And when I say changed, I meant that the entire room altered. First of all, the bright and normal looking room that was once there disappeared altogether. Now I was inside a room that was candle lit, with only two things in it. One being the mirror that hung on the wall next to the doorway, and two being the staircase leading down into an unknown darkness.

Looking around, I realized that I should probably get out of there. I turned around, ready to leave as quickly as I could. When reached the doorway though, a force made me fall back onto the ground. I landed on it, hard.

"Ow..." I complained. I had fallen on my back, and had also managed to twist my ankle on the way down.

I bowed forward, assessing the damage of my ankle. I could move it, though it did send out sharp pains up my leg whenever I did. I doubt it was broken. Probably sprained or bruised. I sat up, and tried to maneuver my body so that I could stand up without putting a lot of pressure on my ankle. Using my right leg, I put all my weight on it, and let my left leg hang. Once up, I tried to put a bit of weight on my left ankle, but the pain really hurt, making me jolt my leg back up.

I sighed. "Wonderful..." This was all that I needed at the moment.

I looked around, still no sight of Marcus. Or anyone.

Eyeing the doorway, I scanned it over. Slowly moving my hand forward, I raised it towards the doorway entrance. My hand suddenly felt a force in the air. It pushed against me and shoved my hand away.

"Ow," I muttered, holding my hand. It stung a little.

That's when it really dawned on me, I was trapped. I looked around the room again, and eyed the staircase. Marcus couldn't get outside to warn me, he must have gone down the stairs to find another way. He also may have run into Cynthia, which meant they were battling each other.

Either way, I had only one option.

Making my way down the staircase, slowly, due to my ankle, I kept one hand on the walls. I kept hold of the wall as it got darker and darker, making it more difficult to see. Going purely by touch, I wandered along the stairs, gradually making my way down. My ankle could now take a little pressure, but it was still proving to be difficult in moving around with it.

The walls began to feel colder against my hands. Growing wearier as the stairs went on, I began to really regret my decision of coming in the room in the first place. I should have noticed how weird the situation was, what with Marcus just disappearing, but my brain was obviously on vacation from all the stress it had endeavored these past couple days, and it wasn't thinking straight anymore.

After a few flights of stairs, I could finally see light coming from a distance, making my heart jump. This offered both a relief in that getting out of the darkness would be great, and fear for thinking about what was in that light. As it began to glow closer and closer, I just kept thinking how I would probably regret going down the stairs.

As I drew nearer, I could tell that the light was coming from a behind a corner. I reached the bottom of the stairs and took the extra two steps to get me to that corner. I was right. The light came from around the wall, and I could also hear voices now.

They were so faint that I couldn't even tell if it was a man or a woman speaking. Mustering up my courage, I slowly poked my head out from around the corner, and saw that the hall went on for a few feet before reaching an archway where both the light and the voices were coming from. It was a straight, narrow pathway, with nothing to hide behind if danger happened.

I had only one way to go though, and this was it. I slowly limped along the walkway, staying as close to the wall as I could. The walls were freezing, and were made purely of stone, like I was in a castle or something, instead of the beat up warehouse. Perhaps it was an illusion spell of some sort. Although I wanted to figure it out due to my natural instincts to know everything, this was hardly the time nor the place for finding out information.

Reaching the archway, I could now distinctly hear two voices. My heart instantly leapt at the sound of Adrian's.

"I'm not talking. This isn't working, I won't give in," his voice sounded unsure, but still strong, like he was determined to believe whatever it was that he was talking about. I was just happy to be able to actually hear his voice. I hadn't admitted anything to myself yet, but ever since the locater spell happened, I had the reoccurring thought in my head about finding Adrian, dead.

"Oh, I assure you, you will." A voice of another man answered Adrian. This voice sounded rough and powerful. He continued. "Cynthia is very smart, you see. She can accomplish whatever she wants."

"She has obviously accomplished the task of warping your mind then." Adrian told him. I could hear the familiar sarcastic edge, even from where I stood.

"Watch your mouth. She told me not to harm you, but I'm not the best at following orders sometimes." The man's voice sounded angrier.

Adrian didn't reply.

I really wanted to peak my head out and see what was happening, but I knew that would give me away. I needed to find some way of getting in there, without being seen. The archway only provided so much cover, if I moved at all, my body would show. I didn't really have another option though.

I was about to move out from behind the archway, my foot almost sneaking from where it was, when someone grabbed me.

I tried screaming, but a hand went over my mouth, covering my cries. Another hand was holding me back, so I couldn't move.

"Sydney," Marcus's familiar voice said my name in hushed tones. "It's me."

I quit trying to scream or move. Marcus's hands went away, releasing their hold. I turned around, but I couldn't see him.

"Where are you?" I asked to the air, looking around the empty hallway.

"In front of you," He answered. "I am using an invisible spell, hence you not being able to see me." He explained, and then continued. "I went into the room. Adrian's with some bodyguard looking guy that is keeping an eye on him."

"Is Adrian hurt?" I asked the air once again. I probably looked like a crazy person talking to herself, but it wasn't like anybody could see me anyways.

"Well, he's tied up." Marcus said. "I think I could knock out the guard, but I have to enter quietly, so he doesn't realize I'm there."

I nodded. "Okay, just be careful."

I felt Marcus pass me, leaving me behind. It was hard to just stand there and wait for something to happen, but I had to. The seconds went by, taking forever. I started to count in my head, trying to focus on the numbers and not what was possibly happening beyond the archway.

One..two..three.. four..

I went on, still not hearing anything.

Twenty-six..twenty-seven..

Nothing.

Thirty-eight..

That's when I heard a large bang. Someone yelled, cursing out loud.

"Where are you!?" The guard's voice called out.

Then I heard the sound of the guard's yelling out another curse word, as another thud happened. This time, this thud made the guard shut up. Now, the only sound I heard was someone moving around the room. The shoes made loud thumps on the floor, and they started to get louder, drawing nearer to where I stood.

Sixty-seven..sixty-eight...sixty-nine..

My breathing started to quicken.

Seventy-three..seventy-four..

It was just around the arch now.

Eighty.

Something grabbed hold of my shoulder, I jumped and let out a small cry.

"Sydney! It's me!" Marcus told me. "Shhh!"

I quieted down. "You could have said something!" I glared at him...well the space that I thought was him at least. "You're still invisible."

"I know," he replied. "This spell lasts about an hour. So I'll stay this way for a little longer still."

I nodded. "Okay, let's get Adrian."

"Wait," He grabbed my arm, stopping me from entering.

"What?" I asked, confused. "You beat up the guard, right?"

"Yeah, but I just need you to brace yourself." He told me.

"Brace myself?"

"Yes."

"Brace myself for what, exactly?" Now I was really confused.

I heard him gulp. "Remember when you asked if Adrian was hurt earlier? And I didn't really reply. I just said he was tied up. Remember?"

"Stop beating around the bushes, just tell me Marcus."

I heard his deep intake of breath. "He's pretty beat up. He's unconscious right now. He probably has been in and out of it. I think he has lost a lot of blood."

"I need to see him. Now." I told him, trying to take my arm back from his hold.

After a few seconds of hesitation, he let go finally. With the freedom of being able to go, I took it, heading into the room and past the archway. Then, I stood frozen.

When Marcus said he probably lost a lot of blood, that was only the half of it. Adrian was paler than I had ever seen anyone be whether they were human or vampire. His skin was almost translucent, as I could see the veins running along his arms and throat. He also had cuts and bruises throughout his entire body, not to mention his face. The right cheek was purple with the bruise forming along the cheekbone. His lips were dry, and cracked open, dried blood smeared across them. His hair had dried blood in it too, some of the fresher blood still dripped down by his left ear.

Someone had obviously tortured him. And it was my entire fault.

I ran to him, dropping to my hands and knees when I reached him.

"Adrian?" I asked, my voice cracking a little.

Nothing happened.

"Adrian? It's me, Sydney."

When I said my name, his eyes fluttered a little.

"Adrian?"

He then moved his head, and his eyes opened. I saw the green glow of them, starring up at me. After remaining on my face, they slowly took me all in.

"Sydney?" He asked.

I smiled. "Yeah, I'm here. It's me."

"You're here." He repeated, still a little out of it.

I nodded. "Yes. I'm here."

He blinked a couple times, trying to wake up. Then he met my eyes again, and squinted, as if assessing if it was really me or not.

"Adrian, I am going to untie your hands, okay?" I told him, eyeing the ropes that bound him. They were tight, and in a number of knots, but remembering a few of the knot books that my father had me study really came in handy for untying them.

"There," I said, after I undid the last one.

Adrian was staring at me. "What do you want?" He asked, his voice sounding cold.

"What do you mean?" I asked, surprised by his question. I had imagined him hugging me and being happy to see me. The way he was acting, however, was a lot different than my imagination.

"What do you want?" He asked again. "You can't trick me. Not again."

"Again? What are you talking about? It's me, Sydney."

He glared at me. "I'm not falling for this."

"Falling for what?" I asked, stunned at his attitude. "Adrian, I am rescuing you. I'm sorry you got taken, I know it was my fault, but please just come. We need to hurry."

"I'm not leaving. And I am not playing your games." He told me, looking away.

"Games?" What was he talking about? "Adrian, Marcus and I rescued you. We came in here to get you out. Everyone came, Ms. Terwilliger, Eddie, and Zach. All of us, just so we can get you out."

He looked around. "I only see you here."

"Well, only Marcus and I are here. We split up earlier." I explained.

"Marcus?" He raised an eyebrow. "I don't see him."

I looked around, then back to him. "Well, he is invisible right now."

He smirked. "Invisible? Well this is a new one."

"A new what? It's true!" I almost yelled. He was making me frustrated. We didn't have a lot of time, and he really wasn't helping.

"Cynthia, cut it out. I'm done playing these games. They won't work." He sneered at me.

"Cynthia?" I asked. "What? I'm not Cynthia."

"I think I understand now." Marcus's voice came out from a distance away.

Adrian jumped. "What the hell was that?"

"Marcus, like I told you. He is invisible." I explained again.

Marcus went on. "Cynthia has obviously tried to interrogate him, using a spell that made her look like you. He's confused now."

I looked over at Adrian. "She did that?"

"She never added another voice before..." Adrian said, his tone sounding unsure.

"That's because I am not her, I'm Sydney." I told him. "Adrian, you have to believe me. I'm sure you went through a lot lately, and I am truly sorry for that. But it's me. Sydney Sage."

He still looked hesitant. "Tell me something that only you and I would know."

"What?"

"Just do it. Something we only know. Something she wouldn't know. Or wouldn't have gotten from any other person."

I thought hard, urging my brain to work and think of something that was only common knowledge to us. Then, I had it. "We went and saw your father together. You were upset and I thought the only way to cheer you up was for me to drink a slush with you. So I bought them for us. You thought mine had no sugar in it, after I told you it didn't. But it did. I swear, it had sugar. And I drank all of it, for you...even though I still regret it till this day. Well, the sugar part at least. That was way too much sugar for anyone to have in a lifetime, let alone in one sitting. I really can't imagine how people drink those things on a regular basis. Think of the cavities, and what the sugar is doing to your body. I mean, your arteries aren't going to thank you in the years to come."

Slowly, he started to smile. "It really is you."

"I know." I sighed in relief.

"I mean, only you can be that angry with herself, months later, for drinking liquid sugar." He smirked.

I rolled my eyes. "I have reason too!"

He laughed. "How did you find me?"

"A lot of work," Marcus interrupted. "And walking. Which we better start doing if you want to actually get out of here and live to tell the tale."

I eyed Marcus. "Do you think we can even get out?"

He nodded. And I mean, I could actually see him nod.

"You aren't invisible anymore!" I smiled. It had been a little creepy to not be able to see the other person in the room. Not to mention, a small part of me thought I might be going insane, or Cynthia was pulling a little magic trick of some sort.

"It wore off." He stated. "Anyways, I think we can get out of here by going back up the stairs. That mirror that was hanging by the door, it must be some sort of port or protection spell to switch the room around and trap the people in it. There has to be a way to counteract it. Adrian," Marcus turned to him. "Do you think you can make it up?"

I looked over at Adrian. "You're really injured. Are you in a lot of pain?"

He smiled, but I could tell he was trying to be strong in front of me. "I'm fine. Just a little scratched up. And I can do it. The stairs, I mean."

"We'll try," Marcus announced.

He went over to Adrian's side, and tried to get him up. I tried to help, putting my arm around his waist. Eventually, he stood up, and it was obvious that he was in no condition to get up those stairs.

"Adrian, this isn't going to work." I still was holding onto him as I eyed his injuries.

"I can do this." He said, through is deep breathing. "Besides Sage, you have that injured ankle there, if you can do this, so can I."

I looked down at my ankle. It still stung, but with all the adrenaline that had been running through my body, I hardly felt it.

"My ankle is nothing compared to your injuries." I told him, defending myself. "How did you even tell I was injured?"

"When you helped me up, you didn't put pressure on it."

"You noticed that?"
He smiled. "I noticed everything about you."

I would have blushed if not for the seriousness of the situation. Even Adrian's comments couldn't make me feel better. We were in a lot of trouble if we couldn't get up those stairs. I looked around, and saw that the only entrance or exit in the room was through the archway. Marcus had been right, we only had one way out.

"I can carry you." Marcus told Adrian. "At least, I can try to. It's a lot of stairs."

Adrian looked Marcus up and down. "I am like six inches taller than you."

Marcus smirked. "But I have a lot of muscle. And, right now at least, you probably weigh next to nothing with all that blood drained out of you."

I flinched. Marcus was right, Adrian was probably starving, and he would need blood. Soon.

"Well, I can at least make it to the staircase from here." Adrian declared, interrupting my thoughts.

Marcus nodded. "Then let's go."

We started to walk the distance to the staircase. Adrian's arm draped over my shoulders. Although he tried to not put his weight on me, he couldn't help it. His breathing was growing deeper, increasing as we got closer and closer to the stairs. My ankle wasn't helping the situation that much. It kept sending small jolts of pain up my leg, but I stepped on it anyway. We had to get Adrian out of here, and this was one of the only ways.

"I can heal that ankle for you, Sage." Adrian turned to look at me. "It'll be easier for everyone if you were healed."

"Easier? How?" I questioned.

"It will make me feel more at ease, for example, if you are able to run away if Cynthia shows up. She wants you, and you need to be able to escape if she finds us."

Marcus nodded. "He's right."

I glared at them. "Adrian, you don't have enough strength to heal me. You can't even get up those stairs. And you two shouldn't be worrying about me. I'll put up with the pain. It's nothing compared to Adrian's injuries."

"If you think you can bare the pain, go for it Sydney." Marcus told me.

Adrian frowned. "Except she doesn't need to. I can heal the ankle, it won't use up too much of my strength."

"You don't have too much strength as it is, Adrian. I'm not letting you." I told him sternly. "Let's just work on getting you up the stairs."

The frown never left his face, but we reached the stairs, and that was the next obstacle that we had to face. Marcus grabbed hold of Adrian, and put him on his back. It looked a little strange, since Adrian was much taller than Marcus, and he was draping over him on his back.

Once Marcus adjusted a little, we started to move up the staircase. I stayed behind, just in case Adrian fell off him or something, I would be ready to catch him. Plus, I didn't want them to see my limp from the ankle. That would only give me more hassle than we needed right now.

"Do they ever end?" Adrian asked us, talking about the stairs.

It was pitch black, and I honestly didn't know how Marcus wasn't falling over or tripping. Though, Marcus was breathing really heavily now, and he continued to do so as we went up the stairs.

"There are a lot." I answered Adrian. Going up the stairs were way more difficult than going down. Not only did my ankle cry out in pain, but my legs and thighs were killing me. They felt like a knife or something stabbed them all over, and the pain was becoming unbearable. I needed to exercise more, I guess. If we ever got out of here, I would put that on the top of my to-do list.

Suddenly, I bumped into them. They stopped.

"Everything alright?" I asked.

"I just need a break." Marcus answered through his deep breathing. I heard them as he let Adrian go, and they both took a seat. I did the same.

"Sorry," Adrian apologized. "I can try going up a few on my own."

"No," I answered. "You can't."

Even though it was dark, I could almost feel him rolling his eyes. "Sage, please. I may be bloody and bruised, but I can at least try to get up the staircase."

"Just shut up about it. I can carry you. I just need to sit for a minute." Marcus interrupted us.

We were quiet. I actually didn't mind sitting down, my legs needed to rest.

I felt Adrian's hand touch my arm, searching. Then it came down to my hand, and held on tightly to it, giving it a small squeeze. The touch sent shockwaves up my arm. I shivered.

I squeezed his hand back.

It felt dry and rough, but still nice. Being able to hold his hand was something I was really grateful for at the moment. It meant that he was safe, and close to me. That he was alive.

"Thank you for coming." He said out of nowhere.

I smiled. "You are worth coming for. I'm sorry though. This whole situation is my fault. If it weren't for me, Cynthia wouldn't have been after you. She knew that it was you that would lure me in. She knew how I felt about you, and she used it against me. Against you."

His hand somehow managed to move up my arm, and touch my cheek. Maybe his Moroi eyes could see in the dark or something. He turned my head a little.

"Sydney, I don't blame you. And I'm fine. I'll be fine, that's all that matters." He told me, his voice sounding quieter, and closer to me. I could feel his breath against my skin when he talked.

Marcus cleared his throat. "We should um, go."

I blushed this time, even though no one could see me. "Yeah, sorry."

Just then, we heard something.

"Shh," Marcus shushed us.

The sound came from below us. It was distant, but you could tell that someone was yelling something. My guess was Cynthia. And she probably wasn't too happy about finding her guard knocked out and her bait missing.

"Get up, we have to go." Marcus ordered. I heard him in the dark, he was lifting Adrian, groaning in the process. Obviously he was tired, but he did what he had to. And I was thankful.

We moved, a little faster this time. I thought we were probably halfway up the staircase based on my memory of coming down earlier. Suddenly, a thought occurred to me. If Cynthia, or whoever's voice that was down there, it meant that there was another entrance. Probably hidden.

"Adrian," I said as quietly as I could, so not to be overheard by the people down the stairs. "When you were down there, was there another entrance or exit? They must have come from somewhere."

"Not that I remember. I doubt they faced this staircase every time though." He told me. "I was pretty out of it most of the time. They could have come in and out when I was unconscious."

That made my stomach clench when he said that he was unconscious most the time. It made me feel even worse, but I kept it to myself. We just kept walking. Eventually the light at the top shined through the staircase. I could see the sweat glistening off Marcus's forehead from carrying Adrian. I wish I could have helped in some way.

We got to the top. Marcus put Adrian down, and went to the mirror.

I stood beside him. "Can you tell anything? Is it a portal?"

"I need to do a spell to find out." He told me.

His eyes closed as he said a few words in Latin. I could understand them, since I knew some Latin.

Magic of the mother earth,

Search through to find yourself.

Find the constraints,

The binds where you are.

Tell me the truth,

Tell me all.

He opened his eyes. "It's here. It's a spell to block all that enter this way."

"Can we get out?" I asked him.

"We need to break the spell."

"How?"

He eyed me. "Well I may have seven years of bad luck if I do it. But, I'll take my chances."

I was about to ask what he meant, but he suddenly took hold of the mirror with both hands, and brought it up above his head. Then, with as much force as he could manage, he smashed it on the ground. The tiny pieces went everywhere, filling the floor with bits of glass.

"Wow," Adrian whistled. "Hopefully Cynthia has janitorial service. This is some mess to clean up."

I rolled my eyes, ignoring him. "Marcus, did it work?"

"One way to find out," He said, then he brought his hand slowly up. Similar to what I did before, he raised it towards the doorway, and slowly started to put it through. It worked.

I smiled. "Let's get out of here."

We both grabbed hold of Adrian again, and moved out of the room. It took a little longer since we had to walk a bit more carefully due to the pieces of mirror on the ground. When we managed to get through the door and into the hall, we all heard it. Someone was coming up the staircase. And they were running. The sounds of the quick paced, high heeled shoes were hard to miss.

"Faster." Marcus said. We started moving quicker. Even though we were all breathing heavily now, we managed to keep our fast pace. We reached the section where we got split up with Eddie and Zach.

"We have to find them, we can't just leave them here." I told them, halting to a stop.

"She's close, we have to leave." Marcus ordered, starting to veer us off in the exit direction.

I pulled back, slipping away from Adrian's arm. "You two go on then, I can't just leave them."

"Sydney, stop. We aren't splitting up." Adrian raised his voice.

"You can't run, I can." I told him. "Plus Marcus is way better at holding your weight than I am."

"No. I'm not leaving you alone. She's after you, not me."

I looked him in the eyes. "Adrian, I brought Eddie and Zach into this, I'm responsible for them."

"They could have left already. They could be waiting for us."

"Do you think Eddie would really do that?" I eyed him.

He wobbled over to me, placing both hands on my shoulders. "Sydney, please don't do this."

I took a deep, strong breath. "I promise I'll come back. I have to go though. I know you're safe now, and I am so happy about that. I just need you to let me go. You're too injured."

"You're ankle is injured." He countered.

I shrugged. "I can deal with it."

"Come on, we need to get out of here. Now." Marcus interrupted, eyeing the way we came. "She'll be here any second."

I pulled myself into Adrian's arms, giving him a tight embrace. "I'm sorry, but I have to. If anything happens to them, it'll on my shoulders."

He pulled away slightly, looking down at me. "If anything happens to you..."

"Nothing will happen." I reassured him, though I wasn't too sure. "Just get out of here. As long as you are safe, that's all that matters."

"Sydney, one more time, please just come with me." Adrian pleaded.

His green eyes searched my, begging me to be with him. I shook my head. "I'm sorry."

He sighed. "Then just let me do this, for good luck." He leaned in, and before I had time to process anything, his lips met mine. With him arms still around me, they somehow managed to pull me in closer than I thought possible. I brought my own arms up, around Adrian's neck. This kiss was soft, and gentle. There was also that spark, but this time it felt different. It made my insides weaker, melting into the pressure that those lips made against mine. I almost forgot where we were, and what lead us to this kiss. When he pulled away, I almost told him I would go with him, wherever, whenever.

Mustering up all my courage, I stepped back. "Goodbye." Then looking towards Marcus. "Just be safe."

He nodded once, going beside Adrian once again. "You two. If I can, I'll come back and help."

"Just get to safety. I'll see you two soon." I told them both, then I gave a last look at Adrian, and left.