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BABY BLUES
AUGUSTINE WASN'T SHOWING ANY SIGNS OF WAKING UP.
Between the incident regarding the young girl, the looming threat of the Volturi, and the fact that Jasper and Alice had fled for some unforeseen reason, the Cullens were working overtime to solve every possible problem.
So far, they'd been able to gather many witnesses who were staying at their home, all vampires who were willing to stand alongside the Olympic coven when the snow would finally stick to the ground. Alice and Jasper were still missing in action, no one knowing where they were off to.
And as for Augustine's odd predicament, she'd been asleep for those same two weeks and was unable to awoken by the doctors. Even Carlisle couldn't figure it out, his colleagues attributing her deep slumber to the fact that her body went through the wringer due to her wound's extensiveness and the surgery that saved her life.
It'll take time, they said. She shouldn't have survived at all.
So while the blond man was trying to rally up an action plan against the Volturi, he was also trying to find an answer. His office became the home base for those who wished to help him research, namely Rosalie and Esme, but even Emmett put aside his hatred for reading to help. Edward and Bella were noticeably busy, always on alert when it came to their growing daughter and supervising their guests.
But, everyone knew that one Paul Lahote was yet to leave the hospital for more than a few hours at a time. Even when visiting hours were long over, his wolfish figure would be hidden by the trees near her window just in case she woke up. Sam was giving him leeway when it came to patrol, knowing he'd been equally as distraught after the incident with his own imprint.
Nonetheless, Carlisle never said anything when he caught the boy around, even when he wasn't supposed to be. However, they'd been researching for weeks, and all of his theories were proving to be inconclusive.
Until he asked to see the letter Esme found one more time.
Reading the chicken scratch once more, he couldn't shake the feeling that he recognized the anonymous penmanship. Esme merely watched as her mate ruffled through his desk drawers, almost frantically, until he found was he was looking for.
That old parchment he showed Augustine over two months ago, a drawing of two men present on the front. As he flipped it over, he found just what he was looking for and scolded himself for not seeing it sooner.
"Mon ami, FREEDOM AWAITS."
Placing the letter on the desk beside the parchment, the capital letters on both were written nearly identically. Carlisle shook his head; how was this possible?
"What is it?" Esme asked, lingering in front of his desk as his eyes flickered from both pieces of paper.
"It seems like an old friend of mine has returned after years of evasion... and he's the one who left that letter for August."
Finding information on a man who had been seen by anyone in almost three centuries was not an easy task, but Carlisle was willing to try. He was willing to do anything, at this point.
His pursuit started with the vampires gathered in his home, many of which were much older than he was, too. The Irish coven had never heard of the illucid vampire with the ability to manipulate matter, and Garrett was also in the dark.
It was by questioning Amun, the leader of the Egyptian coven, that Carlisle even found a semblance of answers as the older vampire pulled him outside of the home so they could discuss the matter.
"I haven't heard that name in many years," Amun started, his eyes surveying the treeline briefly before settling back onto Carlisle. "He came through our territory after the Volturi took power from the Romanians. A very troubled man... he hated what we were."
That was something Carlisle wasn't aware of, and considering all the years they'd been friends in Italy while staying with the governing vampires, it was a shocking revelation. "Did he ever mention why?"
"Not explicitly" was Amun's response, "but I'd never seen such self hatred of this magnitude... the last I heard of him was before his travels back home, to France."
"Did you ever catch a last name?"
"Something with a D.. DuPont, Du... I'm sorry my friend— it's been a long time."
But Carlisle knew what the man was trying to say; he was trying to say Dubois.
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Carlisle found himself back in Augustine's hospital room a few days later, taking over the charge nurse's duties. There was a lack of wet dog smell within the room, though it was still lingering in the air. When Carlisle asked about him, the nurse said an older man practically shoved him out the door to head home, to take a damn shower.
The girl wasn't intubated anymore, and the heavy machinery that was once connected to her was replaced by simple oxygen tubes in her nose to help her, despite her being able to breathe on her own now. The IVs were still connected, she needed the nutrition, but her eyes were unmoving. Still tauntingly closed.
He worked through the rest of her chart, making sure her vitals were still stable despite her rampant unconsciousness, all while his kind played the information he received on loop. His old friend, Janvier, was an ancestor of Augustine's— an ancestor who hated himself for being a vampire. The similarities were undoubtably there, and Carlisle was beating himself up for not realizing sooner.
He'd been tricked by Janvier long ago, believed him to be a harmless friend who simply disappeared, and now Augustine was reaping the consequences. The blond man deduced that perhaps Janvier manipulated the girl's matter because he hadn't wanted her to be a creature of the night; but that hadn't explained the wound on her chest reappearing.
Just as he was turning towards the door, putting his pen back into his white coat, he heard the telltale uptick of a steadily beating heart.
Then, a croaky voice.
"Dad?"
Carlisle was at her bedside in an instant, the girl's head lolling to the side to face him. Her face was wound-up uncomfortably, but her eyes— her normal eyes were looking up at his. His hand instinctually smoothened out the top of her head, coming to sit in the plastic chair next to the bed. "Hi, honey"
She tried giving him a smile, but something had flickered in her mind that had the monitor's beeping ramp up. "J–Jan—"
He tried shushing her, "I know, I know." It wasn't working, based on the erratically moving rise and fall of her chest. Her gaze left his, darting around the room. She was frightened. "He can't hurt you here."
As if it was possible, she seemed to sink further into the hospital bed with a fractured sigh. She shook her head. "He—" her eyes sagged in sudden exhaustion, her finger twitching to reach the man's. "I'm—"
Carlisle brought her much warmer hand in his. "Sleep," he told her, watching her fight to keep her eyes open. "We have all the time in the world. Sleep, August."
Only, as her eyes lulled back to sleep with her hand in his, Carlisle made yet another bitter realization.
They didn't have all the time in the world anymore— she was no longer a vampire.
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The next person to hear the uptick of her waking heart rate was the Lahote boy, freshly showered the following morning and sitting in the chair next to his Imprint's bed. Phone in hand, texting Jared that he would see him later for afternoon patrol, he barely heard the uptick.
Until he heard it twice, followed by a soft hum coming from the supposedly unconscious girl in the hospital bed.
"You look like shit, Lahote."
His eyes nearly bulged out of his head at the sheer sight of her looking at him— looking at him with a mixture of fatigue and adoration, and it was like he'd imprinted on her all over again.
Even looking as sickly as she was, Paul still thought she was the most beautiful girl he'd ever seen. Her black hair was sprawled around her like a halo, and her eyes.
"Your eyes are blue," he couldn't help but blurt out, a breathy chuckle escaping him as he sought out her hand that was inching towards him.
At that, her eyes crinkled. "I know," was her whisper of a response, and both parties immediately thought of a discussion they'd had a long time ago. But, her face turned serious. "I– I didn't want you to watch me die," she revealed, echoing the exact message he'd heard on Emmett's voicemail. "Please don't be mad at me."
The boy shook his head, face twisting up. "I'm not mad," he tried telling her, only to sigh at the deadpan look she shot his way, "okay, I was pissed. But never at you... I was pissed because I couldn't do anything."
She nodded, and there was a small beat of silence. "I'm different now, Paulie," she said, even quieter than before, "and you don't..."
Paul saw that her lip wobbled, her hand gripping his with whatever strength she was trying to retain. "I don't what?" he asked her gently, his own voice lowering to match hers.
"You don't smell like the evergreens anymore," she told him, baby blue eyes welling with unshed tears.
It was obvious that the effects of becoming human once more had robbed her of her vampiric senses, meaning that even though she still felt that pull, it wasn't as prominent as it was before— she couldn't scent him out anymore.
He laughed, and it sounded wet. "You're the same Auggie I've known this entire time," he reassured her, his other hand going to cup the side of her rosy cheek. He nearly preened when she willingly leaned into the touch with a sniffle. "I loved you then, and I still love you now."
"You sure?" she asked, just to double check.
Paul fondly rolled his eyes. "Yeah, I'm sure."
Her smile was blinding now, even beneath the fatigue that was threatening to take over. "I love you too, shithead," she said, unleashing a sigh that had her eyelids fluttering for a moment. "Can't believe this is all it took to see you cry."
His lip curled back in annoyance. "No idea what you're talking about," he huffed, and even he knew it was a lie judging by the way he had to clear his throat.
She closed her eyes, mumbling out a final word to him before sleep overcame her. "Whatever you say, Paulie."
Perhaps the reason why she was always so human compared to the others was because maybe, just maybe, that was what she was always meant to be: human.
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[ wyn's note ]
happy chapter 50!
remember many moons (chapters) ago when paul told auggie his favourite colour was blue? yeah, ive been holding onto this moment for WEEKS. HER EYES ARE BLUE PAUL!!!
i can never keep y'all sad for too long, here's the much promised comfort :) i listened to carry you by novo amor while i was writing this chap, i would so recommend taking a listen haha!
till the next one, ur support means the world to me!! xx