ONE TASTE..

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?"