Better Angels

Chapter Twelve: Memories (Part Two)

Hey guys I'm so sorry for the long wait on this part. I was trying to add a bit more to it, but just could not find the write words to do so. So the part that you are getting today has gone under a lot of editing. (Sorry if it's not perfect) I've also decided that the Memories chapters will be ongoing throughout this whole book so you can get glimpses into Victoria's past and such. I have to keep some stuff to myself. So I hope you enjoy it!

 Also on the side you'll find a link to Chase Holfelder's Major to Minor: "Every Breath You Take" and I think that the song really defines Victoria and Sebastian's relationship. So give it a listen and subscribe to him. He's amazing! (I am in no way shape or form taking responsiblilty for Chase's creation it is his own.)

 For the next few days I tried to avoid sleep as much as possible; memories of battles long since passed still haunted my sleep. As did the faces of my friends back at Camp Halfblood who were left to defend the world against Kronos alone. It was a good thing that the New York Institute was empty now; war was coming to the streets of New York and no Shadowhunter would be able to stop it. I knew that guilt would haunt me for the rest of my life for not being there and protecting them, but it’s the gods will.

As for the memories there was nothing that I could really do about those; they were just there and they weren’t going away. As much as I would love to block out the horror of the past however many thousands of years; I couldn’t. If I did that would mean getting rid of the good memories too.

            Besides the constant nightmares that plagued me day and night life was pretty good in Alicante. Everybody was too wrapped up in their own problems to worry about me, which I suppose would have suited me fine if it hadn’t been for Sebastian. He was always there, either silently watching me with newfound curiosity or trying to strike up a conversation. I tried to avoid him as much as I tried to avoid sleep. So I suppose life wasn’t all that great if anything it was incredibly lonesome and tiring.  The only comfort I found was in the library with my violin.

            I leaned into my maple violin and delicately began to work the bow and my fingers across the strings. The melody of the beautiful strings whispered up to my ears and brought a light smile to my face. It reminded me of a time that was more precious than life itself. The song was slowly growing louder and more urgent as my fingers worked faster across the strings. The urgency brought my heart rate up, but the smile never left my face as I reached for the highest not in the crescendo. I sighed and let the speed fall into a slower pace filled with sorrow for a long lost lo—I went sharp as the sound of raging voices reached my ears.

            I sighed angrily and hauled myself of the chaise lounge in the Penhallow’s modest library. It was the only place that I hadn’t been bugged until now. I gingerly tucked my violin under my arm and wielded the bow as my weapon. Just as I was getting comfortable and beginning to enjoy myself. I was off to hunt Jace and a girl, whose voice I did not recognize. I left the peaceful library filled to the brim with books and stumbled into a war zone.  

            I squared my shoulders and followed a fuming Alec, who was tracking mud all through the house and onto the pristine carpets, into another library. What the hell… two libraries in one house? Next to each other? Now that seems like a bit too much doesn’t it? Alec appeared just as annoyed as I was. Alec marched through the doors not caring that it might have been a private moment, but I probably would have done the same thing.

            “What in all possible dimensions is going on here?” he said, looking from Jace and a small woman with flaming red hair with amazement. “Are you two trying to kill each other?”