From the author: Asha is my own creation. I'm planning to write her personal history at a later date. The other characters belong to Stephenie Meyer.
2. Warning
"I'm sorry if I had alerted you in any undesirable way during my presence at your school today," Asha apologized in a silky, musical voice. We went in the house, I did so with the help from Edward. I was a bit perplexed, I got to admit.
"That's all right," was all I could mumble. By my side, Edward chucked softly. The sound rang in my ears louder than usual. I squinted at it.
"Asha is here for Jasper," Edward explained. "We wanted to make sure he wouldn't attack again at a sight of blood."
"That still doesn't explain why she was following me around today." I tried not to sound rude as I said it.
"I really apologize for that," Asha smiled, looking down. Edward interrupted her by putting his hand up.
"I asked her to look after you, Bella."
"You did…what?" He was in for it now.
"Hello, Bella," Alice singed-song as she danced into the room. "Hi Asha. Long time no see. What brought you here?"
"You wouldn't happen to know, would you?" Asha inquired, raising a teasing eyebrow.
"Nope."
I couldn't help but laugh, and the sound lightened the mood instantly. The others in the room joined in, Alice's laughter the musical of all. Edward slid his arm around my waist and pulled me so I was seated on his lap. Asha viewed our formation with a look of question in her eyes and turned to Alice for an answer. Alice nodded her head curtly and flashed me a smile. The silent conversation confused and began to wear me out. Edward could sense that because I shifted endlessly. He chuckled.
"I think Bella is a bit impatient. Asha, do you mind sharing your story?" Edward asked, his voice concerned. I didn't understand why it sounded like that until I looked at Asha. She was fidgeting her fingers. Edward lowered his gaze as he brushed his hand over my hair. "Would you like me to tell her?"
"No, I need to give it a try on my own," Asha insisted, her voice shaking. She stopped fidgeting with her fingers and looked around the room. I could sense her uneasiness but I could also sense that she was doing all in her power to beat it.
"You don't have to if it's too hard for you," I heard myself say. Behind me, Edward placed his head on my shoulder. Both of his arms circled around my waist. I knew by this that he was approving of my question.
Asha shifted her gaze from the window and looked at me appreciably. "I have to do this," she said. She walked towards me and pulled up a chair to sit on. Her hands were intertwined and placed on her lap. "It was easier with Edward, he just read my mind," she chuckled nervously. I watched her as she took a deep breath, and with shaking hands, lowered the hood of her robe and turned her head sideways for me to see something.
What I saw was something I would never have imagined to see in my entire life. There were not bruises or scratches that she had showed me, but pointed ears, the ones I saw in Lord of the Rings on Arwen and Legolas, and other elves. I couldn't believe my eyes. Asha watched a surprise dance across my face.
"I must admit I would never get used to the surprised faces," Asha admitted in a sweet voice that filled the room. "Still, it is my story, and it would be my first time telling it. Bare with me, because it's hard.
I'm 300 years old. I was born in the little village just outside London, England, and while young, my parents decided to cross the ocean. For our kind, elves, it was possible to do so without even a ship, but it took a long time. The ocean was frozen, my mother carried me on her arms while my father carried her. It took them two weeks to cross.
I was very young then, not even a year old. Once the path was over, my parents settled with elves in the nearest area they could find. Upon two years, my mother began my training. I was to become a healer. Ten years of training and up to seven years of wondering the world should ready me for any challenge.
It was on my fifth year that I was turned. The patient I have been with turned out to be a newborn vampire who couldn't control the thirst. During one of my visits, he bit me. For elves, once bitten we are forever damned. We don't need the share of vampire blood. We become half breeds. Unfortunately, this young vampire was unaware of the consequences of feeding of an elf. The blood of our kind is a lethal poison. He died forever in my arms as I felt tears sting my eyes and fall down my face. I couldn't go back to my parents and other elves now. I was not one of them anymore.
I disappeared, I guess. I think it is the appropriate term to use as to what happened to me. I knew that there would be search parties once I didn't return two years later. I anticipated them, and they came. Looking for me but I wasn't going to be found.
I hid underground for the next two years, coming out only one day of the month when the moon was full and I needed feeding. I was bitten in a day of a full moon. It was my turning day, the only day I was not capable of controlling my thirst for human blood. During those days I was the most feral beast and I could do nothing to control myself. The blood of animals didn't subdue my thirst, and that's when I realized that I was a monster. Human blood was the only kind of blood I craved because the vampire who bit me lived only on the human blood. If I were to be bitten by one of the other of the kind, that might have had different turn on me.
But I was what I was, and after two years of endless suffering and pain, I accepted it. I also remembered that I was a healer and nothing was stopping me the rest of the days of all the months of the year to be one. During normal days, I ate human food. I required it for my survival because I was a half-elf. The search, as I listened to the wind, had stopped. I was presumed dead by my own parents. It came as a shock to me and for days, I cried. I avoided human contact as much possible, only acquiring it when my job was the case. I was a healer, and it kept me sane.
After a century, give or take a decade, the transformations became less painful and I was able, due to the constant practice, to refrain myself from drinking the human blood. The animal blood now wasn't as bad as it used to be. I was happy because of that change. I didn't feel like a horrible creature anymore and I allowed myself some human contact. That was a mistake.
The sun didn't hurt. My elfin part prevented my skin from burning. I could come out and walk amongst the humans without them suspecting anything. My long hair I used to hide the point ends of my ears. Elves were a fascination in eighteen hundreds and although not a whole lot believed in them didn't mean they weren't looking. I tried to avoid the grown-ups especially because they were always the sneaky ones. Children I could handle.
Asha stood up from her chair and moved swiftly to stand beside the large window that was looking out to the driveway. Her eyebrows narrowed, her face changed into one of a great pain. I understood that whatever was coming next was going to be hard for her to talk about. I gazed at Edward whose eyes were closed, his head still resting on my shoulder. If I wouldn't have known, I would have said that he was sleeping.
Asha's attention shifted to us, me and Edward, sitting on the sofa, locked together in the hug of two who love each other. I saw a glimpse of desire escape her but only for a second. She took a deep breath and turned away, once again looking out of the window, into the past that only she could see.
She never told us the rest of the story, and I didn't press her. Whatever it was, she couldn't let it go just yet and needed time.
"That's all right," I said. "I have some things I'm not sure I'll ever be able to share with my parents. Your situation is different, but all I'm saying is that I can relate, on some level."
I was rumbling. I could hear it. I was rumbling, stalling the time.
"You mean about Edward?" Asha guessed, watching us. Edward's eyes were opened now and were fixed on me, waiting for my answer.
"Well, the fact that he's a vampire, yes."
Alice tried to hide her chuckle behind her hand. I grinned.
"Alice, we all know you can see it," Emmett mumbled, a bit sarcastically. Alice pulled on an angelic face as she turned to him.
"See what?"
"Never mind."
"Thought so."
Carlisle shook his head at the exchange. By the time Asha had finished her story, the whole Cullen family was gathered in the living room. Actually, they spread out in the living room. Jasper stood as far away from me as possible, trying to avoid my gaze. He was still ashamed of the birthday's incident and my attempts to convince him that he was forgiven had failed miserably. He wasn't taking chances.
"Alice," Carlisle frowned as he addressed her. "Are you going to tell us?"
"If I will, then I won't have a pleasure of enjoying the surprise."
Edward grinned. "She won't tell."
"And neither would you, right, Edward?" Esme laughed. Edward shook his head. I observed everything, following it closely when it struck me and I grinned involuntarily. The corners of my mouth just pulled up by themselves. Asha was the only one to take notice, and she looked really pleased.
"You are observant," she addressed me while everyone enjoyed the inside joke I was in on now.
"A quality no one should ignore," Edward said in his sweet voice that gave me shivers every time he used it.
"So, Asha," Carlisle said, in hopes of changing the subject. "What brought you here in a first place?"
The sudden question caught her off guard. She snapped out of the easy conversation and I watched as she tried to focus on the importance of her visit. Finally, she seemed to recall the reason of her sudden arrival. Her eyes wandered around the room, taking in the surroundings, including the presences. Jasper straightened up near the wall, Rosalie seemed to shift a bit under the look of the healer's eyes. Emmett wrapped his arms around Rosalie, and I watched as she calmed visibly. When her eyes drifted to me, she didn't show me any resentment. I couldn't trust it though, because Jasper was in the room. For a minute though, it felt good to have her look at me without pure hatred in her eyes. For a minute, it was nice to feel as if she had finally accepted me as a part of this family. Just only for a minute because Asha composed herself enough to tell us the news.
"Well, if you must know, and you should, I came here to bring a warning. Something bad is coming, I saw it."
"If you mean the Volturi, we already know."
Asha shook her head. "No, it's nothing like that. It's something more, even stronger than anything I have ever seem myself, and I have seen a lot. I'm not sure what it is yet, but one thing I am certain of: it's not good."
The hair in the back of my neck stood up. Yes, I did have a sense of self-preservation after all.
"How can there be anything stronger than Volturi?" Esme's voice was a faint whisper. In her eyes, I saw worry. Edward's hold on me tightened to the extent where I had to remind him that I still had to breathe in order to live. His arms loosened a bit, and he kissed my neck as in apology.
"I don't know," Asha replied. "That's why I came to you. In my vision, whatever happened, happened here, in this town. I thought I should warn you and stay, in case you might need me."
The room grew silent.
Really, really silent.
"Edward," I asked. He looked at me. "Don't even think about it," I warned, putting a menacing sound in my voice.