Chapter Two

Ivy's POV

Six years later...

Music boomed through the speakers of my convertible and the breeze cleared my hair behind me. Checking the two roadsides, I ensured no incoming vehicles were close by befor taking a U-turn. I cherished my everyday drive along the coast from school to work. It set me in the right frame of mind.

"Hello Ivy!" Hannah welcomed when she saw me.

"Yo, what's going on out there?" I motioned at the bar.

"When I checked five minutes ago, it was packed full." Hannah smiled.

"Really?" I radiated. "Well then, ideally there'll be lots of tips this evening!" I cheered.

"I agree with that! So I take it you just came from sports practice?"

"Yup, we have a football competition coming up." I nodded.

"Magnificent, when?"

"Next Saturday."

"I'll come watch."

"Are you going to watch the game to help me or to look at those boys?" I teased casually hanging an arm around her shoulders.

"You, obviously," she answered with a chuckle. "And to check out the boys as well." We both laughed. "Truly, I love you for being in the guy's group!" She smirked.

"Gosh, you are mind unbelievable." I giggled.

"No, you are! I mean, you're in the group and it's completely undeniable the boys need you but all you do is focus on the game!"

"I truly do focus on the boys too." I grinned.

"Of course, you reject them." Hannah jeered.

"That is because all they want is sex and I'm not prepared for that." I feigned a yawn.

"Hey, enough with the bickering, come help me out with my hair. I need to get as many tips as I can this evening."

I nodded and got to work. Briskly I changed into a dark denim skirt with fish net leggings, knee high two inch block heeled boots and a girdle styled top ending mid stomach revealing a strip of tanned skin. I pulled the hair band off my hair and allowed it flow down my shoulders.

I could hear the music and prattle from the hall as I headed towards the bar. For the next hour, I traded between running around serving clients their beverages and snacks and moving on the dance floor. The bar was huge with two levels, the top for mainly eating and drinking, and the base with the huge dance floor.

"Hey y'all, since it's a Saturday night, you know our custom!" the manager called through the microphone.

The lights immediately diminished on the bar and illuminated again to show three young ladies remaining on the counter. I was one of them. As the music started, so did our dance moves. We moved, spun, stepped, bounced and sang.

I've been working in this bar for almost two years, first it was mostly parttime before the manager bent the standards slightly and hired me, Hannah and Lola no doubt. Learning the stunts with swirling bottles and serving drinks was simple and reminded me of the cheerleading moves I saw at school.

"Young ladies, a lot of hot guys are requesting your services!" Manager Smith sneered as he ventured over to the bar.

"What table?" Lola inquired.

"Five."

The three of us bickered as we strolled over and what I saw made my heart stop for a brief moment. I should to be used to this at this point, afterall it wasn't so surprising for Moroi to appear in this bar considering its popularity, but I must admit, I'd never seen any Moroi around our age in this bar.

I gazed at the gathering of Moroi there and inwardly frowned when I was unable to detect any Guardian around to protect them. There were six of them, four young men and two young ladies. They generally seemed to be students to me, which made me raise up my guard more. Moroi were known to be pretentious and arrogant. They frequently abused their power to get what they needed from people and Dhampirs which implied if I don't watch out, they could charm me and my friends.

All six of them seemed to be models who just ventured off a runway. The young men wore casual pants and unbuttoned shirts while the young ladies wore low cut dresses that held on to their slim statures. I could see the two young ladies looking at certain guys on the dance floor, and before long they they slipped from the booth and floated over to them. The four young men then again basically had their eyes stuck to us.

"You called?" Lola was a tease settling her eyes on a brown haired Moroi.

"We needed to commend your presentation a few seconds ago. That was astounding," he smiled. "I'm Dan."

"Lola."

"Would you like to dance?"

Lola chuckled as she drove him onto the dance floor.

I could see, somewhere off to the side, Hannah ogling at the two blonde young men. They seemed to be twins with their indistinguishable smiles. They introduced themselves as Jackson and Quinn.

"Go on Hannah, Smith's offering us a break " I pushed her with a wink.

I rested up against the table, folding my legs and arms and shifted my head back to get a superior glance at the last guy. He had chaotic boisterous red hair that spiked in irregular bearings, profound deep sapphire eyes that shined in the faint light, a firm face and full lips that were bent in a harsh grin. I was somewhat astounded to see firm strong muscles popping from his shirt. That implied that he worked out in the gym routinely, which was odd for a Moroi. This could get intriguing.

"And you?" I asked curving my temples at him while I watched out for my friends. Fortunately they kept close to one another so assuming things got rough, I could step in without any problem.

"And me?"

"Your name perhaps?" I chuckled.

"Drew."

We got talking for what seemed like a couple of minutes. After a while, I cast my eyes around and frowned when I was unable to see both of my friends. Panic moved through me when I saw Hannah sandwiched between the two Moroi young men in one of the shadowed stalls. Her face was flushed and from where I was, I could perceive she was vibrating slightly from pleasure. Anger replaced my panic and I raged across the dance floor. I got Hannah's arm tenderly but solidly and pulled her from the pair's hug.

"Aw, did Drew not give you a great time? Last I saw, you were having a good time. Or would you like to join us?" Jackson sneered.

"Unfortunately, Hannah needs to answer a call." I said coolly and whisked her away without another word.

She wasn't even opposing me, she simply had a stunned expression. Damn it, they were using more of their compulsion powers than I thought. I checked the crowd attempting to find Lola, but she was nowhere around.

"Damn it! Hannah do you have any idea where Lola went?"

"Round back… " she mumbled.

I cursed and ran taking Hannah with me. I didn't trust the young men enough to leave her there. We got outside the back, and I freaked out when I saw the scene before me. Dan was going to bite Lola, his teeth were broadened and she was anxiously opening her neck for him. Since he'd held her at a distance to give him better access, I slipped into the gap without any problem.

"What the - ?" Dan began, then halted and grinned shrewdly. "Oh, it's you. You're her friend, right?" he asked with a sly smile. I could feel the power behind his words and grinned jokingly.

"Unfortunately neither of us are available currently." I said before getting Lola, walked back to Hannah and took them both back to the changing room, making sure to lock it behind me.

I swore again when I saw the two of them actually looking bewildered. I strolled over to the sink and got two small shots of water. Then smoothly, I strolled back and tossed the two shots of water at their faces. They gave a shocked yell and spluttered a little before giving me a glare.

"What on earth was that for?" They simultaneously shouted before they glanced around.

"When did we get into the changing room?" Lola asked worriedly. "I could swear I was just making out with that guy." she trailed off before the two of them gave astonished gasps.

"We haven't.... - " she started.

"Relax, it didn't get that far." I shook my head and the two of them breathed in relief.

"Goodness God… "

"Why not you two return home first, ensure you reach home and please do not let anybody in." I said.

"My folks are home this evening." Hannah grinned reassuringly.

"So are mine." Lola affirmed.

"Great." I sighed in relief.

"Thank you for this evening, Ivy. I do not want to imagine what could have happened." Lola shivered.

"No, I don't think you do." I grinned terribly. They surely would would not want to know that they almost got bitten by a vampire. "Just go, I'll tell Smith. See ya tomorrow".

I escorted them to their vehicles and ensured nobody was following them. Shockingly enough, none of the Moroi had left the bar at this point. I headed back in and went on until closing time. I was changing my dress when I noticed I had company. It was the young Moroi dudes again.

"Screw off assholes. I ain't available." I spat.

"Aw come on, you'll like it, I assure you." Dan said, drawing nearer.

"Piss off, Dan." I muttered and pushed him hard in the chest tossing him across the room.

At the same time, Jackson staggered into the room and fell face flat. I looked outside and saw that one of the young ladies was being held somewhere near a red eyed vampire. Three Strigoi were outside. I hadn't battled one for a month and I think I need to release some pressure this evening.

I ventured into my bag for one of my silver stakes.I tossed the stake I held, puncturing the Strigoi holding down the Moroi young lady. He let out a choked shout before going limp. One down, two to go, i chuckled. They saw me and rushed into the room. I got another stake in my bag and looked as they circled me. Unexpectedly they jumped together and I quickly moved to one side and sent the stake cruising into another undead heart.

The last one crushed into me, tossing us both to the ground and I lifted my arm to shield my neck just as his head descended. Teeth bit into tissue and I bit back the shout of torment. Gathering my power and using my legs, I kicked, twisting him away from me. He went flying across the room and I bounced up right away, overlooking the pain in my arm. I grabbed the stake, collided with the Strigoi and we rolled around in a tumbling wreck. After some trouble, I managed to get the stake between us and cut it through his chest.

With disdain, I drove the limp body away and moved sideways to get up. I noticed the wreck in the room with a frown. There was a little pool of blood surrounding the Strigoi and one obvious Moroi was lying on the ground while Jackson was gazing in shock at me.

"Hey, are you okay?" I asked waking up him from his shock. He gazed at me briefly longer before his eye abruptly broadened.

"Look out!" he yelled, pointing behind me. Twirling around, I slammed into one more Strigoi and snorted at the effect.

"You're that little demon, aren't you?" the Strigoi asked with a jeer. "You're smaller than I suspected."

"They always say that just before I kill them." I grinned as I plunged the stake through him. At the same time, he was pulled off by somebody from behind, but luckily my move was quicker.

"Dude, do you have any idea about how risky your move was? If you'd pulled him off a second sooner, I could never have gotten the stake through in time." I yelled at the Guardian who had their back turned to me.

He dropped the body and turned around to confront me with a harsh look. I felt my body freeze in shock. I knew him. I knew this Guardian since I was conceived. His dark hair was maneuvered into a pig tail as usual and his steely dull look struck me. I gazed at him and the only idea that went through my head was the manner by which I needed to get out. I needed to run, for if I didn't do so now I would be stuck.

I turned, leaving my stuff and ran for the door. I fumbled with the door handle and when I finally got it open, I smashed straight into a firm body. I staggered in reverse into a delicate but strong grasp. I shifted my head backwards to look up up at the Guardian that I identified as Andy Maxwell. I swallowed and gazed innocently at him.

"Can you kindly let me go?" I asked pleasantly.

"You must come with us."

"Why?"

"You just killed."

"If you guys are cops, then show me your identifications before you arrest me." I said cheekily.

"You just killed vampires." He repeated.

"Really? I didn't know. I thought I just killed two dolphins." I rolled my eyes.

"Where did you get those stakes from?"

"Ok clearly you all aren't policemen, so please accept my apologies for doing this." I smiled and made to get away again.

This time, the Guardian charged a me with a push. We tumbled to the ground and I punched his face with all that I had. He dodged at the last minute and banged me to the ground again forcing the air from my lungs.

For a brief moment, I saw stars and the next moment my hands were being tied behind my back. I tried to resist, but then I felt a hand hit me and there was a sharp pain on my neck before darkness finally overwhelmed me.