The Institute
a multi-chapter fan fic by ariviand
Chapter Six: Impending
"Why does it feel like we just ate our last meal?"
Alec rolled his eyes as they left the dining hall. "They're not going to starve us, Jace. The Clave wouldn't allow it. Our parents wouldn't have it."
"Unless it's part of some hardcore lesson on deprivation or making it work in the wild. You watch. They're going to starve us at some point."
"I think there is a greater danger of being overindulgent," Alec murmured, thinking of his sister, who had finished off two full plates of food. She never ate that much. It made him suspicious at first, wondering what was in the food and if it was working some kind of spell on her - and the rest of the dining hall, for that matter. But once Alec ate the first few tentative bites, he had to concede that it did taste better than anything they were used to eating at home, especially when Isabelle tried to take over the cooking. So maybe she just got carried away eating really good food.
She was going to regret it tomorrow, if they were doing anything even remotely physical.
On that note, Alec wasn't sure what they were going to be doing, and it would be easier if he knew how to prepare or what to expect, or which of the uniforms they had been assigned he should set out in advance. He liked to be prepared.
"I was wondering what our class schedule is going to be like. I didn't see an itinerary or anything in the room--" Alec stopped short as Jace walked away, heading into the sitting room they had walked through earlier. Irritated that he was being ignored, Alec followed a few steps behind and paused, frowning as he saw Jace slide into one of the couches, making himself at home in the room occupied by upperclassman primarily. The dark-haired girl from earlier, the one who'd passed off her entire meal to Isabelle, she was curled up against the arm of the couch, still at it with her cell phone. At Jace's arrival, she glanced up, looking annoyed to be bothered. But then she wasn't annoyed. He was talking and she was smiling, shifting to face him properly, the phone disappearing. She cradled her cheek in her hand and laughed, listening intently, then her fingers were playing with her hair, looking up at him with interest, her body language obviously flirty.
Sickened and angry, Alec turned around and left the room, shoving aside a number of students as he stormed away.
"Sweat box" was not an appropriate description for the freshmen end of the dorm. Alec was freezing. He'd made the bed before leaving for dinner, but even with the sheets, the school-issue blanket, a small afghan he'd brought from home, and two winter coats he'd found in the wardrobe, Alec still felt the chill in the room. He blamed it on the high ceilings more than anything. Of course the temperature couldn't properly regulate when the room was inordinately tall. And the stone walls didn't help.
Shuddering inside the mountain of blankets and clothes, Alec drew his legs up and wrapped his arms around his knees, tucking his chin into his chest.
He kept hoping to hear the AC unit cut off, signaling that he might have a few minutes of warmth, a break from the cold. But it was constantly running, the unit humming, the frosty air drifting downward to where Alec was curled into a fetal position trying to keep warm.
He heard the ticking of his alarm clock. Who knew digital alarms ticked like wall clocks? Maybe it was dying.
Alec reached over to check the time stamp on his phone. 10:32. Damn. He needed to get some rest, assuming they would be forced to wake early. A shadowhunter's day always started out early.
Playing with his phone beneath the covers, Alec - teeth chattering, unable to sleep, finally decided to type a text out to Jace. He was a couple rooms down, but Alec knew better than to venture out at this hour. Hodge had been clear about the rules.
It's an icebox in here. Are you awake?
When no reply came, Alec sighed. Obviously Jace had no trouble falling asleep in the subarctic. Alec, on the other hand, found it impossible. It wasn't just the cold. It was the sound of the alarm clock ticking, the fact that he couldn't turn his mind off. The cold just wasn't helping him relax and get comfortable.
At one point he even got out of bed and grabbed his stele, wondering if there was some obscure rune for sleep. Not able to think of anything that would work, Alec sighed and curled up with both his stele and his cell, wearing both of the coats now instead of using them as an undersized blanket on top of the other covers.
It felt like he finally closed his eyes when the shrill sound of a whistle startled him awake again, his head throbbing like someone had attacked him with a jack hammer when he was out.
Next chapter will be longer, I promise. Working on it now.