Chapter 2:

I don't know what happened one minute she was standing with very little support and now she lay limp in my arms. I opened the door and quickly yelled for someone to help me. A few of the guys from the centre and a few of the counsellors walked out.

One of the new members Marika helped one of the other guys take her into the lounge room and lay her onto the couch.

Then she turned to me and said, "What are you doing with her?"

"I was helping her. Some hunters attacked her."

She turned to everybody else. "Can somebody get me a phone we need a doctor." Then she turned back to me. "What exactly happened?"

"She was shot with a bow and arrow, so I broke the end off and sealed the wounds. She still has the arrow in. I just tried to stop the blood. Why did I do something wrong?"

"No you've done nothing wrong." Then somebody handed her a phone.

She quickly dialled and turned the phone on loudspeaker. "Hello." A man's voice said.

"Ryan, I need you to come quickly."

"What's wrong?"

"Asha, is hurt. She's unconscious and considering what she is, she shouldn't be."

"Where are you?"

"At the centre."

"I'll be right there. Keep her legs elevated and tell me what actually happened."

"She was shot by a bow and arrow. My friend broke the end off and sealed the wound with the arrow head still inside. Now she is just unconscious."

"I'll be there as soon as possible. Try not to move her too much."

"Okay, bye Ryan."

She turned back to look at me. I looked at her for a short moment then said, "Was that her brother Ryan?"

She nodded and said, "We need to move her to one of the beds."

"Take her to my room. It's the biggest bed in the whole house."

They nodded and moved her to the bedroom.

Marika didn't go with them she just looked at me for a long while then said, "Where did you find her?"

"I saw her in the library while I was researching for fund raising ideas to get some new equipment for the centre. She was sitting in the dark reading. When she finished reading she left and went to the park next to it with one of her friends. Eventually my father showed up and said that she wasn't what I thought she was. Do you know what he means by that?"

She nodded and then said, "But it's for her to tell people."

"Okay. I'll ask her later."

"Alexander. I don't think she will recover from this. Asha has never been this badly hurt. Usually she just jumps back up and is gone within a few seconds protecting everybody even the ones that don't deserve it."

"So what do we do if she doesn't survive?"

"Ryan will handle it. He'll take care of her body, and any evidence of her existence."

"You mean erase her from existence. That seems stupid. She was a living being."

"She hasn't been a living being in almost two hundred years. I haven't been a living being in almost thirty years. It's just the way things go for vampires."

"What if she does survive?"

"If she survives, well have to hide her for a few days till she is back on her feet. Then most likely all the vampires you're helping are going to have to go under her command to kill the hunter who shot her."

"Why would you all be under her control?"

"It's because of what kind of vampire she is. That's all I can tell you."

I nodded not entirely convinced.

Marika went to order the others around. I walked into my room very quietly. She lay across the bed completely at peace and beautiful, I've never seen anybody so beautiful, yet again she isn't like anybody I've ever meet before. The others still slip up and bite humans because they can't survive on animal blood but she lives mainly on human food.

Before I got close enough to have a look at her sealed over wound Marika and a guy I would assume to be Ryan walked into the room. Ryan wasn't exactly what I except to be Asha's brother. He was taller than Asha by at least a few inches, he has green eyes and almost chestnut coloured hair. He looked at me for a short while then held out his hand to shake mine.

"I'm Ryan, thank you for helping my sister."

I nodded. "I'm Alex."

He nodded in return then walked towards the bed carrying a large black bag. He sat the bag beside the bed and pulled the covers off of her. He showed her almost no respect but he was apparently doing his job. He knew what he needed to do. He cut her top so that he could see where about the arrow hit. He pulled out a blue plastic sheet out with a square cut out of it. Then he turned around to Marika.

"I need you to get her a change of clothes. She'll need them when I'm done."

She nodded and then left the room. Ryan began to strip the bed down taking everything off it including the sheets and blankets. He dumped them all in a pile at the end of the bed. Then he pulled out another plastic sheet this time it was clear and almost as big as the bed. He lifted Asha with one hand and slid the sheet under her. Marika returned then and sat the clothes on the recliner.

Ryan began to pull out a number of tools including a sculptor and a pair of twicers. I didn't notice I was moving closer until Marika grabbed my hand and squeezed it as if it were a warning. Ryan grabbed the sculptor and made a slit in Asha chest before my own eyes. There were trails of blood moving down her chest; Ryan quickly cleaned some of it up. But when it got down her bra he left it.

He quickly removed the arrow head and placed it into a small container I never saw him grab and sat it on the bedside table. He motioned for me to come closer.

He looked directly at me, "I need you to do whatever you did to close it the first time."

I nodded and moved closer to her. I sat my hand over the wound in her chest and concentrated very hard till the whole vanished. Then I stepped away. Ryan quickly cleaned up some of the blood then pointed at Marika.

"Give her a shower then put her back in bed and leave her there until she wakes up."

Marika nodded then said, "Alex is it okay if she stays in here?"

"Sure."

She nodded then picked Asha up with amazing ease and took her into the ensuite bathroom. Ryan quickly cleaned up and set the arrow a light. The small flames turned an amazing purple colour.

"What makes it go that colour?"

Ryan turned to look at me and said, "It's because of Asha's blood."

"So does that happen to all vampires?"

"Only royalty."

"Royalty?"

"I guess you really didn't get the chance for the full introduction."

I shook my head.

"It takes a little while to explain but in brief. Asha is what you're people would class as a Queen. Everybody follows her command. But she is not a Queen by her blood line she is a Queen by the choices she has made throughout her life, both her human life and her vampire life."

"Really?" It was hard to believe she was what they consider a Queen.

"Yes. There is a reason she can't stand the smell of human blood. It is part of being Queen. I've known Asha since she was running around naked not giving a care. Asha has only ever bitten one person to save her life." He took in a deep breath. "Every time she kills somebody whether they be human or a vampire she felt the pain. She has a bond with both humans and vampires that is one of the reasons why she's unconscious. She was hurt not enough to kill her but enough to do damage and because it was a human that did it, she feels the pain as if she were killed."

"Why, she's not even human?"

"Because Asha cares about all things living, she doesn't even like stepping on an ant. When she was little she accidentally dropped some water down an ant hole. I found her about three hours later sitting next to the ant hole, apologising to all the little ants individually because she accidentally damaged there house."

I wasn't exactly sure what to say, but luckily Marika returned with Asha. She sat her on the bed. Asha sat prompted up by Marika's hand and she turned to face Ryan with a fierce look on her face.

"Why are you telling him all that stuff, you know what she would say about it."

"Of course I know what she would say about it. The elders are all full of it. She is not a Queen and she doesn't believe any off it."

"Exactly."

"Marika calm down. She isn't talking to me as it is. Pissing her off anymore isn't going to change anything."

"She's not talking to you. What did you do?"

"It's a long story."

"I'd like to hear it if you don't mind."

He turned to look at me. "I need you to do me a favour?"

I nodded.

"If she wakes and asks what happened you both tell her that Alex fixed her. I don't want her to know I was here."

Marika and I both looked at him, "Why?"

"Marcus bit her and I got into it with him. I ended up hurting him pretty bad and Asha defended him. But I already done the damage and Marcus left for Italy. He didn't tell anybody he was leaving. He told Asha that he just needed some air." He took in a deep breath. "He left a letter for her in her car saying goodbye and we both knew it was my fault. I didn't listen to her long enough for her to explain what happened."

I felt stupid for asking it but I needed to know, "Whose Marcus?"

He looked directly at me and said, "Asha's boyfriend for almost a hundred years now."

I nodded than Marika butted in. "So what was the excuse for him biting her."

"You know how a vampire is more drawn to the blood of the one they love." Marika nodded. "Well Asha accidentally sliced her hand while cooking and Marcus couldn't think straight because of the blood. Before either of them knew it Marcus was at her throat. Asha threw him across the room into a wall and broke the wall which is the only reason I knew there was something wrong. She quickly cleaned her hand under the running water and once the blood was gone Marcus's head was clear but I already had Marcus outside."

Marika nodded. "That sounds like you. Take a punch and ask the questions later."

"I'm sorry but when somebody touches her I step in even if she doesn't like it. It is my big brother duty."

'She's older then you and stronger." Marika said sarcastically.

"She is still younger than me. I was born before her."

"By a few minutes, your twins it doesn't really count."

"We aren't twins, why would you think that?"

"Because you're always getting along no normal siblings do that accepts twins, plus I knew Asha had a twin it's in her records."

"Asha had a twin sister. And I swear to god if you ever ask her about her I'll kill you myself. It's part of her past that she doesn't like."

"The only part of Asha's past she doesn't like is the one person she killed."

"She didn't kill her she changed her then killed her once she was out of control and dangerous."

I don't know why I said it, "She killed her own sister."

He nodded. "It was one of the hardest things she has ever done and it will not do her any good thinking about it now. At that time I had to get her admitted into a mental institution because I was afraid she would do something really stupid. She was in a great time of mourning and couldn't control herself. It wasn't until a few years later that i figured out her emotional attachment and outbursts were the beginning stages off her powers setting in."

I had to ask again, "Her powers?"

Both Marika and Ryan exchanged a look before he looked back at me. "I think I'll leave the rest for her to tell you. But if she asks we don't know each other."

"Okay. I'll stay here and make sure she is okay. What do you want me to do when she wakes up?"

"Do whatever you think is right but she is not to know I was here or know she's hurt. We never met okay."

I nodded and he picked up his bag and left the room. I quickly grabbed a clean set of sheets out of the cardboard. Marika moved Asha from the bed while I quickly made the bed and helped her lay, her in it.

Marika turned to me and said, "Do you want to swap, I'll sleep in here and you can take my room?"

"I'm fine. Plus I need to talk to her when she wakes up."

"What about?"

"Nothing. That's between us."

"She'll tell me she tells me everything."

"If that were the case you'd know about her twin sister."

"Whatever you better get some sleep it's getting late."

"Night Marika."

"Night Alex, don't get any ideas."

"What's that suppose to mean?"

"It means your attracted to her I'm not stupid and neither is she. She has a strict rule about not getting involved with anybody unless they follow her views. She doesn't like wasting time with people who are not worth her time."

"You're making her sound like a stuck up princess."

"She's a Queen not a princess."

"Get to bed Marika." She turned and walked out of the room without saying anymore.

I looked at Asha for a short while. Today she always seemed so nice and polite towards me. She almost got herself killed trying to stop me and my father from fighting.

I couldn't think about it anymore. I grabbed the blanket that Ryan sat on the floor and two pillows and went to lay down on the recliner and get some sleep. That way I would be nice and rested before she awoke and then she would be gone almost as quickly as I met her.