Horace Greeley said go west young man. In 1910, all of seventeen and seeking adventure, Cecil Evers and his buddy Frank Anderson decided to do just that. They left Cincinnati and set off for the emerging city of Los Angeles. They originally planned to go by railroad, but the trip from Cincinnati to Indianapolis revealed that Cecil had a terrible case of motion sickness. His experience with the railroad convinced Cecil to try another mode of transportation.  A riverboat seemed safer. Cincinnati is a river town so they had no trouble finding a boat for the first leg of their adventure: a passage to New Orleans. The boat trip was much nicer. The leisurely pace of the paddle wheeler suited Cecil’s stomach much better.   

After arriving in New Orleans the two young men  decided to take a couple of days to see the sights. Their  second day in town they ventured to St. Louis Cemetery number one. I know,  a very touristy thing to do. They decided the cemetery was so big they would split up. Cecil wandered through acres of mausoleums more ornate than anything they had back home. He stopped to admire one called the Glapion family crypt. As he read some of the names of people buried there Cecil felt a girl’s hand on his shoulder and heard a beautiful voice say “Excuse me sir.” As he turned, Cecil’s eyes met the most incredible girl he had ever seen in his life. She was a couple of years older than him. Not only did they not raise them like that back home, he was pretty sure there was nowhere on the planet to find another girl like this. She was a little taller than him and Cecil was a legitimate six feet tall. Her hair was wrapped in a bandana.  Her dark skin was flawless. Her figure, covered by a peasant skirt and blouse, was far beyond the ability of a seventeen year old to adequately describe. The most beautiful things about her, though, were her eyes. They were a deeper black than anything he had ever seen. There was a hint of color in her eyes that reminded Cecil of a cool, crisp autumn night with a harvest moon. The young man couldn’t look away if he tried. 

Frank got lost. This cemetery is so big it is easy to lose one’s bearings. As he wandered past acres of graves one thought kept running through Frank’s mind: “Why did I ever let Cecil talk me into this! He’s done this to me since we were kids! It’s like when he took me Snipe hunting when we were twelve. He left me squatting out in the woods holding a bag for five hours! He’s probably back at the hotel laughing his butt off! ” As he rounded a corner Frank came upon what he believed was a cemetery worker crouched by a body. He was going to ask for directions until it stood up. It was no person. This was a grotesque creature with decaying flesh. It was not kneeling by a body, it was feeding on a corpse. The terrified seventeen year old tried to scream but nothing would come out. Filled with a fear he didn’t know was possible, Frank couldn’t move. As the horror got closer Frank felt himself faint dead away. Perhaps a poor choice of words on my part.

The young lady took Cecil’s hand and pressed in close. She said “There is an aura about you. May we go somewhere and talk?” At this point, whatever request she made, the smitten teen could refuse her nothing. Before he knew it, Cecil and the young lady were strolling through New Orleans’ French Quarter. The smells of amazing cuisine filled his nostrils. Cecil was used to the predominantly German fare back home. The Cajun, Creole, French, and Italian restaurants around him were something completely different. They took a street side table at a bistro. The young lady ordered for both of them. In French. Cecil’s night just kept getting better. 

While Cecil was getting ready to dine on fine cuisine, Frank was afraid he would become fine cuisine. Frank awoke in a cage like the medieval cages he had seen in the museum when he visited Chicago. It took a while for his eyes to adjust because the large room was lit only by torches. As things came into focus, Frank could see he was in a large brick room he assumed was a catacombs of some sort beneath one of the crypts. Caskets lined the walls. Thirty feet in front of him was a pile of freshly gnawed bones. There were what looked to be multiple drainage tunnels leading in and out of the room. Frank assumed the tunnels were how these things got around undetected. On his right was a stone staircase that led to an upper landing and a tunnel door. While Frank tried to take the gross tableau in, he heard a girl say “We have to get out of here!” Frank jumped at the voice, then looked to his left to see a pretty young blonde about his age in a cage similar to his. She said “My name is Cindy. Those things caught me a few hours ago. There is a stairway inside of one of the crypts that leads down here. Did they hit you? Is that why you were knocked out when they brought you down?” “Yeah. A couple of them jumped me outside.” Frank was such a bad liar! Frank asked *If we can get out of these cages can you remember the way out?” ” I think so.” Cindy replied. Now Frank at least had a plan: get out of the cages and follow Cindy’s directions out of this horror story. Frank mused “Stories like this are why I don’t read Bram Stoker!” 

Cecil and his date talked while they waited for their food. She asked Cecil about himself while he noticed everyone who strolled by couldn’t take their eyes off of them. Probably trying to figure out why such an amazing girl would be with a big, corn fed Ohio boy. With her French accent, Cecil could listen to her all night. After dinner, some kind of French cheese dish he couldn’t pronounce, his companion took Cecil by the right hand and turned his hand palm up. “You will lead an interesting life Cecil Evers. You will go from adventure to adventure. Some good and some bad. But take heart, your friend Frank will never leave your side. He is more loyal to you than your own brother. You are blessed to have him. Now come with me, your first adventure has already begun.” With that, she took Cecil by the hand and they strolled down the street. With her head on his shoulder Cecil Evers felt invincible

Cecil made fun of Frank for going to a museum while on vacation. This was where it paid off. Frank remembered the tour guide saying these cages had a spring on the lock. If he could find the spring, Frank could release himself and Cindy. He ran his fingers up the seam of the cage until he felt the spring. It was old and rusted but he could still move it enough to pop the door open. As Frank opened his cage he heard shuffling sounds coming from multiple locations. He immediately went to work on Cindy’s cage. As Frank worked the lock Cindy looked past his shoulder and said in a surprisingly hushed tone “Hurry! They’re coming!” Frank popped the lock open. As Cindy climbed out of the cage she pointed and screamed. Frank wheeled around on his heels to see the creatures emerging from three tunnels on the lower level of the crypt. The monsters were in various states of decay. Some were so far along their limbs were falling off. All moaned and groaned like dying animals. 

The two former captives didn’t wait around to find out what the monsters had in mind. They just raced for the stairs. 

Cecil and his companion walked about a block before she pulled him through the open door of a storefront. Beautiful, mysterious, strong. Cecil was already planning the wedding. Once inside, she proceeded to kiss him. Cecil had kissed a girl back home once. This was completely different. Her tongue probed his tonsils like a doctor trying to figure out if they needed to be removed. Between her eyes, her scent, and the kiss, Cecil’s higher mind left him. An animalistic growl emerged from his throat as he lifted her by the waist. At this point he had no conscious thought. It was all instinct. Their bodies reacting to each other on the most basic level possible. By morning they were a quivering mound of spent flesh. Cecil woke up just before dawn. The young lady was already dressed and tying the bandana around her hair. As he sat up, she leaned down to kiss him. “Goodbye Cecil Evers. Your fate lies elsewhere. I thank you for this night.” 

Cecil called to her “That’s it! I don’t even know your name.” “Yes you do, my love. My name is Marie Laveau. May God bless you, mon amour .” With that she disappeared out the door. Marie Laveau? Where had Cecil heard that name before? When it came to him, Cecil Evers’ blood ran cold. It couldn’t be! He had to know! Cecil got dressed and ran as fast as he could back to the Glapion crypt. As dawn broke he found the plaque : Marie Laveau died June 1881. His mind raced as he wandered away, trying to make sense of what just happened. 

Frank had a problem. How could he take the lead and keep these things from following them at the same time. Cindy solved the problem for him. She grabbed Frank’s hand and ran up the stairs. Frank raced a guy from Dayton at the state fair last year. Cindy would have beaten them both by a mile. The couple entered the tunnel at the top of the stairs. True to her word, Cindy seemed to know the way. This was good, seeing how Frank could hear the ghouls moaning behind them. As they reached the top of the tunnel, they stood twenty feet away from the door of the crypt. A single creature blocked their way. His mistake. Frank and Cindy looked at each other, exchanged a subtle nod, and proceeded to barrel shoulder first into the creatures midsection. They literally cut it in two and broke open the door all in one violent motion. As the two halves of the ghoul writhed on the ground in obvious pain, the two young adventurers picked themselves up and proceeded to leave the cemetery at a high rate of speed. 

Cecil was the first back to the hotel room. As he sat on the side of his bed trying to figure out his experience the previous night, Frank and Cindy barreled through the door. They proceeded to tell Cecil every detail of their harrowing night. Lost in his own thoughts all Cecil could do was say “That sounds bad.” “That sounds bad? !” Frank shouted. “Just like back home. I went through the wringer and you probably had a nice, quiet dinner alone.” It was another day before Cecil could tell Frank and Cindy what actually happened. To their credit, after their own adventure, they believed every word Cecil told them. Over the next couple of days Frank and Cecil got to know their new friend. Her full name was Cindy Collins and she was from St. Louis. Cindy was nineteen and like the boys was seeking adventure. Maybe not this much. The three decided the duo would become a trio with Cindy joining the trip to Los Angeles. After a total of a week in New Orleans they were ready for the next leg of their journey. A boat trip through the Panama Canal zone. One thing the three friends were sure of was this : whoever nicknamed New Orleans “The Big Easy” had no idea what they were talking about.