After a Long walk through the rest of the swamps we finally arrive back to bourbon street and head straight for the Cauldron. We head inside and Lou catches us walking in
"Holy shit what happened to you guys?"
I look at him with a straight face
"It's a long story"
Lou pours us some drinks
"Well I got time"
We all take a seat at the bar, telling Lou everything that happened for the next hour. After we finish up the story Lou looks at us and gives a chuckle
"Well damn, that's a lot to take in. Aurelia you're welcome here anytime, make yourself at home. And Jay… well I kinda had a feeling there was something about you, there's this aura I feel off you"
"Yeah it's probably the swamp smell"
"Besides that… speaking of which y'all need to go clean up because holy fuck, I've smelled some creatures and they don't even come close to how the three of you smell"
Alora stands up
"Yeah let's head back to my place so we can all shower and change"
Aurelia speaks up
"But I don't have any clothes"
"I'm pretty sure you can fit into some of my clothes"
We all head to Alora's place and all take turns washing up. When it's my turn I head to the bathroom and get undressed when I notice something on my chest that wasn't there before.
"What the fuck??"
It almost looks like a brand, I don't know what it is but it kind of resembles a bird. I take a quick shower, making sure to wash everything off that the swamp could've stuck to me and head to the living room where Alora and Aurelia are talking and get their attention
"Hey… ummm did any of have a brand type thing appear on your body?"
They both shake their heads and look confused, I take off my shirt and show them
"This just appeared on my chest, this wasn't there yesterday"
Alora gets up and takes a closer look
"That's a weird looking symbol"
"Do you know what it is?"
Aurelia stands up
"I know what it is"
"What is it?"
"That's a thunderbird symbol"
"Why would it randomly just appear"
"I don't know"
We all sit down and then Alora perks up
"The tomahawk…"
"Yeah what about it?"
"You said you felt attracted to it right?"
"Right"
"What if it was one of your ancestors and when you touched it that's when that brand appeared"
"That's crazy but it makes sense. Ughhh I'm over these last few days already"
Aurelia stands up with a smile on her face
"I got an idea"
"What?"
"Why don't we all go out to a club"
"Really, that's your idea after these last couple days?"
"Yeah, it's a nice distraction and we could all have some fun"
Alora stands up and start smiling
"I'm in!"
They both look at me
"Well I guess I have no choice"
We all get ready and Aurelia takes us to this club she said she's been to a couple times before. We get to the club and head inside. I look around and everything seems normal, looks like everyday regular people so that should help ease things a little but still I can't trust anyone. Aurelia heads to the bar while me and Alora head to a table in the corner, a few minutes go by and Aurelia brings us back some drinks and takes a seat with us. It's quiet between us until I break the silence
"Sooo why couldn't we do this at the Cauldron?"
Aurelia looks at me
"Because that place is boring"
"Yet we're just sitting here and drinking, we could've done that over there also I could've been safe."
"Stop being such a bitch"
Alora speaks up
"Yeah I'm with Aurelia, stop being like that"
"Whatever… I'll just sit here and watch you guys"
"Why?!?"
"Someone has to baby sit"
"Ughhh you're no fun"
"Yeah I'm terrible"
Aurelia gets up and grabs Alora
"Lets go have some fun, he can watch our drinks since he wants to be boring"
"Yeah both of you leave so I can get some quiet for once"
They both take off and I'm just sitting there on my phone trying to reach the guys but still no answer.
"What the fuck…"
This is not like them not to respond back, they haven't tried to check up on me either. As the night goes on I'm just sitting in the corner by myself while Aurelia and Alora are somewhere else in the club, then someone comes up to me.
"Hey.."
I look up and it's a small, thin woman with long blonde hair. she looks normal so I respond back
"Oh hey?"
"I seen you sitting here by yourself, so I thought I'd come bring you a drink and keep you company"
"Oh ok that's cool.. my two friends are somewhere around here"
"I'm sure they won't mind. Scarlet"
She puts out her hand
"Jay…"
I shake her hand and her skin feels unnaturally cold, maybe I'm just tripping it could be the drinks she was holding.
"Nice to meet you Jay, are you from around here?"
"Naw I'm from California, I was here on a trip with some of my friends I've known since middle school but they took of without telling me"
"Awww poor baby, wait what about your two friends you talked about earlier?"
"Oh I met them here at Mardi Gras so we've just been hanging out"
"Oh I see"
"What about you, you don't sound like you're from here"
"I'm from Arizona"
"Oh ok that's cool, you're here for Mardi Gras too?"
"Not at first, I was here to visit some family but then I decided why not"
"I feel you"
"I love your eyes by the way"
"Oh thank you"
"And you're really cute"
She rubs her hand along my face as she says this and her hand still feels icy cold, something doesn't feel right.
"Uhhh thanks, can you excuse me real quick I need to go to the restroom"
I get up and head to the restroom, I head to the farthest stall and sit down and collect myself.
"Naw somethings up with her, no human can be that cold and still be alive. I need to tell Alora and Aurelia"
I sit there for a few minutes thinking of how to find them in this packed club without scarlet finding me. As I'm formulating a plan I hear screaming coming from outside and things being thrown.
"Ahhh shit there's either a fight or someone is shooting up the club"
I head over to the exit of the restroom and lean my head out and see people running around, tables and chairs being thrown around.
"What the fuck…."
I look around trying to find Aurelia or Alora but I can't find either of them, but then I see scarlet, she's with a couple of other people and they're destroying the place along with others who joined in on the riot. Scarlet starts barking orders
"Find those two bitches and then find Jay!"
I knew something was up with her, but she looks normal. As I'm trying to sneak away Alora comes up to me and puts a hand over my mouth and whispers
"We need to leave now…"
I move her hand and whisper
"What's going on?"
"Witches"
"Are you serious?"
"Yes, they're rarely seen around these parts but that bounty must've really enticed them to come out"
"Where's Aurelia?"
"She disappeared, we were dancing and having a good time then she was gone"
"Fuck…"
"Shhhh just follow me out"
As we're trying to sneak out Scarlet jumps in front of us
"Awww trying to sneak away"
Me and Alora jump up and start backing away
"Jay… how rude of you to leave me hanging like that."
"Yeah well you're not my type"
"Tsk tsk it's a shame I have to kill such a cute guy like you"
"I'd like to see you try"
Scarlet smiles and starts walking slowly towards us, we turn around to run and two guys jump in front of us
"Uhhh Alora what do we do now?"
"Run for the exit"
We take off towards the exit but Scarlet grabs Alora and the two guys grab me
"Nice try, now before I kill you jay, I'm going to kill your little friend"
Scarlet pulls out a big sacrificial type knife. Before she can do anything the people still rioting in the club throw a chair and hits her, knocking her to the ground. I break free of the guys and grab the knife and stab one of them. One of the other guys tries to grab me again but is hit from behind by a random rioter and knocked out cold. I turn to see Alora and scarlet fighting but Alora is no match and being tossed around, she's then thrown through a table and knocked out. As scarlet is distracted i run up and stick the knife through her back and she falls to the ground presumably dead. I pick up Alora and carry her out of the club, I weave through the traffic and run down the street towards her place. A night that was supposed to be peaceful and fun turned into a nightmare, now Alora is hurt and Aurelia is nowhere to be found.