Chapter 2—Magnus Bane
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The trail led past the door, so I frantically knocked on it over and over until I heard somebody at the other side of the door.
"What do you want?" a tall, slender man with dark skin and cat-like eyes demanded when he opened the door to look at me.
I pulled down the hood and removed my sunglasses. "Please, are you Magnus Bane?"
"Yes, which means that if you don't want to be turned into a toad, I suggest you explain what you want, young warlock," he snapped.
"Please, I need help," I told him. "I don't know who I am, what I am, or what any of this is," I said, waving my hands in a big circle, generating sparks around my fingers as I did so.
He raised his eyebrows. "Oh, really?" he asked. "What's a warlock, then?"
"A what?" I asked him. Something in the confused look I gave him must have helped him figure out I was serious, because he opened the door the rest of the way.
"Come in," he said sullenly. "This seems pretty serious."
"Thank you," I told him as he led me to his living room.
"Who was at the door…" a boy my age began as he walked in from what I assumed was the bedroom. "Who's this?" he demanded, jealousy tinting his voice.
"Oh, calm down, Alec," Magnus said. "This is…what's your name?"
"Jacob DiCarten, but you can just call me Jacob or Jake," I said.
"Yeah, that," Magnus said. "He's also a warlock, but claims to have no idea who he is."
"I'm serious," I told him. "I was only able to find my way here because I followed your magic trail from the lab I broke out of."
"A lab?" Alec asked me. "Why were you in a lab?"
"Let me figure this out," Magnus told us. He had me sit down and sat beside me, Alec across from us. "Face me," he said. I turned toward him and he placed his hands on my head. I saw all my memories flash before my eyes, from waking up in the tube to arriving at Magnus' house.
"Hm," he said. "This is not good."
"What's wrong with me?" I demanded.
"Show me the stele you stole from the professor, James," he told me.
"It's Jake, and what's a stele?" I asked him.
"The pen-like item you have in your hoodie pocket next to the seraph blade you are currently clutching with your right hand," he said casually. I hadn't even realized I was holding the strange knife, but Alec stiffened up as I pulled out the stele and handed it to Magnus.
"That's a Shadowhunter stele," Alec said, snatching it from Magnus.
"I need you to give Jacob an energy rune," Magnus told Alec.
"WHAT?" Alec demanded. "It's impossible to use runes on Downworlders!"
"Believe me," Magnus told Alec, placing a hand on Alec's. "I've seen what this boy has seen. If what his memories tell me is true, it will work. Just do it."
"Hold out your arm," Alec growled, pulling out his own stele and placing the one I took on the table. I held out my arm and rolled up the sleeve to reveal my pale skin.
He set his stele to my skin and began to draw a symbol. As he did so I tensed up from the burning pain. My power began to rise up in an instinctual urge to protect myself, but I kept them under control
When Alec was finished with the rune I felt a surge of energy through my body. I looked down on the mark and saw that it was completely black, although very gradually fading if one paid enough attention.
"What…How is this possible?" Alec demanded. He grabbed my wrist, but I pulled it away from him, pushing the sleeve down.
"Jacob, I think it would be best if you would explain," Magnus told me.
I looked at Alec and sighed. "About four or five hours ago, I woke up for the first time in a glass tube," I began. Alec laughed but Magnus gave him a quieting look so that I could continue.
"Before that moment, I had no memories," I explained. "I'm not sure if they took my memories or if I never had any, but I didn't know who I was, where I was, or why I was floating in a glass tube. Soon two people walked up, known as the Director and Professor Kingsmill. They talked about me being a 'specimen', a hybrid of warlock and Shadowhunter, the first ever. According to them, I'm stronger and faster than Shadowhunters with sharpened senses while retaining the magic and warlock's mark. I'm not immortal, but my life will be much longer than a normal person's. I managed to focus my powers to escape, acquiring clothes and sunglasses to hide my hair and eyes, which would be dead giveaways to anybody looking for me."
"What happened then?" Alec asked me.
"I went outside and followed a magic trail here," I added. "You guys know the rest."
"Are you sure the people that…held you were Shadowhunters?" Alex asked me.
"Yeah, the Director even had some black gear on," I replied.
"We need to tell the Clave about this," Alec began.
"What?" I demanded. I still had no idea what the terminology they were using meant.
"Oh, yeah," Alec said. "Shadowhunters, also known as Nephilim, hunt demons. We have angel blood in our veins, enhancing our abilities."
"Warlocks are the offspring of demons and humans," Magnus added. "We are immortal and have the gift of magic. We also have warlock's marks, which are inhuman characteristics that set us apart from everyone else. Yours are your eyes and hair, maybe your skin if it doesn't darken over time."
I nodded. The energy rune must have worn off, because I felt exhausted.
"I'll find him a room to stay in," Magnus told Alec as I passed out on the couch. "You need to alert the Clave and have them send people over in the morning."
I heard Alec say something as Magnus picked me and carried me into a spare room. I managed to remove my boots and crawl under the covers by myself.
"Thank you, Magnus," I muttered as he walked out.
"Of course," he replied before closing the door behind him.
As I slept I dreamt about the time I spent in the glass tube. I looked at myself from an outsider's view, watching as I floated in the liquid while being unable to help.
I was about to scream from frustration when I heard the bedroom door open in real life, waking me up.
I lurched up, pulling out one of the knives I stole, but before I could activate it a strong hand grabbed my wrist as another grabbed the knife. Both hands were attached to a boy around 18 years old with blonde hair and golden eyes. Behind him was a short girl with red hair, Alec, a girl that could be his sister, and a guy the same age with brown hair and glasses.
"Who are you guys?" I demanded. My hands began sparking again and the boy holding my knife pulled away before he could be burned.
"Easy, Jake," Alec told me. "They're friends of mine, also Shadowhunters. This is Jace Herondale, Clary Fray, Isabelle Lightwood, and Simon Lewis."
"You didn't say he's a warlock," Jace, the one with my knife, commented.
"It's a long story," I replied. "Can I have my knife back now?"
"Do you even know how to use these?" he asked me, twirling it in front of my nose. "Being a warlock and all."
I reached out and tried to grab it, but he somehow moved faster than me. "I bet you five bucks I can use it," I told him.
"Uh, you kinda can't," Jace said with a laugh. "Downworlders can use seraph blades."
"What's wrong?" Alec asked with a chuckle. "Afraid to lose a bet?"
Jace frowned but handed the knife back to me once I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes.
I grabbed it and thought back to the word the guard used for it. "Raphael," I whispered when I remembered the word. The seraph blade erupted in light, surprising all of us.
"I win the bet," I said triumphantly. He frowned but handed me five bucks.
"How is this possible?" Isabelle asked me. "Only Shadowhunters can do this."
"Did Alec tell you about my memory problems?" I asked them.
"Yeah," Simon said. He looked a lot newer than the rest, with less runes on his body.
"Good," I said. I told them my story and what I am.
"So you're some sort of…hybrid?" Jace asked me.
"Exactly," I replied. "I can receive runes but cast warlock spells."
"Cool," Simon commented.
"I thought it was impossible," Isabelle added.
"Everyone did until I woke up in a glass tube yesterday," I told them. "Apparently, I'm the first person to survive this. The people that created me mentioned making an army of hybrids before I broke out, though."
"What should we do?" Clary asked Jace.
"Well, we'll have to tell the Clave eventually," Jace said. "When they receive the message, you'll most likely be sent to Idris. Until then, you should stay with us to train and be safe. You'll still have to do some training with Magnus."
"Thanks," I said. "Yesterday I had a bitter drink that was really hot. Do you have it here?"
"You mean coffee?" Alec asked me. "No, we don't, although there's a coffee place along with way to the Institute."
"Can we stop there on the way?" I asked them. "I could use the boost."
"Sure," Clary told me as I pulled on my boots and laced them up.
"Thank you again, Magnus Bane, for helping me," I told Magnus before we left. "I owe you one."
He nodded in acknowledgement as we left.
"Where did you get those clothes?" Isabelle asked me.
"I broke into a locker room and took them," I told her. "These were the only clothes that fit me."
We walked through the city and stopped at the coffee place, where I ordered a very tall cup of coffee.
"How can you drink all that coffee?" Simon asked as they watched me drink the entire thing.
"I like it," I said with the shrug. "It's the only thing I have ever drank, so I have nothing else to compare it to."
"Well, you're going to regret drinking that much coffee," Clary told me. "Once it wears off you'll probably crash."
"Crash?" I asked. "Crash into what?"
Simon stifled a laugh as Isabelle glared at him. "Crashing is when the energy buzz of caffeine wears off," she explained.
"Oh." I said. The five Shadowhunters formed a circle around me, moving as one as we walked through the streets to the Institute. As we went I saw a couple warlocks on the other side of the street. They were different, though. They didn't have warlock's marks.
"They're wearing glamours," Clary told me when she noticed my stares. "Just relax and let it come to you."
I took a deep breath and sighed. Gradually the glamours faded and I saw them. one of them had bright purple skin with long green horns, and the other looked fairly normal except for the blue tail wrapped around his waist.
"Whoa," I muttered, looking straight ahead. As we continued I noticed that we were taking a patch that took us straight past the lab I broke out of.
I stiffened up but continued, making sure to keep my stolen seraph blades close at hand.
A few minutes later we walked past the tall building the lab was located in. I looked in and saw a team of Shadowhunters talking. They all wore gear.
I tried to stay looking straight ahead of me, but couldn't help looking inside just as one of the Shadowhunters looked up. He stiffened up and shouted my name. The others must have heard it, because we went from a brisk walk to a sprint. I quickly moved to the front of the group, next to Jace. I don't know how, but he was able to keep up with me.
"Stay with Jace!" Simon yelled as they stayed behind to distract the Nephilim chasing us.
We continued around the corner, when we stopped.
"The Institute is a large church," Jace told me, putting an invisibility rune on my wrist. "Run this way three blocks, then right for two more."
"Where are you going?" I demanded.
"To help," he replied before rounding the corner.
I ran for about half a block before I sighed and turned around to run back to the fight. The five were doing well against the ten, but were slowly losing. They needed help.
I ran over and my hands began to spark as I pushed the ten back with a wall of fames.
"I thought I told you to go!" Jace growled.
"You did," I replied. "Now go. I'll catch up with you guys."
They were frozen in place, looking at the shield I constructed.
"GO!" I screamed. My magic was beginning to run low.
They took off, and once they had gotten away I took off as well, abandoning the shield. Right before I rounded the corner I felt something hit my right shoulder. I grimaced but continued, using my speed to catch up with the others.
"Why didn't you go on?" Alec demanded.
"You guys needed help," I gasped.
"Who were those guys, anyways?" Simon asked me.
"I think they work for the people that held me," I explained. "I knocked one of them out and stole his sunglasses and coffee."
"Well, he certainly remembers you," Jace said with a chuckled.
"I think the hair gave me away," I replied, running my hand through my hair.
"You think?" Jace said as we continued running. My shoulder continued to ache and blood began running down my arm, but I kept up the pace to prevent slowing them down. A few blocks later we reached the Institute, a very large church. We opened the doors and waked in.
"This place is huge," I managed to gasp as black spots danced in front of my eyes.
"Are you okay?" Jace asked me.
"Oh, no," Clary gasped, gently touching my shoulder. I pulled it away, but the pain caused me to black out.