Chapter 10. With The Daylight In His Eyes
Old man lyin' by the side of the road
Where the lorries rollin' by
Blue moon sinkin' from the weight of the load
And the buildings scrape the sky
Cold wind rippin' on the valley at dawn
And the morning paper flies
Dead man lyin' by the side of the road
With the daylight in his eyes
Don't let it bring you down
It's only castle's burning
Find someone who's turning
And you will come around
Blind man runnin' through the light of the night
With an answer in his hand
Come on down to the river of sight
And you can really understand
Red lights flashin' through the window in the rain
Can you hear the sirens moan
White cane lyin' in a gutter in the lane
And you're walkin' home alone
Don't let it bring you down
It's only castle's burning
Find someone who's turning
And you will come around
You will come around
~Don't Let it Bring You Down, Annie Lennox
In every season there comes a time of rebirth, and none to compare of what unfolded from the cruel hands of winter. Everything in the glorious estate seemed to breathe in with the first breath of spring, and through every open wind her gentle hands brushed the sheer gossamer fabric of the drawn curtains. A storm was coming and the gentle rumble of thunder put on a show with the flashes of light. However, it was in the larger part of the estate did the real performance begin.
The main hall appeared regal in every manner, its deep red drapery so moved by the wind that Hodge was reminded of the banners raised each year in spirit of those fallen. Their heavy cracks sounded like whips, and reminded him of his years in His Majesties Naval Service when the salty sea winds assaulted the proud flags. It had been a life worth living, fighting for the security the rest of the world was without, and with it came great pride. Hodge Starkweather had lived a life of service, be it beneath the hands of the Queen, or in the protective nature of his role to the King's most guarded secret—his grandchildren.
In their youth they had played in this hall with constant laughter filling the arched ceilings, and brought life to ghostly estate while little hands leaving prints upon the fine red drapes. It had been their favorite game, and even now Hodge expected to see the Lightwood children dart behind the heavy fabric, with their nannies baffled as to where they had gone, but now it was he who hid along the walk.
The estate was full of secret passages, and though most were blocked from the later years of the war; many still remained intact. Hodge knew every one of them by heart, able to navigate the hidden stairways like tracing the course on his maps. It was second nature now, and the uncharted territory remained a mystery to all but he. This secret gave him somewhere to dwell on thoughts that would surprise the world with how horridly dark they were. He found peace in the confines of the underground chambers that tunneled through the interior of the estate, and how the silence was only ever broken by his fingers brushing over the chains that held prisoners during the great war. This had been a place of holding, a place to interrogate in the early years of the estate's grand birth; long before there were laws to prohibit the taking of lives for God and Country. This was his home.
Screams often went unheard, and the cries of the tortured forgotten. Here, no one heard his experiments scream, never missed their bodies, and God dared not collect their souls when he was finished. They were primitive in design, but the chambers did the job well enough, for the entire Estate had been built on blood. Hodge gathered strength from the fallen, and when they fought back he learned how to control them; animals that need to be tamed.
Let me go..please..let me go. I have a family.
Phantom voices sang in the wind shifting as they did from weeping to pleading, just let me die..Where they not already? Did they not know they had been dead for years? Drifting through a river the souls seemed to thrum through the insides of the estate, and this was the life that breathed in with the spring. His work. He counted down the day until they were all gone, every last Lightwood. He felt his heart race for the day he could take Alec, but now on his mind all he could think of was breaking him whatever happened under the full moon lasat night. Poor beautiful Alec who could do no wrong in his Grandmother's eyes; who would get everything despite Hodge's countless years serving at her side; would soon be victim enough to an evil man's heartless torture.
Hers was a beautiful death, and like Aileen he would savor Alec's last breath.
Hodge continued on through the maze of secret passages, and reversible mirrors where the reflection hid the true monster behind double sides. All his life he had watched the Lightwood children, to keep them safe, but now he could listen even to the most intimate moments. He had watched Isabelle become a woman with a man she hardly knew, and had watched Alec paint portraits of beautiful men. All of these years he had known the young master's preference, and the truth confirmed as he settled into his seat to listen…
"Alec!" Isabelle squealed again pulling her feet under her as she folded her legs on his bed, "Tell me! Who is it? What is he like?" Alec loved the way she always asked the right questions, and how her first wasn't of what people would think. Deep down she knew that he asked himself that far too much. Isabelle had watched her older brother battle with himself all these years, and prayed for the day he would break the silence.
Alec stood before the large mirror outlined by a mighty gold frame, and adhered to the wall. He studied himself, but didn't feel as defeated as he did the day he stood trial in the dressing room with Hodge. Slowly he started to undo the suite that was commissioned that day, and like the buttons that slowly exposed porcelain skin he felt his nerves falling away.
"Well..he's..pretty amazingly handsome." He started never knowing Hodge listened on the otherside cupping his own manhood with desire wanting so badly for Alec to expose it all. He could imagine his tongue where the tips Alec's hands brushed gently against his own chest to free himself from the shirt, and it took every ounce of his will to not break the glass to force Alec back as he turned away.
"He used to go to school with us," Alec continued as he threw the shirt over the edge of the bed and made his way to the dresser. Isabelle would lean forward to start to fold the forgotten shirt, and tried to chase away the feeling that mortal eyes were watching somewhere. She hated this house for that very reason; everything about it had always seemed so severe, and for this reason she knew it why their parents had left.
"Oh?" She asked, breaking from the feeling as a dark brow rose to regard her brother. "The one before we were home schooled because you got into one little fight?" Isabelle had wanted to laugh seeing the way her brother exposed the truth—he always blushed, and struggled with his words.
"A-Actually..yeah. Do you remember the upperclassman…who..well stepped in?" Why was it so hard to admit this? He had thought of him so many times through the years, and dreamed about him at night. However making this confession to his sister was harder then it was to make it to God.
Isabelle's heart stopped.
"You mean the boy who used to paint his fingernails black and wear make up? Glitter on his lips Magnus Bane?" It startled Alec how shocked Isabelle sounded, the weight of her questions pulled on his heart as he felt himself not wanting to tell her anymore, and he held the clean sweater to his chest as he lost himself in thought of that day. Had Magnus worn glitter on his lips? All Alec could remember was how beautiful and rare his eyes were, and how kind he had been when he tried to help him pick up his sketches. Suddenly he was alone in the room, and when Isabelle started to move from the bed he didn't realize it.
"Alec.." Isabelle's face was white, and her sapphire eyes looked between his searching for any sign of jest. He had to be joking right? Alec felt his skin grow cold, and suddenly wished to take it all back. Yet, confusion set in as he realized it wasn't anger that clouded in her eyes, but worry; a deep pitted fear that prickled the skin over her exposed arms. Her hand moved slowly and, her flowing white skirt brushed the top of her toes as she finally stopped before him, searching for the truth.
"Alec.." She started gently, her cold fingers warming against his skin, but the blood had not returned to her face, "Honey..Magnus died 5 years ago." Isabelle's voice was so broken he knew she was not trying to play a game with his heart, nor was this one of her pranks. She was as worried as one person could get, and as her free hand came to touch her own chest he knew her heart was breaking.
Alec didn't know what to say, at first the words didn't register with him, but now thinking about the entire thing he never found so much of an ounce of an online fingerprint of Magnus. He wasn't on any of the social sights, or any of the articles that surrounded his family's fortune never included him.
"Isabelle..I," He started but stopped as his brows furrowed with confusion, "He kissed me last night."
"Alec, he died at his parents estate with a fever the winter it snowed so bad. I'm close to his mother, she and I both attend many of the same functions." She watched as Alec started to pull away, and instantly felt guilty. Quickly she scrambled through possibilities, and started to put together something he might want to hear,
"Perhaps it was his ghost, Alec..that has happened before." It was too late, Alec had turned from her to rake his fingers through his hair.
"Ghosts don't leave marks like this." He turned back to her with a rush of rage seeping through him, but he wasn't sure who to be mad at. "I touched him, Isabelle, he is real, and I'm meeting him again tonight and..he has to be real." Alec turned from his sister to fold his arms over his abs as he watched the storm rains beat against the window. Isabelle's heart broke, and she wanted so much to believe her brother then. There wasn't any explanation behind it, but Alec didn't lie. She felt her own rage build up, but quickly let it fall away to not take this moment from him.
"Don't," She soothed brushing her arms around him and pressed her cheek between his shoulder blades, "Maybe there is an explanation behind it all. Where are you meeting him?" She could feel Alec's body release the tension he was holding, and his sigh caused her eyes to close.
"I'm meeting him outside of Highgate tonight." A grave..how fitting.
Inside the walls, Hodge's smirk was a sinister sight that caused even the spiders in their webs to pull back into dusty corners. Their little hearts beat so feverishly, but soon relaxed as the man started back down the narrow path. He had seen enough.
A/N: A short one I know, but I felt it needed a bit of the inside of Hodge's mind who by the way is craaaazy. So it seems Magnus has some 'splainin' to do! Might get his butt kicked by our Prince no?
The next chapter is going to surprise you. I promise! Want it? Review A LOT and I shall be inspired to write it this bit of madness that is in my mind. However, tomorrow is my much needed shopping trip with the girls to the big stores in Columbus, Ohio. My winter Michael Kors bag is starting to look a bit..used, lol.
Reviews are like candy, the sugar that keeps me going! Thank you all!
