Jalec Week 2015

Day 1: Castle of Cloth

Fluffity fluff fluffness

"Jace?"

Alec hated the attic with a passion. It was an endless maze of creepy artifacts and the trinkets of his grandparents, now long gone. Boxes towered high above him, even though he was tall for his age. Something rustled across the attic, near the single window that let in a sliver of daylight.

Alec pulled his witchlight closer to his chest. He was momentarily shocked by the black rune on his arm. It's presence was permanent now but he was still getting used to seeing it every time he lifted his hand.

"Jace, it's Alec," he called again. "I just wanted to check on you."

Again, silence.

"I know you're up here," Alec shouted. "I saw you come up here."

Alexander couldn't understand how someone like Jace could want to be so terribly alone. He liked peace and quiet just as much as the next person but Jace had lost everything and his voice had gone with it.

But something drew him to the blond boy. It was the way he occasionally smiled or bumped into Alec as they walked along, because he was constantly staring at his feet as if he didn't deserve to look at the world around him. And Alec wanted nothing more than to make him smile more and lift his head up a little more so Alec could see his face, hidden behind messy hair that could almost rival Alec's own mop.

"No one else is with me," Alec said, continuing his path through the attic. "It's just me."

He put his hand farther out so the light casted against more of the objects. Old rocking chairs. A sword encased in glass. A box marked "Starkweather." An sofa older than Alec's parents, missing the cushions. White sheets draped over what appeared to be art. Rolled up carpets. And at the very end of the hall, a long stretch of overlapping blankets and quilts, sticking up in random places. A set of golden eyes peered out of the entrance.

"Jace," Alec smiled.

"You found me," he said, stubbornly.

"You can't hide forever," Alec said. "The Institute isn't that big."

"I'll just move my fort somewhere else."

"Like where?" Alec challenged, crossing his arms. Jace frowned, glancing back inside his castle of cloth.

Alec dropped his arms on second thought. "I won't tell anyone."

"Promise?" Jace asked.

Alec crossed his heart.

"Can I come in then?"

"No," Jace said. "It's not ready yet."

He turned around and a blanket fell, covering the place he had once been.

Alec frowned but didn't say anything. He wouldn't push Jace but he wouldn't just end this either. Now his compassion for Jace's brokenness was coupled with curiosity. What was inside the fort?

He turned back around, marching back through the maze, this time with a lot less fear and a lot more to think about.

........

Alec sat in silence through lunch, as Isabelle chattered away about her pen-pal, Aline, talking animatedly with her hands. His mother's eyes searched around the room for Jace, as if he were just hiding in one of the cupboards. This was the third meal he'd missed this week and the ones he did attend, he rarely ate at.

"Can I have another sandwich?" Alec asked suddenly, cutting Isabelle off. She shot him a nasty look as Maryse rose to make him another sandwich.

Alec took the sandwich to go, saying he was going to picnic in the greenhouse. He snagged a glass of orange juice as his mom cleaned up lunch.