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PACKAGED DELIVERY
AFTER HER IMPROMPTU STUDY SESSION WITH PAUL ENDED WHEN SHE RECEIVED A PHONE CALL FROM JASPER.
He was outside with Alice's car, waiting to collect her with Emmett shoved in the passenger seat. Neither boys watched when the girl they considered their sister was escorted out of the diner by the shifter, who didn't walk away until she was safely in the car. Only, when she was in the car, she noticed the black of their eyes, and upon looking at her reflection in the window, black eyes stared back at her.
Augustine thanked whatever higher power was up there because although the other two were clearly displeased by what they saw, they hadn't mentioned it— rather, Jasper told her that they'd be making a pit stop on their way home. She hoped that it was a pit stop to get something to eat, but alas, they would have other plans.
It was then that she was filled in on what had occurred while she was out; a unknown vampire's scent was caught in Bella's home, and while Edward was presently driving the girl to the Cullen residence, the three seated in the car were about to go track it.
"You said you wanted to be involved more," Jasper shrugged, looking at the way her eyes widened. "Here's your chance."
They parked in front of the Swan home and began their own pursuit, tracking the scent that was drifting a little too close to town for comfort. It dipped near the town and into the woods, before vanishing completely.
How bizarre.
When the trio of vampires got back to the house, Augustine noted that everyone was already gathered in the living room sporting coal black eyes of their own. Bella was seated next to Alice on the couch when they walked in, Jasper calling out a, "the scent disappeared about five miles south of Bella's house."
Carlisle stood with his hands in his pockets. "Someone's orchestrating this."
"Victoria?" Bella offered, only to receive a shake of the head from Alice.
"I would've seen her decide," Alice pointed out, and that made Augustine's eyebrows furrow in confusion. Who else could be tormenting Bella now, hadn't she been through enough already?
"Has to be the Volturi," Edward stated, almost angrily.
Remembering there was a mind reader among them, Augustine firmly pushed down the way Alec's name filtered into her head. Instead, she hummed a theme song from a television show she'd watched when she was a kid, hoping he wouldn't notice.
But when her eyes met Rosalie's, the blonde obviously noticing way her body went rigid for a split second, she knew someone had noticed.
"I don't think it's the Volturi, either," Alice replied, "I've been watching Aro's decisions, too."
Emmett shrugged. "So, we'll keep looking."
"We'll also start taking shifts, guarding Bella's house," Carlisle added, looking to his family and receiving nods from everyone but the blonde to his right.
Rosalie was obviously anything but pleased with this. "Another protection detail?"
Augustine outwardly groaned, "Rose—"
"No, she's right," Bella interjected, shaking her head to deny their suggestion. "You can't protect me, watch my dad, and search for the intruder... and keep yourselves fed."
Yikes. That last part of her statement went straight to Augustine's stomach which, had she been human, would've started to rumble. Come to think of it, she was actually starving— how had she not noticed earlier when she was at the diner with Paul?
Augustine raised her hand timidly, not knowing how she became their biggest advocator.
"The wolves could, y'know... help out?"
And she didn't miss the way Bella's eyebrows rose in her direction suggestively, knowing where she'd been and who'd she been with prior.
Bella was plotting, and Augustine wouldn't give her the benefit of knowing that it was working.
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Once Edward had taken Bella home, and the plan for the Cullens to hunt while the wolves protected Bella was established, the rest of the family scattered throughout the home.
However, before Augustine could leave the room, Esme pulled her aside. "I got a call from the post office," she said, hand lightly clasping the ravenette's as she guided them towards the kitchen. "They said a package came in your name, but that it was too big to fit in the mailbox."
With a pinched look on her face, Augustine nearly bristled when the package came into view due to the sheer size of it.
"I haven't ordered anything in months, I swear," she stated, approaching the large box covered in inconspicuous brown wrapping paper. It was as big as a small mini fridge, and she internally hoped she hadn't accidentally clicked checkout on the one she saw a few days ago.
And, mind you, she obviously couldn't really utilize the mini fridge to begin with, but the baby blue colour was so appealing that she had bookmarked the tab regardless.
"I'll leave you to it," the older woman said, pressing her lips against the girl's temple before departing, leaving Augustine standing before the box with a faint smile.
Augustine took the box off of the kitchen counter and rested it on the floor before she splayed herself onto said floor. Grabbing a box cutter from the drawer just to her left, she began cutting the box down the middle.
Pulling the wrapping aside, she glanced at the box that was a simple cardboard one, no 'fragile' or 'open this way' stickers to see, so she clawed the top two flaps open.
Opening the box, her mouth immediately snapped shut to prevent the gasp of surprise from leaving her— because the inside of the box was filled to the brim with puzzles.
Yeah, not a mini fridge or another shopping haul that would've been charged to Carlisle's card. Puzzles.
She tentatively lifted the first one up, examining the detailed box it came in; however, one thing stood out amidst the Screaming Man picture posted on the front.
The instructions, the piece count, and the name of the puzzle company was all in fucking Italian. And to make matters worse, underneath the puzzle that was in her hands, she saw a pristine envelope with a crimson seal.
DEAR AUGUSTINE,
I have done some extensive research. Hopefully these prove to be adequate activities for you to complete.
Should you enjoy them, I shall send you more.
— ALEC.
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"Say a girl were to receive an entire shipment of puzzles from her totally normal penpal that does not live in Europe... what does she do?"
Carlisle gave the girl in front of him a bewildered look from his place at his desk. At his evident confusion, the ravenette raised her hand to show him another puzzle she found within the box: a landscape of Cinque Terre.
Augustine looked borderline frantic, and he had zero clue how to approach this. "Are these two people involved vampires?"
"Does it matter?" she asked in exasperation, her head hanging low.
Carlisle approached the girl, guiding her to take a seat on the nearby loveseat. Her heaving shoulders and the way she brought her knees to her chest reminded him of the day she'd returned from meeting her mate for the first time. "What's going on?" The younger girl sniffled, glancing pitifully at the box of puzzle pieces that sat on the ground next to her. She murmured something that not even Carlisle with his enhanced hearing could decipher. "One more time?"
"I am the girl and Alec is the very normal penpal," she rushed out, pressing the heels of her palms into her eyes. "And I meant to tell you, really, but he's actually quite nice and now he's sending me too many puzzles. You should've seen the box Carlisle, it was—"
Carlisle hushed her gently. "It's alright, calm down," he reassured her, kneeling in front of her with understanding eyes. "For how long?"
"A few weeks," she mumbled.
The blond man nodded, standing up as he patted her knee. "I won't force you to make any decision you don't want to make," he started, gently smoothening out the top of her head the way a father would comfort his daughter. Though, she'd never known what that felt like, before. "I think you've enamoured him, yes. but I wouldn't worry."
"Rose told me he can take away a person's senses... and you're telling me not to worry?" she retorted, placing her feet back onto the ground and pointedly ignored the man's remark about enamouring the other vampire.
Yeah, as if.
"We'll be vigilant, especially because of what happened in Volterra," he stated, referencing the point in the trip where Aro offered her a place among them.
"— but I'd be more worried if it was Jane you were penpals with."
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[ wyn's note ]
is there even such a thing as too many puzzles? LOL hope you guys enjoyed this one! 16k reads on this is absolutely insane, thank you!!
also i found THE perfect song that is sooooo paul and august coded: an ego thing by lizzy mcalpine. especially when they were in their fighting phase, toooooo real.
all love! xx