Awechicagostarter - Tumblr Posts

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Atti's stomach growled. He hadn't realized how much time passed since he'd last eaten. It had been a few days at least. "Oh gosh..." He wrapped his arms around himself as he stood in the middle of the street wondering what to do next.

Atti really hadn’t intended on sneaking out of Genius Labs. He had been very obedient in staying put as Eric bid him to do. To keep Skylar company. Skylar who for some reason was confined to the studio as he was. But, Kwan had texted. And when it came to Kwan anything else just didn’t seem as important.

Skylar who had looked so tired, actually fell asleep. Curled up on the sofa with a blanket Atti had put over him. And Atti thought maybe it would be okay for him to meet Kwan for a little while at least. Because he missed the shadowhunter. Who was now his boyfriend since the party. And surely Eric and Skylar would understand his need to see him.

So, Atti sneaked out while Skylar slept. It was night. So dark Atti could barely see through the gloom. But he moved towards the meeting place Kwan had suggested to him. He decided to take a shortcut through an alley. And was only partly through when a figure seemed to materialize before him. He came to a stop, bewildered.

“Well… aren’t you adorable.” Said a voice so cool it made Atti shiver. Then the voice came again, behind him this time. “It’s a little late to be out by yourself isn’t it?”

Atti turned around still trying to locate the person. But they kept disappearing in and out of the shadows. “I’m not by myself.” He said, squinting. “Eric and Skylar-“ And as soon as Skylar’s name passed his lips a jolt went through him. Then something pulled at him, some unknown force. He gasped because it had frightened him.

The figure was in front of him suddenly. Reaching out towards him with fingers like tentacles. Atti cried out and stumbled back a step. But his back met brick, holding him in place. “Skylar…” he said. And it was a he, Atti realized. “Where is my Skylar? Where is my love?”

“Your love?” Atti asked, because of all else he was a curious being. “But he’s Eric’s love.”

A hand shot out, seizing him around the throat. Pinning him back to the wall. “Who is Eric?” He snarled, so angry Atti shuddered from it.

Atti was very confused. Very frightened. And he couldn’t understand why the man was so angry with him. He hadn’t done anything.

Skylar awoke with a start. A sense of impending dread had woken him from a fitful sleep. He sat up, blearily blinking around the tiny office. Unable to shake the feeling that something was wrong. It took him a long moment to figure it out. It was too quiet. Much too quiet. Atti’s presence was never quiet. He was always in motion. Always making some sort of noise. And the lack of it, sent a cold shard of fear through him. Atti wasn’t here.

He scrambled to his feet, fatigue quickly forgotten. He needed to find Atti. He searched the studio with a frantic intention. But he could not find him. He wasn’t there.

Skylar knew he shouldn’t. Knew he needed to stay where he was. But the fear gripped him, knocking any sense out of him. He left the comfort of the studio and braved the night. Being on his own for the first time since the party. He didn’t know where to even begin looking. But then he felt something. Something that tightened around him. Like a spell of some sort. Someone had invoked a spell on him. It closed around him like a vice, threatening to suffocate him with the intensity of it.

He wasn’t sure how he’d known with such certainty that Atti had been the one to do it. The one that had said his name. And that meant Atti had to be with him. With Malachi. He let out a cry of rage. Because how dare he. How dare Malachi focus his attention on Atti.

Skylar let go of himself. Allowing the spell to pull him. To lead him towards the one who had cast the spell. And he found them there. The towering figure on Malachi and the slight trembling figure of Atti. And Skylar saw red. Malachi’s question reached him. And he bravely stepped forward into the alley. “Eric is my soulmate.” He said in a voice that held none of the fear he felt. Because he’d pulled strength from that bond he held with Eric. To face down his enemy.

It happened instantaneously. So quickly Skylar didn’t even have the chance to scream. Malachi released Atti and was upon him. Crushing his resisting body against his. It would have been a very intimate embrace had Skylar wanted anything to do with it. Which he did not. He broke free from Malachi. Using again strength he borrowed from Eric. Taking a staggering step back. But he’d done it. He’d taken Malachi’s attention and placed it on him.

Atti let out a strangled little sob. The intensity of Malachi’s reaction causing him to slide down the wall to the ground. His hand covering his throat that spasmed from the pressure that had been on it. And he wished for Kwan. With such intensity it stole his breath away.

@kwanny-fights-demons