Description: Magnus Bane, High Warlock of Brooklyn, disliked nothing more than the needy, self-obsessed Nephilim. But, when Jace Herondale and Isabelle Lightwood - accompanied by a blue eyed beauty - flock to him in need of his help to find missing Shadowhunter, Clary Fray, and Daylighter, Simon Lewis, Magnus is unable to refuse them. In doing so, Magnus finds himself drawn more deeply day by day to Alexander Lightwood. A boy who possesses a deep, dark secret. A boy who has lost all hope... Malec | Non-Canon

Prologue

Dark Pasts

'Facilis descensus averni'

The descent to Hell is easy.

Once upon a time, those words would have meant nothing to him. They use to be mere Latin words on a page of a centuries old book that was so mind-numbingly boring that within seconds of attempted reading, he was asleep. Now though, they meant something more to him. The words ran deeply in him, frightening him, dawning on him. It turns out; the descent to Hell is easy - at least for him it is anyway. There was nothing he could do that would stop it. There was nothing anyone could do. The only option for him now was to just sit here and watch the gates to hell open, painstakingly slowly, while continuing to wait for his descent to finally finish.

Alec Lightwood had once dreamt of being an Angel; one with soft, feathery, pure white wings that gracefully hung from his back, lightly brushing both his muscular arms. He used to quietly tell stories to his mother and father about how, one day, he would speak to an angel and convince them to turn him into one too. He'd even extended his dream as far as telling his sister, Isabelle Lightwood, who only smirked and diminished it as being nothing but childish imagination. Of course, Izzy had been right. Izzy was always annoyingly, infuriatingly right. But, if changing into an angel was just a dream-like fantasy, then why couldn't the opposite be a nightmarish fantasy? Why did the opposite have to feel so real?

Why, oh why, did this have to happen to him?

December 2nd 2002

'There is nothing more I can do to help your son, Maryse Lightwood. Even the power of the Silent Brothers is not enough to reverse this. But, Alexander will live.' Maryse Lightwood heard Brother Enoch speak these words in her mind, yet she couldn't quite comprehend them. These past few days had been a whirlwind of fear, doubt and helplessness. All she had dreamt of was that her eldest son would be alive, brave and as strong as he always had been. But she had not wanted this... She could have never even imagined this.

"There must be something you can do!" Maryse exclaimed in a slightly strangled voice, her usually calm and stoic composure dissipated at the thought of Alexander, her Alexander, being forced to live in that way. This couldn't be happening. Not to her son. "He can't live like this!"

Brother Enoch appeared to be somewhat unmoved; the boy would live, wasn't that good enough? 'I have told you and I will tell you again, I cannot help him anymore. I can only heal so much. Alexander must live like this if he so wishes to live at all. It is a decision that only he must make. Now I must go, Maryse Lightwood. I apologise for what has happened to your son.'

As Brother Enoch glided swiftly out of the room, with his head hung towards the floor, Maryse felt the familiar dampness of a first tear slip down her cheek. She rarely ever cried, only when a painful occasion called for it. This situation itself called for much more than tears - it sought for the tight constriction of her already stone-cold heart. Nothing had ever felt so excruciating. She could only let the helplessness and the fears consume her, let them burn her until they finally died away.

"I'm so sorry, Alexander..." Maryse whispered, hovering over him shakily, her shoulders trembling. "So, so sorry..."

Alec had always remembered this date, ever since the age of 13. It was, and forever would be, embedded in his memory as the worst day of his life. December 2nd 2002. Over the years, he'd tried so hard to just forget; to lock the memory away in a secret vault and destroy the key. However, the date was like a constant, painful stab in the heart that occurred at least once a day, every day. He couldn't possibly forget, it would be wrong to forget. That demonic day had changed him into the person he was today - Alec Lightwood, fiercely protective of his family and a valiant shadowhunter . He was subdued, serious, straight-to-the-point and a damn-good archer. If that day hadn't of happened, perhaps he would be different. Maybe he would be louder, more comfortable and poised in his own skin. But over the years, Alec had learned to live with himself. Each day, he took pride in the fact that he was alive. He had to concentrate on the positives, because there were too many negatives and dwelling on them would lead to a life filled with nothing but despair.

Alone in the darkened graveyard, Alec was lost in his thoughts and he sat cross-legged in the grass, playing absentmindedly with the single, white flower he held in his hands. Memories of that day always resurfaced on this particular date. Though he never cried, he had perfected himself into becoming a silent robot. Physically, he always appeared fine, besides his typical glum expression and stiff movements. Mentally? He was completely shattered.

On other days, he was able to be himself a little more; live his life how he should live it as a Shadowhunter. But he knew there would always be something missing from his life. That something was hope, as he had lost it all many years ago. He was living, but waiting, always waiting, for his slow descent to finally end. Maybe then, he could finally be free... Free of all the torment.

"Mom..." Alec whispered solemnly, placing the white flower at the bottom of the sombre gravestone, holding back the strangling knot he could feel tightening in his throat, blocking his airways. "I'm so sorry."

Maryse Lightwood.

Wife of Robert Lightwood,

Loving mother of Alec, Jace, Isabelle and Max.

'You will forever be missed.'

September 8th 1968 - December 2nd 2002

So this is the prologue to my new Malec story. It's the first one I've ever written for TDI so I hope my portrayal of the characters has been done well. Thank you to all the Beta's who've helped me edit this story and I hope you as the reader have enjoyed the first chapter. Let me know what you think by reviewing and stay tuned for the next update.
Thank you,
Daretodream