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song: love in the dark -adele
"Get rid of him, or I will."
Henry opened the door with a heavy hand. His heart racing a mile a minute. The pure stress and anxiousness about the situation had to be written all over his features, but he was trained so well, that he quickly masked his expression to stoic and cold.
When he opened the door, there was Alec with his worried eyes and panting as though he had ran to get here. "Henry, what the hell?" He rasped out, stepping into the room before he could stop him.
His panic raised as he quickly turned around. But Kai was nowhere to be seen. Where did he go? He wondered to himself.
Turning to Alec whom was stressfully running his hands through his hair, he began to speak. "I can't do this right now, Alec," He started, but paused as his bitterness spilled, "Wait, should I keep the door open? I wouldn't want anyone to get the wrong idea about us." Henry glared, the memories of last nights conversation still burning in his heart.
Alec turned around to him, visibly frustrated. He let out a huff of disbelief and stalked forward. "By the angel, Henry, I don't care!" His hands grabbed Henry by the arms, pushing him against the door and firmly closing it shut. He leaned down, wanting nothing more than to kiss the daylights out of the other, but Henry turned his head away and Alec froze. His lips brushing against Henry's cheek.
"Please, don't kiss me," Henry whispered sadly, his palms against Alec's hard chest. Even if every urge wanted to feel those lips again, he wouldn't allow it. He had more dignity and pride than that. He slid out from between the door and Alec's body, putting a few feet of distance between them.
"I want to kiss you," Alec begged him, looking back at him like a wounded puppy.
"Just not when others are around," Henry fired back roughly, eyes hardening, "Or if there is a possibility that someone can see us. Angel forbid that." He scoffed at himself, knowing that the pain in his chest was no one's fault but his own. "Why are you here, Alec? You've made your choice quite clear last night."
"I didn't decide anything," Alec countered, "You did. You never let me finish and just decided that I didn't want anything to do with you. That's not the truth, Henry!"
"Hiding is the same as nothing at all!" Henry raised his voice, looking at the other with angry eyes. "How long did you think I would like to run circles with you, Alec? Unlike you, I know what I want and what I want is you, but I will not be strung along like some idiot. I won't do it. I have more pride than that." He pointed to himself.
Alec looked to be growing angry, too, with how his face begin to turn a shade of red. How his eyes looked both saddened and offended. "I told you I needed time. You promised to give that to me. So, what are you saying now? That you take that back?" He asked, voice cracking as he spoke.
Henry looked away, thinking for a moment.
He wanted Alec, more than anything...but he couldn't play this back and forth game with him. Not with the current state of things and definitely not with his mental state going haywire these days. Things were piling up on him by the day but Alec's indecisiveness was somehow the most suffocating of them all.
It wasn't fair to him.
"You said..." Henry whispered, looking at Alec with tear-rimmed eyes, "...that you needed to do the best for you. Well, I need to do the best for me. And I-" He paused when Alec's anger dispersed into something heart-wrenching, it made his heart heavier, "-I can't keep playing this game with you, Alec, it's hurting me more every day," He whispered.
Alec didn't say a word for a long few moments. His own eyes tearing up. He didn't want to leave this room, because then he had this burning feeling in his gut that he would never get to kiss Henry again or hold him in his arms. He didn't want to give up that citrus smell that lingered in Henry's hair when he was close to him. He didn't want to lose this feeling like the heavens blessed him each time he and Henry touched or looked at one another. He didn't want to lose Henry.
But...he was so freaking terrified.
"Choose, right now." Henry finally ordered, his eyes firm and trying to remain so, but he could not fool the other. He was breaking apart at the seams. "I have no right to ask, but I am asking. And that will be how we move forward from now on. No more if's, or when's, or but's. Just here and now, say it. Do you want me or not?" He questioned.
Fear was a crippling emotion. If he declared his feelings to his family, his friends, and the entire Shadow realm and the heavens above, there was this chance he could lose everything that he has ever known.
Maybe Alec was willing, deep down, to lose all of those things if it meant he could claim Henry as his own.
"I..." Alec stared into the eyes that he had grown fond of staring into, "...I can't," He answered.
Henry's face grew pale, as if he were going to be sick to his stomach. He tensed up and was as unmoving as a statue.
"Get out."
Alec's face fell. His heart shattering in his chest. "Henry-"
"Stop saying my name," Henry snapped with a sudden coldness that the other has never heard or seen before, stalking forward and pushing Alec away and making him stumble, "Stop talking. Please, just shut up and get out of my room!" He yelled, holding back tears, pushing the man further. The door ripped open and Henry pushed Alec all the way out into the hallway, glaring at him.
"Henry, wait," Alec begged, not even noticing their friends stopping at the end of the hall, watching them.
They had been on their way to fetch the boys, but now, they halted as they saw a crying Henry and a pain-filled Alec being pushed out of the room.
Henry shook his head at the other in refusal. "I never want to see you again, Alec Lightwood," He spat at him.
Alec's eyes widened with pleading, before the door shut firmly in his face with a swing of Henry's hand.
On the other side of the door, Henry slumped against the door while holding his head in his hands. His tears streaming down his face pathetically. So caught up in his pity and broken heart, that he did not notice the shadow that loomed back over him.
Not until strong hands wrenched his hands away and pulled him to his feet.
Henry gasped slightly, almost having forgotten that Kai was still in the room.
Kai held zero expression as he stared upon his brother, or, so Henry thought. He couldn't see well passed the tears.
"Hyung," Henry whimpered out.
His brother lifted his head up, using his gloved hands to wipe away the tears from his cheeks. He then forced Henry's face to look at him. His eyes hardening. "I did not teach you to lose your temper. Control yourself," He ordered in a low voice.
Henry shut his eyes. "No, I can't," He cried.
"Yes, you can. We've done it our whole lives," Kai held the back of his held while keeping Henry's hands down, his voice stern, "Henry, shut it down and turn it off. Just like we are trained to do. Do it." He breathed in and exhaled slowly, motioning for the other to do so.
Henry took a deep breath in, watching his brother closely for when he nodded, then exhaling out. He did it two more times to control himself and his emotions. Slowly blocking everything from his mind and only thinking of calming himself down, keeping focus.
Until, Henry's tears stopped and his expression held no lingering sadness. He looked void and almost cold, just like his other brothers often looked.
He resembled a puppet, if possible.
Kai nodded, eyes narrowing as he stared into his youngest brother's eyes. "Are you frightened of me?" He wondered.
Frightened, never. Suspicious, yes.
"You threw me off of a roof," Henry gritted out.
"People were watching me. I had to," He said back calmly.
"Is that your excuse then?" Henry looked at his brother's aged features and didn't know whether to be glad or terrified by his presence. "What are you doing here, hyung?" He asked.
Kai's jaw clenched as he stepped back a few paces, picking up the katana from the bed. He held it in his hands, eyeing the engraving on the sides. "This is Mom's sword," He pointed out.
"I won it," Henry stated blankly, watching the other run his fingers along the blade, "Shang made us all fight for it. I won it," He repeated firmly.
Kai walked over and Henry froze, as his brother held it for a few long moments then held the handle out to him. His eyes expecting. "Take it," He ordered.
Henry hesitated, but he worked up the nerve to do so. Grabbing the katana and holding it firmly in his grip.
Kai saw his white knuckles. "I won't harm you again," He spoke up in a softer tone in English, "That's not why I'm here. I came with a mission to retrieve something."
"For the Venatori?" Henry clenched his teeth, "You are one of them, a deviant." When his brother said nothing, his anger flared. "The Clave have ordered you all be killed with no trial. Did you know that?"
"Yes, I was at the meeting, hiding in the vents," Kai turned his back to him as he approached the cage with the raven inside. He opened the cage and Rook flew to him, landing on his shoulder and rubbing his small head against Kai's face. The man rubbed his finger under the raven's beak. "I saw our brothers there, too. You are getting along with them, it would seem," He paused while Henry stared at his back, "I also saw our father."
"Nothing's changed," Henry growled, "If that is what you are insinuating. They are all just as cruel as they were back then."
Kai turned around to face him, face still void that it irked the other. "I know," is all he answered.
They stared at each other for a long while. Henry wondered if he should just attack now, but even then, that would cause a ruckus that would send people here. And if they caught Kai...
Henry clenched his jaw tightly. The katana now weighed heavy in his hand. "You didn't have to stop by and see me. You could have gotten what you came for and left without me noticing. So, why risk showing yourself?" He asked him, truly confused.
Kai took a deep breath as he looked around the room. "Because there's something that you should now. You and our brothers..." His voice fell dark and heavy, "...I'm not a Deviant," He revealed.
His mood switched faster than he realized.
The atmosphere shifted to further tension that made Henry sick.
"What?" Henry whispered, his eyes watching how his brother never strayed or faltered, "Why are you with them, then?"
Kai shifted his head to the door, uneased. "Meet me here, tonight at midnight, with our brothers." He shoved a slip of paper into his hand and gripped Henry's neck, not rough but just enough. His eyes hardening. "No one must see you. Especially not our father. And, Promise me, Henry." He looked urgent, the first sign of emotion since he's been here. "Do not trust anyone," He demanded.
"Hyung," Henry guffawed, confused as Rook jumped onto his shoulder, "Wait—!"
Kai turned him around, and when Henry spun back around, his brother was gone.
No trace of Kai had been left.
Henry looked down at the slip of paper in his hand, then to Rook who was chittering and shaking his feathers.
Now, alone, Henry sat on the edge of his bed, unsure and worried.
Do not trust anyone.
Did that include Kai, himself? This was all unraveling too quickly for him to comprehend.
And his brothers...Why did Kai need all of them?
Henry pinched the bridge of his nose, unsure of where to go from here.
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thoughts?
END OF ACT TWO