Hello and Welcome! Thanks for Taking the Time to Check My Story Out.

This is My Own Personal Little Version of Book 4: The Van Alen Legacy. I'm mainly just writing this to tide me over Until the REAL thing comes out, so I Hope you Enjoy the story and Leave me a Review. It is Jack/Sky centered, just FYI.

Please NOTE: I might Not Get to Update as fast as Some of You May Want.

I do have Twilight Stories that I need to Write as Well. However, I will try and update on this as Fast as I can.


Chapter One - "A Heaven, and A Hell"

Schuyler Van Alen took a deep breath in through her nose before slowly letting it out through her mouth, desperately trying to stay calm and deter the anxiety attack before it could begin.

Her fingers were twisted tight into the covers atop her bed, but as the minutes passed, she felt the tension begin to leak out of her, and the death grip she had on the blankets loosened. When she finally opened her eyes again, the room no longer seemed to be closing in on her, and for that, she was grateful.

Her emotions had been completely in control of her as of late, and the small victory was a relief.

Beauty, Schuyler's loyal bloodhound, whined at her feet, to which Schuyler offered a weak smile before patting the spot on the bed next to her.

Beauty wasted no time in joining her, and Sky stroked her head as she leaned back against her bed. Her real bed, in her own home.

Being back in the Van Alen mansion was an immense relief, but the homecoming was bittersweet and clouded by her heavy heart.

God, so much had changed.

And it had only been eight days.

Eight incredibly long days since Dylan, most of the Conclave, and her grandfather had been murdered, since Leviathan had been let loose, since Charles had allowed Schuyler to move back home and relinquished custody, and since the Society had received the shock of the century once news about the mission in Rio de Janeiro had reached them.

The Society had became a mess as soon as the news broke, the only semblance of order or leadership coming from Charles Force, who had immediately stepped in and taken over as Regis once again. The tension radiating off him as he had announced his position that day had been staggering. Clearly he wasn't happy to have been drug back into the Society this way.

He wanted them to want him back because he was a better Regis, not as a backup plan for when things went awry.

But Schuyler had payed him no mind since her return.

She had enough on her plate simply trying to dealing with the things in her own life. Things that would never, ever be the same again.

Things that had damaged her mind, as well as her heart.

Eight days ago today, Schuyler had also done one of the hardest things that she hoped to never have to do again.

She had let him go.

Jack.

Her heart still mourned the loss of him, would probably always mourn the loss of him.

Her thoughts were constantly filled of their short time spent together. She would wake up some nights having dreamed of their secret meetings, of the romantic trip to Vienna... She desperately missed their talks, the light touches that always set off butterflies in her stomach.

But along with those precious memories, also came the one that she hated the most.

The way he had looked at her when she'd broken it off with him had been devastating. Even now she could see the scene as if she were still living it, and each time, it was like a knife slicing into her.

She had hurt him so badly, and in the process, she'd hurt herself badly as well. Letting him go was like starving herself, and every day was a struggle to keep going. There had already been so many times when she had wanted to run back to him. Just run into his arms and beg him to love her again.

But she couldn't be with him; she couldn't compromise him like that.

He was too important to her.

Just the thought of Jack laying in a hospital bed as her mother did now was horrifying...

Schuyler refused to let that happen to him.

Instead, eight days ago she had forced herself to accept that they could not be, and that she was simply being selfish by trying to hang on to him. One day, he would understand just how hard it had been for her. Letting him go had not been as easy as she had made it look.

One day he would understand. He had to understand.

She was even going so far as to convince herself that on some level, he already did.

She prayed he did.

Every day since she had broken things off was torture.

It had been even harder to see glimpses of him at Duchesne this past week, either at lunch or in between classes when she instinctively felt the need to lift her eyes, only to see him weaving in and out of the crowd of students. She never meant to; it was just automatic of her to find him when he was in her vicinity.

And for Schuyler, those moments of seeing him were a heaven, and a hell.

Those moments.... Those were the moments when she wanted to break down and confess everything to him. Telling Jack she loved Oliver had been effective, because it was true, but she hated how she hadn't told the full truth to him. Yes, while she did love Oliver, she also loved Jack, too.

And he could never know just how much or how deeply she still did.

A knock on her door brought Schuyler back into awareness, and as she sat up on the bed, she heard his voice come through the door.

"Sky, are you up?"

She slowly got up off the bed, padding over to the door and pulling it open to reveal a bright eyed Oliver Hazard-Perry.

Immediately she was pulled into a hug, and for the moment, she simply let him hold her. Oliver was familiar, warm, and safe, and he was really the only thing keeping her together at the moment.

"Good to be home, huh," he commented after they had disengaged from their embrace moments later.

"Yeah. It is." Best not to tell him the whole truth about what she was feeling at the moment.

He stepped inside her room and walked lazily to her bed before plopping down on it. Beauty, still laying where Schuyler had left her, gave a huff in his direction before getting up and walking to the door, obviously not happy with his presence.

Confused, Schuyler closed the door behind Beauty as she left, and when she turned back to Oliver, he had a frown on his face.

"Wonder what's with Beauty..." He ran a hand through his hair before meeting Schuyler's eyes again. "Ah, anyway, we should celebrate you being home, since we haven't got to this past week and all. Movies and junk food sound good?"

Schuyler just wanted to be left alone with her thoughts, but Oliver pulled his puppy dog stare out, and Sky found that she didn't have the heart to say no. After all, he had been keeping her going. She owed it to him.

"Okay. That sounds...good. Like old times."

In response, Oliver gave her a dazzling smile, obviously trying to be charming, and it almost worked, but it was nothing compared to what Jack's smile did to her.

Oliver's smile didn't give her butterflies, or make her blood sing, or set her entire body on fire...

Unfortunately for Schuyler, only Jack's could do that.


So there you go.

This isn't the original version, as I have went through and done some editing. This version is actually a bit longer than the first one I had posted, and I'm quite pleased with how this turned out.

I have also renamed it, so for the readers who have read the original, don't let the title confuse you.

Reviews are Love and Greatly Appreciated!

- Brittney