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HELLO AGAIN
AFTER BEING WELL ACQUAINTED WITH THE ENTIRE LAYOUT OF SAM'S PLACE, THANKS TO SETH, IT WAS TIME FOR AUGUSTINE TO HEAD HOME.
Only, the pair had been sat at the bottom of the Cullens driveway, talking, and neither seemed really hellbent on having Augustine exit the truck.
"I had fun," she told him, an honest ghost of a grin on her face. "Most fun I've had since the battle, really."
Paul's smile was wolfish. "Maybe we could— uh, hang out again sometime soon, then?"
The ravenette pretended to think it over before she gave him a nod. "I'd like that," she replied, and in a split second decision, she found herself reaching across the gearshift to press a quick kiss to the boy's cheek. Before she could even think about the consequences of it, she swung the car door open and stuttered out a, "have a good night."
Once she was inside, she was none the wiser to the crisis that Paul was having in the truck, the engine still running as his body was momentarily frozen. After literally picking his jaw up off the ground, he unleashed a small sigh before he put the truck into reverse, heading back where they had just come from.
And if his dad nosily asked why he was so flushed when he got home, all Terrance Lahote would receive would be a middle finger tossed in his direction.
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Augustine was having a crisis of her own the minute she stepped into the foyer of the home, evident from the way she was thumping her head against the wall. "Stupid, stupid, stupid."
Pulling herself from her stupor, she listened for any sign of anyone else being home. The sun was beginning to set, and judging by the faint glow of a lamp from the living room.
When she couldn't detect any of her family members scents, in fact, she couldn't smell anything at all. But when the floorboard creaked, she knew someone was in the home— she just didn't know who.
Venturing towards the living room, the golden light from the lamp guiding her, she looked around and found it to be empty. There were no impressions in the couch to signal someone had been there, the television was off, and again, no scent.
It was like the start of a bad horror movie, one with an opening jumpscare that came in the form of an all-too familiar voice.
"It's a crime to leave letters from the Volturi unanswered, topolina."
Instantly spinning around, she came face to face with her Italian pen pal, the vampire stood in the doorway she just walked through. Based on the way a dark mist was swirling around his hands, and the smirk on his face, she knew he was responsible for her lack of smell. "Not funny, Alec."
Alec Volturi's head tilted as he observed her for a moment, the mist disappeared as though it hadn't been there in the first place. Her missing sense came back to her and suddenly, all she could smell was the lingering scents of her family members and the potent one she identified as his.
"You haven't been returning my letters," he stated, and Augustine could see his jaw twitch in subtle annoyance. "Have you not been receiving them?"
Augustine rolled her shoulders back, chin high. "Nope, I've gotten them."
A look of sheer exasperation filtered onto Alec's face. "Then why haven't you written me back?"
"Let's see," she started off, crossing her arms over her chest. "Maybe it's because you're a liar? A lying shithead of a liar who didn't think to warn me about the newborns?!"
"You're still upset about that?" he asked, seeming to be genuinely curious.
The ravenette's head shook on its own. "Still? Oh my fuck— yes! I very much am still pissed!" she snarled in response. "My family could've been killed, Alec. I lost my damn hand!"
Alec's face was suddenly devoid of any curiosity, any emotion at all, as he addressed her next. "And if you had opened my damn letters, you would know that I've been trying to help you."
Augustine scoffed, disbelieving. "Help me? It's a little too late for—"
"I know how to get your hand back," he interrupted her.
Her chin wobbled, but her eyes were steeled as they matched his piercing gaze. "Don't fuck with me," she all but whispered out. "Don't lie to me again. Please."
"I am not a liar," he grit out, tongue swiping against the front of his teeth with a click, "but I could not betray my coven just because you..."
He was a liar, though, and Augustine would've laughed if she could. "Because I what?"
"Because you fascinate me."
And there it was; had that been the reason why he even started writing to her in the first place? "What the hell does that mean?"
"You have an unparalleled gift, Augustine. One that hasn't been seen in many generations," he powered on, ignoring the way the girl across from him scoffed. "Matter manipulation. Did you really think you could not conjure yourself a new hand?"
Augustine paused, no— she froze. "I can't," she told the Volturi boy, his crimson eyes peering at her with some sort of scrutiny. "I can't do stuff like that, Alec."
The thought had never crossed her mind. She hadn't been making use of her powers lately, too stressed about her lack of hand and the disappearance of Will's older sister to bother. Plus, the furthest she'd gone with her powers was transforming a squirrel into a chipmunk once, but it had drained her immensely— it made her wish vampires could at least nap.
No, she couldn't possibly be able to manipulate her own matter.
"You can," he answered, refuting her statement in its entirety. "I've overheard my masters discuss your abilities; had you opened my letters, you would have known this."
Augustine almost rolled her eyes at that. After his deceit of the newborns and the reasoning of their existence, Augustine didn't trust him. She learnt her lesson, stopped responding to the pristine envelopes she would receive; but the serious edge in his tone had her pausing.
"I think it's time for you to go," she mumbled, unwrapping her arms from her torso and taking a seat on the navy blue couch.
"Augustine—"
"I mean it, Alec," she snapped, biting her lip rather anxiously. "You've officially overstayed your welcome."
Augustine promptly turned her head to the side, staring out the nearby window as the sun officially sank below the earth. She heard him sigh once more.
"You are being wasteful of such great power."
With an angry retort on her tongue, she spun around to give him a piece of her mind— only to falter, noticing she was alone in the house with a new problem on her mind.
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By the time the rest of the family returned home, aside from Edward who was spending nearly every moment with his new fiancée, Augustine was in her room coming up with a plan of attack.
No, she didn't trust Alec, but what he had said— could she really give herself a new hand? It caused a spark of hope to bubble in her chest, so as she sat criss crossed on her bed, she wanted to at least try.
"Okay August, just— play it cool," she muttered to herself, her left hand attaching itself to her right wrist.
She closed her eyes, trying to channel as much of her energy into conjuring up a hand. In theory, Alec made it sound way easier than it was, because she soon found herself on her third try. So far? Nothing.
On her fifth attempt, a voice startled her from her doorway. "What are you doing, August?"
Eyes snapping open with a yelp, she hasn't even noticed a new presence make their way up to her room. In the doorway stood Rosalie, leaning against the frame with her amber eyes trained on the placement of Augustine's hands.
As though she was caught doing something wrong, her hand instantly parted from her wrist and waved around. "I'm taking up ASL," she lied, offering up the simple sign for the letter R up in the air. "I've got my ABCs memorized already, but I've—"
"I know when you're lying to me," the older vampire replied, but the small smile on her face was mildly comforting. "But I won't ask."
Augustine looked at her suspiciously. "You won't?" she questioned, perplexed at the idea of Rosalie not wanting to know what was going on.
The blonde shook her head. "Nope," was her resolute answer. "You'll tell me why Alec was here a few hours ago when you're ready."
With that, she left Augustine in her room with a gobsmacked expression on her face. No matter how many times she tried to hide and expel the boy's scent from the space, her efforts were no match for Rosalie; when she wanted to find out something, she wouldn't stop till she did.
Augustine huffed, her left hand resuming its position and gripping her wrist in a more gentle way now. "Okay, take six."
Then, when a tingly feeling shot through her wrist, hot as fire, she tentatively opened her eyes. And there it was, her right hand in all its glory. She made her hand into a fist, getting used to the feeling once more.
A laugh of amazement tore past her lips, a giddy feeling in her head that stopped the rest of her body from buzzing. She stared at the hand like it was a trophy, and in some ways it was.
And when her eyes rolled back in her head, slumping against the mattress below her, she still had a smile on her face.
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[ wyn's note ]
ahhhh!!! cliff hanger asf but ahhhh!!!
a dash of a surprise appearance from alec, a splash of paulie and auggie fluff, and a pinch of auggie's powers at play?? makes for a great chap, for sure.
thanks for reading guys! 2k votes is crazy, so so thankful for you guys :)) all love xx