Augustus Halifax is the father of Jackie Halifax and the husband of Priscilla Halifax. He is a serial killer.
Biography[]
Childhood[]
Augustus was born to Thaddeus and Mireille Halifax. He had three siblings: Philomena, Therese, and Bixby.
Their family was newly-wealthy and were often looked down upon. The more established pureblood families were suspicious of them and often spread rumors about Mireille's sanity and how she had gained her fortune.
Augustus was desperate to be accepted by his upper class peers but never had much success. He and his siblings were typically bullied and excluded. Augustus was often irritated with his siblings, particularly Therese and Bixby, because they were not nearly as concerned with status and did not care as much about how they affected the family's reputation. Augustus got along fairly well with Philomena, though he became irritated at her burgeoning neuroses. Despite his frustration, Augustus loved his siblings and was close with them.
He longed to be seen as equal to the aristocrats and became increasingly obsessed until he felt that being respected was not good enough; he wanted to be more powerful than all of them to teach them a lesson. He deeply resented Aedan Grady I for acting rebelliously at times, squandering the reputation that Augustus dreamed of. Augustus may have also feel envious of the things that Aedan could get away with, while Augustus felt criticized for every misstep.
Mireille was reluctant to talk about her brother, Lysander Halifax, but Augustus heard many rumors about his death. He felt that he had a decent understanding of what had happened and often thought about it. At first he was disgusted that Mireille had betrayed her beloved sibling, but he later believed that Mireille had no choice.
When Thaddeus died of apparent suicide, Augustus refused to believe that he had actually taken his own life. Later, Mireille's mind and body was deteriorating as a result of her locket, and while in a fugue state she implied to Augustus that she had killed Thaddeus. Augustus was angered at first, but connected Thaddeus' fate to Lysander's. He believed that his mother was simply doing whatever it took to keep the family safe, stable, and free from corruption.
Rise[]
First murders[]
Augustus believed that in order to be accepted by the other powerful aristocrats, he needed nobility, an excess of wealth, and a beautiful family.
He found a castle for sale that had the title of "Lord" attached to it. He quickly became fixated on purchasing it. Mireille's condition was worsening and he knew that he when she died, her estate would be split between Augustus and his three siblings. It was known that Mireille had saved up a large amount of money for her children. Augustus believed that his portion would not be enough, but the entire fortune would be. He felt that he was the only Halifax who was capable of making a good name for their family, as his siblings had negative reputations and were mostly shunned.
He went to the mental institution where Bixby was kept and easily left with him. Bixby's disappearance was not noted for several days. It was believed that he wandered away and provoked a violent stranger. Augustus found Therese ready to commit suicide after being abandoned by her lover. He pretended to dissuade her, as he subtly tried to convince Therese to go through with it. She misinterpreted his words and decided to go on with her life. Augustus quickly staged the suicide that Therese had planned. ((I'm not sure if Therese or Bixby was killed first)) Mireille died shortly after. She likely realized what was going on but was unable to properly warn anyone. Augustus slowly poisoned Philomena with arsenic. She believed that she was ill but was ignored due to her previous hypochondria. She was mostly homeless at the time and her death was attributed to exposure, grief, and general fragility.
Augustus openly mourned his siblings and felt a genuine sadness over their deaths, but did not regret killing them. He felt that he had made the right choice and that his siblings would have squandered their wealth and soiled the family even further. He buried any guilt that he might have had- however, he was very fearful of the thestrals that he began seeing almost immediately after the murders.
He quickly purchased the castle. He decorated it with images of the thestrals because he believed this would help him to conquer his fear. He put his prized collection of marionettes in their display room. He often tried to show it to guests and found that they were unsettled and often tried to avoid the room. For this reason, Augustus decided it would be the best place to hide his siblings' bodies. He did not want the corpses to ruin his collection, so he put them in fine clothes and attached strings. In the years following, Augustus became paranoid that someone would discover his crime and he believed everyone was already suspicious of him. He began killing anyone who he believed would reveal the truth.
Marriage and Fatherhood[]
Augustus quickly turned his attention towards gaining a wife who would improve his image and give him an heir. He knew that he needed someone from a respected, pure-blooded family. He heard that Priscilla Rosier had been disowned and was seen as undesirable by the other aristocrats. He took her in and coerced her into marriage. Feeling abandoned by everyone she had trusted, she soon felt she had no choice but to accept.
Augustus was desperate for an heir. Priscilla was very resistant to the idea of starting a family. She refused to have his child for many years but eventually became pregnant. Augustus and Priscilla's relationship took a turn for the worse once their daughter, Jacqueline, was born. Augustus suspected that Priscilla was attempting to give her away to be raised by one of her friends. He hid Jackie away in the castle as a newborn.
Augustus and Priscilla each wanted the other to have as little contact with Jackie as possible. Augustus treasured his only heir very dearly and hated that Priscilla had something that she could use to control him. He considered killing Priscilla, but felt that the the marriage legitimized his nobility, and later that it would be wrong of him to take away someone who was important to his daughter. He kept Priscilla with him at all times so that he could watch her. He allowed Priscilla to very occasionally contact her few friends to avoid suspicion; these interactions were closely monitored.
He was very protective of Jackie and added even more defenses to the castle. He assigned servants to care for her, but often dismissed them out of paranoia. When Jackie was attacked by a wasp trap that he had made, Augustus was angry that he allowed her to be hurt. He was drawn to Mireille's locket and had Jackie wear it, as he believed that it would protect her. He also enchanted the locket so that it could only be removed by a Halifax.