Chasing Ghosts (under construction)

chapter eleven

The Institute was a buzz of activity once Kit and Ty emerged from their bedroom. Kit was now fully dressed in grey jogging trousers and a plain blue polo. Ty was wearing his wedding suit, having refused to change into casual wear until the festivities had officially finished. Ever the gentleman, Kit thought to himself. Despite the fact that most guests had left, the dining and sitting room were as busy as ever, filled mostly with shadowhunter's Kit vaguely recognised. The Blackthorn's, Emma and Cristina were all mingling around. Julian stuck fast to Emma's side, their fingers entwined as they'd been ever since they recovered from the Parabatai bond attack. They appeared blind to some of the odd looks they had been getting ever since they had decided to be open about their relationship. It's not as if Kit could blame them; falling in love with one's parabatai was forbidden and frowned against. It would take them some getting used to.
Ty tapped Kit on the shoulder.
"I'm going to go and talk to Dru. Are you going to be alright on your own for a while?" Ty asked. Kit nodded.
"Yeah, I think so. It's not like anyone saw me at the beach. Right?" Kit asked, his eyebrows knotting up.
"A couple of people did, but I'm sure they are gone now," Ty responded. Kit knew he was probably just trying to make him feel better.
"I'll miss you." Kit grinned goofily, nudging Ty playfully with his shoulder. Ty blushed a deep red, his eyes finding something interesting on the ground.
"Don't let on. Julian won't be happy if he finds out we were... intimate." Ty hissed. Kit burst out laughing.
"You sound like a girl from the 1800s. Ty, it's not like we had sex. We just... Made out a little bit." Kit reasoned. Ty seemed to get even darker.
"You were completely naked, though."
"That's the way God intended. Listen, just don't tell them. We can keep our relationship under wraps until you're ready." Kit put a hand on Ty's shoulder hesitantly. Kit couldn't remember what was friendly and what was romantic.
"Relationship?" Ty looked up in surprise. Kit immediately felt like a fool. They had never talked about what they were, Kit had just assumed. You didn't make out with someone like that and not be in an exclusive relationship. At least that's what Kit thought. Maybe Ty saw it differently.
"I'm sorry. I just assumed that we were—"
"Boyfriends?" The hint of a smile played on Ty's lips.
"Um... Yeah?"
"I'd like that, Christopher. I'm going to go. Talk to Jace, he's watching us."
Kit watched Ty greet his younger sister, who's holding a glass of coke in one hand, and one of Tavvy's trucks in the other. Kit smiled at Jace, who was waving him over.
"Hi." Kit said, still unsure as to how to act around Jace, who was just so cool in every way.
"How are you feeling?" Jace asked him, his face and posture nonchalant.
"I'm feeling...Good?" Kit said.
"I saw you down on the beach. What were you doing in the water, trying to drown yourself? Do you hate weddings that much?" Jace asked. Kit flushed red, shuffling his feet from side to side like he was being chastised by his dad.
"I was swimming?" Kit tried to smile, but it fell slack on his face.
"You're my only living blood relative. It would suck if you did something stupid and got yourself killed." Jace said, his face hardening.
"Oh, I wasn't—I mean I don't—" Kit stammered. Jace put a hand out, to shut him up. Kit was being stupid, stupid, stupid.
"Yeah, I get it. You were swimming. Perhaps you should leave the swimming for when you aren't... at a wedding, fully clothed." Jace nodded once and put his outstretched hand on Kit's right shoulder tentatively.
"Yeah, okay. Sure. I can do that Uhuh." Kit nodded furiously. Jace smirked and spun Kit around with his hand.
"Go get him," Jace said. Kit wasn't entirely sure what Jace meant for a moment until he spotted Ty sitting on one of the sofas in the living room, a Sherlock Holmes leather-bound in his arms, clutching it as Emma does with Cortana. Kit walked over to the sofa and threw himself down next to Ty, who didn't acknowledge him whatsoever. Kit stared at him, so engrossed in the book. He looked younger, with his hair flopping over his forehead and his eyebrows knotted slightly. The look of a concentrated reader. Kit didn't want to disturb him, so he made himself comfortable next to him and leaned his head on the top of the sofa, closing his eyes. The day had been long, and his emotions had been fluctuating from one extreme to another. He was exhausted and wanted nothing more than to crawl up to bed and sleep for a thousand years, but duty calls and all that shit. Kit longed to be a regular fifteen-year-old kid, who only had to worry about homework and what he was going to wear to prom and what girls he was going to kiss. He shouldn't be constantly fearing for his life and his friends lives. He shouldn't be terrified of his new faerie magical powers that he had no idea how to control. Sometimes the sheer overwhelming-ness of everything made him want to throw himself off of the roof of the institute, or go to the silent brothers and beg them to strip him of his marks and exile him to some remote town in the middle of Scotland where he can live a normal, mundane life. Although, with his faerie powers, he wasn't sure he would ever be completely free of his shadowhunter life. His magic has tethered him permanently to this world of mayhem and murder. If only he knew what the hell to do with them. They could reappear at any moment, tenfold, and what would Kit do then? When light shoots out of his hands and he can't control them and he hurts one of his friends? What would he do with himself if he hurt Ty? Someone hurting Ty is one thing, but Kit hurting Ty because he doesn't know how to tame the fire burning inside him? That might actually kill him.
Kit felt his eyes start to close, and his head lops sideways from the head of the sofa to his shoulder. The sound of the party melted together into a mindless hum in his head as he fell asleep.

Kit woke up to darkness. The day had long since finished, and Kit lay awake on the sofa. He was laying completely on it, with his head underneath one of the cushions and a blanket draped over him. Kit sat up with a yawn and felt the cold hit his arms like a fist when the blanket dropped off of him. He stumbled up, still half asleep, and tried to feel his way out of the living room and to a light switch. Or the stairwell. He was sure he was nearly into the hallway when a hand clamped over his mouth and nose. He couldn't have cried out even if he wanted to. All the air immediately left his body and he struggled effortlessly against the strong hands holding him still. He felt hot breath by his ear and he wanted to throw up.
"I'm going to remove my hand from your mouth. If you make so much as a squeak, I'll just knock you out." Kit didn't recognise the voice. The man slowly dropped his hand and Kit sucked in a deep breath. The hand clamped around his wrist. Kit made a split decision he knew he would come to regret straight away, but he was in no way equipped to handle this situation. He stopped on the man's foot as hard as he physically could, and yelled at the top of his lungs.
"HELP! HE—" His screaming was cut short when he was thrown to the floor. He threw his hands out in front of him, managing to catch himself before his face smashed into the wood. He rolled onto his back, unable to see the man in the darkness.
"You can't leave well enough alone, can you?" He said his voice a growl that sent shivers down Kit's spine. He shuffled backwards, but his back hit a wall. The man descended on him, picking him up by the collar and slamming his head back into the wall. Stars burst in front of his eyes in whites and blues, and he felt something warm run down the back of his head. The world around him muffled like he was back under water. The only thing keeping him upright was the man's tight grip on his shirt. A warm yellow light flooded his vision all of a sudden, and he squinted against the sudden harshness. He was vaguely aware of some sort of commotion, but he was too busy trying to focus on staying conscious. He felt a strong hand grip his jaw, and he was being pulled in front of the man, his back pressed against his front, one hand now at his throat. Something cold stung his neck. His eyes rolled back into their sockets and he felt himself slump a little. Blinking slowly, he was the outlines of three people in front of him, but his blurry vision prevented him from identifying much more than their heights. The one closest to him was tall, but not as tall as the to his left. The one to his right was shorter than both of them.
Emma, Julian. Ty.
Kit slumped even further, his eyes opening and closing slower than they were supposed to. His hearing was gone completely, the world nothing more than a distant hum.
"Ty...." Kit tried to speak, but he wasn't sure whether or not it came out right, or if it sounded like a garbled mess. The world closed in on him, the coldness against his throat warming, but maybe that's the feeling of his blood leaving his body. The floor rushed up to meet him as his legs gave out completely from underneath him, and the darkness greeted him like an old friend.