Drapetomania | Shadowhunters [Jace Wayland]

08; Six Feet Under

It was still late outside, about four in the morning. The air outside was cold and crisp. Tris and Tyler were in Tyler's car, on their way to the hospital, to see his father. The police had called a few minutes ago, and even though they said to visit in the morning, Tyler decided he would leave as soon as possible. Tris took in a deep breath, the aroma of a new car filling her nose, before she let out a sigh. She watched Tyler's hand grip the steering wheel hard, blinking his eyes several times.

"Pull over. Let me drive for a while," said Tris.

"No." He cleared his throat and said, "No, it's fine."

And the rest of the trip there was quiet. None of them talked, didn't glance at each other, but could feel the pain in each other's heart. Tyler's father, Charles, was like a father figure to Tris. Her own father died when she was young and she knew that losing more people she cared for wouldn't be okay for her to handle. He was the only family Tyler had left. He only had Tris now, but the need to see his father, happy in the future, when he would graduate from college, only made him feel like balling his eyes out.

The car neared the hospital, rolling in the parking lot of the building and Tyler parked the car, fitting it between the two slots that were occupied. After leaving the car and rushing to the hospital. They quickly talked to the receptionist and after getting the room number, they raced to the room, which was two floors above.

Tyler took a deep breath, knocking on the door, where his father was. A nurse opened the door and gave both of them a sad smile. She looked behind her shoulder and Tyler and Tris saw a police officer, who greeted them, as the nurse left. Tyler couldn't bring himself to look at the body of his father laying on the hospital bed. He looked at the officer.

"What happened to him?" Tris asked, glancing at Tyler.

The officer sighed. "For starters, his head was bashed in. His throat was slitted and someone stabbed him, which caused both his lungs to puncture. Unfortunately, we couldn't bring him back in time, since the call was only made six hours after the death."

"Anything else you need to tell us?"

"Oh, yes," the officer fished a letter out from his coat pocket and handed it to Tris, who received it.

"What is this?" She asked.

"I think this is a letter from the murderer. It's something. . .different. We think it doesn't mean anything. We checked for DNA, but there was none. We want you to keep it."

Tris quickly opened the letter and looked at the three words: Fortes Fortuna Adiuvat. She furrowed her eyebrows as she brought out her phone, opening translate and then gaping once she saw the meaning: Fortune Favors the Bold.

She then remembered she'd seen the same words when she first opened The Castle of Otranto in the Institute library. She looked up at the officer. "Thank you, officer. I think we would like some time alone," said Tris.