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A MAN NAMED JANVIER
AFTER ALEC'S LAST LETTER, AUGUSTINE HAD MORE QUESTIONS ON HER MIND THAN BEFORE.
Of course Alec was the type to be cryptic when it served him well, and of course the part he wasn't cryptic about was his reminder that the offer was still on the table. Augustine had thought that maybe the Volturi had let it go— that Aro himself had forgotten his offer to the young girl to join their ranks. Only now, it seemed as though they hadn't.
And when Carlisle's name was mentioned, she knew she had to press the blond man for answers. Which is how she found herself in his office once again, shoving the page of cursive writing in front of his face with a, "you need to read this shit, Carlisle."
"Language," he reminded her lightly, but took the letter from her regardless. She rolled her eyes at his antics, nervously tapping her feet against the floorboards as she watched his eyes skim over its contents. When he was finished, his eyebrows were furrowed together. "Interesting..."
Her left eye twitched. "'Interesting?' What's that supposed to mean?"
"It's interesting that Alec thinks turning to an old friend of mine will help us find a solution," he muttered out, eyes retreating back to the page once more.
She threw her hands at her sides. "Who is this Janvier person, anyways?"
He took a seat at his desk, gesturing for her to take the empty chair across from him. She sat, legs pulled onto the chair so she could sit cross-legged. "Do you remember when I told you I once knew someone with your abilities? Someone who could also manipulate matter?"
"Let me guess; that's Janvier?" she deduced, earning a simple nod from Carlisle.
"He passed through Italy during my stay with the Volturi, stayed long enough that I once called him my closest friend," he told her, reaching over to unlock a drawer to his right. He dug through its contents, fishing out what looked like a thick piece of parchment, and slid it her way. "He drew this as a parting gift, and I've yet to see him since. It's been hundreds of years."
On the parchment in some sort of granite pencil was an illustration of who she assumed was Carlisle next to a man she didn't recognize. He had longer hair that was down to his shoulders that was shaded in a dark grey, owlish eyes that really seemed to stare at her, and it seemed as though he willingly drew himself with a barely there smirk.
Augustine traced her fingers over the drawing, marvelling in it. "He's a damn good artist," she observed with a small smile. It was a miracle the parchment was still intact, after all these years.
"That's another thing that you share in common with him," Carlisle said, taking back the parchment from her when she handed it back. "Do you know what Janvier means in French?"
The ravenette pursed her lips, shaking her head. Despite her father being of French descent, she was far too young to actually learn anything from him and June Dubois was only French through her late marriage to Ernest. She couldn't speak a lick of the language other than a simple Bonjour. "No clue, but something tells me you do."
"It means January."
Augustine froze, something uneasy coiling in her gut. Not only was this vampire a Frenchman who could manipulate matter and had a knack for the arts, but he was named after one of the months.
Just like she was.
When her brain finally started to start back up, the first words of deflect on her mind escaped her. "This is a prank— are you punking me right now?"
"Based on the similarities alone, and with Alec bringing him up, I think Janvier is the key," Carlisle explained, and the girl instantly took note of how his tone took a sullen tone, "but no one, and I mean not one vampire, has seen him. He's been evading the Volturi for years, and even their best tracker has yet to find him."
She nodded, eyes flittering around the room. "So the key to figuring out why my powers are literally malfunctioning has been missing for hundreds of years," she repeated, teeth sinking into her cheek. Her head fell into her eagerly awaiting hands. "Even my afterlife is a shit show."
Carlisle rounded the desk, and out a comforting hand on her shoulder that caused her to look up at him. "Janvier may be missing, but I still know others who knew him as well," he reassured her, "so who's to say the answer can't lie in their memories of him, hm?"
Augustine thought it made sense; surely if anyone had any stories about the man and his abilities, perhaps they also had stories of him passing out from them too. The bitter part of her brain supplied that maybe Janvier was perfect, had no issues, and perhaps it was something about her that was causing these issues.
She plastered on a hopeful grin though, and shrugged. "Hope so."
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"What the hell kind of name is 'Janvier'? Do people not name their kids normal names anymore?"
"Your name is Paul... so yeah, people are still naming their kids normal names."
The pair had been on the phone for the last hour, with Augustine mainly rambling on about her new findings that she promised Paul she would relay, had she found anything. Since it was a school night, and even though she couldn't sleep, Esme still insisted on an early curfew, she resulted in calling him instead.
And yeah, it was safe to say that she found something— though in her mind, it was just something that led to even more questions.
And yeah, she made Alec's letter seem like it was a random one... not like they'd been writing to one another since before she and Paul patched things up. Would it come back to bite her in the ass later? Probably, but she had bigger things to fret over now.
Things like the mysterious Janvier.
A chuckle sounded from the other end of the line. "It could be a coincidence," he offered positively, though the way his tone wavered as he said the word coincidence revealed how he truly felt. A sigh. "Okay, it is fucking weird. I mean, you're basically this dude's carbon copy."
Augustine grimaced. "I know, and of course no one's seen him since the end of the 1700s," she mumbled in evident frustration.
"If anyone can find the solution, it's your family," he said resolutely. "I've never seen a group of people survive as much as you all have... it's astounding, really."
She couldn't stop the chuckle from leaving her. "I know... I haven't had prolonged downtime since I was with the Denalis," she recounted, stretching her limbs as she sat in her desk chair.
"You rarely talk to me about your time out there," he hummed, and she knew he wasn't trying to pry— rather, he was just making an observation. "Carmen was cool though when I met her at the wedding."
Augustine smiled. "I think I miss her the most, all things considered," she responded, tracing the simple sketch in front of her. It was the same landscape drawing she'd been reworking on for a while because she just wasn't getting it right. "As for Alaska... I had a rocky start as a vampire out there. I'd rather spare you the details."
She didn't want Paul to know about her particularly bloody past as a newborn, one that craved human blood like no other and claimed the lives of more than just those hikers that day. Now that they'd spent more time together, she knew he'd never outright poke fun at her nor shame her... but that didn't stop her from shaming herself.
"You'll tell me when you're ready," was his calm response, and for that Augustine was grateful. "I'm headed to bed, but I'll pick you up tomorrow, yeah?"
Augustine nodded, then remembered he couldn't see her do so. "Sure. G'night, Paulie."
"Night. Love you."
Then, the dial tone.
The ravenette stared at her phone, the black screen looking back at her, taunting. There was no way in hell he just said that and hung up— no, she wasn't going to let him be a chicken shit about this.
Augustine took those words very seriously, and if Paul was going to just throw them around, then she needed to have a serious talk with him. Starting now, as she redialed his phone and waited for him to pick up.
After a multitude of rings, he answered with a faint "... hello?"
"You can't say that to me when we aren't even dating," she argued, slumping back in her seat. "You've gotta mean it."
It was silent for a beat, followed by a laugh of disbelief. "Do you think I don't?" he asked, followed by an immediate follow-up question of, "would you wanna be my girlfriend, Auggie?"
She bit her lip; she didn't want to make it that easy for him.
"Ask me again tomorrow. Oh, and bring me flowers while you're at it."
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[ wyn's note ]
100k on KILLER!!!! never thought we'd get here, and i cant express how grateful i am to you guys!!
and, to show my everlasting gratitude, i'm letting you guys choose which story we're embarking on next!
leave me a comment on which one you wanna read the most, and i'll make it happen (and by make it happen, i mean i literally already have these three in the drafts LOL).
INTRODUCING...
" LIKE REAL PEOPLE DO. alec volturi "
⏤ 𝙞𝙣 𝙬𝙝𝙞𝙘𝙝 𝘫𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘦 𝘧𝘭𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘶𝘮𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘢𝘯 𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘷𝘰𝘭𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘪 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘦; 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵, 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩, 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘦𝘦𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦𝘧𝘪𝘦𝘭𝘥.
WITH
paulina chavez
as 𝙟𝙤𝙨𝙚𝙥𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙚 '𝙟𝙤𝙨𝙞𝙚' 𝙛𝙡𝙤𝙧𝙚𝙨
"i left my cat unattended because i owe you one. now, where's the kid i need to vouch for?"
cameron bright
as 𝙖𝙡𝙚𝙘 𝙫𝙤𝙡𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙞
"tell me, sole; what is this thesis you speak of? is it a kind of activity you do for amusement?"
" IT WILL COME BACK. jasper hale "
⏤ 𝙞𝙣 𝙬𝙝𝙞𝙘𝙝 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘸𝘢𝘯 𝘵𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘴 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘮𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘴, 𝘺𝘦𝘵 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘤𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘶𝘯𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘸𝘰 𝘨𝘪𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘷𝘢𝘮𝘱𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘴.
WITH
dylan o'brien
as 𝙢𝙖𝙩𝙩𝙚𝙤 𝙨𝙬𝙖𝙣
"i'm a minor inconvenience away from jumping ship and going to florida. don't test me."
jackson rathbone
as 𝙟𝙖𝙨𝙥𝙚𝙧 𝙝𝙖𝙡𝙚
"i've never met someone who's as emotionally constipated as you are. it's not a compliment."
" FROM EDEN. aro volturi "
⏤ 𝙞𝙣 𝙬𝙝𝙞𝙘𝙝 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘣𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘦 𝘣𝘶𝘳𝘣𝘢𝘯𝘬'𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘢 𝘴𝘸𝘢𝘯; 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘴𝘸𝘦𝘱𝘵 𝘶𝘱 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘢𝘭, 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘶𝘱 𝘪𝘯 𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩.
WITH
madelyn cline
as 𝙗𝙞𝙡𝙡𝙞𝙚 𝙗𝙪𝙧𝙗𝙖𝙣𝙠
"i've been single my entire life and all it took was travelling to an ancient italian city? unreal."
ben barnes
as 𝙖𝙧𝙤 𝙫𝙤𝙡𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙞
"i've waited for you for a thousand years, amore; i assure you that i can wait a bit longer."
till the next one!! all love xx