Asteriel | Alec Lightwood

Chapter 15

After everything that happened we came back to the Institute, the mood was heavy the entire way back here. Not only we were upset we lost Clary's memories forever, but I was muddled thinking about what happened to me, and Alec was also guilty about breaking the bond.

The moment we arrived I finally got the courage to ask my friends what happened to me back there, they explained about my eyes. Alec also questioned me about the weird man who was in my memory which the demon took from me, and I told him that I had never seen him before. The suspicion that I had my memories erased like Clary's was raised but quickly dismissed, because if that were the case, the demon wouldn't have been able to take it from me. Furthermore, they had never seen a person with eyes and runes like the man from my memory.

After our discussion, we all separated ways to take a shower and rest after a very long day. It was exactly what I did, although, I wasn't tired at all, and couldn't fall asleep, especially because I knew what was waiting for me in my dreams. So I just took my phone and sat by the window to admire the night and the starry sky.

Izzy lent me some gray sweatsuit to sleep on, so I'm at least feeling cosy. But I need to go by my house to get some clothes since I don't know how much longer I'll have to live here. My eyes drops to my phone, and I see a missed call from Steph. I try to dial her back, but it goes straight to the voicemail, she must be asleep. I check to see if my parents sent me any message, but there's none, probably because they are really busy with their business in Brazil.

There's a knock on my open door and when I look up from my phone, I see Alec leaning against the door frame, with his arms crossed over his chest. He's wearing a black tshirt, and black sweatpants. And I almost choke on my drool when I notice his raven hair, damp and messy.

"Hey, can't sleep?" His voice is low.

"Uh, yeah. I'm feeling restless." I explain to him, hugging my legs to my chest. He studies me for a while, but then adjusts his position, standing straighter, breaking the silence "Do you... want to see something?" He hesitates. Omg, this totally had double meaning on my mind, and I start to blush immediately. I divert my gaze away from him, staring outside the window.

"It'll depends on what it is." I answer him, playfully.

"You'll see." He states to me, with a unreadable tone. I stare back at him, thinking about it for a moment.

"Alright." I get up, making my way towards him, and I can see the corners of his lips slightly lifting upwards.

Alec leads me towards a spiral staircase on the top floor of the Institute, which we climb, and soon I see myself surrounded by dozens of plants, such as green hedges with blue violet blossoms, vines with buds like jewels, and the majority I had never seen before, but they're all beautiful. Lots flowers fills the space, and I'm sure we're at a greenhouse. The dome's ceiling looks like a inverted lake. It's beautiful. And the smell in here is so fresh and earthy.

"It smells just like springtime in here." I had to comment, amazed.

Alec is ahead of me, still leading me somewhere further back in the greenhouse, but I can listen to him slightly chuckling at my statement, "For me it smells like Idris." We pass by a stone bench in the center, next to a stone-bound rock pool with trees surrounding it.

"Idris?" I ask him when we come to a stop. And he spins facing me.

"The Shadowhunters home country." He explains, while I keep looking around.

"This place is -" My gaze stops wandering when I glance at something I wasn't expecting to see here at all. A upright brown piano is placed between some plants and flowers, there's vines going up all over it. "Breath taking" I finish almost in a whisper staring at the instrument I missed playing this couple of days.