Magnus was a special education teacher, meaning that he usually home-taught students with mental issues that weren't able to attend normal public schools. So when Ms. Lightwood called him, asking for his help, he couldn't refuse the offer. He was told by Alec's mother that Alec had some issues, but wasn't told much more of the situation.
To Magnus, seeing Alec with thick clothes and a ski mask was normal. He was used to these sort of odd things from mentally damaged children. He didn't think much of it.
He walked inside and sat in the living room, stuffing his hands into his pockets. He sat his folder atop of the coffee table, which was stuffed with multiple worksheets and papers.
Alec gritted his teeth and followed behind him, "You don't have to teach me anything if you don't want to," Alec breathed, sitting down across from Mr. Bane in another couch.
Magnus just looked up at his student and smiled warmly. "Of course I want to," he said.
Alec honestly didn't want to learn. He missed his old school, old friends, and old body. Everything was still very new to him and he didn't like it. Alec crossed his arms over his chest and sunk back into his seat. He didn't like his teacher. Something about Magnus bothered him.
"Why don't you tell me a little bit about yourself?" Magnus offered. He wanted to get inside of Alec's head and figure him out.
Alec sighed deeply, "Well . . . I'm seventeen. I was about to finish grade twelve when I switched to home schooling for, um, personal reasons. My name's Alec. That's all you need to know," he said. He wasn't about to tell his life story to a complete stranger.
Magnus smiled at that. "You're a stubborn one," he chuckled deeply. Alec crossed his arms over his chest and hummed in response.
"Now it's your turn," Alec instructed. If Mr. Bane was going to try and get inside of his head, then Alec was going to do the same to him.
"Pardon?"
"It's your turn to tell me about yourself, Magnus."
Magnus frowned. "Firstly, Alec, you will call me Mr. Bane," he ordered.
"Whatever," Alec laughed, rolling his eyes. Magnus knew Alec's type. The rebel I'm-not-going-to-learn type of student.
Magnus cleared his throat and adjusted his glasses, pushing them up the bridge of his nose. "Well, I'm twenty four. I live a few blocks away from here," he said.
Alec paused, waiting for Magnus to say something else. When Mr. Bane didn't, Alec pushed on and said, "And—?"
Magnus grinned. "That's all you have to know about me," he said cleverly, repeating Alec's words from a few moments earlier.
Alec bit his lip. He didn't expect Magnus to actually talk back to him.
"Whatever. As if I care," Alec growled.
Magnus jotted down stubborn into his notes. He wanted to figure out Alec's mind and see what was the matter with his brain. He didn't know at the time how much of a struggle that would be.
"Once again, what's the quadratic formula?" Magnus asked. Both Alec and Magnus were seated at the dining room table. Maths was Alec's least favorite subject in school and he despised it. His favorite subject was music because it was the only thing he was actually good at.
He stared down at the table whilst his brain dug up what little reminiscence he had of the formula. "Uh . . . negative b plus or minus the square root of b squared minus four ac all over two a," he said all in one breath.
Magnus smiled brightly. "Good job." he said.
Alec just shrugged.
Throughout the day, Magnus had been trying to figure out what was wrong with Alec. If he was mentally unstable like Ms. Lightwood claimed he was, he was damn good at hiding it. The only thing that was off about him was the excessive clothing.
Alec was good at English, he was alright at history, and science was easy for him. The only thing he was struggling with was maths. Magnus knew that wasn't enough for him to be considered quote "mentally unstable", so what was it? Was it just the fact that he wore lots of clothing? Was that it? No, there had to be more to it.
"Not to be rude— actually, I am trying to be rude— but shouldn't you be leaving soon?" Alec huffed, interrupting Magnus' train of thought.
Magnus glanced over at the kitchen clock on the microwave and nodded feverishly. "Oh, yeah. I should get home and feed my cat before she rips apart the house," he laughed.
Alec simply stared, not finding it amusing.
Magnus coughed awkwardly. "Right, um, I'll see you tomorrow. Goodbye, Alec. It was nice meeting you."
Alec nodded and simply gave him a small wave. "Bye Magnus."
Magnus turned on his heel. "That's Mr. Bane, to you," he said, narrowing his eyes.
Alec just smirked once again and watched Magnus leave, closing the door tightly behind him. He enjoyed making Magnus' life hell. It was nice to see that someone was struggling worse than he was. It was a comforting feeling. The same feeling that he used to get when he bullied kids at his old school.
When he was certain that Mr. Bane was gone, he pulled off his ski mask, throwing it carelessly onto the ground. He shook his head of his hair and stripped out of his constricting clothing and put on a t-shirt and shorts instead. Being in tight, thick clothing all day was difficult for Alec. He preferred going commando, but his mother previously had ordered him to wear concealing clothes. He didn't want to pick a fight with his mum. She appeared petite on the outside, but when she didn't get what she wanted, she was fierce.
Alec glanced out the window. It was dark and he wondered what time it was. He looked down at his wrist and noticed the time. It was almost eight. Beneath his watch was the rose tattoo. It had twelve petals. Didn't Jace say something about each petal representing a month or something like that?
Alec didn't know much about his situation. Sure, Jace explained it, but he didn't understand it. He needed answers.
He decided to go confront Jace about all of it. Maybe he could help him make sense of it all.
Alec went along the sidewalk with his hood up and head down. He pushed his hands into his pockets and continued to walk at a fast pace. He knew where Jace lived. He googled it.
It was dark, much to Alec's relief, so no by passers noticed Alec's odd appearance. He relished the night time. He could go out in public if he was careful.
Eventually, he found Jace's house. It was in a shady part of town and Alec couldn't help but feel a bit uneasy. The house was run down and had a pair of white, stone gargoyles guarding the front steps.
Creepy, Alec noted, stepping up to knock on the door.
He raised his hand and lightly tapped the wooden door. Within seconds, the door opened. And no, a person didn't open it. It just opened by itself. Alec was tempted to turn around and run right then, but his legs seemed to disagree. He froze.
"H-hello?" Alec called into the silence, poking his head in.
When nobody replied, he took matters into his own hands. He walked inside and looked around. It was very odd looking. It resembled Lady Snake's house, but even more gruesome, if that was at all possible. Skulls and skeletons decorated the walls, and family portraits filled in the spaces. Everything was dark. There seemed to be no lighting what so ever.
"Is anybody home?" Alec asked. Great, Alec's venture was starting to become a typical horror movie. Y'know, the stupid girl goes into the creepy house, even though she knows that she shouldn't. What was he thinking?
For some reason, he kept walking deeper and deeper into the house. He came across a dark hallway, and was enticed to go down it, so he did.
"Hello, Alec," a voice echoed.
Alec spun around and sure enough, there Jace was. He was seated in a room with the door wide open. Alec frowned and stepped inside.
Jace was in a large chair in front of a table, full of potions and cauldrons, bubbling and boiling. Ritual items sat around the room. Lining the walls were thousands and thousands of small bottles, containing colorful liquids. It must've been Jace's lair.
"Hi," Alec said at loss of words.
Jace grinned. "How are you?" he wondered.
Alec just chuckled at that. "How am I? Look at me!" he yelled. He pulled off his hood. His face had scars, burns, and tattoos, and his arms were coated in black markings.
"You deserve it. Now you're just as ugly outside as you are inside," Jace said.
"What does that even mean?" Alec demanded.
"It means exactly what it sounds like," Jace laughed.
"Listen, blondie. I don't know what type of game your playing but it's fucking up my life! This has gone way too far," Alec warned.
Jace sighed. "I'm not playing a game. You got what you deserved."
"I lost everything! I lost my girlfriend, my school, my friends, even my own home! Tell me how to fix this," Alec fumed. He clenched his fists but held back the temptations. He knew violence wouldn't solve anything.
"As I've said before, you have 365 days to find love. If you fail to by then, you'll stay like this forever," he said.
Alec paused. What did that mean exactly?
"Define love," Alec ordered.
Jace laughed at that. "You can't define love, Alec. That's something you must discover for yourself."
Alec rolled his eyes. "So now you're Dr. Phil, too?" he joked.
"Alec, I can't help you. The only way you can fix this is to find love," he replied.
Alec slammed his fist down onto the table, shaking the bottles and potions. "Listen, blondie! You need to change me back right now! I can't do this! I'm living all by myself secluded from the family, I have a fucking home school teacher that wants to get inside my brain, and my entire life is ruined because of you!" he shouted.
Jace gulped and leaned back in his seat. "I'm sorry, Alec. There. Is. Nothing. I. Can. Do," he said slowly.
"Fuck you, Herondale," Alec hissed.
"I'm sorry. Find love. It's the only way to change you back," he encouraged.
Alec didn't bother saying anything else. He simply gave Jace a death glare, then stormed out of his house, slamming the door.
He pulled up his hoodie and started walking back to his apartment. Rain puddles sploshed under his feet whilst he walked through the darkness. He bit his lip in deep thought as he turned down his street.
Alec never believed in love. He thought it was some fictional garbage that only existed in fairy tales. But maybe his life was becoming one.