September Leaves | The Music Freaks One-Shots

𝘊𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘥 𝘈𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘭 ➶ ➴

The realisation hit Luke like a brick. His hands clasped the cage bars, his eyes wide, and he let out an anguished yell, shaking the cage violently, desperate to get out of it and run to the person in front of him.

Though Luke hadn't uttered a single word since Jake had kept him here, seeing the love of his life in such a state in front of him, he didn't care.

"Zander!"

The mauve-haired angel's breaths were shaky, his hands tied by a rope behind his back. His face looked beat up, and he barely had the strength to glance up at Luke. His halo was gone, and his wings looked broken- they were useless to him. He couldn't escape.

Suddenly, Jake held something out in front of him. Luke took his eyes off Zander for a second, and saw what was in Jake's hands. A dagger with a violet pendant. Why was he giving this to him? Was he-

Oh.

Luke quickly understood. Jake was offering him a deal. His love for Zander's life. The dagger was another offer of love.

Zander seemed to understand as well, because when Luke looked back at him, he softly shook his head.

Luke was ready to take the dagger in a heartbeat. Zander was the love of his life- the person he'd promised to put above all else. And if that meant spending the rest of his life in the cage, putting up with the awful monster who stood in front of him, grinning, so be it.

His hand hovered over the dagger, though he faltered, glancing back at Zander one more time.

He registered the state his lover was in. He was beaten up, bruised, and had his halo stripped of him and his wings broken. His entire identity as an angel was gone, and it was clear to Luke that Jake had had him tortured endlessly. His injuries would prove fatal if he didn't get help in the next few hours. In front of him wasn't Zander, but rather the empty shell of the man he had fallen in love with.

Heck, even Zander didn't want Luke to take the deal.

If Luke saves Zander's life, what life will he even have to live? With his wings broken, he can't return to the angel realm. So he'd be stuck here. Forever, with the knowledge Luke had sacrificed his own dignity and happiness for him.

That's no life to live. Almost as bad as the world that had become Luke's reality the past few months.

So, with tears glossing over his honey eyes, Luke pulled his hand away and squinted his eyes shut, signalling to Jake that yet another one of his attempts to win Luke's heart had proved futile. And now with Zander gone, the only important thing in Luke's life, Jake held no leverage over him.

Jake's smile faded, his expression growing angry once more. He clutched the dagger tight, throwing it to the ground, shattering it.

Luke shut his eyes tight, his head low as he clutched onto the bars of the cage. He silently sobbed, his tears falling onto his lap.

He remembered when he and Zander had first become angels. He remembered glancing over at Zander, seeing the bright, beaming smile on his face as the halo was placed upon his head. That smile he had grown so fond of- the boy he'd fallen in love with it.

So different to the lifeless, thin, bruised up body in front of him.

Luke clasped a hand over his mouth, trying to silence his sobbing. The boy he had grown up alongside, fallen in love with, and wanted to share a future with, was dead. Through the cage bars, Luke saw Zander, his beautiful face peaceful, despite being so bloody. His deep purple hair tousled over those periwinkle eyes Luke has loved to stare into so much- now closed forever.

When Luke's blurred vision cleared up a bit, his gaze fixated on the broken dagger. The shade of violet on the pendant reminded him of Zander.

He knew what he had to do. There was only one way out.

~~~

Jake arrived the next day, the same time as always, offering Luke a new, fresh bouquet of violet roses.

Zander was dead now. He was the only person Luke could love now.

He knelt down in front of the cage- as always. He held out the bouquet- as always.

However, this time, Luke put out his hands, accepting the bouquet.

Jake's eyes widened, a giant grin taking over his face.

He had done it, he had finally won Luke's heart. Luke was his now- they could finally be together, for the rest of eternity.

In his state of utter joy and celebration, Jake failed to notice what the auburn haired angel was doing.

Something splattered on his face.

The devil touched it with his finger, it was hot and red.

His vision faded in and out of focus as he stared at the blood on his hand. No- he wouldn't. He can't- not when he finally accepted his bouquet.

Finally, with dread, Jake looked up at him- his angel.

There he layed, ever so peaceful, his mouth slightly gaped open, his golden eyes softly shut, his wings limp behind him, blood pouring from his neck, drenching his face and robe.

In his hand, the jagged, bloody, broken end of the dagger.

He was finally free.

━━━━━━ ◦ ❖ ◦ ━━━━━━