A Lover's Lie
Part VII: The Lie

There was hesitation as Ivy opened her eyes. She stared at the ceiling lifelessly, and then turned beside her. She released a smile—a sad, discouraging smile. In the back of her mind, Sita's words had always bitten into her soul. She was a weakling, always depending on Chase to save her. It was the truth; there was no denying it.

But I'll stand up for myself, she said with determination.

She gave Chase one more smile and kissed him, relishing the time spent with him before getting up. She found the key to the door she wanted and replaced the key when the door was unbolted.

As Ivy neared the door to the subway, she looked back, beginning to tear up inside.

"Bye, Chase," she said to him.

And, not turning back, she went through the door.

—

Squeezing his eyes, Chase snapped them apart.

He was alone.

Well, of course, he was.

Where was Ivy? Her side of the bed was cold.

Sitting on the mattress, he made a mental picture of the room. Where could Ivy be if she were hiding? Discrediting the idea, he got dressed. Ivy's new clothes were gone, so where was she?

He narrowed his eyes when he found his keys. Someone had been using it. He knew, because they weren't in the right order. A thought crossed his mind, that somehow Lex Thunder had kidnapped her.

"No, Lex doesn't know—and he wouldn't dare come here," he said.

Once again, Ivy had slipped through his grasp.

—

The darkening sky was announcing its departure with the thin rays of dawn. A bridge, illuminated by the faint light, was composed of two people. One had long, light hair, and the other was pure-white.

A sharp intake of breath could be heard, along with the reverberations of a blade.

"Dear, dear, Ivy," said the deep voice. He was facing east, where the sun would be rising eventually.

"I want to call the deal off," she told him defiantly. She was standing to his right.

He grew quiet, wiping dry blood off of his sword. He resheathed it and looked at her. "Now? Don't you think it's too late?"

"It's never too late, Lex," she returned.

Lex smirked, laughing evilly. She didn't find it humorous and was taken back. He gleamed at her, brushing her hair, and dared her to slap his hand away.

"Why don't you look behind you, Ivy?" he informed.

She narrowed her eyes. What was behind her—? And she saw him, standing there, frozen, incapable of taking his eyes off her. Ivy's heart severed; her lips quivered, inept from saying another word.

Chase had heard only a little of what they had said. He was too far, but being an observer—

"What do you think of this, Arden?" Lex mocked. "History is repeating itself."

He frowned deeply, taking his attention away from Ivy and switching to Lex. He swallowed, his hands white as he clenched his fists.

"You don't know, Ivy?" he continued, seeing her confusion. "Why, that would be explainable…." Lex pointed to his enemy. "His first love… came here as well… and I was with her." There was the smug expression on his face.

Ivy could only imagine how this revelation shredded Chase's heart. She didn't show her face, she couldn't. On the other hand, she focused on Lex. "This—this is all your—"

"My fault?" he concluded with a crackle. "Dear Ivy, I was not the one to call you here."

"But—Chase—"

"I assumed," Chase said for himself, the ice in his tone colder than she had ever heard.

Ivy looked at him. What she met were dark eyes that no longer displayed any warm emotions in them. They were the eyes he would give Lex, the eyes he would give Sita or Ryle. But now, Chase was staring at her with those eyes.

"Not once, but twice," Lex stated, the complacent countenance on his face too much for Ivy to bear. "Do you want to hear the story, Ivy?" he asked.

She sniffed. For the second time in her life, she had made a prodigious mistake. And Chase was suffering along with her. She never thought she could do this to someone else. But then again, maybe he didn't feel the same way….

"Do you want to know her name, Ivy?" he asked, his laughter echoing in the dead silence. "I think you should tell the tale, Arden."

Growling at the mute responses, Lex flashed his white eyes at the girl.

"His old lover lured him into her trap," he divulged. "They were in love any way teenagers would be. How many years has it been now? Ah, yes, it's been five years…."

"Five years," Ivy reiterated, recounting her days in school and the possibilities of meeting Chase before this encounter. She found it absurd that five years had passed in the blink of an eye.

Chase clenched his teeth. He knew that if he were to say something, it would come out wrong. He had loathed the one who had betrayed him.

"And I tricked him into thinking that she was kidnapped," he went on. "It was a close call. I had almost died, but she saved me. As for Arden," Lex said, his eyes moving to his enemy, "he just left. Sad, really. She's still alive. Can you believe that?" He laughed at the ridiculous conclusion. "Maybe I should kill her after this," he contemplated after a while. "After all, she knows too much. It's just that I'm afraid Arden would go after me with a vengeance—an undying vengeance."

"Lex, stop this," Ivy plead.

"Stop this?" he mimicked. He pushed her hands off his arm and walked farther from where Chase was.

"Please," she begged. "Stop this…. Somehow, just stop this!"

"How can I?" he said, turning his head. He was satisfied to see the change in his adversary's reaction. "The other one couldn't," he stated. "What makes you so different?"

Her lips tremble vulnerably. "I'm no different from her," she disclosed, unable to see the modifications on Chase's face. "Just stop this, please! I need you to end this!"

"End this?" Sotto echoed.

"Yes, end this." She nodded exuberently.

Ivy was unaware of Lex's aim. She waited for what he would do. Lex took out his sword and glanced at her temporarily before that smirk materialized.

"As you wish."

He impaled her.

She let out a lung of air, her eyes on the blade that had pierced right through her. It had penetrated through her body, through her clothes, through her skin, and she looked at the white eyes that were staring thoughtlessly back. She saw him doing it but was paralyzed until the last minute. She grabbed his arm, asking why inaudibly. Lex aided her and kept her on her feet. He wasn't going to let her fall at this second, at this crucial second.

"Ivy!"

He pulled it out in one swift swipe. Ivy blinked, hardly able to believe this. The blood—her blood—that wet, red liquid—dripped and stained her clothes, making its way to the concrete below her feet. It splashed as little droplets on Lex’s face and clothes, contrasting his white features even more. He was oddly pale, but he was human, a mortal.

"Lex," Chase spat acidly.

Lex did nothing but laugh.

"This time, I won't let you get away," he growled under his breath.

The white-haired hunter raced for it. The blade slashed, reflecting what little light there were into the oncoming figure. Chase grabbed it. His own blood spilt and soaked the ground—dirty, futile blood he had no use of if something were to happen to Ivy. He didn't free the sword and had no ambitions to do so. With his superior strength, he stole the weapon from Lex.

Chase could remember the same day five years ago that he had allowed Lex to escape. He was powerless then, too weak to recuperate immediately after that one betrayal. But he had made up his mind, because Ivy was more valuable to him.

Lex’s dark blood ran hurriedly from its source. He stared wide-eyed at Chase, who pulled the blade out without any indication of mercy, as Lex had done to his previous victim. And with a small chuckle, he dropped to his knees. Where the rush of energy had come from, nobody knew. A mere human contending with an immortal….

Ivy smiled, having finished remembering all of her prized, unforgettable memories. She fell back. Her sight of this world was dimming, and she was ready to let go, but Chase caught her, and she felt the hot tears falling from her eyes instantly.

"Chase," she gasped cheerfully.

"Ivy," he breathed. He dried her tears and pressed his bleeding hand on the impalement, his jacket over it. Just looking at her tore his heart, and not stopping Lex from hurting her—

"Chase," she said, "I'm sorry—"

"Shh, you didn't do anything wrong," he coaxed.

She laughed gently. Here she was, with him again, only to be ultimately separated. "I betrayed you, and now look at me…." She let the blood run between her fingers, her other arm over her dwindling heart as it was beating. A while ago, it was so full of life that she didn't think it would cease to keep her alive any time soon.

It was like déjà vu for her as well, but she couldn't tell him. She was also betrayed and had come to a dead end. And then, she had met Lex. Simply from their first strife she had figured he was bad news, but she had neglected those thoughts, those instincts that could have saved her.

She tried to reach him.

"You're going to be fine, Ivy," he assured. He brought her left hand up to his face and smiled at her. Somehow, he knew he hadn't forgotten how to smile. He had never smiled like he did at before this minute, or was as happy as he was now.

"Look, you're smiling," she went on, grasping onto this life a little longer. "It's the first time I've seen you smile at me."

"And you're nothing like my first love," he said, wanting to let her know. "You're nothing like her, Ivy."

She smiled. Breathing in hard, she touched the tear that was gathering in the corner of his eye, too saddened to say anything about it. Her own smile went away as her eyes narrowed. And then, marking those tears made for her, her lips curled again. "Of course, she didn't die for you," she said lightheartedly, somehow finding the effort to laugh. "Chase…."

"Don't use your strength, Ivy," he told her. "Save it." He holding her hand to his face, and he could hear the beating of her heart slowing down. It kept slowing down—always weakening, and would never regain its health again.

Ivy shook her head weakly. "I won't be a drag for you anymore, Chase."

"What are you talking about?" he said, trying to sound casual. "You were never a drag for me…."

"Haven't you ever been mad that you always had to save me?" she asked, a new smile beaming at him.

Chase was the one to shake his head. At such a crucial moment, he wanted to tell her everything. He wanted her to know what he had been through, that the best times of his life were spent with her. But he wanted more to hear her final words and let her rest in peace, the peace he could not attain without her living and breathing in this world.

Ivy let a few more dreaded seconds tick by. She embedded this scene deep into her mind and blinked away more tears as she felt his slid down her hand. She had thought it was a dream because she surmised he wasn't one to cry for her. And yet, she was content, knowing that he had as much feelings as she had, and that he was as human as she were.

She swallowed and saw the sun on the horizon ever so desperate to shine light into the earth.

"This is my first time seeing the sunrise," she said to him. "Isn't it beautiful?"

He was speechless. Nodding for her sake, he watched her, listening, waiting. God, he wanted to tell her so much in so little time. But start where? How long would it take? If maybe time would stand still forever then he would tell her… tell her that she was his heart and that she meant much more to him than anything else in this cruel world. He could hear her heart counting down now, her vitality coming to its end, her body losing heat.

Ivy blinked again. She couldn't smile anymore, or she just didn't feel like giving him something fake. Her index fingers grazed over his eye, blaming herself for everything. "If you have to choose, Chase…" she gasped, "who would you choose?"

His eyes lifted at this. He stared into her eyes, denying the fact that he would never see them again. He brushed her light hair and chuckled. He bent down to kiss her, to maybe give her another breath of life to lengthen her time here. And as he touched her lips, he could feel her beginning to finally slip away.

Chase closed his eyes and whispered, "I love you, Ivy," just as the first rays of the sun begin to break the dark skies.

And that's the ending. I feel so lame for crying, but—yeah, I cried. Kind pathetic.

Oh, and I was thinking of a nice second part that they can relax together. I might not ever finish it, though. Either way, the sequel will just be an alternate ending. Because EE did die… in this story. Yep. I mean, Chase and Ivy. If I were to write a sequel or something, it would expand on why Ivy was at the bar and why she'd run away from home, her own betrayals, and Chase's, 'course. There was this funny part in my head that wasn't so funny on paper…. :S

Then there's the vampire-in-the-sun thing I wanted to explain about, and the elixir that helps the vampires. I never called them vampires in this story, did I? So, yeah, the elixir ages them and gives them human attributes—warmth, hunger, a beating heart, all of that. That was the "formula" they were talking about near the beginning of the story. And it also protects them when they go into the sun. Without drinking the elixir, like Ryle, a vampire would die in the sun. (mocking gasp)

And thanks for everything, for being here, especially for reviewing! Like I've said before, reviews are to a writer what blood is to a vampire. It's the cheesiest thing I've ever come up with, but I love it all the same! (I'm horrible at analogies, too.)

This was also intended to be merely a one-shot. And you guys should really read Carmel March's The Deadly Flower. I'm pretty picky, so I don't recommend a lot of things, save for (cough) What I Did For Love by Val (val1).

P.S. Don't know why this is in the romance section, really.