Surprise, surprise my lovelies! I wasn´t planning to upload again this week but one of you kindly enquired about the possibility of a special update for Valentine's day (I'm looking at you KTRN ;D) And so I delivered! It's probably not the best since I wrote this whole thing in under 3 hours and didn't really check it, If you don't like it let me know so that I can do something about it. Review please and see you soon!

Chapter 3: Angel's fall first

My fall will be for you

My love will be in you

You were the one to cut me

So I will bleed forever.

-Ghost love score by Nightwish

Alec had never thought himself to be particularly brave, but after the last couple of nights he started to think of himself as an outright coward. He feared the night, for it brought dreams. Dreams that Sonneillon always managed to infiltrate, the demon knew how to torment him, whispering into his ear each day, telling him his time was running out, rubbing salt into his bleeding wounds by pointing out Magnus hadn´t bothered to contact him since the incident in the infirmary.

"His pride will be your undoing". The demon reminded him constantly.

"Angels fell to love and passion so many times, why should one of their children be any different?"

So yes, the shadowhunter was absolutely terrified of sleeping. He didn´t need to be reminded about the noose that tightened around his neck each day. About the clock counting down each of the beats of his heart. He felt as if Sonneillon's voice singing in his fucking head day in and day out would drive him mad before the curse could kill him…

"Ten days, all that remains

Before death your last breathe claims"

More than anything though, Alec was afraid of dying. More specifically, of dying because of a damn curse. He always expected to die in battle, protecting his siblings and serving his people. And then with Magnus he had dared hope to die of old age, with the warlock's arms closed around him protectively, soothing him into eternal sleep after fifty or sixty years together, when letting go was unavoidable.

"Please Raziel, don't let me die like this"

Alec sobbed, curling into a ball at the foot of his bed.

When he had finally been released from the infirmary, after two days of Izzy fussing over him and trying to cook his meals – A proposal he had managed to shot down by saying he was still too young to die (No, the irony didn´t escape him) He had secluded himself in his room, looking for clues about Sonneillon's whereabouts without success. Alec didn´t want to admit the endeavor was probably a hopeless one, since the demon was powerful enough to not be found unless he so desired.

He had also tried to contact Magnus with the same amount of success. The downworlder didn´t pick up his calls or answered his messages, when Alec had had enough and actually put his body through the strain of going all the way to Brooklyn to knock on the warlock´s door he was greeted with nothing but silence, he tried the buzzer on the outside of his apartment building a few more times before giving up and taking the subway back to Manhattan, where his family had welcomed him home by nagging at him. Figures

"You shouldn´t be out so soon after your recovery" Jace had scolded "Especially not to go beg your ex-boyfriend to take you back"

"I did not go to beg" Alec had replied, emphasizing the last word.

"I just want him to see things from my perspective, perhaps that way he will understand…"

Jace had simply rolled his eyes and patted him on the shoulder "Just take care of yourself bro, your safe being is really important for us"

Alec had given his brother an unconvincing half-smile and nodded, heading back down the hall to his room. He needed rest. Chasing after a demon, trying to contact the stubborn mule he had fallen in love with all the while pretending to be healthy for the sake of his siblings was proving to be quite taxing for his increasingly weak body.

Later he had found Clary standing outside his door. She shot him a smile much like the one he had given Jace, which told him more about the worry and uncertainty she felt for him that any of the words she could have said.

"I'm sorry for all the nagging and over-protectiveness that's been going on" The redhead told him "But try to understand them. This was the second time you nearly died because of a demon in less than a year, and after what happened with Max…They are just worried about losing another brother"

"I didn´t mean to make them worry" Alec said simply, though he couldn´t bring himself to tell her what was really going on with him.

"I know" she replied

"I'll talk to them. Tell them to back off and calm down. In the meantime you should rest. We're going on patrol in a few days. You will need all your strength".

That had happened two days ago. After the incident he had played the heartbreak card along with the annoyed teenager move and was surprised to find his strategy had worked. After he had promised his family that he would be ready and rested for their patrol on Wednesday -which was today- They had left him be. No one tried to pry onto his business or attempted to stop his constant calls and texts to Magnus, though he still received no answer.

Alec needed to start preparing before Clary or any of the others came to check on him. He had to take a quick shower, bandage his chest and change into gear before anyone could notice the strange symbol painted on his chest, right above his heart or how his scorched skin seemed to heal a lot slower that was normal for a shadowhunter or even a mundane.

He also had to apply as many runes as he could in the least exposed skin of his body. So that no one could notice how he needed three times the usual amount of runes, because his poor health made them fade three times faster than usual. It had been something he had, luckily, found out by himself when he had tried to use iratzes and other healing runes to ease his pain, which hadn´t really worked obviously.

Slowly and painfully, Alec rose from the floor where he had been sitting, curled into a tight little ball. His whole body protested against the sudden movement and his breath came out harsh and labored, making him gasp for air. Using the wall to support most of his weight he headed for the bathroom, where he quickly undressed and got straight into the shower.

He slumped against the shower's sliding door, letting all his weight rest against the smooth surface. The warm water soothed his nerves and relaxed his body, though it couldn´t do much for his pain or the permanent state of panic he seemed to be living in right now.

Get a hold of yourself Alec. He berated himself. You still need to find Sonneillon and destroy him before he can hurt Magnus or your family.

He was so absorbed by his thoughts that he failed to hear the knocks against his door or the high-pitched voice calling his name.

When the blue eyed shadowhunter finished his bath and stepped out of the shower, wrapping his lower body in a towel he realized that he had forgotten both his gear and the first aid kit that had become his constant companion atop his bed. He put some underwear on and quickly buttoned on his faded jeans, he still should be able to dress his wounds and change without anyone barging into his room.

He was soon proved wrong.

"Sorry for interrupting Alec but you still haven't eat anything and-" Clary trailed off noticing then true state of the shadowhunter's body for the first time.

"Oh, by the angel Alec, what happened to your chest?!"

Alec quickly made for the bed and picked up his black shirt, intending to cover himself up, but of course, his red-headed friend would have none of it, she quickly seized the shirt and stepped away from him, leaving the shadowhunter half-naked and petrified in the middle of the room.

"What's that weird symbol in your chest? And why are your burns still not fully healed" She demanded, trying to sound intimidating, though her petite size and the sudden paleness of her skin left much to be desired intimidation-wise.

"Calm down and hear me out" Alec implored, thinking it was too soon for his siblings to find out about his health "I will tell you everything if you promise to keep it a secret"

Clary knew that she would most likely regret being sworn into secrecy about this matter, but she needed Alec to open up about it, so she agreed.

Alec inhaled a deep breath, bracing himself for Clary's reaction once he shared the secret he had been keeping so fiercely for the past few days but before he could speak his body was seized with a powerful fit of coughs that made him double over himself. Clary rushed to him, trying to sooth him by rubbing circles on his back. His knees soon gave way under him and he collapsed bonelessly to the floor. When the coughs finally stopped he realized that Clary was leaning over his body. Staring down at him with wide green eyes and an ashen face.

"Please, please, please Alec tell me what's wrong with you!" The red-haired shadowhunter pleaded, trying to suppress a sob while tears ran down her cheeks.

It was then that he noticed. Both of his hands were smeared with an alarming amount of blood, he could taste the metallic flavor of blood in his mouth and sensed something warm sliding down his chin. More blood. He thought. Poor Clary, she's probably as scared as I am, Oh angel I didn´t mean for her to worry like this!

He looked up at her and gave her a fond, genuine smile.

"It's ok Clary. Everything will be fine" He tried to be reassuring, though he didn't really believe he succeeded.

"No it's not, it's not ok Alec, you are not ok"

He waited for Clary to calm down so that he could explain. Hopefully that would help her calm down, though he didn't expect much, he knew his situation was hopeless.

So wthat do ya think guys? So far so good?