At six PM sharp, Claudia showed up at Zander’s house wearing a long crimson evening gown that had a slit up the left slide that stopped right before the thigh met the hip, with her hair up in a messy bun. She didn’t even have time to knock when Zander opened the door with a smile that quickly turned into a frown as he looked back into the house.“What’s wrong?” Claudia asked him after seeing his mood change so drasticallyZander sighed then looked back at her, “It’s nothing, really, just Sean has been locked in his room all afternoon. I think he is mad at me for telling him that you couldn’t come. I just wanted to surprise him. Just this once.”“Oh, if that’s the problem, then I will just head up to his room and fix the problem now,” Claudia said, decisively, before heading up to Zander’s room.When she reached the door, she noticed the lights was off and her brow crinkled in confusion. “It’s only six. He shouldn’t be asleep yet,” she thought and knocked softly on the door. When she d
When Claudia got to her room, her phone rang for about the fifth time since she got home. “He isn’t going to give up until I answer, is he?” she thought with a sigh. She pulled her phone out of her purse and answered the call. “You finally answer? What was your plan, to ignore me forever?” Sean said, his voice laced with anger and hurt. “What do you want Sean? It is late and frankly I have no energy for fighting,” Claudia said her voice laced with fatigue and pain. The almost broken sound of Claudia’s voice nullified his anger, and he became concerned. “What’s wrong?” he asked her, his voice much softer than before. “What’s wrong? Heh, you’re asking me what’s wrong? Oh, I don’t know,” Claudia started, her voice rising an octave with every word until she was practically screaming, “Maybe it has to do with me catching my now ex cheating on me on his birthday, or maybe it’s becoming obvious to me that I am such a monster that even in this lifetime you scumbags think you can treat me a
“I must be dreaming,” Claudia thought as she looked around herself. She was standing in the square, but it was vastly different. It looked like it did back in the 1800s. She sighed inwardly because she was familiar with this dream and did not wish to see the ending again. That is when she noticed, unlike her other dreams like this, she had control of her body and decided that she will take advantage of this. She turned around and started walking aimlessly down Decatur Street until she heard a familiar voice screaming. “Help, help!” the voice kept screaming, and though she felt like she knew the voice, she could not place where it was coming from. She looked up and around her, that’s when she noticed that she was at the crossroads and in front of her, tied to a tree was Sean and beside the tree was Legba. Legba snapped his fingers and suddenly the tree was on fire and Sean screamed louder for help. The very next second Legba appeared n
After showering, her mind had calmed down enough to fall asleep, but her dreams weren’t any better. The moment she closed her eyes, she was greeted by a hauntingly familiar presence. “What are you doing Claudia?” the figure asked, and Claudia shook her head firmly. “This is obviously my dream so I should be asking you that, especially since you’re dead and all,” she said giving a slight, defeated chuckle. This time the figure chuckled and shook his head, “Haven’t you learned this yet, Claudia? Not everything is what it seems to be,” he said, “Besides, I am not the one punishing myself because of how I was born, now am I?” “No, you are just the one that went and got himself blown up do to what he was born at, aren’t you Volk? You really have no room to lecture me, you couldn’t even keep your promise to the person you claimed to love. Please just tell me why you are evading my dreams when you are dead? Do you want me to hate myself more?” “You hating yourself is not, never has, and
It was a hot summer night, with fireworks going off overhead. A woman that looked like she was roughly in her late teens, with long, flowing, red hair and bright blue eyes that seem more significant against her pale, almost translucent, skin, was seated, elegantly at her tarot table wearing a dark crimson cape with the hood pulled over her head, in front of the cathedral, where she could smell the river water on the wind while watching the other people in the square laughing and playing around as they enjoyed the celebration.“Look at them, having a marry old time, as if none of them know what had happened here all those years ago, but I remember. I remember all too well, as if it happened just yesterday, and I think they should pay,” she thought.Then she saw a mother pick up her little boy and place him on her shoulders so he could see the fireworks and the hard piercing look on her face soften, causing a soft smile to appear on her full lips as longing bloomed in her heart. “Or, ma
“Good evening,” the older gentleman, who had sandy brown hair, green eyes, and was walking with a cane, said to Mike with a bow before turning to Claudia with a slight frown as Mike excused himself and left. “Claudia, you are bound to work yourself into an early grave if you continue on like this,” the older gentleman said to her. At those words, Zander’s tight smile turned to a frown, “What do you mean Lex? All she is doing is reading people’s fortune, like she does almost every day. It isn’t like she is trying to push her energy into others again, is it?” “Not that I am aware of, but she has been out here reading fortunes basically nonstop for three days straight. She hasn’t slept and has barley ate anything at all,” Lex said as he crossed his arms over his chest, “I bet she has been telling you she is going home.” This time Sean frowned and gave Claudia a slight pout as he said, “Why are you working so hard, Claudia? Are you trying to kill yourself?” “Of course not, if I did t
After getting her coffee and beignets, Claudia headed to the benches that was behind Jax Brewery, since no one ever went there, and she just wanted to be alone for a minute as she sat down thinking about everything that was going on. She was facing the river with a conflicted and absent-minded look on her face. As a matter of fact, she was so lost in her own mind that she had no idea that someone was following her until he stepped out of the shadows and cleared his throat. “Is everything alright, Claudia? You’re normal more perceptive than this. I mean, I was able to follow you this whole time, yet you didn’t realize it,” Sean commented. “I did realize it,” Claudia lied, “but I chose not to react. Maybe you should try it sometimes.” “Sure,” mumbled Sean. “What was that?” “Nothing,” Sean said before he made a rose appear seemingly from thin air, “A beautiful rose for the even more beautiful Claudia.” At those words Claudia’s expression darkened and she stood up causing her black
The next day, as Claudia was fixing breakfast, she thought of ways to tell Lex about her considering to date Sean without upsetting him because he had been having heart issues lately. Lex looked up from his paper and watched her for a moment before speaking. “What’s wrong, Claudia?” he asked. “Nothing’s wrong? Why would you ask such a question?” “You’re obviously worried about something so spit it out.” Claudia brought the food to the table and sighed as she sat down, “Dad, Sean is coming over in a few hours to have lunch with us.” Lex giggled slightly and shook his head, “If that’s all then why are you so nervous? Doesn’t he and you spend a lot of time together anyway? You’re almost like brother and sister.” As he asked that, Sean had slipped into the house with a bouquet of roses hoping to surprise Claudia by being early. “Well...” she began and then started playing with the hem of her shirt, “he asked me to date him last night.” As she said that, Lex was taking a sip of his
After showering, her mind had calmed down enough to fall asleep, but her dreams weren’t any better. The moment she closed her eyes, she was greeted by a hauntingly familiar presence. “What are you doing Claudia?” the figure asked, and Claudia shook her head firmly. “This is obviously my dream so I should be asking you that, especially since you’re dead and all,” she said giving a slight, defeated chuckle. This time the figure chuckled and shook his head, “Haven’t you learned this yet, Claudia? Not everything is what it seems to be,” he said, “Besides, I am not the one punishing myself because of how I was born, now am I?” “No, you are just the one that went and got himself blown up do to what he was born at, aren’t you Volk? You really have no room to lecture me, you couldn’t even keep your promise to the person you claimed to love. Please just tell me why you are evading my dreams when you are dead? Do you want me to hate myself more?” “You hating yourself is not, never has, and
“I must be dreaming,” Claudia thought as she looked around herself. She was standing in the square, but it was vastly different. It looked like it did back in the 1800s. She sighed inwardly because she was familiar with this dream and did not wish to see the ending again. That is when she noticed, unlike her other dreams like this, she had control of her body and decided that she will take advantage of this. She turned around and started walking aimlessly down Decatur Street until she heard a familiar voice screaming. “Help, help!” the voice kept screaming, and though she felt like she knew the voice, she could not place where it was coming from. She looked up and around her, that’s when she noticed that she was at the crossroads and in front of her, tied to a tree was Sean and beside the tree was Legba. Legba snapped his fingers and suddenly the tree was on fire and Sean screamed louder for help. The very next second Legba appeared n
When Claudia got to her room, her phone rang for about the fifth time since she got home. “He isn’t going to give up until I answer, is he?” she thought with a sigh. She pulled her phone out of her purse and answered the call. “You finally answer? What was your plan, to ignore me forever?” Sean said, his voice laced with anger and hurt. “What do you want Sean? It is late and frankly I have no energy for fighting,” Claudia said her voice laced with fatigue and pain. The almost broken sound of Claudia’s voice nullified his anger, and he became concerned. “What’s wrong?” he asked her, his voice much softer than before. “What’s wrong? Heh, you’re asking me what’s wrong? Oh, I don’t know,” Claudia started, her voice rising an octave with every word until she was practically screaming, “Maybe it has to do with me catching my now ex cheating on me on his birthday, or maybe it’s becoming obvious to me that I am such a monster that even in this lifetime you scumbags think you can treat me a
At six PM sharp, Claudia showed up at Zander’s house wearing a long crimson evening gown that had a slit up the left slide that stopped right before the thigh met the hip, with her hair up in a messy bun. She didn’t even have time to knock when Zander opened the door with a smile that quickly turned into a frown as he looked back into the house.“What’s wrong?” Claudia asked him after seeing his mood change so drasticallyZander sighed then looked back at her, “It’s nothing, really, just Sean has been locked in his room all afternoon. I think he is mad at me for telling him that you couldn’t come. I just wanted to surprise him. Just this once.”“Oh, if that’s the problem, then I will just head up to his room and fix the problem now,” Claudia said, decisively, before heading up to Zander’s room.When she reached the door, she noticed the lights was off and her brow crinkled in confusion. “It’s only six. He shouldn’t be asleep yet,” she thought and knocked softly on the door. When she d
A month later, Sean and Claudia were goofing around on the square while she took a dinner break when Claudia looked at the date on her phone then frowned. Seeing this, Sean thought he might have said something wrong, or she had a disturbing text again. She had been receiving texts from an unknown number lately that seemed to upset her, but he didn’t understand it because they always seem to just be pictures of a little boy.“What’s wrong, Claudia? Is it that number again?” he asked while looking at her worriedly.“No, I had just realized it’s your birthday tomorrow and I had already planned to meet with a client tomorrow evening and I have class at Bloody Marie’s tomorrow during the day so I won’t get a chance to see you.”Sean’s face fell for a moment but then he smiled at her, “No worries, we will just plan a birthday date for the day after.”“Why not tonight?” She asked and Sean got nervous and tried to hide it but Claudia noticed, “If you have plans I understand,” she continued co
After spending the whole day with Zander, going from place to place, getting her hair done, nails done, and finding the perfect outfit, Claudia was finally ready for her date with Sean. She was wearing a cold shoulder black dress that hugged her curves and stopped about an inch from her knees. Her hair was straightened and left to flow down her back like a copper waterfall and her nails were painted crimson and sharpened as well as pointed to look like claws. As Claudia walked into the Dragon's Den, All the men stopped and stared but her eyes were only focused on Sean who couldn't take his eyes off her even when the waitress was obviously trying to get his attention. “Yeah, yeah, yeah, whatever,” Sean said distractedly while waving his hand at the waitress. “So, what's the plan?” Claudia asked, while placing her hand, gently, on her hip. “No exact plans tonight,” Sean started, “Let’s start with eating and finish with having fun and letting loose. How does tha
The next day, as Lex was helping Claudia set up her tarot table and chairs, Zander, with a disappointed look on his face, walked up to them with Sean, whose head was down in shame. “Sean, don’t you have something to say to Claudia after last night?” Zander asked while raising his eyebrows after a few moments of silence. “I’m sorry, Claudia. I should have come to you when Alex told me about your supposed country boyfriend instead of scheming behind your back and hurting you,” Sean said with his voice laced in remorse. Claudia shook her head and looked at Sean with empathy in her eyes, “Sean, the fact that you schemed and didn’t believe in me are both minimal compared to you cheating on me.” “Hold up, I didn’t sleep with anyone last night. I didn’t cheat,” Sean said as his face rose for the first time in this conversation. “Not true. You even told me you were flirting with another girl and somehow unintendedly stood Claudia up to be with that gi
When Claudia made it back to Lex’s house, her eyes where red and swollen from her angry crying. She had hoped that maybe Lex was asleep, but, as her luck would have it, he was waiting up to ask her how her night was, like ant doting father would do. Besides, the rumors that had been spreading had already reached his ears and he had hoped that they hadn’t reached hers since he knew how she reacted anytime Volk had been brough up ever since her mother sent her that letter telling her about his death. When he saw her tear-stricken face as she ran to her room, his heart hurt for her and he immediately went into father-mode and chased her to her room asking her, “What happened, Claudia, why are you crying?” “I don’t want to talk about it,” Claudia said. “If, you don’t tell me, then I will hunt down Sean and get the information from him in a more aggressive way. As a matter of fact, with how you came home, I think I would prefer this method because then I can torture him for making you cr
That afternoon, right after lunch, Claudia got a text from Sean’s number asking her to meet him on Bourbon Street, so she was waiting in front of Marie Laveau’s House of Voodoo like they agreed upon over text. As she waited, she kept checking her phone because she had made it to the spot right on time and she couldn’t see him anywhere. After she waited for about one hour and decided she looked like a fool still standing there, looking around, looking like sone lost tourist, so she was going to leave, Sean came strolling up with his arm laid over the shoulder of some girl that looked like she had come from a strip club with Alex following behind with another chick dressed almost as revealing. As they walked up to her, she clenched her jaw and dropped the present she got him on the ground. “I guess I had been a fool,” she thought while Sean smirked at her as if he knew she was hurt but didn’t care or that he knew something she didn’t. “Gab and Vic, this is my uncle’s pride and joy’s