Bloodlines & Betrayals

Chapter One: Ashes of the Bayou

Faith Bennett’s bare feet padded across the soaked floor of the old cabin, the wood creaking beneath her like bones whispering secrets.

Moonlight cut through the cracked windows, painting the room in ghostly silvers and shadows. It smelled of damp moss, melted candles, and something far older like grief that had never quite dried.

She stood over a bowl of herbs and ash, whispering a spell she’d learned from a dusty grimoire handed down by a woman who claimed to be her mother’s friend. A lie, maybe. But magic was all she had now.

Magic and the ache of being too young to remember the sound of her mother’s laugh or the color of her father’s eyes before he died.

Lucy Bennett was gone before Faith could walk. Elliot Labonair died before she could understand what the word 'curse' really meant.

They had been everything. Her beginning. And their ending had become hers too.

The only reason she was still breathing, still hidden, was because someone had cloaked her from the eyes of death specifically The Hollow.

When the ancient entity rose and ravaged New Orleans, hunting Labonair blood like hounds on a scent trail which claimed the lives of two powerful originals, Faith had been tucked away behind wards and whispers.

A forgotten secret.

Until now.

"You almost done?" a voice called from the door.

Samantha or Sam, as Faith always called her leaned in the doorway with her arms crossed, her blonde curls tied back in a loose ponytail. There was mud on her boots and impatience in her tone, but her eyes were soft. Always were when it came to Faith.

"Relax," Faith muttered. "I only get to do this once a year."

Sam sighed and stepped inside, brushing cobwebs out of her way.

"Right. Death anniversary. Should I call Zac and tell him you’re ghosting the party again?"

Faith rolled her eyes.

"That’s a yes, then," Sam said with a grin.

Faith smiled faintly. Sam had a way of grounding her, even when the air around her felt like it was vibrating with spells and sorrow.

She wasn’t magical just a loyal, snarky werewolf with an endless playlist of breakup songs and the ability to read Faith like a book.

They left the cabin not long after.

Faith stared out the window of Sam’s beat-up car, watching the trees blur by like memories she couldn’t catch.

"Drop me at Madeleine’s," Faith said. "I’ve gotta get ready for work."

"Got it. You sure you’re okay?"

Faith didn’t answer.

She didn’t have to.

She wasn’t sure what happened that night.

It had started at her usual job bartending at a dusty dive on the edge of the bayou. It paid enough to keep the lights on, and more importantly, it kept her close to the places her parents once walked.

That night, a man with tequila breath and too much ego started flirting with her.

At first, it was harmless. He complimented her brown skin, her eyes, the curve of her lips but the words were laced with mockery, with something that felt more like possession than praise.

He grabbed her wrist.

Faith felt it boil. Not just in her body but in the air around her.

A flick of her fingers was supposed to heat his drink.

"Incendia," she whispered the same fire spell she had read about in one of her mother's old grimoires. Just a little petty magic to remind him she wasn’t one to be played with.

But instead... his whole arm caught fire.

The room erupted in chaos. Screams. Shouting. Crashing glass.

And then the whispers began:

"Witch. Look what she did. She’s dangerous."

Faith froze, her heartbeat thundering in her ears.

She could feel something crawling up her spine anger, pain, power.

She let out a scream. Or maybe it was a thousand screams layered on top of each other.

And then silence.

Thirty-two people. Dead.

The man with the wandering hands? Reduced to ash.

Some bodies couldn’t even be identified. The bar had exploded into flames, burnt down to a crisp. The next day, the news called it a tragic "gas leak".

But Faith knew better.

She had done it.

She ran.

Home. To the only place that ever felt safe her Aunt Madeleine’s cabin.

Madeleine didn’t ask questions. She held Faith as she sobbed, whispered a calming spell, and brewed an herbal tea that smelled like sleep and sorrow.

Faith drank it and drifted into darkness.

She woke up to voices.

Whispers.

Two women. One familiar. One... nearly forgotten.

Madeleine: "She is getting out of control, Bonnie. I don’t think I can contain her much longer. She’s activated the curse. Tomorrow night’s the full moon."

Bonnie Bennett: "I know a place that can help her. I’ll be there tomorrow."

Faith's heart twisted.

“Auntie Bonnie or auntie BonBon as I used to call her.” The name tasted like childhood sweet, soft, and a little bitter now.

She hadn’t heard that name in years.

Bonnie used to visit every other weekend when Faith was small, bringing sweets and stories and spell books.

But the visits stopped when Faith turned eleven. Since then, it had only been postcards empty words that never hugged her back.

She wasn’t excited.

She was angry.

Why now? Why come back now, when the damage was done? When she was something... dangerous?

When Bonnie arrived the next day, it felt like watching a ghost climb out of her childhood.

"Faith," Bonnie said, her voice calm but firm. "Let's go for a ride."

Faith didn’t respond.

Faith knew what that meant, she wasn't prepared for an argument so she got her things packed up.

Madeleine handed her an old satchel worn leather, stitched with protection spells. Inside were spellbooks, relics, and pieces of her mother’s past.

"You’ll need these," Madeleine whispered.

Faith nodded. Her face was stone, but her heart was fire.

"Sam," she said, hugging her best friend tightly. "Take care of Aunt Madeleine for me."

Sam blinked quickly. "Don’t go getting all soft on me now."

Bonnie watched them, a flicker of thought passing behind her eyes.

"She should come with us," Bonnie said casually. "The Salvatore School is for all supernatural."

Sam made a face. "No thanks, I’m not into preppy girl private boarding schools."

Bonnie chuckled. "You wouldn’t be the first rebel."

Sam looked at Faith. "Maybe I’ll visit sometime. Just don’t go replacing me with some mystic cheerleader."

Faith smirked. "I only got room for one It girl in my life."

She walked out the cabin, the swamp mist curling around her like a cloak, and didn’t look back.

As they drove off, the silence settled like fog between them.

"How do you feel about meeting your cousin?" Bonnie asked eventually.

Faith raised an eyebrow.

"Cousin? Can we even call it that?

Bonnie Bennett: Yes, technically

Faith Bennet: It’s not like she knows me. Hayley probably didn’t even know she had a bastard brother named Elliot, so TECHNICALLY it doesn’t matter.

Bonnie sighed. "You shouldn’t be so negative. You both are the last of the Labonair bloodline. That means something."

Faith looked out the window. "Maybe. But it doesn’t mean everything, we are two completely different people."

Bonnie replied "You'll be surprised by how much you both have in common"

Faith said "dead parents, yay" as she rolled her eyes and continued to look out the window.

She was going to the Salvatore School for the Gifted.

And the world had no idea the gifts she had instore for it.

To be continued...