Mental-a chapter in the minds of two drugged Shadowhunters.

Nick watched as Lola's fight slowed and weakened. What's going on? Was it his fault? He was a little harsh on the girl.

Then Lola fell - or at least that's what he thought at the moment. Truthfully, she collapsed. And as Nick watched her tiny body collapse to the ground - while still managing to fight off the horrible, black demons -, he couldn't help but tilt his head and furrow his eyebrows. It felt like a dream, really. Not even three weeks ago Lola was just a name, grapefruit was just a smell, and red was just a color. "Clarissa!" someone, who sounded an awful lot like his sister, yelled from behind. Whatever that was, whoever said that, it didn't matter. But it did bring him back to his senses.

Nick, now more aware of his swings and jabs, ran towards the red in the sea of black. He had to save her. That was the goal. First Lola, then demonic destruction. Nick felt a burning sensation in not only his muscles, but also his arm. Stabbing one particularly stubborn demon in the gut, Nick chanced looking down. Or course, that didn't help the situation. A gap the length of his forearm was gushing out blood. Dark blood. Darker even than Lola's hair.

The blood was red. So was Lola's hair.

Red blood.

Red hair.

Red sky.

Red Gear.

Wait... Red sky? Red Gear? And red demons? But weren't they black?

Of course, that made everything look black.

Black blood, black hair, black sky, black gear. In fact, even the grass below him was black. Everything black.

At first Nick thought he was asleep and, if he opened his eyes, he would see the inside of the Institute's infirmity. Maybe some red headed nurse - not Lola, if that's what you're thinking - would tell him he was asleep for three days and all the missing people were found and all the mysteries revealed. Maybe Stella would give them a break. Maybe they could go to Idris.

Nick missed Idris. Ever since Andrew and Jackie came when Nick was twelve they hadn't even left Adams. Stella claimed it was because of the unfortunate excess of demons, but who knows? Who ever knows with Stella?

Then he heard voices. "Nick, wake up! We fought off the demons. They're all dead. Oh, please, please wake up!"

"Begging won't help, Stella. He's unconscious, just like Lola - I mean, Clarissa. Dang, I'll never get used to that, will I?" Jackie's voice rang.

"He's not unconscious, idiot. How have you not pieced this together yet?"

"What? He's not? Nick and Clarissa are, what, asleep?"

"Oh my gosh. You weren't kidding, were you? You really are that... dumb, in lack of a better word. Are the rest of you that dumb too?" Nick rolled his eyes behind his eyelids.

"Stella, just explain." Nick could just imagine Jackie's face as she tried to remain calm. Jackie's pretty gray eyes - that, somehow, seemed tinted green - would shut and she would bite her bottom lip.

Actually, Nick found himself wanting to see her face. So, blocking out Stella and Jackie's bickering, Nick began to experiment with opening his eyes. They felt crusty and stiff, but it was easier than he expected. The boy then proceeded to laugh at the scene in front of him. Jackie's face held the exact expression he expected, except for a sprinkle of worry that was making the insides of her eyebrows quirk up. And, much to Nick's annoyance, they weren't in the Institute, much less with all their problems solved. Instead, Nick lay on Adams's baseball field, his feet slightly elevated due to the Pitcher's Mound, with Stella cradling his head.

"Nick!" exclaimed Jackie. Nick found it funny she could be so bipolar.

"Jackie!" said Nick, surprising himself. His voice sounded different than usual. Jackie must've noticed it as well, for her genuine smile slowly demoted to a concerned one. "Where's Lola?"

Ah, Lola. If he thought Jackie's angry face was cute, Lola's was dang adorable. Her cheeks reddened to the likings of a tomato and she wouldn't let her emerald eyes drift from her shoes. Suddenly, Nick felt an overwhelming urge to see Lola, to hear her voice. Nick tried to remember the last time he saw her, but he couldn't.

"Lola is asleep over there." Jackie pointed a few feet away from them, where Lola lay.

"Then wake her up!" Nick couldn't help but feel anger at the girl he might've, once upon a time, been friends with.

"Nick," warned Stella, "Lola is not asleep. She's unconscious. You've been drugged, and you're not thinking properly."

Nick frowned. He couldn't think of anything to say but "Oh."

Suddenly, Nick felt exhausted. He shut his eyes, which was much easier than opening them, and fell asleep. Actually, the last thing he heard was Stella saying "Nick! Don't fall asleep."

Oops.

Clary woke up from a good dream. She vaguely remembered flashes of gold, but the images were gone before Clary could fully grasp it. Sitting up, Clary looked around the room. She was in a room so white, it was almost suffocating. At least fifty beds lay against the walls, each accompanied with a red wood chair to its right. However, only one of the beds and one of the chairs were occupied.

A sleeping Jackie lay curled up in a ball in the chair next to Clary's. Usually Jackie wore fancy, up-to-date clothing that emphasized her pretty figure and made her gray-green eyes pop. But, today, Jackie wore an oversized Orlando t-shirt and dark blue jeans. Granted, the jeans were tight and jeweled, but close enough.

"Lola. You're awake," said a voice from Clary's left.

Clary turned her head and saw Stella, who seemed undecided in terms of hair color. Honestly; it's red or blonde - not both. Who did this girl think she was? Clary had red hair. Jace and Nick had blonde hair. Jackie and Andrew had brown hair. What has this world become when one can't have one hair color? Why must people insist upon having two? And why stop there? People can have three hair colors. Or four. Where do we we draw the line? Why don't we just give everyone five hair colors?! Can you imagine the mayhem? Chaos in every city! People with multi-colored hair waltzing up and down streets. In front of children, no less!

"Lola, are you okay?" asked the two-color-hair girl.

Annoyed, Clary snapped, "Fine."

"Okay. Look, you must be confused now, but it's okay. But tell me, what do you remember last?"

Clary closed her eyes, momentarily forgetting Stella's hair monstrosity. What did she remember last? Clary best remembered kissing Nick at Eradicated Evolution, but mostly there were flashes of demon fighting.

"I don't..." Lola felt a sudden flash of anger. "I don't know! Okay? Now can you leave?"

Stella's eyes widened. "Lola? Are you okay?"

"I answered that already!" Clary burst, furious at the woman's clueless demeanor. "Now leave!"

Stella stared down at her for a few seconds before turning and exiting the door. Clary breathed out a sigh of relief. Finally, she was alone... well, Jackie was there, but she was still asleep and therefore, didn't count. However, all good things must come to an end, Clary thought as Nick opened the door not five minutes after the two-color-hair girl left.

"Lola!" cried Nick, rushing over to Clary.

"Nick."

"I was so worried! Don't do that to me again. You weren't waking up. And Stella said you don't remember much..." Nick continued his little rant, but Clary had stopped listening. Instead, she stared at the boy in front of her. He had blonde hair, wide brown eyes, a flat-ish nose, and a pointed chin. Clary guessed the only thing Nick and Jace had in common was their hair and their fierce protective attitude.

But then they had more in common. Nick began to appear golden. His pale skin grew tanner, his eyes appeared lighter, his hair got longer, curlier, and blond-er. Then his chin became round, his cheekbones sharp, and his voice milky. He looked like...

"Jace?"

Nick stopped mid-rant and looked at her. "Jace?" he repeated in a small voice.

"I-I mean Nick. Nick. What... What is wrong with me?" Clary managed to cough out as Jace transformed back into Nick.

"Weren't you listening?"

Clary shook her head and refused to meet his eyes, ashamed of her untimely zone-out. "Sorry..."

To her surprise, Nick chuckled. "It's okay, Lola. A couple nights ago - I think it was two? - we went demon hunting together. The tracker said there were two demons at the baseball field, so we went there. The trackers must've been broken or something... I don't know. But it didn't work. The tracker claimed there were two demons at the park, but actually there were at least fifteen.

"Then, to make matters worse, the demons were the deadly 'Akaluie demons,' which, among other deadly things, release a powerful drug when killed. The drug causes hallucinations, nausea, and confusion, but mostly it, uh, amplifies your feelings."

Clary, who managed to pay attention throughout his whole explanation, repeated, "Amplifies your feelings."

"Like, if I liked you, and you were, say, being surrounded by a dozen, deadly, black demons, the drug would make me go crazy trying to get to you, to help you." Nick's eyes, though he pretty much just admitted to having a crush on her, stayed glued to Clary's, unashamed of his confession (although, to admit, his admiration for her was pretty obvious).

"Nick.. I-"

"Who's Jace?" asked Nick, placing a hand over her own. He should be mad, Clary thought. But his hand was gentle.

"N-Nobody."

"Lola. Don't lie to me."

Clary sighed. "Jace was my boyfriend."

"What happened? I mean, between you two."

After a moment, Clary said, "He cheated on me."

"Oh."

"And that's why I don't think-"

"I would never cheat on you, Lola."

Clary couldn't think of anything to say to that, because they both knew it was one-hundred-percent true. Nick was like a little naive puppy, thrusting himself fearlessly into scary situations. He had less experience than anyone, being that he had lived in tiny little Adams his whole life. Sometimes she wondered how she could ever have rejected him.

When Clary didn't say anything, Nick continued. "I love you, Lola. With everything I have. From the moment I saw you, eating that apple in the kitchen, I knew you were the one for me. And I'm the one for you. So, trust me, Lola. Trust me. I'm not going to hurt you."

"I-I know you won't."

"Then why can't we be together?"

Nick looked like he was going to go on another romantic spiel about his undying love for her, but Clary interrupted with an "Okay."

"Okay?"

"Okay we can be together," Clary said.

After a moment, "Really?"

Clary nodded.

Suddenly, the boy lunged forward onto her and hugged her fiercely. Clary smiled and hugged him back. Getting over Jace was no easy feat, but Nick was amazing.

Then someone cleared their throat. Nick backed away so he was sitting one the edge of the bed. A voice said, "Well, uh. I guess I'll be going then."

Clary thought it was Jackie saying it, but really a huge black demon - or "Akaluie demon," as Nick said - towered over the two kids. Clary screamed and pulled the sheet over her head. Then, realizing she was being a coward (and also, a thin, white sheet would hardly be protection against an Akaluie demon), in one single motion, Clary pushed the sheet down, jumped out of bed, grabbed Nick's hand, and ran. Nick looked confused and Clary vaguely wondered if there were he had some sort of after effect from the demon poison. Yes, that must be it.

So, to protect mentally-disturbed-at-the-moment Nick, Clary dragged him along as she sprinted down the corridor. The Adams Institute was full of red wood and old-fashioned, well, everything. It was so unlike the New York Institute which was big and grand, like a castle. But, in the situation at hand, the New York Institute would've been better. If teenage kids, scared for their life, run down hallways decorated with precious chandeliers, centuries-old paintings, and expensive, non-replaceable carpets, I'd be more worried if something wasn't broken.

But nevertheless, when Clary turned what she thought was a corner and broke a two-hundred-year-old sculpture of the head of Henry Branwell, Stella yelled at them. Nick looked too confused to say anything, but Clary defended herself loudly until she fell unconscious. Literally. And she didn't wake up until Isabelle was gone.

Sorry this wasn't updated earlier. I had it done for a while, I just somehow forgot how to update... I just figured it out today. To quote a drugged-Nick, oops. Yeah so, the next chapter is action-packed, so if you don't like these romance-y, psychotic chapters, stay tuned. The next one is already in-progress and going to be ready soon. Thank-you!