Chapter 4 – Family
Carlisle rose walking to the door, "Please excuse me Erin, I will be right back." As he left the office the unidentified woman closed the door leaving Erin in the office alone. She leaned back in her chair, pressing the back of her hand to her forehead. The results of being rejected would be dire to her and she had to implore to Carlisle when he returned that he had to give her an opportunity to show him and his family. Her fingers started tapping at the edge of the chair armrest, restless. Minutes passed by like hours, and after what seemed like hours had passed the door opened slowly. Carlisle stepped in, not closing the door. "Erin. I'm sorry I haven't been very transparent to you." He walked further into the office but not sitting down. "Vampires can hear conversations through walls like it were being spoken to them right in the same room. My family has heard what you have presented me and it is only fair, if it is true you are the family's Aura, that you present this to all of us and not just me." His voice was calm and soothing. "I assure you that none of them will hurt you."
She laughed now, the nervousness suddenly dissipating. She knew they wouldn't hurt her, it would go against in instinctive bond an Aura had with her family. "I am not worried of my safety Carlisle." She rose taking her bag and waiting to be guided to where he would take her. "I only ask that you give me a chance." She took a deep breath smiling up at Carlisle. His kindness shone through the amber glittering eyes.
Carlisle continued to smiled nodding, he held the door open wide for her to step through. The hallway lights had been turned on, illuminating the multiple doorways that were passed to get to Carlisle's office. "We're going into the dining room, it will allow most of us to sit while we talk." He placed a hand on her shoulder guiding her around a corner where the family had already congregated. The soft murmuring had ceased when she and Carlisle stepped into the room. The man who had opened the door turned from his high back chair and smiled, "So you wanted to talk to all the Cullen's after all." He laughed at his own joke turning back to the table only when the tall blonde beauty that barged into the office slapped his arm, a stern glare quieting his laughter to a more muffled chuckle.
"Well, Erin, here is my family." He stood at the head of the table. "My wife Esme." He smiled warmly at his love then introducing the others as they sat together as couples. "Here is Alice and Jasper. Bella and Edward and of course you have already met Emmett and Rosalie." He pulled the chair at the head of the table for Erin. "You saw Edward downstairs when you came in, I'm sorry I didn't introduce you but I didn't know the extent of your business with us." He patted her shoulder as he slid behind Esme's chair resting his hand on his wife's shoulder. "So, tell us more about being an Aura, and how can we trust you, you are just a stranger to us."
Erin placed her hand on the edge of the table sitting slowly into the chair, the tall back supporting her small form. She looked at everyone pausing at Edward, that same confused look still on his face, not noticing Alice's contorted expression yet. She sighed believing the confusion was from her lack of information, "This is almost as new to me as it is to you so please bear with me." She toyed with a crack on the table lingering there, "So I'll start with where we come from and who we are. So, we can be born to human parents or to Aura parents, but we are rare either way. And as rare as we are, we hold very rare gifts with very specific purposes. When an Aura is born to human parents, like me, it complicates matters since most human parents take our oddities as flaws and weirdness and as a result we become outcasts. We never have guidance from another Aura, until we run into another Aura in our life. Many Auras from human families actually never realize their full potential and die mortal like other humans. I was very fortunate, I met my first Aura when I was in college, and that was when everything fell into place. I was directed to an Oracle who gave me that paper. Auras are only given their purpose when they go to the Oracle. There is just one Oracle at one living time so, the fact I was just handed the location was serendipitous." She looked at Carlisle who had unfolded the paper and slid it across the table towards the center so that anyone who wanted to read it could. "The Oracle gave me the description of your family and I was sent to find you. That was 6 years ago." She paused looking around the table, the faces intent, serious. She noticed Edward's facial expression once more and then followed it to Alice's who's fingers had gone to her temple. She bit her lip unsure how to interpret the expressions so she just continued, "With purpose in hand we are also given the responsibility to refine our own powers so that when we arrive to our purpose we would be fully ready to face what needs to be faced." She took a deep breath keeping eye contact with everyone, still feeling rather uncomfortable with Edward and Alice's expression. "As Auras, we are creatures of the Earthly elements. We draw energy from one element or from all. Elements can be the earth, wind, water and fire but also elements of what the Earth has given us, such as the plant life or other organic elements. My particular element is water, but I've met Auras who draw energy from multiple sources." She paused one more time looking to see if there were questions.
Carlisle leaned forward, "So, how do you use this energy and how would this help us since, Vampires are truly not creatures of the Earth."
Erin looked at Carlisle for a moment, "You are just as much from this Earth than any human. Your circumstances are different and the realm in which Vampires live is different than humans, but you are all from the Earth." She placed her palm on the surface of the table trying to calm herself, she was troubled by Edward and Alice's continued distressed look and decided to confront it. "Edward, Alice, what is wrong? You look like I'm causing you some pain." Her brows furrowed.