Once again, I don't own any characters. Just Anika.
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The Departure
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Jonathan thinks he has a reason for why his mother left. His first reason is that maybe father was mean to her, as he had been to him, and she decided to leave. Or maybe she didn't really leave. Maybe she was on a vacation, and father just missed her so. Or maybe it was because of what his mother had said that night. "You're not my son. Just some monster that replaced him. You're just…a big lie, a disgrace." What did she mean, not her son? Wasn't he? And what did she mean monster? How can a 2 year old be a monster? Be didn't do anything to her, yet she treated him like dirt. Maybe he was a monster. He didn't know how, or what, but maybe father could tell him.
He got up from off his bed, walled over to his door, opened it and walked out. To the left and right of him, maids were dusting things here and there, or sweeping, just doing maid-ly things. Except for Anika. She was never doing maid-ly things, which was what had brought his attention towards her in jet first place. She was always snooping, and sneaking, doing things that if father had caught her, would've killed her for it. He wondered what she was doing now.
He turned left and walked all the way to the back of the hallway, then turned right onto another. He walked to the third door on the left, which was his fathers' study, and rapped on the door a few times.
"Who is it?" came his deep voice.
"Me, father." He realized how tiny his voice sounded compared to his fathers. He wondered if his voice was ever going to get that deep.
He heard footsteps inside come closer to the door, heard it unlock, and then watched it open. There stood Valentine in all his cold glory. His white hair like a halo of snow, his black eyes, hard and calculating, his brows in a permanent scowl.
"Why aren't you studying your Latin language book, like I told you to? Why are you bothering me?" he asked sternly. Jonathan always found it weird how a two year old should be studying a language book, but his father said that he had the mind of a ten year old. How that was possible, he didn't know.
"I-um. I want to ask you a question. It's an important one, father."
He squinted, looked his son up and down, and then turned on his heels back into his study. Jonathan guessed that since he left the door open, meant he was supposed to enter. So he did, and closed the door after himself.
He turned around and walked over to Valentine, who was sitting on his desk.
"What is it? I don't have all day." He said.
"Um…well, before mommy left, she…she called me a monster. Do you know what she meant?"
"She interprets you as a monster because you different, but no. You are not. If anything, you're a gift."
"A gift? To who?"
"To the world. You're going to grow up to be one of the best Shadowhunter's this world's ever known. You're to be the new Jonathan Shadowhunter, reborn, but reborn differently. Of different blood."
All of this was sounding like scary nonsense to the little demon boy. It made him angry, that it didn't make sense.
"Father, I don't know what you mean. What-
He never had time to finish his sentence. His father had token up the lamp that had sat on the desk, and threw it at his son. He fell to the ground as it hit his head. He shakily stood up, his hand to his temple, a little trail of blood seeping under his hand.
He looked up at his father with widened eyes.
"What do you mean you don't know? You're not dim, are you!?" he yelled. Silence. "Answer me!"
"No, father! I-I just wasn't sure of what you were saying!"
"You weren't sure? If I throw something else at you will you be sure then?" he asked dangerously calm.
"No, father. Just please, calm down. You're scawing me." He eyed his son carefully. Oh, how they boy reminded him of his wife. His wife. Who was gone. Because of him.
"This is all your fault." He said.
Jonathan looked dumbfounded. "Wha-what is?"
"What do you think!? Your mothers' departure. It's all your fault. If only you'd been more kind towards her. You monster."
He made her run away? That's impossible. He hadn't' done anything to her. If anything, it went the opposite way. She been mean to him! And what do his parents mean by monster? What's wrong with him? He came in here for answers, but instead found more questions, more confusion. He hated being confused. Hated it.
Suddenly, he felt funny. Not bad, but not good either.
Valentine watched as his son's eyes became enveloped in black.
Anger seethed through Jonathan, as questions rang through his head. What's wrong with me? Why is father mean to me? How come mommy ran away? Why did she burn my picture? Why am I blamed for everything? He removed his hand from the side of his face, and looked his father in the eyes.
"I am not a monster, I am normal. I am not the one to blame for mommy wunning away, it's you! You and mommy say that everything is my fault, but it's not! It's really yours! And if you think that blaming me for everything, makes everything ok, you're wrong. So maybe you should start blaming yourself, and stop being an asshole!" I didn't know what that word meant, but Anika called him that all the time, so I figured it was alright.
Valentine stared at his son in shock. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. The dog was getting off its leash, and needs to be put back on it. And he knew the perfect way to do that.
"You know what, son? You're right. It is all my fault. I have token out all my anger on you, because I miss your mother so much." He paused. "How about I make it up to you? Would you like to go out and get some ice-cream? We'll get your favorite. Rocky road." He smiled. A genuine one.
Hmm. That worked out well better than he thought.
Jonathan gasped. "Yes please!" he said, and smiled back.
"Alright, jump on my back, and I'll take you to the cooler to get it, ok?" Valentine instructed.
"Ok." He did as he was told. Something feels weird here.
With him on his father's back, they left the study. Valentine went down hallways, and through so many doors, the little demon boy couldn't keep count. Finally, they arrived at a gray door. He slid off his fathers' back, ad his feet his the cold ground. He shivered.
"Go on. Open it." His father prodded. And he did. The knob was even colder than the floor, but he twisted it and opened the door. Inside the room was cement. Everything was cement. And he didn't see any ice-cream. Hmm.
Valentine walked past him, to the center of the room. He started lowering two chains that were held to the ceiling. What are those for?
"C'mere Jonathan. Put your hands in these." He cautiously walked over to him, knowing that something was up.
"What are those for, father?" he dare ask.
"You don't know? I'm going to spray you with ice-cream." He answered.
"Spray me!?" His eyes glittered with excitement.
"Yes, son. I just shackle you to the ceiling so you don't end up flying towards the wall, because it's going to be a lot if ice-cream."
Jonathan was overjoyed! Sprayed with ice-cream!? Awesome! He hurriedly put his hands into the shackles and his father tightened them. A bit too tight, if you ask.
"I'll be right back to get the ice-cream, ok?"
"Ok!" So here he was, dangling from the ceiling of a cement room, about to get sprayed with ice-cream. And yet, something still felt wrong. Finally, he heard the door creak open behind him.
"I'm ready, father!" he yelled.
"You'd better be."
WAPISH! "AH! FATHER!?" The whip made of demon metal lashed across his back, leaving a gory looking line there forever.
"You wanna back talk me, boy?"
WAPISH! "AH! PLEASE, STOP!"
"You wanna step out of line and make a fool out of me!?" he yelled.
WAPISH! It connected with his skin again. He fiercely began to cry. "Stop it, I'm sorry!"
"How dare you even think of blaming your mothers parting on me!?"
WA-PISH! The final whip was enough to knock the young demon boy out. The pain became too much to bare. And 18 years later, he'll still have four parallel marks down his back.
"I should've whipped off of you." Valentine walked over to the unconscious boy, took him down and carried him to his room, and laid him on the bed.
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Anika, who had watched the whole thing was fed up, her face a sea of tears. It pained her, to see him suffer and not be able to help him. She had to act on her plan, and she had to act soon. If Valentine was insane enough to whip his two year old son to unconsciousness, who knew what he would do next. She wasn't waiting to find the fuck out.
Jonathan awoke some time later in his room. He tried to sit up, but he couldn't. As soon as he tried, he became engulfed in pain and sat back down. What happened? And why does my back hurt so much?
It took him some time, but eventually he managed to get up and walked over to the mirror. He turned around, raised his shirt and gasped. Running down his back were four parallel marks. Each to much like the other to be a coincidence. What the?
His door creaked open. He quickly put his shirt down and looked to see who it was. He sighed out of relief. It was only Anika.
"Jonathan? Are you alright?" she asked, though of course she knew the answer. Hell no.
"Um, I don't know. I woke up and I have these strange marks on my back. They really hurt."
"I know, sweetheart. Let me take a look."
He looked anxious, but let her look anyways. He heard her gasp. She dropped his shirt and put her hand to her mouth. After about a while, she removed her hand and looked down at him. Sure this boy was half demon, but that did not mean he needs to be treated as if he were one. He's still a little kid, toddler, whatever the fuck he was, he was still young.
"I'm going to ask you a question, and I need you to answer it honesty, ok?" she asked him.
"Ok." He responded.
"Do you like living here?" she questioned.
He took a while to answer. "No, not very much."
"Have you ever thought about leaving here?"
He took an even longer while. "I have, but father would find us immediately. And I don't want that."
She bit her lip, and chose her next words carefully. "What if I told you that we could leave, and your father would never find us? Would you do it?"
His eyes shone. "Um, I… well, if we wouldn't be caught, yes."
"That's all I needed to hear. Come with me, baby." She held out her hand.
"Wait, where would we go?" he asked.
"It doesn't matter. As long as we're away from him." She spat out the word like it was a disease.
After a couple of seconds, he took her hand, and they left the room.
"Wait, shouldn't I bring my stuff?"
"No. Leave everything here." She answered.
"Uh…ok." He followed her down the hallway, and down some stairs, moving as quietly as they could. They reached the bottom of the stairs. The atmosphere down here was dark. Like, what's lurking in the shadows, dark. She walked down a shorter hallway, and opened a door on the right. This room seemed familiar to him. Familiar.
WAPISH! Suddenly, the memories came rushing back to him in a flood of pictures. The cement room (like this one, that's what was so familiar), the chains, the impatience, and then the pain. It hit hike like a punch to his chest, and he let go of her hand to steady himself. She looked at him.
"What's wrong?" she asked.
"I… I just wanna gets out of here."
"Hold on a second, alright? I just need to find something."
"Alright." While she searched for whatever it was she was looking for, Jonathan decided to look around. He found weird things in bottles, and even weirder things moving inside of glass jars. And was that an eye in of them? What is this place? He wondered.
"Found it! Jonathan come here." He rushed over to where she was. When he got there, he found himself staring at two large adult size jars. One was opened, the other closed. What in the world are these?
"Get in it." She said.
"What-in that? I'm good."
"Boy, we ain't got much time, you need to get in." she prodded him forward.
"Um-I-uh-ok?" He got inside, not knowing what was about to happen.
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Anika pressed some buttons on the outside of the capsule and watched as gas had dispensed into it, and Jonathan fall. She looked into the other capsule, and soon enough there was another Jonathan in it. She opened the second one, took the clone Jonathan out, rushed upstairs and put him in real Jonathan's bed. She then rushed downstairs, took out the real Jonathan, then exited the house via secret door, that only she and Jonathan knew about. She ran to the stables, took Lander, the families' fastest horse, put Jonathan onto him, climbed up herself, and then rode out into the night. Next stop, to see the infamous Magnus Bane that everyone's talking about. She thought.
