METANOIA ... a.lightwood [1]

↣ Chapter Eleven ↣

"Alec never lets anyone curse in front of me, he thinks I'm too young," said the boy. For some reason it hadn't clicked in Chris' brain that this must be the youngest Lightwood sibling. He looked nothing like Alec and Isabelle, his hair was light and he dressed pretty nerdy.

"Well if you're too young for cursing, you're too young to be burning down an Institute, kid."

"It was an accident!" Chris' brows furrowed in confusion, but before he could ask how burning down an Institute could be an accident in anyway whatsoever, Alec kneeled down with a sigh.

"Max." So that was his name. Chris liked knowing people's names. He never remembered them, unless he really had to, but it was nice to know them. "Somebody very important is coming to visit, alright? You think you can stay out of trouble for just a couple of days?"

"I don't know," sang Chris sarcastically, causing the Lightwood boys to look up at him with raised brows. "I'm a bit of a troublemaker, it might be hard for me-"

"I wasn't talking to you," deadpanned Alec. Chris snorted rolling his eyes at the stoic faced Shadowhunter who was far too pretty for his own good. Alec was the type of pretty boy who didn't know he was a pretty boy, whereas Jace was the type of pretty boy who knew and flaunted his pretty boyness.

"I was joking Alexander. I, and quite a lot of people I've met, have this thing called a sense of humour. I could find you one, but I don't-" however, Chris was cut off by the Institute doors sliding open. His eyes immediately caught onto the daunting face of Valentine Morgenstern and he froze in place. The last time he had seen the cunningly evil face of the monster that was Valentine, he had watched one of his best friends die. It brought back so many haunting memories.

He felt his blood run cold, as every little hair on his body stood on edge and every bad feeling he had ever felt in his entire 221 years of life resurfaced. His mouth became dry and he felt he might be sick. But then everything came crashing down around him when Alec drew his bow and the arrow went flying towards Valentine's face. He caught it and they watched his face flicker into one of a smaller, blonde woman covered in runes.

"That reaction time was abysmal," she said, and Chris could already tell that he wouldn't like her. Maybe it was the fact he had caused his demons to claw away at his mind again, or maybe it was the way she glared at almost everyone like they were something to step on. Whatever it was, Chris hated her.

"Except for you." She was closer, and looking directly at Alec. "I'm Lydia Branwell, envoy from the clave." Suddenly the blonde noticed someone behind Chris and Alec and she pushed past them, causing the warlock and the Shadowhunter to share a look that pretty much read 'who-the-fuck-does-she-think-she-is?'

"Maryse!" called out Lydia, causing Maryse and Isabelle to look over at her in shock. Chris felt his mouth turn dry again as he saw the face of Maryse Lightwood for the first time in 18 years. He wanted the ground to swallow him whole, to take everything he was and destroy it. Just so that he wouldn't have to face the demons that Maryse Lightwood brought to light.

"The Clave has ordered me to take temporary control of this Institute." Izzy looked over at Chris with wide eyes. If her mom found out that they had allowed a warlock into the Institute with the envoy from the clave there, she would kill them.

"Wait a minute, nobody informed us." Maryse Lightwood hadn't changed a bit in Chris' view. Except for the fact that she was older now, she was still gorgeous, with her hair pinned up and her clothes professional. She wasn't covered in the blood of his peers nor was she holding a sword to his head. But she still had the same unemotional expression on her face, and her eyes were cold and dark. It chilled Chris to the bone.