lust; malec au

chapter fourteen

Jace grabbed the car keys that Robert had been hiding in a flower vase that belonged to his car back in New York, turning to look at Isabelle and Max, both of their bags in their hands. "We're really doing this," Jace whispered in disbelief; their father was up in bed asleep and they were planning to flee.

They missed Alec and their mom so much, and Robert didn't seem like he was going to change his opinion any time soon. They were just going to have to sort it out themselves. Isabelle bought the plane tickets with Robert's credit card, but by the time he noticed they would be back in New York and he couldn't do much about it.

If Robert came back and tried to take them away again, they would refuse. Sure, Robert had a certain hold over them, but being without Alec and Maryse was torture. They were wiling to risk being caught if it meant they might get to see their family again.

They walked to the airport that was relatively close and got onto the plane quickly, fearful of their father finding out. It was 4am, so they doubted he would. The plane journey was painfully long, but when they got off the excitement settled in. "Do you think Alec will look different? Maybe he's finally cut his hair — the last time we saw him his hair was starting to fall into his eyes." Isabelle said with a giggle, hopping into Robert's car.

Jace shook his head with an amused smile, sitting in the driver's seat. He had learnt to drive from Robert a few months earlier, and wasn't great it, but it was good enough. Jace just hoped they didn't get stopped by the police on the journey back, and he would get in trouble for driving without a license. If it was a male police officer, he wasn't sure he could charm his way out of it.

The car ride back to their house wasn't far, but was still longer than Jace had ever driven before. Isabelle offered to do it, as she had started lessons, but Jace refused. That wouldn't end well. Isabelle wittered away to Jace for a while, Max reading his comics in the back seat as per usual. 

None of them were prepared for what came next. Jace was in the middle of a sentence, talking to Isabelle about what they would have for dinner when they got home. The sound of tires screeching and glass breaking as the truck slammed into Robert's car bled into their ears, Isabelle letting out a loud scream. 

When Jace first fluttered his eyes open, he almost forgot what had happened. Then he realised why he could only see black was because his forehead was resting against the steering wheel, pushing his head up with a groan, his arm going to the back of his neck in pain. His fingers reached up and touched his cheek, feeling that it was wet with blood.

Jace looked around in panic, realising there were two other people in this car with him. Isabelle was unconscious next to him, bruised and bloody. He looked in the back seat and let out a short gasp as he saw Max wasn't there, the panic already in his body rising quickly. Jace looked forward, his expression contorting to horror as he saw the scene before him.

The windshield had a large hole in the centre, blood staining the distressed glass corners. The headlights from Robert's car shone into the dark road, lighting up the image of Max's limp body a few feet away from the car. Jace covered his gaping mouth with his hand in shock, beginning to sob.

Jace reached into his pocket and pulled his phone out, seeing that it was smashed but still working. He dialled 911 hurriedly, saying that he had been in a car crash with his younger siblings and they needed urgent care.

When the paramedics arrived, Jace still hadn't moved from where he sat. Mostly because he was scared his legs would be severely broken or gone or something horrendous along those lines. They helped him out of the car as he groaned in pain, glad to see he could still walk and nothing awful had happened to him. Only a few scratches on his face and a few shards of glass from the windshield had sunk into his hands. But he wasn't worried about himself.