12

The Rabbit's Out of the Hat

Magnus looked up at the building. The clouds were black, the thunder horribly loud, lightning frighteningly bright.

"Are you sure this is going to work?" Adriana whispered.

"Yes," he said stoically to what appeared to be thin air. "I'm quite sure. I have to do this Adriana. And remember, Armand is mine."

"I know," she said. "I'll signal you when I find him."

"Please, don't scare him," Magnus whispered, his expression pained. "And tell him I will be there son."

"I will."

The doors in front of them opened on their own accord.

"Go," Magnus said. He felt her brush past him as she ran into the building. Magnus took a deep breath and stepped inside, adjusting the book tucked under his arm.

The doors behind him shut with a metallic clang that rattled the whole foundation. The hall before him was vast and lavish, dimly lit by hundreds of candles lit with red fire.

"You never change, do you?" Magnus scoffed.

A man stepped out of the shadows, smirking.

"Neither do you, Magnus," Armand grinned.

"Oh, you'll find that I've changed quite a bit," he said darkly. Armand chuckled.

"I'm sure," he said, sounding amused. "Do you have it?"

"Where's Alec?" Magnus demanded. He grinned again.

"Oh, he's around," he chortled. "In fact he's doing quite well." Tiny sparks jumped in Magnus's hands in anger, but they died quickly. He couldn't get angry. Armand had the advantage if he was angry.

"I want to see him," he said calmly. "I need to know if he's still alive."

"What, Magnus, you don't trust me?"

"I'm not about to give you this book without knowing he's alright. That wouldn't be smart, now would it?" He returned Armand's smirk.

"You need proof he's alive," Armand stated, nodding. "Alright." He grinned maliciously, holding up his hand and clenching it into a fist. Somewhere far away, Magnus heard a painfully familiar scream.

"Enough!" He bellowed, shutting his eyes. "Enough." Armand dropped his hand; the screams stopped.

"Now, give me the Book."

"So that's it?" Magnus asked, starting to circle him. "I give you the book, you give me Alec, and I watch the world perish? We aren't even going to talk about this?"

"You're stalling, why?" Armand asked, circling as well.

"I'm not stalling," he swore. "There's just some things I don't understand."

"And they would be?"

"How did you figure out the Book of the White was in Wayland Manor?" He asked.

"I knew that Michael Wayland had died long ago, even before everyone thought he had. Valentine Morgenstern took over his estate with his little boy, Jonathon. But I hear that he wasn't really his boy, is that true?"

"It's none of your business," Magnus snapped.

"True. I knew that Valentine with all of his power hungry ways was sure to get his hands on it. So I bided my time until he really was dead. It was only a matter of time anyway, and I went to retrieve it. Too bad you got your hands on it before I could," he growled. There was a pause before Magnus spoke again.

"Why Alec?" He asked. "Why not take me? I'm the one you should be angry with, not him. He's innocent, what has he done to you?"

"Ha!" Armand laughed. "You really think I took Alec to hurt him?"

"Yes," Magnus stated. "He had something you always wanted and you wanted to punish him for it." He shook his head.

"No, Magnus. I took Alec to do to you what you did to me. I took away what you loved most!" He yelled, losing some of that infamous charm. "You took what I loved most in this world, you ripped it away like it was nothing!"

He stopped walking, his face contorted in anger, rage obvious in his eyes and in his voice, his control and smirk gone.

"I loved you, Magnus! I loved you, and you left me! I took Alec away to hurt you the same way you hurt me!"

"You loved me?!" Magnus bellowed, incredulous. "All you did was hurt me! I gave you everything I had, and all you did was take! You hurt me, Armand, you hurt me everyday of my life! Because of you I didn't let myself love for three centuries! If anyone, anyone should want revenge, it should be ME!" Armand threw his arms out, the red lightning bright in the dark hallway.

"You never appreciated anything I did for you, did you?! You were MINE! What makes Alec so special?! Why him?! WHY HIM, MAGNUS?!"

"He's everything you aren't! He's kind, and sweet and he would never, EVER, HURT ME! HE LOVES ME, ARMAND! UNLIKE YOU!!" Magnus's hands were ablaze.

"I'm going to kill you, Magnus. And then, then I'm going to kill your precious Alec. I suppose you won't see the Mundanes die after all." Magnus scowled, anger fueling his powers and making the light brighter. He felt the phone in his pocket vibrate and he knew what he had come for was safe.

"Neither will you."


Armand's minions were scattered about the ground, unconscious. They were all but too easy to take care of, and they would have been whether Adriana was visible or not.

She looked down at the ground, taking a moment to catch her breath. She gasped. There were blood smears leading down the hall and around the corner, like someone had been dragged.

"Alec," she said quietly. She followed the smears and drops and blood pools, twisting and turning further and further into this labyrinth of hallways and rooms.

She reached a door where the stains had stopped. She opened the door and looked inside. The room was nearly pitch black. And against the wall, about seven feet long and three feet high was a cage.

It was too dark to tell, but she was sure she knew who was inside. She shut her eyes for a moment, whispering the spell that would hopefully rematerialize her. And it did. She sighed, relieved. She sparked one of her hands, lighting the torch on the other side of the room with purple fire.

She walked closer to the cage, looking for any sign of life. How could Armand be so cruel to do this too? He'd already been through Hell, why would he need to do this too?

"Hello?" She said quietly. A small whimper echoed through the room. She knelt down in front of it, trying to look through the uniform square holes in the metal. She could make out the other side of the cage and the wall on the other side, but no sign of life. "Alec?" Nothing.

A pair of bright blue eyes looked up at her suddenly, bloody fingers peeking through the holes.

"Alec?"

"Adriana?" A small, broken voice asked. She smiled at him.

"It's me," she said, kneeling to meet his eyes. "I'm going to get you out of here, okay?" She moved to open the cage.

"No!" He yelled weakly. She stopped. "No, pl-please. Don't, don't…"

"Alec, it's alright," she assured. "Magnus will be here soon, I promise," She dialed his number on her phone and let it ring twice before hanging up. "He'll be here for you soon."

"No," Alec whimpered, backing away from her. "No, he c-can't. He can't…" Loud bangs and yells reached their ears.

"Alec, let me help you," she pleaded. "Please, I-"

"No!" He sobbed. "No, leave m-me alone. Pl-please, just l-leave me alo-alone."

Adriana turned around, shutting her eyes.

"Hurry, Magnus."

--Aww :'( More soon!--