Chapter One

The arrival of Catrina.

"Uncle Valmont!" A young woman hurtled towards the afore mentioned uncle, who had unwisely opened the door of his detached house. "Oh wow! You've shrank!" She announced gleefully, wrapping her arms around Valmont's waist. 'She' happened to be Valmont's niece, Catrina Korr. She had only just got out of school and had been sent to spend her summer holiday in America with her Uncle. Of course, he didn't know that yet.

Valmont glanced down at the rather short teenager and raised an eyebrow.

"Uncle? I'm not your uncle! I don't know you at all."

Catrina looked puzzled, she stepped back and they both looked each other up and down. Valmont, looking tall and elegant in his suit, Catrina, looking slightly worse for wear after the long plane flight and very difficult taxi ride, in a pair of jeans and a vest top, with a hoody wrapped around her waist, they both looked completely different. Catrina was shorter than Valmont, and yet wore jeans as if she were a few inches taller, supposedly she liked the 'pooled around her feet' look. Although the jeans were longer than they should be, her vest top was shorter, showing her pierced belly button, newly pierced by the looks of the redness. If it weren't for their hair, both sporting the ash blonde ponytail with similar fringe, and equally arrogant looks, then Catrina's claim of family wouldn't have stood a chance. Her bright violet suitcase stood abandoned a few feet away, still with all the flight details on labels.

"Yeah, didn't mum tell you I was comm-…" Catrina trailed off, as she realized her uncle had no idea who she was. "I'll kill her!" She growled, angrily, "hang on, I've got proof we're related." She turned tail and ran the few steps back to her bag which she pulled closer to her new home for the summer. Digging around in the side pockets for a moment, dislodging sweets, wrappers, and many other strange useless items, Catrina found what she was searching for. "Ah! Got it!"

Valmont looked down at the scrap of paper that had been pushed into his hand. It was a younger him, young by a good fifteen years, and hanging around his neck was, undoubtedly, Catrina.

The still grinning Catrina pushed past him and lugged her suitcase into the hallway.

"Snazzy place this, innit!"

"Hang on a minute, this just means that I met you…Once…It doesn't mean we're family." Valmont argued, starting to feel worried. He had business to attend to, mostly including demons. He was still trying to keep Shendu happy and this girl, whoever she was, couldn't be part of that!

"Ugh, you are such a spaz!" Catrina said, scowling at Valmont. They both sounded alike, although Catrina seemed to use a lot more British slang than Valmont had even heard of!

"I'm a what?" He asked, his own crisp accent clear.

"Oh, never mind, look, call mum on your phone. I have her number somewhere. Y'know…You're sister? Helen?" She prompted. Valmont's brow creased.

"H-Helen?" He replied weakly. So that's who she was. Jesus, he hadn't spoken to Helen in years…Apparently fifteen years was the last time they had been in touch.

"Oh good, you know her, so, where's my room? And what have you got to eat? I'm starving!" Catrina's voice got quieter as she went to explore the house. Valmont raced after her.

"Your room? Oh no! No, no, no. You can't stay here. I…Don't have any spare rooms…" Valmont lied instantly. He was very good at lying, and even better at enforcing lies. If he had to pay Chow, Finn and Ratso to sleep in a room each for the next week then he would. He couldn't have a niece cluttering up the place, the amount of times he had laughed at Jackie Chan and his extended family. He groaned, clutching at his face. This was terrible. Truly, truly terrible!

All he could hear, however, was Catrina's amazement at his house, well of course he was a master criminal, he had money to spare, and if he was going to live in this house, he was going to make it…Maybe not homely, but at least comfortable.

The kitchen was huge, and immaculate, probably because it was never used. He sometimes used the counter to place pieces of important information so that the didn't forget, and sometimes he used it to warm food up, but apart from breakfast the room was unused mostly. Catrina stood in the middle, on the tiled floor; she had been born to the wrong person. Valmont should be her father, wow; she could have some fun in here.

"Can I have some money then? I have no where else to go, you'll have to pay for a hotel, and of course I don't expect for you to just throw me in anywhere. Mum said you were loaded, and since you don't have any kids, you must have loads of spare cash, and you can spend it on me! Aren't you lucky that I've arrived?" She grinned.

Valmont forced a grin back, a very weak grin, but a grin none the less. He was starting to get nervous, he had a meeting with Shendu, and Shendu was not someone to keep waiting. Actually, Shendu was not a someone in any sense of the word. Shendu was a demon with an anger problem. Not a big deal? He could breathe fire and summon his own special breed of ninjas. Thought that might get you.

"Lucky? Ha…Ha, ha, ha." He laughed. "Lucky…That's not quite what I was thinking. Listen, Catherine-"

"Catrina."

"Whatever, you can't stay here, I have important business to attend to and I do not need some school girl messing any of my deals up. Understand? So, I will pay for a hotel, of my choice, and then you can phone your mother and I will pay for you to fly straight back to England tomorrow." He said briskly. There was a slight feeling of guilt, but he masked it well, it was for her own protection. He didn't want her getting involved in any of his work. Or her hands on any of his money.

Catrina looked at him, her shoulders drooped, and her eyes had already dampened.

"Y-You don't want me?" She asked, in a pitiful voice. "Mum said this would happen, but I just wanted to spend time with my favourite uncle. My only uncle. You see, we've been arguing, and mum wants me out of the house, but I don't know where to go, and she said that nobody would take me in and…I just said your name. I never thought she'd send me over here to prove she was right…But, but-" Here, she paused dramatically to sniff, and clear her throat, although when she next spoke it sounded worse than ever, she was going to burst into tears any moment now. "She did, and I'm here, and I just wanted to prove her wrong that you do want me, but…Well, I'll go if you want." She said, her head lowered, and when she did look up tears were streaming down her face. Her mascara was running and Valmont frowned. She was good.

He knew exactly what she was doing, she was faking it, he knew that much. She wasn't really crying, they were crocodile tears…Catrina gave an anguished sob. He wasn't going to give into her, which was just what she wanted. She was obviously as skilled as Valmont at getting what she wanted, although in different ways. No, he wasn't going to let her stay. Definitely not. No way. Not a chance. It was too dangerous.

"Ok, you can stay." He said, against his better judgment.

The change in Catrina was instant, she ran over and once again gave Valmont a hug, he reached around and awkwardly patted her back. Nobody had given Valmont a hug in years, he simply wasn't used to this sort of treatment. Catrina grinned.

"Cheers, I'll go get unpacked, yeah? Care to show me to my room?" She asked, not a sign of crying anywhere. Valmont was impressed and extremely worried for the days to come, she seemed a very manipulative child, and she reminded him far too much of his self at that age.

Maybe he could pay her to keep away from his meetings; she seemed to love the fact that he was rich. Helen had always been well off, but had never believed in spending it. She'd rather have a big bank balance than money in her purse. Valmont sighed to himself, as Catrina finally stepped back, tossing her hair. They were more alike then the two would like to admit.

Now, he just had to call and get a message to Shendu he wouldn't be coming today…