his eyes. " I was called Devil Boy b'fore M'sieu LeBeau adopted me."

" So you were called Devil Boy, big deal." Maurice still stares at Remy's eyes until he couldn't look at them anymore. " Wonder if you are related t' a vampire or somethin' like dat."

" Worse dan dat, my dad is de Devil an' he is comin' t' get me tomorrow night b'cause de moon is full an' I'm ten years old. Jus' like he promised." Remy explains.

" You're lyin', you ain' de son of Satan." The boy replies.

" You know anybody else who has eyes like mine, huh?" Remy questions him. " I'm tellin' you, de real reason why M'sieu LeBeau is leavin' de country is b'cause he knows my real father has sworn t' kill everyone in de house tomorrow night for dem stealin' me in de first place." He sighs deeply before continuing his lie. " I'm not suppose t' tell you dis but de only reason M'sieu LeBeau is makin' you stay here is b'cause my father demands a human sacrifice t' forgive de clan for dere sin an' you are dat sacrifice, Maurice." About that time a strange animal makes a noise from the swamps making Maurice jump to his feet.

" Uh, mebbe it's best if dey get somebody else t' stay wit' you b'cause I jus' remembered dat I have t' see my...." Maurice gets to his feet and dusts himself off. " Uh, I can't remember who I am suppose t' meet but you understand, don' you? I'm not scared but I can't break a promise, can I?" He runs back inside the house never looking back.

" Was it somethin' dat I said?" Remy yells before laughing. He barely had time to enjoy his moment of triumph before the sliding door slams open and Jean-Luc walks out. Remy swallows the lump in his throat as his father approaches him. He didn't have time to get to his feet as his father yanks him up and carries him over to the swimming pool. Sitting him down on top of the picnic table, Jean-Luc sits down on the bench so they would be on the same eye level.

" Why you doin' dis, Remy?" His father simply asks him. " You have dat boy in dere beggin' his parents t' take him home b'fore de moon gets full. He is convinced dat you're de devil's fils, you want t' tell me why he t'inks dat?"

Remy only shrugs. " Mebbe he t'inks dat b'cause he say I had vampire eyes."

" I want dis t' stop now, boy. You scared off Philip an' I am not even goin' t' ask why you tied dat ot'er boy up in a tree." When Remy starts laughing, his father cuts him off. " Dis isn' funny, mon fils, his parents are convinced dat you are workin' for de assassins." Jean-Luc grabs his son by the shoulders and gently squeezes them. " Look at me, Remy." He orders the boy, when his son obeys, " I t'ink I know why you are doin' dis an' it isn' goin' t' work. You have t' understand dat de Guild demands dat I be in France."

Remy didn't have time to answer as Henri sticks his head out the door. " Pere, Uncle Jacques an' Lapin are here." He simply follows his father back inside the house. Henri glances over at Sebastian and his family, who made no secret that their son did not want to be anywhere near the youngest LeBeau.

" I'm sorry t' cut dis visit short, Jean-Luc but somethin' has come up an' we must leave." He walks past Jacques and his son. He whispers to the new visitors. " Jean-Luc needs t' take a firm hand t' dat boy of his, no reason t' let one dat young have de freedoms he has."

Jacques stoops down to his son. " Frances, you see how Remy has been runnin' dese kids off?" He explains. " I want you t' promise me dat you will not let your cousin do dis t' you. I know you know how t' handle him."

" It's Lapin, Pere." Lapin corrects his father. He hated his first name and will not answer to the name of Frances. He was wearing his favorite possession, an old New Orleans Saints football cap. Looking around the large room, he smiles over at Henri, who winks at him. He pops his gum.

Jean-Luc comes back inside almost dragging Remy back in with him. The boy angrily throws himself in a chair and sulks.

Lapin walks over to his cousin and stares at him. " I'm Lapin, an' you are Remy."

" Lapin! What kind of a stupid name is dat?" Remy asks him while sneering at the other boy. " You t'ink you are Bugs Bunny or somethin' huh?"

" Why don' we go outside an' I show you de real reason I call myself Lapin." He dares him. Remy gets to his feet and goes outside, Lapin turns back to his dad and grins.

Outside Remy stood waiting on his cousin to make an appearance. Once he does, Remy waits until the door is closed. " You want t' go back towards de swamps? or are you afraid you might get lost?"

" Lead de way," Lapin follows behind him. It took them almost ten minutes before they got to the edge of the swamps. " So what you got in mind?"

" I bet you can't keep up wit' me in dere." Remy tells him as he runs into the swamps totally ignoring his father's warning to stay out. He turns back around and sees his cousin running behind him. Remy dodges over several dead tree limbs and makes sure that Lapin is out of sight before he climbs an old hanging tree. He was only up in the tree for a few seconds when Lapin came into view. Watching the boy move past him, Remy starts smiling. Once Lapin disappeared deeper into the swamps, Remy felt safe enough to relax. He waited an hour before he climbed down and headed back towards the house. He figured his cousin was good and lost now. A sudden scream made him stop in his tracks. The sound was coming from a place that he knew quicksand was located. Running to where another scream for help was coming, Remy stops when he sees the football cap turned side ways in the quicksand.

" Lapin!" Remy was terrified. A practical joke was one thing but he never wanted to see anyone get hurt because of his pranks. " Lapin?" He screams as he tries to dig close to the edge of the quicksand. By the time he grabs the cap out of the quicksand, he was almost in tears. A twig snaps, makes him turn around to see his cousin standing behind him.

" You stupid idiot! I thought you fell in de quick sand." Remy gets up to his feet and glares at his cousin. Lapin was standing in front of a large mud puddle making no effort to stop smiling.

" Not so funny is it when de joke is on you." Lapin tells him as he walks over and grabs his cap out of Remy's hand. " Let's get somethin' straight right now, lil cousin, you ain' gonna scare me off."

" You're ruinin' everythin'." Remy screams in an angry voice. He balls his hands into fists to control himself. Everything was going according to plan but now here was his cousin standing in between him and certain victory. Nobody was going to separate him from his father if he had anything to do with it. No longer worrying about pulling a prank to run his cousin off, he shoves him into the mud puddle. " Dat will teach you t' stick your nose in my business."

Lapin jumps up so quickly that Remy understood too late why he had the nickname. He grabs his cousin by his shirt and slings him down into the puddle. Wasting no time, Lapin jumps back in and the two were trying to force the other one's face into the mud, both were wallowing around in the mud and didn't see a figure approaching them. " Stop it!"

Both look up from the mud to see Henri standing over them. He angrily yanks both of the boys out of the mud and glares straight at his brother. " Pere told you not t' be in here, Remy, an' here you are. You want t' tell me why you an' Lapin are fightin'."

Remy only lowers his head, he knew he was in trouble and nothing he could say would change it. " We weren't fightin' Henri, I fell in an' Remy tried t' pull me out an' he fell in." Lapin suddenly speaks up much to the amazement of his cousin. " An' I'll tell Uncle Jean dat I was de one who went into de swamps an' got lost. All Remy did was try t' find me. He didn' do anythin' wrong."

Henri sighs disgustingly. He knew the boy was lying to protect his brother. " C'mon, you can use de hose t' wash dat muck off you." He walked ahead of the two boys listening carefully to the whispering conversation going on between the two boys. A slight smile creeps across his face.

" Why did you take de blame?" Remy whispers.

" I made a promise dat I intend t' keep." Lapin answers. " An' don' ask me what dat promise is b'cause I will not answer." He takes off running towards the back of the house making sure he was the first one to grab the hose and wash the mud off. He was almost finished when his two cousins came into view. He gives the hose to Henri, who turns it on his brother.

" It's c..c..cold!" Remy screams through chattering teeth as Henri takes his time getting the mud off his brother.

" You two can stay out here an' dry off b'fore we eat." Henri tells them as he gives a towel to Lapin to dry off. He takes another one and begins to wrap Remy in it. " Well, petite frere, your plan didn' work did it?" He turns his brother around and immediately notices the reaction on Remy's face. " Everythin' is gonna be alright. I promise you dat, Remy."

" I don' want Papa t' go Henri. Can't he make somebody else go in his place?" Remy asks him. " He is de Guild Master, he can make dem go, can't he?"

" No, petite." Henri continues to dry Remy off as Lapin listens in. " I know you are upset 'bout all dis but I will take good care of you."

" I don' need nobody takin' care of me, I can do dat myself." Remy pulls out of his brother's grasp. " I don' want Papa leavin', Henri. De Assassins, dey gonna,"

" Non, mon petite frere, de Guild has taken precautions t' guarantee de councils safety. Security is de highest prerogative, all of de Guilds are sendin' dere Guild Masters, dat is why Papa must go. Do you t'ink de Guilds would send dere most important members t' a place dat has no security?" Henri reaches out and pulls his brother back to him. " Is dat what has been botherin' you?"

Remy nods his head in acknowledgement. " Henri, are you sure dat Papa is goin' t' be alright, de Guild will protect him from de Assassins?"

" I promise you dat Pere will be fine an' be home b'fore you know it." His brother tells him. " As for de Assassins, dey are our enemies an' dey will try t' kill us, but our Guild is strong. We take care of our own mon frere. Nothing will happen t' us, I give you my word on dis."