Gardens of Eden (V.2) Chapter One

Note: I've re-written this story as I found that it needed a bit of a change. The first part will seem similar to those who have read it before but keep reading because I've changed a couple of things. Thanks.

P.S: Edited as of 30/5/17

IVY

Saturday 10th September 2016

Deafening silence supplanted the atmosphere; the sound of torrential rain filled its empty void. Against the blackness of the night sky, smoke painted the heavens with its polluted smell of death, cackling at the bodies left in its fiery wake.

Ivy sat curled under a red apple tree in St James Park, her head buried into her arms as she cried uncontrollably. Tears streamed down her brown cheeks and dripped off her chin, mingling with the falling rain.

Her grey and white flannel hugged her body; it was accompanied with black jeans and laced boots. Her drenched, short, curly black hair was combed back, dripping drops of water down her back. She was young, only 16 years of age but she wasn’t oblivious to death, she’d seen it many times considering her age.

A tower of cars was stacked in front of her, a monument to what had just occurred. Her family had been victims of a car crash, her included but God had deemed her life unworthy to join them in heaven and gave her the curse of surviving.

Why me? She kept asking, demanding but no one but silence answered her.

  “Ivy,” a voice whispered.

At first, Ivy thought it was Rose, her twin sister, calling her name; the voice resembled that of honey, just like Rose’s. So she smiled but then she heard the voice call to her again but this time it was more masculine, mimicking that of her brother’s – no, this voice was too menacing to be Adam’s.

She slowly raised her head, cautious but intrigued to the prospect of who it might be. But to her bewilderment, she saw a blurred image of her father crouched before her. He camouflaged with the shrouding darkness that engulfed them as if he was part of it, as if he belonged to it.

  “Father?” Ivy asked, narrowing her eyes.

  “Do I really look that old?” the figure replied taken aback.

Ivy froze at the response, this wasn’t her father he’d never make such a witty remark. She rubbed her eyes, confident it was dizziness due to the crash that was deluding her mind, and she was right. Crouching in front of her was a handsome, young man, smiling in amusement.

  “Get away from me!” Ivy screamed as she scurried to her feet and hid behind the apple tree, though she leaned out, her eyes fixated on the stranger.

The young man stood up and put his hands in his black, trench coat pockets. “If you really wanted me to go, you wouldn’t have hidden behind the tree now would you?” he said. “You would have run off like a scared kitten,” he wiggled his fingers in the air, mimicking a running cat. “You’re curious about me, aren’t you?”

Ivy scoffed at the comment but deep down she knew he was right. Without realising it, she’d been staring at his crimson eyes this entire time.

  “Who are you?” Ivy asked curiously.

  “I am the great demon, Damon!” the young man exclaimed, bowing with his arms wide open. Ivy raised her eyebrows sceptically. “And the real question you should be asking is what I can do for you.”

  “Halloween’s next month, try your getup on someone else,” she fumed before walking away, Damon huffed in annoyance.

Suddenly, in the blink of an eye Damon was in front of her, and he pinned her to the tree. Ivy felt her heart begin to pound against her chest, warning her to flee but she didn’t want to. But the question on her mind kept echoing in her head, how did get to here so quickly?

  “You shouldn’t joke about such things, naïve little girl, the world is more dangerous than your innocent eyes allow you to believe,” Damon warned. “Tell me what you want and I’ll give it to you.”

  “I don’t know what you mean,” Ivy said, her voice trembled with fear. She refused to look him in the eye and kept her head down.

Damon lifted her chin, forcing her to make eye contact with him and she felt an unreasonable shower of peace come over her. Seeing his peculiar eyes up close eliminated the doubts she had of them not being real. Just what in the world was he?

  “This car crash was no accident.”

Ivy narrowed her eyes in confusion. “You’re lying.”

  “It was planned.”

Ivy opened her mouth but couldn’t utter a single word; she was paralyzed by shock but infuriated with anger. Damon could feel her blood boil on his finger that he winced in pain and removed it.

He stared at her with bug eyes but she seemed disinterested in the strange occurrence; her mind was boggled with the thought that her parents and siblings had been murdered. This was the perfect opportunity for Damon to work his magic.

  “I don’t believe you,” Ivy said but there was doubt in her words.

  “Yes you do.”

Ivy paced back and forth, her hands pulling at her hair like a lose string on a piece of clothing. “Who would kill them? My family had no quarrel with anyone!”

  “Your parents did. They weren’t who you thought they were, Ivy.” Damon professed.

  “What do you know of my parents?” Ivy snapped, shoving Damon backwards.

  “I know that they were the most powerful people in the world.”

Ivy’s face drowned in disbelief. “What are you talking about?”

*****

Damon immediately had taken Ivy to her home in Westminster after she demanded to know her parents true identities. Her heart sunk after seeing the new found information he presented her with, to know her parents weren’t who she thought they were, was a sharp awakening. But Ivy had made her choice. A painful death was coming for the bastards who took her precious family away from her too soon

  “Ready to sign the contract?” Damon asked, breaking her thought.

  “Contract?”

Damon palmed his face in disbelief. “I’m a demon, love, I need something in return.”

Ivy gulped nervously as he summoned a yellowish brown paper and black feathered pen in his hand. He handed it to her and she read over the contents.

‘Terms of the Soul Contract with Ivy Mayne.

After completing Ivy’s revenge or whatever she wants to call it, Damon the greatest demon that ever lived, will possess and eat her tasty soul.

o Agree

Or

o Agree

Signature: .................................................................................................’

Her expression turned panic-stricken. “My soul?”

  “What else do you think I wanted in return, a packet of sweets? A pat on the back?” Damon said in a sardonic tone.

  “But – what happens when you – eat my soul? What happens to me?” Ivy asked, the words tasted revolting in her mouth.

  “If you’re worried about reuniting with you family, don’t, you’ll see them in the afterlife.”

Ivy took a breath of relief. “Thank goodness, I thought devoured souls wonder in limbo for eternity.”

  “You humans know nothing,” Damon laughed with stony eyes.

Ivy’s hand quivered over the paper. Her heart wasn’t fully in this, she was afraid, afraid to die. Damon impatiently tapped his feet as she questioned her decision. Living meant suffering alone, without a purpose, without anyone to call family or home. Death was the only way to be free of the curse God had bestowed upon her; it was the only way to be reunited with her family.

  "Come on, love - I don't have all day!" Damon moaned.

  "This doesn't feel right," Ivy whimpered.

  "Nothing in this world feels right but you won't know until you do it," Damon lectured but Ivy still wasn't convinced. "What would your father say?"

How did he know what her father would say? How did he know how to persuade her like this?

She looked at her saviour, his pale skin was painted with streaks of blood which complimented his crimson eyes and his blonde hair was shaved into a buzzcut. “This will get me my revenge?”

  “And much more.”

Ivy took a deep breath and signed the contract, handing her soul to the Devil. The stars marked this precarious event, dancing and laughing within the blanket of the night.

  “Now what?”

  “I’m at your disposal, Master,” Damon bowed.

The word ‘master’ sent chills through her spine, unlocking memories she didn’t want to remember.

  “Just call me Ivy.”

*****

IVY

Thursday 15th December 2016

  “It took me three months to get here,” Ivy said, twirling a golden hilted knife in her fingers. She sat on a wooden chair, towering over a naked body.

In contrast to his bareness, she was drenched in black. She wore a long jacket, blouse and slim trousers; on her feet were combat boots. Neatly folded on the floor was a pile of luxurious clothing: a blue Boss Hugo light coat, a black Dolce & Gabbana shirt and white Julius slim trousers.

  “Three months to become what my father taught me to be: ‘a God among men’, Master to the slave,” she smiled amusingly at the boy lying in the glass table.

The boy was young, the same age as her. He tried to respond but his words were muffled with the belt wrapped around his mouth. His tanned skin was decorated with scars and an old wound, behind his right ear was a rose tattoo and his hair was once jazzy quiff was wet with sweat.

Ivy put a finger to his lips. “I know we’ve come to an understanding, you and me – but you’re his son and I made a promise.”

She stood up and covered her hands with latex gloves, his eyes filled with horror and lust as she ran the tip of the knife down his chest, splitting his skin open, blood oozing from the cut.

  “One last time?” Ivy asked sultrily and he arched in response, a sweet moan escaping from his lips.