Carley
VT:L Adventure Guide 
Posts: 146 
writes for: Alexander "Alex" Kearny (amoribundusher)
writes for: Tucker North (hesitantlyyours)
writes for: Hyacinth "Cinthie" Griswold (kerosenebridges)
writes for: Chelsea "Mackie" McIntyre (ficklefauna)
writes for: Miriam "Mira" Roth (ignafatua)
writes for: Ryan Malone (quicksilverwit)
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Post by Carley on Sept 16, 2015 21:37:36 GMT -8
Week 12. Baby the size of a lime. Gender unknown, still can't feel movement or anything. Not much of a belly, but my jeans definitely don't fit anymore. Sofie's adjusting well. I think having Addison and Sunny around is helping her a lot. So far the runes on her little necklace are holding her innate abilities in check, but I'm going to have her start attending Shepherd as soon as she's old enough. Just in case. I don't want another damn fire taking down a chunk of Lily Hall. More work for Joshua. He's fucking sexy as hell when he comes home though, all growly-faced and sweaty til I pass him a beer and Sofie hugs on to him. Can't believe I'm doing this again, playing house. Maybe it's easier when I'm not playing the syrupy-sweet housewife and I get to be Cinthie, the real Cinthie. He watches his sportsball games and I lay on his lap and Sofie plays with her toys in the corner and Roxy sleeps next to her, and it feels good. It really feels good. This little guy or girl is going to be born into a loving home, even if we never really meant to have a baby right now. I sure didn't. I should do what Snowy did and get my tubes tied when they do the C-section. Maybe. I don't know. I like the way Joshua's eyes soften sometimes when we talk about the kid. Hyacinth Gable sounds like a house. Hyacinth Griswold-Gable? Hyacinth Avery Griswold-Gable? Hyacinth Anne Avery Griswold-Gable? Fuck all these letters, I don't want to be HAAGG. Ultra-Hag. I'm really worried about the delivery. Less worried about miscarrying now--pretty sure that baby's rooted in there firmly and everything--but worried about delivery because I don't feel like almost bleeding to death on the fucking gurney again. Or worse, bleeding to death, straight up. Magic saved me last time, but is it enough to save me again? No, that's why I'm having Snowy just scalpel me open and yoink out the latest Avery hellspawn. She had Olivia over the weekend. Ugh, she's so pretty. All the Zane babies are so pretty. Sofie's pretty too, she looks like her dad with those eyes so dark they swallow up all the light. This one's going to be pretty too. I hope he or she gets Joshua's blues. It's a good night. Fall's creeping in. Joshua's already out like a light, Sofie's in bed, and I've got tea and my journal and the TV on low in the background and Roxy is dozing at the foot of the bed. I think London's good for me. |
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Carley
VT:L Adventure Guide
Posts: 146
writes for: Alexander "Alex" Kearny (amoribundusher)
writes for: Tucker North (hesitantlyyours)
writes for: Hyacinth "Cinthie" Griswold (kerosenebridges)
writes for: Chelsea "Mackie" McIntyre (ficklefauna)
writes for: Miriam "Mira" Roth (ignafatua)
writes for: Ryan Malone (quicksilverwit)
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Post by Carley on Sept 20, 2015 1:18:04 GMT -8
They called her Siobhan. She was like me. A pyromancer. She nearly killed me. She took my tooth. She's the reason I have to wear glasses to read. I hadn't thought about her in ages, other than in passing, when I dragged my tongue over the spot where my molar should have been, or when I went to get my eyes checked. And tonight she walked into the Clockwork Cat. She's not the same. The fire's gone from her eyes and she calls herself Rebekah and she seems scared more than anything else. But it's her. I know it's her. I'm terrified of her. Joshua saved my life at Silvereign Lake. Will he have to do it again, in London? |
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Carley
VT:L Adventure Guide
Posts: 146
writes for: Alexander "Alex" Kearny (amoribundusher)
writes for: Tucker North (hesitantlyyours)
writes for: Hyacinth "Cinthie" Griswold (kerosenebridges)
writes for: Chelsea "Mackie" McIntyre (ficklefauna)
writes for: Miriam "Mira" Roth (ignafatua)
writes for: Ryan Malone (quicksilverwit)
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Post by Carley on Sept 23, 2015 8:45:07 GMT -8
Week 13. I'm missing pumpkin spice latte season. I am the saddest of sad basic white girls. Too early to know gender still. No names picked. Grammie says I should get back into the old Avery habit of giving girls names that start with H if I have a daughter. Grammie says a lot of things. Grammie says I should go to this Mabon ceremony tonight. #justwitchythings I am going to go though. It seems kinda...fun. Bonfires? I am down for bonfires. And food. And dancing. And a sense of community. Grammie keeps saying this kind of stuff is my birthright as an Avery. I kinda wonder what Esme would think of all this, but god only knows where the hell she is these days. So I'm going to go celebrate Mabon and do whatever it is that this entails. I think some of the students are going as well. I've heard a few of them mention it. Can I get them to bless the baby? Like some sort of blessing for an easy pregnancy and complication-free delivery? I'm not really religious but I'll take all the good vibes I can get. Lunch: Large salad with berries and chicken, balsamic vinaigrette. Half sandwich, peanut butter and homemade raspberry preserves. Small pack of M&Ms because I am a weak, weak bitch. |
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Carley
VT:L Adventure Guide
Posts: 146
writes for: Alexander "Alex" Kearny (amoribundusher)
writes for: Tucker North (hesitantlyyours)
writes for: Hyacinth "Cinthie" Griswold (kerosenebridges)
writes for: Chelsea "Mackie" McIntyre (ficklefauna)
writes for: Miriam "Mira" Roth (ignafatua)
writes for: Ryan Malone (quicksilverwit)
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Post by Carley on Sept 23, 2015 20:21:01 GMT -8
Went to Mabon. Shit's weird. Lots of good food, though. Dunno. I appreciate the balance of the earth and all that, but man. Too many naked and/or scantily clad people for my old woman sensibilities. Oh. Yeah. Also I think Joshua and I are gonna get married. I think we're arguably engaged. Hyacinth Gable: antebellum plantation or my new name? |
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Carley
VT:L Adventure Guide
Posts: 146
writes for: Alexander "Alex" Kearny (amoribundusher)
writes for: Tucker North (hesitantlyyours)
writes for: Hyacinth "Cinthie" Griswold (kerosenebridges)
writes for: Chelsea "Mackie" McIntyre (ficklefauna)
writes for: Miriam "Mira" Roth (ignafatua)
writes for: Ryan Malone (quicksilverwit)
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Post by Carley on Sept 28, 2015 23:06:16 GMT -8
A ring. A big, fat diamond. I don't know where he got the money for it. I wouldn't be completely shocked to find out he rerouted funds from somebody else's Swedish bank account via internet. I also wouldn't be completely shocked to find out he was saving up since I told him I was pregnant. Having a tangible symbol makes it real. Realer. It was always real. It was our real, which is silly banter and one-upping each other. Now there's this extra layer of external real over the internal real. I promised somebody else forever once, but I was young and I was stupid and I didn't realize what forever meant. I know now. Forever isn't flowers and romance and breathless whirlwinds. Forever is somebody you can wake up next to every morning and love them even though they've got morning breath and they've hogged all the fucking blankets and they snore too loudly. Forever is foot rubs in front of the TV after we've both worked our asses off all day. Forever is watching him with Sofie. She thinks he's the best thing to come out of Texas since, uh, Texas toast I guess? I don't know what else comes from Texas that I like. Just bread and Joshua. He's such an idiot. I was teasing him about rings since Mabon. He started off with a bag of peach rings, which, by the way, I am eating while I write this because I love those things. Then there was a cock ring. I'm gonna save it for the honeymoon and make sure it comes back to haunt him. And then there was the box from Tiffany's and the ring and I almost burst into disgusting tears. My wonderful, stupid, too-smart, too-snarky, imperfectly perfect future husband. Note to self: check tomorrow to see if he's getting hazard pay. Wtf stone burial chambers under Lily Hall? He deserves at least time and a half for that shit. [The small amount of space still left on the page is taken up by a neatly hand-written signature. Hyacinth Avery Gable.] |
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Carley
VT:L Adventure Guide
Posts: 146
writes for: Alexander "Alex" Kearny (amoribundusher)
writes for: Tucker North (hesitantlyyours)
writes for: Hyacinth "Cinthie" Griswold (kerosenebridges)
writes for: Chelsea "Mackie" McIntyre (ficklefauna)
writes for: Miriam "Mira" Roth (ignafatua)
writes for: Ryan Malone (quicksilverwit)
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Post by Carley on Oct 3, 2015 1:25:28 GMT -8
Why are the others in the families of the Council so much younger than I am? Am I supposed to be their unofficial den mother or something? Alice Clare Donovan isn't much younger than I am, though. She reminds me of Esme. Willful. Doesn't much care who she tramples underfoot so long as she's headed in the direction of her choosing. Of course, Esme got to be that way because our parents spoiled her. One little heart valve malfunction and you're the goddamn princess of the neighborhood. I don't know how Alice Clare got to be that way. (Also her "gentleman lover" seems to be on meth or something, but I digress. Another trait she shares with Esme, picking the worst men. Other than Fallon, but well, we know how that ended up.) I spoke to her tonight. Something about a school being destroyed in Durham. It's going to be a Giant Fucking Deal with the Council, I'm sure, because all reports mention the scent of brimstone. Meanwhile, I'm supposed to check with Grammie. I said she has contacts in Yorkshire. She does not. But she's a nosy old woman with irons in every fire imaginable. If there's anything to be known, she'll know. I pulled a tarot card when I got home. The Fool. I'm standing on the edge of something. Do I pull back or do I let myself fall? Is the three-legged Jack Russell terrier nipping at my heels strong enough to keep me from going tumbling? There's something more I'm not seeing here. Why am I the one who's supposed to "represent" the Averys? Why me? Shouldn't it be Grammie, or my mother? Week 15. Baby is the size of an apple. I have an ultrasound on Tuesday, and we might know if we're having a boy or a girl. I think I felt the barest hint of a kick in there earlier, when I was talking to Alice Clare. Or maybe that's just my lingering resentment for Esme taking form and shape and coming out to sink its jaws into this girl I hardly know. It's not the Donovan girl's fault. What the hell are we going to name this thing? When are we going to marry? Why are schools being wrecked in ways that leave behind the scent of sulfur? Why should I even care so long as Shepherd is safe? What is Joshua finding underneath Lily Hall? You know, I really thought we were going to have a normal life when we moved to London. The music teacher and her surly architect and their little girl and their accident-baby and their tripod-dog. I guess at least we're not being contracted to kill people anymore? That's a fucking improvement. I bet they all think I'm a pussy. Fuck you guys. I pistol-whipped a psychotic vampire once. (Note to self: call Kate, it's been too damn long, we need to catch up.) |
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Carley
VT:L Adventure Guide
Posts: 146
writes for: Alexander "Alex" Kearny (amoribundusher)
writes for: Tucker North (hesitantlyyours)
writes for: Hyacinth "Cinthie" Griswold (kerosenebridges)
writes for: Chelsea "Mackie" McIntyre (ficklefauna)
writes for: Miriam "Mira" Roth (ignafatua)
writes for: Ryan Malone (quicksilverwit)
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Post by Carley on Oct 6, 2015 11:08:24 GMT -8
I dreamed last night. I sat in the backyard of my grandmother's house. I was making a wreath of flowers. I don't even know how to make wreathes of flowers. When I looked up, there was something sitting in front of me, like a flame made living, in the shape of a person. She took the flowers and helped me weave them, and the flowers never caught fire. Instead the fire was woven in with them. She put it on my head. And then she spoke. She told me I'd been chosen. Chosen for what, I asked. Chosen to represent the Averys. In what, I asked. In the Council. You are one of the Chosen. One of the six representatives who dictate the Council's decisions beyond closed doors. You are anonymous. None must know. Not even Joshua, I asked. Not even Joshua. Not even Sofie, I asked. She'll know when it's her time to serve. What do I do now, I asked. You do what you must until you are called. Who are the other Chosen, I asked. One from each of the other five families. Byrne, Cooper, Donovan, Lyons, Sterling. Some you have met. Some you have not. You will learn when you need to know. And then I woke up. I woke up and I threw up, but I think that's just the last lingering bits of morning sickness. I told Joshua I needed to stop eating pizza before bed. I don't know what to make of this and I don't think I can tell anyone else about it. I know a Cooper, a Donovan, and a Lyons, but I don't know if those are the people I should be looking for. They're all young. Especially Jaycee. The Council would choose older people like myself, wouldn't they? I'm starting to feel like London was a bad plan. Joshua's finding tombs and I'm having possibly prophetic dreams. But we're here now, and we can't go back. I had the ultrasound earlier with all of that on my mind. The baby cooperated. Snowy asked me if I wanted to know and I did. It's a boy. |
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Carley
VT:L Adventure Guide
Posts: 146
writes for: Alexander "Alex" Kearny (amoribundusher)
writes for: Tucker North (hesitantlyyours)
writes for: Hyacinth "Cinthie" Griswold (kerosenebridges)
writes for: Chelsea "Mackie" McIntyre (ficklefauna)
writes for: Miriam "Mira" Roth (ignafatua)
writes for: Ryan Malone (quicksilverwit)
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Post by Carley on Oct 10, 2015 21:13:17 GMT -8
Joshua's out leading a tour through the underground chambers he uncovered beneath Lily Hall. I have no idea what to expect, but I want him back here in one piece. With hot wings. He promised me hot wings. And a skull. I want a skull. I'll put it on the piano. Week 16. Baby the size of an avocado, which made me want guacamole earlier so I begged August to make me some of his. He did. Brought it to me just before Joshua left. Probably knows how to handle pregnant women, considering he's got a ton of kids. No names. But I know it's a boy. Thinking about nursery themes. Joshua is Mr. Gender Roles so I'm sure we'll stick with things like blue and green. No nautical. Nothing nautical. Grammie says that Averys have a history of watery ends. Wild animals? I'm just prattling because I'm worried. Who knows what's down there? Je t'aime, je t'aime, mais mon amour ne peut pas tu sauver. |
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Carley
VT:L Adventure Guide
Posts: 146
writes for: Alexander "Alex" Kearny (amoribundusher)
writes for: Tucker North (hesitantlyyours)
writes for: Hyacinth "Cinthie" Griswold (kerosenebridges)
writes for: Chelsea "Mackie" McIntyre (ficklefauna)
writes for: Miriam "Mira" Roth (ignafatua)
writes for: Ryan Malone (quicksilverwit)
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Post by Carley on Oct 15, 2015 1:45:40 GMT -8
It's 2:30 in the morning and I'm eating brown rice drenched in Sriracha because I've lost control of my life and my cravings. This fetus owns me now. This fetus will own me until mid-March. I am this half-formed mini-human's bitch.
Joshua says that the tour of Lily Hall's underground was uneventful, but that's not the general campus scuttlebutt, from what I've been able to pick up from whispered student conversations. Unfortunately, I can't discern what went wrong. I get the feeling that Joshua isn't lying to be an asshole, but to protect me. From what, I couldn't begin to fathom.
He knows I'm no pushover. He's seen me in action, before he got too damn excited and knocked me up. He's seen me with my bow and arrows, watched me take down things from a distance, watch me set fire to things that want to harm me and mine. What could possibly be down there, or have happened down there, that he feels the need to protect me with lies of omission?
I tried to get information out of August. He shut me down with that look that I hate, the one that's all big macho alpha werewolf and that invites no questions whatsoever. Fed me something about how it's not something I need to concern myself with. Never mind the fact that I spend a lot of time in Lily Hall. I also tried to get information out of Nikki, thinking maybe August told her something. She derailed me too, but in a much kinder manner, with big eyes and distracting conversation. The Cavanaughs are good at guarding their secrets, even from their closest friends.
I'm not angry at any of them. Not even Joshua. Especially not Joshua. I know that whatever he's doing, he has good reason for it. It's a level of trust I don't just afford anyone, and he should be honored, but I don't know how to tell him that without sounding like a conceited, bitter bitch. I know he's taking care of me, and Sofie, and our accident of a baby.
If I weren't pregnant I would've marched down there and explored the underground myself. At the very least I would have joined him on the tour. History isn't my strong suit, but I like mysterious ruins. But I have to protect our son, and my fiance has to protect me. It's the circle of good old-fashioned family values, or something.
I put an avocado in the rice too. Highly recommended. |
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Carley
VT:L Adventure Guide
Posts: 146
writes for: Alexander "Alex" Kearny (amoribundusher)
writes for: Tucker North (hesitantlyyours)
writes for: Hyacinth "Cinthie" Griswold (kerosenebridges)
writes for: Chelsea "Mackie" McIntyre (ficklefauna)
writes for: Miriam "Mira" Roth (ignafatua)
writes for: Ryan Malone (quicksilverwit)
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Post by Carley on Oct 20, 2015 11:23:45 GMT -8
There's something sketchy happening in the library's restricted section, but August has warned me to stay away and Joshua has seconded the warning.
When I was pregnant with Sofie, I didn't have this urge to charge into the fray and be in the thick of it. Is it because I'm older? Is it because I've survived my own sort of misery? Is it because I've taken down a jaguar with an arrow to the throat and explored underground ruins and helped stop a war?
I was a mouse, then. A meek little mouse.
Avery women are not mice. But Avery women also have a duty to the family, and I have a duty to Joshua and our child. |
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Carley
VT:L Adventure Guide
Posts: 146
writes for: Alexander "Alex" Kearny (amoribundusher)
writes for: Tucker North (hesitantlyyours)
writes for: Hyacinth "Cinthie" Griswold (kerosenebridges)
writes for: Chelsea "Mackie" McIntyre (ficklefauna)
writes for: Miriam "Mira" Roth (ignafatua)
writes for: Ryan Malone (quicksilverwit)
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Post by Carley on Nov 1, 2015 1:38:21 GMT -8
Samhain. It was a good holiday, much better than the last one I attended. Somber. Safe for little Sofie's eyes. She lit the fire with Grammie at her side. I couldn't have been more proud. Someday she'll take her place here, among the Averys, just as I have.
It's getting a little easier now that I've settled in. I researched the rituals ahead of time, knew what I needed to do. Sofie put a picture of Wrigley the hamster on the altar, which was nice.
It's a time to let go of what no longer serves you. I took my wedding ring from my ex-husband and threw it in the Thames. Let it sink. Maybe one of those bloody huge catfish will eat it, and some fishmonger will get a pleasant surprise.
My name is Hyacinth Anne Griswold, and I serve the goddess Brigid, as all the Averys did before me. Sofie will too. Maybe my son will as well, though the Averys have always been fairly matriarchal. Not nearly as strict as the Coopers--my god, that's like an Amazon brigade if I ever saw one--but the power definitely tends to run in the women.
My name is Hyacinth Anne Griswold, and I also have to critique Andrei's planned duet piece and tell Alex that he really needs to dumb down his performance choices, but do it in a nice way. I have to figure out what color we're doing the nursery, I have an ultrasound appointment on Monday, and we're out of milk yet again because Sofie's on a cereal kick. The mundane doesn't stop for magic.
A new year. A new beginning.
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Carley
VT:L Adventure Guide
Posts: 146
writes for: Alexander "Alex" Kearny (amoribundusher)
writes for: Tucker North (hesitantlyyours)
writes for: Hyacinth "Cinthie" Griswold (kerosenebridges)
writes for: Chelsea "Mackie" McIntyre (ficklefauna)
writes for: Miriam "Mira" Roth (ignafatua)
writes for: Ryan Malone (quicksilverwit)
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Post by Carley on Nov 17, 2015 11:51:02 GMT -8
Week 21. Baby the size of a carrot and seems to have a promising future boxing career. He also has a name. Jacob. Jacob Gable. Middle name pending.
November in London is bitter cold and bloody unpleasant, and neither Joshua nor myself is under any sort of delusion that things will improve until March or so. Probably later. How thrilling, being pregnant in the dead of winter again. (Sarcasm.) It's hell on a fire witch, it really is. Andy and Molly and Tucker all know my order by now. Tea, orange spice in the morning and lavender chamomile in the evening, as hot as they can make it without facing legal consequences, with milk, no sugar. I'm living off the stuff. Lunch is almost always some sort of soup during the week. There's this lovely Pan-Asian place not far from Shepherd that delivers. Yesterday it was hot and sour soup. Today it's pho with chicken and tofu and extra jalapenos. I have a bloody space heater under the piano in the practice hall.
This Counsel business remains quite intriguing. I'm slowly learning more and more about what it means to be an Avery, and what it means to serve this group of witches and wizards that have apparently been mucking around for centuries. I intend to stop by Argosy, the Donovans' bookstore, and see if I can find some additional historical background, but for idiots like myself. Nobody can seem to describe the whole story without talking in circles. Not even Grammie, which is highly unusual because she is normally a very plain-spoken woman.
Meanwhile, Sofie is beginning to show an increased interest in pyromancy. She asks if she can take the necklace off sometimes. I took it off her last night so she could help me get a fire going in the fireplace--all while I obsessively shielded her, because if she's anything like I was she's a walking, chattering arson risk with that necklace off of her. I was leery of channeling that much energy while pregnant, but Jacob seemed to enjoy it. If anything, I think it lulled him to sleep.
I wonder what sort of powers Jacob will have. Will he be yet another Avery pyromancer? Or will he have his father's psychic gifts? He could do a lot worse than taking after his mad genius of a father. More importantly, Joshua is a good man, and that is something I certainly hope our son inherits. Underneath all that gruff muttering and sarcasm, he has an amazing heart. |
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