Chapter Text
7 years ago (year 2000)
April
The alley was dark and dirty, the only source of light coming from the windows few stories up. A lone figure stood behind a dumpster, blended with the wall so well that they could go unnoticed. Another person entered the alley from the busy street, a man not older than 25, yellow hoodie under a black bomber jacket, jeans hanging low over his hips, he took few hesitant steps in and was about to turn back when the figure from behind the dumpster moved to stand next to him.
‘Shit kid, you almost gave me a heart attack’
‘Sorry’ the boy, a teenager as it appeared now said, his voice unapologetic.
‘Just take your shit and go’ the man said, agrevated, pulling a little package from his pocket and handing it over, arm outstretched for another second until the other placed an envelope in his palm. He started to walk away when a voice called after him.
‘Same place next week?’
‘Sure, see you next week A.G’
The teenager turned the opposite way to the men, stuffed the received pack into his pocket and a second later disappeared into the dark night.
***
Alec was sitting on a bed in room 409 of a very run down hotel downtown New York. Very fast it became his favorite place for dealing with his little secret. He could glamour himself to look older and rent a room, but more than often he would just check the door to each room while wearing the invisibility rune and try his luck that it would be left unlocked. He tried other places like, abandoned buildings, fancier hotels, and once even his room at the Institute, but that one proved too risky and fancier hotels just didn't work for this kind of activity. So Alec settled here in this less than pleasant space. He pulled out the packed he bought today, he was all giddy, impatient for another hit, for the freedom, release. He was waiting for this moment the whole week. The whole week spent listening to his parents telling him how he could put more effort into his training, how he is underperforming some of his task, how Jace and Izzy are doing so much better. He wanted to tell his parents that he is trying his best, that he does all he can but between almost running the Institute when they travel to Idris and babysitting his siblings he barely has time to train himself. He was tired of his siblings constantly doing things that were forbidden just for him to have to cover for them. Tired of trying to be perfect, when no one noticed his efforts anyway. Tired of hiding who he was. He wanted to get that pain of never being enough out but he knew that being a Shadowhunter meant you cannot be weak, so Alec stayed strong and quiet, and for most of the time also high.
It started few months before when Alexander Lightwood stumbled upon a drug dealer on his way back from a patrol, Jessy, the guy in the bomer jacket took him for a customer and somehow Alec ended up not correcting the men and buying what was offered and from that moment his life changed. It wasn’t instant. It took him almost a month before he caved and actually opened the little pack. It was stuffed in his sock drawer, inside a christmas sock he got from Izzy last holiday season, he had a vague idea as to what it could be, that’s why he didn’t touch it for such a long time. Alec might have been a Shadowhunter but he wasn’t completely oblivious to the mundane world and the activities that mundanes are prone to. Jace, Isabelle and himself have collected quite a library of books and magazines, occasionally even going out to movies. So when on one particularly bad day, after another patrol when he almost let Izzy get bitten by a demon, and got reprimanded by his parents for being irresponsible and not fast and efficient enough, even though Izzy pointed out to them that not only is she fine, but that Alec broke three ribs while falling down the stairs because he was indeed trying to save his sister. Jace followed him when he stormed off to his room, he was trying to console Alec, to say that it was his fault because he had a date and didn’t accompany them. He was trying to convince his parabatai that their parents were unfair and that everyone really knew he would never let Izzy get hurt, it all fell on deaf ears as it seemed when Alec promptly slammed his bedroom door right in front of Jace’s face. He could hear his brother sigh and reassure him again that all will be fine, before his footsteps faded. After half an hour of sitting still at his window seal, Alec suddenly got up and pulled open his sock drawer. He took out his not so mysterious purchase. He got out his stele to lock his door not only with a key but also with a rune. Shortly after he was flying, he felt lighter than ever before, all the guilt, doubt and insecurities were gone, replace with an euphoric feeling of millions of possibilities, replaced with pleasant fuzziness. And just like that with that first hit of freedom Alec Lightwood was addicted.