Destination: Voodoo Remoulade

Voodoo Remoulade is the tenth story in my Crossed Lines series—a fusion of Caffrey Conversation and Supernatural. As you may have guessed from the title, New Orleans is the setting. Neal goes down to the Crescent City to celebrate Mardi Gras with some friends. Since the Winchesters are involved, you can also assume that one or more supernatural creatures will be on hand as well.

I lived in New Orleans for several years and writing a Mardi Gras story has been on my bucket list for quite a while. In anticipation of the event, I began scattering breadcrumbs in The Woman in Blue, the story that introduced Richard Carlisle. Richard's art studio adjoins Neal's at Columbia University. He hails from New Orleans, plays the jazz guitar, and is interested in voodoo. In The Woman in Blue, he gave Neal a voodoo doll for his art studio to ward off evil spirits.

Richard claims to be a distant descendant on his mother's side from the famous pirate Jean Lafitte and who's to say he's wrong? Jean and his older brother Pierre were active in the area around New Orleans in the early nineteenth century. Jean had one son by his wife Madeline Regaud whom he married in 1820. Before then, the brothers are reputed to have kept two sisters as mistresses—Marie and Catherine Villard. Since the Villards were of mixed race, they couldn't have been legally married to the Lafittes. Common-law marriages, called placages, were permitted, but it's not known if either of the Lafitte brothers entered into a formal arrangement. Pierre and Marie had at least seven children. The relationship between Jean and Catherine, nicknamed Catiche, is not as well established, but there is evidence of at least one daughter.

When it comes to supernatural creatures, New Orleans has a rich history. Dean and Sam encountered rugarus in several episodes of Supernatural. They're carnivorous humanoids with a taste for humans. In Cajun lore, rougarou is the more common spelling. Some Cajuns use the term loup-garou instead and consider the creature to be similar to a werewolf. Vampires, voodoo queens, and fifolets are also known to lurk in the swamps and dark alleys of Cajun Country. Never heard of a fifolet? Neither has Neal, but he soon will. If you can't wait to read about them, check out the resources below.

References:

• Pirate Consorts: Marie and Catherine Villard
• Louisiana Myths and Legends
• Louisiana Voodoo
• The Vampire Legends of New Orleans

Voodoo Remoulade on Archive of Our Own
Voodoo Remoulade on FanFiction