Trapped in History

8

Alec woke to a wave of such intense fear crashing through him he could barely breathe. His hand instantly was drawn to his side, the emotions tumbling through him noted as Jace's almost immediately, as his eyes flashed open, and he moved forwards almost instantly. At first their combination had left both of them struggling to figure out whose emotions were whose, but that time had long passed, and Alec knew that anything that made Jace feel like this was not safe, for anyone, including himself. 

He could barely breathe, but still stumbled forwards either way, determined as he did so, his eyes dark with stubborn worry. He did not know that he wished to figure out what was causing Jace to feel such horrible fear, but either way it did not matter, as it was obvious something was happening, and Alec was not about to just stay in bed. Not when Jace was feeling something this strongly. It was rare that anything really bled through the bond from Jace's side, and this was enough to make him wake from a dead sleep. 

So he continued, practically crashing through his front door, the weight of Jace's turmoil crashing through him almost painfully. He could barely walk. When they had first become Parabatai, Alec remember the sudden weight of everything Jace had felt, the portion that the rune allowed him to feel alongside, and he remember just how deep it was. How painful. The joy, and the fear, and everything else. Jace, for all that he may seem otherwise, is a rather emotional individual, something which had not exactly surprised Alec, but upon taking their vows, and being able to feel but a portion of everything the other felt, he had to admit that it was rather shocking to know just how deeply the other felt at the best of times. That was whenever Jace was actually letting himself feel, which left Alec even further worried about the reasons behind his sudden flood of anxiety that Jace was currently dealing with. 

Alec saw Jem running down the hall. Reacting almost entirely on instinct, Alec moved quickly towards them, and he grabbed the elder boy's shoulder as he passed, his eyes large. Alec would not be all that surprised if the rune was flooding through him so heavily that his eyes had not changed to indicate their activation. He knew that was rare, though, and on very unique circumstances. Such a thing had only happened twice now. Alec would count that Jem looked surprised but not worried or wary as an indication that this was not one of those times.

"Where's Jace?" He asked, his voice weak from the effort of ignoring the sheer panic he felt coursing through his body, determination from knowing Jace was feeling far more then this pushing him forwards. Jem shook his head, and Alec inhaled sharply, closing his eyes trying to figure out what could possibly..."Music," Alec whispered softly, blue eyes opening with a snap and staring straight into Jem's own. Jem's own eyes gained confusion, but he did not question Alec and merely grabbed Alec's arm and pulled him down the staircases recklessly.

They ran, and as they ran Alec noticed that Jem had to have realized something was going on, though how that was the case Alec did not really know, it was obvious that one of three things happened. He saw what was going on himself, he heard it from someone else, or he was also a parabatai. Though he was not sure which was the case, Alec was not exactly focused on that either. Now, he just wanted to know where Jace was and make sure that he was okay. That was all that he was focused on, and every other thought was shoved to the back of his mind, to be assessed at a later time. 

"Jace!" Alec shouted, crashing through the room, only to stop short, his breath heaving, shock upon shock piling in on him as he saw the situation in what appeared to be a music room unfold before him. Jace had that one shadowhunter by the throat, and Alec knew that something had to have happened, not in a good way either. 

Alec knew that music was always Jace's weak spot. Though he did not know the details of what Valentine did to Jace, he knew that the elder was very strict in his music lessons, and given the shadowhunter's nature, Alec was certain that there was quite a bit more to the story then before, especially considering the way he had seen Jace upon being dragged to Valentine's ship. Strung up by his wrists, body beaten beyond what was acceptable punishment. He had seen such a thing, and he was not really sure that he would care to know much more about Jace's past, knowing instantly it was far more traumatic then Jace had implied. 

Music, though, Alec knew it was a painful mix for the boy. He knew that because even though Jace thought otherwise, Alec had heard him once before. It had been in the midst of the night, and Alec was supposed to be out, but he had changed his mind at the last moment and returned to the institute, and it was then that he had heard the haunting melody. He had never once heard Jace play like that so he had known...known that Jace had played otherwise just for them. Yet the dark emotions that were embedded within that piece of music, that he poured into the piano, it had haunted Alec for a while afterwards, knowing that there was something infinitely darker when it came to Jace, when it came to the music that Jace played. There was more, but Alec did not have the heart to truly ask what happened. 

Seeing Jace look straight at Alec, his eyes flickering Alec knew instantly what had to have happened, and his nervousness grew. Jace was never in a good state when he decided to play, especially without being asked, and if this Will had interrupted him when he had not expected it...Jace would not have taken it well in the first place. Should something else have happened on top of that, Alec knew that this was not a good situation. 

Seeing Jace's eyes go solid gold, Alec inhaled sharply as the Shadowhunter disregarded him and turned his attention back to Will. This was bad...and he reacted instantly. 

Jem was struck dumb seeing Will held down by the new guest that they had taken in. He had not expected them to be in the music room either. He had seen Alec and had grabbed him, not sure why but the surprise and shock of his parabatai had him barely thinking, and when Alec had asked where Jace was, he had taken a guess and snatched the other as he dragged them down to where the stranger had said they were, not quite questioning him. Though he wondered how he had known. He was further dumbed down when he saw the Shadowhunter's eyes flickering between blue and gold, and his own mind twisted. 

That was not normal.

The other guest knew what was going on, clearly, as before Jem could do anything he had run forwards, placing himself between Jace and Will. Jem could only stand stiffly, watching the show down with nervous eyes. 

"Jace," Alec said, his own eyes searching Jace's for any hint of familiarity. 

There was nothing, and the molten colour scared him somewhat...Jace was hidden from him now...

...Now there was only Jonathon.