In Paris 1723

[0.4]

𝐌𝐨𝐯𝐢𝐞: 𝐏𝐫𝐞-𝐓𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭
𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐭: 𝐙𝐞𝐫𝐨
𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐅𝐨𝐮𝐫: 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐅𝐨𝐢𝐱 𝐋𝐞𝐠𝐚𝐜𝐲

______________________

*Genevieve*

I had lived in Denali for almost 30 years, changing my diet from human blood to animal, and quickly forming a tight bond with the family. 

Not only that but within those roughly 30 years, Theo and I had also gotten closer. We both knew that we were mates but had agreed that we didn't want to rush anything, opting, rather to take it day by day. We had taken weekly hunting trips to feed, spending hours afterward talking and getting to know each other better.

Laying down on the ground, we both looked up at the cloudy sky, snow surrounding us. The temperature, thankfully, wasn't a problem for either of us, making it possible for us to lie down with no problem.

"Do you remember your life before you were transformed?" I asked, turning my head slightly in the snow to look at him. 

He paused, his eyes squinting slightly, trying to think back, before ultimately shaking his head.

"Not that much. I ran away, which caused a huge commotion. I was lucky and was able to hide in the shadows of buildings and such since I was so small. But as I grew it got harder to hide, with my height and all- but it was still possible, no one noticed me, or maybe they did and they just ignored me... but still, it felt amazing. I was able to do what I wanted. I did most of my traveling mainly during the night and evenings since there were fewer people out and it would be harder to notice me. I hid out during the daytime, catching up on sleep, finding things to eat or cook, and things like that. Eventually, after a few years of hiding some vampire had found me and decided to turn me," he explained. 

I nodded my head as I intently listened to the story, which explained how of one his gifts had manifested, allowing him to be able to bend and manipulate the shadows around him to hide from the view of people; humans and vampires alike.

"Why did you run again?" I asked, watching as a smile appeared on his face.

He let out a sigh as he ran his hand through his hair, "I've always had a sense of adventure, wanting to run and see the world. Wanting to have a chance to broaden my knowledge of plants and the world by traveling anywhere and everywhere that I possibly could. Which at the time was hard, my parents wanted me to grow up and marry. Carry on the Sallow last name. I never wanted that, to stay in the same tiny town for the rest of my life. I wanted freedom, to travel, to experience new- just anything that was outside of the safe little bubble I had been born in. I was lucky though, they never seemed to push me, at least not until I was older. They just focused all their energy on making sure that we stayed afloat. My mother was more concerned with making sure that we were deemed satisfactory in the eyes of the town rather than looking out for her own son. While my father was far too busy at his job, he was the town's banker, which ensured that we always had a good and consistent flow of paychecks coming in, but it kept him away from the house, away from his family, for... too long really."

"So after you were turned, what happened?"

"I woke up and everything... just burned. I did a few things in those first few years that I'm not proud of," he admitted, his face dropping in remorse, pausing for a second before quickly changing the subject. "I was excited to be able to travel, to see all that I had dreamed of. To finally be able to have some freedom to do the thing that I had been wanting to do for so long. So I traveled all across Europe, met a patriot named Garrett, and we traveled together for a few decades before I split off and came to Northern America. Popped into South America for a brief time before heading up towards Canada. Wanting to see the snow. I met up with a man named Eleazar there, along with his mate, Carmen. I stayed with them, not really knowing why, and eventually met up with the rest of the Denali's. Haven't looked back since."

I quickly moved so I was sitting on his chest, his hands immediately resting on my hips. A small smile appeared on my face as I leaned down to look at his face, "and for that, I am thankful."

I quickly bent down and pecked his lips, before standing up and sending him a playful wink. Chuckling as he stood up and followed after me, the two of us racing through the forest together in a game of cat and mouse. He eventually caught me, pinning me to a tree and peppering my neck with kisses before chuckling and looking up at me.

"Enjoying your little game?" He asked, a knowing smirk appearing across his face as he chuckled slightly at my antics, knowing full well that I relished toying with him, and knowing that he enjoyed it as well.

______________________

After debating the idea with Theo, I had eventually given in, taking him back to Paris with me, wanting to show him where I had grown up -much to his delight, having never been to France in his life. It was a new adventure for him, something that made him practically jump up and down in excitement.

We spent the first few days walking along the many streets, which were vastly different from how I remembered them.

Spending one, particularly sunny day holed up in our room, deep-diving into my history, trying to figure out what had happened after I disappeared. Rather quickly we were able to find what we were looking for in an ancient-looking newspaper that had a section talking about my abrupt disappearance in 1723.

Apparently, the town had come together trying to find me, the rich putting up large cash rewards for my return. Their actions led the poor to rush into the surrounding woods in an attempt to try and find out where I had gone. Eventually, though, the search was called off and the rewards were taken down, the town still unsure about my whereabouts. After a few years though, it was announced that I had died, my cause of death still unknown.

Eléonore had gone on to marry a man of her high status, giving birth to three children. She had lived a full life, dying in 1753 at the age of 47, which was surprisingly old for that time. She continued to look for me until the time of her death, clinging to the hope that I was still alive. Her children went on to have children, who then had children, and generations later, she still had a few living ancestors.

Emeric had been devastated at the announcement of my disappearance, spending a small fortune trying to find me. A week after it was announced that I had most likely died, he killed himself, leaving the Laval's without an heir for their vast fortune. No one really knows what they did with their fortune, some legends say they were buried with it, others say that they donated it. One even went as far as to say they gave it all to me, hoping that one day I would magically reappear and claim it.

My parents had been destroyed at the announcement of my death, having lost both of their children. Burying my empty casket next to my infant brothers, and having to go through the pain of burying both of their children. They died a few years later after sickness ravaged the town. Leaving all of their cash and jewels to me, hoping that I would find my way back home at some point.

After finishing the deep dive into my background, we decided to leave the room. The sun setting hours ago, the stars and moon shining down on the town, as the streetlamps lit up. 

We walked along the streets, stopping at the spot that was at one point my house, now it was a small local park. I smiled softly knowing that my parents would be happy with the land going to a good cause.

Pausing on the side of the street, I told Theo the few snippets of my human life that I could remember, the two of us standing in front of one of the many street lamps that now lined the side of the street.

"I remember how exciting it was to see them," I whispered, "I was going home when I stopped to look at them. They were so... innovative for their time."

"I'm sure that it was a sight to see. Watching them go up and working... I would've loved to see it," Theo agreed, reaching out his hands and tapping the glass casing that surrounded the little flame, watching as the small flame inside seemed to jump.

I roll my eyes at him and quickly pull him away from the flame, knowing full well that he would continue to mess with it until he inevitably somehow ended up on fire. As we continued our walk back towards our 'rented' house, we both agreed on taking the long way back, still wanting to see more of the city, even if it was in the dark.

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-T