Magnus.
It seems that my interaction with both Lightwoods these past few days has obviously been a step too far. We'd barely walked in through the school door when Jace, Sebastian, Haig, and a few others I don't know decide it's funny to snatch Tessa's bag and hold it out of reach. Jem tugs her close protectively and my hand aims to bring Camille closer too – but she's far to head-strong to need chaperoning. She fires ahead, insulting them and regaining Tessa's bag.
"And you" She points to Jace. "Are not all that great"
"The trouble isn't with you" Jace tells her, swatting her poking finger aside. Being small and slight, Camille teeters and falls into one of Jace's larger, muscular friends. For a moment I'm sure she goes weak at the knees, but regains her pride and shoves herself away from him.
"Bane" Sebastian spits, grimacing. "I hope you and your friends have a lovely day" They laugh and walk away, and we consider ourselves lucky that no more harm was done. However, Tessa is still a little shaken and Camille is still furious. We ignore the brash start to the morning and head to our respective classes.
Break time sees us all together again, just in time for Jace and his merry band of followers to stroll across our path conveniently. Though, to give him credit, Jace seems to be keeping his larger friends at bay. Sebastian smirks firstly at Jem.
"Is that even your real hair colour?"
"What's it to you?" Jem retorts, making sure Tess was behind him before making a proper stance. "Buzz off; go and find someone else to annoy"
"I agree" Camille pipes up. "Anyone might think you actually like talking to us"
"Shut it, Belcourt" Haig snaps.
"I thought your trouble was with me" I step away from the others to try and move their attention, but he's having a good smirk at Camille and I don't like the look on his face.
"You're all getting just a little bit too cocky for your own good" Haig laughs and slings an arm over Sebastian's shoulder. He grins a cruel, calculating grin.
"We may have to do something about that" Sebastian agrees. They filter away seconds later and we continue with our break time, puzzled.
At lunch, we decide to eat somewhere different, other than the canteen, in the hope that they won't bother us again. It seems to do the trick.
We split up after lunch. We have separate lessons from here on out, but we agree to meet up as usual by the gates to walk home.
As neither of my final classes of the day were particularly interesting, I amuse myself by talking to new people, doodling random images and making plans for the upcoming weekend. I text Alec a few times, a joke here and there, or maybe an observation or an offhanded comment. We'd met up for five minutes in between lessons and had a fairly exciting make-out session in the shadows of the classroom – so by the end of the day, I'm well geared up for the weekend and eager to go over my plans with Camille and, later, Alec. He's become a fixture – we'd agreed to alternate weekends at eachothers homes; this week is my turn.
As the final lesson ends and people file out, I gather my things and put them into my bag as usual. I say goodbye to a few new friends and vow to remember their names, but there's doubt in my mind that I'll have forgotten them soon enough.
Within minutes, I'm alone in the classroom and just putting on my coat when a familiar figure stands in the doorway.
"Bane" Arms folded, muscles defined, Sebastian seems quite larger than I remember him being, but then again, the doorframe might be small. "Going somewhere?"
"Home, actually. Not that it's any concern of yours"
"Anyone expecting you?" He asks, stepping in and – oh, what a surprise. The entourage follows.
"Yes, actually" I say, thinking of Chairman Meow.
"Really? Parents?" He mocks, walking closer and closer as his friends fill the entrance way. Jace is there too, but it doesn't surprise me much. I find myself wondering how he's related at all to Max. "Mum? Dad?" He knows the answer to this well enough. "Well – mother, no. Sorry – but your dad? Is he expecting you?"
"What do you want, Sebastian?" I grumble.
"I don't want anything" He says, grinning. "It's more what I need. And what I need, and – well, what Jace wants…" He glances back at the blonde, who remains like a brick. Completely blank. "Are pretty much the same thing – so we're sort of killing two birds with one stone"
"By doing what?" I ask hesitantly, feeling every muscle in my body tense up. He's a few steps away, and I'm fairly sure if he launches himself at me I won't be responsible for any sort of action that might kill him. But he steps back, surprising me. The tension goes for a millisecond, only to rush back when I'm attacked from behind. A whack on the head and something goes over my eyes. I feel myself lurch -
The sounds eventually come back to me. Scraping, laughing, shuffling. A few seconds after, I get the feeling back in my body and I realise my hands are bound. Instinctively, I remain still, feeling for any sort of loose loop in the binding. But it doesn't matter.
Water rushes at my face and I recoil instantly, turning the opposite way and trying to make sense of my situation. I'm still blindfolded – I can't see and the water smells – and tastes – like chlorine. There seems to be a few of them, maybe four? They're all laughing and I hear one of them discard the empty container. It sounded like a bucket
"Wakey wakey, sunshine. Let's go put you with the others, shall we? Haig?" Presumably Haig comes over and launches me off my feet. My hands are bound awkwardly behind me and it hurts when he wrenches my arm to pull me – but I can't do anything other than follow. I don't make any sound, I know it'll only anger them. And most of what's in my head is sarcastic, and I'd hate to see how that would go down. I'm not entirely sure where we are, or where they're taking me. Maybe near the pool, if the chlorine was anything to go by? I shudder. I don't want to think about it.
It's only when I get a final shove, toppling off balance and falling to my knees, that I hear a familiar voice. Camille. My head turns to the sound.
"Magnus!" I can't tell if she's relieved or not, though, I'm not sure what – "You're not dead" She sighs and whispers 'thank God'. Apparently, she thought I was dead.
"Not that easy to get rid of, remember?" I tell her – or at least the general direction of her.
"Magnus, don't" Tessa? I'm kicked roughly to the side and I roll onto something, but it shifts and I'm suddenly quite comfortable. The sound of heavy footsteps overtakes my thoughts and suddenly the blindfold is ripped off me. I realise two things. One, I'm lying on Camille's legs. Two, that we're in the boy's locker rooms. I look up, first capturing the shock of bright hair out of the corner of my eye. It's Jem. He gives me a brave smirk, but his eyes flit back to Tessa and I know he's worried for her safety. This has got to be my fault. I think, instantly.
"Who knew," I begin, glaring at Sebastian first. "That you liked us so much that you just couldn't let us go home"
"Shut it, fag" He smirks. "Or else" I don't mean to, but it's an automatic reaction. Whenever anyone says 'or else;, you automatically think, or say, 'or else what'. My look apparently says it all and he pats my cheek – but its more like a slap. He shoves me aside and proceeds to grab Camille and pull her to her feet. Her hands are bound, like mine.
"Leave her alone" I growl, attempting to stand myself up. Jace shoves me down and his face makes sure I know to stay there. I scowl at him. "I'm sure you're better than this, Lightwood" I snarl, shaking my head. "You don't have to be a twat just because they are"
"If I were you, I'd shut up"
"You wouldn't want to be me; I'm a glittery fag, remember?" Despite our situation, I feel sorry for him. He genuinely looks like he has no choice, and perhaps in his world, he doesn't. It earns me another punch. I'm all ready to retaliate when Tessa's horrified protest turns me to her direction. More of Jace's followers are tugging her away from Jem, who they're beating like a punch bag. "Stop!" I tell them, then to Jace. "Stop it! Your trouble is with me. Not them"
"But apparently" Jace murmurs. "They are the only way to get to you. We're running out of ideas" He offers a shrug. I hear Camille scream 'fuck off' and turn to the sound. They have her clutched in Haig's strong hold, her hair being tugged upwards and held there. She protests and struggles, but she can't see Sebastian moving closer with a pair of scissors. All I see is her blonde locks, beautiful and shiny, tangled in a pair of meaty, vicious hands.