Enthralled by the excitement and history of new orleans lily moves there after the rape. And it's there she discovers her ancestors due to a school history assignment. Inspired by 'american horror story'.

Ch 1.: 1960's

it was a fri. 5 p.m. And instead of being at the abandoned house I was living in I was at a cafe. I was hungry so I decided to go to one of the many coffee shops we had along the streets of new orleans. I heard it was their open mic night. I took the bus to the big coffee shop which I was now inside of. It smelled good. I went to the counter. A lady my age w/ dark curly hair was behind it.

"bonjour," she greeted me.

"hi," I said.

"i am marie," she had a french accent.

"hi."

"what can I get you?"

"a menu."

she pulled one off the table and handed it to me. The cover of it had a voodoo queen drinking coffee.

"are you here for the open mic night?" marie asked me as I opened the menu.

"um yes," I replied.

"you're not from here."

"no and neither are you."

"thats right i'm from france. A lot of us are."

"i know i've read about your city."

"and where are you from?" another lady pale w/ long dark hair asked me.

"new york. I left, to come to your exciting city."

"oh. Well that is is. I'm poppy btw. I work here."

like poppy z. brite I thought. The writer. Who was from new orleans.

"is mahalia coming tonight?" poppy asked marie.

"yes. It'll be interesting always is."

I guessed mahalia was one of the performers.

"oh and ruby's coming," marie told poppy.

I perused the menu. Everything looked so good and interesting. They had crepes of course being that a lof of french were in this city. And they had beignets and pralines along w/ the usual coffee shop food.

"marie makes the crepes daily," poppy told me leaning over the counter.

"daily?" I asked surprised.

"yes. She gets up really early to do it too. They're really good. She's from france as you heard so she really knows how to make them."

"yeah i'll have one. And some...cold chai."

"ok."

cold bc it was hot and humid down here in the south. I closed the menu and looked around the room. On the walls were various art pieces including a few degas. some were psychodelic looking one of the voodoo queen that was on the menu but in bright colors. Around her were echos of her outline. Since it would take a few mins. to get my order I got up and went over to it. On the bottom righthand side it read 'm. hyde 1961' in all caps. I wondered who 'm. hyde' was and who the voodoo queen was if she was someone marie and poppy knew or if she was someone from the past.

"cool right?" a voice to my left said.

"yeah it is," I replied.

I went back to the counter and sat. i felt rather than saw the cup of chai being placed in front of me on the counter.

"thank you," I told poppy: "um who's 'm. hyde'?"

"um i'm not sure. I don't know if it was a guy or a lady. And we're not allowed to take the painting down to look. And even if we were I don't know that we'd find anything on the back. Mahalia might know," She told me.

"mahalia?" I asked turning back to the cup.

"the lady in the picture. She's coming tonight. She's the voodoo queen. Well there are several but she's the main one that frequents this place."

"oh."

from the photos i'd seen of mahalia she had a strong face and seemed to have a strong presence.

"just wait until she arrives. Her presence is really...you. You take notice everyone does," poppy told me.

"oh.

"So where you living?"

"an abandoned mansion."

"it's not lalaurie's place is it?"

i'd seen the big 3 level mansion in library books so Iknew the one she meant.

"no," I told her.

"ok."

she was referring to delphine lalaurie a famous resident who'd murdered the people who worked for her.

At that moment we felt a breeze blow into the room. A strong smell of spices followed.

"hello darlings," an accented voice said.

"good to see you. Here's your drink," marie said.

I felt the presence of the lady on the menu. The air got quiet around me. I turned around and saw a regal lady the same one from the menu walk across the room and onto a sofa opposite where I was sitting. The lady looked the same as the one on the menu.

"that's mahalia," poppy told me.

"oh wow," I sad in awe of the lady.

"she doesn't perform voodoo in here, or anything. They're not bad people they're just different."

"oh."

"here are your crepes," poppy told me.

I turned back to the counter where she'd set the plate in front of me.

"thank you," I told her.

I started eating. They were really good. They were warm and chocolate-y. It took me a few mins. To eat them.

"these are really good," I said.

"i told you," poppy said.

I picked up my drink. I felt someone looking at me. I turned around to see who. From across the room it was mahalia.

"go on. She's been waiting for you," poppy ttold me from behind me.

I stood and walked over to mahalia.

"um hi," I said a bit unsure as i'd never met a voodoo queen before: "i'm."

"i know who you are. I've been waiting for you to arrive," mahalia told me.

Oh well ok.

"i know you're wondering about 'm. hyde'. I knew her, mary. She painted that of me back in '60."

that helped me a little.

"this cafe has been open that long. When you look her up you'll be surprised. I knew her took her as one of my loves. She was a little older than you when she painted me about 20. she met an untimely end in '80. that's all I should tell you. Enjoy the show."

I walked back to the counter, wondering and wanting to know more about mary hyde. I decided to call my dad's friend diane and ask her. She'd know.

ch. 2: 1952 & 1963

as I was walking back to the abandonded house from the coffee shop to the abandonded house I saw a big mural on a tall brick wall. It was hard to see in the dark but I was able to make out the painting. It was of a bearded lady and someone w/ 2 heads. And a guy w/ fused together fingers like a lobster. The caption underneath it read 'come look at the freaks' and then on the bottom righthand side it was signed 'm. hyde, 1952' in all caps.

I wondered why that was the caption.

"i like it," a female voice said from in the darkness.

I jumped startled.

"sorry," she said having noticed this: "where are you off to?"

"my house. Er well the abandonded house where i've been staying."

"oh. I'm going to visit marie. I'm zoe btw."

"lily."

she looked at me as if to ask 'what happened to you?'. I didn't want to answer. She was the 4th person i'd met here.

"nice to meet you," she told me.

"um yeah you too. Well i'm tired so," I said not wanting to talk more.

"ok."

we split ways.

To the right of the big painting though it was hard to see I noticed a loose brick. This was a surprise to me since I thought they existed only inside buildings not out. I went over to it and pulled it out. Inside the space was a paper and on the paper was a drawing of a brunette who looked nothing like anne frank but the caption read 'I am anne frank' and again on the right side read 'm. hyde 1964'. I wondered who the brunette was. I started to put both back but then stopped when I heard 'no that's for you'. I didn't know who or where it came from. I got the drawing then put the brick back and continued on my way.

1957: 20

1977: 40