Hey guys! I'm really, sorry for not having updated in about 2 weeks. I'm so sorry, really! I just got into college last week, and it has been chaos getting used to this new schedule and it's horrible. I'm still getting used to it.

Here's the new chapter, I think it is interesting, because I have just finished the outline for the end of this fanfic (don't worry, Chapter 10 is barely the beginning of it!) and you guys will probably hate me for what I will do to Adrian and Sydney, or maybe love me, I don't know!

Thank you all for your reviews, I read every single one of them, and I'm amazed! Thank you all for taking your time to read this fanfic, and although I know it's not the best, I love seeing your reviews saying that you like it! You're the reason I get on a computer to write. :')

Dedicated to all of you who inspire me to keep on writing.. AHH! :D

BETA: CherrySlushLover

DISCLAIMER: VAMPIRE ACADEMY AND BLOODLINES BELONG TO RICHELLE MEAD!

ADRIAN'S POV

"So, you're telling me you guys just go all around the place and decompose Strigoi bodies with these chemicals you have to carry around?" I asked Sydney. "Ok, I get that, but is there any other way to decompose it? Name your highest number of decompositions."

"Not really, I mean, if the sun comes out before we arrive the place, the bodies decompose with the sun rays," she paused and looked up to remember something. "And the most I had to decompose was back in Russia before I met Rose." I froze, the mention of her name was still too painful to bear, but Sage didn't see my reaction, so she continued.

"So yeah, that's pretty much our jobs," she said as she looked back at me. "Decomposing Strigoi, maintaining vampires a secret, dealing with human businesses and all of this whilst acting professional." She said as she shrugged at the last bit. I'd never seen her so relaxed, and I looked at her shocked, since I'm a Moroi, and she dislikes us.

"You really are a 007." I said, as she looked back at me. "Say Sage, when we met on the interrogation room, your superior said something about dealing with you when you got back to them. What exactly does that mean?"

She stiffened, eyes wide, and her aura went a light indigo, meaning fear.

There was silence, and after a while she answered in a low voice, "What Stanton was referring to was that I have to face an inquiry when I get back, once the coronation is over. Alchemists have a strong belief that we shouldn't interact with Moroi more than just professionally and—"

"And you're going to say that that is exactly what you should be doing, instead of befriending one. Am I right?" I said cocking my head to the side, looking at her aura intently.

"No, I mean—what?" she said as she blushed. She tried to hide it by rambling about what they did to Alchemists that didn't follow the rules, without looking at me.

"Alchemists get send to re-education, which is kind of a place where corrupted people are... re-taught what being an Alchemist means." she said, her voice trembling at the mention of it, her aura going a dark indigo now. Whatever it was that made her scared was probably be too much to handle even for someone as strong as Sage.

"And you're scared, Sage. I can tell by your aura, and the way you are hugging your knees and trembling as if you were at the North Pole. Is it really that scary? Because I'm sure you won't have to face it, you haven't done anything wrong. You did your job."

"Well, yeah, I can't really deny it, with all your aura reading and stuff, but yes, it is," she gave me a sad smile and to evade the topic, she asked, "And what's with the aura reading? What does it say of mine?"

"Well, that you're scared to death right now, which is a dark indigo color." I said as I frowned. "But it is usually yellow with sparks of purple all over."

"What does yellow mean? And the purple?" She asked curiously.

"Aha! You've got yourself some homework, Sage!" I said as I winked and smiled at her. She narrowed her eyes at me.

"I swear you're infuriating sometimes, Adrian Ivashkov." she said shaking her head.

I was going to say a smart-ass comment when the hospital room opened and the young Moroi nurse entered, followed by Rose, Christian and Dimitri. I frowned at the sight of the two love doves, but quickly changed my expression before anyone saw it.

"How are you guys feeling?" asked Rose with concern written all over her face, staring at me with her arms crossed. Then she quickly started staring at Sage when I stared back at her. I could tell she was uncomfortable, as her aura went a light brown.

"I'm sorry I couldn't get different rooms for you two, but the hospital rooms are all full. The explosion harmed a lot of people, but there weren't any deaths, miraculously." She said that mostly at Sage. I suspected that it was because of her dislike to what I am, a Moroi.

"Little Dhampir, you don't have to worry about it, Sage was actually admiring my awesomeness." I forced those words through a fake smirk and gritted teeth, trying not to give away how uncomfortable I was. "Weren't you, Sage?"

"What? No, you were admiring myAlchemist awesomeness," she said, with a straight face staring at me, but I could tell she wanted to laugh by her aura. "Besides, you're not that awesome." She stared back at Rose and Dimitri.

Rose stared at both of us, amused by what Sage said, apparently.

"I thought Alchemists hated us?" Christian said with a confused face from behind Dimitri. "I don't know, that's what I've heard- I've never met an Alchemist before, so yeah."

"They don't hate us, they're just really uncomfortable with us being around them because we're unnatural and drink blood and use magic and all sort of creatures of the night and yeah. Don't you Sage?" I said hastily.

To be honest, I didn't want to say all of it out loud, but I was starting to feel light-headed because of spirit's darkness, making me blurt out the first thing in my mind. All eyes were on me as I said that, and then Sage spoke, turning all the attention to her.

"Um, something like—" I blacked out. The pull of the darkness made me unaware of everything around me. I knew I was awake, sitting at the hospital room while Sage continued her story, but I couldn't focus on anything. None of my senses worked in the hospital room. I was trapped inside of my head; I could hear whispers, see shadows and feel trails of smoke all around me, surrounding me like an invisible veil. Almost as soon as it appeared, it disappeared. "—maintain professional relationships with Moroi and Dhampirs and—"

"When can I leave the hospital?" I asked to the nurse with a noticeable frown in between my eyes.

"Lord Ivashkov, you may be released at evening." The nurse said, "When we are certain that you are at full capacity. Is anything wrong?"

"Can I be released now?" I asked irritated, watching the sun; it was still bright outside. I suddenly felt angry at everything and everyone. This must be spirit's darkness dragging me to the depths of insanity and doing its works.

'This is it,' I thought, 'I've finally gone crazy.'

I clenched and unclenched my fists trying to control my trembling.

"Mr. Ivashkov, I can't—"

"Release me, now." I didn't know what I was doing; I couldn't control my impulse of sudden fury and rage inside me. I stared straight at the nurse's eyes, working all the compulsion I could so she released me, but I used too much and before I realized it, she fainted from spirit power- my power.

Dimitri's natural reflexes made him react before the nurse fell to the floor and he caught her. I stared at the nurse with my eyes wide-open as he carried her to the green couch at the left of my bed and then stood up and faced me, anger and disappointment written all over his aura.

Rose did the same after checking on the nurse, this time, and her anger was evident not only in aura, but physically. Her frown easily appeared on her face, her fists clenched at her sides and her jaw tensed.

"Adrian, are you crazy? Why did you use compulsion on her?" she asked enraged by what I did, gesturing to the unconscious nurse. "You know spirit compulsion has more effect and you—"

I quickly stood up from the bed and stood next to it to face Rose, who was just a few inches away from me.

"You think I don't know that, Rose? You think I wanted her to faint on purpose? You think I did it because I wanted to see her faint?" I asked almost yelling and taking a step forward with each question as I looked at her intently, narrowing my eyes.

She should've known, better than anyone, that I can't control the effects of darkness and spirit when it took its toll on me. The spirit takes me over, dominates my whole body and twists it under its tentacles.

She finally broke eye contact, looking intimidated and then stared at my left where Sage was. I momentarily forgot that Sage was quietly watching from afar, and I suddenly felt guilty. She hated magic and Moroi more than anything in the world, and she just witnessed one doing magic. She had a sad, terrified look on her face.

"Sage... fuck, Sage. I'm so sorry for this, I—fuck!" I whispered as I grabbed my head in between my hands and stared at her one last time before pacing to the door to leave. I was leaving no matter what Rose or Christian said, and Sage would finally have peace- and a room for her to recover without me being there.

"It's killing you, isn't it, Adrian?" Sage asked in a low voice ignoring everyone else in the room, as I grabbed the doorknob to exit. I knew what she was talking about- the darkness. "You're stronger than it. I know it."

I stood still with my back facing everyone in the room. Her voice was full of concern and hope. She truly believed I could be stronger than the darkness; she genuinely thought I could beat it. I turned around, with my hand still on the doorknob, everyone staring at Sage and back at me and again.

"Sage, you seem to be the only one left in the world who has hopes for me," I smirked and turned around to exit, "Thank you, Sydney."

I ran out from the hospital, not caring if everyone stared at me as if I was crazy, because honestly, I couldn't tell the difference between sanity and insanity anymore. I was caught up in the middle of both of them, and although I wanted to believe Sage's words, I knew I was nowhere near being stronger than the darkness.

I could try to be stronger, but I didn't truly believe that I could win this internal battle with myself, not after what I had just experienced in that short episode at the hospital room. I wasn't exactly sure what all of that was anyway, but I was scared. Yes, the Adrian Ivashkov was scared of something that he wasn't even sure happened.

It did feel real, everything. And I'm sure I even heard someone whispering.

Does this mean I'm already crazy? That I've lost my mind? What does all of this mean? The questions reverberated round my head.

I stopped running after a while, as I was barefoot and tired. I couldn't even look for my shoes back there; I just wanted to get out from everyone's sight no matter what. I ran to the edge of the forest on the east side of court, right where the wards ended, away from the center of action. As I started walking, I saw shards of broken glass, pieces of concrete and ashes all over the floor, scattered everywhere. This must have been the building that went off in the explosion yesterday. I didn't exactly remember what this building was used for, but since it was on the east side, it must have been a minor building.

I was careful to avoid the glass and made it to the forest unseen. The sun was starting to set, and the shade of the trees was covering me completely. I sat down next to one of the thickest trees on the edge of the forest, and lay down to wait for the sun to completely set as I closed my eyes. I had many things to think about before even thinking to head back.

First of all, why is it that I don't feel as terrible as I should with Rose? I mean, I do feel terrible and shattered, but I expected it to be the worst thing ever, the catalyst for me to go crazy with no return. Yet, it wasn't. I wasn't reacting like someone who just got cheated on by the love of his life. I wasn't acting like someone whose heart got broken in a long lapse of time. This just wasn't natural.

Second of all, the explosion. What set it off? I couldn't even ask the love doves what they had found, because I couldn't stand being there. That was something I'd have to find out for myself later on.

The third thing—my darkness. I had never experienced anything like the thing that happened back in the hospital. It was like darkness gripping me everywhere, death all over the corners of my mind. It was too strong for me to try to control it, but Sage firmly believed that I could. I saw her eyes full of conviction, not some eyes that showed that they were sorry; they were full of true conviction and faith- in me.

And fourth, what is it that Sage fears back there in the Alchemists' place?

She said it was literally a re-education, where they imposed their beliefs on her again. it couldn't really be just that if her aura was a flaming indigo color. It must be the worst imaginable thing someone might face, as an Alchemist. In the short time I've known her, she has portrayed herself as a very strong, dedicated and brave girl; I doubted there were many things that scared the crap out of her like re-education or whatever it is called, did.

I can't really place her in the setting I'm imagining. A torture place, somewhere where they are brain-washed or something and they come out as a completely different person. She's too—for the lack of another word—angelic to have to go through that process.

She told me that Alchemists that stray from their beliefs are usually the only ones who have to do that, yet she was almost sure she would be send there.

Honestly, I was afraid for her, even if I didn't really know her. She genuinely believes and cares for me, and I can't see her being dragged to her nightmare. I ought to help her avoid it if I can, even if she hates Moroi. She helped me even if I didn't ask her for help; I owe her that at least.

I opened my eyes to find darkness. The sun had set at least half an hour ago, and here I was, thrown in the forest, drowning in my own thoughts.

Lately, I find myself wanting to paint whenever I have my episodes, and I want to paint with every shade of gold I can make.

When I blink, I see a golden lily.

Please review and tell me what you think of my fanfic. All kinds of criticism are accepted (except hate!), so I can fix it and get better on my writing! I love you guys! Really, thank you! :}