Mailcall:
girlonthem00n: I'm so glad you are enjoying the story! I appreciate you taking time to read both my fics. Sorry about the Romyness, can't help myself. Just love the Gambit and Rogue thing so much.
Miss Attitude: Thank you too for reviewing. It really makes me so happy that there are people reading and actually enjoying it!
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The sun had not yet lowered completely in the sky when they entered the gates of the cemetery. Kitty looked around and gasped at everything she saw. "It's so awesome" she admitted as she glanced upward to different statues and tombs.
"Yeh, I don't think I've ever been in the graveyards of New Orleans before. I can see why they call it a city of dead. It's kinda scary" Rogue admitted, staring around warily at all the little pathways that disappear between structures.
Gambit and Logan continued forward as the girls followed. Both men were looking around cautiously. Gambit kept his eyes open for any signs of trouble, while Wolverine sniffed the air and listened intently to all the sounds.
"So, like, why are all these people buried above the ground?" Kitty's eyes darted left and right taking in everything.
"It was a tradition started long time ago to keep de bodies from floating. Don't need to dig too deep 'fore you strike water in dese parts". Gambit's eyes moved left to right, his pupils wide in the growing dimness of the evening sun.
They moved a little farther into the cemetery rounding several corners. A few times they turned a path that led to a dead end. After the fourth wrong turn, Wolverine turned and growled at Gambit. "I'm getting a little tired of this, Gumbo." From the sound of his voice, it was obvious that he was growing impatient in the hunt.
"Not Gambit's fault dis place a maze" Remy protested, fighting his own frustration.
"Wow, look at this one. It's, like, got graffiti all over it. I mean, what kind of moron plays tic-tac-toe on someone's grave. That's just wrong." Kitty exclaimed as they approached a very old tomb with X marks all over it. The tomb had flowers, coins, and other objects lying around in front of it.
"Dat's not tic-tac-toe, petit" Gambit chuckled. "Dis de tomb of Marie Laveau. People put t'ree X's on it, knock t'ree times, and den ask her for a favor." Gambit had stopped in front of the tomb to explain. Rogue thought to herself that he looked almost like he was paying homage himself.
"Who was she anyway" Kitty continued.
"She be de voodoo queen of N'Awlins." There was a long pause and Remy suddenly realized that his fellow teammates were staring at him with various stages of disbelief and confusion. "Back in de day." With that, he moved on leaving his team mates.
The sun had gone down completely. The cemetery had grown very dark with many long shadows cast everywhere. Rogue and Kitty pulled out their flashlights. Gambit didn't need one as his sensitive eyes worked best in the dark. With his heightened animal instincts, Wolverine, too, could see well at night.
"We're getting nowhere here. Rogue, can you see anything from above?" Wolverine's request was more of a command. As if on queue, Rogue took flight and rose above the tombs looking all around. She could only see as far as her flashlight would extend, which wasn't a great distance.
Suddenly, Wolverine stopped cold. His teammates noticed and followed suit. "Everyone quiet" he whispered. They all strained to listen for whatever had caught his attention.
"Someone's coming this way. But, the scent is very faint." Logan began to crouch slightly in a defensive posture. Rogue came down from above but continued to hover just above the ground. Kitty moved closer to Gambit as her eyes widened and her breathing grew faster.
Coming down one of the paths was a dim glowing light. They could see the light before they ever saw her. It was absolutely beautiful. It surrounded her like an aura and made her seem almost angelic, yet transparent. She appeared in front of them with doe eyes. Her hair hung around her face and shoulders in a matted chaos. She wore ragged jeans and an old black t-shirt that had apparently been some kind of Mardi Gras souvenir shirt. The shirt was covered by a dirty grey hooded jacket. On her feet were old tennis shoes. But all they could see of her shoes were the tops of them, which had a few holes developing in them.
At first, no one made a sound. They all stared at her and she at them.
"Dang, she does glow like a ghost. And she's partly phased through the ground" Rogue was the first to speak, shocked at the sight.
The girl frowned and started to back away from them. Then, her expression changed and she scowled, bringing her eyebrows down to form an angry expression. She raised both her arms, cupping her hands, fingers spread monster style, and screeched at them in her best scary voice. All four X-men looked at each other in confusion.
"Like, what the hell was that?" Kitty asked. The girl looked at them with a surprised expression, then lurched forward on her front left leg and screeched again.
Rogue started laughing, followed closely in giggles by Kitty. Even Gambit got into the moment and began to chuckle. Logan continued to look at his team mates and the kid in front of them. Through gritted teeth, he growled "I still don't know what's so damn funny."
"Oh Wolverine" Kitty was almost hysterical at this point. "She's totally trying to scare us."
As they were all cracking up, they didn't notice that the girl had put her hands down, lowered her head and turned to walk away from them. She started crying and that caught the team's attention.
"Wait, Sara. Come back. We didn't mean to laugh at ya" Rogue flew to her and apologized for making fun.
The girl stopped and turned around to them with tears in her eyes. "You know my name?" Then, she lowered her head and said "I can't even do scary right."
"Oh, sweetie" Rogue's motherly instincts coming out, "you did great trying to scare us. If we had been regular people, we would have been scared out of our wits. Honest."
The girl looked up at her. "Regular people? If you're not regular people, then what are you?"
"We're mutants, just like you." Kitty moved closer to her with a wide smile on her face.
"Mutants? You don't look like mutants. Well, maybe he does" she said pointing to Wolverine.
"Thanks kid" Logan snorted. She looked at all of them, and then noticed Gambit's eyes. "You definitely look like a mutant with those eyes." He pretended mock hurt as he placed his hand to his chest, and then flashed a charming grin.
"You're not like me. I'm….I'm…" she looked down at herself before continuing, "I'm see through. Almost everyone's afraid of me. They think I'm a ghost or spirit or something. My foster parents kicked me out." She was beginning to tear up again.
"Hey, like, I'm like you. Watch this." Kitty got up and moved over to one of the nearby tombs. She phased through the front wall and reappeared out of the side. "See? Although, that was kind of icky."
Sara's eyes widened. "But, you went through and then you're solid again." Understanding crept onto her facial expression and she excitedly asked "Can you show me how to do that?"
"Totally. We have a school where special kids like us can go to learn how to control and use our gifts." Kitty replied with a big smile.
"Gifts? More like a curse" the girl replied.
"I know what ya mean, sugah." Rogue turned to look on Gambit with a deep sadness in her eyes. He moved closer to Rogue and put is arm around her waist. Then, he turned his attention back to Sara.
"So, petit. You t'ink you might like to come wit us? We give you a good home, no strings." Gambit bent down to look in the girl's eyes.
She stared into those beautiful red eyes and started to smile. "Ok. Not like I have much of a life here, anyway."
"So, like, what was with the monster mash performance?" Kitty asked starting to giggle again at the memory of her standing there screaming at them.
"It's how I keep people from messing with me. Everyone pretty much leaves you alone when you look like a ghost and screech at them like a banshee. Shoot, I've even been able to walk right into some restaurant kitchens and take food without any hassle at all." She grinned as she told them.
Gambit's eyebrows arched. "Dat's clever, petit" he chuckled as he praised the girl.
"Yeh, only.." she paused for a moment before continuing, "lately I haven't eaten much. It's getting really hard and painful to become solid long enough to pick up anything and eat it. I have to constantly concentrate just to stay above ground. And…." a sadness showed in her eyes and she frowned slightly "and it's so lonely."
Just then, Wolverine's head twitched. He commanded everyone to hush while he listened. Everyone started looking around, Rogue and Kitty straining to see anything in the darkness. Sara's expression showed that she was really scared. She knew what was stalking them and it terrified her. "They're here" she whispered.
Suddenly, Sara turned on her heel and ran as fast as she could away from the group. Startled, Kitty called after her and started running too. Wolverine heard more noise coming from his left. He extended his blades and moved rapidly in the direction of the noise.
"You go after de girls, cher. Wolverine may need Gambit." Remy let go of Rogue and watched her fly in the direction of Kitty and Sara. He turned back to where he had seen Logan disappear. He strained to listen. He could hear Wolverine making contact with something or someone. He pulled out a card and went running towards the conflict.