Julian's P.O.V.
Something wasn't right. That's for sure. Julian shrugged away the uneasy feeling he was having. He was walking quietly to Mark's room. He wanted an answer now. He wasn't going to wait any longer.
It was early in the morning and everyone in the Institute was in their beds. Julian tip-toed silently over the floor. He had to be extra quiet when he neared Mark's door. He could see the light coming through the crack at the bottom of the door.
Jules turned the knob of the door and pushed it open. Mark sat there, on his bed, untying the laces of his boots. He was fully dressed. He looked like a deer caught in headlights," Jules. You're suppose to be asleep."
Julian crossed his arms," so are you." His brother shrugged," I couldn't fall asleep, so I'm going out for a walk." "Likely story," Jules said sarcastically. He plopped himself down into a chair facing the bed and looked at him expectantly," well? I would like an answer. Your excuses don't work on me."
Mark said," You make it sound like you're my older brother instead of the other way around." Jules shook his head," stop trying to change the subject." Mark frowned," I can't tell you." "What do you mean 'I can't tell you'? Of course you can tell me, I'm your brother," said Jules.
Mark leaned his head into his hand," it's not like that. I'm physically unable to. Once you're tied to the Wild Hunt, they control you. I would die if I didn't follow orders. I was told that I couldn't speak any word about the matter to anyone outside of the Wild Hunt."
Jules thought for a second," they said you couldn't speak about it. They never said you couldn't write about it. It's like how faeries can't tell lies, but they always find a way around the situation." A genuine smile appeared on Mark's face.
He went to his desk and pulled out a piece of paper with a pen. He sat at his desk writing furiously. His brow scrunched up in concentration. As soon as he finished the last word, he thrust the paper towards Jules. He plucked the paper from his brother's fingertips and started reading the explanation.
The leader of the Wild Hunt, Gwyn ap Nudd, is the one who commands us. He is the person who ordered me to come back here by the request of the Seelie Queen. He only did that to keep her trust, so that she wouldn't suspect him of being the one who was killing off her people. He was the one who took Emma, Taylor, and Livvy. He's been putting the demonic runes on their bodies. At night, I'm suppose to meet with him and keep him up to date on what you guys are doing and where you guys are at periods of the day. I'm the one who told him where the girls were investigating that day.
Julian had been angry before, but it was nothing compared to this. If he ever saw Gwyn, he would kill him slowly for so many reasons. The pain he caused the girls, for taking them, for controlling his brother against his will... "Jules?" Mark asked. That snapped him out of his thoughts. "Are you okay? You're crumpling the paper," Mark pointed to the paper. Julian handed it back to his brother. "Is there anything else that I need to know?" Mark took the sheet back and started writing again.
He's holding them in an underground bunker in Griffith Park. There is no path that leads to it. You must know exactly where it is. I know where it is located. You cannot open it from the outside without Gwyn's key. Not even an unlocking rune or opening rune would open it. Gwyn's men only open it when they are expecting someone. Never any other time will they open the door.
"We need a plan. I'm going to Uncle Arthur. I'm not wasting another second. Every minute we sit here is another minute that they could be tortured by that sadistic maniac," Julian started walking towards the door. He didn't hear his brother's foot steps behind him. He turned around.
Mark sat in his seat with his head down. "Mark, come on," said Jules. Mark shook his head. Jules went and knelt down beside his chair. "What's wrong," asked Julian concerned. Mark breathed out," you guys shouldn't trust me. I betrayed you. My family." Julian shook his head, "you would have died if you didn't obey. That would have hit the family harder that lying to us." Mark slowly stood up. Jules stood up as well.
He took one step and felt a stab of pain go through his chest. He staggered and fell to his knees. It felt as if someone was carving out part of his heart. "JULIAN! JULIAN!" Mark knelt down by his side. Julian was gasping," my rune, my Parabatai rune." Mark understood. He took the collar of Julian's shirt and ripped it in half. Mark was still very strong from being a shadowhunter. He helped Julian shed the shreds of fabric off of his shoulders.
Mark's eyes widened at the sight of the rune on Julian's chest. The rune that was once black and vibrant that covered the skin above his heart looked like it was bleeding black ink. It was uncovering a silvery scar that was shaped like the rune. It was fading quickly.
Jules braced his hands on the ground before him. His chest was on fire. He tried to slow his breathing. It felt like eternity before the pain dulled enough for him to sit up. He leaned his back against the side of Mark's desk.
He felt hollow. His heart felt hollow. He didn't cry. This was a feeling that not even tears could portray. It was a feeling that left you drained and numb. He still couldn't believe it. Gone. She was gone.
Emma, who trained to be the best, who hated blond jokes, who got nightmares and needed to be comforted by him, who always threw away his clove cigarettes, who knew him better than he knew himself... "Jules." That knocked Julian back to reality, "yeah?" "Are you okay?" The look of empathy was evident on Mark's face. Mark felt the pain of the loss too. Emma was like a little sister to him, but Julian felt different.
She was more than his best friend, she was his Parabatai. She was the girl he loved. The one he would never forget. The one he would love forever.
Julian stared at a wall, "it's too late. She's gone." Mark said, "it's not too late for Livvy and Taylor. They could still be alive." "But they could be dead," Jules pointed out.
"Stop thinking like that. They could be being tortured right now. If we wait any longer, then they will die. Plus, we need to kill that sick murderer. Come on. Do it for all the people he could hurt in the future. Do it for Livvy and Taylor. Do it for Emma. You know she would want you to," Mark said passionately.
That snapped Jules out of his stupor. Emma would want him to do it, so no one would ever end up dying the same way she did. He couldn't let his friend and sister end up with the same fate.
He stood up and walked to the door. Mark trailed right behind him. First, he went back to his room to grab another shirt because his old one was in tatters on the ground in Mark's room.
They looked for Uncle Arthur in his room, but he wasn't there. They found him in his office. He was drinking his morning coffee. Arthur smiled at them as they walked in, but faltered as he saw their faces. "What's wrong?" He asked concernedly.
Julian handed his uncle the paper that Mark wrote on. He also explained the situation. When he got to the part about Emma, Uncle Arthur nearly cried. His eyes got misty, but he blinked furiously and suppressed the tears.
Once he finished, Jules said, "We need a plan and I have an idea just where to start."
They spent 3 hours planning the entire thing. Diana came in halfway through, so they had to explain everything to her. When she was told of Emma, she had to excuse herself for half an hour before she came back to help them strategize.
They couldn't ask the Clave for help because it would take too long for them to show up, so they had to carry out the pan on their own.
It took an even longer time to formulate the plan, than usual because Mark had to write out his thoughts the entire time. When they finally finished, Uncle Arthur was on his third cup of coffee.
Next, they had to explain the situation to everyone else. Everyone was having breakfast at the dining table, when Uncle Arthur, Diana, Mark, and Julian walked in. Everyone was silent as all four of them gathered around the head of the table. Arthur cleared his throat and started telling everyone the story.
The part about Emma caused many reactions. Tina started crying. Ty had to cover his mouth with his hand to suppress sobs.
Dru had to run over to Tavvy and comfort him. Whenever Dru cried, Tavvy would start bawling. She sat on the chair next to him and hoisted him onto her lap. The child's sobs were muffled by her shoulder. "I w-want E-Emmy. I-I w-ant E-mmy," sniffled Tavvy, his bottom lip quivering. Dru hugged him close to her, "shh. I know you want Emma. It's okay." Dru was silently crying too.
Tavvy was crying so much that Dru had to take him upstairs to calm him down. Then, they started explaining their plan. Ty and Tina listened intently. They went over which rolls each person had and memorized the entire plan. After they finished, Jules walked down the hallway towards his room. His hand hovered over the door knob and fell to his side.
He turned and went into Emma's room. Everything was just as she had left it. There was a book on her nightstand. Her dirty clothes were in a pile near her closet. It felt like someone still inhabited this space. The door opened behind him.
Ty put a hand on his older brother's shoulder, "you okay?" Jules shook his head. "Do you want to talk about it?" asked Ty. "No," Julian replied shortly.
"Okay then. I'll talk. I know losing Emma is one of the worst things that has ever happened to you. I miss her too. She was like another sister to me. I keep wondering how Livvy and Taylor are doing. I wonder if they're still alive. Livvy's my sister and I love her. We used to be nearly inseparable," said Ty.
Jules said, "I remember. Whenever one of you were sick, the other would sleep at the foot of their bed to keep them company."
Ty said, "I guess it's true when they say that your twin is your other half. And...Taylor's so down to earth, she loves the same things I love, she so kind, intelligent, and caring..." Ty sighed. "It sounds like you love her," noted Jules. Ty nodded.
Julian continued, "you feel like you would give anything just to make sure she lives, so that you could see her again. So that you could hug her and tell her how much she means to you, even though it's embarrassing. To hear her voice and laugh, like they're the most beautiful things in the world other than her."
"That's exactly how I feel. I really would give anything for her and Livvy to live" said Ty. He looked at his brother in astonishment. He was surprised that his brother could describe that feeling so well, "it really sounds like you know the feeling, Jules."
Julian did not say anything.