When Isabelle was younger she had imaginary friends that involved unicorns, knights, and princesses slaying dragons.
When Alec was younger, he imagined a man hanging behind the furnace in the basement, a woman with a broken neck, an old woman with half her face burnt, and a boy and girl that had gotten shot to death. He had white streaks in his hair.
He had no clue what was up with the streaks, his imaginary friends and was afraid of the basement, because the friends hung out in there.
Alec was afraid of the basement up till he was twelve, when his mother had taken him into the basement telling him not to be afraid anymore. She locked him in there for two hours.
She found him, rocking back and forth saying something like, 'Leave me alone.'
He had overheard his parents arguing about him.
"It's just imaginary friends. He needs to stop it," Robert said.
"It's more serious. Something scared the hell out of him. I found him rocking back and forth. He's mute now," Maryse countered.
There was a silence, before Robert replied. "I don't know what you want me to do about it. He's not my son. I didn't conceive him."
Alec winced and placed his hands on his stomach. Tears came to his eyes. He was upset and angry. He wasn't making it up. How come they didn't understand?
"Isabelle stopped having imaginary friends when she was nine. How come your son still has them?" Robert accused.
There was a silence before Maryse replied with, "At least I care about him."
Alec felt a tear roll down his cheek. Robert snapped out, "How dare you accuse me of not caring about him?"
"You don't act like it. You barely spend time with him anyway," Maryse replied and left the room.
Alec wiped the tear away.
Later that night, someone was running their hand through his white streaked hair. The hand and air was cold. Alec could see his breath come out in mist.
The person said, "Its okay Alec. We care about you. We'll protect you from the others." It was a woman that was comforting him.
Alec didn't dare turn around, he was too afraid to see who it was.
Alec couldn't tell Magnus all about his issues, or the fact that he dyes his hair black to cover the white streaks. He was still scared of the basement.
Isabelle was a good sister and never told Jace all about that.
All Alec wanted to do was forget about his past and the imaginary friends, and the basement. He wanted to pretend that his dad had told him repeatedly to stop having imaginary friends and block it out.
Block what out? My crazy fucked up childhood? Alec wondered and tried doing that.
He ignored the people that the normal human beings couldn't see.
It didn't do any good when he once got chased down an alley by a mob of…whatever the hell they were. Imaginary friends? Spirits?
The word spirits gave him a tingly feeling, and he knew that spirits was the correct word. He sat behind a dumpster and rocked back and forth. He covered his ears and closed his eyes. Robert's words ran through his head.
"You're too old for imaginary friends. Block it out. Block it out."
He tried to ignore the spirits reaching out to him, cold hands grabbing him, the chill in the air, and the voices asking for help.
Block them out. Block them out. Block them out.
"Hey, dude. Are you okay?"
A female asked, grabbing at Alec's hands. Her hands were very warm, alive hands.
Alec removed his hands and looked up at a very human face.
It was a female about eighteen or nineteen. She had straight brown hair and hazel eyes. She looked like she was concerned. Probably wondering why a boy was having a nervous breakdown behind a dumpster.
Alec would've said something like, 'Yes. I just love having nervous breakdowns in alleys.' Instead he said, "No, I'm not."
Alec noticed the runes on the girl's arms, and she helped him up saying, "I'm Caitlin."
"I'm Alec," he said.
He had a feeling this would be a start of a new friendship.
After a few encounters with spirits and Caitlin nearly drowning in the lake; Caitlin ended up explaining to him that she had found Alec in the alley and wanted to know what was going on. He had found himself trusting Caitlin more about his past than he did to Magnus.
Alec and Caitlin lied together, by a lake. They were looking at clouds together.
Caitlin was sure that Alec was a 'medium,' a person who can talk to the dead.
"If your dad tells you to block it out, don't. They might need something from you," Caitlin said.
Alec nodded; he didn't know why he has this 'gift.' He may have gotten it from his real dad. "What do they want? Why can't they move on?"
Caitlin waved her hands around, "I don't know. Ask them. You can see them and talk to them. Hear them."
Alec wasn't sure if he wanted to or not. Everywhere he went, he had spirits running to him, scaring him. Sort of, he was trying to get used to the fact that he could talk to them.
The air seemed to have dropped instantly and Alec felt goose bumps form. He noticed that his breath came out in a mist and looked at Caitlin. She seemed uncomfortable and looked at Alec. He looked over and there was a dark-skinned woman wearing a white dress. She was standing at the edge of the woods and Alec swallowed.
"Don't block it out," Caitlin said. "They need your help and you can help."
He stood up and dusted the grass off of his clothes. He walked over, Caitlin following him.
Alec looked at the woman, "Do you need any help?"
The woman replied with, "Yes." She led Alec into the woods. Alec grabbed Caitlin's hand and followed the woman.
After a while, Alec seeing a man that was hung and another man on a swing, they made it to a run-down looking shack.
Alec wasn't sure what he was supposed to do. "Should I go in there?" Alec looked at the door and opened it. It was an empty room with leaves covering the floor.
"I don't like this." Caitlin said and grabbed Alec's arm.
"You told me to help. I'm helping," Alec said. He walked in with Caitlin following him.
"What about black widows? I got bitten by one," Caitlin replied.
Alec shrugged and kicked at the leaves. He noticed a wooden green door on the ground and kicked the leaves aside. Caitlin did the same and Alec pulled the trapdoor up. There was a ladder and Alec looked at Caitlin. He grinned, "Ladies first."
A/N: Yeah, I don't know either. I got the idea from watching The Haunting in Connecticut 2: Ghosts of Georgia and reading the first few chapters of a book called The Awakening.