**Disclaimer** -- I don't own Gambit or Rogue (sigh), or any of the X-Men although I wish I did, along with many other people. Marvel owns them, blah blah blah. I'm not making any money from this so don't sue me!
**Distribution** -- Although the characters belong to Marvel, the story is mine. It may be distributed only with prior permission from me, and may not be posted to any archive, ftp site, or web page without written permission from me. (All you have to do is ask!!!!)
This is my VERY first fanfiction, so please read and review!
Author's notes: Since it's my first fiction, I'm not too good with accents quite yet. I openly accept any criticisms with this!!! Also, although the town of Dulac is real, all places I name are fictional. Any similarities to real life are strictly coincidental.
Inner thoughts in italics.
Chapter 1
She ran as fast as her slender legs could go. Everything around her looked the same. She was lost and she knew it. The pouring rain made it even more difficult to navigate the swampy terrain of the bayou. Yet she continued to run, knowing that if she stopped then IT would catch her. Not wanting to find out what would happen, she began to run even faster.
As a bolt of lightening raced through the night sky, the young woman turned her head to get a glimpse of her pursuer. However, she realized that it had vanished. Feeling a sense of relief, she stopped running and started to look around.
Vanished.
Sighing to herself, the pretty young red head began to turn around, trying to figure out the how to get home. She was supposed to meet her boyfriend Scott hours ago and she knew that he was probably a nervous wreck by now. Trying to compose herself, she couldn't help but think that she had just cheated death.
She started to take a step towards the direction she thought was home.
Just as the pretty young woman took a step forward, another bolt of lightning illuminated her surrounds, revealing that she was not alone after all. Right in front of her stood a large dark figure.
All she could do was shriek as she felt a sharp pain in her side. As the world around her became a blurry mess, the last things she saw were these evil demonic eyes...
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"Jean Grey, huh?", asked a young reporter name Bobby Drake. "So you're going all the way down to Louisiana to investigate the disappearance of some girl?"
Drake threw the manila folder down knowing full well that his words were falling on deaf ears. Those ears happened to belong to a young woman named Alana Harrison, the star-investigative reporter for the Daily Post.
It just so happens that Ms. Harrison's specialty was investigating supernatural occurrences. After all, she has had her own share of dealing with the unknown, an experience that left her with two distinct white streaks in her auburn brown hair.
Ever since she acquired the white streaks of hair, and had her experience, she had earned herself the nickname Rogue. It was no secret that she would pull all sorts of crazy stunts to land her story, especially when it dealt with the supernatural.
The young Drake continued with his lecture, "I mean you don't even know if this story's legit. Remember a few months ago when you spent all that time investigating the "Dormitory Ghost" of NYU? " He turned to his friend/co-worker, noticing the slight change in her demeanor as her eyebrows began to cringe. "I just don't want you to go through the same embarrassment that you did then."
Feeling somewhat annoyed by his last comment, Alana simply replied, "Listen Bobbby, Ah'm a big girl. Ah can handle mahself, so don't ya go worryin' yoahself, sugah. Her boyfriend is Scott Summers, we used ta go ta school togetha. He wouldn't call me up outta nowhere if this were a hoax." Scott was always a pretty serious guy. Playing practical jokes was definitely not his MO.
Sighing, Bobby continued their conversation, "So let me get it straight. The people of the town are disappearing."
"Ya got it... all young girls."
"Okay, and right around the same time, people have also reported seeing a man with strange eyes? How strange?"
Alana stood from her desk and began slowly walking over to where Bobby was sitting.
"Actually," she spoke in a low voice, almost in a whisper, "the reports of the strange eyes began 'bout two weeks aftah the first disappearance." She began to look around to see if anyone else was in the large room. Since it was nearly midnight, she found that only she and Bobby were actually still working. When she was sure that they were alone, she continued, "But yeah, people are describing them as demon eyes. Witnesses say that sometimes as ya walk down a dark street, there'll be a pair of small red dots glowin' from tha shadows... Then...." She stopped and put her face inches from Bobby's, mesmerizing him with her deep green eyes. "Then.... BOO!!"
The sudden surprise caused Drake to fall back, landing on the floor with his chair falling on top of him. His female friend displayed a big grin and began to collect her stuff, trying to not laugh. As she looked at her watch, she realized that it was pretty late.
"Dang, 11:45 already? Listen Drake, Ah've got an early flight tomorrow mornin' so Ah'm gonna get goin'. Ah'll give ya a call when Ah land in Louisiana." Alana was already half way out the door before Drake called after her.
"Alright, I'll talk to you tomorrow then. And Alana, be careful. I've got a bad feeling about this one."
"Ah promise", she smiled and made her way home.
It didn't take her long to pack. Alana traveled quite a lot, and she knew how to pack only the necessities.
As she lay in her bed, Alana began to wonder about the adventure she was about to begin.
A man with red eyes, kidnappin' young women...
With that final thought, she turned off her lamp and closed her eyes.
As she drifted off to sleep, all she could think of was a pair of demonic red eyes...
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