Asheni Zar (1) Chapter 1 I urged my body to run faster, but my legs refused to speed up. Branches clawed at my face and bare limbs. They tore at my clothing. My sandaled feet were wet and slippery with blood, sweat, and dirt. My long hair flew behind me in a mass of tangles. The light from the full moon filtered through the dense trees just barely enough for me to see where I was going. I couldn’t slow down though. I had to find it, whatever it was, before time expired yet again. Each time I knew I was getting closer. Closer to what, I wasn’t sure. I was sure however, that I’d know when I saw it: this thing that was driving me to madness. “Ash, wake up. You have to get ready. The others will be over immediately after breakfast.” I rolled over, still breathless from my dream. “Were you dreaming again?” I nodded. The images were in the front of my mind. I hoped maybe I’d see something besides the trees, the something I’ve been searching for for three months now. “The same dream?” I nodded again. “Maybe you should talk to father or one of the elders. It’s strange, Ash, and definitely not good for you. Look at the circles beneath your eyes!” I ignored her. I shouldn’t have been surprised that she was more worried about my appearance than about my mental state of health. Adisa is my older sister…my older, prettier, more outgoing sister. Though we share a similar deep mocha skin tone and jet black hair, her skin is more even, more smooth, and her hair is shinier, less frizzy. Of course, she spends much more time on her appearance than I do, and she cares much more than I do. I finished dressing and began to braid my hair. “What are you doing?” Adisa asked, appalled. “I’m not going hiking with this mess hanging around my head.” “We’re just taking a walk and having a picnic. Your hair will not be a bother. Besides, Kitane said he likes your hair down.” I gave her a dirty look and continued braiding. “Elan likes my hair whatever way I wear it,” I thought to myself. “If you loathe him that much, you need to talk to father and mother.” “And say what? That I’ve been faking it this whole time? Not to mention how happy father is to finally be aligned with another of the most powerful tribes in the land. I can’t ruin that for him.” “I still think you need to talk to someone and quit braiding your hair. Mother will tell you to take it down. Just you watch.” With that she left to go to breakfast. I shook out my hair and pinned half of it up in compromise. My parents, Nataani and Chayna, as well as Adisa and her husband Troen were already seated. Nataani made a motion with his hand and the food was brought out. I wasn’t paying much attention to the conversation. I heard enough to answer at the appropriate times with an appropriate answer, but my mind was elsewhere. After breakfast, we sat in the great room until the rest of the group arrived. Kitane was first, so perfectly punctual it was disgusting. I stood and hugged him without emotion and he sat down next to me, flowing easily into the conversation. Now don’t get me wrong, Kitane is a great guy, but he’s not my type. Well, the problem is more me than him, I suppose. He should be my type. We are the equivalent of prince and princess around here. Our fathers are tribal leaders. I’m not much of a princess though, and he’s too much of a prince. Shortly after Kitane arrived, the third part of our triple picnic date showed up: Elan, my childhood friend and still my best friend, and his friend Nachele. Their situation is similar to that of Kitane and I’s. Their parents are pushing the relationship, but they aren’t as against it as I am against my relationship with Kitane. The six of us left, each of the boys holding a picnic basket. Adisa and Troen hung on each other and talked just the two of them. The rest of us walked in a lose group, chatting politely. Our conversation didn’t have much substance, but it didn’t seem to bother anyone much. Every now and then, Kitane would try to focus my attention away from the others. He’d point out a pretty flower or an animal or something. Elan didn’t have to try with Nachele. They did actually like each other. I can admit I was a bit jealous. We stopped to eat lunch at noon on a small patch of grass. It was amazing. The kitchen staff had outdone themselves. Who knew you could fit so much in a few picnic baskets? Troen suggested we go home a different way. No one else had an opinion either way, so we followed Troen. We had walked for about an hour when things began to look very familiar, but it was an uncomfortable kind of familiar. My chest felt tight and I was dizzy. These were the woods from my dream. Well that’s not strange because these are the only woods I’ve ever been in, but this was the part of the woods from my dream. I recognized it. We were headed in the same direction I run every night. Maybe in my dreams I was running home. I didn’t want that to be true. What a rotten ending. Not half an hour later, I felt we were beginning to go the wrong way. To everyone else it may have been the right way, but I was ready to solve the mystery. I felt pulled in a different direction. Then I saw it: a cave. That’s where I was being pulled. It had to be. “I’m not ready to go home yet. Let’s go check out that cave. Come on, it’ll be fun,” I said to Kitane. He gave me a strange look, but erased it from his face as quick as he could manage. I glanced at Elan. “I’m in,” he answered sincerely. “I’m in no hurry,” Nachele agreed. “Of course, sounds like fun.” Kitane sounded as if he were trying to convince himself. “You two interested?” I asked Adisa and Troen. They smiled at each other. It was obvious they planned on getting some alone time in the cave. I tried not to appear excited. I walked as casually as I could even though my insides were practically bursting. Adisa and Troen disappeared quickly. The others casually explored the cave. I was on a mission. I was more afraid of not finding what I was looking for than I was of getting lost. I’m not sure how much time passed. As soon as I was separated, I took off. I was so excited and nervous and so many other emotions at once. My hands shook as I felt my way through the cave. The area ahead of me looked lighter. It wasn’t sunlight or artificial light though. It wasn’t much lighter than the cave itself. Chapter 2 The light was coming from the moon. I stepped out of the cave into a very different forest. First of all, it was nighttime. Also the air was sticky and wet. This forest was buggy and cold. It was a sharp contrast from the dry almost desert-like climate at home. I was so distracted by my new surroundings that I didn’t even notice the two people standing to my right. They were standing completely still, staring at me. They wore strange clothes out of very soft-looking and colorful material. Their feet were completely covered to their ankles and they wore odd hats. Also, they both had something on their left hand that made it look huge and swollen. “Your drawings do not do her justice,” one of them spoke up. Their accent was strange too. “Do I know you?” I asked. “No,” the other said hesitantly. “But you know me?” “No, not exactly.” “Perhaps you would like to explain then why you have drawings of me.” “I’ve seen you… in my dreams. We’ve been waiting for you.” Having glimpses of the future is not unheard-of for my people, but the accuracy is most often extremely poor, and the people standing before me looked much too young to have perfected the art. “How did you know when I’d be here?” “I tried to base it off the dreams. I’ve been wrong many times before this. Are there others with you?” “What did your dreams tell you?” I asked, testing him. “There were four, including you.” “Five others are in the cave.” “That’s interesting.” I could almost see the wheels turning in his head. “Where is this place?” “Swithland Wood.” “I’ve never heard of it.” “The edge of Charnwood Forest.” I continued to stare at him blankly. “In Leicestershire.” “I’m sorry. I’m not familiar with any of those places.” “England?” he asked desperately. “That doesn’t ring a bell either. I’m obviously not from around here.” “Europe. Tell me you’ve heard of Europe.” “Why is it so important to you that I know where I am?” I was beginning to get impatient with him. He couldn’t speak. He seemed to be in shock. “She’s from a different world. She’s like an alien or something.” The first boy said with a huge smile. He hadn’t said anything since the drawing comment. “Where are you from?” “The Zarian Lands in Mayatar.” I answered without taking my eyes off the two pointed teeth he revealed in his glee. The boys exchanged a nervous glance. “We’re not going to hurt you.” The other boy had taken over talking again. I smiled. They thought I was afraid of them. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. The familiar tingling sensations moved throughout my body. I felt the instinctual animal-like part of my brain click on. My senses heightened. I could see for miles, even though it was dark. I could smell scents of unfamiliar trees and flowers. I could hear small animals creeping through the darkness. I could hear my faint, extremely rapid heartbeat. I should’ve been able to hear two more. I glanced down at my fingernails, which had grown to points. I couldn’t help admiring them. That was my favorite part of phasing. I smiled, showing off my own pair of pointed teeth. “We’re definitely not going to hurt you,” he rephrased. “What are you?” They looked confused by my question. “You don’t have a heart beat.” “We’re vampires. What the hell are you?” “That’s interesting. I thought your kind was extinct. We’re supposedly descendants of vampires but we’re obviously nothing alike. Excuse me for a second. They’ve phased too and they’re worried.” “How do you know?” “I can hear them.” They stopped talking and were obviously straining their ears. “In my head,” I clarified. I walked to the mouth of the cave and called out to the others, who appeared shortly after. “Asheni Naila Zar, what have you gotten us into?” Adisa asked, using my full name to imply that I was in trouble. “Who are they?” Troen asked angrily. “They’re harmless. They say they’re vampires. He saw us in a dream,” I quickly filled them in. “I’m Charlie and this is Tyler.” Charlie was the one with the random comments, and Tyler had done most of the talking. I broke a short awkward silence. “This is my sister Adisa and her husband Troen. That’s Elan, Nachele, and Kitane.” “And what was your name again?” Charlie asked. “Asheni.” “I like that...Asheni.” He tested the name. It sounded strange with his accent. “We should be going,” Kitane said gruffly. “I don’t think that’s going to work,” Tyler said softly. “What?” Kitane demanded. “I…I don’t think the portal works both ways.” Tyler’s voice was shaky. “What are you talking about? What portal?” Troen jumped in. “Both of you need to back off. Let’s go check it out, and if we can’t get home that way, we’ll figure something else out.” Everyone, myself included, was taken aback at my outburst. My thoughts are usually full of those kinds of comments, but I rarely, if ever, have said them aloud. “Sorry,” I said meekly. Troen shot a look at Adisa, as if he were expecting her to do something about my behavior. She sighed and shook her head. “I’ll talk to mother,” she whispered. “Let’s go…now,” Kitane ordered. I was embarrassed. I didn’t even say good bye to Tyler and Charlie. Kitane marched off. Troen and Adisa were still arm in arm and almost ran me over as they stomped into the cave after Kitane. Elan and Nachele took up the rear without a word. As soon as we were in the cave, we phased back. No one wanted to share their own thoughts or hear anyone else’s for that matter. We wondered around in the cave for at least an hour, and found the exit in Swithland Wood three times. Kitane punched the stone wall of the cave and bloodied his knuckles. I offered to wrap it up, but he pushed me away. Adisa complained the entire time, and blamed me for everything that went wrong. It was even my fault when Troen clipped his shoulder on a stalactite and Adisa nearly fell. After finding Swithland Wood for a fourth time, Elan spoke up. “Maybe he was right. Maybe we have to find another way home. He sounded like he knew what he was talking about.” The others gave him dirty looks, but no one could argue. I smiled at him. Our relationship didn’t need words ever. We knew what the other was thinking even when we weren’t phased. Tyler and Charlie were throwing a small ball back and forth and catching it in the large thing on their hand. “How do we get home?” Troen demanded. Charlie shrugged and looked at Tyler. “I’m not sure actually, but I know of people who might know.” “Bring them to us. We’ll wait here,” Troen ordered. “That’s not going to work. First of all, the nights almost over…” “What’s that have to do with anything?” Kitane asked. Charlie and Tyler looked at him in disbelief. “And you call yourselves vampires,” Charlie mumbled. “Real vampires can’t be out in the sunlight,” Tyler explained. “You can stay with us and we can find some answers tomorrow night.” “It might be a trap,” Kitane pointed out. “All I can do is give you my word. We’re a peaceful group,” Tyler said. “There are more of you?” Kitane asked. “There are seven more of us.” No one spoke. “We really must go soon. The day is not far off.” “I’m going with them,” I announced. “What has gotten into you?” Adisa demanded. “You know that dream I’ve been having? This is what I was searching for.” Everyone except Adisa and Elan had no idea what I was talking about, but I wasn’t explaining further. “I trust them too,” Nachele said quietly. Elan’s face lit up. “I forbid you to go with them,” Kitane’s voice boomed. “You have no authority over me, especially not here,” I replied calmly, flatly. For fear that looking into Kitane’s eyes would melt my newfound courage, I turned to Tyler and Charlie. “There’s nothing I can do.” I could hear the frustration in Adisa’s voice. “Tie her up if you have to. I’ll explain to father that it was for her own good.” “No, I couldn’t do that,” Kitane sighed. “I can take care of her.” That was it. Adisa and Troen stayed behind while the rest of us followed Tyler and Charlie. Not ten minutes later, however, we heard hurried footsteps behind us. Everyone except Tyler and Charlie whipped around quickly and prepared to phase. “Try not to do that in public please,” Charlie said rolling his eyes. “Our kind is a small minority here and… well…” Tyler tried to explain. “They’ll kill you if they find out you’re a vampire,” Charlie finished. “How small of a minority?” I asked. “There are probably a couple thousand of us spread throughout the entire world… and there are approximately six billion humans,” Tyler informed us, adding the last part very quickly. “Six billion,” I repeated in disbelief. I couldn’t imagine six billion of anything. “Are you all up for a quick jog?” Tyler asked. “We really need to be getting somewhere safe.” We picked up the pace, but I could hardly tell. I was used to walking and running everywhere back home. “So if you can’t be in the sunlight, do you sleep all day?” Elan asked. “I don’t think they are actually vampires.” Charlie sounded almost angry. “I haven’t slept in fifty years,” Tyler laughed. “You’re joking,” I exclaimed. He shook his head and laughed harder. His laughing was infectious. I couldn’t help but smile. “It’s not very nice of you to laugh at our ignorance. How are we to know what a vampire actually is?” He tried to stop laughing, but I laughed at his effort. He had screwed up his mouth funny and his eyebrows had risen slightly. I could practically feel Kitane’s and Adisa’s eyes burning into the back of my head. I knew they were angry without even having to turn around. I wasn’t intentionally flirting with Tyler, but I’ll admit it may have seemed that way. I stopped laughing and turned my eyes to the ground. Tyler got the hint. We arrived at their home shortly after this. It was a dilapidated old thing hidden from the other houses by the woods. The windows were boarded up and the front porch was falling in. It took a moment for my eyes to adjust to the darkness. “You two cut it close. The sun will be coming up in minutes,” a voice said from the next room. There was a strange bluish glow coming from the room and it sounded like a huge crowd of people were in there and they were very excited about something. A few voices moaned loudly in disappointment, and I jumped. These voices sounded much closer and were not so muffled. Before I could ask or investigate, we heard footsteps run across the upstairs hallway above us and down a few steps. The patter stopped suddenly and a girl landed gracefully in front of us. “Who the hell are they?” she demanded, hands on her hips. “Friends of mine,” Tyler told her. “Don’t start anything. They’ll kick your ass.” “We’re not here to hurt anyone,” I announced. “Yeah they look real ferocious,” she said sarcastically. I phased, flashed her a smile with my pointed teeth, locked my black, glassy eyes on hers, and quickly phased back. She didn’t flinch. She just stood there with a smirk on her face. “So they’re vamps too?” Tyler said, “Kind of,” at the same time I said, “Not really.” I smiled at him. He smiled back. I nodded, encouraging him to explain.
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