Ok, I'm a terrible person for not posting sooner. It would drive me nuts to wait two weeks for one chapter. But, exams, exams. I'm officially done with HS. It's really weird for me to know I'm not going back. I'm even starting to feel old. Does anyone even read these little beginning notes on my chapters?

I'm very proud of my 3.9 right now. -that's why I didn't have time to post haha.

Thanks again for all the reviews! Here's a longer chapter as a thank you. :)

~Sarah

Schuyler wasn't used to using the intercom at the massive metal gates to the Hazard-Perry estate, yet she couldn't think of anywhere else to start her search for her lifelong friend. So as she walked up to the buzzer, and reached out to hold down the circular button, Schuyler couldn't help but feeling out of place. Normally Oliver would be by her side, laughing with her over some hilarious incident at the Met, or back at Duchesne. The very fact that he wasn't beside her made her second guess coming here. She wasn't sure if it would be right to involve him, especially after everything she'd put him through. He may be cured of his familiar-induced love for her, but that didn't mean he didn't still care for her. He would insist on helping her, and in this situation, he would be putting himself at risk. And Schuyler wasn't sure she was selfish enough to ask that of him again.

Schuyler paused as she looked up at the beautiful mansion before her. She had always felt welcome there before, and yet it somehow appeared distant to her now, as though she had never spent long hours inside its carved wooden doors building blanket tents and reading by flashlight. The cool stone pillars that framed the doorway seemed bare to her now, as though they had never been part of her past. Even the flowers along the sidewalk seemed unwelcoming to her now. Schuyler knew it wasn't right to have come here. It had been a long time since she had asked for Oliver's help, and she wasn't sure it was right for her to ask it now.

"Are you just gonna stand there like that, or am I going to have to drag you inside myself?" A playful, boyish voice spoke behind her. Schuyler whirled around at the familiar sound, heart skipping a beat. There, leaning against the stone pillar across from her, was her former best friend and Conduit, Oliver Hazard-Perry. He raised a quizzical eyebrow at her, and within a split second, she had bounded over to him and embraced him in a bone-crushing hug. At least it should've been a bone-crushing hug. All Schuyler could manage was a weak squeeze.

"Ollie!" Schuyler said as she embraced her friend. "I'm so happy to see you." She pulled away from him as he smiled back at her, loping an arm around her waist like old times.

"I'm pretty happy myself." He laughed, "I kind of expected you to be in Egypt or something by now." Oliver's kind eyes took in Schuyler's lean body, her dim and faded face. Almost instantly his smile vanished, and his arm tightened a bit around her. "What's wrong? And tell me the truth Sky." He gave her a hard stare, and Schuyler's earlier hesitation vanished as she looked into the worried face of her best friend.

"I was hoping you could tell me." She pulled him down onto the sidewalk beside her, suddenly unable to stand despite his supporting arm. Then she repeated the story for him just as she had for Jack, and watched his growing horror, then rage, as she finished telling it. "I was hoping you would know what I should do to reverse the Silver Blood's effects. I keep waiting for my body to recover, but all it seems to be doing is growing weaker. When I woke up this morning, I couldn't remember anything about the last week. It was like part of my life had just disappeared. I never want that to happen again." Tears began to gather behind Schuyler's eyelids as she fought for control. By herself, she could ignore everything that had happened, everything that was happening. But with Oliver, she was forced to face it. She had to, if she wanted to survive.

"It won't Sky. We'll fix it." Oliver looked at her until she opened her eyes. Then he stood up and started to pull her to her feet.

"Hey! What are you doing?" She protested as he pulled her over to the town car parked on the street in front of his home. Its sleek black surface shone in the early-evening sun. Oliver held the door to the passenger seat open as he ushered her inside, and closed it without a word. Then he walked over to the driver's side and got in.

"We're taking you to see my Aunt." He said finally with a tight look.

"Ollie! I can't go to see her. What if someone sees?" Oliver's Aunt was a red blood, but also the most trusted Blue Blood doctor In New York. She had helped Schuyler during the early stages of her transformation, and Oliver trusted her, just like Schuyler trusted her. But that didn't change the fact that every blue blood in the conclave knew her, and Schuyler couldn't afford anyone catching sight of her. She already had enough problems without Venators breaking down her door.

"We'll just make sure no one sees you." He gave her a tight smile as the car started to roll forward.

"You make it sound so easy." Schuyler rolled her eyes.

"It is. Just change your features like you did before, back when I was hiding you here in New York last year." Schuyler remembered what he spoke of. When she had been on the run from the Conclave with Oliver to escape the judgment for allegedly murdering her grandfather, Oliver had forced her back to New York when her body began to fail from being so far away from her people. She had used the things Lawrence had taught her to change her features enough to be unrecognizable. But even then, it had been hard. All she had been able to manage was an older, more warped version of herself.

"I'm too weak Oliver. " Schuyler thought back to that morning, about how she had been pulled into the glom against her will, and then had to escape. "I can barely even come out of the glom on my own. I'm too weak…" she let her words trail off as she looked at her fragile body. She had always thought of herself as strong, but lately, her strength always seemed to fail her.

"Sky…" Oliver stopped until she raised her eyes to his, "You're going to have to try. Just for a little bit. The only thing you have to deceive is the camera over the entrance. After that, everything will be fine. I promise."

"I don't know Oliver…how can you even be sure there isn't going to be someone inside who will recognize me?" she doubted she could do it, but if he thought she could, she would at least have to try. But then, if she did make it past, she'd have to run the risk of overlapping with someone else's appointment.

"No one will be inside. It's a Sunday," Oliver tapped his watch, keeping one hand on the wheel. "and it's after hours." It was nearly six o'clock. No wonder it looked so dark outside the lightly tinted windows.

She had to admit, he had a point. The risk of anyone seeing her was very low, if only she could make it past the camera. With her long black hair and striking face, she would be instantly recognizable. But if she walked in with a completely different face, her long dark hair and withered build wouldn't cause anyone to even bat an eyelash. She'd just be another face; No one of importance.

"I'll try." Schuyler began to concentrate inwardly, pulling all her energy to this one task.

"That's my girl." Oliver smiled at her, and focused back on the road.

Only a few minutes later, Schuyler was standing outside 's office, bearing a very tenuous hold on new face, her hair pulled up high into a bun behind her. Oliver waved at her from the car, signaling her to go in. She smiled ruefully at him once more before she swung open the glass doors and walked inside the office building.

It was dark and empty inside, and she didn't even see a camera. Schuyler walked past the barely used receptionist's desk and up the flight of stairs to the second floor where Dr. Pat's office was. Just as she had been expecting, everything about the room had changed.

Gone were the colorful rugs and upholstered furniture that had last adorned the room. It was changed to a fashionably sterile version of an Old English sitting room. The shining oak floor boards echoed against her heels as she walked to the center of the room. Maple paneling hung off the long, clean walls, and a large old dining table served as the tabletop to hold fashion magazines for waiting patients. If not for them, Schuyler would have doubted being in Dr. Pat's office at all.

Maybe Oliver was wrong, Schuyler thought as she looked around the dark room. No one was there, and it looked more deserted than Cordelia's old mansion along the river. The faux oil-lights hanging from the ceiling were dark, and the buzz of the air conditioning was the only sound to be heard.

Schuyler saw something move from the corner of her eye, through the dense frosted class that led to the examination room. She set out toward it, turning the handle in hopes the Doctor was there after all. Schuyler could only go on this weak for so long.

The door opened in without her even leaning against it, and Schuyler stepped into the room. But it wasn't Dr. Pat's friendly face that smiled back at her, it was the shining edge of a venator's sword.

Schuyler gasped as it lightly grazed her neck, barely drawing blood before she could slip away back out into the waiting room. The venator followed, holding his weapon aloft in front of her, backing Schuyler into a wall.

He was no one Schuyler had seen before, but there was something about him that caused Schuyler to shrink back before she could even begin to have thoughts of fighting. Somehow, she didn't think she'd win against that blade in her current state, and the enchantments around the room wee waiting to destroy anyone who tried to break out. They were humming in her ears, taunting her. She was trapped.

"Aperio!" the man commanded, in a voice that thundered through the glom. His dark brown eyes sunk into her as her commanded her body. The mess of black hair over his handsome face shifted as he drew back to study her. Schuyler had nothing to offer against his command, so she lat it take her, knowing full well that her new face hadn't been much of a disguise to begin with. The only path now would be to fight.

Schuyler felt her face shift back to its rightful place at the command, and with it, her strength. She sagged against the wall as the weight of her body pulled her down. She tried to reach for her sword, but memories evaded her, and she had a difficult time remembering where she put it.

Immediately, the Venator lowered his sword. He stepped back, giving her room to breathe.

"So it is you after all amico." The man said in perfect English untainted by the Italian accent laced throughout. He stared down at her, somehow looking doubtful. Though Schuyler had no idea what he had to be doubtful about. It was obviously her. She could barely summon up the strength to respond to him, and her heart hammered in her ears, making it difficult to hear.

"What do you want with me?" was all Schuyler could manage to ask. No polite hello, my name is… She didn't have time to be polite anymore.

"Simply to help you Ms. Van Alen. Or is it Mrs. Force now?" He regarded her once more, "yes, you certainly do seem to need help." Schuyler simply stared at him, waiting for him to go on. She didn't bother prompting him. As it turned out, she didn't need to. "The silver blood venom in your blood will not disappear on its own, Schuyler. It will continue to spread, each cell infecting clean ones, until you will hardly be able to stand." She sank to the floor, as if to prove his point. "This wouldn't have happened if you hadn't been marked by another. The venom is poison in and of itself, but paired with another vampire's venom from the Caerimonia, it becomes deadly. It's not the venom itself that kills, but the body's rejection of two separate lifebloods. Essentially, the fight will kill you." So death was on the horizon for Schuyler afterall.

"How do you know I was attacked?" Schuyler asked weakly, as her stupor began to fade and she could sit up again. The man sat cross-legged before her and smiled, features relaxing into a much softer, open face. It wasn't a man after all, but a woman in disguise. Her long chestnut hair fell in waves down her back, and her face gleamed with a new vibrancy. She was certainly very powerful to mask such features, but Schuyler didn't have time to dwell on her own weak attempt to mimic such skill.

"Because I believe I am the very one you were looking for when you were attacked in Paris." She said in her true melodic voice, cat-like eyes sparkling. "I found you lying in the street next to the slain silver blood. By then, there was nothing I could do to help but follow you here in hopes of finding you alone. You are not the only one being hunted." She pulled Schuyler's hands from the floor and rubbed them soothingly. "For two years I have been in hiding, right under the nose of the corrupted Parisian Conclave. When I saw the daughter of Gabrielle searching for me, I knew I had to do something. I could no longer hide and protect myself."

"So you came here and waited for me." Schuyler could feel her eyes widening in realization as the woman's story began to click into place. "Then you must be the Gatekeeper. You must know where the Gate of Alexandria is." Schuyler sat up straighter, suddenly rejuvenated by this great leap in her otherwise empty search.

"I know where it is, but you will not be able to reach it alone." She said as she stroked Schuyler's hands in a very motherly way.

"But why? I have to. I must find it before the Silver Bloods do." Schuyler was not surprised to hear the vindication in her voice. This was her quest, and she would succeed.

"Because only one who has known hell can enter the Gate of Promise, for it holds the promise of redemption, and It can only be destroyed from inside." Schuyler thought of her life to that point, of all the dealings with death and destruction. Yet through it all, Schuyler had never felt she had been at fault. Everything that had happed to her had happened because of evil. She had made mistakes, and had been down the road to the mouth of hell. But had she really been there? Schuyler wasn't sure anymore.

"But I know hell. I've been there." Schuyler insisted, not wanting to let her first real lead end so quickly.

"You were but an innocent lamb led to slaughter. If not for Abbadon, your soul would be lost, and Lucifer would be roaming the Earth, engulfing it in fire. Only the former Generals of the Morningstar's army can enter this Gate made for Death. Only they can destroy it and make it back alive. They know the path that will lead them there, and together they can destroy it." She looked mournfully at Schuyler, long brown hair framing her darkening face. "You, Daughter of Light, must act as a candle for them in the dark of Hell."

"How?" Schuyler demanded, almost afraid to hear the answer. The Gatekeeper smiled at her, letting the silence hang in the air before it answering, seeming to contemplate her words.

"By being joined to Abbadon, you will be able to enter by his side, but only by the power of both Angels of Destruction." Schuyler's heart fell when she heard that last part. There was no way Mimi Force would ever go anywhere with Schuyler was if she were dragging her decapitated body to her grave, or tossing her into Black Fire.

"But Mimi would never agree to work with Jack and I, she's sworn to destroy us both." Schuyler could still remember being hunted by all Mimi's Venators, the weight of a bounty always hanging over her head.

"Azreal will not miss a chance to restore herself to Glory, or the chance to destroy the one who caused her to be cast from her pedestal in heaven. Even without Abbadon, she will not risk the world she worked so hard to control falling into ruin." The woman stood and leveled a hard look at Schuyler, "She is not so selfish as you think."

But Schuyler wasn't sure she believed that.