Screw The Rules

Torture

The next few weeks went the same: Alec came in gave Magnus his food, which had improved after the first week of Magnus's complaining, Jace would extend his chains so he could eat, Magnus would eat and then Alec would take the tray away and Jace would pull the chains tight once more. This week was different, this week when Alec came into the cell he didn't not have a tray, but instead carried more chains. He walked up to Magnus and looked down at him with sadness
"I'm sorry" was all he said. Magnus looked up at him his thoughts jumping. Alec bent down and undid Magnus's chains. He would have used his magic. Would have summoned a flame but was to weak, he could barely lift his head. He moved his fingers around feeling them free for the first time in weeks. It felt good to be able to move them into different positions. But as quickly as it began there were more chains on his wrists and covering his but this time it was the pair Alec had brought in to the cell with him. The chains extended down from his hands going down to reach the ground. On the end of those chains were clamps which Alec picked up and locked onto his ankles. Alec brought Magnus to his feet, Magnus wobbling a bit as it was his first time standing in the past three weeks, and clamped and locked a chain around his neck. Attached to this was a long chain which Alec held. A thousand questions ran through Magnus's head but the biggest one was why? Not why as in why was this happening to him but why was it Alec. Although their interaction over the few weeks was limited, Magnus had still sort of believed that maybe, just maybe Alec was a bit different. That he had found and given Magnus better food because he at least cared abut trying to help Magnus. He realised he had been foolish of himself to ever think that. Alec, still holding the chain, walked up to the door of the cell and Magnus followed him. As they walked he couldn't see very much as the only light came from Alec's witch light which only really gave light to Alec himself and a few steps ahead of him. From what Magnus could tell the floor was stone just like the cell only it was flat and not so bumpy and groovy. As they emerged into the brightness of the normal cells Magnus's eyes pounded and he could feel the pupils diluting for the first time in weeks, he thought that this must be how vampires feel when they see the sun. He felt like his eyes were frying, like they were about to explode as the intensity of the light got bright, and brighter, and brighter, and just as he though his eyes could take no more the light stopped getting brighter and became steady and his eyes began to steady going back to normal. Magnus could tell Alec was trying his best not to tug on the chain around his neck but Magnus could still feel it. He could feel the weight of it dragging his neck down. It hurt. Alec lead Magnus into one of the new cells. They were white and very bright, the complete opposite to Magnus's cell: grey and dark. All around him the walls were white but to his left was a mirror which he presumed was one of those mirror glass things where the people inside the cell saw themselves in a mirror but on the other side you could see through into the cell. Magnus looked through it hoping he met some ones eyes through it just to make them feel even a little uncomfortable.
In the cell stood five people: Magnus, Alec, and three others, two were, Magnus guessed due to their clothes, guards and another man with a bushy beard and a formal suit.
Alec walked up to the man and said "here is the prison Aldertree" the man- Magnus now knew was Aldertree- held his hand out and Alec handed the chain of Magnus's neck to him, slowly and perhaps a little reluctantly. Aldertree took the the chain and tugged on the chain what Magnus guessed was as hard as he possibly could because Magnus was flung forward tripping over the chains attached to his ankles and fell to the ground. The man pulled on the chain again.
"Get up you filthy warlock" he spat. Magnus attempted to get up again but the chains on his wrists and ankles restricted him. When he managed to get on to his knees and began lifting himself up the man pulled on the chain again in an attempt to hurry him up but it just made magnus fall to the ground once again. Then something very unexpected happened: Alec moved from the corner he was standing in and rushed to Magnus. He bent down and grabbed his shoulders helping him to his feet. Magnus looked at him with curiosity and gratefulness, Alec nodded and walked back to the corner. Aldertree grabbed Magnus by the chain around his wrists, Magnus assumed he realised that pulling the chain around his neck would result in him falling again and didn't want to have to wait. He pushed Magnus into the chair took of the chains. He then used the restraints on the chair to tie Magnus to the chair. It was crazy, Magus thought, in the span of 10 minutes he had gone to being chained to a wall, chained with a leash around his neck like a dog, to being stuck in a chair.
"Ok Warlock" Aldertree said right up in Magnus's face "I want you to answer some questions for me. If you answer the questions you want have to feel the pain of torture, or more specifically: the agony rune"
"You cant put that on me I'm not a shadow hunter"
"Oh yes we are aware that is why we have done some adjustments thanks to our newest shadow hunter Clary. She has been able to change the rune to work with non shadow hunters. So it will work on you just fine. Now my first questions is why: why all the attacks on the institute, and when you realised that you couldn't break the spell protecting the place why keep doing it, why so relentless?"
"You still don't understand do you? You shadowhunters are so selfish. You go around accusing everyone of every little wrong doing and 'protecting the rules of the Accords' but you break them yourselves. You say that vampires cant torture humans, but here you are about to torture me. And yes I know vampires shouldn't torture humans I am no monster, but how is them torturing a human any worse that what you are about to do to me. And i know what you are going to say: 'these are special circumstances' you are going to say that you can chain me up and give me barely any food. It doesn't make you any better than them. Worse really because you hide behind the law. So go ahead. Torture me. But You will all know deep down that it is true" Magnus looked into Aldartree's eyes, he could see hate. He looked at the guards and lastly at Alec. He was looking down at Magnus with what he thought might be despair. He seemed to be looking at the restraints on the chair looking at them with great sadness. He looked up and they met eyes. Those blue eyes staring at.
"Take him back to his cell" Aldertree spat. He stepped back and allowed Alec to remove the restraints of the chair and put the chains back in him. Taking Magnus back to his cell.