DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN THE VAMPIRE DIARIES, I JUST OWN MY CHARACTERS AND THEIR STORY LINES.
Blue sky. She looked at the blue sky in front of her which had a few clouds here and there but it wasn't the sky she was admiring. It was the perfect color of it. Blue.
She had always loved that color since she was a little girl. Even if blue was more of a color for boys according to the world but Ashley knew better than that. She knew that people shouldn't choose what color goes with the girls or what colors goes with boys.
They were many reasons why she loved the color blue and the sky was one of them but so was the sea. Her favorite place to be when she was a little girl, where she learned how to swim and try to surf. She loved the color blue because the kitchen that she was raised was painted blue. She loved the color blue because it reminded her of peace, not sadness as other people thought of it. She loved how it sounded in Spanish.
Another reason was added a few months ago, it was the color of someone's eyes. Someone who had come to her life so abruptly but she had enjoyed every second of it. The sarcasm, the winks and that smirk that she had wanted to wipe from his face so many times.
"I'm sorry, miss." Ashley turned to look at the flight attendant who had a smile on her face as she looked at the dark haired girl. "I need to put your seat belt on as we are going down."
She nodded her head and gave the flight attendant a smile before the woman walked away. She grabbed her seat belt and buckle it around her torso. She took a deep breath and then she felt the plane go down in a few minutes.
Ashley took a deep breath as she felt her stomach turn. She closed her eyes so she could relax a little. She always hated landing when she was in a plane since she was a little girl.
After a few minutes, the plane touched the ground and Ashley let out a sigh in relief as they had landing. The pilot spoke through the speakers so they could get up from their seats and Ashley did so.
She put her jacket on and moved in the line to get out of the plane. She was tired and couldn't even sleep considering that the man behind her was snoring for all the flight.
Ashley yawned as she walked through the airport knowing quite well that she had to find a taxi and it was going to cost a lot because her grandparents lived in a small house in Malibu beach and they had no idea that she was coming to visit them.
Alaric had advised her to talk to her grandparents but she didn't want to. She wanted to know why they changed their names and why is being a Sanchez such a big deal according to Klaus. Klaus and his big mouth had gotten her to go here as if she was in Mystic Falls, she would probably be serving Damon and Alaric their daily bourbon clueless of all the secrets that their grandparents hid from her and possible her mother too.
Ashley got her duffel bag and started to walk out of the airport. It was 12 am and she knew that there would be plenty of taxis outside of it nut she had to hurry a little bit.
She raised her hand and saw a taxi come close to her. She immediately took the taxi and entered it. "Miami beach, please." The taxi driver nodded his head and Ashley leaned her head to the seat before she got her phone out and turned off the airplane mode.
She then saw that Alaric had called her a few times and so did Damon but of course less. She called Alaric and waited for him to answer.
"Hello?" He groaned the response more than he said and Ashley knew that he had been drinking.
"How many glasses of bourbon did you drink, Ric?" She asked as she looked through the window at the city she grew up in.
"I'm tired and I didn't sleep well." He responded and Ashley scoffed at him as she thought of him laying on a bed.
"You didn't sleep well? I was next to man who did nothing but snore. It kept me up in all the flight." Ashley explained as the sun shined in the cab's window making her squint a little.
"Have you told your grandparents that you are visiting them?" Ashley bit her lip a little feeling guilty for not tell her retired and old grandparents that she is spending a few days at their house.
"No, I didn't even think about telling them. I just want some answers, Ric. In less than one month, I found out all these secrets that my family had been keeping from me. I need some clarity in my life once in awhile." Ashley spoke in a hushed tone for the driver not to listen to her talk about her family problems.
"It's your decision. Just, don't do anything stupid." Ashley hummed as she thought about all the scenarios that the talk with her grandparents could go but she knew that she could never really be mad at them. She couldn't even think of a scenario angry with them.
"Call you later, Ric." Ashley said goodbye to her uncle and he mumbled one too. With that, she put her phone in her pocket and waited to be in her destination.
"Alex, you are one lazy ass man!" Ashley heard a yell come from the indie of the house. "You can't even look at who is outside."
"My legs are hurting, I mowed the lawn." The dark haired girl turned to look at the garden behind her, only a half of it was mowed. Classic grandpa, Ashley thought but her thoughts were interrupted by someone opening the door. Her grandmother whose frown was replaced by a sweet smile immediately.
"Oh my God, my beautiful Ashley!" Her grandma wrapped her arms around Ashley and the girl couldn't help but smile as she hugged her only grandma. She smelt the familiar scent of vanilla that her grandma said.
"Who is at the damn door, Susan?" A few feet away from them stood her grandfather Alex or to be true Alejandro looking at them with a confused look.
"Hi, Abuelo!" She greeted him and the man forgot that his leg was hurting as he moved to hug her as soon as she pulled away from her grandmother.
"Your pain in the leg just passed magically, Alex?" Her grandmother asked the man she was hugging making Ashley laugh a little.
"Ashley here always took away my pain." He squeezed her a little and Ashley moved to whisper in her ear.
"Good save." He chuckled as she then pulled away from him and turn to look at both of them.
"Why did you come to visit us?" Her grandmother asked with her sweet voice that had soothed Ashley in her hardest times.
"Many reasons Abuela but one of them is that I missed the hell out of you too." Both of them laughed at her as her grandfather placed his hand on her back to lead her to the living room where Ashley got a sigh of the ocean. She smiled when she saw the blue of the sky meet the blue of the ocean.
"Sit my cupcake while I bring the cookies that I made yesterday. I didn't make your favorite but I know you like them." Her grandfather said and Ashley smiled at the man who loved cooking more than he loved sleeping. He disappeared in the kitchen and Ashley sat on the couch with her grandmother.
"He's cooking a lot these days, isn't he?" Ashley asked her grandmother who nodded her head as an answer.
"Yes, he is. More than me now. It relaxes me just like reading does to me." Her grandmother responded before pursuing her lips a little. "How is your uncle in Virginia?"
"He's great." Ashley lied through her teeth as she looked at her grandmother in the eye. "He had a hard time as his girlfriend passed away but he is better now."
Ashley couldn't believe that she was lying to her grandmother, she never could do that. "How did she pass away?" An original hybrid sacrificed her in front of her niece and this same hybrid told me that you and Abuelo are lying to me my whole life.
"Car accident." Ashley again lied and her grandmother gave her a warming smile but Ashley felt horrible that she lied to her.
"Have you met any boys? Or girls? You may never know." Ashley giggled at her grandmother at her words before saying something.
"Had a boyfriend for a few weeks and I broke up with him two day ago." Ashley explained to her grandmother who pulled Ashley into a hug.
"You deserve so much better. Someone who will worship and adore you." Her grandmother told her and Ashley nodded her head but she pulled away from the embrace when she saw her grandmother come with oatmeal raisin and a glass of milk.
"Cookies and a glass of milk for my favorite niece." He put plate and the glass in the coffee table and sat in the love seat next o the couch.
"I'm your only niece." Ashley reminded him and he shrugged his shoulders a little.
"It would not make any difference if I had millions of nieces and nephews." Ashley's breath was caught when she thought about Sawyer, her brother who had been killed by the people who kidnapped him.
Her grandfather smiled at her and Ashley returned it but it didn't quite reach her eyes. She had come here for the truth but she was afraid to ask a damn question that could start it all.
The sky had turned black now and it had stars on it. Ashley was looking at them as they shined the beach while the waves from the ocean were heard nearby. She was wearing a grey sweatshirt with black leggings and her hair was wrapped in a messy bun.
She loved the quiet this place could give you. You didn't hear any cars or people screaming, just the ocean and its move towards the shore. She let out a contempt sigh and saw that her grandmother had joined her too.
"Your old grandpa fell asleep like he was a newborn baby." She told Ashley who nodded her head as she looked at the ocean before her. "Now, how about you tell me what are you trying to say but you're not saying it?"
Her grandmother's question took Ashley by surprise as she turned her gaze to the ocean to her grandmother who was sitting in the chair next to her. Her right eyebrow was cocked as she waited for her niece to say something but Ashley didn't know what to say first.
"I found a photo of Sawyer in Alaric's apartment." Her grandmother's mouth fell agape as she looked at her daughter in complete shock. "And I just found out that your real name is Renata while grandpa's is Alejandro and that your last name is not Sanchez, it's Garcia. So, how about you tell me why does this family hide so many secrets from me?"
"Ashley, about Sawyer-" Ashley raised her hand and turned her whole body towards her grandmother.
"Ric told me about Sawyer. He told e how he was kidnapped, how the people asked for a loan and how they killed both my father and brother in one single night. What I want to know is why did you move out of Columbia and changed your names."
"It's a long story, Ashley." That was the simple answer that her grandmother gave to Ashley but of course the girl didn't like.
"I'm staying here for a few days, Abuela. I think we got time." Ashley told her grandmother who let out a sigh before speaking.
"It was 1969, I was 19 years old and I had fallen in love with this man named Alejandro Garcia. He was handsome, kind and most importantly he adored me but my father didn't want me to marry him. He wanted me to marry another man who lived in America, a man named Travis Clinton who was a good man but not your grandfather. I didn't listen and I'm glad I didn't but..." Her grandmother trailed off as her eyes were covered with tears at the memory of her early life. "Your grandfather forgot to tell me something that his family had a dark side."
"Why does this sound like a horror movie?" Ashley wondered out loud and her grandmother sniffed before talking to her niece.
"Because it kinda is. Your grandfather was a brujo and is family practiced brujeria." Ashley could swear that her jaw had touched the porch of the house at the piece of information that her grandmother just shared with her. "That was my reaction too when your grandfather told me a few months after we got married."
"So what happened then?" Ashley asked as she crossed her legs o the chair as her grandmother looked at the ocean.
"I wanted to leave him, every part of me wanted to leave him. I was scared because I am a devout Christian." Her grandmother touched the cross she had around her neck as she told the story. "Brujeria was shunned by God according to my family but Alejandro never practiced it because he wasn't cut for it. He was a lousy brujo but he was the first son and he had to be there with a woman who was bruja too." Her mother's voice started to crack as she talked to her and Ashley moved her hand to hold hers. "His parents wanted me dead or gone but Alejandro didn't and he defied his family. We left our home and moved away but his family had joined sides with my family. One night in 1970, they came for us and I almost died. His brother almost killed me but Alejandro saved me by shooting his brother Gustav in the shoulder." Ashley could have sworn that her grandmother had been living in telenovela.
"We left the country that week and a few weeks later we were here in Los Angeles. We bought this place and your grandfather built it with his own hands all of it. When I got pregnant with your mother, we decided to change our names and last name so we wouldn't risk Violet's life and that was the best decision we ever made because my daughter was safe from both of our families."
"And clueless about the whole thing?" Her grandmother nodded as a response to Ashley's question and then Ashley let out a shaky breath. "I'm so sorry, Abuela." Ashley moved to hug her grandmother who had tears running down her cheek. "I'm sorry for making you talk about it."
"It's okay, honey." Her grandmother ran her hand across Ashley's back as the dark haired girl supported her head on it. "I needed to tell someone about this someday and I'm glad that it was my niece." Ashley pulled away from the embrace and made herself comfortable in the chair. "Don't tell your Abuelo that I told you, talking about this it makes him feel so bad and guilty."
"Of course, my mouth is shut." Ashley said to her grandmother who let out a hum before speaking to her.
"How did you find out about the whole thing?" The question didn't take Ashley by surprise as she knew that it would have been asked and she had a lie prepared.
"My friend Damon Salvatore wanted to find the roots of his family because he is Italian and he had such a history that he bragged all day about it. I wanted to shut up the idiot," She heard a chuckle come from the woman close to her. "I searched my family too. Searching the last name Saltzman was a bust so I searched Sanchez but there were no Alexander or Susan Sanchez. I asked the help of Damon and he hired some guy who found out the whole thing." It was bothering Ashley how easy she was lying without hesitating one bit.
"He hired someone for you?" Her grandmother asked with a raised eyebrow and Ashley shrugged her shoulders.
"Damon is filthy rich." Ashley told another lie without even having a bit trouble of thinking it. "I found about Alejandro and Renata Garcia."
"Is this reason why you came?"
"One of them." Ashley admitted and her grandmother didn't seem to be bothered by the truth. "Can I ask you a question?" Her grandmother nodded her head at Ashley. "What does the name Renata mean?"
"Born again."
"It's a beautiful day cupcake, isn't it?" His grandfather said as they looked at the morning view of the beach as they were eating their pancakes. She had been at her grandparents' house for few days now and she was having a good time.
"It sure is." Ashley as she cut one of her pancakes and then ate it. She looked at her phone as it buzzed meaning she got a message.
Damon: There is something going on between a doctor named Meredith and your uncle.
Ashley: What do you mean with something going on?
Damon: Flirty banter, secret glances at each other.
Ashley couldn't help but think that it sounded a lot like them but she again try to put that thought out of her mind as there wasn't her and Damon. It was just Damon and just Ashley.
Ashley: It must be sickening to watch.
Damon: You have no idea. When are you coming here?
Ashley: Tomorrow afternoon. Why? Did you miss me?
Damon: Well, your bitchiness and those legs of yours.
Ashley couldn't help but smile at the text she had just got from Damon but little did she know that both of her grandparents were looking at her with some sort of suspicious look.
Damon: Plus, you missed seeing this eternal stud.
Ashley: Eternal stud? Really?
Damon: We both know I am the Eternal Stud.
Ashley: Sure you are.
Damon: I'm gonna ignore that you wrote that. What did you find out about your grandparents?
Ashley: I need to tell you that in person cuz it's a long story.
Damon: Drinks in the Grill tomorrow?
Ashley: Yep.
"You talking to Damon?" Ashley almost dropped the phone at the voice of her grandmother and turned to look at her grandparents who had big grins on their faces. "He asked you on a date."
"We're just friends." Ashley said without missing a beat making her grandfather laugh a little.
"That's what your mother said about Adam too when she met him in college. Less than a year, she got married." Ashley raised her hands as to stop her grandfather for a moment.
"Damon and I are just good friends and don't bring marriage into this, okay?" Her grandparents nodded their head and Ashley began to eat her pancakes putting her phone.
"Hanna or Eva?" Ashley raised an eyebrow at her grandmother as she had her mouth full of pancakes. "Which one is going to be your maid of honor?"
So sorry for the long wait but I hope you enjoy this chapter. I'm not going to write 'The Ties That Bind' or 'Bringing Out The Dead' because I don't see Ashley fitting in those episodes at all. The next chapter will be Dangerous Liaisons which is my favorite episode because the Originals and let me just say that I'm Klaroline trash. Always was and always will be.
We will see Ashley meet the other Originals and that is going to be interesting because I love the Mikaelson family and the episode will be a Dashley centric one so get ready because it's gonna be such a wonderful ride to come.
When you read this chapter, you found about Ashley's grandpa being a brujo and let me just tell you that is so fun to write this part of Ashley's story. There is a lot more to come.
NicoleR85: I'm so glad that you like the chapter. I hope you'll enjoy this one too.
SomebodyWhoCares: I would love to do an episode where Ashley meets Dean or even creates a fake Dean because I really would like to write Dean. In fact not just Dean but the whole Supernatural characters because I love them. Ashley can speak Spanish but not that good but it will be shown in the future chapters.
Percy Ross Vulturi Uchiha: I'm glad that you like the story more and I hope you will enjoy this chapter and the other ones that are to come even more XD. Ashley is going to be shooting more truth bombs about Elena or to be true about the whole Mystic Falls gang. There will be a particular scene in the next chapter between Stefan and Ashley that I hope you will enjoy. Damon and Ashley's relationship is going to take a turn in the next episode.
galwidanatitud: Ashley knows that there is something going on between her and Damon but she is trying to push it away considering that he is a vampire, in love with another woman and that he is her uncle's best friend. Other people will start to see that something is going on between them.
Ninja Vampire xx: I'm glad that you think the story is amazing and that you adore Ashley and like that she tells the truth about Elena. Here is the new chapter.