I'm going to tell you right now, this chapter isn't very good. I wrote it like five times, but each time sucked worse so I just ended up using the original. Oh well. It'll get start getting better, I promise.
TheLadyPendragon: You're completely right. XD *hands you virtual cookies*
(This chapter is dedicated to my friend, who did indeed, suck her friend's hamster up with a vacuum cleaner.)
Disclaimer: Once again, I own nothing. This should be glaringly obvious.
Magnus hadn't been sleeping well. He tossed and turned all night, tangling himself in the canary yellow sheets, throwing his pillows across the room and burying his face in the musty smelling mattress. But no matter how much he moved, he wouldn't let himself roll over onto the left side of the bed. Because that was where Alec slept. That was where Alec had slept. And never would again.
For once, he had actually managed to slip into a shallow slumber, memories flitting through his mind like fragments of shattered dreams. The first time he had seen Alec, backlit by the orange glow of streetlamps, his stance withdrawn and defensive, his hands shoved deep into the pockets of his coat. The sound of his voice the first time he had called, soft and confused, as if not completely sure he had actually dialed the number himself. The touch of his fingertips, callused and rough, every angle of every scar covering his muscled chest. Magnus knew it all. He'd never forget. He didn't want to.
But it wasn't long before his dream became a nightmare. Nothing good can stay.
He saw Nerissa, her dress torn and stained, leaves tangled in her wet hair. She was running through sparse forest, stumbling around skeleton-like trees, her bare feet crunching the red-gold leaves to mulch. In her hand was a bottle filled with clear liquid that swirled rainbow colors as her arm bounced.
There was a sharp twang and an arrow soared past her ear, clipping her cheek and drawing a line down her jaw that oozed crimson blood. Drops fell from her chin to her dress, sliding down her bare arms like shapeless twining marks. Her foot caught on a root and she nearly fell, her free hand darting out to grab a low-hanging branch and right herself. But it cost her a few precious seconds. Behind her, their footsteps light and soundless on the brittle undergrowth, appeared the two green knights, bows drawn, blank expressions on their handsome faces.
"Bane!" Nerissa cried, looking straight at him, her glowing black eyes filled with panic. "Magnus!" A branch swept across her face, a lingering leaf—crinkled and brown—dusting her skin. The branch bounced back into place, blood threading over the leaves like broken veins. "BANE!"
Magnus woke up. He bolted upright, his nails digging tiny furrows into the comforter, his hair flopping in his eyes, and half the buttons ripped from his shirt, leaving it gaping over his heaving chest. Buttons littered the bed like a scattering of stars, shimmering faintly. Each breath sounded loud in the empty room, thunderous, cloying, pressing down on his ears. His heart pounded away against his ribcage. He wanted to scream.
"BANE!"
The voice echoed through his door, and he jumped. Scrambling out of bed, he threw a fuzzy purple robe over his shoulders and stepped cautiously into the living room, the last of his magic sparking at his fingertips, making the glitter-painted walls sparkle with blue light.
"MAGNUS!"
Magnus started, a curl of fire accidentally lancing from his thumb and nearly decapitating Chairman Meow, who looked up at him with accusing eyes and a baleful screech. The voice was distant, distorted, as if through water. It was coming from the kitchen.
Careful where he put his feet, Magnus slid around the divider and into the dim room, lit only by the LED on the toaster and a strange, unearthly glow emanating from the sink-full of dishwater he'd forgotten to drain. Oops.
The light shimmered and danced, casting twirling rainbow colors over the underside of his cabinets. Leaning on his tiptoes, he peered into the murky water, and nearly fell.
Nerissa's face filled the sink, warped with every drop of water that fell from the faucet and spread ripples across the soapy skin. She was running as if her life depended of it, blood coating one side of her face like a Phantom of the Opera mask, dripping down to stain her dress. She was also looking right at him.
"Magnus!" she cried, her voice full of relief.
"Nerissa?" he asked, not quite sure if he was still dreaming or if there had been something not right with the chicken wings he'd had for dinner. This couldn't be real. He'd seen a lot of weird things in his nine centuries, but this took the cake. Well, maybe after those munchkins in the Wizard of Oz. He shuddered. Gnomes. Creepy.
"Come to Central Park!" She ducked, and an arrow came shooting over her head. Magnus leaped back instinctively, letting out a yell, but the arrow just disappeared as it touched the water's surface. "Bow Bridge! Hurry!"
The image faded, and Magnus was left staring at a sink of filthy dishwater reflecting back his own wide-mouthed face. After a moment, he shed his robe, replacing it with a long dark coat, brushing his hair back from his still sleepy eyes.
Real or no, there was no way he was getting back to sleep now.
————————————————————————————————————
Isabelle and Jace were fighting. It wasn't as if they'd never fought before, but over stupid, inconsequential things, like chore schedules and "did you suck up my hamster with a vacuum cleaner?" This time they fought with tooth and nail, leaving the halls of the Institute echoing with their rants. You see; Isabelle blamed Jace for Magnus and Alec's break up. Jace thought Isabelle had eaten a bowl of crazy flakes for breakfast. And so they fought.
"If you hadn't been such an overconfident asshole and walked away when we did, Alec wouldn't have gotten hurt in the first place!" Isabelle screeched, her face turning red. Her hair stuck out around her head in a static ebony halo, her make-up messy and hastily done. No one at the Institute had been looking their best lately.
"It wouldn't have mattered!" Jace yelled back, his hands tightening into fists. He wouldn't swing, but the pinpricks of pain summoned by his nails digging into his palms helped him to focus his anger. "This would've happened anyway!"
"You don't know that!" The mirrors rippled as the pair moved. A hundred frantic Isabelles fighting a hundred livid Jaces. The lights overhead flickered weakly as if in response to her words.
"Yes I do! Magnus told me!" Jace ground his jaw, his teeth digging into his tongue. Sometimes his sister could just be so…infuriating. She had no idea what she was talking about.
She froze, a bizarre statue, one foot hovering a few inches of the ground, her hand caught mid-gesture. Slowly—her dark eyes never leaving Jace—she straightened, her eyebrows jumping up to meld with her hairline. "You talked to Magnus?"
Shit. "No," Jace lied smoothly.
Isabelle glared at him accusingly, waving a hesitant finger in his direction. Her lips quirked with triumph. "Yes you did. You said so. You said Magnus told you."
Jace opened his mouth to tell her that she was clearly insane, when Clary came running up, her fiery hair falling down from her bun, curls straggling in front of her eyes. She was gasping, as if she'd gone a long way, her skinny knees wobbling slightly.
"BOTH OF YOU SHUT THE HELL UP!" she screamed, shifting her angry stare between Jace and Isabelle, setting her hands on her hips and cocking her head to the side in that way that was so familiar to them both.
Isabelle gave her a look that could wither roses. "We're in the middle of something here, so if you don't mind…"
"Alec's missing!" Clary blurted, her hands darting up to cover her mouth as if she could snatch the words back.
"WHAT?!" Jace and Isabelle screeched in nearly perfect unison.
Clary sighed and lowered her hands. "I was going to bring him some food, but he wasn't in his room. I looked everywhere."
Isabelle was beside herself. "Why didn't you say something sooner?"
"I—" Clary was cut off by the annoying trill of Jace's cell phone. She let the air rush out of her lungs and form an exasperated sigh as he slipped the phone from his jeans and held it to his ear.
"Shadowhunter." Jace's eyebrows jumped up. It was Magnus. The warlock's voice was tense and strained, each syllable clipped and full of blame. "Central Park. Bow Bridge. Now. Bring a car."
There was a click and the dial tone rang through the empty air, leaving Jace—for one of the first times in his life—utterly speechless.
I have a bit of a dilemma. So, I could end this in a couple more chapters (say 5 or 6) or I could introduce a plot motivator and get a good 10 or 11 new chapters. If I keep it short, things will work out sooner, but if I make it longer, than there will be more opportunity for fluff (and consequently more opportunity for heartbreak). I'm going to leave it up to you readers. Review and tell me what you want.