Chapter 2
"Why hello, there beautiful. Didn't I just see you in my mirror a moment ago?" Wyatt jokes as I walk out of my room. I shut my door behind me and turn to face him. He is leaning up against the wall just outside my room. He is wearing a slightly v-necked grey t-shirt, jeans, black and white Nikes and his family crest necklace. He combed out his hair and is also wearing a big smile on his face.
"I was about to ask you the samething," I say continuing the joke with a fake smile. The leaf on the window is still fresh in my mind.
We walked down the hallway of our Victorian style mansion. Its an odd mansion, probably not the type most people think of. It's a Victorian house, and its absolutely beautiful. And judging I have lived here since it was built, that's saying a lot. Most people, once they have lived in a house for about 5 years, get tired of their house and want to move; change sceanery. But still every time I see the outside of our house, it still takes my breath away. The mansion is wide with long columns going up to the top. The columns have big protection runes ingraved into them them, and a base with a swirl like design. The columns come just below my parents room and hold uptheir balcony. Above their room the roof comes to a peek. On the inside of the peek, there are chiseled in designs. It kind of looks like the roof on the Parthenon, but with out the Greek gods, Monsters and stuff like that. Instead, there are Shadowhunters, Demons and Mundies, artfully sculpted in our roof.
Wyatt and I walk side by side down the red painted hall, and down the marble spiral staircase. Not talking, moving silently, stealthily, with out a sound into the kitchen, our strides insync. When we come into the kitchen the sweet smell of cinnamon fills my nose. I take a deep breath. Our mother has made her special cinnamon bread. Its her "family secret" she calls it, and its also Morgana's favorite breakfast.
"Good morning, children," Mother said, a slight bit of edge in her voice. It was barely detectable, but I heard it. She is dressed in an off white lacy button up shirt, black slacks, no shoes, and a blue apron over top. We don't really stick to Shadowhunter customs with the colors and such. Besides, we were alive before most of the current Clave was (accept for Morgana of course.); we follow our own rules.
"Morning!" Father says, a little to cheery. Somethings wrong with him too. He has on a plain white t-shirt, jeans, and his socks. He is lightly sipping some tea out of a mug, reading a book. I can also tell he is nervous because he has out his family crest coin and is flipping it between his fingers.
"Morning," We say, in harmony. I look over to Wyatt. His ice blue eyes are narrowed, his brows knitted. He looks at me as well and I know I have the same expression. What's wrong? we both ask with out words. I shrug, ever so slightly, just for him to see. With that we go to sit down at the table.
"Where's Morgana?" I ask.
"She will be down in a moment, Hadley." Mother says. I nod and pour Wyatt and myself some orange juice
Morgana comes down the steps a few minutes later. She has a worried look on her face. She is nervus about the rune I think. She walks slowly and comes to sit beside me.
"Here," Wyatt says and hands her a plate and glass of juice. Morgana nodds in thanks and we all start to eat.
Today, she has on a white lightly laced top, with elegantly sewn on black beads here and there along the neck line. She has on a pare of black jeans with white flats, and a black ribbon tied in to her long curly ponytail. Small curls not quite long enough to fit frame her exquisite face and bring out her light blue eyes. Morgana may only be 12, but she carries herself like an adult. She is just as classy as any of us, even if she was born 100 years later. It must be in the Mayfield family genes.
Which reminds me. The rest of us Mayfeilds really have no idea how old we are. My parents look 21, but in reality they must be around 300 or so. Wyatt and I look about 16, but I think we are about 150-200 or something like that. You see, the rune not only makes you immortal, but it also slows down how fast you physically age. We all got it at age 12, but after about 50 or so, you start to lose count of the years. Morgana told me that she was going to be the first Mayfield to keep up with her age. I hope she can.
We finish our breakfast, and go to start the rune ceremony. It's been so long since Wyatt and I had ours, I have almost forgotten how it went. We turn off all the lights and draw the curtains. No sunlight can come in, it could mess up the ceremony. So in place of the sun, we use candles.
"Hadley, go get the book," Mother says to me, while they are finishing lighting the candles.
I walk quickly to the library. The library is my favorite room in the whole mansion. There are books, upon books, upon books about any thing and everything. Our books range from, History, to farrie tales to the ocean to baking. You name it, and we probably have a book on it. I walk to center of the library and move aside the small coffee table. I lean down and pull out my boot knife, prying open on of the floorbords. Inside is a small leather book, not much bigger than my hand. I slowly take it out, carefull not to drop it. To be such a simple book, it is very dangerous. In the wrong hands it could cause more destruction and pain than any other book of its kind.
On a neatly folded piece of off yellowing parchment is the rune. I have never tried to read the rest of it, and I'm not going to now or ever. To much power frightens me. I take the book back to the kitchen.
Morgana is standing nervously in the center of the room. No one is saying a word. I hand the book to Father and he slowly takes the book and unfolds the parchment.
"Ready Morgana?" he asks.
"Yes," she says and straitens her shoulders. I feel myself smile a little.
She holds out her arm and Wyatt and I position ourselves on each side of her. Fathers hand is shaking. His hands never shake. Something's terribly wrong. I look at Wyatt. He sees it too.
Morgana knitts her eyebrows. "Father, are you okay?" she asks. Mother looks worried as well.
"Yes, I am fine," he says. I hear the lie in his tone. Before I can say something, he places the stele on Morgana's arm.