Chapter four

#French quarter#

#Dark magic mojo#

#supernatural world#

Looks like you all came from the lineage of psychos

♥Elena's POV♥

To be honest, I have had my own fair share of bad dreams. Nightmares like when my brain conjures up monsters in form of witches who suction my soul out of my body, drive me through the ancestral plane, and tries to murder me in my dream world. They sometimes come in form of a vision, a dreadful illusion, or a spiritual war zone.

But on the contrary, when reality falls far from our expectations and turns against our favor, we prefer to imagine it as a bad dream and try as much as possible not to snap back to existence because the truth can be overbearing and too much to stomach.

I tried to stay calm and tell myself it is some bad mirage that I didn't want to wake up to. But the moment the scenario registered fully, my mind went blank and my body went numb as a stray tear-stained my cheek.

There was a huge circle on the floor drawn with blood and chalk and the corpses' forehead were marked with a sharp object and surrounded by patched dried blood that highlighted the bold crescent sign.  A bold inscription was written on the wall with blood and it said 'The sins of the father shall be visited on the offsprings' A huge anaconda was also placed in the circle and one factor was common, all the creatures inside were dead. Those vampires weren't just ordinary vampires, Daniel, my bodyguard was there.

I wanted him to laugh, to giggle, to say this was all a big joke they orchestrated to scare me, but no such luck. He and the other vampires had passed on. This wasn't Dan but a cold-ass corpse with pale skin stained with blood. His orbs were dulled and his lifeless body laid under the moonlight.

My mind went through flashbacks of how I ran around the quarter as a kid and Daniel chased after me and shielded me from my imaginary demons. He was fiercely loyal, overprotective, and always prim and proper. One day I will grieve for him, but first I had to accept he was really gone.

My first instinct while grieving was to race towards the corpse and touch his hair but a barrier blocked me from entering the circle. I tried again with trembling hands but I still couldn't.

"It is boundary spell and this is definitely a witch's doing," Dad said as he strolled towards us with an entourage of the army to inspect the incident.

"Poor hot dude, I always thought I would have the opportunity to have mind-blowing sex with him." Suzy sniffed and hugged herself when a chilly wind blew past.

"Is that all you can think about now? Respect the dead, Suzy." Hilda hissed with clenched teeth and began to pace around with determination.

"Let's go for a witch hunt because I swear, I must avenge Dan's death even if it will cost me my life." I spat with a clenched fist and breathed heavily.

"Stand down everyone. This is the time to put a unified front if we want to achieve a common goal." Dad gave a dismissive wave and stared at everyone.

"Those witches are pathetic losers, just give the command that we go snap their necks and the deed will be done." Hilda adjusted the lapels of her leather jacket and stared at him with optimistic eyes.

"That would be foolish of you, Hilda." Mom walked toward us and rested a hand on her hips. She looked calm and collected and I sometimes wonder how she could remain placid and serene in all situations.

Everyone looked either angry or panicked and one sure thing is that vampires don't breathe so loud. I can hear the heartbeat of a mortal nearby, watching us and the mortal must be a witch.

"This markings on their forehead is a dark mojo. There are lots of dark energy in this circle and it would lead to your death if you don't rethink your decision."

"Unless the culprit is somewhere near and probably watching to see the turn out of events and learn our strategy." I ran in vampire speed, caught a blonde man by his neck, and dragged him back with me to the crime scene before throwing him on the floor to kneel.

"Well well well, what do we have here?" Hilda gave a dangerous smirk and circled the blondie.

"What do y'all want from me?" The blondie hunched his shoulders and wrapped his sweaty arms around himself.

"Hold your tongue or I will tear it from your gaping mouth." I snapped at him and he crouched lower and avoided looking me in the eye.

"Easy tiger, I hope you don't want money because I'm broke as hell." He stared at us all. One emotion I could depict was trepidation. He was really petrified.

"How many times do I have to warn you, bloody witches, to stay out of  vampire's business so we can coexist peacefully?" Dad stretched his hands towards the neck of the blondie and slowly reached out to his hair before yanking it back with full force.

"Ouch! That hurts and murder was definitely not on my agenda today." He screamed and maintained eye contact with dad.

"Answer me!" Dad hollered and his voice echoed through the forest. The once quiet night was now filled with the sound of crickets and the hoots of owls.

"Okay is this some theatrics or something? I don't know what y'all are blabbing about. Vampires and witches give me the twilight saga vibe but I'm really lost here." His voice was shaky and he looked like he was telling the truth.

"That sounds like a convincing lie. Why were you hiding and spying on us?" Mom walked towards him and raised his chin to stare at her.

"Damn! You are one gorgeous redhead. Have you ever thought of being Miss America?" He stared at her lustfully before father punched the madness out of him.

"Stop changing the topic and never flirt with my wife." He spat at him and dragged mom away from him.

"Okay, I did see a tall black person who had this anaconda draped around the neck." He pointed at the animal in the circle.

"Goon," I urged him with a frown.

"She effortlessly attacked these strong men easily by causing them a headache and she used a short knife to carve their forehead before sprinkling the blood of the anaconda around them and dumping the creature beside them." He shrugged a shoulder and gave a mirthless laugh.

"And what were you doing lurking around?" Suzy eyed him.

"I was returning home from the tavern. I just lost my job and was contemplating on committing suicide when it all happened."

"So why haven't you left since?"

"I was paralyzed with fear. It is not every day you stumble across a murderous mad person who could take on these huge men easily. Check me out. I'm lanky with no experience in self-defense." He hissed at Suzy.

"Which makes you less self appealing to me, bloody human." Suzy twirled her blonde hair and rolled her eyes.

"Who do you think he is referring to, father?" I held my hips and stared at dad who had a calculative gaze on him.

"I don't know yet but something tells me an old witch is back from the dead." Dad tapped his chin thoughtfully and kept staring at the dead vampires, looking for clues or something that gave away the murderer.

"And this dark mojo does look like sacrificial magic. Someone powerful channeled them to make herself stronger." Suzy tapped her chin thoughtfully and said with her eyes wide open like she just came to the realization.

"You think Bastiana knows about this?" Mom butted in.

"Bastaina does ancestral magic, she knows nothing about this unless she made a deal with the devil," Suzy said.

"I think we all might have overlooked something." Hilda's heels clicked as she moved closer to the circle to inspect.

"Remember the last witch we executed?" Hilda snapped her slender finger at everyone.

"Mary? What about her?" Suzy scoffed.

"She said she owed the ancestors and she was only paying her dues. What if she did make a deal with the devil and brought back an ancient powerful witch who must have been an enemy to the Marshalls?" I spilled.

"Bloody witches, be it old or young they are always a pain in the ass." Hilda hissed out loud.

"Don't forget I'm a witch and I have never been a pain in your ass." Suzy cocked her head at Hilda.

"That is why you are different from them all." Hilda gave a bitter smile and tucked some strands of Suzy's hair behind her ear before whisper-yelling. "Because you are the thorn in my flesh."

"Do you know any witch you must have wronged?" Mom asked dad.

"Trust me, I will need a long note and a whole week to assemble the names and it still won't contain them all." Dad let out a harsh breath and aggressively ran his hands through his tousled hair.

"Well since we have a lead now, why don't we go to the witches' cemetery so we can round this up once and for all." I raised my hair and tied it into a messy bun.

"It feels so great to perform some actions, the quarter was becoming really boring." Hilda brushed her palms together and her face coiled into a half-smile.

"Ready to kill?" Hilda tapped her feet impatiently and raised a brow at me.

"I have never been more ready to avenge my friend's death." I gave a wicked smile and can feel my soul heating up with excitement.

"Wait! Even though I don't understand a thing y'all are blabbing about. Can you at least help me up so I can be on my merry way?" Blondie's voice interrupted our brief merriment.

Dad brought out his checkbook and gave the blondie a hundred thousand dollars cheque.

"Okay, what murderous job do you want me to do?" Blondie stared wide-eyed at father and the cheque and pretended to shoot himself in the head.

"Forget everything you saw today, forget about losing your job and go start a new life out of LA." Dad compelled the blondie who stood up and looked like his memory was severed before sauntering out of our sight without a word.

Mind compulsion is another benefit we enjoy as vampires. It is the ability of immortals like vampires and hybrids to control the mind of another through eye contact. We have the ability to erase the victim's memory or even alter them. That way, we can feed on the locals easily and compel them to forget without getting a backlash or an uproar from the human faction.

Witches also have the power to compel with the help of magic and spells. Talking about witches, they used to practice their magic at the cemetery before father banned it. The cemetery is a sacred ground where they can easily connect with their ancestors and have full access to their ancestral magic. So they live and worship the Hollywood cemetery which happens to be one of the oldest yet historical cemeteries in LA.

The burial ground has housed many citizens but it is specifically being used by the LA coven of witches who require access to their ancestor's consecrated remains in order to continue their magic. It maintains a kind of connection and balance between the supernatural realm and the physical realm. As a result, it is a sacred ground, and vampires are not allowed in unless when invited in by a witch.

"I really don't understand why we are meeting with Bastiana?!" Hilda pouted and punched the bricks of the cemetery.

"You know what they say about friends and enemies?" Dad cocked a brow at an indifferent Hilda.

"Keep your friends close and your enemies closer?" I raised my chin and studied the environment of the cemetery. The gate was opened but we couldn't step in because of the boundary spell. Everywhere is eerie silent and there is no creature in sight.

"Correct. I know you always inherited your smartness from me." Dad ruffled my hair and gave me a cheeky smile that revealed his deep-rooted dimples.

"I hope you know I'm standing right here?" Mom frowned at us.

"What were you saying about enemies and friends and how is that related to Bastiana?" Suzy blew her gum loudly to draw attention to her.

"We don't know who our real enemy is and in order to get a fair fight we must make an ally with a witch who has a common goal with us."

"And how do you know our wants are aligned?" I quirked a brow.

"If an ancient witch resurrects it means Bastiana's position as an elder will be revoked because two captains can't lead a ship."

"And we need all the magical protection we can get from the black magic practitioner in order to win." Mom squared her shoulders.

"Wow, why does this feel like a war is brewing?" I shivered.

"Because a war is actually brewing. No one comes to my town, breaks my rules, and goes Scot free. This is my town and my rules shall stand so long I exist."

"I'm doing this for Daniel. If the bloody witch wants war then let's make sure  she is the casualty." I said.

Bastiana finally made it towards the gate and invited us in.

"Sorry I was late. I had to take care of something."

"Why don't you save the apologies and  talk to your ancestors to snuff the life out of this murderous witch roaming around my city?" Dad balled his hands into fists.

"They are helping him. The ancestors are angry and they want revenge." She breathed out.

"Him? I thought blondie said it was a woman?" I queried.

"She must have been an accomplice." Suzy answered.

"Lucindo D Aboville. The french warlock, Marshall the great killed in the year 1273."

"Well, looks like you came from a lineage of psychos. But how do we take the madman down?" I rolled my eyes.

"I'm afraid he is unstoppable." Bastiana's chest rose and fell with rapid breath.

"What do you mean by unstoppable?" Suzy crushed her lollipop and furrowed her brows.

"He is a thousand years old and he is a lot more stronger since the ancestors are with him. He doesn't back down from revenge and he will do nothing till he achieves this purpose. He is dangerously evil." Bastiana said with widening eyes that depicted terror.

This isn't the beginning of another war between the vampires and the witches. This is war itself and no one will be safe from the roaming ancient warlock.