Marshall Twins [2 - Twins Series]

1 - Always and Forever

Book: Marshall Twins
Chapter 1
Word Count: 3620

First chapter: After centuries away,
vampire-werewolf hybrid Klaus returns to the French Quarter of New Orleans to find it taken over by his former protégé, Marcel.

Avery and Hayley sat at a largely deserted bar at midday while the bartender, named Jane-Anne talked to them.

"Third time in here this week."

"I'm obsessed with the gumbo, Jane-Anne." Avery chuckled.

"You know, ladies in the 9th ward say my sister, Sophie, bleeds a piece of her soul into every dish." Jane-Anne smiled.

"We asked around the Quarter about our family..." Hayley piped up. Jane-Anne glanced at her.

"And?"

"Nothing. Zero." Hayley sighed.

"We can't find a single person who remembers them." Avery added.

"Because, girls, people like you were run out of here years ago." Jane-Anne mentioned.

"What do you mean, people like us?" Hayley wondered. Jane-Anne walked around the bar to the other side to stand beside the Marshall twins. She set a map on the bar.

"In the bayou, they call the werewolves 'Roux-Ga-Roux'." Jane-Anne circled a point on the map. "You head out there, you'll find what you're looking for. Be careful. It's the last place you'd ever want to go."

Avery took the map as she and Hayley nodded and smiled, before both twins left the bar.

Jane-Anne and her sister (who stood nearby), Sophie, exchanged glances, and Jane-Anne held up her hand, revealing that she had several strands of Avery's hair in her hand.

---

Hayley was driving down a country road while Avery sat in the passenger's seat, looking at the map. Hayley parked her car somewhere in the bayou.

"Where to now?" Avery sighed, showing Hayley the map in her hands.

"We might as well just go straight to--" Hayley went to point to the circle that Jane-Anne had drawn on the map, when suddenly, it caught on fire, causing Hayley to pull her hand back, startled.

"What the...?" Avery murmured, quickly tossing the flaming paper out of the window. Hayley put the car in reverse, but the car started to produce smoke and stopped working.

"Are you kidding me?" Hayley groaned in frustration.

"Don't worry, I've got this. Wait here, I'll be right back." Avery told her twin sister before climbing out of the car. She dialled a number on her cell phone. "Hey, I'm looking for a tow service?"

But suddenly, Avery's phone produced an ear-piercing noise. She pulled it away from her ear, grimacing in discomfort, and threw it on the ground while covering her ears.

"Did you get through to them?" Hayley asked, confused when she noticed Avery's phone on the ground.

"I think it's broken. Um, I'll find a way to fix it later. Can I please borrow yours?" Avery asked.

"Yeah, s--" But Hayley quickly cut herself off, her hand hovering over her phone in her back pocket, when she suddenly noticed shadowy figures approaching the two of them, emerging from the trees. "Avery, I-I think we should get out of here. Like, now!"

Hayley grabbed Avery's hand and began to hurry back to the car, when suddenly, Avery grew very dizzy and collapsed to the floor, her surroundings fading to black as she passed out.