Nephilim

22

Three years ago...

Ryder draws in a breath, dressed in all white staring blankly ahead. Not only did he lose a grandfather, but his girlfriend too, all in one fell swoop. Annabel Blackthorn deserves to rot. They had just gotten back to New York from the ceremony, Ryder not speaking the whole time.

"Do you want to have pizza or Chinese? I don't think any of us are in the right mind to cook." Clary mutters quietly, not looking at anybody as she speaks, eyes glossy with unshed tears. Ryder turns and leaves the room, not answering her and heading directly to his room. He changes directly after entering his room pulling on some random pair of pants, skipping a shirt altogether and moving to go down and train.

He makes it to my doorway when he hears his phone go off. Pausing for a second debating if he actually wants to socialize, he sighs, moving to grab the phone and opting to stay in the room, slamming the door in the process. He could punch the shit out of a punching bag tomorrow. He opens his phone, seeing a message from Kirstin there, three that are multimedia messages and one that is a text. He sighs clicking on her contact and pulls up the messages. The first three were memes, but the last one was what brought the slight smile to his face.

K: Hey, Mason told me that you missed school today because you were going to a funeral. I'm sorry for your loss and figured you could use the smiles. I know how it feels, so I'm here if you want to talk and understand if you don't want to. If you need some space for a while, we'll understand, but we'll always be here when you need us. It does get better. Again, I'm sorry for your loss.

He stares at the message for a second, the small smile apparent, even as the tears stream down his face. Instead of replying, he buries his face in his pillow, letting the sobs wrack his body.

Ryder's P.O.V.- Present Day

I quickly move through the halls, maneuvering around people and trying to seem casual. I can't look at her without imagining her dead, especially after Mason explained what happened. I see her, laying on the ground, blood gushing out of her stomach and throat, a bloody blade next to her. Then a picture of Livvy's corpse is next. Then Kirstin in Livvy's position. What if she hasn't made it? What if Mason had been too late? What if, what if, what if.

"Ryder!" Oh, speak of the devil. Or think of, I guess. Doesn't matter. I turn the corner into an empty hallway, quickly trying to go through the rest of the hall when the open space in front of me... disappears. There's only a wall there. I spin around and come face to face with a pissed Kirstin, "Why are you avoiding me?" Her voice was harsh, pained. She probably thinks she did something wrong. As if she could ever do something to push me away. She's too... her.

"I'm not talking about this," I say, turning to leave. The hallway behind her is blocked by a wall also. Realising it's an illusion, I go to walk through it, only to run right into a solid mass of something.

"Just because it's fake, doesn't mean you can walk through it. It's almost like a force field. So, your options are to talk about this or stay locked up in here until we starve. Or dehydrate. Whichever comes first."

I scoff, avoiding eye contact, "You're insane."

She pauses for a second, seeming to have a mental conversation before responding, "Mason agrees. He also says that Peter thinks this is because Mason and I have a mind link. And that it's stupid, which I am inclined to agree with that point." I sigh, looking around at this makeshift prison she created, punching the wall. Hard.

It has nearly the same effect as hitting a regular wall, except a rush of unwanted and painful power shoots up my arm, earning a groan, "God, that hurts more than punching a regular wall."