jj speaks: sorry for the delay i’m employed & have been locking in on finals + mainly pre writing chapters (: this most likely won’t be a love triangle series btw and possibly just a matt fan fic but we’ll see where it ends up going. also forgot to cast ivan but you can imagine him as whoever you want! i personally picture either drew ray tanner or ian somerhalder 🤣
chapter two: a girl in new orleans
my grandmother always said that new orleans was never a place for the innocent.
it was a city running off of pure sin.
monsters at every corner, ready to snatch you up.
or that’s what she would tell me growing up ever since we moved here when i was just a toddler. she always had stories for me and my brother. she was such a great storyteller, one of the best that i know if i’m being honest.
i find humor in comparison to her fantasy of new orleans to the actual reality of it. it was just a parade city with swamp creatures.
witches, werewolves, and vampires weren’t real.
my brother, ethan, thinks reminding me of the creepy tales will prevent us from going on our hike today. but in reality he’s just lazy and doesn’t wanna interact with nature.
out of the two of us, he seems more than glad to be leaving new orleans.
“c’mon, ethan! it’ll be fun!” i wave him over closer to me as i continue walking on our trail in the sticks.
“hiking where werewolves probably live isn’t my idea of fun, jolene.” he sasses off at me. his taller figure is right beside me and i turn to smile at him.
“give me a break. i’m just trying to make up for everything that’s happened these last few months and make the best out of our situation. try to find peace, you know?” i shrug with a hopeful grin.
“we’re finally leaving voodoo world because mom and dad are gone and grandma can’t take care of us so now we have to live in fuck ass mystic falls with uncle ivan.” ethan reminded me with a sarcastic laugh but his face turns back to serious shortly after.
“cut that voodoo crap already. that stuff doesn’t exist.” i scoff at him.
“at least mystic falls doesn’t have that.” his voice cracks at the end causing me to giggle at him.
he gets annoyed and pinches my arm causing me to wince in pain.
“don’t laugh at me!” his voice cracks again making me laugh even louder.
“ethan, you just turned fifteen.” i state.
“so?” he folds his arms over his chest and pouts at me. i only roll my eyes at him and continue walking our trail.
we keep going for about an hour before we stop to rest and eat some snacks we had packed back home. i’m tying my shoe on a log when i hear ethan yelp behind me.
i quickly turn around to see if he’s okay. he’s looking at something in the woods behind us so i stand up beside him to get a better view. he only points at what he’s looking at, his arm shaking.
i lean ahead and squint my eyes to enhance my vision. my eyes scan the perimeter very closely, my hand still on ethan’s shoulder so i don’t lose track of where he’s at incase something happens.
i’m too focused on this to not even notice ethan put on a fake wolf mask on and had now jumped in front of me in attempt to scare me. he of course fails as i’m unimpressed.
“it was worth the shot. plus, i was bored. hikes are boring.” he saves behind the hideous mask. he removes it from his sweaty face and puts it back in his backpack.
i shake my head at him with a small chuckle. we continue to rest for a bit like we initially thought of doing and snacked on peanuts and organic dried fruit.
my phone had no signal unfortunately but there was signs placed along the trail to let us know where we’re going. my grandma knew were we both were so there wasn’t anything to stress about incase she couldn’t reach us through our phones.
once i’m done with my snacks, i’m ready to finish the rest of the trail. ethan still sat on the large log with his feet sprawled out in front of him.
“we’re halfway there, e.” i notify my younger brother.
“i’m not moving.” he shook his head at him.
“why not?” i asked already knowing the obnoxious response i was about to receive from him for the hundredth time today.
“because there’s a big wolf standing about fifity feet away from us and it looks pretty hungry.” he pointed behind me casually.
i snap my head around, hoping that he’s joking again, but he isn’t. he was right.
i freeze immediately and ethan doesn’t dare say a single word anymore as the wolf prides closer to us. usually wolves were rough and rugged. but this wolf was… different. it’s washed out fur was intact and its eyes, big chestnut brown eyes, didn’t carry any sign of anger.
the wolf sniffs around our area but not once did it step closer to us. i don’t think it even wants anything to do with us as it appears that its looking for something else.
i glance down at ethan to check up on him and i can see he’s literally in awe. this wolf was nowhere near as ugly as the ones in the movies. it was almost like a apparition of some sort.
suddenly, another wolf appeared out of the woods and grunted over at the silver wolf. this other wolf had darker grey fur and had yellow looking eyes.
it was crazy to see nature in its element like this. this interaction was just admirable. i had never been this close to a rabid animal like a wolf before.
i’m guessing the grey wolf was calling the white wolf for some reason because when i looked back up from looking at ethan, they were both gone. as if they hadn’t just been in front of me and my brother not that long ago.
ethan jumps up from sitting down and beams up at me.
“we just saw freaking werewolves!”
“they were just wolves, ethan. not humans who turn into wolves.” i correct him.
“whatever. i know what i saw, jolene.”
from the rest of the walk home, ethan educated me on the myths here in New Orleans. starting with the werewolves and ending with blood sucking vampires that don’t even exist might i add. i’m exhausted when we get home finally. i ditch dinner and head straight to bed.
the next morning we’d have to leave to mystic falls. i’d be leaving my life behind in new orleans, all i’ve ever known, gone by morning.
i had no plans whatever to make friends or do much once we got to mystic falls. i was going to be a junior this year and felt behind already at my new school.
everything that could go wrong in my life went wrong and it couldn’t get any worse for me.
the next coming weeks for me were a blur as they pushed passed me. mystic falls was smaller than new orleans but it was quiet. peaceful. like nothing bad could ever happen here.
though i didn’t give myself that false hope.
my uncle ivan was in his mid 20’s, a grad student who was currently working on getting his master’s in architecture.
he was my dad’s youngest brother. though when my dad was alive they never got along as much. but my grandma didn’t give ivan much of a choice to take care of me and ethan since she couldn’t handle it on her own.
ivan was obviously trying his best to make me and ethan comfortable. we had our own rooms and he even took the liberty of decorating the rooms for us. he couldn’t help himself he said because that’s literally what he’s going to school for.
the second week of august rolled around. it was a bright monday morning when i was getting ready for school. ivan would be dropping me and ethan off today since he figured my dad would want him to.
which was funny to me because he rarely ever listened to my dad when he was alive.
he dropped me and ethan off at the front of the school where we both stood awkwardly, looking around at all the new faces.
“no one way i have to start my freshmen year at some lame ass school tha—“
“don’t even start. it’s too early, alright?”
with that i walk off into the building to go find the office to get our schedules. ethan is right behind me as we navigate our way down the halls.
i kept getting stares and glances, judging eyes and unamused faces as we walked passed crowds of students. when we finally made it to the office i was more than relieved.
there was a couple of students in front of us as we waited our turn to get our schedules. i glance at ethan and noticed how he hadn’t stopped fidgeting.
“then go?” i squint at him with confusion. he rolls his eyes as he gets out of line and out the door of the office. i chuckle to myself under my breath as i turn my head back in front of me again.
i hadn’t really noticed the guy in front of me. the back of his head was appealing in a way so i assumed he must be attractive in the face too. his shoulders were square and the leather jacket he wore was fitted on top that was tight on his torso but lose on the sleeves and waist.
he had wavy hair, curling at his ears. his skin was pale and i could see a silver chain poking out of his collar.
i don’t realize how long i had been staring till one of the office ladies call me up next to get my schedule. i snap out of my trance and quickly move up.
as the lady asks me questions, i felt a pair of eyes on me. i figured it was maybe ethan but when i looked around, it was just the same old students that were already in the room to begin with besides the front office workers.
i shift my gaze over to the door for a second to see if ethan was back yet but instead i was met with a pair of stone blue eyes.
he stood in the middle of the doorway, quiet, unreadable. pale skin kissed by the cold, eyes like deep blue glass—sharp, but distant. the leather jacket clung to him like a second skin, and for a moment, it felt like the air around him shifted. he didn’t look real almost… he looked like he belonged to the night.
he was the man that was right in front of me in line a few moments ago, who was glancing back at me for that short second right before he pushed the door open with his hand and walked out.
disappearing into the sea of students in the crowded hallway.
