Eternally Ivy

Chapter 3 - Friends and Enemies

Ivy’s POV

“Again!” Raven demanded after throwing me on my back for the twentieth time this morning.

My trainer was an absolute beast, and she never took it easy on me. I think that’s one of the things I liked about her. Many of the vampires here blame me for their leader's fiery demise. They know I didn’t kill him, but I was best friends with the wolf/witch hybrid that burnt him to a crisp. Raven saw me for who I was and didn’t hold that against me.

Raven was over one hundred and seventy years old, which she assured me meant she was still a teenager when it came to vampire years. I’m not sure what that made me, given that I was only eighteen when I was turned and a vampire for only five months. I guess that was why they called me a newborn. I had so much to learn.

She was originally from South Africa. Malik found her starving and sick in a hut in the middle of nowhere. The rest of her family had already succumbed to malaria, which was running ramped throughout her village. She was the sole survivor. Being turned saved her life, just like it had mine.

Raven towered over me at 6’0 in height with dark brown eyes, ebony skin and long black hair that she always kept done up in small braids. The transition cured her malaria, and her malnourished body regained its fullness and curves that attracted all types of men; however, it was too bad for them that she preferred the company of women.

I watched as she reached her hand down to help me up, which I took gratefully and was on my feet in a matter of seconds. It was times like this that I was grateful for superfast healing, or else I would have been a walking bruise in a matter of ten minutes sparing with Raven.

“I’m never going to get this, Raven. I’m hopeless.” I sulked.

“Now is not the time to sulk.” She chastised me, “You are improving every day. It is not the time to give up, so shake it off and let’s go again.”

I nodded, shaking out my muscles, the ache starting to recede. We kept going for the majority of the morning, and I actually managed to get in a few punches and kicks of my own in between the ass-kickings that Raven was dishing out. It was past noon by the time we were done, and I needed to move on with the next part of the day.

A lot of a person’s day freed up when you didn’t need to make time in your schedule to eat and drink. I could, if I wanted to, my body still accepted human food and drink. But it didn’t taste the same as it did when my heart was still beating. No matter how much my body still tolerated it. My body really only craved the sweet, honey taste of Vlad’s blood. So much so that the flavor of any food and drink I consumed was downright bland. I did miss some things. I missed the rich taste of chocolate melting on the tip of my tongue or the buttery flavor of my favorite cheese, but even in death, I guess I couldn’t have it all. The only thing that bugged me was that I couldn’t get drunk anymore. I could drink all the alcohol I wanted, but my body processed it too quickly now, and I couldn’t even get tipsy.

I made my way through the mansion, avoiding eye contact with any vampire I passed. Many were still not pleased that I was here and had no problem in showing it with their dirty looks as I walked past. I guess I couldn’t blame them. About a month into my new life, I found out that there was a hierarchy here. Most vampires didn’t get access to a daylight amulet, and those who did generally waited in excess of over one hundred and fifty or more years of paying their dues and proving themselves before they obtained one of their own. And here I was, not even out of my first year, and I was walking in the sun. So those who had them resented how quickly I got mine, and those that didn’t resented me for obvious reasons. Vlad kept promising that they would come around because, as his eternal partner, I was pretty high up in the food chain, but I still had my doubts. When I got to Malik’s old office, I lost myself in a sea of old paperwork. He had enough paper stored in there to fill a rainforest. I guess he never got the memo about computers and storing things electronically.

An hour later, I had three piles going, one for shredding, one for scanning and a pile for Vlad to go through, as I had no idea what any of it meant. Even five months in, this whole world was a lot to take in, and I wasn’t sure how long it would take until I no longer felt overwhelmed by it all. I felt a dull burn in the back of my throat that was a telltale sign that my blood lust was returning. It was weird. I had only fed from Vlad this morning. It shouldn’t already be returning. In the early days of my vampire life, I had to feed every few hours, but I had managed to stretch that to a few days as time went on. I knew I had expelled a lot of energy during training this morning, but I generally did that every day. So why was today so different?

A growl from the doorway distracted me and forced me to look up, seeing one of my fan club standing there, Akio. “You should not be in here, yariman (slut). You defile this sacred space with your presence.”

Akio was one of Malik’s most loyal vampires and, therefore, one of my biggest haters. His loyalty was unwavering even when he got out of control. I think it had to do with his upbringing. He had been a Samurai in his past life, one of the best warriors ever to come out of Japan, and from what I had read, their loyalty did not falter and was only surpassed by their skill with a sword. He was well over three hundred years old, and the only part of him that was modern was his clothes. He still styled his hair in a traditional top knot, and his weapon of choice was still a katana sword.

“I am sorting out this mess, Akio,” I replied calmly, trying to keep my anger under control. I had no idea what he had called me, but I doubt it had been a term of endearment. “If you have a problem with it, you can take it up with Vlad.”

That didn’t seem to go down well with him as the next thing he did was extend his fangs and stalk towards me, “You are nothing, little girl. The only reason that you are still breathing is due to your relationship with Vlad. If that didn’t exist, I would have severed your head the day you were turned. You are weak, disloyal to your kind by keeping a relationship with that dog that killed our leader and not worth the blood it takes to keep your body going.”

His words hit like a b***h, but I didn’t have time to dwell on that because the way he was storming over meant he was looking for a fight, so I had to be ready. I leapt up from my chair and got into the fighting stance that Raven had taught me, but before he could get close enough for me to throw a punch, a blur sped through the room, and Akio was pinned up against the wall, someone’s hand around his throat.

“You dare show aggression to your leader’s partner.” The male voice snarled, filled with murderous rage, “That is an offence that is punishable by death, so give me one reason that I should not tear your head off for the disrespect that you have just shown?”

My hero was non-other than Patrick O’Malley, Vlad’s second in command and, like Raven, one of the few people around here who gave me the time of day. After all this time, I wasn’t sure if it was actually because he liked me or whether he did it because of Vlad. As his second, it was his job to look out for me when his boss wasn’t around, but either way, this was taking it to the extreme. I would not get any respect around here if both those boys didn’t allow me to fight my own battles every now and then.

“Pat, that’s enough,” I advised him firmly.

“The boss won’t like this, Ivy. I have my orders.” He replied, his eyes softening as he turned his attention towards me.

Adjusting my stance a little, I placed my hands on my hips to look more serious. “He didn’t touch me, and I’m hoping that you’ve learnt your lesson, right, Akio?”

Akio snarled in response, causing Patrick to grip his throat tighter until the snarl was nothing but a muffle, “She asked you a question.”

Unfortunately, with his vocal cords now blocked off, all he could do was nod until Patrick let him go. If he had been human, he would have passed out from the lack of oxygen alone. With a final glare in my direction, Akio stormed out of the room.

“The boss won’t like this, Ivy.” Patrick cautioned me, his eyes not leaving Akio until he disappeared around the corner.

“Then it’s a good thing that we are not going to tell him, isn’t it?” I assured him, earning me a snort from Patrick, “Come on, you know if you tell him he will be out for Akio’s blood, and I don’t need another reason for the rest of the vampires around here to hate me. So I’m asking you to keep your mouth shut, please.”

He sighed before nodding, “I don’t like it, but I will do it just this once. I make no promises if he tries anything again.”

I smiled in relief, “I think he learnt his lesson.”

Without another word, he left me to my own devices, and for the rest of the afternoon, I was buried in paperwork. I gave up around four in the afternoon when I could no longer ignore the hunger as the dull ache had now turned into a throbbing need. I knew if I didn’t feed within a few hours, the desire for blood would overwhelm me, and I would lose all control. Humans were living in the mansion, and I couldn’t risk getting to the point where I could hurt one of them. I had made some progress today, so it was as good a place as any to stop.

I locked the door on my way out as very few people were allowed to have access to this office and went in search of Vlad. He wasn’t in his office, but his scent still lingered, so he hadn’t been gone long. Taking a big sniff, I followed his scent through the mansion until it led me back up to our suite, where I could hear the sweet melody of the music playing from the other side.

Upon entering, I saw Vlad sitting in a plush chair that was set up in the corner of the room in our makeshift library area, an old, worn, length bound book in one hand and a glass of whiskey in the other.

“I’ve been waiting for you, my love.” He told me softly as I made my way towards him.

When I got close enough, he closed his book, placed it on the table next to him with his glass, pulling me down on his lap until I was straddling him, the bulge in his pants extremely noticeable as it pressed into my core.

Laughing, I wrapped my arms around his neck, “how did your meetings go?”

“They were tolerable. I think I made some progress with a few of the leaders.” He advised me, nuzzling my neck and taking a deep breath in, “but my day has just gotten a whole lot better. What about you? How was training and the rest of your day?”

“Much better now that I’m here with you,” I mumbled, unable to concentrate now that his lips were on my skin.

Part of me knew I should tell him about the altercation earlier, I didn’t like hiding things from him, and I wasn’t sure how long Pat would be able to keep his word. But I also knew Vlad well enough to know that he would give me a permanent shadow for the rest of my life. That was after he separated Akio from his head, and I valued my freedom too much to take that. So for right now, I would just stay here in this moment and be present with my man.