-CHAPTER 1-

~ALEXA~

It all started 3 months ago when I moved from L.A. to New Orleans, Louisiana. My dad, a well-known chef had gotten the opportunity to work in New Orleans, one of the most diverse cities in the world that is rich in culture and is well known for its fantastic food. My mother grew up in New Orleans and unlike any other normal person, was very reluctant to move back to her childhood town. I never understood why at first but as every day passes, I uncover more and more about my mother’s past and very different life.
It was a sticky, humid day, normal in Louisiana and not the type of heat I was used to in L.A. My normally pin straight hair was starting to get frazzled from the damp air. I sat under the ginormous tree at the cemetery near my house. That was the one thing that I loved about this town, the above ground cemeteries. Whenever I came to the cemeteries here, I got a strange at ease feeling with a slightly eerie touch. Tucking my long brown hair behind my ears, I opened my mother’s journal that I swiped from her room the moment she left for work. For the past 8 months, whenever I saw my mom she was hunched over frantically scribbling in it, trying to keep the contents secret from me. She was at work until seven tonight so I had six hours to get through as much as I could.
About 30 pages in, I felt numerous raindrops hit my forehead through the gaps in the leaves. “Crap...” I muttered. Although the journal had seemed normal so far, I had a sense that the entries would get weirder and weirder. Despite the rain and the storm that was about to make its way over my head, I desperately wanted to keep reading. There was a quaint coffee shop in the heart of the city called Mojo that I had discovered a couple weeks ago and it was the perfect place to go. I made it a little over halfway to the shop when a torrential downpour hit. Tucking the journal inside my coat, cautious not to get it damp, I broke into a sprint down Magazine Street. Exhausted and soaking wet, I swung the door open and was greeted by a faint jingle welcoming me in. The first thing I noticed was the comforting, familiar scent of coffee beans which, despite the gloomy weather brought a smile across my face.
“Hello what would you like today ma’am?” the perky blonde haired barista asked with a smile. “Umm…” I paused. “I’ll take a medium espresso please.”
“That’ll be $3.50.” I handed her my credit card.
“You look very familiar,” She said, her memorizing golden brown eyes putting me in a slight trance.
Puzzled, I responded with “I mean I’ve been here a couple times…” she set aside the awkward encounter and handed my card back.
“Your drink will be ready in a couple minutes.” She said as she walked away. Once my drink was ready, I grabbed the cup and found a cozy spot in the corner of the shop and opened the journal.
I couldn’t believe what I was reading. Stories of witchcraft, vampires, and even ghosts filled my mother’s journal. The story that shocked me the most was an entry from 6 months ago, 3 months before we left our home in California.

February 20th 2014

I’m scared to go back to New Orleans. The demons that haunted me my whole life were the reasons I moved away. What if they find her and tell her about the abilities she has abilities that no other 17 year old girl has. Well a normal 17 year old girl at least. If she finds out what we are, she will never have the possibility of having a normal life, and I don’t want her to have to go through what I’ve gone through. I must protect her.

What does she mean by abilities? The whole thing made absolutely no sense to me. I knew she had a drinking problem prior to moving to California so maybe that's what she was talking about when she was talking about demons but that still didn't answer the other questions in my head.
“Hello.”
I quickly snapped the book shut and jolted my head around only to find an unfamiliar figure standing too close to me.” The man standing behind me was tall, had jet black hair, and was quite attractive.
“I couldn’t help but notice you sitting here all by yourself.
"My name is Josh.”
“I’m Alexa.” I managed to squeak out,  I wondered how long he was behind me and if he had seen anything in my mother’s journal that I was deeply invested in reading.
“Your necklace looks oddly familiar to me, do you mind me asking you where you got it?” he was watching me very intently, studying every part of me.
Touching the golden locket resting on my chest I replied “I’ve had this my whole life, my mother gave it to me and told me to never take it off.” He looked intrigued.
“Interesting…” he trailed off, the corners of his mouth creeping up into a grin. Oh no, I thought, this guy cannot be good.
“Listen Alexa, I’m going to need you to stay very still for a minute. Before I could respond, he snapped his finger and the room froze. Before I could get a scream out, he put his hand over my mouth and the world around me went dark.