It was 1844, and you were living in the American south in Louisiana. You lived on a large estate with your father whom you called “Pappy”, your mother who you called “Mama” and some servants and maids. They were all sweet and taken care of properly, despite your parents being slightly distant people. They didn’t pay much attention to you, leading you to learn and be taught by the maids who helped you as a baby and watched you grow up. Your older brother, Philip, took all the attention away from you. He didn’t pay you much attention either, either spending time out in the bayou by your mansion with your father shooting alligators or birds, or he was learning how to take care of a business.

Your parent’s mansion was on the land next to a large bayou, with lots of animals. It smelled just fine, not like a swamp or muggy. The land your parents owned was large too, covering vast amounts of the land in the bayou itself and the land around the mansion.

One day you were sitting on the back porch drinking some pink lemonade in the sun when you glanced into the house to see your brother with his best friend, Damien Lous. Damien was an entrepreneur your brothers age. He was smart and handsome, leaving the ladies that passed him swooning. You huffed and looked back out over the bayou, watching the birds and alligators.

Damien looked out of the window, looking at you. God you were so beautiful to him. He had a secret thing for you, luckily he hid it well, never talking to you nicely and just really never talking to you personally. He looked back over at your brother and laughed as he saw Philip making weird gestures and noises at the radio because of a baseball game. He stole a glance back over at you, his eyes dilating. You were perfect to him. You were fierce and independent, not letting anyone talk down on you. You were educated and still loved to imagine. You were also the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen. Your hair, your smile, your eyes. Oh how he wanted his children to have your eyes.