Unnatural ➡The Originals

Ch. 1- In Which Ady Meets an Original

  "So, what brings you to the big easy?" Adalyn questioned the good-looking man in front of her, while handing him his martini with two olives.

  She studied him while he thought about his answer. The man had brown, casually messy hair and chocolate brown eyes. He seemed pretty tall and looked incredibly strong, his arms heavily muscled under the sleeve of his suit jacket. She didn't know his name, but he was mighty fine.

  "I used to live here." He finally replied with a slight smirk. She couldn't determine his accent, but his voice gave her slight chills,

  "Really?" Ady asked, raising her eyebrows slightly, "When?"

  "Oh, it feels like a hundred years ago."

  "I just moved here myself. What brought you back?"

  He looked down at his drink with a concerned look on his face, "Well, my brother is here somewhere." He looked back up to the brunette as she handed a couple beers to Cami, who was playing waitress tonight, "I'm afraid he might've gotten himself into a bit of a bind."

  "You say that like it's a common occurrence." Ady replied, studying him again.

   Okay, maybe she was checking him out.

   Don't judge.

  The strange man had a distant look on his face as he said, "Well, he's complicated-- defiant, ill-mannered, and a little temperamental." He took a sip of the alcoholic beverage before continuing, "You see, we don't share the same father. Of course it doesn't bother me, but my brother resents it deeply, Never felt like he belonged. All told, he has a history of getting himself into trouble."

  "And I'm guessin' you have a long history of gettin' him out of it." He stared at her for a moment before she continued, " What kind of a bind is he in?"

  "He believes there are people in this town that are conspiring against him."

   "Wow, narcissistic and paranoid." He leaned back a little and stared at me again, clasping his hands, "Sorry. Bartender that likes to judge, totally ironic."

  He smirked in amusement and looked down to read her name tag, "Listen, Adalyn. I'm looking for someone who might shed some light on his current predicament. She works here- Jane-Anne Deveraux. Any idea where I might find her?"

  She seemed to think about it for a second before calling Cami over, "Hey, Cam, do you know where Janey is?" Ady had this habit of giving everyone nick-names.

  "No," The blonde answered, "But I know someone who might."

 ~~~~

  After the man had left with his information, Adalyn asked if Cami could cover for her. He never gave a name and seemed- what's the word- urgent? He really needed to find Jane-Anne...

  And she wanted to know why.

  She followed him and some dark-skinned lady, a tour guide, to a more secluded part of the French Quarter. A little further down the road, a group of people gathered around a dead body. 'What the hell?"  was the only thought to cross her mind. She ran to cover by one of the buildings and watched silently. Then she looked closed at the body...

  It was Jane-Anne.

  Ady covered her mouth with her hand and watched silently as a group of people came rushing towards the upset crowd, jumping from rooftops and over cars. She immediately knew that they were vampires. She had only been in New Orleans for a month when she was first attacked. The poor, fanged freak had underestimated her and two years of martial arts had him on the ground with a broken arm.

  She thought she was going crazy when the attacker's arm started to heal. Even more so when veins started to appear under his eyes, which had been totally eclipsed in black. When he opened his mouth she noticed his teeth- they were fangs. After snapping his neck and high-tailing it outta there, she did some research, asked around, and dug up some info.

  The creatures that went bump in the night were real. Witches, vampires, werewolves... and they were in New Orleans.

  Ady was so caught up in her thoughts that she didn't notice the man from the bar had disappeared. That is, until he reappeared right behind her. He grabbed her shoulder and spun her around to face him. So, he was a vampire.

  Should have known. Nobody can just be that hot.

  "What are you doing here?"

  She thought about coming up with some lie, but eventually just shrugged and answered, "Stalkin' you."

  His face held slight amusement before going serious again. "You shouldn't be here."

  "Well, I am. And don't try to compel me. Vervain." She noticed the shocked look on his face and said, rather smugly, "That's right, I research. Now, what's goin' on? Why is Jane-Anne dead, just laying there? And who are they?"

  "No time to explain just stay quiet." He practically ordered.

  She huffed, not liking being bossed around, but listened none-the-less. She turned around to watch the scene unfold. Also switching to what she likes to call 'sniper breathing' so she wouldn't be heard.  Which basically just means barely breathing.

  Ady jumped a bit when she heard a familiar voice, "Well, well, well. What have we here?" It was Marcel, a friend of hers, "I got to tell you, Soph, this street corner is not proving the luckiest spot for your family tonight."

  One of the men behind him, she didn't know the guy's name but he hung out with Marcel a lot, hissed at Sophie. She got a good glimpse of his fangs and the veins under his now bloodshot eyes.

  "Not half an hour ago," Marcel continued, "We had to teach your sister a little lesson."

  Sophie stood up from her crouched position, "We're putting her to rest , Marcel. Leave us alone."

  "I never said you could move the body. Matter of fact, I left her here for a reason, send a message." He walked around the inside of the circle of people and spoke louder, "If anybody is thinking of joining some kind of rebellion, my rules state that witches can't practice magic in the quarter. And yet a little birdie informed me that Jane-Anne was cooking up something magically delicious."

  Ady was strangely still, not wanting to alert anyone of her presence. She felt bad for Sophie. And a little confused of the situation. So, apparently....

  Marcel was a vampire.

  He thought he ruled New Orleans.

  The Deveraux sister's were witches.

  And witches couldn't practice magic in the quarter.

  It all seemed a little too dramatic for her taste, and a little surprising. What's next? Is Cami a lady Frankenstein?

  Dont' answer that.

  Marcel continued talking, and Ady found herself eager to listen, "Oh, yeah. While I have you, quick Q&A. My old friend the hybrid Klaus, he just happened to show up out of the blue asking for, of all people, Jane-Anne. Any idea why?"

  Sophie's voice was wobbly with unshed tears as she answered, "I don't know. Witches don't get involved in vampires business."

  But Marcel didn't like that answer.

  "Mm, that would be pretty stupid, that's for sure." He circled around her until he was right behind her, "Tell you what. Go back to the restaurant. Cook up some of that famous gumbo and keep those tourists happy." He looked at one of his buddies, "Take the body."

  "What?" Sophie exclaimed, a panicked look on her face, "No. Stop. Stop. Marcel--"

  "I'm gonna hold on to your sister's body in case maybe you remember why Klaus is here."

  "Marcel, please, her body won't be at peace." She pleaded.

  But he just replied in a sing-song voice, "Not my problem."

   And with that, they all cleared out. Leaving behind a shocked Sophie, a confused Adalyn, and one determined original.