You guys can remove me from your Story Alert List now.

Warning: Any grammar you find, or anything wrong/awkward, tell me! That's constructive criticism, right? Correct me? And the centered long dashes mean time lapses (or changed settings), however you want to call it. Oh, and change of perspective, too, not POV.

Plus, I exaggerate… a lot.

Also ::: I don't want to expand on the center characters' pasts too much. This story will focus on the future, what lies ahead... that's a bit of a lie, but you'll see.

(I'm a "said-bookism," or something like that, which means I use things like, "he/she said/replied, etc.," way too much. It's true, you'll see.)

- NnK.

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Summary: He's a vampire; she's a mortal. Vampires can't die, but mortals…?

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A Lover's Lie
Part I: The Save

"Girl," someone interrupted, "shut your fuckin' mouth and get down from that stage!"

She growled, but did as was told.

What's the big deal with these bars? I thought they liked my kind of girls?!

Ivy grumbled, gave the interrupter the middle-finger salute, and took her seat at the back of the club.

Some other random girl came on. She was the typical barbie, with an emphasized hourglass-shaped figure that got some wolf calls from the crowd. How humiliating; she had no pride. She said something stupid and everyone just laughed.

Ivy rolled her eyes. All the people here were just too typical for her. They were partying, laughing, getting drunk, and would probably wake up without a care in the world. And what then? Living life like that was not her idea of fun. She watched them mindlessly, the blaring of the music and everything else passing like an afternoon drizzle.

But they were… beautiful, breathtaking even. Pale skin that glowed in the dark lights, smooth faces and lean, yet shaped, and as awake as though they haven't had a drink all day. That was just the majority of the population. As for the minority of the crowd, they were just like her, Ivy had to admit: plain, too scrawny or too big, and drunk from just one bottle of alcohol.

She stayed at the bar until midnight when everybody commenced to leave the building. The beautiful ones kept their places, oddly enough, and the "normal" people left. She sat there, thinking.

Yesterday, something terrible happened. It wasn't your everyday events—it was one of those rare times when you caught someone doing something you didn't want them to be doing in the first place.

And why was she here in this bar again? It was her first time being here, ever. She remembered why, and the warnings that were given to her. But she wasn't paying attention to those advices anyway.

"Hello there," she heard.

What was that?

"Uh… I was just leaving," she said quickly.

They blocked her way. There were five guys, all big and ready to kill. The victim: Ivy. The black lights were already turned on, and Ivy's clothes were white. Not a great thing to be wearing when she was trying to escape.

"Please, I want to leave," she continued.

One of them grabbed her from behind. He kissed the back of her head; Ivy screamed. Amused, he released her. She looked around in panic. Another one touched her from underneath and made her yelp. They laughed.

"Go away!" she screamed, trying to act strong, but only succeeded in showing more of her fear.

They ignored her and resumed harassing her.

"Come here…."

"No, here."

"Smile, baby."

"Aww, tears?"

Ivy slipped and fell. The guy closest took her arms and brought her back to her feet. His eyes roamed around her body uncomfortably. She snatched herself away, only to run into the others.

"Jerks!"

Her outburst didn't do much. She bit an arm and received a slap. For the second time, she was on the floor, but she didn't bother to get up now. One hand on her cheek, she glared at them.

"That's enough out of you!" the one who got bit said, bending down. He smirked and touched her face. Ivy knocked it away. No matter how pathetic she was, she wasn't going to let him degrade her any lower.

"What do you want?" she spat.

He reached for her shirt and ripped the top part. Ivy concealed her chest, looking at him in horror.

"Take it off," he simply commanded. He had one knee on the floor, and his face was only a foot away. A hand crawled up her skirt.

Ivy shrieked and pulled away. "Why don't you just kill me?!"

"That'd be way too easy. So, either strip right here, right now, or I will gladly do it for you."

She shrunk to the ground in terror. Ivy backed up against the wall. "Why are you doing this?" she said painfully.

"My, my. Lots of questions you have. This is a bar, honey."

He pinned her to the partition. There were cheers from behind and Ivy felt something slip under her shirt. She screamed and struggled to break free. His mouth closed onto hers. He took off her dress in one breath and tightened his fingers around her arms.

—

Hands in his pockets, his eyes lazily scanning the walls and steps, he walked to his destination. The sweet aroma reached his nostrils, a smell that would have made his mind go crazy a long time ago. It was the smell of blood belonging to probably another victim. Arriving at the bottom of the stairwell, he sighed.

It was a sight to see, one that he had seen too often. There were five males cornering a helpless victim, their prey. The predators were around her like pack dogs. They wouldn't let her escape even if the sun were to shine in and expose their crime. What they were doing was frowned upon, and he hated to repeat his lectures to them, the newcomers. He knew them well, more than he wanted to, and detested their joy in molesting their victims.

The girl was at the wall with no place to go, stuck in a sea of ravenous monsters. Fresh meat, he could almost hear them say as they eyed her hungrily. She was light-skinned, light-haired—the typical fragile-looking type that he would see every now and then.

For a moment there, when he made a mental note of her face, his heart skipped a beat. Her expression was almost identical to someone's, someone he had once held deep emotions for, someone who had disappointed him. He stood at the steps, watching, spectating.

—

"What the hell's going on?" a voice demanded. Ivy heard murmurs and apologies through her tears. The guy on her let her go, but it was all just a blur to her.

"We were only having a little fun," he hastily replied.

"In public?" whoever it was growled. He held the guy by his shirt collar and shoved him away. "Don't let it happen again."

He made contact with the wall. After recovering, he nodded. "No, Chase, it won't happen again…."

Oh, my God! Another one, she thought, dissolving in her corner.

Ivy wiped off her tears. She closed up the skin on her chest with the shirt. Chase, or so he was called, looked down at her. He narrowed his eyes slightly.

"Who is she, Ryle…?" he said firmly. Receiving no reply, he snapped, "Answer me!"

"She was a late-night customer," the guy that tried her said. "She's not one of us."

From the expression on Chase's face, Ivy could tell that he knew she didn't understand. His eyes were a soulless black, and it made his object of attention freeze.

"Why did you keep her?"

"For entertainment." Ryle rumbled in his throat.

Chase doubted it. He knew that if he just let her go, she would be hunted down, like all the others before. And the end of those girls were never good. Plus, Ivy looked innocent, and he had the urge to taste her himself.

"I'll take her this time."

"What?"

He glared. Ryle backed down, eyes blood-red.

Ivy gasped. This one looked worse than the others, and it seemed he could do anything to her and get away with it! She dreaded what would happen to her if they were alone.

"Don't touch me!" she shrieked, slipping from his hands.

"Look, I'm helping you here," he whispered. He pulled off his jacket and laid it around her shoulders. He gripped her hand in a fierce hold, dragging her out of the circle at the same time. The warmth of her skin made his mouth water and his collected, mortal nature lose its calm.

"Oh, my God! Let me go! Please! Let me go!" she begged. Ivy let the jacket drop to the floor. Tears were falling again. She hit him, her shoes slamming on the brakes and making it harder for him to drag her. "I'm not going anywhere with you!" she declared.

"Listen, girl," he hissed, his face right next to hers. "I'll do what I want with you. And if you want to walk around naked, your call. Otherwise, you'd better stop your stupid nagging, or I'll leave you with him." He eyed Ryle.

"What are you going to do to me?" she whimpered.

He smirked, those lifeless eyes filling with emotions. "What can't I do with you?"

Ivy shivered. But before she could oppose, Chase placed his arms around her waist, the jacket in place, and buried her head within his embrace. In mere moments, Ivy felt light as a feather, and she could hardly tell where they were going except up. Then, she was thrown onto a bed. A door closed; Chase locked it.

She threw away the jacket and got to her feet. "Why am I here?"

"Less suspicion this way."

She widened her eyes. "What—?"

He pushed her onto the bed, the covers over them.

"What are you doing?!"

"Shut up."

She was caught off guard.

Chase sniffed her. Ivy wondered if she smelled, but she was more terrified of being raped. She tried to shove him off, only to have him in such close range that her depleted strength didn't budge him at all.

"Take off your shirt." He had already taken off his at this point.

"What?" she said. "Here you are, saying you're trying to help me, but you're exactly like the other guy!"

"Want me to do it for you?"

He reached for her. Ivy screamed and shook her head. She felt undignified doing this herself, but Chase showed no sign of interest. He glimpsed at the door for a second and turned back.

"And the rest."

Ivy had the urge to demand why again, but the look on his face wouldn't accept resistance. She closed her eyes and did what he said. Chase moved closer to her. He narrowed his eyes.

Tears…. He had not seen those in a long time, and so close up on a face like hers…. Maybe he could take just one bite…. Ivy felt his fingertips moved down her sides and stop at her underwear.

"What are you doing now?" she asked with her eyes open.

"Hey, I'm risking my life for you by doing this."

She doubted it, and knew Chase could tell from his expression.

"Don't… stop it," Ivy said quietly. "Please…."

He left his hand there, maybe to cover it, or maybe to use that as blackmail if she wouldn't listen. He inched towards her and whispered: "Three… two… one."

The door slammed open with great force. Chase sat up. Ivy gaped from her exposed breasts and pulled him back. Chase wasn't exactly expecting that, so they bumped heads. The two groaned; Ryle snarled.

"Already tamed her, Chase?" someone remarked.

He received added comments, and Ryle's growl was in the background. Chase scowled at them. They flinched and scurried away, the door shutting after them.

He has a lot of authority here, doesn't he? Ivy thought. She buried herself deeper into the bed, the fear growing.

Chase focused his attention on her. His eyes browsed hers for a moment, and then he said, "They're gone," removing his body from on top of hers.

Ivy found another pillow and laid it over her chest. She crawled to the other side of the mattress, sinking into her little corner again.

Chase made short eye contact with her. He picked up the phone and began talking to somebody. In her mind, Ivy mentally hated him for being so casual after what he had done. Did he usually do all this? And why? What was his problem? What were his intentions?

"Bring them soon. It's cold here."

It is, Ivy said. Why is it cold here? This stupid place—ugh!

Everything in the room was black.

The curtains on the windows were pulled down. They were black, giving the room an eerie feeling. The carpet had red flowers and a black background; it matched the wallpaper. A mini refrigerator sat on the other side of the bed. And there were four doors: bathroom, closet, the exit, and the fourth door she guessed could be another closet.

He put the phone back where it belonged and turned to her. Ivy swallowed hard.

"You can go home tomorrow."

She was surprised. The mention of home made her eyes swell up again, which Chase noticed and shuffled in his place. Ivy ignored him seeing her discomfort, but she made a face at him nevertheless.

"Don't give me that look," he snapped out of habit.

Ivy winced.

They endured a silence.

"What's your name? You know mine, so what's yours?" He had asked it snappingly, impatiently.

"Ivy," she said in a broken, raspy voice. "Ivy Hedger."

He raised an eyebrow at her last name, wondering why she needed to say it.

Ivy laid there for a long time. The minutes ticked by, and she thought she would never get out of this room. There was barely any light anyhow.

Chase got up and left.

Ivy's eyes drooped after some seconds. She wanted to relax. The night's action had gotten her tired, and that dangerous guy "Chase" had already disappeared. What else did she need to be concerned for? She let her muscles at ease and unknowingly dozed off.

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Need ’n’ Know:

A dark tale originally starring EE (Ethan/Louise)... of a story... But I had to change it, because the characters were a bit off, and I didn't want to make another fanfiction of my own lovely couple. How pathetic, eh? (drops head)

Chase's name doesn't really fit into the story, I know.

(Inspired by the disturbingly disturbing story Loving the Damned by Ring of Saturn.)

This was released almost approximately at midmight, my time, July 19. Lol.

Special thansk to concerto49 for the helpful hints and criticisms for this chapter.

(P.S. FP contradicts them/itself: can't just the brackets, but I can use parentheses.)