A Life Unknown

Night On The Roof

After that day in the library, Jamie spent the next few days finding new places to hide. Her new favorite place was the roof; she found it just as memorizing as the library window, only now, she was actually outside. She stood in middle of the roof and looked up; she watched clouds fly through the sky as the wind pushed them. Jamie let wind dance through her hair that had turned back to its original blond.

As she leaned over the barrier and watched as people walk along the sidewalk, Jamie got a thrill when some would stop in front on the church, but lost it when they would start moving again. Every now and then, a couple would walk by holding hands or with their arms around each other. Jamie felt a pining in her chest. She couldn't stop thinking about what they saw when they walked past the institute.

She sat on the roof thinking for a long while until she heard footsteps coming up behind her. She turned around, not knowing who to expect, and found Julian carrying a lot of his art supplies. "What are you doing up here?" He asked.

"I was um... Thinking." Jamie had suddenly forgotten everything.

"What about?"

"Uh.. Nothing, really. What about you? You've got your hands full."

"Yeah, I was going to work on a new painting. Haven't done much painting since I arrived. Mind sharing the roof?" Jamie shook her head and smiled. Julian smiled back and set up his easel and work space.

Jamie leaned over the barrier again and continued watching the world continue without her. Julian worked on his masterpiece, taking every detail into careful consideration.

The wind picked up in the hours they spent on the roof and clouds rolled in. "Julian?" Jamie asked, breaking the silence that was between them.

He replied with only a faint hum. "Hmm?"

"Is that rain?" She pointed over the horizon.

Julian looked up. "Yeah. Looks like I finished just in time. Come take a look."

Jamie left the edge of the roof and walked around to stand beside Julian. She looked at his painting: a girl with dark brown hair flowing in the wind, looking over the edge of a roof.

"Is that...?" She started to ask.

"You." Julian finished. "I wanted to paint something and when I saw you, I couldn't help myself. You looked so.." Julian didn't know what word could describe what he saw.

"What?" Jamie pressed for him to continue. Her hair blew in her face; Julian grabbed the unruly pieces and tucked them behind her ear.

"Beautiful. And relaxed. And deep in thought. You looked so much like yourself, more than I've seen the entire time I've been here, and you were just so beautiful." They stood in silence, neither one knowing what to say. More clouds blew in and the sky turned a dark grey. Thunder clapped loud in the distance and Jamie jumped. Her hair escaped from behind her ear, so Julian tucked it again. Jamie grabbed his hand and held it in hers; it was nearly twice the size of her hers. "I'm sorry. That was too forward. I shouldn't have said it."

"No, it wasn't. Please, don't be sorry." Jamie didn't know what Julian was thinking, she barley knew what she was thinking. "You're beautiful, too. When you paint, you are so deep in your own thoughts and so relaxed." Julian laughed. "Why are you laughing? Did I say something funny? I'm sorry."

"No, you didn't. Don't say you're sorry. Never apologize for your true feelings."

Thunder clapped closer to the institute and Jamie jumped again. Julian took his chance and held her in his arms. "Look." He said, pointing over the horizon. Lighting stitched though the sky, sewing the clouds together..

"Wow." Was all Jamie said. They stood and watched for what seemed like forever, but they were sure it was only a couple of minutes before it started to rain.

Jamie held her hand out, catching the drops of water in her hand. "Is this.. rain?" She asked, looking to Julian for an answer.

"Yes." He responded. Jamie looked up and smiled. She had no memory of rain, even though she knew she must have seen it before. She loved the feeling of each droplet landing on her bare skin. "Jamie, we should head in. It's starting to pick up."

"I want to stay." Thunder cracked, closer than before. Julian grabbed Jamie's wrist and pulled her towards the door. "Julian. I want to stay." She tried to pull out of his grip, but he was too strong.

"No, Jamie. It's picking up. We need to go inside." Julian nearly carried Jamie inside They stood just on the other side of the door; Jamie continued to argue.

"By the angle." Alec stood on the opposite side of the room. "You guys are soaking wet. What were you doing out in this weather?"

"I'm sorry, Alec." Jamie spoke up first. "I wanted to see the rain. I'd never seen it before."

"I don't care. You should have stopped her." Alec spoke towards Julian.

"I tried, Alec. We came in as soon as it started pouring."

"You should have come in when it started sprinkling. There's no reason to be out in weather like this, you could get sick."

"Alec, don't be mad at Julian. It's my fault; I wanted to stay outside."

"Julian is older and more knowledgeable. He knows more about the world than you and he knows the consequences. He should have been more responsible." Alec turned to Julian. "Would you have let your brothers and sisters out in weather like this?"

"Don't talk about my family. I would never talk about yours like that." Julian walked out and left Alec and Jamie behind. Alec had hit Julian with words that hurt more than a demon attack. Everyone knew that Julian cared more about his brothers and sisters than he did about anything else.

"Alec." Jamie scoffed. "Why did you say that?" Jamie clenched her fists as she felt heat burn through her veins.

"To prove a point. He needs to realize that you are not a toy." Alec felt as if he had to protect Jamie, almost as if he was her father. For a moment, he wished he was. He hated knowing who her real father was and how he had treated her all her life.

"I'm not. And he knows that. Why are you here anyway? Did you just come to yell at everybody?" Jamie hadn't realized that she had started yelling, but got scared of herself when she did.

"My house was attacked. Asmodeus sent demons looking for you and Magnus got hurt."

"What?" Jamie had stopped yelling suddenly. The heat escaped her body and was replaced with ice.

"He's in the infirmary." Alec let a tear fall down his cheeks, no longer able to hold it back. "You should go see him, he is your bother."

"You're his boyfriend. You should be with him, too." They both forgot about what they had been arguing about.

"I will be. I wanted you to know he was here." Jamie stood in the middle of the room now. She tried to make sense of what she had just been told, but didn't want to; she didn't want to believe it. "Come on, Jamie. I'll take you to see him.

"Alec." Jamie said. "I don't feel good."

"You're in shock. You'll be alright."