Chapter 32: Cryptic

Violet sat on a bench in the Quarter with her head in her hands. The sun was too bright, her head was pounding and she regretted going with Freya last night. She couldn't even remember the last time she had been that drunk in all of her years of being a vampire. The last thing she wanted to do was check out the city just to make sure there wasn't anything unusual going on after the parade.

"Hey, you look like you could use this"

Josh leaned in the bench next to her and handed her a cup of coffee. She took it and opened the Styrofoam lid then closed it. Even the smell of it was starting to get to her.

"Hard night I take it?"

"Let's just say I got caught up in the festivities and Freya made me drink a little too much last night. Trust me, I wouldn't be sitting here at nine in the morning but Marcel kicked me out of bed to do whatever the hell we are doing…"

He laughed at her as she stood up and linked arms with her as a joke. Taking a sip of his coffee, he guided her back to the compound. She was relieved that much of the sun was gone; she began to search for her sunglasses.

"Hey, you got back just in time. I need you to go to the swamp and check out the river. One of the guys said there was something mysterious there but I sent him to do something else" Marcel was just coming down the stairs when he stopped looking at her. "What's the matter with you?"

"Hangover, Freya took her on one of her all night missions again" Josh said.

"No wonder you looked like a mess this morning" They both laughed as she just glared at him.

"Let me change into shorts if I have to stroll among the alligators again"

She set her coffee down and walked up the stairs as if it was going to kill her. Josh offered to just go by himself but he didn't want to send one vampire out there. With Violet's attitude, he would have rather sent Gia but she was away on some music thing she wanted to see. With her being the other oldest vampire, she had no choice but to go. Snatching the keys out of Marcel's hand as she walked by, the two vampires made their way to the swamp.

"This has to be the worst place I have ever been. I've traveled through the years and I think this tops the charts"

"The swamps are part of New Orleans, your home and yet you hate them. Such a hypocrite"

Josh smiled getting out of the black car as he bent down to roll up his pant legs. He always did think the swamp was a beautiful place but he also did hate trudging through the mud. It wasn't like you would just fall into a pit of mud but by the river you never really knew. Looking around, the vampires decided to head forward then turn to their right, that's if they followed Marcel's directions. She swore it was to the left but she was really too hungover to care.

"He didn't say what we were supposed to be looking for, right?"

"Nope, just something suspicious by the river so that doesn't really clarify anything. So I don't know if that means in the river or near it"

"If we are talking about Marcel's order, that probably means at least five miles around us so let's go to the river first and pray whatever we are looking for is in there"

They made small talk and despite being in hell, they enjoyed each other's company. It was better than being with Aaron, a new vampire in the group who hardly talked at all. Going through the swamp with him would have actually been hell. Josh slowly stopped walking after he heard a noise that sounded something like clicking. Violet stopped walking a moment after Josh's last step. They gave each other a knowing look and cautiously proceeded to the noise. When they reached the river, she looked up at the bridge that they had plumed off of all those months ago.

"Okay, I don't know about you but this is just freaky and I've seen a lot since being a vampire"

She focused her attention back down and Josh was leaning over the river grabbing a coffin. About ten coffins, all empty were just floating down the quiet stream.

"You don't think the dead people in here just jumped up to join a zombie parade, right?"

Violet laughed at his comment and helped him back safely. She had never seen anything like that before so floating coffins was a new thing to put on the list of confusion.

"Alright, go have fun, go out to the bar and feed but make sure you don't kill anyone. Compel any if needed you all know what to do"

Marcel dismissed the vampires from the compound and they all eagerly disappeared. He was moving all of the chairs and tables out of the way when he heard the footsteps. He assumed it was Josh or Violet since they had been gone for a while now.

"So did you find anything?" When he turned around, he saw a woman standing there, not his vampires. He apologized and she smirked at him.

"Marcel Gerard, it is a pleasure to meet you. I've heard so much that seeing you in person is much more interesting"

He looked her over and wondered if she was another witch that wanted to speak with him. But he knew all the witches and he had never seen her before.

"I'm Aya; I came here to make you an offer you can't refuse"

He narrowed his eyes and watched as she pulled a slim, black card from her jacket. Her heels clicked as she moves towards him with her hand out.

"What makes you think you can just walk in here, attempt to make me an offer and then leave?"

"Well for starters I know that none of your vampires are here so if something were here to happen, no one is here to protect you. And I've got about 500 years on you so you could try and fight mes. You're choice"

Marcel blinked and took the card. Flipping it over, he read it really not understanding what it was. He actually didn't know who she was, what she wanted and why she was there. It was just like the Who, what, when, where and why game.

"Not interested so you can take it back"

He tossed the card and Aya watched it fall to the ground. Just as he was turning his back, he reached her hand out and gripped him around the neck and began to lift him off of the ground. He struggled but couldn't break her grip.

"Tristan de Martel wants to see you; I think it would be a great opportunity for you and your city. I would consider your options about this, if not…"She paused leaving the threat hansg. Aya let go and threw him down in which Marcel slid on the floor back to the wall. "I thought you had more of a fight in you and you don't want me as an enemy"

She waved before zipping out of the courtyard. Brushing himself off as he got up, he glanced back over to the card.