A/N: I am sorry for these late updates, but I've been super busy with this agitating thing called life. I will try to update sooner, but there's a lot of editing going around and I still have a few chapters to polish and finish up, so do bare with me. AND PLEASE PLEASE REVIEW!

P.S This chapter contains a dream, Sydney's dream has a lot of hints of what's to come and where this story will lead. You probably won't be able to connect the dots until you read the whole story, but you can surely try. ;)

Credits: This chapter contains dialogue adapted from "The Fiery Heart" written by Richelle Mead.


Chapter Seven: Sydney

I can feel a sense of danger
You stare at me like I'm a stranger
Paralyzed and you don't seem to care

The demons in my dreams


Sometimes I felt like I couldn't breathe.

Sometimes, I literally had to squeeze my eyes shut and count to ten to control it. My throat swells up, it felt like someone was trying to crush my windpipe. My stomach will churn and then the bile begins to rise…This was one of those times.

I was crumpled to the floor with my back against the bathroom door and my face buried in my hands as a million sensations ran through me. Sadness. Anger. Disappointment. They were just the beginning of the feelings threatening to burst from my heart. I couldn't stop thinking about the dreams and the blood and Adrian's lifeless body spread out underneath me. He didn't realize what he was doing to himself, of course. And how could he? This was who he was. It was what had attracted me to Adrian in the first place. Once you get past the strong, cocky exterior, you came to realize just how compassionate he was. He was a beautiful soul, truly. He could be utterly selfless when he really tried, too.

It wasn't like I didn't understand it. He saw the opportunity to save the girl, it was a temptation he couldn't resist. I was just worried that he wouldn't recognize the full impact of wielding that much spirit. Things like these had repercussions. Consequences. There was a way things were supposed to go, that girl… well, whatever happened, happened. She was meant to die under that car. It wasn't his responsibility to save her life. I knew I sounded heartless. But there was a person out there right now, a person who shouldn't be alive. With Jill... It happened; she was an anomaly; someone who I can understand had to come back. There was no point crying over spilt milk but... He had to realize that he couldn't save everyone. It's just… upsetting the balance and nature of things, it's going to have a ripple effect. If I were in Adrian's place, I knew that I would probably do the same thing but… It wasn't right. If things like this didn't have strong ramifications then spirit wielders would be saving the world already. There was a reason they were all either dead or driven mad.

The power to heal and be able to look into a person's aura. It sounded so harmless, so gifted and gentle. The universe had it all wrong. They had to corrupt it. They had to shroud it with darkness for it to work.

God, it wasn't fair. He'd helped her. There shouldn't be anything wrong with that, right? He shouldn't be punished for such a noble deed. Still… I knew the harsh truth. There was a line, at some point, that one shouldn't cross. There would be a big price to pay for what he was doing, I knew too well what had happened to spirit users in the past. And Adrian… he was pushing it too far. This was the second time he saved someone from a near-death situation, and while an amazing thing to do, it would cripple him. Spirit would take him over and then he'd never be my beautiful Adrian again. He'd be a shell of a human being. Dank, hollow, empty… crazed, eaten up and swallowed whole by that dark magic that resided within him.

I couldn't let that happen. I wouldn't. I hadn't even realized I was crying until I tasted the salt water in my mouth. I rubbed a few haphazard tears away. Suddenly, someone banged against the door rather feverishly. "Sydney, are you still in there?" It was Angeline's voice.
"Jill told me to leave you alone, but you can talk to me if you want!"

I took a deep breath. It wasn't like me to break down like this, if there was one thing that my father ever taught me that held any weight, it was not to fret over everything. I stood up and washed my face, then practiced my trademark stoic Alchemist face in the mirror a couple of times before opening the door. Angeline was standing with her back against the wall and her arms crossed. "Ah, good. I thought you'd never get out of there. Are you okay?" I flashed her an impassive smile. "I'm fine, I'll just head back to my dorm." Angeline tilted her head just a little, "You reek of anxiety," I frowned, crossing my arms over my chest. "I'll be honest I only offered to talk to you because I really have to pee but hey, if you really need anything—" I cut her off and gave her another tight smile. "I've got tons of homework to finish so I'll be heading back now. Thanks, Angeline. Just… Stay out of trouble. Okay?"

Angeline sighed and nodded, passing me a nonplussed look before going into the bathroom and shutting the door. I nodded, feeling slightly less miserable already as I made my way back to my own dorm room so that I could go be pathetic and vulnerable in private instead.

xxxxx

Sulking was therapeutic. Who knew?

After spending some time alone in my room to gather my roller coaster of thoughts and emotions, I headed out on campus to hit the library. Mrs. T had texted me about a book she wanted me to check out relating to the next spell that she wanted me and Adrian to perform. She told me to tell the librarian to hand her the first book on pile seven from Jaclyn Terwilliger's collection.

After fetching the book, I decided to sit down in the library itself. Maybe being around other people would keep my mind from wandering too much. To add to my list of unsolved problems, I still wasn't sure if I was ready to perform another spell with Adrian. These things…They were intimate, the second spell that Mrs. T expected us to perform by the time she was back involved the most intimacy. We literally had to become one being for that spell to work. As I read on, my fears were only confirmed.

The second spell was known as an amalgamation spell, it required both subjects to literally combine their thoughts, experiences and their life forces for it to work perfectly. The magic used for conducting the spell was especially basic and didn't take too much time or work, but the spell itself was a long and treacherous process.

Adrian would be able to watch my entire life flash before his eyes; in a manner of speaking. The most important moments in my life, the happiest or saddest days, any event of the past that had taken a lot an emotional toll on me. He would be able to see it all, and it went both ways, too. It would be like literally being able to peep into someone else's head and heart for a few moments and that was… scary. I wasn't sure if I was ready for something like that. On the other hand… Well, on the other hand, it was all for a greater cause, one that I had promised to aid.

Someone tapping on my shoulder distracted me from my copious thoughts and dumped me back into the real world. A smile broke across my face when I looked up to see the familiar face of Trey Juarez. "Why, Melbourne. It's nice to see you. I thought you'd be stuffing your face with tortilla chips and sipping pina-coladas under the blue mexican sky right about now." I repressed a chuckle. It was so good to see him, it had been a while. He looked great as usual, with that sun-kissed tan, the unruly black hair and those intense brown eyes.

He grabbed a chair, flipped it over and sat down besides me. "It's good to see you too, Trey," I muttered. He quickly put a hand to his heart in mock dismay, "That's all you have to say for yourself? Gotta say, I'm a little offended that you didn't tell me you'd skipped the country and even more that you didn't tell me you're back. I guess I'm about to be one-upped as the number one contender to be Amberwood's smartest again." I rolled my eyes. Sometimes, I thought Trey's cockiness could compete with Adrian's. Why did I always get stuck with the most pretentious guys for friends?

I smiled at him though, warmly, feeling a little guilty myself. "I was looking for you when I made my obligatory coffee stop at Spencer's earlier, you were nowhere to be found. I am really sorry I didn't tell you about Mexico, though. Forgive me?" I tilted my head to the side and passed him a pouty grin. He laughed, "No way, Melbourne. It's gonna take more than that to earn my stalwart friendship back." I thought about this. "I'll spy on Angeline for you."
Trey's smile dissipated at this, replaced with a slightly soulful frown. "Sold."

I knew that Trey still pretty much had lingering feelings for Angeline, I was pretty sure the affection was mutual. Just like Jill, Angeline was only kidding herself with the attraction to Neil, I could tell that she, too, still missed Trey a lot. I kind of felt bad for them, thinking about my own messed up situation with Adrian. Palm Springs was certainly not Love Central at the moment. "Can you believe its been like the freaking North Pole out here these past few days? I was starting to think the end is coming." Trey joked. I almost choked on my own saliva at the accuracy. I wasn't sure for how long the supernatural snow was going to illicit laughs, so I immediately changed the subject. "How have you been?" I asked him, wanting to divert my mind again.

"As good as one can be when they're going against their very own birthright. My father's still as furious as they come, and I'm still not sure I want to be a part of the WOL, they're tacky and imperious. I'd rather run off with Angeline and those strange Keepers. You think I'd win in a fight to the death with Angeline's brother?" He wondered aloud, flexing his muscles at me. I laughed again, and some girl sitting across from us had to shush us. I sighed, "I'm sure you would do just fine but I don't think you'd survive a day in those conditions." Trey's eyes grew distant, "I'd do it for her."

I could feel my heart swell up at that comment. I suddenly felt terribly guilty that I ever felt uncomfortable about Trey and Angeline. Yes, she had cheated on Eddie and that was wrong but I could tell just how much they wanted to be together simply by reading their expressions. I wanted them to be happy. If I wasn't going to get that flowery fairy-tale ending, I could at least wish it for my friends, right? Unfortunately, social whims, customs and taboos were more important to consider than feelings and emotions.

"Yo, Juarez! You coming or not?" Some guy in a green jersey called out from the other side of the library. The girl and a few others shushed him. Trey turned to look at me, "That's my cue, you take care, Melbourne. We'll gossip and braid each other's hair later this week? Call me. Oh, and don't forget to watch Angeline's every waking move while you're at it! Later."

He skipped off, and I felt myself smiling again. An hour or so of reading later, my brain couldn't take it anymore and I decided that I'd hit the bed a little early today. I skipped dinner, not feeling the slighest bit hungry—but it had nothing to do with my weight watch. I just didn't think I could stomach anything today. As soon as I was back in my room and the lights were off, my throat began to throb and the anxiety was back.

Adrian and his growing spirit concerns. Some crazy she-witch trying to freeze Palm Springs to death. Elemental magic malfunctioning. My brain was about ready to jump out of my head and go on a long, tedious vacation. Somehow, a few frantic minutes later, though, my drowsiness got the best of me and sleep caught up with me.

Momentarily, all my problems seemed to go away.

Until they were back. In the form of a dream.

xxxxx

I'm standing in a theme park, it's dark and dusty; so I can't see very clearly. My surroundings flicker like someone is flipping a switch on and off. The theme-park is full, packed with people in all kinds of costumes. A woman in an old-fashioned dress talks to a man in a wizard's cloak. A tall guy dressed like… a reindeer in a suit? is delivering drinks to a tiny old woman and Julia. Most of the faces that pass me by, however, are a blur.

My friends are here, too. Dimitri Belikov is the first person I recognize. He is dressed like a ninja in a fully black uniform complete with a nunchuck and tabi boots. Next to him stands Rose, who is dressed in a white wedding dress. She's holding a red rose in her right hand and has a strange black mist surrounding her.

"What's going on?" I ask. "Are we going somewhere?"

"Maybe," Dimitri says. "I wouldn't know. I'm just along for the rides."

"I think it depends on the ride," Rose says. "Which one are you getting on?"

"I… don't know," I reply. Something ahead of me catches my eye: a glimpse of familiar green eyes and dark tousled hair. "I have to go." I tell them. They don't stop me as I walk past.

"Be safe!" Dimitri calls, "Yes. It's a dark road ahead. Don't stumble!" Rose agrees.

I push through the crowd. Mrs. Terwilliger is down a little further. Malachi Wolfe is standing to her left. She is dressed like the fairy godmother from Cinderella in blue robes and a wand. Malachi Wolfe wears nothing but a red cape over his normal attire and an overgrown mustache.

"Hello, Sydney," Mrs. Terwilliger says. "I'm glad that you could make it. I was beginning to get worried."

I frown. "I've always been here."

Malachi Wolfe laughs, "So much to learn, child."

I try to look past them, in hopes of getting a better look at the tent behind them. "Do you want to stay back? You have the option, you know." Mrs. Terwilliger suggests. "Not right now. I've got to…" I look around. People press on all sides, but ahead, dissapearing into the tent, I catch a flash of the familiar brown hair again. I push on.

Jill and Angeline stop me next. Jill is dressed like a princess in a bright pink gown and has a tiara perched upon her head. Angeline is wearing the same ninja outfit that Dimitri wore. Neil is standing in between the both of them, dressed as a giant gift box.

"I don't think all this pink and gold goes with my hair," Jill complains.

"You can take it off, you know." Angeline explains. "You've only misunderstood the metaphor."

"What metaphor?" I ask.

Jill looks at me seriously. "Why are you still here? You don't have much time, Sydney. She awaits him."

"But it's too confidential."

"You can't hide forever." Angeline points out. "He can see," Jill insists, "He will help you."

She hands me a purple t-shirt with a fiery heart drawn on it. My surroundings flicker again, gleaming off soft brown hair and pale skin up ahead.

"I have to go," I tell Angeline and Jill.

I follow my instinct and make it to the tent somehow. I take a few steps in. There is a long, narrow corridor that looks endless. There are several mirrors to both my sides. In one mirror, I see myself standing in formal Alchemist wear with a book in my hand and a pencil in my hair. In another, I am clad in a black Halloween witch costume with a hat and a green wig. In the third mirror I look at, I am a mess. My hair are sticking out, my clothes are wrinkly and my mascara is smudged. In the last mirror that I get a glimpse at, I am dressed as I am right now, and staring back at my own reflection.

I walk out of the tent somehow. The patch of ground ahead of me is full of people, and somehow I know that they're Alchemists. Zoe waits for me just outside, flanked on one side by my father and on the other by my mother.

"We have been waiting for you," Zoe says. My father looks angry. My mother looks sad.
"What took you so long?"

"She can't stay with us, Zoe." My mother's voice is gentle. "She's got places to be."

My dad huffs, his eyes red. "If she leaves us now, there's no turning back."

"Where does this road lead? I don't know which ride I'm supposed to be on," I explain, confused.

"It goes part of the way," My mother tells me. "But we've switched paths."

I'm not sure how I get there but I'm now on a train. I make my way to the next car and Eddie waits for me at the door. He's holding a small key.

"You made the right choice," Eddie says. "I hope you'll visit us again. It gets really lonely, you know."

I take the key from him, the door opens and I go through.

"See you later, Syd," Keith says, stepping into the doorway behind me. He is dressed as a robot. "You're gonna need lots of shoes. Oh, and don't forget to bring back my eye." He pulls something and our cars disconnect. The one with him, the Alchemists and my family goes rattling off into the darkness, along another track. I shut the door.

The car I'm now on is full of dead people. I can't see most of their faces, but somehow, I know they're all dead. They stand silently as I pass. I think I see Micah, or, someone who looks like him as I walk on. All the figures around me are transparent. The car drops me off at a beach. The sun is setting in the sky.

Marcus, Wade and Amelia stand in front of me. Marcus's face is painted to look like a sad clown, complete with a droopy red mouth and blue tears running down his ridged cheeks. The whole effect is pretty gruesome.

"It might have been different," he tells me. "It just comes off so easily."

Wade, who is next to him, smiles at me wistfully. "Leaving two worlds behind. That's dangerous."

Amelia's eyes grow big as she regards me. "No, I think she'll make it."

Marcus sounds dissapointed, "I wish we had, too."

None of them stop me as I walk past them, trying to locate that familiar… I see him rounding a corner behind a palm tree. I follow.

We leave the beach behind and I find Trey next, he is wearing a monkey's outfit.
"They wouldn't listen," he mutters sadly. "They'll come for your friends."

"Why would you say that?" I ask.

Trey laughs harshly. "Because they told me to."

I walk past Trey, still in a hurry. Finally, I find him. He's standing on the edge of the lane. There is a barbed-wire fence that reads, 'Dead-End.' Adrian turns around.

"I was trying to catch up," I tell him. Adrian has a transparent rope fastened tightly around his neck, and half of his face is shrouded in shadow so I can only see one green eye. "I know. I wish you didn't." He says.

I stare at him. "Why not?" He points at something behind me. I turn around.

The moon is rising in the sky behind me, eclipsing the sun. Far, far ahead, a tall white tower juts up over the horizon. There are three sections of land in front of me. There are millions of frozen people in the first one, vampires and humans killing each other in a battle of swords and fangs in the second, and a small globe catches on fire and burns up in the third. All my friends, family, they're there, too. I can feel it.

I turn back to Adrian. He looks scary, paler than usual. There is blood. And then, his eyes go as ice blue as a frozen lake and open wide. "She's coming," he says.

"Who's coming?" I ask.

Before he can answer that, I turn and what I see makes me—

wake up with a gasp.

I sat up in my bed for a long time after that, shivering under the blankets, trying to get warm.

xxxxx"What do you make of it?" I asked Mrs. T the next day. I'd written down the whole dream in the dream journal that she'd asked me to keep and was explaining a few details of it to her on the phone.

"Can you describe again the creature you saw? The one at the very end?"

I shivered but nodded. "Horrible. Female. Platinum-blonde hair. Hard, white skin, a little craggy, actually. Her eyes were strange; hypnotic. Like a kaleidoscope. She had sharp teeth. She looked… inhuman, Mrs. Terwilliger. Like—Like a demon or something."

She was quiet for atleast half a minute before she spoke up again. "I see, it's certainly not… something we've, ah, faced in the past." I could practically hear her polishing her glasses. "No," I agreed, "Definitely not." She huffed on the other end of the line, "I'll dig up as much as I can. Today, we go to visit the ancient witch from our clan. Hopefully she will be able to provide us with some viable information. I will be back tomorrow itself since I can see things are very urgent back there. For today, I'd like you to finish one of the spells that I asked you to conduct; and hold a meeting. Ask your buddies to, erhm…Yes, ask them to do some research. I'll text you some of the titles of the books they must go through."

I sighed languidly, I didn't have much of a choice, so I agreed and cut the phone with her. As I walked to class later that day, I couldn't help but feel extremely rattled. I hadn't slept well that night, I was afraid I'd receive another dream and I'm sorry but one freakish cryptic dream per night is more than enough. During English, I found my mind drifting. I wondered why Malachi Wolfe was with Mrs. T in that dream. I hoped it wasn't that prophetic. That creepy mental picture itself managed to put a lid on the dream-induced thoughts for a while, to my relief.

I called on the meeting at Mrs. T's home once everyone's classes were finished for the day. I felt a little grateful that she'd given me the spare keys to her place so that we could have a space to conduct these things. Adrian's apartment wasn't a bad idea, but it was too small and didn't have most of the supplies we needed. "I'm glad everyone could make it. Mrs. Terwilliger wants us all to do some research of the specific books that I will name in a moment, so… yeah. Let's get to it." I explained, mentally ticking off the books as I called the titles out loud.

I was going through the book with the first spell's instructions as everyone else was sprawled about the rest of the living room. Jill peered at something she saw in one of the books, "Did you know that there's a spell here that cooks shrimp for you? Imagine how much money we'd make if we opened a seafood restaurant." Eddie choked back a laugh, something he was becoming a master at thanks to his seemingly in-built guardian adroitness.

"Focus guys." I mumbled, not even looking up at them. Neil stood up, tossing a book on the couch. The book hit a cat and it mewed in protest, he winced. "Oops," Adrian rolled his eyes, "What did Jaws ever do to you?" Neil loured at Adrian, "Jaws?" Adrian shrugged, flipping through a random page in the book he was going through. "That cat bites. Jackie named him that for a reason - Didn't you know?" Neil took a few steps away from it, suddenly staring at it with fear like it was the Anti Christ. Adrian chuckled and Neil registered the fact that it was a joke. "That was cruel. Anyway, I must go head for a donut run now, so you are excused."

The guy spoke about going on a donut run like he was going to an annual general meeting.

"Orders everyone?" They gave him their orders and he left us to our research. Jill groaned,
"How are we supposed to look for something that we've never actually seen before? Most of these books are pure gibberish—I'm not any good at this!" Angeline nodded at Jill,

"Just do what I do. Flip through the pages and look busy."

I slammed my book shut as loudly as I could. That got everyone to pay attention. I took a deep breath and let it out before I spoke, "This is serious business. There is a reason we hold these meetings. We're not here to slack. Anyone who wants to, however, is free to leave. The door is right there," I pointed at the door. "Something is stirring up trouble, the whole world is in danger and that compromises of all of us. Either you take this seriously or you leave the rest of us be. There's no time to waste."

Jill flashed me a concerned look, Eddie stayed quiet. Angeline had an irritated expression on her face but didn't speak up, either. Adrian however, had to say something. "Geez, Sage. We're doing the best we can."

"Then do better," I grumbled, knowing how rude I'd just sounded. "Ugh!" I exclaimed, rubbing my eyes a little and crashing back into my seat. "I'm sorry." I then muttered, when I could think straight again. "I didn't mean to… I know how difficult this must be for you guys. You're doing relatively well. I'm—I shouldn't be so hard on you. Just…Take five if you'd like."

"You sure?" Eddie arched a brow, I nodded, flashing him as much of a smile as I could muster. "Finally. Thanks, Sydney." Angeline muttered, standing up and walking into Mrs. T's kitchen. Jill just stared at me with a pensive look on her face. Adrian walked over.

He sat down across from me on the table, and grabbed my hand from under it, when nobody was paying attention. He clasped it tight, squeezing it and spreading warmth and courage throughout my body. The contact left my skin wanting more. The butterflies had also returned, and they were ever-ready to stage a performance. "What's wrong?" He asked.

I had to bite back a smile. Adrian always seemed to be able to read my moods. It's like he had a backstage pass to the inner workings of my mind. I sighed, rubbing my temples,"Its… nothing. The dreams are just getting worse, and starting to take a toll on my body. I barely slept a wink last night and—and now, I… I have this spell to finish in time for Mrs. Terwilliger to come back, which is tomorrow by the way. That means I'll have to start working on it today itself and… I'm a blithering idiot, aren't I?" I flashed Adrian a small sheepish grin.

It wasn't like me—well, the regular me, to be ranting on about how unfair my life was and yet here I was doing exactly that. I bit my tongue before speaking, "I'm supposed to be the level-headed one between the two of us," He smiled at that. "I forget."

He shook his head, "We can reverse those roles in a heartbeat," I rolled my eyes, "No, you see, I like being the one calming other people down. When I'm the one who is in need of the calming… Well, let's just say hell's about to freeze over."

Adrian smirked at that, "Do you see the irony in that analogy or shall I point it out?"

I bit my lip sheepishly and he gave my hand a gentle squeeze under the table. I was pretty sure that my goosebumps were about to get goosebumps. "Hey," he said, his entrancing green eyes boring down into my own. The sunlight from the window nearby highlighted the features on the side of his face. Sometimes, I thought that Adrian was a sculpted masterpiece, just as magnificent as his own artistry work. "You remember what I told you?" I nodded, "You don't have to do anything that you don't want to. No pressure."

I sighed, instantly feeling some of my anxiety lifting already. "Adrian," my voice was barely a whisper but he heard me and arched an eyebrow. "I'm still upset," he didn't need to be told about what. He knew it, the look on his face said it all. His mouth twisted to a little testy curve. "I figured you'd say that. Listen Sage… I don't think that's a subject that's debatable. I know what you're gonna say—" I cut him off, "Do you really, though? Spirit is known to be a curse for a reason, you know. If it was all about healing and saving lives then I'm pretty sure the world would be a better place today. Your healing power that prevented a girl from being killed? That's almost as unnatural as our supernatural snowstorm - perhaps even more. There are books, I… I could show them to you, depicting the lives of spirit users in the past; ones whose lives ended quite tragically. I will not stand here and watch you as you crash and burn."

Adrian took a deep breath and leaned a little away from me, there was a haunted look in his eyes, like reliving past events. "You think I don't know that? Lissa used to cut herself till she almost bled herself dry, Sonya Karp willingly turned herself into a Strigoi because she thought that turning into a mutated killing machine was a better option than letting spirit drown her in her own insanity. There are more… stories. Maybe I'm drawn to the darkness. Maybe I came out wrong. I… I don't know, but it doesn't stop me from doing what I think is right. I wouldn't have been able to bloody bare it, Sage, god… If I'd let that girl die? I would have blamed myself for days. It would feel like her blood was on my hands, even if I wasn't the cause of her death. So yes, I know all the risks and the consequences but I don't think there's anything that I can do about it. So can we please drop the subject?"

I shook my head, "You have to see things from an outsider's perspective. Meddling with these things have dire consequences. I'm not going to stand by and watch you destroy your life! I don't want to have to come visit you in some crabby rehabilitation center in the middle of nowhere! I don't want to imagine what could happen if you take one step too far. Think of it as quicksand, if you dip a toe in... You're going to be sucked in underneath, you can't come back from that." Adrian stared at me, his eyes wide. "Don't you have any consideration at all? I saved lives! I did something noble! It's… It's all the good I'll ever do in this world, okay?"

My jaw dropped. "Why would you say that?"

He shook his head, "Nevermind. I'll put it in words you can understand. This is a temptation I can't fight."

"Then remove it. Talk to a doctor. Take the decision away, and see what wondrous things you can do when you're in control of yourself again."

We stared intensely into one another's eyes for what felt like an eternity. Finally he swallowed and began to stand, shaking his head and muttering things under his breath that I just couldn't catch. Suddenly, I realized that we were in public and that nobody in this room other than Jill had one clue of my not-so-professional relationship with Adrian.

I froze. I think Adrian realized at the same time I did. We both gawked at the others. Jill looked extremely tense, she was holding her head like she thought it was going to fall off id she didn't. Neil had come back from his trip to bring everyone snacks; Eddie and Angeline whispered in hush tones. Finally, someone broke the nerve-racking awkwardness.

"We are going to leave now. Neil and I have to go start our training session." Angeline announced, at this, Jill seemed to pipe up. I was pretty sure that she'd felt the brunt of Adrian's wavering emotions just a few minutes ago, but name our good man Neil and she was all doe-eyed and swooning in a matter of seconds. "Can I join? I'd like to watch and learn some stuff on my own." She cooed.

Angeline frowned, grabbing a hold of Neil's arm. "I really don't think that's necessary," she grit her teeth. Neil, for once, nodded in agreement. "I think it would be best if you leave the protecting to us, your Highness. I do not mean to offend you, but if you ever were in the position of a danger so severe that you must defend your own life then that would mean that we did not do our job right." Jill loured right back at her, knowing that Angeline had pushed the right buttons. "Can I atleast join you guys so that I can watch? It wouldn't be so bad to have the knowledge of a few techniques. No harm done, right?" Neil seemed convinced. He bowed gallantly, a respectful glint in his eye. "Of course, your Highness." Jill smirked roguishly. It was funny, she used to get uncomfortable when he addressed her like a princess; now she was relishing in it.

"Ugh. Fine. She can come, but she gets to look on from a safe distance. We wouldn't want our royal highness to get herself hurt. This isn't child's play, you know. It takes strength and bravery." Angeline's voice was dripping with venom, Jill licked her lips, muttering some curses that even I didn't know the meaning of under her breath.

Jill stood up, "We'll see about that." Angeline groaned, starting to follow a very confused Neil out of the room and petulantly mumbling stuff like, "If only she wasn't the queen's sister. I would have shown her—would have proven my worth the way we do it back home - with fists flying and jaws tight."

Despite Angeline's current childish animosity towards Jill, I knew for a fact that she would do anything to protect Jill when it came to it. "How good are you at javelin-throwing? Back home, we used to play this game on Friday nights..." Angeline and Neil were out the door before I could catch any more of that conversation. Jill flashed us a knowing, sympathetic grin as she walked out. Eddie frowned at the two of us, "Do you need me for more research work?"

I sighed, an idea dawning over me—one that admittedly did not work to my benefit. "Adrian and I have to conduct that spell that Mrs. Terwilliger assigned us. You can stay if you want to but…" Eddie raised his hands up, already half way out the door. "Nah, I get it. You kids have fun. Don't get too worked up—oh, and Sydney? I'm a phone call away if you need anything." He flashed me a small smile, a professional one to Adrian; and then left the two of us to deal with our looming problems.

I smiled back at Eddie, I'd forgotten how genuine and considerate he could be. He still felt slightly vary leaving me alone with Adrian; as long as he was aware, I still thought of vampires as daunting abominations and whatnot. I knew that he would have stayed if I'd asked, but I couldn't have distractions for the spell to work right.

Adrian sighed in relief, "I thought we were busted for a second. I thought I was going to throw up this morning's breakfast with the tension in the air." I nodded, "We need to be careful. Look, I would love to sit around here for the rest of the day, passing remarks and violent retorts at each other but we've got some more important things to focus on."

Adrian didn't have to be told twice. He was practically begging for a change of subject.

"Ready?" He asked, when most of the stuff we needed for the spell was in place.

"Ready enough to know that we need to do this before I change my mind."