Tainted Soul • Lightwood. [ON HOLD]

F O U R

Justin could feel his lugs burning. He couldn't breathe. He opened his eyes and saw blue all around him. He opened his mouth by accident and water instantly filled his mouth. He started to panic, when he struggled even more to breathe, so he started swimming to the surface. When he was out in the fresh air, he instantly released the water from his mouth and coughed.

I'm in deep shit, Justin thought as he saw no one, not Jace nor Clary, around him and he was lost. He swam in every direction trying to get to the shore but things didn't go his way. Everywhere he swam he saw more water, no shore or safe place for him to go to.

Hours went by for him, and he was starting to feel tired and his strength leaving him. His eyes started dropping and soon enough he lost consciousness.

➰

"Oh my, God. Are you okay?" An unfamiliar voice exclaimed as Justin was regaining consciousness. He gasped and sat down and looked round him. "I made it?" He whispered to himself. The woman that found him looked at the redhead with furrowed eyebrows. "Look, stay calm and let me call the police and maybe and ambulance."

Justin panicked, he was out in the open where anyone could find him. Trust no one. He scrambled away from the woman and stood up, breathing heavily, ignoring the pain coming from everywhere. "Kid, let me help you. You are bleeding." He started hyperventilating and in a moment he was out of the woman's eyes, running away from the scene. He ran like his life depended on it, it kind of did.

He finally felt like he was somewhat safe so he slowed down to a jogging and then ended up walking. He was once again out of breath and was finding it hard to keep going, but he needed to. Justin was cautiously walking by the streets when the window beside him broke and a body collided with him. The glass pricked his skin as he groaned in pain from the heavy person laying on top of him and the impact with the ground.

"Jus-Justin?" The redhead popped himself on his elbows coming face to face with Jace. "Brother, fancy seeing you here. Honestly, fuck you." Jace chuckled at his words but groaned in pain as he did so. "We have to run." And that's what they did. Justin can't seem to stop doing that.

"Why are we running?" Justin finally questioned his brother. "The werewolves are after me so we needed to go. I need to get to Alec." Not a slow day in the Shadow World. "What do you mean Alec? Is he okay?"

Jace turned to him. "He tried tracking me using out parabatai bond and now he's gone, I need to get to him so I can save him or he will die."

The words registered slowly on his brain, Justin trying to make sense on what was going on. Alec? The Alec that hated and was fond of him in a matter of days? The same Alec that kissed him on his wedding? The same Alec that was the strongest Shadowhunter he's met?

"We really need to go."

Night came by fast as the brothers were trying to get somewhere they could stop. Both of them were bleeding horribly, Jace more than Justin, the blond being the one that came face to face with the werewolves. "Here," Jace whispered as they stumbled into an alleyway. "You can't hide your scent Shadowhunter."

Jace picked up his pace, Justin tripping over his feet to match his strides as the woman followed after them. They exited the alley and dropped a trashcan at the exit, stumbling to the ground in pain. A man came to their aid and started asking them questions.