Brianna let out a tired yawn once she forced herself to sit up in the warm bed before she reached across and grabbed her cell phone off of the bedside table. "Damn," the brunette girl mumbled when she saw it was exactly one in the afternoon. Brianna not only had missed ten calls from her friend; Caroline, and her aunt; Jenna, but she also slept through every single morning news show, and the hotel's complimentary breakfast.
The brunette girl then slowly crawled out of the heavenly bed and pushed her messy brown hair out of her eyes with a huff as the pounding on the front door was still going. Brianna didn't even bother looking through the small peep hole to see who see was there once she reached the entrance as only three people knew that she was staying in this hotel.
"Hello, Ms. Gilbert!" The very loud and cheerful voice of Helen, the woman that Brianna immediately recognized as the receptionist from the hotel lobby when Marcel had brought her here last night and had gotten her a free room, called out once the white door was thrown open.
The perky woman didn't wait for a response from the teenage girl before she pushed her way through the door without a care in the world while she carried a handmade wooden basket in her thin arms. Helen then faced the annoyed Brianna, who didn't have time for the excited woman when she was still half asleep, and exclaimed in the same happy voice, "Mr. Gerard wanted me to deliver this to you," before she gently placed the large basket onto the dresser of the Lion Suite.
"Uh, thanks," Brianna mumbled confusingly as she didn't know why Marcel was sending her something when they barely officially met yesterday. The brunette girl then rubbed the sleepiness out of her eyes before she looked up and gave the older woman a fake smile as she just wanted to get rid of her already. Brianna could not deal with perky people when she barely woke up. She couldn't even talk to her bright and bubbly friend; Caroline Forbes, until at least ten in the morning or Brianna will want to scratch her eyes out. The Forbes girl learned that lesson the hard way when they were seven years old and Brianna had yanked on the blonde girl's hair to shut her up.
"Oh! Of course!" The older woman hurriedly uttered with her eyes widened when she realized she was finished before she quickly made her way back to the opened door. "Have a nice day!" Helen exclaimed as she rushed out of the room as she remembered Mr. Gerard told her to be kind to the young girl and to only deliver the package or she could kiss her hotel goodbye and Helen definitely didn't want that as this hotel is her life and along the fact that she wants to stay on Marcel's good side.
Brianna watched Helen basically sprint to the elevator with confusion written all over her face. Weird, the brunette girl thought as it looked like the woman was afraid. Brianna then shrugged her shoulders as she pushed that thought away as she figured the receptionist must have forgotten to do something before she closed the door behind her and made her way towards the basket.
The brunette girl then glanced around the basket but there was a dark red wrapping around it, so Brianna carried it with her as she went back to the large and cozy bed. Once Brianna was comfortable on the center of the mattress, she then slowly pulled the wrapping off and noticed that it was like a welcome basket. There was a paper sign that said; 'Welcome to New Orleans!' There was also a couple of postcards, a map of the city, three Mardi Gras beaded necklaces, a big bag of Zapp's potato chips, a small bottle of St. Roch vodka, and a heavy Fleur De Lis paper weight.
Well, that was nice of Marcel, Brianna thought after she neatly placed everything back into the basket and set it to the side. The hazel eyed girl then let out another tired yawn before she decided it was time to go out and explore the town she was born in or she would end up falling back to sleep.
Brianna then sluggishly got out of the bed while she thought of the coffee she would soon buy to wake her up before she moved over to her black bag that had all of her clothes. I really should unpack, Brianna thought before she promised with a shrug, I'll do it when I get back.
The brunette girl sifted through all of her clothes for a moment before she found something lazy to wear. It consisted of a pair of dark blue skinny jeans and a white t-shirt that said in black letters, 'bad habits,' in the top corner. Brianna instantly shook her head with a small chuckle as she remembered when she and Caroline had bought the same shirt while they were on a trip in New York with their AP History class.
It was ironic because they had sneaked out together while everyone was sleeping and saw the matching shirts on their way back from this party that they had went to and had gotten drunk. Caroline had tipsily told Brianna while they were buying the shirts that Brianna was a bad influence and she was the cause of her bad habits. Well, she wasn't wrong, Brianna thought as she threw the shirt on as she was the one that was always dragging Elena and their friends to parties.
Once she was dressed for the day, Brianna moved to the stand in front of the full body mirror that was attached to the bathroom door. The brunette girl then shook her head before she headed back to her bag of clothes. She pulled out a grey cardigan as Brianna figured she might get chilly later if she stays out too late. Even though it was late July in the south, Brianna would rather be safe than sorry if a cold front was to hit since she had missed the news this morning and couldn't see the weather forecast.
"There," Brianna huffed out once she placed the cardigan over her shoulders and had slipped in a pair of simple black boots that came right above her ankles. The brunette girl then grabbed her cell phone and room key off of the bedside table before she grabbed her black wallet out of the leather jacket that she had worn yesterday.
The Gilbert girl stood there for a moment once she had her things as she tried to make sure she had everything she would need for today before she thought of something she could bring with her; the map of New Orleans. Brianna figured it could help get her around the city until she could find Marcel.
Once Brianna realized she had everything, she shoved her key card into her black wallet, placed her cell phone in the back pocket of her jeans, and left the map in her right hand before she finally exited her hotel room for the first time since she had arrived.
Brianna then took the short ride down the silent elevator before she walked through the lobby, where the receptionist, Helen, gave her a wide smile and an exaggerated wave. I'm definitely not going to ever like her, Brianna thought as she pushed the door open and stepped foot out onto the New Orleans streets as the woman was just too cheerful for Brianna's taste.
The Gilbert girl then moved to the side of the hotel as she avoided running into anyone before she opened up the map that Marcel had gave her as she had no clue what she was doing in the unfamiliar town. Brianna figured she was just going to wing it as she didn't have any plans. Maybe it'll lead me back to Marcel, the brunette girl thought as she had gotten lucky with finding him yesterday without even looking.
Brianna focused her hazel eyes down on the map for a couple of minutes before she found a place that caught her attention; Faulkner House Books. The teenage girl loves to read - despite the stereotype of her being a bad girl and a jock who only likes to drink, party, and play soccer. Brianna was secretly a huge nerd. She loved to read and learn about anything that had to deal with history as it is her passion.
Once Brianna had a location in mind, she turned left to head back to Rousseau's Bar to pick up her red Mazda from the parking lot. However, the brunette girl quickly came to a stop as she realized she could just walk around New Orleans. It seemed like everything was close together from what the Gilbert girl saw on the map and what she saw when she had first entered New Orleans yesterday. So, instead of continuing to go left, Brianna turned right back around and started to walk the other direction to the bookstore.
It took an extra fifteen minutes before Brianna finally reached the small shop - which was probably longer than it should had taken as the brunette girl had soaked in all of the amazing and beautiful culture that surrounded her. It was barely two in the afternoon when Brianna began to walk down the roads, but the city was just so lively. Brianna could already hear and see the Jazz musicians playing on the street corners and the people in their early twenties heading into bars along with the smell of fresh seafood. It's so different from the life she left in Mystic Falls, so Brianna wanted to soak it all in as much as she could.
The Gilbert girl had also stopped at a local coffee shop that was next to the bookstore so that added another ten minutes of her time as she needed something to keep awake after sleeping for so long. Finally, after saying a quick thank you to the barista, Brianna got to enter through the glass doors of the establishment that she had learned was named after a famous author from her very hometown.
Brianna was instantly shell shocked once her hazel eyes finally adjusted to the light and glanced around the store. It was small but it was filled to the rim with thousands of books. It was like heaven for the brunette girl as her inner nerd was screaming out with pleasure. I'll definitely be back here, Brianna thought as she trailed her fingers across the edges of the rough books while she slowly walked down the first aisle.
"Hello," a sweet and kind voice spoke from behind Brianna while she was in the middle of a book filled orgasm. "Can I help you with anything?" The young girl wondered politely.
Brianna quickly turned around at the honey-like tone and saw that it was a beautiful brunette girl that was probably the same age as she was. The Gilbert girl then gave the obvious worker a quick smile before she replied, "I was just looking around."
The brunette girl nodded her head in understanding before she wondered instead of turning around like she usually would when customers would tell her that, "so, are you new in town?" The cashier really didn't want to back to work, so she figured she would chat up the unknown person as she didn't think she'd seen the hazel eyed girl at the only high school in New Orleans.
Brianna thought for a moment what her answer should be before she uttered with a content smile, "actually, I'm a returning resident." The brunette girl was really starting to feel at home in New Orleans despite only being here for a day in half but it just felt right to call it hers. "I was born here," Brianna added as she further explained to the teenager in front of her as she was probably trying to figure out if she knew her.
"Oh, okay," the brunette girl uttered as she realized that is why the hazel eyed girl doesn't look familiar. She then went to open her mouth to ask another question, but before she could she was soon interrupted by mother yelling at her to get back to work. The teenage cashier let out a sigh and mumbled, "I should probably go," before she told the new comer or returner, "let me know if you need any help."
"Thanks," Brianna praised politely before she silently watched the cute brunette girl walk back behind the counter. She seems nice, the Gilbert girl thought as she finally got to meet someone that is actually her age. It seemed like everywhere Brianna looked it was only young adults in their early twenties or even older people.
Brianna shook her head after a moment as she realized she had just been standing in the middle of the store in some random trance from the cashier. Beautiful girls and guys will be the death of me, Brianna thought as she just couldn't help but be attracted to the cashier's angelic face. The Gilbert girl then quickly turned around as she needed to focus before she headed down the first aisle to hopefully find something that would catch her attention.
It took Brianna about twenty minutes of slowly walking down the aisles of books while stopping at least five times for each row before she grabbed two books. They were both historical books about New Orleans. Brianna wanted to learn all she could about her hometown, so she grabbed one that was about the French Quarter and the other one was called; In The Spirit Of New Orleans, that looked to be about the culture of the city.
Brianna figured this would be good for now as she could always just come back here whenever she wanted another book along with the fact that her arms were starting to hurt from carrying the two heavy books while she was also trying to keep her coffee from spilling. However, before Brianna could reach the cashier, a book in the corner of the room quickly caught her attention. The brunette girl smiled once she walked up to it and read the title; Gone With The Wind.
Caroline is going to flip, Brianna thought as her blonde friend is obsessed with Scarlett O'Hara. It was very hard to even find a copy of the classic novel, so Brianna quickly swiped it off of the shelve as she couldn't pass up the chance of not buying Caroline's favorite tale. Hopefully this will help with not giving her an official goodbye, Brianna thought as she knew her blonde friend was still mad that she just left in the middle of the night without giving her a real goodbye.
A groan immediately escaped from Brianna's mouth once she piled Caroline's book onto the other two thick books. Brianna knew she wouldn't be able to carry anything else, so she quickly speed walked over the cashier as she prayed she would make it there without dropping anything.
"Hey!" The cheery voice of the teenage girl that Brianna had met earlier greeted the hazel eyed girl once Brianna had slammed the books down onto the counter and gained her attention. The cashier then began to scan the items like she does everyday during the summer and every evening during school. "Will that be all?" The teenager questioned once she placed the three books into a lime green tote bag.
Brianna nodded her head with a polite smile before she joked, "I think so." The Gilbert girl then glanced up at the bright green total on the cash register before she opened up her leather wallet and pulled out three twenties. "Here you go," Brianna mumbled as she handed over the money.
The Gilbert girl then took the chance to look behind the cashier while the teenage girl was counting out the money and noticed a couple of posters. There was one for the football team; New Orleans Saints and the other one was a poster of the Catholic church that Brianna remembered walking by when she was walking towards the bookstore and coffee shop.
"Six-fifty is your change," the honey-like voice of the young girl uttered after a moment of silence had settled between them as she had switched out the right amount of money before she placed the dollars and coins into the hazel eyed girl's awaiting palm.
"Thanks," Brianna began as she placed the money back into her leather wallet before she looked back up and finally noticed the name tag on the teenager's floral spaghetti strap top. The Gilbert girl then trailed off confusingly as she read the name in a form of a question as she could only see the d-a-v-i on the tag, "David?"
The cashier instantly blushed ruby red as she quickly shook her head. "Oh, God no!" She mumbled in embarrassment. The teenager chuckled awkwardly as she held out her sun-kissed hand before she uttered her name, "it's Davina. Davina Claire."
The hazel eyed girl smirked at the nervous teenager in front of her before she politely shook Davina's hand. "Brianna," she uttered once she let go and also introduced herself in the same way, "Brianna Gilbert."
The Claire girl instantly grinned at Brianna now that she knew the name of the teenager with her bright smile fully on show. Davina felt like she never gets to meet anyone her age except, of course, for her friend, Tim, but he was in California for the summer. "So, are you staying in town?" Davina wondered while she leaned her side against the wooden counter as she didn't want to say goodbye just yet.
Brianna bit down on her bottom lip as she thought for a moment before she finally nodded her head and stated, "I think I will for a couple more days." The Gilbert girl didn't really know how long she was actually going to stay for but she knew for certain that she didn't plan on leaving anytime soon until she got to know who she really is. Brianna wanted to know more about her family before she could even think about leaving.
Davina nodded before an idea quickly popped into her head. She then began to move papers around on the counter until she found a blank piece of paper and a pen before she scribbled down her number. "Well, if you ever want to hang out this summer or if you wanna go out and do something, this is my number," the Claire girl uttered nervously before she handed over the information to Brianna.
"I'd like that," Brianna uttered with a grin. The Gilbert girl was glad that she was already making friends with someone her age. It was usually hard for her to make friends with teenagers unless they wanted something from her like alcohol, information on who to buy drugs from, or sex. But Davina was certainly different. She was just so innocent and pure. I could use some innocence, Brianna thought as she never really is friends with people like that.
"I'll shoot you a text later," Brianna quickly promised before she waved goodbye to Davina once she had her bag of books as she had noticed someone standing behind her and she didn't want to hold them up. Brianna then pushed the tote of books up her arm before she finally exited out of the place she knew she would be visiting quite often, either for the books or the cute cashier.
The Gilbert girl then clumsily pulled out the map of New Orleans while she tried to hold her coffee, books, and wallet all at the same time. Brianna let out a huff once she stuffed her wallet into the bag of books before she finally looked down at the map. The brunette girl then nodded her head to herself as she found her next location, a resale shop called; 'Restoration Thrift.'
It took Brianna about ten minutes to reach her next destination from the bookstore. Brianna had to walk down three streets before she spotted the tan building from the map. The brunette girl figured since she bought Caroline something then she would just turn this day into gift shopping and she knew she could find something inside of the shop for Jenna as she knew her aunt loved vintage things.
Once again, Brianna greeted the cashier once she walked into the store like she had done with Davina with a polite smile. However, this time instead of a teenage girl that was her age, it was an older woman in her late fifties with long dark curly hair.
The Gilbert girl then stood in her spot for a moment once the older woman said a small hello as she didn't really know what she was looking for. The large store was filled with so much stuff, so Brianna just decided to start on the first aisle and her make her way around.
The first aisle had a mixture of jewelry ranging from silver necklaces to mood rings. Brianna shook her head after a moment of sifting through the jewelry as nothing really caught her attention. She then moved onto the next aisle that had scarves and headbands. Now this is more Jenna's style, Brianna thought as her aunt always finds a way to wear a scarf even when it's seventy-five degrees in Mystic Falls.
Brianna scanned the many scarves for a few minutes before she finally settled on three that she knew her aunt would like. The first one was a grey scarf that would go perfectly with Jenna's dark jacket that she always wore. The second one was white with pink and purple flowers going along it and then the last one was black with small little white arrows.
Once the Gilbert girl had the three scarves hanging across her grey cardigan, Brianna then continued to walk around the store before she noticed an aisle that had pens, notebooks, and journals. Brianna went straight to the journals and began to look at the them closely before one of them caught her attention the most. It was a pale purple journal that said, 'one day at a time,' written in white cursive. The hazel eyed girl knew that her sister loves to write, so Brianna figured it would be the perfect thing for Elena, especially right now after they just lost their parents.
Brianna added the journal to the pile of things she was buying for her family before she continued to look around the store for anything that she could give to someone. The Gilbert girl then grabbed a dark blue jean jacket after a few minutes of looking around once she got to the clothes section. Brianna figured she would get her sister's best friend something too.
Bonnie Bennett and Brianna Gilbert weren't the best of friends as the Bennett girl didn't like how she was always dragging them to parties and getting them into trouble. However, Brianna didn't want to be a bitch, so she thought she would play nice and buy the jacket for the brown eyed girl as she knew from Bonnie's style that she likes these type of jackets.
Once Brianna placed the jacket onto her arm that held the things she was going to buy, she looked around the store for ten more minutes or so before she finally headed to the cashier and paid for her things. The Gilbert girl then headed back onto the streets of New Orleans once she put her money back in her wallet and thanked the older woman.
Brianna had decided while she took those couple of minutes of looking for something for her brother that she was going to stop by this music store that she had noticed earlier as she figured the moody and teenage Jeremy wouldn't like anything from the resale shop. So here was Brianna, once again, standing at the corner street while she looked down at the map of New Orleans.
It took Brianna only a couple of seconds before she spotted the store on the map before she silently began to walk between a couple of alleyways before she noticed the bright neon sign that read, 'Second Life Vinyl Shop.'
Perfect, Brianna thought as she knew this was the place she could find her brother's present. Jeremy is all about old school rock n' roll, so Brianna figured there would be something inside that she would recognize from the many times that she had heard Jeremy's music blaring through the thin walls of the Gilbert house.
Once Brianna stuck the map into her bag of books, Brianna pulled open the dark shaded door to the establishment before she immediately was amazed at what was laid out in front of her. The store was filled with band posters and all of these cool neon signs that matched the one from outside. They are all very colorful and bright. It gave off such a chill atmosphere that Brianna instantly liked.
Jeremy would have definitely loved this place, the Gilbert girl thought as Mystic Falls only had one music store and it wasn't even close to being as nice as this place. Brianna and Jeremy would always have to go to a bigger city like Richmond to find the good music albums.
"Good evening," a rough but smooth voice interrupted the brunette girl's thoughts as her hazel eyes were still glued onto the neon signs like she was in the middle of a LSD trip by all of the colors. "They're beautiful, aren't they?" The man questioned as he noticed the young girl was staring at all of his signs like most tourist do when they come into his shop.
Brianna swiftly turned around when she heard someone speak and noticed a man in his late twenties or early thirties with a fedora sitting on top of his head and a tattoo peeking out from his grey tank top. "They're amazing," Brianna finally answered the man's question once she moved her eyes back to the bright signs, "they seem so authentic and retro."
"Well, most of them were originally bought back in the sixties and seventies," the brown eyed man explained to the young girl as he also focused onto his beloved signs. The short girl and tall guy stood there for a couple of minutes as they watched the blinking lights before the guy finally introduced himself as he held out his hand, "Joe Dalton. Welcome to my store."
The Gilbert girl quickly turned her body around to face the man when she heard Joe speak again before she shook the owner of the vinyl store's hand with a polite smile. "Brianna Gilbert," the brunette girl also introduced herself.
Joe's brown eyes immediately widened in disbelief when he heard the young girl utter her name. "He wasn't joking," the man mumbled under his breath before he quickly explained when he noticed the confused look on the teenager's face as she must of heard him, "Marcel mentioned you were in town." Joe then lifted up his hat and rubbed his short hair before he continued, "I don't think you'd remember me as you were just a small pea back then, but I was friends with your parents thanks to MG."
Brianna calmed down at first once she heard Marcel's name and was also surprised another person knew who she is but the Gilbert girl then grew even more confused than before at Joe's last statement. "Friends?" Brianna wondered before she uttered puzzlingly, "they must have really liked children. You would have been really young when I was born." The brunette girl remembered Marcel telling her that he was only nine years old when she was born, so Brianna figured Joe was around the same age.
"Young?" The man questioned right back in the same confusing manner as the hazel eyed girl had done. What the hell has Marcel been telling the Labonair girl? Joe thought as he had no clue what was going on.
Brianna nodded her head as she mumbled, "yeah," before she explained, "Marcel told me that he was only nine years old when my parents died and I was adopted." The brunette girl shrugged her shoulders as she commented, "so, you couldn't have been that much older than him."
"Oh, yeah!" Joe hollered as he pointed at the brunette girl like he was remembering before he rolled his brown eyes with a chuckle. "I think my old age is catching up with me," the man joked, "I can't even remember what things happened in what years." The man then gave Brianna a small smile before he lied, "but yeah, your parents was friends with my father." However, in reality, it was Joe that was actually friends with the Labonair couple. But Joe knew he couldn't say that as it seems like Marcel had came up with a lie to protect the young girl.
The Gilbert girl nodded her head with a polite smile as she figured the man just got some of his facts mixed up. It made sense now as he doesn't look that much older than Marcel and Joe couldn't have been older than eleven at the time when she was born.
"So, what were my parents like?" Brianna wondered after a moment of silence as she couldn't help but ask. She just wanted to know more about them and she didn't know where she could find Marcel right now, so why not ask someone that knew them?
"They were good people," Joe uttered with a small smile. "Lauren used to always bring cookies or other food over when she would get off work to make sure she we weren't going hungry or anything," the brown eyed man explained as he remembered the brunette woman coming by all the time. But instead of being a child like Brianna was probably thinking, Joe was an adult and Lauren along with her husband; Justin was Joe and Marcel's close friends - despite Justin's true nature.
"Where did she work?" Brianna wondered as she was pulled into the small tale of the kind act of her birth mother. The brunette girl didn't even know what her mother looked like but in Brianna's mind she could only imagine a sweet woman bringing goodies like a suburban mom.
The owner of the vinyl shop pointed towards the West as if he was showing where Lauren worked as he answered the young girl's question, "she used to work down on North Rampart Street a few miles back at Cafe Sbisa. Lauren would always bring us steak and cakes on her way home. Your mom was a real sweet and caring woman."
Brianna smiled slightly as she finally learned something about her birth mother. It was just something else she could place together for the faceless person that she didn't really know anything about except, of course, that she carried her for nine months. "Thank you," Brianna whispered after a moment of her staring at nothing in particular while she thought about the small piece of information that helped her feel closer to her biological parents.
"It's nothing," Joe assured the young girl with a bright grin as he waved his hand, "I'm happy to help." The older man then glanced behind him when he heard the bell ringing from the front door, which immediately caused Joe to straighten up as he noticed Thierry Vanchure. "Well, if you need anything or you want to know more about parents, just let me know," Joe quickly told the brunette with a tight smile as he squeezed her shoulder before the man swiftly turned around and followed after Thierry through the back door.
The Gilbert girl gave the older man a thankful smile before she also turned around once he had began to walk away - which caused Brianna to miss the tension the store owner had as he followed after Thierry and she also failed to notice the guy in the black hood that was secretly following her after witnessing the conversation with Joe. The brunette girl instead was focusing on her brother's present as she slowly walked through the vinyl store as she searched through all of the albums.
Finally, after about fifteen minutes, Brianna found the perfect one that Jeremy would like. It was a vinyl record of the album; Nevermind by Nirvana. I'm definitely stealing this when I go back home, Brianna thought as this was something she and Jeremy always had in common; music taste. Well, that was actually true with everyone Brianna knew. She liked just about every single type of music from smooth jazz to underground rap. The only thing she couldn't stand was country music. Brianna was just never a fan and thankfully neither was anyone in her family.
The Nirvana album wasn't all Brianna bought either. The Gilbert girl stayed in the store for another twenty minutes as she grabbed two other records for herself. One was a Thirty Seconds To Mars album and the other one was Frank Sinatra. The brunette girl then had to force herself to leave the aisles and pay for her items once she had the three vinyl's in her hand as she could stay inside the shop for days. So, Brianna paid for the music before she finally made her way back onto the streets of New Orleans.
However, Brianna was instantly shocked once she stepped out into the chilly air as it was pitch black dark. The brunette hadn't even realized she was in the vinyl store for that long. I think that's a sign to stop shopping, Brianna thought as the sun was gone and she was getting hungry since she only had a large cup of coffee at two in the afternoon.
Once Brianna had her bags situation along her arms, she began to look around her surrounding for a moment as she tried to see if she could get back to the hotel on her own. The Gilbert girl silently nodded her head to herself once she noticed the sign to the familiar hotel shining brightly in the dark sky.
Brianna then began to slowly walk through the dark alleyways as she followed the arrows to the famous building. I think I'll stop by and see Jane-Anne, the Gilbert girl silently thought to herself since she didn't know where to spend the rest of her night and why not go to a bar? Anyway, she might even get lucky again and find Marcel like she did last night when she went to Rousseau's.
But unluckily for Brianna, while she was busy walking down the dark road as she prayed Jane-Anne's sister still had some gumbo left over, the brunette girl didn't see or hear someone coming towards her until she felt her body slam against the brick wall that was about two streets away from her hotel.
"Fuck," Brianna groaned as soon as she felt her forehead bounce off of the hard wall before she instantly went to her instincts of fight or flight mode. She had two choices and her mind was screaming at her to just get out of here as Brianna didn't know the people of New Orleans like she did in Mystic Falls. So Brianna did the one thing she hoped would work as she shouted while she placed her hands onto the wall to show she wasn't going to fight, "just take whatever you want!"
However, the unknown assailant, a man, didn't take the bait like Brianna thought he would. He instead pushed his nose into the brunette girl's neck as he heavily breathed in her sweet and warm scent. "I got what I want right here, little Labonair," the man whispered sinisterly.
"Please!" Brianna begged as she just wanted to get out of this uncomfortable situation with the man that shockingly knew who she is. The Gilbert girl then quickly tossed her wallet by the guys feet as she decided to try a different tactic. "You can have my money. There is thousands of dollars in there," Brianna hurriedly told the man, "I won't tell anyone if you just let me go."
The man still didn't move at the mention of all the money. He only chuckled sinisterly before he moved at a fast speed and twirled the brunette girl around so she was now facing him. "I said, I already got what I want right here," the man snarled out as he placed his cold hand around Brianna's neck and squeezed the breath right out of her lungs.
Brianna's hazel eyes instantly widened once she looked up at her attacker and saw his bright blue eyes turn dark with black veins starting to crawl across his cheeks before sharp fangs sprang from his gums. It was something she had never seen in her life and it frightened her to the core. Brianna didn't know how she was suppose to fight this creature, so she did the one thing she knew she could; she screamed as loud as her lungs would allow as she prayed someone would hear her and save her.
Unluckily for the brunette girl, the man or monster swiftly covered Brianna's mouth before she could let out more than a second of her banshee-like scream. The man then shook his head with another evil and sinister chuckle as he was enjoying the fight in this girl. "I don't think so, little one," the man uttered before he opened his mouth, fangs and all, to finally get to eat his feisty snack.
However, before the man could sink his teeth into the brunette girl's jugular, he was suddenly thrown against the adjacent brick wall while a protective and vamped out Marcel Gerard stood in front of the scared human girl. "Do not touch her," Marcel growled out as he glared down at the now angry vampire.
The man swiftly stood up once he realized he was under attack from another vampire. But his need to kill the other vampire was soon replaced by fear when he saw his leader. "M-Marcel, I-I didn't know you knew the girl," the vampire uttered nervously.
Marcel slowly stalker over to the anxious vampire with a snarl escaping through the crack of his lips and fangs before he grabbed the attacker by his neck and pushed him against the brick wall. "Brianna Gilbert is to never be touched," Marcel growled, "and now you know," before he swiftly thrusted his hand into the vampire's chest and ripped his heart right out.
"Oh, my God. Oh, my God. Oh, my God," Brianna repeated over and over again as she slid her body down to the dirty pavement of the alley as she was shell shocked at what she just witnessed. The man had fangs and he was going to bite her. But then Marcel just showed up out of nowhere with the same face and killed the guy. However, the brunette girl couldn't even begin to process what happened, even though she knew what she saw, as she had never seen anything like it before.
"Ah!" The Gilbert girl shrieked out while she was lost in her frightened thoughts when she felt someone touch her lower arm. Brianna then quickly began to try to move back but the wall that she was leaning against was stopping her from moving any further. So, the brunette girl did what she could as she pushed the hands that kept on grabbing her as she prayed it was all just a bad dream.
"Hey, calm down," Marcel uttered softly as he was squatted down to be eye-level with the human girl after he wiped the blood from his hands. "You're okay," the brown eyed man continued as he tried to calm down the hysterical girl after her first vampire attack, "you're safe. He can't hurt anymore. I got you."
"W-What's j-just happened?" Brianna whimpered as she wrapped her arms tightly around her stomach to offer some sort of comfort to herself as she felt like she was going crazy. The Gilbert girl couldn't even begin to comprehend what she just saw. It just didn't make sense to Brianna. Things like this just aren't suppose to happen. This is real life, not some horror movie.
"Joe called and told me that you were walking home in the dark," Marcel explained in the same calm and soothing voice while he also avoided talking about the elephant in the room, so he wouldn't frighten the girl even more than she already is. Marcel hated that this happened. The Labonair girl only been in town for two days and she was already getting involved in one of things Marcel had promised Justin and Lauren that wouldn't happen.
Brianna didn't even know how she was suppose to respond. She still didn't understand who that man was and why he attacked her or how Marcel fucking ripped his heart out of his chest like he was ripping a piece of paper. It was like her brain couldn't connect everything together just yet. The only thing Brianna could actually do is just let out all of her scared tears while she rocked back and forth as she hugged her knees to her chest.
Marcel let out a heavy sigh as he looked across at the unresponsive human girl, who had just met her first official vampire. The Gerard vampire knew he should of gotten Brianna out of New Orleans when he first saw her. He never wanted this to happen. However, there was no turning back now, so Marcel pulled out his cell phone as he knew he needed to get Brianna somewhere safe so he can explain what really goes on in her hometown.
"Crowne Plaza and Peters Street," Marcel uttered out his location once he heard his call being answered by his close confidant, Joe Dalton. "Come here and grab Brianna's things and I need you to go to room 187 at the Plaza and grab all of her things before bringing them to my place," the Gerard vampire continued in a low voice.
Once Marcel got a simple okay from his friend, he placed his cell phone into the back pocket of his jeans before he focused onto the human girl. Marcel then bent down to cradle Brianna in his arms while he made sure to whisper, "it's going to be okay," before he finally vamp sped towards his personal apartment that was a few blocks away in the center of the French Quarter.
The Gilbert girl instantly pushed herself out of Marcel's arms and stumbled backwards as soon as she could see her surroundings again instead of the darkness she had experienced when Marcel had picked her up and had somehow ran at incredible speed. "H-How did you do that?" Brianna gasped as she felt like it had only been one second between the alleyway and the apartment.
Marcel instantly raised his hands in the air to show the human girl that he wasn't going to hurt her if she happened to be frightened of him while he took a step closer. "First, I need you to relax before I tell you anything, Brianna," Marcel uttered worriedly as the human girl didn't look well with her face turning pale along with her shaky limbs. The Gerard vampire then pointed his head towards the deep brown couch behind Brianna once he saw she wasn't going to faint on him before he silently took a seat on the matching chair that was across from the couch.
Brianna didn't know if she could even trust Marcel right now as he was just like the guy that had attacked her and she was just still very confused. However, Brianna knew she needed to sit as she was so dizzy from whatever had just happened. So, Brianna kept her hazel eyes locked onto Marcel's brown ones as she slowly stepped back until she felt the back of legs touch the soft couch before she took a seat at the very edge.
The Gerard vampire kept his eyes glued onto the brunette girl for a couple of minutes as he silently watched her to make sure Brianna was really okay. But once Marcel noticed that she wasn't about to sprint to the front door for help, he let out a sigh while he tiredly rubbed his hands down his face. "The person that attacked you tonight was a very stupid and idiotic vampire," Marcel finally explained to the human girl once he looked back up at the nervous and impatient Brianna.
The Gilbert girl rose an eyebrow at the man in front of her in complete and utter disbelief. "You're kidding, right?" Brianna questioned in amusement - despite that she just watched someone die in front of her. There was no such thing as vampires. That was just some stupid bedtime story that parents would tell their kids to scare them.
However, Marcel didn't start laughing or say he was just joking like Brianna was hoping he would. He instead allowed his face to turn to its monster form as his brown eyes turned red and fangs squeezed their way through his lips before he vamp sped across the room. "Everything you thought you knew, is all about to change, Brianna," Marcel uttered once he turned his face back to normal and walked back to his seat. The Gerard vampire knew he couldn't keep Brianna in the dark any longer like he had promised to her parents. It would just cause Brianna to be in even more danger than she was in when he got her out of New Orleans seventeen years ago.
An array of emotions immediately began to display on the Gilbert girl's face once she saw Marcel transform and move across the room at inhuman speed. Brianna was shocked, surprised, scared, and then finally; she felt acceptance as she accepted that this was all happening. She knew she would be stupid to play this off and ignore it when she saw it first hand when Marcel had killed that guy and had showed her his true form.
"Tell me more," Brianna commanded after a moment as she crossed her arms over her chest while she stared directly at Marcel with a straight face once she gained the strength to push down the fear that she had felt. If Brianna was going to know about vampires, then she wanted to know everything as this wasn't a thing she could just brush off like a scared teenager when she knew that this is serious.
A small smile instantly lifted onto Marcel's dark lips at how strong the human girl already was. Maybe she will make it here after all, the Gerard vampire thought as he had been afraid ever since Brianna arrived in New Orleans that she would end up dead. But now, it seems like the brunette girl is stronger than she looks.
"New Orleans isn't like any other place in the world," Marcel began to tell the human girl once he got up from his chair that he had been sitting in and slowly walked into the adjacent kitchen. He glanced towards Brianna as he stood on the other side of the room before he continued, "the city is run by vampires." Marcel then bent down and grabbed a bottle bourbon for himself and a bottle of vodka as he had noticed last night that was Brianna's alcohol of choice. Once he had the two bottles in his hands along with two glasses, Marcel made his way back into the living room before he placed their necessities down onto the glass coffee table in front of Brianna.
"I run New Orleans," Marcel uttered proudly as he began to pour the amber liquid into his glass and the clear liquid into the human girl's before he handed Brianna the glass. "My army of vampires and I keep this town from getting out of hand," Marcel further explained once he was relaxed in his chair, "we don't let the witches practice their magic and we make sure the rest of the wolves that are left aren't allowed in town - only in the bayou."
Brianna immediately began to cough while she was in the middle of sipping on her vodka as soon as she heard those words come out of Marcel's mouth. "Excuse me?" Brianna gaped in shock before she interrogated as she sat on the edge of her seat, "did you just say witches and wolves?"
Marcel nodded his head like it was the simplest thing in the world while he took a heavy gulp of his bourbon. "They're all real," the Gerard vampire uttered smoothly as he wanted to keep this calm aura without the human girl freaking out. Marcel was then silent for a moment as he focused on drinking the bourbon before he looked up at Brianna with sadness in his brown orbs and mumbled, "your parents never wanted you involved in all of this. I made a promise to them before they died that I could make sure you never came back here and learned the truth."
"Well, you can't control everything," Brianna muttered out as she tried to console the vampire while she leaned back on comfortable couch with her hands tightly wrapped around her glass of vodka like it is a lifeline.
"So," Brianna began after a calm silence had settled between them while they got their fill on the sweet nectar of alcohol, "I'm guessing your story yesterday at the bar was all bullshit? To cover up the truth about vampires, witches, and the wolves?" Brianna figured as she was trying to piece everything together that if Marcel promised her parents to get her out of town, then that would mean something was probably after them. Was it a vampire? Witch? Or a wolf?
Marcel let out a sigh as he nodded his head before he mumbled, "it was." The vampire wished his lie would have worked, but he knew he has to tell her the truth before it ends up hurting her. "Your parents were murdered by an angry werewolf that wanted something from them. It happened the same night that I delivered you to the Gilberts," Marcel explained as memories from that night came back to him, when he walked into the Labonair house and found Lauren and Justin both dead with the sound of crying coming from the closet.
Brianna downed the rest of her vodka before she poured the glass to the top of the clear liquid as she absorbed the new and correct information. "Were they even human?" The brunette girl inquired after she, once again, roughly downed the vodka.
"Yes," Marcel lied, "they were only involved because your parents were friends of mine and the werewolf targeted them for that reason." The Gerard vampire wanted to at least keep one secret that would put Brianna in danger. It was the least he could do for Justin and Lauren Labonair when he already failed at keeping their daughter safe.
"Wow," Brianna mumbled in disbelief as she anxiously played with the edge of her grey cardigan. It certainly didn't make her feel any better with knowing the truth - even though she was glad to know the reality of life. It just made her think of another bad death that happened to her parents. Brianna's adopted parents died in a car crash and now her biological parents died at the hand of a supernatural being; a werewolf.
"Marcel, Helen thinks that you are going to take the hot-" the voice of Joe Dalton called out as he came fast walking at a human pace with all of things that he had collected, but soon stopped in the middle of his sentence when he noticed the human girl he had met earlier tonight. "Oh, sorry," Joe quickly apologized.
"It's fine, JD," the Gerard vampire carelessly uttered as he wave his hand before he explained to his friend, "she knows." Marcel then turned around in his chair and glanced over to Joe and told him, "just put her things in the guest room."
Once the vampire/vinyl store owner silently made his way up the staircase with all of the human girl's belongings, Marcel focused back onto the now confused Brianna as she had noticed Joe carrying everything she owned. "I thought it would be safer if you stayed here with me," Marcel explained, "I usually stay at the compound, so no one will bother you here." The vampire then slowly got off his chair and sat in front of Brianna on the glass table before he grabbed her hands. "I made a promise to Justin and Lauren. I will not let anything happen to you," Marcel vowed softly.
Brianna silently nodded her head with unshed tears in her hazel eyes. The brunette girl did agree, though, that she would feel much safer if she was around Marcel - who she was beginning to realize how protective and loyal he is to her and her biological parents. "I don't know how I can ever thank you," Brianna mumbled wholeheartedly.
The Gerard vampire squeezed the human girl's hand as he joked, "you can thank me by getting some rest." Marcel then slowly stood up from the glass coffee table before he silently headed towards the old staircase. "We talk more in the morning if you wish to learn more," Marcel uttered as he figured Brianna would still have questions and he didn't want to pile it all on her at one time. "Also, if you plan on leaving, let me know so I can get one my vampires to go with you until I can make an announcement that you are not allowed to be touched," Marcel added as he gave Brianna one last concerned but also protective look before he headed up the staircase for the night.
The Gilbert girl immediately let out a breath that she didn't know she was holding once she was left all alone. It had felt like everything was moving in fast motion while she tried to be strong and understand what was happening, so she hadn't really had a moment to herself. But Brianna soon realized as she sat there was that she didn't like the silence. It just frightened her, so Brianna quickly grabbed the bottle of vodka from the table and decided to go to sleep - so she won't have to see the attack of the vampire replay in her mind anymore.
Once the Gilbert girl swiped the glass bottle of vodka from the coffee table, she slowly made her way towards the staircase as her mind was occupied with scary thoughts and she just wanted to finally get some rest after this long and horrible day. However, as Brianna reached the second floor of Marcel's apartment, she soon slammed into someone - which immediately caused a yelp to leave the human girl's mouth.
"Hey, hey. It's just me," Joe quickly assured the jumpy brunette as he gently held onto Brianna's shoulders to calm her down. Once the Dalton vampire noticed that the human girl had calmed down after realizing she wasn't in any danger, Joe took a step back before he assured her, "you're safe here, Brianna. Marcel and I ain't going to let anything bother you while you're here in N'orleans." Joe then gave the human girl a small smile before he gave her his farewell, "if you ever need anything, just let me know. Good night, Brianna."
The Gilbert girl gave Joe a small smile and whispered, "good night," as she watched him walk out of the apartment. At least I know I'll be protected, Brianna thought as she has both Marcel and Joe, who are vampires, to keep her safe from the creatures that roam around her hometown. The brunette girl then let out a sigh once she noticed she was left alone, once again, before she slowly walked down the unfamiliar hallway.
Brianna noticed that there was four doors - two on each side. Brianna didn't want to walk in a room she shouldn't, so she cautiously moved towards the first door that is wide open. "Bathroom," the brunette girl mumbled as she noticed the shower and the sink. She then moved onto the next opened door and sighed in relief when she noticed her things on the large bed.
Brianna took large sip from the bottle of vodka before she placed it onto the small desk that was the closest to the door once she walked into her new sleeping quarters. It isn't as big as her hotel room, Brianna realized, it was more like her bedroom at the Gilbert house - which Brianna liked as it felt more homey.
The brunette girl took a slow glance around the bedroom and noticed that it was like any other bedroom. There was a bed in the middle, a desk, a tall dresser, two tables on either side of the bed, a rocking chair, and a TV hanging off the wall. It's nice, Brianna thought. The Gilbert girl then made her way over to the large bed and picked up the black bag that has all of her clothes before she placed it into the rolling desk chair.
Brianna soon noticed the familiar bags that she had bought at the three stores that she had went to today on top of the desk that she didn't notice earlier. The Gilbert girl sighed thankfully as she had totally forgot about all of her things. Brianna then glanced into the bags and noticed that nothing was broken. Joe must have replaced the albums, Brianna realized as she remembered hearing the vinyl's break during the vampire attack.
The Gilbert girl sighed as the memories from what had happened in the alleyway quickly began to play in her mind again. She just wanted to forget it even happened as she never felt afraid like that in her life, so Brianna quickly grabbed the bottle of vodka from the desk before she plopped herself down onto the soft bed.
Brianna then placed the half bottle of vodka onto the bedside table as she realized she couldn't sleep in the clothes she was in. So Brianna tossed her grey cardigan to the hardwood floors and shimmied out of her skinny jeans, after she kicked off her boots, before she finally got underneath the covers for the night with the bottle of alcohol cradled in her hand while she stared up at the dark ceiling.
A loud huff escaped the the brunette girl's mouth after a moment of lying there in silence as her mind just couldn't seem to shut off. There was just too many thoughts running through Brianna's head. The fact that vampires, witches, and werewolves are real is what is mostly that Brianna is thinking about. She just never even thought for a second that it could be real. It's like her life is Teen Wolf or True Blood now.
Brianna knew she had two choices to make, though. She figured that is why Marcel told her to get some rest. She could either stay in New Orleans and learn all there is about the supernatural beings that run around her hometown or she could go back to Mystic Falls and be ignorant to the dangers that are really happening.
The Gilbert girl quickly shook her head as she made up her mind once she took another long sip of her vodka. There was no way she could leave. Brianna's biological parents were killed by werewolves and that means she was suppose to figure out the supernatural one way or the other. I'm not running from it, Brianna promised herself as her hazel eyes slowly began to close on their own and allowed the brunette girl to finally rest peacefully for the night with her protector, Marcel Gerard, right next door.