“unless you have information on my brother, we have nothing to say to one another.”
“ i… ” elena trailed off, looking down for a moment before raising her gaze to look at the other shadowhunter eventually. “ cassie, i’m just - i’m sorry. ”
"don't." she shakes her head, eyes focused beyond elena - anywhere but on the girl she had called a friend. "you were following orders, i understand that. but i have no interest in your apologies."
she knows it’s not jade’s fault. but she cannot focus, cannot think of anything but her twin in a cell. “my brother was arrested.” she says sharply. “so i do not have time for lessons.”
A small gasp escaped her throat. She moved closer to Cassie laying a hand on her shoulder. “Is there anything I can do? My grandmother has several connections among the Clave.” Jade thought about her next words carefully. “What happened with him?” She tried not sound like she blamed him for his actions. If he was like Cassie she doubted it was his fault.
she resists the urge to shrug off the hand on her shoulder. it is only meant to be a comfort. "the attacks, the violence...they're blaming him." she says quietly, staring ahead. it was still ridiculous to say aloud. charlie was the gentlest person she knew. "they won't tell me what evidence they supposedly have to charge him."
i was dead when i woke up this morning; i’ll be dead before the day is done
@wilshirehq, @mcrdices
PART ONE;
it fits.
the puzzle pieces connect. align. it makes sense. finally. she knows she ought to wait, she ought to find more evidence and explain her theories. but there is no time. her brother is behind bars, her twin is being accused of something awful. and she knows the truth.
she knows.
“ben-” the voicemail is hurried, words tumbling out as fast as she can force them. “i did it. i really did it..” she starts, breathless in her excitement. “i’m going to get charlie out. meet me at the institute. now.” she hangs up, shoving the phone into her back pocket.
the apartment she shares with her brother is minutes away from the institute but the distance seems that much further in her desperation to get there. when she arrives the breath is ragged in her chest, heartbeat thundering in her ears. ben is not here yet; she’s not even certain that he received her message. again she knows she should wait. she can hear ben’s voice in her head telling her no. but all she can think of is charlie. of how close she is to having the proof she needs.
heavy boots thunder up the steps, wide oak door swinging shut behind her. the corridors blur in her vision, following the route she has walked all too recently. how did she not see it ?? how has it taken this long ?? it was so clear. so obvious.
she stops before a closed door. behind it she is not sure what she’ll find. paperwork, records, something. a hand curls into a fist, thumping against the old wood, before she invites herself in. emerald irises focus on the desk in the center of the room - there. she approaches and begins flipping over papers, pulling open drawers. searching, desperately, for something.
a movement.
so slight she almost didn’t see it. just in her periphery.
golden tresses fall over her shoulder, head whipping to stare wide-eyed. “you-” she starts, mouth agape. and then the pain begins. sharp, shooting, lightning strikes within her skull. darkness smothers her vision.
PART TWO;
charles aaron skyforth.
though he’s been charlie for the last decade. charlie since the day he was turned. since the day his parents told him he was better off dead.
he wonders if he’ll see them. after. he wonders if there is an after. he’d always believed there was. now he’s not so sure.
they don’t bother knocking, weighted door swinging open to allow entry. he knows those color robes. it’s time.
ten thirty am.
he is alone at the stand. perhaps it is better that way. perhaps it is better that his sister’s face is not before him, that he doesn’t have to see her in his last moments.
he still feels lost without her.
they read out the charges. lies, endless lies. they know it as well as he does. he is taking the fall for something he has never been a part of.
he hopes, as he closes his eyes, that it is all worth it.
it only hurts for a moment.
then peace.
PART THREE;
it starts as a ringing. reverberating in her head. then it is an ache, agonizing, as if she is bruised on the inside. heavy lids flutter, fighting to be opened.
“wa-water-” is that her voice ?? it rasps, pulled from sluggish lips.
gradually lashes lift, allowing her some view of her surroundings. it is a cold, stark room. white lights, white furniture. bright. overwhelming.
“where am i ??” she croaks, again startled by the sounds she makes. brows twist in a frown, narrowed eyes darting around her. none of this makes sense, none of this is familiar.
Jade furrowed her brows. This was not like Cassie. “What’s wrong did something happen?”
she knows it’s not jade’s fault. but she cannot focus, cannot think of anything but her twin in a cell. “my brother was arrested.” she says sharply. “so i do not have time for lessons.”
they’d taken him right from the hunter’s moon, of all fucking places. should’ve been there. should’ve been there. should’ve been there. “he didn’t…” the placating abruptly stops. cassie doesn’t need him to tell her that charlie isn’t responsible for any of this — it’s pretty fucking obvious already — but now what can he say? “how do i fix this?” forget words. they won’t soothe cassie or right the wrong that’s being committed here. “somebody around here’s gotta talk to me, right?” not that he expects being leader of the pack to award him any privileges among nephilim, but there’s also his persistence to consider.
how do i fix this ?? he can’t. if it were simply a matter of reason, of sense, she would have resolved it by now. her brother would be free. but there is more at work behind the scenes, a power play by the clave that has an innocent caught in the middle. “no.” she says quietly, dropping her gaze from his. “they walked right into pack territory and took one of our-” she pauses, shaking her head. they weren’t hers, she isn’t one of them. but she doesn’t belong here either, not after this. “your own. politics are meaningless in their pursuit to find someone to blame.”
lips quirk in a smile at the mention of ben’s complaining - he was fairly renowned for his grumbling and she had been on the receiving end of it more than once. but she knows, much like mason does, that when he speaks of his pack ( his family ) in that irritated tone it’s an insight into how much he truly cares for them. “when he stops complaining, that’s when you should be worried.” she nods, ducking her gaze from his. she doesn’t understand the surprise, she had thought ben’s disliking of her was fairly obvious. “I wasn’t aware there were any other ben’s of note.”
the redhead nodded, beaming up for a split second. “exactly! that’s when you know you really messed up and it’s either time to be scared or hiding.” another nod of his head before he scratched the back of his neck. “lucky for me i haven’t got to witness that yet.” he added, not that he was planning for it to happen anytime soon or ever for that matter. making a face, mason couldn’t help but laugh slightly afterward. “i don’t think so, he is the only important one we care for. all the other bens are pretty irrelevant.”
at one time she had considered ben's emotionality to be impulsive, unpredictable. now she knows better. "he doesn't react without reason - I think it would take something truly foolish to draw silence from him." she muses, wry smile playing upon her expression. "you don't seem as though you'd be so reckless, mason." the blonde adds, gaze lifting to settle on his. "yes, I suppose they are. to the pack, of course."
she offers him a brief smile, shaking her head at the murmured thanks. she hopes she hasn’t made him feel foolish - it is more her problem than his. the incessant need, no reflex, to explain and educate, to impart knowledge. “i’m sure he doesn’t consider you to be a bother. you are all incredibly important to him.” the blonde says quickly, brows dipping into a frown. “ben has made it clear on enough occasions that my company is less than desirable. i don’t want to make his life even more stressful by forcing that upon him without definite need.”
it was obvious that the smile on the werewolf’s face was a grateful one, he might not find the fun in studing things like he saw carmen do a lot of times but he liked to know new things. making a face, he couldn’t help but laugh slightly. “i don’t think it’s a bad thing, i mean, you know he cares when he is complaining about the dumb things we do.” he frowned then, surprised by her words because well, there were things that were obvious even to him and that was obviously one of them. “whaat? are we talking about the same ben?”
lips quirk in a smile at the mention of ben's complaining - he was fairly renowned for his grumbling and she had been on the receiving end of it more than once. but she knows, much like mason does, that when he speaks of his pack ( his family ) in that irritated tone it's an insight into how much he truly cares for them. "when he stops complaining, that's when you should be worried." she nods, ducking her gaze from his. she doesn't understand the surprise, she had thought ben's disliking of her was fairly obvious. "I wasn't aware there were any other ben's of note."
“a census is a count or a survey, generally of a population. in this case, it would tell us the number of pack members.” cassie explains with a soft smile when she notices the look of confusion on his expression. “i…i don’t want to bother ben at this time. he has enough on his mind.” the blonde says quickly, smile dimming.
“oh.” the smallest gasp escaped from him mouth at her words and yes, that made sense now and he nodded, mumbling a ’thank you’ under his breath for the explanation, feeling a little embarrassed about not knowing it already. “yeah, i feel the same. i kinda feel bad to always bothering him with things. though i’m pretty sure he wouldn’t mind you.”
she offers him a brief smile, shaking her head at the murmured thanks. she hopes she hasn't made him feel foolish - it is more her problem than his. the incessant need, no reflex, to explain and educate, to impart knowledge. "i'm sure he doesn't consider you to be a bother. you are all incredibly important to him." the blonde says quickly, brows dipping into a frown. "ben has made it clear on enough occasions that my company is less than desirable. i don't want to make his life even more stressful by forcing that upon him without definite need."
she begins to walk towards the library, expecting that he will fall in step beside her. she still feels as though there is something unspoken between them, as if she has been privy to something she ought not to have been. but she has no evidence, nothing to prove that beyond an uneasy feeling in the way he looks at her. “not at all. you simply have to know that there is one. stop considering each incident as separate and treat them as parts of a whole.”
as leo did fall in step beside her, he was still careful, not sure if he could entirely paint her as naive. surely, she wasn’t the most wily individual around here as the demon-blooded shadowhunter could easily see that she was indeed quite smart. that was not something to be taken light; during a time like this, anything could be expected from just about anyone. at her words, the man smirked, gaze returning to her. “ is the picture clear enough to make some sense, then ? or does it confuse you entirely ? ”
each word that leaves his lips seems carefully formed, calculated, as if he is assessing her somehow. she dislikes it. usually she is the one to observe, to draw conclusions based on action. yet now she feels somehow like she is the specimen under examination. "i'm not easily confused." cassie returns, expression unreadable. it's not a brag; just a statement of fact. "and it is becoming clearer. i would say i need only one more incident, one more point of reference, to identify the perpetrator."
“ now you got me wondering, don’t you have to have the whole picture figured out in order to be able to look at it ? ” asked the britishman, a hint of curiousity playing on his features, blue eyes shifting towards her. instinctively, he looked at the direction she nodded her head towards, listening to her as he did so. “ for sure. i would love to see what you have so far. ”
she begins to walk towards the library, expecting that he will fall in step beside her. she still feels as though there is something unspoken between them, as if she has been privy to something she ought not to have been. but she has no evidence, nothing to prove that beyond an uneasy feeling in the way he looks at her. “not at all. you simply have to know that there is one. stop considering each incident as separate and treat them as parts of a whole.”
there was still a smile on his face when he tilted his head to the side, much alike the way he did it in his wolf form when he was confused or didn’t understand something. “a census?” he asked, frowning ever so slightly as he repeated the word. “i don’t know…?” he mumbled, words coming out as if it was a question. “ben should have one though? a register i mean, otherwise how would he be able to keep up with all of us.”
“a census is a count or a survey, generally of a population. in this case, it would tell us the number of pack members.” cassie explains with a soft smile when she notices the look of confusion on his expression. “i...i don’t want to bother ben at this time. he has enough on his mind.” the blonde says quickly, smile dimming.
he has a feeling downworlders weren’t welcome in the institute right now — or maybe it’s just him the dutiful shadowhunter sentries are wary about. they have every reason to be. he barrels right through them anyway, storming into busy corridors with purposeful steps. he’s looking for luca and faye — the ones who took his ( innocent ) friend away. “hey!” he calls blindly for them, “ain’t any of you nunchuck fuckin’ dipshits ever heard of picking on somebody your own goddamn size? i’ll eat a punk ass shadowhunter for breakfast! i don’t give a fuck! so why don’t you try fucking with me next and see if you don’t get — cass.” ben’s sidetracked the moment he sees her, rushing over to where she’s rooted restlessly in place, “hey, cass. look.” a hand drawn gently along her cheek, brushing soft golden strands away from her face. “what happened?”
she should feel him - the tether of their bond drawing them together like the red string she once read about. in the back of her mind he is there - his anger, the adrenaline pumping through his veins - but it is like watching through a window. disconnected. until he touches her. gentle, careful, familiar. she exhales slowly, the haze of worry clearing. green irises turn upon him, glassy despite her stoic expression. “they arrested charlie.” cassie says, forcing the words out despite the disbelief lacing her tone. “the clave...they’re blaming him for the attacks. for all the killings.”
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