You wouldn't be able to tell by looking at Caius, but when he was human he was rather pathetic. He'd been as skinny as a rail with too-big ears and a stutter that made it virtually impossible to understand him at times. Becoming a vampire fixed all those things he'd seen as flaws. He'd grown muscles and filled out which thus made his ears seem much more proportional to the rest of him. And most importantly, his stutter went away.
The only ones who know what he was like before becoming a vampire are Marcus and Aro. (He thinks he might throw himself into the nearest fireplace should something like that ever become public knowledge.)
As he stands now, nervously fiddling with the random item he'd grabbed off the shelves, he suddenly has a terrible fear that his stutter will return to him.
He wants to back out of this desperately. Aro should be the one here; he was the most charming of the three of them. Hell, Marcus would have even been better than him despite his depressing and lackluster personality.
Demetri looks to his master in concern and asks rather stupidly, "Are you okay?"
It's very clear that Caius is far from okay. If he had functioning lungs he'd be hyperventilating right now. He can't exactly admit that to his subordinate so instead he snaps at the man angrily to go wait in the car if he's just going to stand around and ask inane questions.
Demetri makes sure that Caius is properly occupied when he rolls his eyes.
Standing just twenty feet away and boredly managing a register is Caius' objective for being here. He and his brothers had looked her up on social media and it's strange how even under the glare of florescent lights and wearing that hideous uniform, she's still just as pretty as her pictures would suggest.
Caius rather feels like he might need to throw up. Instead he swallows back the urge and moves forward to place his item on the register conveyer belt.
…
Things have calmed down since the entire Volturi fiasco ten years ago. The Cullen family is just as happy and thriving as ever and they've not had any other problems since.
Things were rather normal, actually. Alice might even say things have gotten boring. Edward has caught her thinking that few times now and whenever he does, he sends her these stern, disapproving looks that make her feel guilty.
To escape the mundane lives that they've been leading lately, Alice suggests a trip to Jasper. Always in the mood to visit Peter and Charolette, Jasper agrees. They pack up their car that night and are gone before the sun rises.
The travel to Texas is nothing to write home about. They don't need to sleep so they just drive, however, that is rather hard on a car. They're reminded of this when outside some tiny town in the middle of nowhere, they're car breaks down.
Thankfully, there is a Walmart in the distance.
Unluckily, Alice has a vision just as they're pulling into the parking lot.
Jasper, always tuned into her emotions, looks to her in surprise when he feels her utter shock at what she's just seen.
"Alice?" he asks warily while eyeing the neon glow of the Walmart sign above them.
She give him a long stare in return before saying, "I really need to send a letter."
…
Ann smooths down her shirt and tries standing as straight as possible, being sure to stick her boobs out like how her sister showed her. She deflates with a raspberry and glares at her lack of 'assets'.
Whatever.
Ann turns from the mirror sharply and goes to clock in for her shift.
No matter how hard she tries, she can't get that weird petite woman that came in all those weeks ago out of her head. The way she had looked at Ann had been so unsettling. Enough so, that she clocked out early and went home right after.
Her brothers had laughed at her when she'd told them the story and her mother just cooed at her and then sat her down and gave her a plate with far too much food. Really, a normal Wednesday evening all things considered.
"You're gonna be incredible," the petite woman had said to her so seriously, almost reverently while grabbing her hands over conveyer belt. The woman's husband looked quite embarrassed but also resigned, like this happened all the time. He apologized to her when they finished paying and had grabbed their bags.
Ann rubs her hands on her pants when the memory of the encounter resurfaces and she just tries to ignore it while quickly clocking in.
Ann catches her reflection in the salon window near her register and thinks about what the woman said.
You're going to be incredible.
…
"Her name is Anna-Louise Fisher. She's beautiful and she's going to change your lives forever."