After Henry (Once Upon a Time)

Chapter Twenty-Four: It ain't black and white

New Orleans, Louisiana...

Ivy: The city of magic in the land where there was none. Dancing, jazz, the warm sun and chanting smiles covered New Orleans. It was a city of color, far away from the curse atmosphere of cold rain and foggy spirits that painted Seattle.

Even though it wasn't as peaceful as Malibu with its wonderful godlike beaches and bungalows, the city of jazz had an unique taste of joy and thrill that snuck in anyone's adventurous heart.

Baron Samdi's office had a sight to that spectacle of color and music that engulfed his sanctum. We waited for brief minutes, as the shady black businessman drank some bourbon and stared at the delight of having a chance to defeat his nemesis once and for all.

"What you're telling me is music to my ears. Victoria's daughters wanting to put her mother in jail, I couldn't ask for better candidates." The man said, revealing a set of white pearls taken for teeth that highlighted the contrast of his dark skin color. The man was big, strong and wide, he dressed up really nicely and although hairless, his little beard was classy and elegant. The figure of power sat on his chair, staring at us with a blissful smile as me, Henry and Amy tried to understand if that powerful man was awake and who he was back in our realm.

"Victoria has been making our lives a living hell, she won't even defend her daughter in trial for faking her death, something Ivy did to escape this torment we live in for years. As for me, I can't tell how much Victoria has bullied me and my daughter, even trying to rip her from my arms."

"Seems like a tragic tale, but in court that serves nothing. What we need is something with a bit more of...mystery!" The wise man explained, lifting his eyebrows. "Do you know why Belfrey pushed me out of the Heights?"

"Apart from you being her biggest competitor?" I asked, showing lack of interest in his story and actually dying for an efficient solution.

"There's that too, but it wasn't enough. I stumbled upon many of Victoria's transactions and discovered she's buying up the entire neighborhood, pushing away people who are close to her. I understand why she'd want to buy properties like clubs, bars, hotels but Hyperion Heights' community garden was the biggest mystery. I did a little thinking and detective work and my men say she was digging for something...a giant box that looks a lot like a coffin. Few weeks later she bought a mausoleum that she's visiting quite often, bringing flowers. This led me into a search for what or rather...who...is Victoria Belfrey hiding and discovered the existence of another daughter, Anastasia, if that isn't shady and worth investigating, then what is?"

When I heard my long lost sister's name everything drop to the floor. I thought mother would be careful hiding our family's biggest secret but it seems she was really sloppy carrying around her coffin like one of her Prada purses! Now, Samdi knew about it, and though he thought it could be used against mother, I was pretty sure that was dirt to drown me even more along with Jacinda, for we knew we had a hand on Anastasia's death.

My step-sister looked at me, swallowing hard and suddenly we didn't feel like the heroes in this tale, in fact, we even felt frightened to see our oldest ghost coming to the surface.

"Excuse me, do you really think this can help? I mean...how could it incriminate Victoria? It might just give her a soft side to the jury's eyes." Henry added, because he knew how me and Jacinda had a hand on Anastasia's death, not Belfrey.

"Oh, just the fact that she's hiding an unidentified body." Samdi ironically explained. "I'd say that's pretty enough to put her in jail. That and all the things she did to preserve her secret." The shady man put some photos in front of us as well as business papers all signed by Victoria herself. "See? This woman is a rip off of the American psycho. Belfrey bought a coffin years ago to an anonymous secret client, then she cleaned Anastasia of any records, making her invisible, made a deal with detective Weaver so that her own daughter's death wouldn't be investigated and has been trying to hide that body ever since. What kind of mother doesn't want her daughter's death to be uncovered unless she killed the girl herself?"