The Banhee (An Alec Lightwood Story)

Chapter Eighteen

Warning long chapter and tears may occur

Death, that's all he could hear. All he could see, filling his mind with more chaos than he could handle. Cold sweat trickled down his pale face, soaking his clothes as the black ooze stained his skin. Alec's vision was blurred head tilted to the side, not being able to make out anything. Only able to see the images that flashed in his head. People, mundane, Downworlds, Shadowhunters. Old death comes to haunt and invade his mind, with their dying words and screams. Seeing their last breath leave their body turning each one of them into a dying corpse. He could feel the death surrounding him, as if sucked his very life out of him slowly. Weakening him bit by bit, taking any ounce of strength the raven head had in him. Fight the voices, fighting the desperate urge to scream, to let it all out. Releasing the pressure that Alec felt raised inside of him. The power rushing to his head, his eyes flicking between their hazel and silver states.

But he knew he couldn't. He knew if he gave into the voices for one second and the serum swirled in his brain. He would be one step closer to death's door. So he held it all in as best he could. Clawing at the arms of the leather chair that held him, refusing to open his mouth, struggling to hold it all back. Only making everything in his head grow louder and louder. Alec knew he couldn't do this forever, he couldn't fight forever. However there was a sort of pulling feeling the rose inside of him, cutting through the coldness that death brought him. It was his parabatai bond, the one he shared with Jace it was calling to him, pulling him somewhere. Slowly with as much effort as he could Alec's slumped head turned itself to face straight ahead.

His vision was still blurred, all images merging together into one big ball of fuzz. Alec couldn't really make anything out; it all looked like one big blob to him, until his parabatai bond grew stronger, making his vision clearer the more the bond grew. Now He could see the concrete room, the glass box he was being held in and two figures standing a few feet from the box. He recognised them instantly, the alpha werewolf who gave him his trust, who tried to protect him. And the blonde Shadowhunter who looked at Alec with fear, tear stained eyes. Luke and Jace were right in front of him, yelling, screaming to get his attention. But not a sound travelled from their lips to Alec's ears. The box was sound proof after all. He knew Valentine had designed it that way in order for death to be the only thing he heard. It was sound proof, but also breakable, or so he hoped.

All glass could be shattered, cracked at the right pitch. Alec knew what he had to do, to set himself free, just like his mind prison he had to scream and break the barrier. He let the power take over, his eyes glowing silver, gripping the arms of his chair. He didn't need his voice to be an arrow, he needed it to be chaos, to echo, to be unpredictable. Luke and Jace saw this looking at each other and cautiously covered their ears as Alec let the pressure out, letting out an untamed storm in a confined room. He opened his mouth and screamed.

Luke and Jace watched as Alec screamed, not being able to hear the power of his voice, but both were able to see it clearly. Watching as the lights shook, the table falling over and as the glass began to crack, fracture, break. Letting little pieces of the noise into their ears. The faint noise growing louder and louder the more the glass cracked, the more Alec screamed like he was being ripped apart. And in a way he was, he knew that the cost would of this action but it was the only way from him to escape. He collapsed back into the chair as the last note left his lips, weakened by what he had done and feeling his ears have a liquid trickle out of them.

The blonde looked at the werewolf, both lowering their hands from their unharmed ears, running to the box and taking out his glowing seraph blade, Jace's uneasy eyes darted on the cracked glass that stood between him and getting his brother back. He saw the crimson blood trickle down Alec's neck, the results of his scream. He desperately searched for a point where the cracks all joined, or where the box looked it's most weak. Finaling he found it, all the lines joining to make a spider's web of sorts just off centre. Not hesitating he stabbed his blade through the web at its centre, adding to the web before that glass fell to the ground. Luke climbed inside the box, flicking at the over dangling glass like it was a casual fly, not caring about the cuts it gave him. The crushing sound under his sound didn't alarm him or Jace, their only concern was getting to Alec, who they saw was once again fighting with the voices that plagued him.