Asher absentmindedly plucked at the steel guitar strings as the gentle breeze flew through the green leaves just above his head. It was a long seven years ago he had received this wooden guitar from his mother, and it had been five since he had played. Five years since he had loved a woman.

“Your father isn’t going to come after us again, is he?” Asher said as Elena’s shadow grew closer.

“No, I got up and went to the market earlier,” she said, sitting down. “Besides,” she continued, gesturing to her basket, “that’s when they have the best picnic supplies.”

Asher smiled. He tried to remain calm, but his heart felt like it was on fire, beating faster and faster by the second. A picnic! With a girl!

“So, you’ve met my family, when do I get to meet yours?” Asher looked up at Elena as her long brown hair blew around her, a half-joking smile on her face.

“Actually, I haven’t told them about you yet.”

“You met the prettiest girl in town, and you didn’t tell your family?” Elena replied, feigned annoyment in her voice. “Honestly, Asher, I can’t believe you. I’m horrified!”

Asher smiled as he continued to strum his guitar. He could only imagine what Adrian would do when he met her.

“You do have a nice house.” Elena stated.

“I guess.” At that moment, a yell came from the building in question as a small child ran out the door and down the hill.

“AAAAASSH!” Adrian screamed.

“Hi Adri-” Asher began, but Adrian suddenly stopped, turned, and ran back into the house, still screaming.

“ASH HAS A GIRLFRIEND! A GIRLFRIEND! ASH DOES! DAD! COME QUICK!” Elena and Asher laughed at Adrian as he went into the house yelling for his dad.

“Sorry, that’s my brother. Adrian.”

“He’s cute!” Elena gushed.

“And that’s my dad,” he added, as Adrian dragged Cedric out of the house. They both came down the hill and stopped in front of Asher and Elena.

“See Daddy?” Adrian exclaimed.

“I see, I see.”

“This is horrible! My own brother has betrayed me!” Adrian wailed. Ever the optimist, he quickly added, “Well, at least she’s pretty. I don’t think I could deal if he got an ugly girlfriend. What’s your name? My’s Adrian. Adrian Beckett.”

“It’s very nice to meet you, Adrian.” Elena said, blushing. “My name is Elena. Elena Kingston.”

“Kingston?” Cedric gasped. “Oh, Asher, I always knew you would succeed,” he continued, tears at the edges of his eyes.

“What about me?” Adrian butted in.

“Yes, of course you’ll succeed, too,” Cedric said in his sweet tone.

“What do you mean?” Asher asked.

“Well, Miss Elena, correct me if I’m wrong, but your family is, uh, rich, aren’t they?” Cedric asked.

“Well, some say that.” Elena replied, smiling.

“Rich and pretty!” Adrian exclaimed. “I really have been betrayed!”

“Well, we’ll leave you two to your picnic. We’ll be heading into town,” Cedic said, ignoring his son. “It was nice meeting you Elena.”

“The pleasure is mine.” Asher and Elena watched them head off.

“When you said you heard voices, did you mean it literally?”

“Uh, yeah, I did.” Asher was surprised at the sudden change in topic.

“So, you’re one of them. One of the chosen ones.”

“You know about them?”

“I’ve read a lot of books.”

“Huh.”

Elena smiled. “I could never be one of them. My soul definitely isn’t pure.”

“Yeah, I was pretty surprised when you lied to your dad.”

Asher could tell that Elena was flustered, and wished he could take back his words.

“That wasn’t lying, it was…”

“Bending the truth?”

“Yeah!” They both laughed. “Come on, let’s eat.” Elena said happily.

“Agreed.”

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After they had eaten, Asher picked up his guitar and began playing again.

“They called you Ash,” Elena said. “Is that your nickname?”

“Yeah, I guess. But my friends call me ‘Archer’”

“Archer?” Elena laughed. “How’d you earn that name?”

“We were just hanging out one day. I was sitting beneath a tree with a few other people when a ball came towards us. I caught it and threw it back. Apparently, I have a pretty good aim.”

“Wow.” The guitar and the birds made the only sounds.

“Can you play something upbeat?”

“Uh, yeah, sure.” Asher’s fingers strummed the guitar as its music filled the air.

Elena stood.

And she danced.

Asher watched, transfixed, as her brown hair flew around her.

“Actually,” Asher thought, “It looks more red than brown in this light.”

At that moment, Elena was the only thing Asher saw.

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Asher finished his song, and Elena sat down with a round of applause from him.

“That was amazing!” Asher gushed.

“Thanks. You were too.”

“So, when did you learn to dance?”

“My mom taught me. She always insists I’ll be great in theatre. So I’ve been practicing for years.”

“Wow.”

“Can you play something else?”

“Sure.”

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They played and danced till the sun began to set. Finally, Elena collapsed to the ground, exhausted. She began to laugh.

“Oh, Asher, this was so much fun!”

“It was.”

“Asher, come look at these stars.” Asher hesitated, then came and lay down next to her.

“Wow, those are nice.”

Elena hummed one of Asher’s tunes, filling the silence.

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Asher didn’t know how long they were there, but he could have stayed forever. He had never been very close to any of his friends, but something was different with Elena. He felt like she understood him. Just laying there next to her, Asher felt like everything would be okay.

Then the voices came.

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Asher didn’t understand. He was happy! Wasn’t that what he was supposed to do to keep them away?

“It won’t last.” one of them taunted.

“I bet she doesn’t feel the same.” another one said.

Insults came flooding at Asher from all angles. He sat up and put his head on his knees, throwing his arms over his head.

“Ash?” Elena said worriedly. “Ash, are you okay?”

Asher didn’t respond. Elena had no idea what to do. She didn’t know how to help him, but she didn’t want to leave him alone.

“I’ll...I’ll go see if I can find your family. Just stay here alright? It’ll be okay, right?”

Asher said nothing, and Elena ran off.

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She ran as fast as she could down the path but only made it about halfway before she found Adrian.

“Adrian!”

“Elena!”

“Adrian, go get your dad. Tell him to hurry. It’s Ash!”

Adrian’s eyes widened, and he took back off running down the path. Elena turned and headed back to the house, where Asher was still sitting. Elena sat back down next to him and grabbed his hand.

“Ash, please, talk to me. What are they saying? Oh, my books didn’t say anything about this!”

“It’s pointless!” Asher yelled.

“Ash, wha-what?”

“You’re just going to die one day! What’s the point of caring about you? Only to get my heart broken when you leave me. Or, maybe it’ll be me who kills who. Maybe I’ll lose control and kill you! And what about Adrian? What’s the point of him caring about me? Either he’ll get sick and die before he’s twenty, or he’ll watch me die when he outlives me. Just like he watched Mom die. It’s pointless, Elena! Nothing will ever be okay. It can never be okay, because there will always be something bad, waiting, just waiting to attack me. What’s the point? There is none, that’s the answer!”

Elena was speechless.

Cedric and Adrian came up the path and ran up to Asher.

“Asher, it’s alright, I’m here now,” his father panted.

Asher said nothing.

“Ash, can you hold me?” Adrian said quietly.

“Adrian, what are you doing?” Cedric exclaimed.

“Well this is what stopped them the first time, right? Then they were quieter for a while.”

Asher let his arms down and lifted his head. Adrian sat down next to him, and Ash held his baby brother.

The voices were quiet, and Ash began to cry. How could he think it was pointless? He loved Adrian, and that would never change. Adrian would love him forever, too. Just as they still loved their mom. Just as she lived on in their happy moments, when they all laughed, and the bad ones too, when they all cried, or when they screamed. They would love each other forever.

“I’ll always love you Adrian. Forever.”

“Promise?”

“Promise.”