Demi thank you so much! You are wonderful!

Phew. I am sorry it took so long for me to update, but school always gets in the way of my writing schedule. I planned to be a more academic student this year and it is happening, but not without sacrifices. I have given up too much of my writing time:( In another words, I have to thank you all for your wonderful comments; each time I see a new review, I quietly yell in happiness and feel inspired to write more. Thanks so much. I love each and every one of my readers. You're awesome! I will try and update much faster.

Anyway, enjoy!

I don't own. Richelle Mead gets paid to write these books. I just like borrowing her characters and making my "it would be cool if. . .

"Just warning you now, my family might not like you," I whispered over at Adrian, knocking on the door.

"Sydney, you're telling me now, now that we are seconds away from me meeting your family?" Adrian asked, his tone questioning if I was okay in the mind.

"Well. . .you're the one that wanted to come along. And it should be obvious as you know the races we belong to aren't exactly friendly towards each other." I glanced back at the door. "What—Zoe!"

Zoe, in her ponytail braids, opened the door for us, reminding me of when I had been woken, scared to death, only to find out I had been assigned as a caregiver in Palm Springs. And right when I saw her eyes on me—the feeling inside was equal to what anyone would feel if a bucket of freezing water and ice was thrown at his face. I assumed our time apart had fixed things up, but I now knew where assuming had taken me. What I was feeling reminded me of the exact same feeling I experienced when my instructor had gone from showing me the Pythagorean Theorem to logarithms.

Frustrated. And upset.

But as I had showed before—I was quick to adapt, without putting up much fight..

If I was not welcomed here, I didn't have to imagine how Adrian was going to be treated.

"What are you doing here?"

"Zoe—"

"I heard re-education centers reeducate about the good ways of alchemist and the immoral ways of vampires. You are a vampire lover. You don't belong here any longer, Sydney."

"Zoe, not all of them are bad."

Like a bratty teenager, she said, "What? Did they brainwash you to believe that vampires are amazing and alchemists are nothing but a waste of time? You're an alchemist, Sydney. Did you forget that?"

Zoe dropped the bitter façade when she realized I wasn't saying anything back.

"Leave," she whispered.

"Zoe, not all of them are bed," I whispered, the only words my lips could manage to speak, realizing the words were the wrong to say.

"Leave," she repeated, desperation crossing her features. "No, hold up a minute. I need to give you—" Zoe stopped and turned to hurry inside. She took only a minute to come back, shoving a black leather bag in my hands. "Run. They're after you. Be careful. But run."

I stayed in place.

Zoe pushed me, delicately, out of the doorway. "Run. Nobody can see you, not Mom, and especially not Dad."

"Why?" I was ready to run, but I needed to know the truth.

"Everything you need to know is inside the bag I handed you. Leave. Hurry. Before Mom and Dad return. They cannot see you or else—Sydney, please. Leave. Now. You have to run."

I heard the urgency in her voice, wanting to run, but also craving the truth.

"Sydney! Please. This is no good time to be stubborn, you need to leave. You are in great peril if you stay here any longer," Zoe screamed, tears taking her face. "Leave before they catch you."

"Alright," I told her, overwhelmed. "But how is Mom doing? I came here for her, to see if she is well. Dad told me she was sick—"

"Dad, Mom—everyone in this family is fine. My father lied to you so you'd willingly go to the institution and keep away from here."

To go to those extremes—God, my family most likely did not want me here any longer.

"You have to go; my father is doing this for you"—Zoe's face was pained—"so you could be with the unholy kind, your vampires."

Again, I heard the scorn and loathe towards the "unholy kind", the vampires.

There was no doubt now, I was certain. . .my family did not want me to be a part of their family anymore, because of who I had chosen to love. To them, there was no in between; there was this side, and there was that side. Holy or unholy. And in their minds, I had chosen the unholy side, the bad side, the tainted side; I was no longer welcomed among my own people, people I had once been part of.

"Leave. Sydney. Please. Before worse comes to worst."

My surroundings finally made it to my eyes—I noticed the golden tattoo on her face, the same one I had tattooed, the tattoo that symbolized light was inside me, with no chances of dark ever coming in, the tattoo that classified me as an alchemist.

I had been replaced.

It was not the best feeling to realize my own family had figuratively slapped me in the face.

I left my parents' home, a home that had once been mine, and I pushed everything I had wanted to say in the back of my mind.

I had to run now.

Running from something unknown—the feeling was almost indescribable, though it was extremely terrifying, especially now that I knew my own family was doing the chasing. A truth was painful, but I knew my father had his share of doing in this chasing. I was thankful Adrian followed me, claiming he would do anything in his power to keep me safe, although I knew his confusion rivaled my own.

I did not mention to him—I would send him away, well. . .because I loved him vastly so, and having him around, I knew would only put him in danger. Besides, he had grown up all his life with people taking care of him, not the other way around. Being with me, he would have a lot of growing up to do, and no, Adrian was a boy that settled down—not a boy that someone settled down.

I can't do this to him; I can't rob his life from him.

I did not know where to run, exactly. Where would I go in this world where I could not be found? In this world, there were almost endless places where I could hide, but it wouldn't be long before I would be caught. Where can I go from here? Unfortunately, I had no answers and I could only think of going back to the institution center.

And to add to the drama that was currently resting on my shoulders, I was being punished.

"Sydney Sage!" Andrea yelled, scurrying behind me as I made my way to my bedroom, with Adrian in tow. Before I had time to hide inside my bedroom, Andrea reached out for my hand and turned me to face her. "You are under probation for leaving the premises without my consent. From now on, you stay here, no leaving until your easy task is done here."

Easy task—the day I had to give up the baby. How in the world does she find that easy?

"No leaving until we have OUR BABY!" Andrea screamed at me, adding emphasis on the last two words of her speech. "Walk away from here, it was your mistake, the worst you could have ever done—"

"I know," I told her, stopping her rambles.

Andrea stared at me.

"Yes, I know," I added for her face of disbelief.

Adrian heard the defeat in my voice, for his artist hand reached for mine, hiding my hand in his own. I was glad Adrian had not failed me just yet.

But I hated myself. . .because I was going to fail him pretty soon.

"You are in trouble," Andrea informed me, walking to me, pointing a finger at me, much like a scolding paternal figure would do to their son-figure.

"I know."

"Sydney, you stripped yourself from your rights: there is no permission for you to leave and you have no right to have any visitors around."

Like most times, I did not have much to say. I desperately wished I would have those creative words Rose always seemed to have for any and every situation she got herself into. I was not Rose; I was Sydney, the girl almost everyone stepped on. "Yes, ma'am. Is there anything else, or can I head inside my room?"

"Go to your room," Andrea commanded, turning on her heel and walking away.

Inside my room, I could do anything but stay still and stay calm.

"What are you going to do?" Adrian asked, concern lining his features.

"I think you should leave," I blurted out. "You heard Andrea."

"It doesn't have to be like that. I have powers that can be quite influential," Adrian whispered, tapping his head.

I sure had something to say to his suggestion. "You can't take care of yourself, can you imagine taking care of us?" I told him, pointing at myself, rubbing my hand over my stomach, to show who was 'us'. "See, it is best you go, because without us, you can live your life however it was you imagined you would live your life."

"Sydney—you can't send me away."

"I can't. But what if I don't want you here?"

I saw pain on Adrian's face before I saw him walk out of my room.

I lost a part of myself when I realized my family believed I wasn't worthy enough to belong with them; I lost another part of myself as Adrian left. So, I ignored all my feelings, allowing them to be barricaded by the iciest stone to avoid easy escape. I had to be strong for me, for the baby, and for anything else that wanted to destroy me.

A black bag I had dropped against the bed earlier tantalized me, almost pulling me towards it, calling me to go towards the bag. I peeked inside. The small leather bag Zoe had given me had all the checks I had sent over, plus a few other items that seemed inconsequential. Finally, I found something folded up inside a jean pocket, jeans that were most likely not meant to be inside the bag, a small note written on the tiniest piece of paper.

It was only six words, six words that haunted me.

Witch hunt. You are the witch.

As I read the note, I could almost feel his eyes on me.

My family wasn't doing this chasing. . .

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-Melissa