Her fingers glossed over the small formal invitation that had been delivered by a man bearing the telltale signs of being a 'blood bag', as humans belonging to vampires were affectionately called. He had been dark haired and pale with dark rings under his eyes and he used a cane to aid with his walking. Parties were a common occurrence within the Underground. Most who dwelled within the darkest corners of society found no use in working, as most hoarded money over the course of their long lifespans and she was no different. Her home was extravagant but small compared to others, so partying was the only thing they could do. Some pursued knowledge, others chose to wander around the world and some chose to dabble in drugs.

She dropped the invitation onto a small table that held a plain white vase with a few flowers arranged neatly within it. If she were to attend the party then she would have to get ready now in order to be there on time. The maids that bustled about in the background quietly picked up the invitation before setting it with the other invitations from previous parties.

"Lady Ivy?" A soft knock caught the woman off guard as she lowered her hair brush.

"Yes? Come in."

The maid from earlier stepped in with her hands folded together and she looked at the ground. "May I help you get ready for the party?"

Lady Ivy smiled softly as she looked at the maid through the mirror. "Yes." She was certainly nicer than the maid's previous employer.



The carriage ride wasn't particularly bumpy or exciting; in fact it was quite boring; she should have brought a book to read. When the carriage came to a stop, the woman brushed a stray lock of her dark hair out of her face before pulling on her thin gloves and smoothing any wrinkle she found. The carriage door was opened and she was helped out. There were many people already flowing into the large mansion. Some stayed on the steps to socialize. A few stopped and stared at the woman. Ivy was quite plain looking compared to the women that fluttered around the party. Even her dress was plain in comparison to others! Ivy's gown was a simple dark green and black dress with short sleeves. A simple black necklace was around her neck and a simple string of black pearls decorated her hair. The other women wore brightly colored gowns that were cut low enough to leave very little to the imagination with heavy jewelry and thick make up. Their hair reminded Ivy of the style worn in the French Court years ago.

The host of the party was a wealthy warlock by the name of William Abraham. He was a foolish man who believed that he was a gift to the world. Ivy disliked the man but she had a reputation to keep so she would attend his parties. They were around the same age, William and Ivy. She couldn't remember exactly how old she was since she had stopped counting the years long ago.

Her hands toyed with the green fan that she carried. If she would have been younger she would have enjoyed the parties more but as the years ticked on she found herself growing bored with them and the people who attended them.

"It's been ages, hasn't it Ivy?" A masculine voice called from behind her. Turning to face the source of the voice, for she already knew the man well enough, the woman looked at her fellow warlock. William Abraham grinned at her as he pushed back his light colored hair.

"It has been some time William." Ivy said with a polite smile. The man's brows furrowed as he noticed the strain in her smile. William was a persistent man, annoying even, and he knew just how to push her buttons.

"Is that a wrinkle that I see?"

Ivy's brows furrowed and a small frown came to her painted lips. "You know we never age." There was a tinge of sadness behind her words that the man caught. Although he had an ego the size of Europe, he had known the woman for a very long time. He knew of her desire to live like the humans that she watched. Once in their past the two had been close but an argument had driven a wedge between them and ever since then they have been on strained terms.

"Perhaps it is for the better that we cannot age and wither like humans." William's tone softened before he checked himself. He was the host of this ball, he couldn't just stand there and reminisce about times long gone. "If you'll excuse me, I must get on with greeting everyone. The ladies must be dying to see me." He quickly left Ivy's side to flutter from woman to woman like a butterfly.

After she no longer could see William, the woman decided that socializing was in the best interest for her reputation and it would help to keep the boredom away.

"Lady Alexis I must voice my concerns..." Anatolia said as she helped Alexis into her corset. The blind maids grey eyes half lidded with worry. "Attending an underground party?! Your father will be furious! Not to mention the trouble you'll get into down there..."

Alexis gasped as Anatolia pulled the wale bone corset tight against her sides, shortening her waste. Alexis had to hold onto the bed post to steady herself as Anatolia pulled: hard. "Oh come off it! Father isn't going to find out about this and neither are they. All I need to do is get in touch with a witch." Alexis McCallister was the youngest of the McCallister clan with three older brothers, an absent father, and an alcoholic mother. Not to mention a cursed family. "If I can-gasp-get a witch to-gasp-heal me I might-gasp-be able to get Clara to break our families curse." She wheezed. Once the corset was tight enough Anatolia begun to dress Alexis in her most fine garments for the swarray.

"Lady Alexis, I am well aware of your family history, but are you sure a witch is going to help you? What your proposing is absolutely ridiculous! Besides that we don't mix with the underground and they don't mix with us!"

"Well when their world threatens to be exposed, I'm sure they'll be more than willing to help out." Or at least willing to put me out of my misery... She thought bitterly. Alexis suffered from a very rare disease type in which her blood cells were only half the shape they should be and her blood didn't clot naturally. Due to her blood cells carrying less oxygen through out her body, her life expectancy was shortened to a mere 2 more years. At 17 this did not bode well for the young woman. The trade off to her illness was that Alexis could see what was known as the Underground; the supernatural world that most people couldn't. Her family had had a history of the supernatural and paranormal for years. Cursed. Her older brother could transport himself through mirrors and the twins were able to alter reality. For being a bunch of humans they could do some pretty odd things. But this power didn't come from them directly, it came from the family matriarch- Clara McCallister. As Anatolia put up her apple red hair Alexis was lost in thought.

"Well, you're ready as you'll ever be." Ana sighed. "You sure the party is at the Abraham place?"

"Most positive."

~~~

Alexis stood among the crowd, her red hair and dress matching the extravagant party goers. All of them were nonhuman. With her pale skin, red rose hair, and emerald green eyes the young teen easily passed for a demon. She heard some whisperers call her a succubi, that was fine. Let them think what they want. Her family may have been well known, but the members of the McCallister family were a little more mysterious. Humans who knew about the Underground (few as they were) just assumed they belonged there. The Underground didn't know what to think. Some speculated humans, others speculated an ancient and powerful race that was long believed extinct. All theories were outlandish and far fetched even by the McCallister family standards.

But this was a benefit to Alexis, because of her families rarity of public socialization she would not stand out like a sore thumb, but remain under the radar. The red head grabbed a champagne glass and stood over by the wall, her cat-like green eyes watching the dance floor. A cat stalking would be prey. She needed a witch. Only a witch could give her the answers she needed and hopefully extend her life by a few more years. She'd probably get better luck with a demon, but considering the fact her family had plenty to spare, it was better off that she left that particular can-of-worms unopened.

She sipped more of her champagne as something green flitted in the corner of her vision. Alexis tilted her head to find the color, and scored spotting none other than Ivy in her vision socializing with other party goers. The girl in green was a witch and a powerful one at that too. This night was going to get interesting.

The feeling of eyes on her never sat well with the woman; she turned towards the source of the feeling and brought her fan up to her face. It was a young red haired woman who looked around her age. Well her physical age at least. After a few more seconds of studying the woman, Ivy turned back to the couple she was talking to. The man's blue scaled skin and red eyes was certainly a combination she had only seen once or twice in her lifetime. The woman on the other hand sported two large backward curving horns from her forehead and even the horns had strings of pearls and other gems dangling from them. The woman brought a dark emerald green hand up to fiddle with one of the lower hanging strings. These people were warlocks like she was. Ivy was lucky enough to have small alterations to her physical body - her eyes were mismatching, the right being gold and the left a delicate shade of lavender. On the undersides of her arms, legs, torso and back were small patches of dis-colored purple skin that looked like bruises but they were merely colorations she had been born with. All warlocks had what they called a "Warlock mark" and that could range from simple changes in eye color, to something more extreme like her companions's bodies - scales, horns, sometimes wings, extra limbs, and tails.

"That girl..." the blue scaled man said as he looked around Ivy. “She must be one of the lesser marked ones. She certainly is beautiful." The woman tugged on the man's arm with a frown on her face and he sheepishly covered his behind. "But not as beautiful as you are, my darling."

The woman was satisfied with his answer and a smug smile came to her face again. "It was a pleasure speaking with you, we must be leaving now." The woman said before pulling the man away. Ivy knew it was so he could get his eyes off of the pretty red head. Her gaze wandered back to the red head and Ivy couldn't help but think that something was a little off with her. She'd seen demons before that looked completely human and vampires well; they were humans without a heartbeat. But there was something else about the young woman that drove Ivy's curiosity. Ivy picked her way through the crowd towards the young woman and when she was close enough she introduced herself.

"Hello. My name is Ivy." There was no surname to give; for as long as Ivy could remember she had just a simple three letter name and that was it. Even William did not know her surname or if she had even had one. At one point in their youth he jokingly told her that he could give her a surname.

For a brief moment the brunette wondered if the red head had heard of her. Her name was fairly well known within the Underground due to her skill in magic. Warlocks and other magical beings had long life spans and were able to use magic but it all came with a price - If they used up too much magic they would suffer from great bodily harm and often times were bed ridden for days or, in the cases of some, months. Death from over use of magic was rare and often it left the warlocks itching to die. While they did have extraordinarily long lifespans there were a few things that could kill them but those were forgotten in the history books of both humans and underworld folk alike.

Alexis tilted her head as Ivy approached. Her posture calm and collected, her green eyes appraising the older witch thoughtfully. "The rumors don't do you justice, Miss Ivy." The red head replied respectfully, her face cracking in a friendly smile. "My name is Alexis Cheshire." She curtsied as the lie rolled off her tongue easily. It would be better to lie about her surname and keep herself under the radar as much as possible. She needed to blend in and figure out a way to heard Ivy somewhere private where they could talk.

She sipped the rest of her champagne, her green eyes never leaving Ivys. "I must say it is a surprise to see you here. I figure you would go for the more wild parties." She winked at the brunette and giggled holding her champagne glass. Upon closer inspection of Alexis one could notice that she was thinner than the average person. Almost anorexic looking, as though she was diseased. Her skin looked as though it were made of porcelain rather than flesh. In a way she could also pass for a clay doll, but that theory was automatically disproved because of her heart beat, as faded as it was. A very peculiar underground person indeed. The red head felt a little bad that she was lying through her teeth, and breaking all sorts of rules regulated by both worlds, but desperate times called for desperate measures.

And she was running out of time a lot quicker than she liked.

She watched the girl closely and a small frown came to her lips as she pulled her fan in front of her face again. Ivy disliked it when people seen her smile or frown so she had a large collection of fans to hide behind. "I don't believe I've heard that name before." Ivy said as she closed her fan. She snatched a small flute off of a passing tray before bringing it to her lips. I wonder if by now my cheeks would be flushing red if I were a human. she thought. Ivy had already finished one glass of champagne before coming to talk to the red head. Nothing ever seemed to affect her any more. One of her brows quirked upwards and she let out a small sigh.

"When you've lived for as long as I have, parties all blend together after a while. Why don't we go and visit William's garden? You're looking a little pale." she suggested. Ivy took a small sip of her drink before making her way through the crowd.

William's garden was magnificent and it was Ivy's favorite place to come when parties were thrown here. Although she had a dislike for William, she could not speak ill of his garden or his choice of flowers. Just outside of the French doors that connected the garden to the rest of the home, was a large porch made of white wood. There were chairs and couches positioned around that some were already using for other activities. Stepping down from the porch, Ivy turned to see if the red head was following her. William's garden featured several pathways that lead into a small maze of hedges that changed the path every so often through the use of magic, although the very center of the maze stayed the same. It was a small pond with a tiny island in the middle that housed a small gazebo. Around the garden were various statues of classic statues and some rather odd ones. The flowers grew along the edges of the path and in small flower beds that, like the maze, were always changing their shape.

Already she could see a few flowers that William had planted in honor of a few former friends of theirs. That hit a sore spot in her heart and for a few moments she didn't know if she should yell or cry. Ivy unfolded her fan and hid her lower face behind it as she watched the garden. The sun was giving way to the stars in the sky and its fading light bathed the garden in orange and gold. It was a beautiful sight and it calmed her heart little by little.