The Stars of Our Love [ Wattys 2017]

Chapter 5

Alec curled up on his carpet, sobbing to himself. He longed for the days when Magnus would wrap his arms around him and comfort him. He buried his face into his pillow- which somehow managed to avoid Alec's previous wrath. His heart felt like it was swelling painfully against his chest. Nearly all of his energy had drained out of him, leaving him shaking on his floor, the dirt and grime from two days previous still layered on him. The sinister feeling still lurked in his stomach, waiting to unleash itself again, but it had been placated for the moment after his outburst the day before.

Suddenly Alec remembered something he had said to Jace when Clary had first shown up at the Insitute. Careful. The rune to fix a broken heart is the most painful. He laughed harshly at the sick irony in it all. He wouldn't be feeling this pain if he had taken his own advice. Nothing can be worse than what I'm feeling now, he thought.

Grabbing his stele, he crouched on the floor, prepared to carve the rune above his heart. He took a shaky breath, then touched the stele to his skin. He bit his lip to stop the scream that was ready to jump out of his throat. Normally the curls of runes would come naturally, but this one took effort. His hand was shaking too badly. The rune was becoming deformed, burning his skin and leaving an angry red scar in its wake. Finally, Alec couldn't keep it down any longer. He dropped his stele and screamed. He knew he didn't properly make the rune. That's what was making his skin feel like lava was poured onto it. He writhed on the floor, screaming as loud as he could. Tears poured from his eyes, blinding him.

"ALEC! WHAT'S WRONG?! WHAT HAPPENED?!" he could hear his mother yell from the other side of the door. They were trying to open it, but it was hopeless. Alec had used a rune on the door not even Clary could counter. He had found it one night at Magnus'-

Magnus. Another stab of pain hit his heart. He cried out louder, clutching his chest where the unfinished rune lay.

"No. No, no, no, no. NO!" he screamed. "HE CAN'T JUST LEAVE LIKE THAT! HE CAN'T LEAVE ME LIKE THIS! HE PROMISED HE WOULDN'T GO! HE LIED TO ME! I LOVED HIM!" Alec's voice was hoarse and raw. Horrible sobs were tearing their way out of Alec's throat. Blackness surrounded his vision, threatening to engulf his thoughts. Air was circulating through Alec's lungs at high speed, filling his body with an overload of oxygen. The feeling in his stomach began to rear its ugly head in Alec's coming panic. Alec curled into an even tighter ball, his body writhing as he sobbed. Eventually, he went quiet as the comforting arms of unconsciousness embraced him.

----

"Meow," came the hungry call of Chairman Meow as Magnus strode through the door. The warlock just sighed and walked over to the cabinet to find some cat food. His day hadn't gone well. It started off with his horrible dream, led on with a cranky client that wouldn't cooperate at all, then ended when it began to pour, making Magnus' glitter wash away as he walked home. After feeding the Chairman, he flopped onto the couch exhausted. The client, in particular, had worked him hard.

Magnus' eyes were about to close, sending him off into a deep sleep, when his caller buzzed. Sighing in frustration, Magnus moved the caller and angrily yelled, "What could you possibly need?"

"It's me, Lucifine, from earlier. You know, the client you blew off," came the equally angry reply. Making a split second decision, he played the only card he had up his sleeve.

"Uh, I had to leave. My cat didn't get fed this morning. And I can't talk now because, uh, he has an infection that needs to be attended to immediately," he lied, praying she would take the bait. Unfortunately, the universe had decided to make Magnus have a sucky day.

"Oh, how wonderful! I am studying to be a vet, and this is the perfect opportunity to test out my skills! It must be my lucky day indeed," she said, then clicked off. He could hear her heavy footsteps clunk up the stairs.

"That makes one of us," he muttered under his breath.