Angelic

Alec ~ 17

WARNING: this chapter contains scenes of descriptive violence and torture. Read at your own risk.

I was in the body of someone much smaller than me. I knew that because the paintings hung too far up on the walls for me to reach. I didn't know how I knew, just that I did: this was a memory, but from when I couldn't tell.

I was running down the stairs of a grand entryway belonging to the owner of a large country house. I could hear my own laugh as I chased a girl in front of me. She was the same age as me, roughly, wearing a sky blue dress, her braided hair bouncing against her back as she ran. She turned back to look at me, and I swear I had seen those brown eyes before... But the feeling was gone as quickly as if I'd imagined it.

She beat me to the ground floor, but tripped on the last floor. I was running too fast to stop myself and I tripped over her leg, landing beside her. We lied on our backs, laughing for no apparent reason other than we just enjoyed each other's presence. As our laughter died, we struggled to catch our breath.

Suddenly, the doorbell rang, echoing throughout the grand space of the house. We looked at each other, and the girl gave me smile that said she already knew she was going to be in trouble, in fact she planned on it; I watched her stand up and walk to the door. I stood up after her. She opened the door, struggling to reach for the door handle, and on the other end stood a man with blue skin and scaly claws for hands. He saw the two of us and smiled. The look alone made me want to shut the door in his face, grab the girl, and hide under my bed, never to come out again.

"Hello, dear." He spoke to the girl. His voice sounded like the hiss of a snake. "Are your parents home?"

Someone yelled from behind the staircase and I watched the girl visibly flinch, as if the word alone were torment enough on her.

I looked over my shoulder to see a man with blond hair and blue eyes, tall and shaped with muscle, walk quickly to the doorway. "What did I say about answering the door?" His voice was the equivalent to being slapped across the face repeatedly.

The girl seemed to shrink, her shoulders slouching as she looked down at her feet. "I'm sorry, Uncle." She had the faint accent that belonged to all of those who lived in Idris.

"Take Alec and go to the playroom." The girl's uncle commanded.

She nodded, quickly walking towards me. The fear in her eyes was obvious. She grabbed my hand and tugged me down the hallway. We walked into a room that didn't look much like a playroom.

I turned on her. "What are we doing in here?"

She put a finger to her lips, signaling for me to be quiet, as she opened the door and stuck her head out.

"You'll get in trouble!" I whispered.

She shot me a look that seemed to say why do you think I think that's a bad thing? The look of the scared girl who was being scolded moments before was gone, replaced by a reckless, adventurous girl that didn't care how many she had to break to have fun.

I watched, stunned, as she slipped out the door and disappeared into the hallway. I stood in the room only a moment longer, frozen in shock. Then I followed her out the door.

She was a few paces ahead of me, creeping up to a set of big double doors on the left side of the stairs. The right door was halfway open, and I could smell smoke from the fire that warmed up the room, the hot air trailing out into the entryway. She stopped in front of the open door, and I watched as her eyes widened, fear enveloping the color in her eyes. At the same time, I heard a loud, high-pitched scream that chilled me to the bone. It didn't even sound human. I ran over to her, wanting to see what she had seen, having no idea what I would find it how much I would regret it.

Standing beside her, I became as frozen as she was, watching what was happening in the dark lit room in front of us. A man, tied to a chair by his hands and feet, had his neck snapped back. His mouth was open, and another heart-stopping scream poured out of it. His skin was pale enough to make me know that he was a vampire. Black smoke was coming from his mouth. The girl's uncle stood next to him, along with the man that had just showed up at the front door. I couldn't explain what I was seeing. I didn't want to think this was real. It looked like an exorcism. I could practically feel the evil in the air. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the girl open her mouth, as if to scream. Instinctively, I put my hand over her mouth, muffling the scream. I seemed to have surprised her because no sound came out of her mouth. A moment later, a bald, round man appeared in the doorway, staring down at both of us. I thought he was going to rat us out. Instead, he closed the door, and the girl and I were left alone in the entryway.

...

"Alec! Alec, wake up!"

The voice, though faraway, was obviously Izzy's.

I opened my eyes after she called my name the third time, only to find that Jace and Izzy were both staring down at me, worried looks on their faces. It was hard to breathe, and I was surprised to find myself gasping for air. I was covered in sweat, my blankets tossed onto the floor. One glance out my window told me it was the middle of the night, the time when New York only gets quiet for a second.

"What happened?" I asked, looking back at my sister and parabatai.

"You were having a nightmare." Jace answered, his voice sounding not even as close to as worried as Izzy's. I didn't take it to heart. I knew Jace knew my strengths and limits better than Izzy did. She was my sister, and even though I was older, she had this unspoken goal to protect me from the evil of the world. "You were screaming your head off."

"We thought you were being attacked, or hurt." Izzy added, a concerned look plastered to her face. "We came here as soon as we could. You wouldn't wake up..."

"Izzy, I'm fine. It's was just a bad dream." I assured her. But for some reason I couldn't assure myself.