Bayou Blues
A New Orleans
Mystery
Book Two
M. M. Shelley
Genre: YA,
Fantasy, Urban
Date of
Publication: June 2014
ISBN:
978-1500255053 /
ISBN: 150025505X
ASIN: B00L7YLU0W
Number of pages:
322
Word Count:
52,500
Cover Artist:
Michelle Marquez
Available at Smashwords and Amazon
Book
Description:
Sixteen year old
orphan, Ava Lopez, has returned to New Orleans, Louisiana, just as a dark
entity has taken residence in the bayou.
Not only does
Ava have to discover who or what is taking its victims from the Quarter, and
leaving their remains in the Bayou. She will also have to maneuver her way
around a new school and deal with a new bodyguard.
Ava will have to
uncover the mystery before she becomes its next victim.
Excerpt:
It
had been at least three years since he had left New Orleans, Louisiana and
Auguste Cheval still wasn’t sure if he had made the right decision in
returning. It didn’t feel right, yet he no longer had the option to stay away.
His father had skipped out on him again leaving him no choice but to live with
his uncle Prosper Cheval.
Uncle
Prosper was absolutely crazy. He refused to live in town preferring instead to
live out in the Bayou. Auguste had to make the long trek from town to his
uncle’s shack each and every day, to and from his high school. Auguste attended
Ben Franklin, in part thanks to his social worker, who for some reason or
another seemed focused on making sure he stayed the course. His social worker
Phillips believed that Auguste had the grades and the drive to excel at school;
a school where nearly everyone excelled at one thing or another.
The
only issue Auguste had was that a normal life could never be in the cards for
him, but he wasn’t about to tell his social worker Phillips just why that was.
How could he even begin to explain it?
As
Auguste headed deeper into the Bayou he ventured down a narrow pathway that was
nearly completely covered over with knee high marshway cordgrass. Auguste had
taken the long way home as he was in no hurry to return. His uncle Prosper
probably wouldn’t be there, more than likely he was out checking on his traps.
A
slight sound came from his left. Something heavy was pushing through the
marshway cordgrass, but Auguste couldn’t see what it was. So he waited. He
didn’t want to move any further until he could see it clearly. In the light of
the fading sun, Auguste held his breath as he waited to identify what moved in
the cordgrass. In spite of the fact that the sun had reached the horizon, the
air remained hot and humid enough to cause his clothes to stick to his body.
A man
in his early forties rolled out of the cordgrass falling right in Auguste’s
pathway. The man rolled until he was on his hands and knees, he lifted his head
high up in the air, his chin tilted skyward and his eyes closed. He smelled the
dry stillness in the air. His eyes opened and he quickly shifted toward
Auguste. His eyes locked in on Auguste and his head made a rather sharp
movement almost like a wolf finding the scent of his prey.
As
the man’s eyes focused sharply on Auguste, a deep low growl escaped his throat.
The eerie sound was so disturbing that it caused Auguste to feel ill. As the
man leaned onto his back legs ready to pounce on Auguste, a wolf jumped out of
the marshway cordgrass and latched onto the man’s throat, dragging him onto the
ground and ripping at his flesh.
He
tried to fight back, sinking his teeth into the wolf’s coat, but to no avail as
the wolf tore fiercely away at him. The man screamed out in pain against the
assault. Sudden silence signaled that the man had given up the fight. His body
grew limp as his life began to ebb, leaving him unable to endure anymore.
The
wolf turned and shifted toward Auguste, it took a step towards him with a giant
paw. The wolf had an unearthly presence as its paws were large and sunk into
the earth with each heavy step. Its head was slightly larger than the rest of
the body giving it a disproportionate appearance. The wolf’s green eyes looked
like they had seen centuries of war and chaos and were filled with a sadness
that tore at Auguste’s heart. In spite of his feelings, Auguste found the hint
of darkness lurking beneath the wolf’s demeanor disturbing. It was a darkness
that wouldn’t think twice about attacking Auguste and harming him, just as it
had killed the man without hesitation.
Auguste held out his arm as if to prevent it
from coming any closer. As he did so, the fading sunlight illuminated the scar
that ran from the outside of Auguste’s elbow to the inside of his middle
forearm. The wolf sniffed at him before taking another step; then, as quickly
as it had appeared, it turned and ran back into the cordgrass leaving behind
the lifeless body of the man it had just killed for sport.
About the
Author:
M.M. Shelley is
a storyteller, wordsmith and dreamer. She has traveled the world extensively in
search of the magic which is often overlooked in everyday life. M.M. Shelley is
a native of southern California, and a student of mythology from which she gets
much inspiration.
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