More of Miss Dare

Chapter 2
Miss Dare
The Tribe

The next couple of days without Asher were the loneliness of my life. Instead of going outside and being ignored, I chose to stay in and catch up on my reading. At that moment I had realized how much I actually missed the internet and how cut off from the world I actually was. I knew my e-mail would have been full beyond capacity with e-mails from my friends wondering if I were alive or not. I decided to hand write some letters, one to Rez, Abby, and Keely. I didn’t divulge too much information, but I did tell them I was alright. I requested letters in return to let me know how they were doing. It would make my day to get a letter from one of them. Knowing someone outside the reservation, in the real world, cared about me would mean so much right now.
When I was done writing my letters, I went to the store to Bobby to ask him to drop them in the mail. When I arrived at the store, Bobby wasn’t quick to greet me as usual.
“Bobby?” I called out. “Are you here?”
“Yes.” He said. “One minute.”
A few seconds later a man came out from the curtain at the store.
“Good afternoon, Ella.” He said.
Bobby Green, normally a man of no more than the age of thirty, looked as if he aged twenty or more years. I was beyond shocked. His face was thin and very pale. It was the exact repeat of Sam’s condition the other day. I was on the verge of getting extremely nervous and afraid then I remembered what I had promised Asher. My promise to him was to play ignorant no matter what happened, no matter how weird it got for me here.
“Good afternoon Bobby.” I said with the most genuine smile I could fake. “I was wondering if you could mail these letters for me.”
“Of course Ella.” He said as he grabbed for the letters and in the process touched my hand purposely and even held on for a few seconds. I grabbed my hand away as he just stared at me. In my head all I heard was Asher telling me to ignore it, but this was really freaking me out. It was like he needed to touch me and he would have hurt me if I didn’t let him.
“Thank you.” I said as I took my hand back.
Bobby remained silent and still as I exited the store. As I pushed the door open, I looked back at him just standing there. This time, he looked thirty again. Trying not to think about what had happened, I ran back home and into my room only saying a brief hello to Sarah and Sam. I shut the door behind Hyde and went on my bed to hide under my covers to cry. What were these people that they grew old and somehow became young again when I touched them? This ignorance thing was tougher than I had thought. These things could not just be passed off as normal. Things at the reservation were clearly not as they seemed and the worst part was that I had no idea when Asher would return. “A few days” isn’t a definite time frame.
That night I stayed in my room trying not to think. To distract my thoughts, I grabbed some charcoal and my sketch pad and started to sketch and the only thing I could sketch was Asher. It was like every curve of his face was embedded into my mind and I needed to get it out onto paper so I could look at it. Never in my life have I been this hung up on a guy. The only way I could explain it would be that he isn’t a normal guy, he was a miracle.
I must have fallen asleep while I was drawing, because I felt as if Asher was lying beside me, but it was really Hyde. However, in my dream it was Asher holding me in my bed, finally telling me how much he loved me. That night, I slept better than I had in a long time. I felt safe no matter what kind of weird shit was going in this place. It meant nothing because the only thing that actually meant something was that Asher was beside me and did love me.
When Hyde rolled over and started breathing his horrible dog breath in my face. I was awakened completely with the nasty breath of reality in my face and I couldn’t help but smile. Not that I didn’t love Hyde to pieces, but he was not a comparable substitute for Asher.
When I finally dragged myself out of bed it had to be around noon and I was desperate for some of Sarah’s cooking. I walked out to the kitchen and found no one. I then went outside to the porch to see if anybody was outside and there wasn’t. It was like a ghost town. Usually there are people outside working or just walking around, but there was no one. As I walked out further in front of the house, it was as if everyone disappeared off the face of the earth. Hyde wasn’t far behind me in walking out into the eerily serene village and stood by my side as I contemplated whether or not I was awake or dreaming. I knew I was wide awake.
My trance was broke when I heard a howl coming from the woods. Hyde took off running into the woods and I took off right behind him. I probably shouldn’t have followed him but I wasn’t going to be left alone when crazy stuff was happening all around me.
I approached the line where the woods began and began walking on a path and calling out for Hyde. These woods would always scare me because of what happened the day with the bear. The cracking of branches and the feeling of being watched was scaring me to death. My heart started pounding and I began sweating. I felt as if the ground I was standing on was spinning around and I was about to fall over. Out of the corner of my eye I saw a white flash and I knew it was Hyde. The spinning stopped abruptly and I continued on the path and started yelling for Hyde again. A few minutes had past and there been no Hyde. I turned the opposite way to see if there was something coming. I saw a gigantic grey wolf running full speed towards me as if it were chasing me out of the woods. It did not look friendly at all and I wasn’t going to stay and see if it was. Immediately, I ran back the way I came and out of the woods. From exhaustion I fell to the ground to catch my breath. After a few deep breaths and some panting, I was back to normal. I walked to one of the large rocks around the fire pit and sat down. Continuing to look around I started reflecting on my life, which was a huge mistake. It made me realize how much my normal and stable life back in Chester was something I took completely for granted. I had lost my parents and everyone who I loved to this horrible curse that was brought onto me by my ancestors. The sad conclusion that I came to was that maybe I was meant to be alone. Maybe it was better that I was isolated and no one was around me. Whatever it is that I was could have possibly been the reason that everyone left.
Feeling sorry for myself had been a new trend for me lately and just when I think I can take no more, he shows up.
“Hello.” I heard from behind me. I turned around and it was Asher.
“Hey.” I said as I tried to hold back my tears.
He sat down facing opposite of me.
“Are you alright?” He asked.
“No. Actually I’m not.” I said as a single tear ran down my cheek. He looked at me and wiped it away with his finger.
“Ella, I know what you must be thinking, but remember what I made you promise me.”
“I don’t think I can do this. This place is seriously messed up. I mean, who are these people that just disappear and grow old one day and become young the next.” I said in a panic.
“Calm down. Breathe.” He commanded.
I stopped talking and closed my eyes. He grabbed my hands and held them tight. Instantly I felt a calm come over me, it was almost like a calming high. I could compare it to when you hurt yourself and you are in horrible pain and the doctors give you strong pain medication to relief it. Asher was like medicine to my soul, he made all the worry and panic go away. It was the feeling completely opposite from what Jace did to me; both addicting, and possibly dangerous in the long run.
I opened my eyes with a feeling of euphoria from my head to the tips of my toes. A soothing breeze came between me and Asher. His dark hair blew gently across his face. I leaned in to kiss him and he stopped me with a quick peck.
“I’m sorry.” He said and looked off at nothing in front of him.
“It’s fine.” I said. “But I have to say something to you.”
“Go ahead. You can tell me anything.”
“Okay. Here it goes.” I don’t know what came over me but I was about to tell him how I felt about him regardless of what he felt about me. “Asher, I love you. For some reason I need you. Without you I’m lonely and sad. I know you don’t feel the same about me, but I still want you to know how I feel about you. It would hurt worse for me to keep denying it every day than it would to hear that you really didn’t feel the same way. However, I still don’t want to hear it so promise me you won’t say anything after this but that you promise not to say anything. I just want to continue to hang out with you and be your friend, because I know that is all we can be.”
He just stared at me with a blank look on his face for a minute that seemed like hours.
“Can you say something?” I asked.
“All I can say is that I promise.” He answered with a smile.
“True.”
“I keep my promises, Ella.”
“I know.” I paused. “Do you want to do something?”
“Sure!” He said with a huge smile. “I thought you’d never ask.”
“How about a walk to the river?” I suggested.
“That sounds perfect.” He said.
The rest of the day we spent on the bank of the river just looking at the scenery. There was no talking about the Tribe or what was going on, there was just us. It was like nothing could hurt us or effect us when we were together.
“The sun is setting. I better get you home before they get worried.”
“There isn’t anyone there.” I said and he didn’t answer.
When we arrived back at dark, there was a fire in the pit and everything was back to normal. Asher saw my reaction.
“Remember Ella.” He said.
“I remember.”
“Are you free tomorrow?” He asked.
“I’m free every day.” I said with a smile.
“We can hang out again. If you want.”
“I would love that.”
“See you tomorrow then.” He said as he kissed my forehead. “Good night.”
“Good night.”
I paused on the front steps of my house to watch him walk away. I had no desire to rush inside and play the oblivious card with my so-called grandparents. Hesitantly I opened the door and there they both were sitting at the dinner table surrounded by this huge amazing smelling dinner.
“Hello Ella.” Sarah said with a smile. “How was your day?” She said nonchalantly.
“Great. I hung out at the river with Asher.”
“That sounds nice.” Sam said with a smile.
Both Sam and Sarah looked great. Sam looked as he did the other day and Sarah looked as if she had some plastic surgery done. Her face was firm and youthful. There was very little sign of aging. It was like they were two different people.
“Is something wrong?” Sarah asked.
“No, everything is fine.” I smiled.
“Well, what are you waiting for sit down and eat something.” He demanded.
I was severely famished because I didn’t eat all day. Disregarding the two strangers sitting at the table with me, I dug into the pot roast, potatoes, carrots, and homemade bread. After Hyde and I ate ridiculous amount of food, I continued onto cherry pie and homemade ice cream. I then got up the energy to excuse myself and went to take a shower.
That night I slept extremely well. Asher was back home and my feelings were out on the table. I had nothing to hide anymore. The pressure was off and all I wanted to do was enjoy him. It wasn’t a normal occurrence for someone like me to meet someone as special as him.
The next few weeks were amazing. Asher, Hyde, and I were inseparable. We took walks, I drew pictures of my two best friends, and we spent nights sitting and talking in front of a fire. One night was the first time I had opened up about everything that had happened to me. The surprising thing was that Asher was the one that had brought the whole situation to attention.
“Ella, are you okay?” He asked after a long period of comfortable silence.
“What do you mean?” I said as I chewed the marshmallow I was roasting in the fire.
“I mean after everything you have been through with your parents’ death, leaving your life behind, and living completely different has had to take its toll on you.”
“You know, no one hasn’t asked me that in a long time.”
“Are you?” He asked again.
“I can only answer that with saying that I’m numb. I wake up every day disregarding everything that had happened and everything that is going on around me. If I actually opened myself up the tiniest bit to feel, then I probably wouldn’t make it much longer.” I paused and looked into the fire thinking about the next words that were going to come out of my mouth. “My life is surreal. I live in a constant state of both thinking that this is all a dream and knowing this is all real, as twisted as it is. This is my destiny, my life and I can’t change who I am.”
“I know that feeling.” He said.
I laughed.
“What?” He asked.
“It has come to my attention, again, that I know nothing about you and you know every miniscule detail about me.”
“its better you don’t know. It’s safer that way.”
“You always seem to have that excuse. Ignorance is always the answer with you.”
“Because it is. It has kept you safe so far, did it not?”
“Safe from what? Jace or whatever it was inside of Jace?”
“Yes.”
“I thought he couldn’t affect me here. That was the reason for me to be here. Nothing would harm me on the reservation. Why am I all of a sudden in danger?”
“You aren’t in danger as long as you listen to me, Ella.”
“So I just spend the rest of my life ignoring the fact that something more than what you and everyone else is telling me is happening and it is happening because of me.”
“Yes.”
“Maybe I don’t want to live my life lying to myself. Maybe I’d rather just be in danger than looking like a complete moron every day. Asher, I am a pretty intelligent person and this dumbing myself down every day is driving me insane.”
“I know it is frustrating, but I need you to do it. You need to be safe.”
“Why? Who even cares anymore? I honestly feel like an object anymore. Like maybe a lamp that is useful at other times, but just can be shut off and ignored as people continue on living their lives.”
“Ella, you have no idea how important you are.”
“Important to whom? You? You clearly made it known how you felt about me.”
“You don’t understand.”
“Then make me understand.” I said as I stood up and walked away from him feeling extremely agitated.
He stood up and took a few quick strides to retrieve me. He then grabbed onto my shoulder and turned me towards him.
“I need you, Ella. You have awakened something in me that nothing could have prevented or predicted. They fear me loving you and that is why I could never admit it, but keeping it from you when I know you feel the same is worse than anything anyone or anything can do to me. I am hopelessly and unconditionally in love with you.”
It was as if something had been unleashed when he had said that he loved me. A huge gust of wind came upon us. My every dream had just come true. This man or phenomenon that I had wanted more than life itself wanted me in return. There was no turning back for us now. Love had bonded us and there was no way I was going to let anything come between us.
After the words had escaped his mouth, he took me into his chest and embraced me. My emotions ran wild and I couldn’t help but start to cry the happiest tears. We stood there holding each other in our arms while my tears fell and the raindrops began to gently tap on our skin. My tears didn’t stop when he grabbed my face ever so gently and kissed me, and neither did the rain.
As we kissed the cool rain hit our bodies. The love I felt from him radiated throughout my entire body. I knew that we could not hide this from anyone. The Tribe would just have to deal with it. I mean what could they possibly do anyways? After all they needed Asher for some reason.
My tears of joy finally commenced and so did our long and amazing kiss. I was extremely freezing and the fire went out so he built another one.
“Maybe we should get you home.” He suggested.
“No. Please, can’t we stay here a little longer?”
“If that’s what you want.” He said with a smile as he stretched the Navajo blanket out on the ground. I was thankful that we were in a clearing in the middle of the woods and not on the reservation. It felt as if we were alone and no one was watching us.
I laid down in against his warm body and my shivering instantly stopped. This was wanted what I wanted, just for him to hold me. It was like the planet was turning slowly while we were together, and life seemed to stop. I wanted this moment to be frozen and be my forever.
That night we slept under the stars holding each other until the sun made its presence known through the darkness of the cool fall night. When my groggy, unfocused eyes opened, I saw three men standing above us staring down with their hands crossed over their chest in disapproval. One of them faintly looked like Sam. Thinking I was still half dreaming I managed to scare myself into waking up. My abrupt movement must have frightened Asher because he sat up and held his knife up as if to defend us.
“What’s wrong?” He asked.
“Nothing. I just got spooked is all.”
“What happened? What did you see?”
“I think I was dreaming. No worries.” I said with a smile.
“There are worries. You need to tell me everything you dream and experience.” He said in a worried tone.
“There were just three men looking at us. It was blurry but one looked like Sam.”
“I knew this was going to happen.”
“What was going to happen?”
“You need to go home. Now.” He demanded.
“What’s going on Asher?”
“We just need to get you back on the reservation.” He said as he lifted me up by my arm.
“Ouch.” I said. “Okay.”
“We need to go now.”
We ran the almost the entire way of the three miles back to my house. When we arrived Sarah and Sam were standing on the porch as if they had waited up for me all night. They looked extremely angry. It was a shame that I was a 22 year old woman with people that watched me like I was a teenager.
“Get in the house Ella.” Sam exclaimed.
“I will when I say good bye.” I said in the most intimidating tone that I could.
I walked back over to Asher and noticed he didn’t take his eyes off of the many people watching us. Never losing eye contact with Sarah and Sam he pulled me close to him.
“Never ever take off the necklace I gave you. No matter what happens, promise you will never take it off.”
“I promise. Asher what’s happening?”
“Everything is fine. I will see you later.”
“Somehow I don’t believe you.”
“I love you, Ella.” He said as he kissed me for the first time in front of what seemed to be the entire Tuscorora Tribe.
“I love you too.” I said as I back away and entered the house with Hyde following close behind.
When I entered the house, I could sense that Sarah and Sam wanted to talk to me so I stood by the dining room table and waited for the discussion to take place.
“Ella, we need to talk with you.” Sarah said in her sweetest grandmother-like voice only she now barely looked old enough to be my grandmother.
“What about?” I said as if this conversation was a surprise.
“We think that this relationship you and Asher have begun, needs to stop.”
“Why do you think that?”
“Ella, I know you may not believe us, but he is dangerous. He isn’t good for you.” Sam said.
“How is he dangerous? He would never hurt me.”
“You may believe that but we know better. He could go off at any minute and harm you and we could never risk losing our only Grandchild.” Sam said.
“I could never forgive myself if I had ever lost the only connection that I had left to my son.” Sarah said in tears.
“I’m sorry, dangerous or not, seeing Asher is my choice. We love each other and no matter what anyone says or does is going to change that. Now, I’m going to take a shower and then going to see Asher.” I said as I walked with Hyde into my room.
I sat on my bed and couldn’t help but smile thinking about the amazing relationship Asher and I were going to have. All the unfortunate events that took place in my life seemed to have ceased to exist since finding out Asher was in love with me. This could be my happy ever after I had been waiting for.
Sleeping on the hard ground didn’t grant a good night sleep so after a long hot shower I passed out on my bed for a few hours. Knowing that Asher would be waiting for me this evening, I set my alarm for 6 pm. When the alarm went off, I jumped out of bed and instantly became ecstatic. I threw on a pair of jeans, a sweatshirt and a jacket and headed out of the house. Fortunately, my grandparents weren’t anywhere to be found to lecture me about seeing Asher. My exit out of the house was easy. When I got outside, there was no Asher anywhere to be found.
“Hyde.” I said as I knelt down to pet him. “Where’s Asher, Buddy? Take me to him.” I knew if anyone would know where Asher was, Hyde would.
Sure enough I followed Hyde to the large newly constructed barn that doubled as a town hall. Trying to be incognito, I kept a distance as all the adult tribe members seemed to gathering inside. My curiosity got the best of me and I approached what looked like a meeting. One of the windows were cracked ever so slightly for me to hear and see what was going on. In my limited view I saw Asher standing at the front of the room by Sam. What they were saying was muffled and I couldn’t understand, but I knew whatever it was, wasn’t good. Asher then stared at the window where I was and knew I was outside. He then got this horrible look of dread on his face. At that moment my heart felt like it was going to explode if I didn’t find out what was going on. I did however hear the next words to come out of his mouth.
“Just grant me the duty to tell her myself.” He said.
I then ran behind the building and fell to my knees and began having a panic attack. I knew that nothing he had to tell me was going to be conducive to our happily ever after.
I finally got the strength to get up from the ground and start walking back home. The half mile back to my house seemed like 12 miles. When I arrived home, Asher was already there sitting on the porch swing. I stood at the bottom of the steps waiting for him to come down and tell me what he needed to.
“Ella, I have to go away.”
I lost my breath more with every word he said.
“What? Why?”
“We can never be together. I know that now.”
“They did this.” I said. “Why are you letting them do this? What is this power they have over you?”
“Ella, stop. I have to go and never come back.”
“No you can’t do this to me.” I said. “Please don’t do this.” I begged as I latched onto his arm pulling him towards me as he pulled away.
“Don’t do this, Ella. Let me go.” He whispered to me. “Please, for us, let me go.” He said as he took my hand. “Please.” He begged. I loosened my grip as Sarah came behind me and pulled me away. Asher, walked into the woods with Hyde beside him. It looked as if I were losing them both. The only two things in my life that got me through every day were gone. There was no reason for me to be on this earth. In a split second I lost everything.
“Asher, no! Please don’t leave me!” I screamed at the top of my lungs as Sam held me back from running after them. “Please don’t leave me!” I screamed as if I were in excruciating pain.
I stopped pulling out of Sarah and Sam’s grip and fell to the ground unable to contain my tears. Every emotion surged through my body. The thunder began to rumble with a fierceness I had never experiences before. Lightening lit up the sky like 4th of July fireworks. Then came the rain. This was the storm that would never end until Asher returned to me.
“Come on, Ella. Get inside.” Sam said as he picked me up and guided me to my room. He carried me into my room where Sarah started to take the wet clothes off of me.
“Just leave me alone. I want to be alone.” I demanded.
Feeling defeated by an unknown force, again, I fell into the same depression that I had when I was separated from Jace, but this seemed like this was something I could control, but I didn’t have the strength to.
I was unclear to how many minutes, hours, or days had passed for that matter because I broke the clock in my room. All I did for a couple weeks was sleep. I didn’t leave my room at all. I didn’t eat and drank very little. I thought that life wasn’t living if there was nothing or no one to live for. Death couldn’t come quick enough.
At one point I managed to turn myself over to turn on the lamp on my night stand. As I laid on my side staring at the lamp, I noticed that there was no plug or outlet that it was plugged into. Although I was extremely weak, I sat up and grabbed the lamp to start looking for a place for batteries to go. There wasn’t a place for the batteries because there was a plug. The lamp was clearly on and not plugged in. I grabbed the clock I had broken and looked for a place for batteries, and there was none. Sitting on my bed I thought about the reservation and how they said there were generators supply us with power, but to supply a reservation of this size there would have to generators in every house and every building. I had never even seen or heard a generator. Then I thought back to the kitchen appliances and how I never really saw them plugged in. How was it that things worked with no power? I continued to sit on the side of my bed flicking the lamp on and off staring into space. If I couldn’t be with Asher and he said that playing ignorant would keep me safe, there was no reason for me to keep up with the charade. I needed to find out who these people were regardless if it would mean me any harm.
When the sun came up I decided to come out of my room to begin my investigation. I looked at everything in the house that would need to be plugged in to receive power. I found that nothing was plugged in and there were no outlets in the house. I couldn’t believe I hadn’t noticed it before. The only place that there was an outlet was in my bathroom where I plugged in my hair dryer. I rushed back into my bathroom and got my hair dryer from the cabinet and turned it on without plugging it in. To my surprise it turned right on. As I was staring at it, I heard Sarah from behind me and I jumped.
“You scared me.” I said as I hurried to shut the dryer off.
“I’m sorry.” She said. “I heard you up and about and I wanted to make sure you were alright.”
“Yeah, I’m fine.”
“It’s so wonderful to see you up and about.”
“Yeah, I feel better.” I said still holding the dryer that Sarah was staring at.
“Were you drying your hair?” She asked.
“Yeah, I was just going to jump into the shower and I wanted to have it out and ready.” I said nervously.
“When you are ready come out and I will make you something to eat.”
“Okay. Thanks.” I said.
There was no doubt in my mind that Sarah knew I was catching on. If they wanted me not to know anything, they should have kept Asher around. He was a big distraction.
My purpose on the reservation was no doubt more than just to keep me safe from Jace. I knew and I’m pretty sure the tribe knew I still had my powers, but I only knew that my elemental powers were prevalent and I had never fully tried them.
The key to my other powers lied in Elyoner’s journal, which was taken from me when I had come to the reservation. They told me it needed to be burnt because it held the power to lead Jace to me. When I thought about it, I realized that Jace was a smaller piece of the puzzle than I had thought. His part in this was just a ploy to get me here. He was used to make me believe I had to be here, stuck forever in hiding on the reservation. They needed me for some reason.
After a long shower and hours of thinking, I finally emerged from my room and made my way into the kitchen.
“Can I make you something?” Sarah said.
“I’m just going to make myself a quick sandwich and go for a walk.”
I decided to limit idle chit chat with the people that call themselves my grandparents. As I ate my sandwich and stared at Sarah from across the room and realized that I couldn’t deny that she was my Father’s Mother, but there was something not right. There was no way a Grandmother would let any harm come to their Grandchild. I had suffered entirely too much for her not to step up and help me become happy again. She just didn’t give that grandmother vibe. There was an air of selfishness and manipulation about her. Maybe in flesh she was Grandma Sarah, but not in spirit or soul.
After I gobbled down the sandwich, I grabbed my coat and went outside. It was a late cold fall afternoon. The foliage was absolutely breathtaking. I immediately thought of Asher and how much I missed him and Hyde, but I knew I had to be strong whether or not it killed me.
For some reason, I walked to the edge of the woods where Asher and I spent so much time together. When I got there I started to feel him, as if I was communicating to him. Then I heard him say my name in my mind.
“Ella?”
“Asher, where ever you are if you hear me, something is going on here. I need to find out who these people are. I’m sorry, but I have to break my promise.”
If Asher wasn’t with me then there was no reason for me to be safe. If he had heard me, he would know that I was breaking the promise I had made to him, just as the promise he made to me. Our love wasn’t as strong as I had thought and promises were just words with no meaning or action.
Deciding to return back to the reservation was completely provoked by my ego. This new power I thought I had needed to be tested. It was like a switch had been turned on inside of me and my suppressed powers were working.
Everyone was outside doing some winterizing on their homes. It seemed as if winters here got pretty bad, because they were frantic to get things done. As I walked down the street I was getting more hellos in a few minutes from people than I had in months. When Asher left, everyone somehow liked me again. I desperately wanted to know what these people thought. If I was in fact a telepathic, maybe I could tap into their thoughts. I stopped walking, closed my eyes, and attempted to tune into everyone’s mind. When I opened myself up, it was complete chaos. At first it was like a hundred people talking at the same time. Confusion took over and I didn’t know what was going on. I took a few deep breaths to calm myself down and then concentrated. As I walked the talking became clearer.
“Do you feel it?”
“The power, its intoxicated.”
“I need to touch her.”
“Just once I want to feel her inside me.”
Then I walked passed one of the girls my age, Letty Green.
“Hey Letty.” I said and tuned into her thoughts.
“The power she has can make us live for eternity.”
“Hello, Ella.” She then said out loud with a huge smile on her face.
I had heard enough and rushed home. The fact I could read people’s thoughts was definitely a curse here. I feared what else they were going to say. They wanted to use me all along and I had only bits and pieces of why they needed me.
Laying in my bed, I thought of the million possibilities of why Letty would have said that I had the power to give them eternal life. What were they and did I want to read their thoughts any further? On that note, I fell asleep.
Sleeping extremely well, I was awakened by that amazing feeling I got when Asher was around. To make sure I was dreaming, I woke up and there he was standing over me. I hurried and sat up in my bed as he sat down beside me and held his face in his hands.
“Asher, what are you doing here?” I asked. “Please tell me you are back for good.” I said as I put my arms around him.
“What do you think you are doing Ella? This isn’t a joke. You promised me to not explore anything any further here. Now you are reading their thoughts and communicating to me.”
“I had no reason to keep my promise. You left and you are the only reason for me to be alive. Without you I don’t really care if I live or die.”
“I left to save you. You need to be alive. You are the only way that they will be kept happy and under control. The more you use the gifts you were given, the stronger they are going to become. You are like a huge battery that they feed off of.”
“What are they Asher?”
“I can’t tell you. There is still a chance that if you don’t know, everything will go back to normal.”
“Does normal mean living in this hell without you?”
“I can’t be here. I’m risking a lot right now being here with you, but I couldn’t stay away any longer. You are a magnet that has pulled me in and I don’t have the strength to stay away.” He said as I grabbed his face and forced it towards me so I could look into his eyes.
“Ella, I don’t know what I’m doing.” He said with tears in his eyes.
“You don’t have to.” I said and he turned towards me. I put my hands on his chest and moved them down to grab his shirt and lift it over his head. He then climbed onto my bed and kissed me gently as usual. He then pulled off my shirt and just looked at my body for a few seconds then continued to lay me down.
“What if I hurt you?” He asked.
“You won’t hurt me.” I replied as I started to take off my pants. “Touch me.” I said.
Asher obeyed my command and explored every part of my body with his hands and mouth. Every touch was like magic. I knew this was his first time being with a woman, but somehow he knew how to do everything right. It was instinctual to him how to pleasure me.
After his exploration, I helped him inside of me. When he finally relaxed and felt me, his whole body relaxed and he released a quiet and rough moan. It was the kind of moan that could turn a girl on even more.
Asher’s body made me feel like a virgin again. It hurt extremely badly at first until I got used to him. After the initial pain, then every nerve in my body was sensitive to only pleasure. We rolled around and I was on top of him rocking back and forth slow and hard while my hands were feeling his chest. His hands continued to explore my body as much as possible.
He then sat up while I was still on top of him. Feeling him deeper inside me made me hold my hands over my mouth to prevent me from screaming. I could tell Asher was feeling the same unequivocal erotic bliss that I felt. When we both climaxed it was like an eruption of a volcano that had lied dormant for hundreds of years. The sweat was pouring off of us when it was all said and done as we both panted heavily to calm ourselves down. Asher began to shake. He laid me down beside him and laid down still breathing hard. I turned over on my side away from him.
“Are you okay? Did I hurt you?” He asked as he used his finger tips to trace the side of my naked body.
“I’m fine. It was great.” I said as I smiled to myself.
“Then what’s wrong.”
“I don’t want you to leave now.”
“Ella, I could never leave you now.”
“Then stay here and sleep with me.” I said as I turned back to him.
“I’m not going anywhere.” He said with a smile.
That night we made love three times. Each time it got better and more explosive. I never had a sexual experience with any other man like I had with Asher. Not even Jace made me feel as Asher did. He was the addiction that I had been waiting for. The good addiction that would cancel out the bad I had once had.
When morning came and the rays of sun peaked through my windows, I realized that he had not left. He was laying beside me, holding me, and sleeping peacefully. I laid there for ten minutes just watching him sleep.
“Good morning.” I said as he started to wake.
“Good morning my love.” He whispered. All I could do was smile.
“How are you this morning?” I asked.
He let out a small laugh.
“I am absolutely perfect.” He said as he stared into my eyes and brushed a piece of hair away from my face. “You are the most beautiful thing I have ever seen.”
“Thank you.” I answered.
“And the best part is that you are mine and nothing is going to change that.”
“Is that a promise? Because we don’t have the best track record for promises.”
“It’s not a promise then.” He said as he kissed my forehead.
He paused and held me for awhile.
“Ella, I can’t hide in your room forever. I have to leave.”
“You said.” I said as he cut me off.
“I won’t be far. You know how to contact me now. I can hear you and you can hear me.”
“And if I want to see you?” I asked.
“Try your best to sneak in the woods and never forget to wear your cross.” He said as he stood up.
“How are you going to get out of here?” I asked.
“Don’t be afraid, okay. Open your window.” He asked.
When I opened my window, I turned back around and this eagle flew out my window. Asher was gone. I knew he was special, but that was nothing short of amazing. He was some sort of shape shifter. I immediately looked out the window and watched him fly away.