Chapter four:

I FROZE WITH SHOCK, BUT Dimitri was the one to speak.

"What?" His whole body tensed up, and it was clear that he hadn't been told about this part of the plan. But when I looked over at Adrian, he seemed just surprised as us.

Ms. Terwilliger laughed.

"It sounds bad when I say it like that. But if everything goes according to plan, and I don't see why it wouldn't, then nothing will go wrong."

"What are you talking about Jackie," Adrian asked, just as confused as we were.

We listened patiently as Ms. Terwilliger explained her addition to the plan. She was one step ahead, and knew that when the Alchemists realised Sydney had suddenly vanished, they would put the whole place on lock down, stopping us from escaping. Her idea would prevent this from happening, but it meant I had to risk my safety for it to work. Dimitri argued that once we had Sydney, we'd be able to get to the control panel and figure a way out from there. But his plan had a lot of what ifs and maybes, which wasn't Dimitri's style. The only reason why he didn't agree with Ms. Terwilliger's proposal, was because it meant I had to be involved in the most dangerous part of the mission.

Adrian and I had both stayed silent throughout the entire debate, but I knew it wasn't going to end. Not until I gave them the answer that was needed. Sydney was my friend, and she needed my help.

"I'll do it."

Everyone turned to me. Dimitri was about to speak, but I stopped him. "You know as well as I do that this is the better plan. I'll be fine, and most importantly, Sydney will be safe because this will work."

Dimitri's jaw clenched, and I knew he wasn't happy. I had gone from deciding to not be in the mission, to playing the most vital part in it. But despite everything that was happening with me lately, I couldn't let it get in the way of helping someone who was in danger. I could tell how much she meant to Adrian, and even though I didn't fully understand their relationship, I knew Sydney made him happy. And after hurting him so badly, the least I could do was to help him save the woman he loved.

"We all know the plan, so let's not waste time," I said as I pushed my chair away from the table.

Adrian got up as well.

"Rose is right, we need to get going." His mood had gone from aggressive and agitated, to pure concern. I knew that he would be feeling helpless sitting here in a coffee shop. And he was right, we really did need to go if we wanted this to all go to plan. Abe had somehow managed to get intel on the time they planned to move her, which was at 7am. Alchemists were many things, but unorganised wasn't one of them. The sun was slowly getting higher and higher, and it was now 5:30 in the morning. We all gathered our things and made our way out of the coffee shop, with Adrian in the lead.

We decided to leave our cars here and walk to the building, as it was only a couple of minutes away. Ms. Terwilliger and Adrian walked ahead, while Dimitri lingered back to talk to me.

"Roza-"

I grabbed his hand, and gave him a warm smile.

"I'll be fine Dimitri." He relaxed at my touch, but only slightly. "Everything will work out, trust me."

He seemed almost offended by my statement.

"I do trust you, but it doesn't stop me from caring about you." He squeezed my hand before letting it go. I thought he had broken the contact out of frustration, but then I realised his phone was ringing.

"Eddie," he breathed, keeping his composure calm. "Okay good. Thanks for the update. If you don't hear from any of us by 7am, assume the worse and contact Abe." Dimitri paused as he glanced down at me for an instant, and then smirked. "Will do."

"What?" I asked, as he hanged up the phone and slipped it back into his duster.

"Eddie and Angeline have gotten Jill to the new safe location your father set up for them."

We had decided on the way to the air field that moving Jill would be the safest option, especially since Sydney and Adrian were no longer around to help out. It was good to hear that that part of that plan had succeeded. That just left us with our part.

"I got that, but what was with the smirk?" Dimitri knew I hated being out of the loop, and was purposely trying to taunt me.

"He told me to tell you that if you get the opportunity to "'kick some ass,'" to not hold back."

I rolled my eyes, and pretended to find the comment amusing. But his remark secretly made me uneasy, because I was definitely going to have the opportunity. But whether or not I'd be able to kick some ass, I'd have to wait and see.

We made it to the back alley way of the dull, grey forty story industrial building that housed the Alchemists' headquarters. It didn't take us long to gather all the equipment we needed. Ms. Terwilliger, or as she insisted I call her, Jackie, was busy casting the spell to activate the pouches so that we'd appear invisible.

While this was happening, Adrian came over to me and said something I had never expected him to.

"Thank you Rose. I know you're risking a lot to save her."

I was shocked. Out of everyone in the entire universe, I was the last person he should be thanking.

"You don't have to thank me, I really don't deserve it. Besides, Sydney is my friend too."

Adrian nodded. And just when I thought he was about to walk away, he continued.

"Look, I'm over what that happened with Belikov. And considering everything that is going on, I think we should call it a truce and move forward."

As confounded as I was, I couldn't help but ask, "As friends?"

He gave me a warm smile.

"Sure little Dhampir."

I smiled back.

"Okay, the charms have been activated," Jackie said, throwing us each our own bag. She gave me an extra one.

"What's this for?" I asked.

"It's for Sydney. Each charm will only shield one specific person, so yours won't work on her."

"But how will it work if it's deactivated? I thought you weren't coming with us..." Then it clicked. How else would Adrian know a witch? Why would Jackie be so interested in Sydney's welfare? And what would help break Sydney's bond with the Alchemist world- aside from her love for Adrian? "She's not a… is she?"

Adrian confirmed my suspicion.

"Yep. Sage is a witch. Well a witch in training." He looked down at his watch. "Now that's all cleared up, let's go."

We circled around to the front. Getting in was the easy part. All we had to do was wait for a person to go through the doors, and then because we were invisible, we good just sneak past the heavily guarded barriers.

Getting out would be the hard part.

Any thoughts on what Jackie's plan could be? And any theories about what's up with Rose?
Things are about to start heating up, I can assure you ;D
Please note that future chapters will contain quite a bit of violence and graphic scenes... in other words, prepare yourselves for some serious angst guys!

But please let me know what you guys think, as I legitimately have no idea whether people are enjoying this or not... After a 2 year break, it's hard to get back into the swing of things, so all your support means a lot :)