She felt it, her world, it was crumbling. He shoulder felt like it carried the weight of a million heavy trucks. She gasped for breath, the little life she had in her seemed to have left her in a heartbeat. Ivy knew this day would come, little did she know it would come this soon . She was only twenty two for Goodness sake! Why won't those who lived among the heavens allow her stay a little bit longer? "Ivy? Are you okay?" Doctor Saraphina called after noticing she had blanked out for quite a while. Ivy didn't even hear that her name was called. All that went on in her head was how miserable she was and how she never even got to live life as she wanted. She was born with a heart disease, this meant being in out out of hospital buildings for majority of her life up until this moment. I mean here she was sitting in front of a doctor after receiving the worst news anyone could ever receive. About a week ago, she had one of those fainting spells and was rushed to the hospital by her worried sick parents. The doctor had carried out some tests and she had only come here today to get the test results when the doctor decided to drop the bombshell on her. The doctor had just told Ivy that time was no longer on her side Dr Saraphina had sounded so sorry and she wished she wasn't the one to have given Ivy the news. She had been Ivy's doctor since she was little. Telling the poor girl that she had just six months left to live felt like a severe punishment on her part. Little wonder Ivy blanked out after hearing the news "Ivy?" Doctor Saraphina called again, this time loud enough to bring Ivy out if her reverie. "Ye...yess?" She responded..her voice shaky like she was struggling to hold back tears. "Are you okay?" The worried doctor asked. She felt like it was her fault. She shouldn't have told Ivy without anyone else around.. She had thought Ivy would prefer to find out personally and in private. "I'm fine, it's okay... Not like it's the end of the world. 6 months is a very longggg time" She knew she sounded like she was trying to give herself false hope but that was all it was actually. Not like she could change her fate in some way, or could she? She wiped the tear that was falling down her left cheek. "Doctor, I need this to stay between me and you" The last thing Ivy wanted was for her parents to find out or anyone for that matter. She had lived most of her life receiving special attention and being treated like an egg. She knew that attention would triple should they find out her condition. She also didn't want them to feel bad just yet. She knew her mother would pretty much blame herself if Ivy eventually dies. Saraphina nods in agreement, she had no idea what the right words to say in situations like this even after about thirty years of practice. There were simply no right words. During the walk to the bus stop from the hospital. One step felt like a month to Ivy. She felt like time would suddenly start running really fast and then it would be six months in the blink on an eye and then, every atom of life that she had in her would suddenly disappear and then she would close those deep blue eyes of hers never to open them again and That should be it. THE END OF IVY BENNETT'S BORING AND PAINFUL LIFE. She was brought out of her nightmare by the sound of a car honk, she looked up to see that she had almost been hit by a car. The thought of even dying before those six months were completed gave her chills. She was thankful that the car had stopped just before hitting her. She looked around to see that she had pulled quite a crowd, they all gathered to see what was wrong with the lady that was walking freely in the middle of a busy road. The car that almost hit her was a Tesla car, latest edition. The owner was obviously a billionaire to be able to afford a car like this. Whispers about who owned the car could be heard among the crowd. Suddenly there was a moment of silence as people watched the owner of the car. The expected some big shot of A list Celebrity of some sort but were disappointed to see some old man who looked weak to the bones. Most of them hissed and left the scene. The old man gradually walked to where Ivy had fallen and bent to speak to her. Ivy could here the crowd murmur about how an old man like this could be driving such an expensive car. What confused her was where this people saw an old man. The man coming out of the car was breathtaking. He could beat Omar Al bokar hands down on the runway. Even Zayn Malik didn't stand a chance. His beauty was otherworldly. Every step he took oozed royalty and so where the fuck did this people see and old man? The man bent over to talk to her as she had felt lazy to stand from the road where she fell. She smelt his perfume and it reminded her of the jungle, in a good way..she wondered what brand he was wearing. "I know you're not hurt but here's my card, call me if you need anything" The handsome young man said to her and made to stand up but she held his shirt's sleeve. "Why do they think you're an old man? You're so young and damn hot" She said, lost in the beauty of his eyes . They weren't brown or hazel. Ivy knew gold and this young man's eyes were truly golden. 'he's a god!' she screamed in her head. Ishmael looked at the rather frail lady laying on the floor and drooling at his beauty. 'No one was able to see through his false appearance. It had never happened' It surprised him how this lady saw through the old man appearance he put out. He knew he needed to engage this woman in a conversation. Ignoring the stares from people watching, he bent over and carried her bridal style. He took her in his car and drove off with her sitting beside him.... He stole glances at her every once in a while. He even tried to read her mind to see what she was thinking. Nothing.... How's that possible? He was going crazy.

Ishmael hit the accelerator, he was in a hurry. He needed to get home quickly so he could question the girl he had picked up in the middle of the road. He had been doing false outlooks since he was born and that was like a thousand years ago and it had never failed. He was the only vampire that could do that, no one else did. Not Iike any other vampire came close to him in terms of anything. How this girl saw his real person and not the old man facade baffled him greatly. He was trying so hard to read her mind but the walls were so high, he had no clue what was going on in her head. He cast a glance sideways for the umpteenth time since she had been in his car. He noticed she had fallen asleep, how could she be this comfortable in a stranger's vehicle? He asked himself. There was a red light so he had to stop. He used the chance to take in the girl's physical features. She had the smoothest skin of all, like she had never even had a scratch at all. He had seen her eye color when he had bent over earlier, they were the deepest shade of blue he had ever seen. Her lips were full and really pink, the kind of lips anyone would want to kiss. If the situation wasn't the way it was, he wouldn't mind having this girl warm his bed, he wondered what she would taste like. The lights changed and he came out of his fantasy and drove off. When he got to his house, she was still asleep. He got out of the car first then went round the other side to get her out of the car. Ishmael was thankful he didn't have to carry her into the house this time around because she woke up the moment he touched her. "Hey.." She almost screamed 'did you kidnap me?" She asked in a whisper. She suddenly seemed excited about her situation. Her eyes lit up like those of a kid who had been rewarded with candy for good behavior. "No, I didn't kidnap you" He replied sharply. Ivy was mesmerized by the handsome man who was bent over right  in front of her, they were so close she could feel the warmth of his breath. She wished it could stay like this forever, she had only witnessed situations like this on TV in those Kdrama series that made her hate her lonely life but still she never stopped watching them. "No I didn't kidnap you"' Mr Golden eyes had said to her. His voice was so deep and sounded enchanting. She felt wet between her thighs at the sound of his voice, realizing the effect this stranger had on her, she knew she couldn't let her guard down.  "Who are you?" "Who are you? They both asked simultaneously. Ishmael was confused at who or what she could be that enabled her to see who he truly was. Anyone that ever saw his true face only did that because he let them and not for any other reason. But he didn't let her so how? Ivy on the other hand wondered why this man who she had never met before had picked her up and drove her all the way to this place. She got down from the car to get a view of wherever on earth she was. She was in awe of the magnificent house that stood in front of her. "Awesome!" She wowed! The house was simply beautiful, it looked like the palaces where kings and queens lived in the ancient times. More like a castle of gold. Everything about the house was glistering, like royalty lived there. "Is this a palace of some sort?" She turned and asked Mr Golden eyes. Ishmael let out a snort, of course she also saw the house under the facade it was hidden in, who the hell was this girl? A normal person would have seen a regular house but not this girl, she was seeing the castle in its full glory. "It's my palace" He responded" I have a lot of questions to ask you, let's go inside" Ivy looked at the man for a second and wondered if he had any manners. He couldn't even ask politely. Not like he asked before bringing her here anyways. That only meant that he didn't ask permission to do things. She wanted to see the inside of this beautiful castle so she didn't bother refusing, she followed right behind him. They were met at the door by the butler, he was an elderly man who seemed like he was in his late fifties. The butler bowed as Mr Golden eyes walked past "Oohhh Kingggg" lvy mocked in a very low whisper, it was almost impossible to make out what she said. "I heard that!" Ishmael said, facing her. "What?" Ivy said with a straight face while playing with some strands of her hair. She wondered how this man was built. "Were you built in a lab?" She asked" Dad says those people who worked in labs could make me a new heart too" Ishmael was surprised by her words, both her question and statement were confusing. The statement especially. "A new heart?" He asked and the Butler offered her a seat. Ivy sat in the very soft sofa and was reminded of her blanket, it was this soft too. She suddenly felt like sleeping but Mr Golden eyes was talking to her so she couldn't sleep. "Yes, I was born with a heart disease. I'm dying in six months" she said. It felt good to finally be able to tell someone, especially someone who wouldn't treat it like it was some plague. She knew Mr Golden eyes was that person. Ishmael now understood why she was walking in the center of the road, she didn't have any reason not to. He had been among these humans long enough to know how they reasoned. A little part of him wished he was like the girl. Having lived for a thousand years, life had become so boring. He had fought enough wars, killed enough villains and protected enough humans. Just that he didn't have a cause to die.... No scrap that.... He was immortal. Ivy watched him take off his tuxedo coat and hand it over to the butler who collected it and then neatly folded before exiting the room to give them some privacy. She took her time to take in the interior of the house. It was purely aesthetic. Every singleA little part of him wished he was like the girl. Having lived for a thousand years, life had become so boring. He had fought enough wars, killed enough villains and protected enough humans. Just that he didn't have a cause to die.... No scrap that.... He was immortal. Ivy watched him take off his tuxedo coat and hand it over to the butler who collected it and then neatly folded it before exiting the room to give them some privacy. She took her time to take in the interior of the house. It was purely aesthetic. Every single item had gold in it even to the smallest flower vases. "You must be a sucker for gold" she said "What's your name?" He asked "Ivy, what's yours?" "Ishmael" Ivy chuckled. She met his questioning gaze. "Your name sounds archaic" she mocked. Ishmael shaked his head, this girl really has a way of getting on nerves. "I am archaic" he replied "How old are you? Fifty" Ivy said and burst out laughing again. "No, a thousand!" Ishmael replied with a poker face. She looked at his face and burst out laughing. How could someone make a joke like that with a straight face? lvy asked herself. Wait! Unless he was serious. She gave him the 'are you serious? look and he nodded. Ivy gasped "Oh my God! You look 25, how come you don't age?" "I don't know, you tell me!" Ishmael had gotten all the facts he needed from the conversation with Ivy. She was truly just a mere human with a sad life. What still confused him was how she doesn't fall for the fake illusions and saw straight into the truth

Ivy after all was a mere human with a one of a kind ability. She was able to see through Ishmael's false illusions. The only person who ever did that was long dead. She was a great witch who had given up her powers all because she fell in love with a human. Ugh! Ishmael hated her for that, he had always said had potential and he could work well with her by his side, but she went to be with some weak human and that was it. Now thinking of that witch, Ishmael noticed a faint resemblance between the witch and Ivy. He wasn't sure, after all he hadn't seen her in like three hundred years now. There was something about Ivy that interested him though. He was bent on finding out. "So you're like a vampire?" Ivy asked for the 100th time and he had given her the same reply he gave the other ninety nine times. A slow nod. "Wow! Thought those only existed in fictional worlds" Ivy exclaimed Of course fictional worlds was where they existed. Thanks to those vampires who couldn't bear living in the shadows and decided to make the world aware of their existence and wrote novels about Vampires. Humans found it interesting and so many adaptations were made that vampire stories and movies became the new cool. How would they react if they knew vampires walked in their midsts on a daily? Ishmael always asked himself. His mind went to Stefan. Stefan was a movie star. He mostly acted as a vampire in movies. The directors used to say he fit the role perfectly, of course he would, he was a vampire. The second most powerful after Ishmael. Ishmael had watched Stefan grow and was so fond of the boy up until this moment. But he wouldn't dare let him know. Ivy was lost in her own thoughts. She had six months left to live and she had somehow stumbled into an adventure like Ishmael. She wanted to live it, at least making use of her finals days to witness things any other person wouldn't witness on a normal day was amazing. "I want to live here!" She blurted out without thinking of the consequences of if Ishmael would even allow her. Ishmael drew his lips into a thin line. This girl was clearly drunk to think he would let her live with him. He preferred his solace from time immemorial and nothing was about to changed. He didn't like the thought of living with some other vampire and now this mere human wanted to live with him? No way! "No" he said. "You should go home" "I don't want to!" Ivy pouted her lips. Ishmael felt something pump inside of him, like adrenaline? Since when did he start reacting to people's actions? He'd been alive for long he'd probably gone numb to feelings. He always looked on like nothing mattered, in reality nothing did. He had lived so long among humans that he could easily predict a person's next line of action just by a word that the person utters. It didn't psych him any longer. It has become a whole boring ritual. Ivy was different, he had no idea what was going on in her head. First she was calling him a kidnapper and next she willingly followed him inside and now she wants to live here? His first mistake was bringing her home in the first place. He had never brought a woman to his home before, all the women he had been with in the past say 500 years had always been at hotels or motels or whatever they were called. "I'm not going home. I don't want my parents to find out my situation" Ivy explained "I don't care, find somewhere else to live! Not my house" He said firmly The house was obviously big enough for both of them to live in without being at loggerheads. That was exactly what Ivy wanted, the space and the privacy. Growing up, she didn't get her own bedroom till she was fifteen and even then, he mom still slept on her bed on some nights. She had never gotten the privacy cuz someone was always checking on her every second. She didn't even get to go to a normal school, she was home-schooled. During college days she only ever went to the school to get her certificate, all other activities were done online. Well thank god for the Internet. "Please......." She walked closer to Ishmael and held his hand. He jerked his hand away instantly, surprising Ivy. Ishmael felt like he had been electrocuted. What was this feeling? This girl was messing with his body and head. He couldn't imagine controlling himself with her around. He'd lose it. Ivy tried touching him again and thankfully this time, he put himself in check. "Ishmael?...." She called giving him the puppy eyes. He caught her gaze and was totally lost in it. "Is the Almighty Ishmael in love?" A voice from the door said, drawing the attention of the duo. It was Stefan, he had come to check Ishmael at home. They were supposed to meet that afternoon but Ishmael didn't show up neither did he call. Don't tell anyone but Stefan was worried. Not like he had a reason to be, it was just the brotherly bond between both men, weird enough they would never admit it to each other. Ivy could not believe her eyes, an A-list celebrity had just waltz in like he owned the place. "STEFAN RYAN!!!" She exclaimed, awe-struck. She quickly moved away from Ishmael and engaged Stefan in a hug. "Oh my God, you're real!" "She knows me!" Stefan mouthed to Ishmael who was sending him daggers with his eyes. Ishmael felt uncomfortable at the way at which Ivy hugged Stefan. Like he wanted to shield her from the rest of the world keep her for himself. Ivy finally disengaged from the hug. "I'm Ivy, a big fan of yours. Like I love you so much" Ishmael let out a cough to draw their attention. "Are you my brother's girlfriend?" Stefan asked "Brother?" "Girlfriend?" Where the questions sent back to him. Stefan grinned showing of his trademark dimple. "She's some weirdo I saw in the middle of the highway and now she doesn't want to leave" Ishmael said "Weirdo?" "Highway?"