The Vampire's Apprentice

The trip to New Orleans was long, as expected, but thankfully uneventful. They traveled almost non-stop over a few weeks before eventually making it to their destination. By the time the entrance to the city came into view, Alain was fed up with traveling, and he knew the others were, too.

"Thank the Lord…" he muttered as they passed through the city's gates and into its crowded streets. "I don't even like big crowds like this, but it beats the hell out of staying in this carriage for another day."

"What is the plan?" Sable asked. "We're here. Did you intend to search for your mother immediately?"

"Of course. The only problem is, I have no idea where to start." Alain ran a hand through his hair, a tired sigh escaping from him as he did so. "Right… I guess the best thing to do right now is try to take stock of where we're at and who we should be talking to."

"Do you know anything about any of that?" Felix asked. "Because I'd rather not be fumbling around, trying to find what's basically a needle in a haystack."

"Yeah, I know. Admittedly, my knowledge about this city is a bit lacking. What I do know is that there is a lot of old-timey mysticism here."

"Such as?" Sable questioned.

"Voodoo, mainly," Alain replied. "I know that's different from what you and Az are probably accustomed to, but it'd be a good place to start. I figure if anyone here knows anything about the supernatural, it'd be the kind of people who are into that sort of thing."

"Probably a fair bet," Az chimed in. "Of course, now we run into the problem of trying to find those people in the first place."

"I wouldn't consider it that big of a problem. From what I understand, they don't exactly keep it hidden. Of course, we're going to have to find some way to tell the genuine Voodoo practitioners from the charlatans who are only using it to make money, but we can figure that out after we've actually looked into this more."

"And the Tribunal?" Felix asked. "What about them?"

"I don't think any of us are dumb enough to believe Thorne is going completely hands-off here," Alain answered. "I have no doubts that she's sent people to follow us, whether that's just to make sure we complete the job or for some other nefarious purpose. Whatever the reason may be, it'd pay for all of us to be on our guard, and also to make it look like we don't know we're being followed."

"And if they attack us?"

"Then all bets are off." Alain shrugged. "I haven't made it this far just to get killed by some fucking bloodsucker. No offense to present company, of course."

Sable rolled her eyes. "Hurry up and get the horses and carriage squared away, already. My back is killing me from riding in this thing, and I'm eager to stretch my legs."

Thankfully, they soon found a spot to stow their horses, and just a short while later, they were on foot once more.

"If I may make a suggestion," Felix said as they began to walk through the city streets. "I think we should start asking some of the saloon owners and bartenders where they believe we should look. Speaking from personal experience, people tend to open up when they're drunk; I wouldn't be surprised if a bartender was able to point us in the right direction purely because some idiot got plastered and told him way more than he should have."

"That's as good a plan as any," Alain conceded. "Alright. Pick a bar, I guess – we're in New Orleans, so every third building probably has a bar of some kind in it."

Felix looked around, a hand going up to his chin in thought. After a moment, he pointed at one. "There."

Alain followed where he'd motioned to. It was a small, out-of-the-way building situated between two much larger stores. It was in disrepair, its black exterior paint job having chipped and faded in many places, exposing green wood underneath. The word 'Inferno' was emblazoned just above the door.

"Seems topical," Alain noted. "Okay, let's go."

"Let me do the talking," Felix said as they pushed their way through the door. "I think the owner would appreciate it more if we were speaking bartender-to-bartender."

"Suit yourself," Alain told him. "I'll be right here, watching your back. Az, Sable, make sure nobody sneaks up on us."

The two of them nodded, and took up positions near the door, Az leaning against a wall with his arms folded and Sable taking a seat in a nearby chair. While they did that, Alain and Felix approached the bar. The place was empty, save for a tall dark-skinned man in a nice suit standing behind the bar, polishing a glass. When he saw them approach, he set down the glass and rag, then leaned forward.

"Welcome," he greeted, his voice coming out in a thick Creole accent. "Bit early to be drinking, isn't it? It's not even nine in the morning yet."

"You tell that to all your customers who come in this early?" Felix asked. "Admittedly, that's the decent thing to do, but it seems like that'd be bad for business."

The bartender shrugged. "I ain't asking for much in the way of money, just enough to keep me going. Besides, keeping people from drinking themselves to death is the least I could do."

"A bartender with a heart, eh? I was right – you are a good man."

"I try." The bartender's mouth quirked upwards with a small smile. "Name's Jasper. You?"

"Felix, and this is my friend, Alain." Alain tipped his hat towards Jasper, and Felix leaned in, resting a hand on the bar. "And now that we know each other a bit better, I was wondering if you could help us out with something."

"I can certainly do my best. What do you need? Food, water?"

"Information. I was wondering if you'd know where a man could go if he wanted to speak with someone who knows something about Voodoo?"

Immediately, Jasper's face darkened, his friendly smile fading. "...You'd be well advised to stay away from the stuff," he warned. "Voodoo is the Devil's work. Ain't nothing good ever come out of dabbling in it."

"So you do know," Felix commented.

"Yeah, I know. And that's why I'm telling you, as a professional courtesy, to not get involved with it."

"Why is that?" Alain interjected. "Seems like this is a personal subject for you."

"You're right about that,' Jasper answered. "My younger sister, Tiana, was involved with it. Met the Voodoo Queen of New Orleans herself, a number of years ago – apprenticed under her for a bit, even, before the Queen died. Tiana threw herself into it after that, convinced she could take the Queen's place. Said she was going to move out into the swamp and everything. Eventually, she did exactly that… and she never came back. That was five years ago; I haven't seen her since."

Jasper let out a heavy sigh, then looked back to Alain. "You want my advice? Forget about the Voodoo stuff, it's never done anyone any good."

"Believe me, I'd like to do exactly that, but we don't have a choice," Alain insisted. "We're looking for someone, Jasper – someone very close to me. And I'm afraid that the only people who would know a thing or two about how to find her are the exact kinds of people you're telling us to avoid."

Jasper hesitated. "...I'm sorry, for what it's worth. But… I can't in all good conscience direct you towards-"

"Enough of this," Sable suddenly announced. She rose from her seat and approached the bar, then stared Japser in the eyes. "Look, we understand your misgivings, but this is important, and we're not going to stop searching for answers just because you've decided to stonewall us. So either you can be part of the solution or you can keep being part of the problem, but either way, we're going to get our answers from someone eventually. The only question is if you're going to keep wasting our time or not."

Again, Jasper hesitated. Finally, he heaved a heavy sigh of resignation. "...Head down to the slums and look for a building called Mystique. If you can't find it, the locals will direct you. The owner is a woman named Ariana – you'll know her when you see her; older woman, big, with a thick Cajun accent. She knew the Queen personally, and when Tiana disappeared, she was the only one willing to tell me anything about what had happened. If anyone in New Orleans can answer your questions, it's her."

Alain nodded in understanding. "Thank you, Jasper."

He turned to walk away, only for Jasper to suddenly lunge forwards and grab him by the wrist, stopping him.

"Wait," Jasper urged. "Whatever you do… stay out of the swamps and bayous. I don't know what happened to my sister, but I know that she wouldn't up and disappear like this on her own. Something out there got her, and I know it wasn't just a gator. Be careful."

Jasper released his hold on Alain's wrist, and Alain again nodded, then turned and walked away, the others flanking him.

"What was that about?" Felix asked. "I mean, I figured I'd be able to get him to talk, but he was much more open about all that than I ever suspected he'd be."

"I don't know," Alain replied. "Whatever the reason is, at least we know where to go now. Come on, let's not waste any more time."

XXX

It wasn't hard to find where the city ended and the slums began. Alain first noticed it when the rough cobblestone pavement gave way to bare ground and mud, and the buildings went from rough but functional to downright ramshackle. The streets themselves were also a lot clearer – there was a lot less foot traffic here, and the people who were out and about were much more purposeful with their movements than the aimless city-goers from the nicer part of town.

The lack of a crowd ended up being a blessing, because it let them all move a lot faster. New Orleans was a big city, but thanks to the streets being barren, they were able to search very quickly, and by the time night was about to fall, they had found the building they'd been looking for.

"There it is," Alain said. True to Jasper's word, there was no missing Mystique once it had come into view. Even if it hadn't been for the large sign bearing its name, the decorations scattered around it gave away its intended purpose – jars of incense set up on a shelf outside, fragrant herbs hanging from twine just in front of the door, and small pieces of jewelry and talismans scattered about on a table.

"I'm surprised this stuff is still here even though nobody's watching over it," Felix commented. "Seems like it'd be easy to steal."

"Maybe they're afraid of what would happen to them if they stole from a Voodoo practitioner," Az offered. "If Jasper's story about his sister is true, then their fear isn't exactly misplaced."

"Whatever the case may be, we've got a job to do," Alain reminded him. "Come on, I'll go first."

Alain stepped up to the door, then pushed his way inside, the others following closely after him.