Note: Sydney's memory just got wiped out so now, Sydney's starting new and is completely unaware of everything from TGL to the first book.

*2*

Sydney Sage looks into the mirror before her. Her golden blonde hair falls out down her shoulder and stretches out as far as the tips of her elbows. Her gown is a dark yellow with no designs or anything fancy, a gown mean for business woman. That's what her father says when he sends Giana, her maid, out to buy her gowns all in khaki much to Giana's horror. Of course all alchemists are dressed in khaki but only when their in business. Sydney on the other hand has grown to love the plain color. Sydney is a girl who never wastes her time in fashion. No gown can ever make her look beautiful. Beauty cannot be shown by what you wear, but by what's in your heart. On the inside though, Sydney longs to be beautiful outside to. No person, no man can ever see past her dress and her plainness to see what's in her heart. No man ever will. Sydney longs to be like her younger sister Zoe, free of the Truth and beautiful. Sydney sadly knows that she isn't near either of those.

Ever since her father told her that she was an alchemist, she started to get loads of work. Her father has been giving her the cold shoulder ever since the past month and is always looking into her room to see what she's doing as if he is expecting her to jump out the window when he has his back turned to her. Sydney looks down at her hands as she wonders silently why her father hates her so much. These past few days, her father has been increasing her work load. She's being assigned more and more books to read and more papers to write. Not only that, but her father's getting her to meet five new people everyday. Every single one of them had their own story of their meetings with the Forbidden Ones and each of them carried another ounce of horror to add to Sydney's fear.

"Sydney?" Her father calls. "There's someone here to meet you."

Sydney sighs. "Coming father," she says.

Sydney pushes herself off the bed. She looks at her mirror one last time and straightens her gown and braid. She picks up her necklace, slips it around her neck and heads for the door. A nice warm smell greets her in the hallway as Sydney walks down the long narrow corridor of her house to her father's office. It smelled something quite like Christmas, her favorite time of the year. Her mother must be making her favorite soup and bread. Sydney can tell the smell of her mother's cooking a mile away.

Ignoring her stomach's constant protests, she walks into her father's dark, cold room that's lit up by a chandelier of candles sitting on top of his large wooden desk. Her father's desk is piled with papers and ink bottles and quills. She grew up with her father staining his shirts with ink every other second and his mother scolding him. Her father would do nothing but laugh a sound that she misses.

"Father you called me?" she asks as she closes the door behind her.

"Yes I did Sydney. I believe you know Andrew? He is my friend's son, your fellow alchemist partner."

Sydney nods grimly. She didn't like Andrew. She hears things about him all over town, things that make any girl disgusted and frightened of his presence. Luck turned out that Sydney had to have been assigned Andrew as her partner in her first few training months.

"Hello Andrew," she says forcing a smile.

"Sydney," he says back, a sly smile twitching on his lips.

"You two have been assigned a mission by our head," father begins.

Sydney's heart stops breathing. What happened to the books? She wants to say as fear takes over her. The thought of cold, blood red eyes, the sharp white ivory teeth, and a dark, merciless soul set on the path of blood is enough to get her knees shaking.

"A mission sir?" Andrew says stepping up. "What would that be?"

"You are to head off to town square and retrieve a packet from a Moroi who was sent by the head alchemist in America. A packet full of information we had gathered in our past mission from America. The packet has all the information about the mission with the young girl, the princess of the Forbidden Ones. You should remember Andrew; you read off her in the article the head given you a few days back."

Andrew nods in such a quick manner it is clear to both Sydney's father and her how clueless the alchemist is.

"Sydney do you know of the princess?"

"Her name is Jillian Mastrano Dragomir is of 15 years of age. She is the step sister of Queen Vasilissa Dragomir. She has the element of water and is bounded to Lord Adrian Ivashkov. They live in America and are undercover because the Strigoi are plotting to kill the young princess because they want to overthrow the queen."

"Very good," her father says.

Sydney nods at her father and steps back to where Andrew is standing and can practically feel the angry flames radiating off of his tall body. She bits her lip and tries to hold back a smile of success as she looks down at her toes.

"I knew that sir, I forgot in the moment of time."

Father nods and folds his hands on the desk. "You two may start your assignment now and Andrew can you stay behind for a while? I need to talk to you."

"Of course sir."

Sydney leaves the room as silently as she had come in and closes the door behind her. Her bracelet, the one her sister Carly had bought her recently, gets caught on the door knob and Sydney leans over it to undo the knot when she overhears her father's conversation with Andrew.

"Keep a close eye on her Andrew," he says in a hushed voice. "She just came out of it recently and if you see any signs you must bring her back to me immediately."

"Yes sir," he says. "I will."

Sydney gasps and pulls her bracelet off the knob and races down the stairs. Her hands tighten on her gowns as she hops down the steps. She nearly trips over her feet and catches the shelf on the bottom of the stairs for support. Her heart starts to pound against her chest as she looks up at the door of her father's office. What had he meant? What did she just get out of? What signs?

"Miss Sage?" Andrew says.

"I'm here," Sydney says looking into those cold eyes.

"Ah, scared aren't you?" he says as he walks down the stairs, as his footsteps echoing loudly through the house. "Freshies always are. After all you have been reading about the horrifying creatures for so long, you finally get to see one. You're nothing closed to being scared, it gets when it's time for you stand before them or even near them. Everyone always is scared, it's nothing unusual. After all, it's like you're talking to your own death you know?"

Sydney nods numbly as he reaches out for the door next to her.

"Shall we go?"

"Yes," she says, her voice as quiet as whisper.

Sydney follows Andrew down the porch of her two story yellow house and watches as he grimaces at the lilies she had planted her self. She stares at his back with fear and maintains at least six feet distance from him at all times. It's a trick Carly had thought her. The twenty seven year old man is as bright as the sun with his hair a blinding yellow and his eyes a bright topaz but his soul and heart are as dark as the deadly night itself.

Sydney's house is at the far end of Hillsboro Avenue, the road that leads to the central block, also known as Town Square, the place where are all the restaurants, opera houses, and grocery alleys are located. It's also the place where most people are during the day and night. It seems like an odd place for a vampire to set up a meeting here so early in the evening when the sun is still out. Sydney keeps quiet and looks around at the crowded Town Square.

Children run around unattended with lollipops and chocolate in their hands. Couples walk into the parks that branch off of Town Square, hand in hand and business men in fancy coats and ties laugh to each other with their arms filled with books and papers. Not one of them knows of the cold creature sitting somewhere around them who dreams and plans of murdering their brothers and sisters.

"We are here," Andrew says after a while of walking deeper into Town Square.

Sydney looks around at the place he had brought her. It's a dark alley, a place not meant for women and eighteen year old girls like her. She feels Andrew watch her from the corner of his eyes and she clears her throat boldly.

"Where is he?" she says trying to keep her voice from shaking.

"In the alley of course, the Forbidden Ones are not allowed to come out in the sun."

Sydney blushes from the snide comment, clearly a reprisal for her smartness back at her father's office.

"Of course."

Andrew chuckles in a dark tone and walks into the alley. Sydney follows him slowly and eyes the two brick walls that seem to reach out for her. A man with three empty bottles of wine sitting around him laughs and sings.

"A girl she went, a girl who came, a girl who took away my heart. A golden lily, a ray of shine, she left behind,"

Sydney shivers and steers herself away from the pot- bellied man and absent mindedly touches her cheek where the golden lily sits. Andrew seems to ignore this and takes a right leading her into another alley, though this one is empty and free of drunken men. They walk on for another long five minutes when they came to a door that led to a small cabin that Sydney never noticed before.

Andrew reaches out and knocks the door.

"Come in," a loud voice calls out.

Andrew steps and closes the door behind Sydney. Sydney looks around the dark room for the red eyes she had been reading about. Her hand flies to her necklace and she starts to recite prayers in her head as Andrew steps forward. He stops after advancing a foot or two before a table that Sydney didn't make out before.

"Sir Mazur," Andrew says bowing.

"Please," the man says rolling his brown eyes. "Call me Abe, Abe Mazur."

Hey my awesome readers! Thanks for reading and reviewing and here are my special shout outs.

Spaztronaut: Thank you and keep on checking in for (I hope) weekly updates

DropOfLove: Haha thanks!

Guest: Yep! This is my 1800 style re-education, though Richelle Mead's is probably scarier. And thank you!

Read and Reply!

~Purrfictionist