As the time passed, many dark beings passed through the door to help, they all knew it was for the greater good and the sooner this place was up and running the better. It was overwhelming, not just vampires walked through the gate but the other dark beings too. Finn wasn't around anymore but in his place he had sent many wolves to help us. The king of the shifters sent helpers as well and of course, not to be outdone, there were many witches helping as well. They proved more beneficial than any of the dark beings, they used magic on the less important things like painting the walls, putting the flooring down and arranging the furniture. I hadn't ever seen a witch use magic before but when I walked into what will be the arcade I looked over a witches work with wonder in my eyes. The paint brushes moved by themselves, swirling a dozen bright colours across the walls. In the centre of the room was one sweet old man who was moving them with the flick of his hand as he pretended to conduct the orchestral music he was listening to. There was no order to the painting, there was no picture, but it was perfect. It was bright and happy and it looked like it was intentional.

It would have been great if they could have waved their hands and put up a dozen buildings for us but I was informed that their magic doesn't work like that. Their magic was heavily connected to the land, controlling how they used their powers. The land wouldn't allow them to fell a tree for making a building but they could use it to lift the bones of a house. And that was how we got dozens of houses for the workers delivered to us onto flatbed trucks. I was shocked the day they arrived with a house. Jonah was outside the wall instructing where he wanted the house to go, he had some plan going on in his mind, something was always going somewhere for some reason. And of course, because the rogues were hanging around, I was restricted to the inner section of the compound. His constant need to protect me was driving me crazy. I looked at the high wall behind the row of caravans that the workers slept in, seeing puffs of glittery wisps fly into the air. More magic was going on and I was missing out because of one frantic boyfriend. I jumped on top of a caravan and took a running jump to the wall. I had barely made it, my hands hanging on the edge. Grinning with triumph, I climbed onto the top of the wall. It was high and it was wide but it was the perfect perch for the view. Colours shot up into the air as they all worked on the house as a group. The ground had already been pre-prepared, flattened and cleared of debris. It was only a little house but it would be enough for a temporary measure. The first house went down with a giant puff of red dirt and the magic glittery wisps. There was a round of light cheers from the little group of witches and Jonah which of course I had to interrupt.

"If you can move a house, why can't you move an apartment building?"

A dozen eyes swung around and looked at me, rather shocked.

"Ivy! Get off the wall before you hurt yourself."

"Ok."

I jumped off the wall, much to Jonah's annoyance I was on the outer side of the wall.

"Ivy." he hissed low "Why are you doing this?"

"Because you need to learn that I don't need to be wrapped in cotton wool for the rest of eternity."

I moved past him and on to the group of witches.

"So, how come?"

"This is our limit, my lady." one young male said "We are tired from this one house, to move a large building would weaken us for a week, maybe more."

"I see." I looked over the house, thinking about his answer "And what if you had more witches here, would that be of more benefit to you?"

"You wish to bring all witches here, to move more buildings here?"

I turned to look at the little group.

"What we require is a fully functioning compound large enough to accommodate several hundred thousand humans." I gestured to the wall that towered over us "This little compound could barely accommodate a thousand humans at present. If we give you plans and drawings of what we want, offer your people compensation, would you consider giving us what we need?"

They looked around at each other, bewilderment, excitement, anxiety, it was fuelling their thoughts about the request.

"We could certainly put it to a vote."

"What do you think that your people would like as compensation? Money?"

"A realm of our own." one little voice spoke from the back of the crowd.

The witches parted to the young woman, she was hot and bothered from the work, her clothes dirty from the dust.

"Alright, speak with your people, cast your votes as to whether you will help us and what you would like. If you vote for a realm, then I will speak with the phoenix and ask that the request be made."

I turned to Jonah looking rather smug, he squinted at me knowing what I wanted him to do. He was my direct line to our maker and as he stormed through the gates, I knew that any fight that we would have would be worth it. This was going to get things moving faster and on a much larger scale. I sauntered back into the compound, knowing he was just annoyed because no one else had thought of this earlier. When I reached the administration building, he was in the office pouring over the plans with his parents.

"Ivy." Miranda grins as I stood at the doorway "Godfrey has approved of their request. If they help us, then they will get their own realm."

She moved closer to me with a smug grin.

"Don't you go telling them, but they were always going to get a realm." she winked and turned back to their little meeting.

When they were done discussing the plans, Terrance set out to find the witches that were still at the compound to invite them to a meeting. Miranda had taken off knowing that mount doom was ready to explode, giving some excuse of readying the boardroom for the meeting. Jonah stood by the window of his office, looking out over the gardens.

"Why do you think I want you wrapped in cotton wool?" his voice was low and husky.

This wasn't the mount doom that I was used to. I was expecting him to crack it over me jumping the wall, showing him up in front of the witches. But here was one calm and controlled Jonah, more worried about what I think. This was a little disconcerting.

"You think that you need to constantly protect me Jonah, I am a big girl now I can do that for myself."

I moved closer to him, feeling the dusty cotton shirt beneath my fingers, watching the dust rise into the air. He hadn't even changed first which was odd for Jonah. He would have normally changed into clean clothes, especially if he was having a meeting with his parents. Another thing to worry about.

"I know why you do it, you can't change the past. Do you remember what you said to me the night of the liberty ball?"

He looked at me curiously, saying nothing.

"You said, forget the past Iv, you'll live in sorrow forever if you don't let it go. I think the same applies here, don't you? He was after me too Jonah, regardless of whether I went with you or not, I was still in danger. Move forward and let it go."

He sighed one long heavy huff as he wrapped his arms around me.

*************************************

After our little conversation, Jonah did as I had thought he would. He went and changed into clean clothes. The witches that were at the compound had congregated in the boardroom, talking to Terrance and Miranda. Somewhere in between my little offer and this meeting, they had sent their own little magic word out. I looked upon the tiny scrolls scattered over the boardroom table, the paper was a blotchy parchment paper. Some of them sat on their ends, some of them jumped up from the wood. Gasping and wide eyed I poked one of the little scroll, it made a noise at me and of course I gasped again. The witches had already cast their vote; these little scrolls were the votes of every single witch that was old enough. There was a male that sat at the head of the table, I hadn't seen him among the workers at the little house, this guy was someone new. He was dark and menacing with his features but slipping into his mind, I found out that he was nothing like the hardened exterior he showed. His hand cast over the little scrolls and each of them stood on end, marching into one long pile that ran the length of the boardroom table. He nodded to Terrance with a smile, indicating that they were all positive votes.

They agreed to the terms and what they would be offered. Each witch was going to receive a wage and they would get their realm. They knew it would take our maker some time to create their realm but they were happy to wait. So it was done, every single witch came in to help, they scoured the nearest towns and brought in the buildings one by one. It was going to take a few months to be completely there but at least we were moving at a much faster pace. With their help, the estimated completion date was moved, ahead in schedule and under budget. Building works didn't stop just because we had the witches helping us, there were many things that they couldn't do because of the tie to the land. But we were getting there, we would be ready for the first load of humans. The scientists and their equipment were brought in, the medical staff were ready and waiting. The trucks were sent out again to raid another city, we needed everything we could get. Even the vampires started raiding the shops in their own areas, bringing the goods in on a daily basis. The amount of stuff being brought in was incredible, it was overwhelming. There was so much that we had to build another building to house the stock.

I had heard from those that visited us that upon their arrival the vamps in the area were handing out flyers with photos, almost like a sales pitch. A better life, food, health care and accommodation provided, safety from the animals and the rogues who had taken to killing the humans as well. Surprisingly there was a large number of them who were willing to get on the trains, those that remained would be loaded onto the last of the trains by force. The vamps that were counting them, advised that the number of humans being sent to us was in fact not the five hundred thousand that we thought, it was in fact lower, much lower. This was concerning for all vampires, this was our food source that was dying out, once they were gone, we would be in trouble. Jonah and I knew the task ahead of us was of vast importance, it wasn't just the humans that depended on us, it was the vampires too. We needed them to survive.