Chapter One.

 A long way to New Orleans 

"You know, you can't ignore me for the rest of the journey Ella." Eyes on the windscreen, Dad tried starting up a conversation again for the umpteenth time. "eventually you would have to speak to me."

'Till then I guess.' I had decided to be mute throughout the journey to New Orleans, not to get the worst out of my dad, or play a pity party, but because I was the pity party. We had a good life back home, well, at least. I had already started making several friends after years of being timid and being called a 'weirdo' in high school. There was Lucy, Carla, and Kelvin, all of whom made my high school years quite bearable. And of course Josh, the only boy I found fascinating and had fantasized about having a big wedding and several cute babies with.

Mom had died from a gas explosion at work when I was five, the police tried investigating the scenario but got no lead or evidence as to how it happened. Ever since then, Dad became a shadow of himself, trying to live off work, home, work again, then home. It was a circle, a long repetitive boring circle.

"I told you why we had to leave," his voice sounded more apologetic this time. "Help me out here Nanny," he grunted.

"Caro Mio, give it time," Nanny whispered from the back of the car seat.

Nanny Tabbs was the only one who always reminded me I was Italian each time she spoke to Dad. She had become a major part of the family after Mom's death, occupying the office of a mother to both I and Dad, and a cook.

I sat still, hoping to be quiet for a few more hours but got retracted by the ticking and tapping sound of our car almost coming to a halt.

"You have got be to kidding me," Dad said under his breath.

"What's going on?" The first words that whistled out of my mouth since we left home and zoomed off on our way to a land full of uncertainties. "What's the problem?"

"I think we ran out of fuel," he said.

"What!?" I screeched. We were in the middle of nowhere for heaven's sake, and what now? FUEL!!?

"Oh great! This is just great," I continued in my not-so-good but very devastating state. We not only ran out of fuel but couldn't find a place to get one because we were miles away from a filling station, 'Could this day get any better'.

"Common! Common! Common!" Dad said with gritted teeth trying to restart the engine of the car, but failed.

"Cavolo!" he swore, hitting the steering of the car hard. I watched him from the side of my eyes, wanting to help ease some of his burdens, but my pride had already sprouted out pink branches. So I sat still, darkness already embracing my eyes, 'Could it get any better'.

*********

"Hey! You waiting for someone?" a rusty old voice brought me back to my pickle.

"Not really man, I just ran out of fuel" Dad seemed to be excited to see another human aside from me and Nanny.

"Oh, that's rough," the stranger said, removing the cigarette from his mouth so the smoke could have a getaway. "They ain't no filling station nearby."

I moved a little to have a better look at the stranger. He was old quite alright, and for nobody's sake, I prayed that the young woman by his side wasn't his wife.

"I have got some fuel at the back of my truck I could share." he came down from his truck diverting my attention to the young girl at the back. She was as pretty as the woman at the front of the truck, and was the same age as me I could tell.

"Oh boy! You just saved a life." My dad's smile was huge enough to host a couple of wasted teenagers who were looking for more shots and a crib to crash. 

I stared at the woman and the young girl again while Dad was getting the fuel. Maybe he was her brother or uncle. I didn't want to picture such a gorgeous woman on top of such a fella every night. The thought alone was sickening to my stomach. 

"Grazie Signore," Nanny's excited voice breached the highest sound of a ding-dong bell, signaling me to also extend my appreciation.

"Grazie Signore," I said. 

He raised his cap as a sign of a cordial relationship "Safe travels my people."

"You too my friend, Thank you." Dad stood as he watched his savior zoom off in his truck.

The next few hours in the car were quiet, except for Nanny Tabbs who hummed a lullaby mom used to sing to me when I was a baby while knitting her apron.

"Baby baby don't cry, don't you know there's someone who loves you and watches over you"

"Baby baby don't cry, you are more beautiful when you smile "

As the song continued, I wondered what my new home looked like, I wondered what Clara and Lucy were doing right now, did they miss me? Did Kelvin finally ask Brenda to prom? Did Josh ever think of me the way I thought of him?

"We are here!!" Dad finally said after hours of a long silence in the car.

The house was much bigger than the old one, and the neighborhood was quiet. We got out of the car and started offloading the luggage. I had taken quite a lot for someone who didn't want to resettle in another country. 

I could tell from the inside that there was a lot of work to be done. The wooden doors that led to several rooms were all broken, and pieces of paper and rags were littered on the floor. The kitchen had a leaking sink and a pipe that needed to be fixed. The ceiling in the sitting room was deteriorated and covered in thick layers of filth.

I sighed, hoping my room was at least going to bring a little joy to the already ruined day. Moving past the troops of dirty rags and littered paper, I stepped on something hard that felt like a glass. I reached out to pick it up and was astounded by what I found.

"Nanny," I called out. "Come see what I found."

Nanny Tabbs came in rushing, trying not to step on something harmful.

"What is it child?" she was almost out of breath.

"Isn't it beautiful?" I said, looking lovingly at the frame on my hands.

"What's the commotion about?" Dad said from behind Nanny.

"Ella found something," Nanny pushed me forward to meet Dad with the frame on my hands.

I couldn't have heard the words correctly, maybe I heard them wrong. But they came stronger.

"I said throw it away!!" he said again, angrier, sweat dripping down his face, his eyes lost all emotions. I had never seen Dad look that way before, he looked fearful, like he saw a ghost. I stepped backward, wondering why Dad freaked out about seeing the picture of a child and a werewolf under a red moon.