3rd person POV:

It was such a shame. Such a shame that the pretty alchemist girl got kidnapped. Such a shame that she and the handsome moroi didn't get their happy ending. Such a shame that he continued looking for her when it was no use. She wasn't herself anymore. She wasn't the girl he remembered. Of course he didn't know that. All he knew was that she was gone and that he would find her. Because that's what people do for their soul mates, right? At least he thought so. When everybody else simply gave up and said that it was useless, he continued his search. His closest friends helped when they got time, but after five whole months without a clue as to where she was or who had taken her, it seemed hopeless. She was probably dead by now but the emerald-eyed spirit user refused to accept that. He kept looking for the love of his life. He would never give up.

Adrian's POV:

Five months. Five months my Sage had been gone. Five months without her bright aura. Five months without hearing her voice. Five months without a single trace. The sadness kept overwhelming me and every day was a battle to keep myself away from the bottle and the soothing feeling that I knew was in it. I was almost on my breaking point. She had been gone too long, I needed her here to keep me steady. After the big kiss and her leaving I had been avoiding her to help her make her decision. Before she disappeared I had known that it was only a matter of time before she would realize what she felt towards me and I had stupidly thought that I would have my happy ending. If I had known from the start that she would vanish from my life I would have held her close and never let go. But it was too late now. Stupid Adrian, I scolded myself. Stupid, stupid, stupid. She was gone and with her she took my heart. Lissa had passed the law and Jill was safe again. It passed only a month after Sage's disappearance. We were all back at court; Eddie and Angeline were hard working guardians and Jailbat was busy with different royal assignments. Left there was me. The party-boy. The careless Ivashkov. The heartbroken Adrian. I spent most of my days trying to get clues as to where she had gone and trying to contact her in a spirit dreams, I was almost the only one that hadn't given up. The dreams hadn't worked so far though but I wasn't going to stop trying. When she vanished without a trace that afternoon five months ago, the alchemists had turned every stone. When they gave up, I started my own search. I couldn't just let her vanish, I had to save her. She was my world and somehow, I felt that it was my fault that it happened. If I had just been there. I shouldn't have left her alone and given her space after the kiss. And now I had lost her. But not forever. I was certain that I was going to find her. There was no other option. I would find my light, my Sage. I had some help of course. Whenever Jailbat, Castile, Angeline or Rose had some time, they would help me search for clues. They were very helpful and nice, and when they thought I didn't notice, they looked concerned. They clearly underestimated my brilliant observing skills. I could understand their concern. Spirit was set to drive me insane sooner or later, and obviously, my so called 'friends' thought that I was already there. It hurt my pride a bit but since I was pretty used to it, I usually didn't give a fuck. But I can't say that it didn't hurt. I didn't like being ruled out as crazy whenever I did something out of the ordinary. They never took me seriously. It wasn't fun at all. Anyway, all I did all day long was to look for her, paint and try to stay away from the booze and the cigarettes. It was a lot harder to keep myself from my vices when Sage wasn't around to help me get a steady grip of the world. I had to literally tell people to hide their liquor or nicotine whenever I was going somewhere, just to keep myself from going mad and throwing myself on it. I knew that Jill was concerned about my behavior, and since she felt how the darkness sometimes almost consumed me, she kept close tabs on me. I was lucky to at least have her to bring me a little further down to earth than I mostly was. She helped, even though she didn't help as much as Sage. Oh my Sage. I was lying on my back on my couch in my room. I was staring at the ceiling and felt the edges of my world become darker and darker. I just kept my cool, tried to breathe, and stared at the ceiling. Suddenly everything seemed grayer than usual and I was overcome with the urge to find some alcohol. Just a teeny drop in the bottom of a empty bottle would do. Anything. I shot up from the couch and started looking before I realized what I was doing and stopped myself. I was not supposed to drink. I was supposed to stay strong, for Sage. I had to. Suddenly the grayness was gone. I still had dark edges though. Wherever I looked I could see the shadows in the corners, threatening to blind me and take control of my thoughts. I stared right at one with my most intense gaze. I scrutinized it and could barely believe what I saw. In the darkness I could see a tiny Sage being killed by a tiny strigoi. They were as big as the palm of my hand but it still felt like it was her. Fear washed over me and the tears threatened to run down my cheeks.

"GO AWAY! YOU ARE NOT REAL!", I yelled to the shadow. This had happened many times before. The shadows appeared, I yelled at them to go away and they ignored me. I thought I could hear the shadow laugh softly before it morphed into something else. Now I saw that the tiny Sage looked pale. So pale. She looked straight at me and bared her fangs in an evil grin. The tiny Sage was strigoi.

"STOP IT. NO! GO! LEAVE ME ALONE!", I shouted once again before I sat down in a crouch and covered my eyes with my hands. I rocked slightly back and forth and I lost track of time. I heard the shadow laughing in front of me but it didn't seem to come any closer. When I felt a hand on my shoulder I jumped straight up to standing and pressed my back against the nearest wall. I put up my hands as a shield and looked over to what the darkness had sent my way this time. In front of me stood a wide-eyed Jailbat with a guardian right behind her. I dropped my hands to my sides. She looked so scared. Maybe scared of me, maybe scared of what she saw in my mind. The fear from the tiny Sages were still etched in my brain and I couldn't shake the image of Sage as a strigoi. What if that was what had happened? What if she was running around somewhere, killing people? My mind raced off in horrible thoughts until I felt Jill shake my shoulders and saying my name. I had obviously been drifting off for quite a while judging by the panic in poor Jailbat's face.

"Snap out of it Adrian, come back to me.", Jill calmly said when she saw that I was returning to the real world. "It's not real, calm down.", She looked at me with that concern that only she could muster to a hopeless case like myself. I let my hands down and relaxed.

"I'm okay. I'm okay. I just.. Need a cigarette or something.", This had been the worst attack so far. I had been overwhelmed with insanity and darkness before, but never like this. Things were getting worse.

"No no no, you don't, please. You have been so good. Just.. Paint. That's what you should do.", Jill looked content with her solution. She was still so innocent. Just painting wouldn't do this time. I could feel it. I had to break my promise to myself. I needed a cigarette. But I would restrain myself until she left. I couldn't let her down.

"Yeah, paint. I can do that.", I tried to assure her. She smiled. Sweet Jill.

"Good. I was just going to check up on you. You're getting worse, aren't you?", She asked. Her voice was filled with concern and fear.

"You don't need to worry Jailbat, I'm a big boy. I can take care of myself.", I tried to put in some of my usual wittiness in the comment but it just sounded sad and hollow.

"You might be a big boy but you can't take care of yourself. You're not in this alone you know.", She pointed out and lead me to the couch where we sat down. "I miss her too.", It was barely above a whisper. And I saw her eyes getting teary. She quickly blinked the tears away and looked at me.

"I know you do.", I whispered back. "But you also know why I can't give up."

"I know. But I think it would be better for you if you just came to peace with the fact that we might never find her.", Jill looked so sad. She stroked my arm, and it was annoying. I was not a little child. She should just stop feeling sorry for me. I could take care of myself.

"I will find her. There's no other option.", I held my ground. Besides, I had always had a magical way of getting whatever I wanted. This was not going to be an exception, I would make sure of that.

"If you say so. Just try and paint or something, okay? I hate seeing, and feeling, you like this.", She started going to the door. "I have to go, behave.", She said before she waved and pulled out that smile of hers. I waved back but didn't smile. I didn't feel like it. I needed a drink.

A/N: So, yeah. Here's my new story. I've noticed that I tend to prefer writing really dark and sad stories so if you like that, you're definitely in for a treat here! But don't worry, It's going to be happy times too, just not as many. I hope you'll like it!