Chapter Six; Shine a little light.
11:04pm
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Alice seemed to stare down a tunnel of darkness, feeling her world closing in on her as the eerie sensation of power seemed to buzz through her veins... she wasn't sure how long she had been staring where Olive had just been before she pushed her, but the presence of someone beside her suddenly pulled her out of her weird daze. "Did you hear what I just said?" Magnus asked, watching the profile of Alice's face before she looked up at him, blinking quickly and returning back to the present.

"No," She replied honestly, watching as Trey moved past them and walked down the stairs to see what had happened. "Sorry, I- uhm," She murmured, reaching up to tuck some hair behind her ear. "I just spaced out."

"That's fine, and I said; What would you like to do now," Magnus asked, still watching her face intently with a intense unfaltering stare.

"Is she... I mean, she just fell down the stairs." Alice murmured, attempting to rationalise why she felt nothing but pride in herself for behaving like she did.

"Mm," Magnus hummed, seeing her thoughts and feelings, or rather lack of them, plastered across her face. He wanted to smile, but kept his face blank, "You need to hide that more," He murmured quietly, and almost instantly Alice knew what he was referring to. She fixed her face, furrowing her eyebrows slightly, tilting the edge of her lips slightly down and managed to force her eyes to water... just a little. "Better," Magnus nodded, glancing across her expression and analysing it... Alice inhaled deeply, wondering if she should worry about herself but was unable to progress with those thoughts since Charlie appeared at the top of the stairs. "Well?" Magnus asked.

"So she's not dead," Charlie chuckled, "But she's out cold, like... stone cold. Must of smacked her head pretty hard."

"Did anyone see?" Magnus asked as Alice stood quietly, folding her arms across her chest and letting her expression relax... she felt strange, like she was watching this from someone else's point of view and not her own. She didn't feel connected to the situation, and continued to feel nothing as she watched silently.

"No," Charlie smirked, "It was good timing, no one's around." He added, looking at Alice directly. She didn't respond verbally, and instead looked to Magnus for his response.

"Well, as I said, what would you like to do?" Magnus asked, looking back into Alice's eyes and folding his arms too. "She knows a lot more than she should, and you never know what might happen when she wakes up."

"True." Alice mumbled, "Is, um... is this a decision whether or not we..."

"It is." Magnus replied simply.

"Oh," Alice sighed, feeling the silent weight of pressure as she began to weight up the pros and cons of releasing Magnus and Charlie to finish the job off. "Uh," she hesitated, glancing at both of the boys as they waited for her response. She wondered if they expected it to be easy for her to make this decision, considering Olive had been her friend for almost three years... but seeing as she now knew Magnus's secret and had also threatened to expose them, the pros of getting rid of her seemed to outweigh the cons. However, a part of Alice knew better. This was too easy, and she didn't want to let Magnus get careless just because he could. "Charlie, can you get Noah for me please?" Alice asked, and Charlie raised his eyebrows, briefly glancing at Magnus to see if he should.

Magnus nodded discreetly, allowing Alice to call the shots as he took a step back to watch how she would handle it all. "And bring Olive back up here too." Magnus added.

"Sure," Charlie agreed, turning away and walking back down the stairs and disappearing from sight.

"What's your plan?" Magnus asked, watching Alice with a subtle admiring look as she exhaled heavily and licked her lips.

"I think first we have to figure out why Olive knows so much, and the most obvious reason is that Noah told her. Because in the past, Noah told me a lot of things about you and your uh, hobbies, without directly coming out to say it." Alice explained and Magnus's expression hardened, "You didn't know that?"

"Mm." Magnus hummed, leading Alice to believe that he might've not. "He's got a big mouth, apparently." He murmured, his expression blank as he flexed his fists but Alice didn't notice that.

"How did Noah even end up with you guys? He seems so like... feeble and against all of it," Alice asked, still hearing the muffled thudding of fast paced music downstairs and briefly wondered what her other friends might be doing.

"He's not as feeble as he looks, he's a mess mentally." Magnus spat in a low voice, "He acts like he's not even aware of it. Sometimes I've just got to remind him what side he's on." He murmured, as Alice watched him shrug off his jacket then hand it to her. She raised her eyebrows, feeling the anticipation of what was to happen next tingle through her arms and legs as she watched Magnus carefully... he rolled his shoulders discreetly, letting the moments pass by before Alice heard the approaching footsteps of several people...

"What're you going to do?" Alice asked, her voice quiet as her curiosity broke through and urged her to question him, but Magnus didn't respond, for the blank, void expression had now covered his face as Charlie appeared first, his eyes glancing over at Magnus...

Almost instantly Alice felt the energy in the room switch, and Charlie looked down instantly, not wanting to look into Magnus's eyes as Noah appeared behind him, looking wary. "Alice," Charlie murmured, motioning her forwards as he read the energy in the room like a book, he was all too used to it and wasn't sure if Alice wanted to see what happened when it showed its face.

"I want to stay," Alice replied, feeling her heart beat beginning to thud harder in her chest as Noah seemed to take a few steps back after seeing Magnus's face, but Charlie caught his arm and shoved him forwards, looking unsure now at Alice's decision.

"She can stay if she wants." Magnus said blankly, aware that they had agreed to have a trial run of their relationship so that Alice could see what he was like behind the charm he put forward for her. Charlie glanced between them and exhaled before he nodded, deciding to stay as well. Alice grew nervous suddenly, wondering if she should speak first and glanced between Noah, Magnus and Charlie, since the room was uncomfortably quiet.

"Whose in charge of the music downstairs?" Alice asked, her voice quiet as she decided to speak first.

"Uh, it's on a playlist, so it should keep playing on its own." Noah explained, reaching up to push his glasses up his nose as his own heart began to beat harder and harder as each tense second passed.

"Okay," Alice replied, glancing at Magnus and wondering if she should continue. A second or so passed until she realised he was giving her the reigns. "So, um, we wanted to talk to you about Olive," Alice began, swallowing her momentary burst of excited anxiety and calming herself down.

"O-Olive?" Noah stammered, his cheeks going slightly red now.

"Yeah." Alice said bluntly, seeming to feed off his sudden nervousness and felt a calming sensation wash over her. "Have you seen her yet?"

"No?" Noah replied, his voice getting quieter. Alice raised her eyebrows, glancing at Magnus as she assumed that Charlie or Trey had probably moved her so Noah wouldn't see her yet.

"Okay, well then I guess I'll just ask you directly," she sighed, running a hand through her hair and then flicking the long ice blond locks back over her shoulders. "How did Olive know about Magnus's secret?" She asked, her question feeling like a ticking time bomb had been placed on the floor in between the four of them and started its countdown. The silence felt heavy as both Charlie, Magnus and Alice watched Noah intently... he knew he should answer quickly, but he flicked through the right things to say and couldn't seem to find anything that would remove the look from Magnus's face. "Did you tell her?" Alice asked, "Because it's not the first time she's suggested she's known,"

"Wh... what?" Noah asked,

"When I was figuring things out with Magnus a couple of weeks ago, she stopped me once by the bike sheds at school and told me to be careful. So how would she know to tell me something l like that if I didn't tell her anything about the secret, and neither did Magnus." Alice explained, and she could see the steady and yet heavy rise and fall of Noah's chest.

Magnus's silence seemed to make it worse, since even Alice, who wasn't in the line of fire, could feel the tension and heat of his stare, and her continuous talking was a defence mechanism she'd developed to calm tense situations.

Noah said nothing, for there was really nothing he could say at this point and he knew that. He'd messed up, and Magnus had found out, all because Olive couldn't keep her mouth shut. He exhaled heavily, watching Alice for a few moments before looking to Magnus reluctantly. "I'm sorry." Noah murmured, glancing up and him then looking back down, and Alice held her breath, feeling the slow rise of anticipation in her veins.

Magnus said nothing, and continued to intently stare, his own mind working at hyper speed. Alice adjusted the way she was standing, holding Magnus's jacket closer to her body. He was making Noah wait, and it was making her more anxious... and just as she was about to voice her thoughts, Magnus moved. His actions were so quick, she barely saw it happen. But she heard the impact and the crack too, and saw Noah cringe heavily before letting out a long whine of pain.

She jumped in response to the sudden commotion, her eyes widening involuntarily as Magnus struck again, watching the sheer force at which his fist collided with Noah's face again, cracking his glasses and forcing him backwards so he tripped over his feet. He fell back clumsily, clutching his nose and gasping for air as the sheer pain of several broken bones in his face enveloped him and seemed to press down on his airways. "Bring Olive up here now." Magnus growled, and Alice blinked quickly, pressing herself into the wall without realising as she watched with wide eyes. Whether her expression was from excitement or fear, it wasn't entirely clear.

Charlie nodded, turning around and vanishing down the stairs as Magnus turned back to Noah. "I told you the next time to fuck me off I'll make you shit your own teeth for a month, and yet here we are." He spat angrily, his voice dark and tense as Alice stared at the back of his head. The sound of another impact and crack made Alice cringe deeply, but there was a voice in the back of her mind telling her to watch... asking her to learn.

But she closed her eyes, trying to forget the noise and ignore the sound of Noah whimpering helplessly in pain as she focussed on the sound of footsteps climbing the stairs. "She's still out cold," she heard Trey's voice say, and then the sound of a thump. "Jesus, did he just pass out?"

Alice opened her eyes, seeing Trey stood over Olive; who had a bruise forming on her forehead, she looked alive, but very much unconscious still... but beyond her, Magnus moved away from where he had been stood over Noah, and she felt herself retreat into the wall as she saw the blood seeping from his nose and his mouth too, his glasses were broken on the floor next to him, and he looked like he'd passed out from the pain...

Magnus said nothing as he shoved Trey out the way and stood over Olive, grabbing her wrist and motioning for Charlie. He clicked over at Noah, and waited in a tense silence as Charlie lifted Noah's upper body and tapped the side of his face repeatedly to wake him up. Alice's heart thudded heavily inside her chest, she watched intently, subconsciously hugging Magnus's jacket to her chest as if to shield herself from what was happening.

Noah woke up, whining loudly and quickly panting as his slightly dazed gaze focussed on Magnus... he struggled slightly in Charlie's hold but the action was so half hearted he barley had to be restrained. Magnus stared intently at Noah's face as he held Olive's wrist at a strange ankle and continued to bend it the wrong way... watching for Noah's reaction. "St...op," Noah whimpered, beginning to notice, even with blurry vision and in intense pain, what Magnus was doing...

Alice began to breathe a little heavier, and she felt her throat dry as she watched Magnus suddenly press down and a loud crack echoed from Olive's wrist. She cringed deeply and felt her stomach lurch, the sound ringing in her ears as it seemed to jump start Olive's own consciousness into waking up. She cried out sharply, her scream only just beginning before Magnus covered her mouth, unfazed by her writhing in pain as her wide eyes stared at her wrist bent the wrong way.

Alice felt the discomfort setting in, and slight dizziness clouding her mind as she glanced at Olive's wrist and looked away. She had to leave, otherwise she knew the next person to pass out would probably be her. She moved away, catching Charlie's attention quickly as she crossed the room and made her way to the stair case, vanishing down it with her hand on the banisters...

Magnus didn't notice yet, for he was focussed and furious and didn't have the extra space in his mind to think about if Alice was still in the room or not. "Listen to me carefully," he began in a low voice as he looked directly at Olive, "Whatever you think you know about me, I want you to forget it." He spat harshly in an eerily quiet voice, the mask Magnus usually wore on his face to show the world now gone. "It was not a smart fucking move to threaten to expose me. I may not be able to kill you right now, but you have two hundred and six bones in your body I can break every time you piss me off." He continued in a low voice as Olive stared at him whilst tears slipped from her eyes. He pressed her broken wrist again to emphasise his point and she whimpered, her body jolting from the painful pulses shooting up and down her arm. "And if threatening you isn't enough? Just take a look at your boyfriend." He sneered, forcing her head up by pushing her chin so she had to look at Noah upside down.

Olive cried in pain, feeling it both physically and mentally as she saw Noah bleeding from the face and forming heavy bruises. She was frightened, and felt all sense of self confidence and personal safety evaporate through her skin, reducing her to a shivering shell that only wanted to fold in on itself. "And Noah? If you speak about me to anyone fucking else, I'll know. And I will make your death look like a fucking tragic accident." Magnus's growled, letting go of Olive's jaw and standing up straight. "Now... does everyone understand?" He asked in a calmer voice, looking from Noah to Olive and giving them each an eerily friendly smile. "Great,"

"Alice is gone," Charlie said quietly, letting go of Noah's upper body and letting him slump back on the floor, where he proceeded to hold his own face as if he was worried it was sliding out of place. Magnus turned, looking over to where he's last seen her and sighed heavily, feeling a strange sensation in his stomach as he wondered why she'd left.

"Mm." He hummed, "Take these two to the hospital, make sure they say they got jumped. And make it fucking believable or I'm coming for you next." Magnus warned aggressively before turning away and making his way over to the stairs...

Alice was stood in an en suite she'd found on the second floor, and since the walls of the bedroom she'd walked through were covered in space posters, she assumed it was Fei's older brother's room. She stood with the window open, breathing in and out slowly as she lent against the wall beside it, trying to ignore the turning of her stomach. The sound of the party was still vibrant around her, although it was still muffled, she listened to the fast paced music thumping through the walls to distract herself from remembering how bones sounded when they broke.

There was a knock on the open door of the bathroom and Alice turned to look over her shoulder, seeing Magnus stood by the entrance. "Oh, hey," she said softly, smiling at him as she examined his fairly blank expression.

"You left," he pointed out, looking over her, analysing her body language to see if he could find the reason why. She had her arms folded across her stomach, her shoulders slanted slightly forwards... "What's wrong?" He asked, walking further into the bathroom and closing the door behind him, making the music become a little quieter.

"Just the sound of breaking bones makes me feel a little sick," Alice laughed softly, then rubbed her cheek. "And like the sight of blood, bad timing right now." She added and swallowed heavily.

"Oh," Magnus murmured, "Are you on your period?"

"I started this morning." Alice replied, running a hand through her hair as she pushed the window open more to let more fresh air in. Magnus moved further into the bathroom and sat down on the toilet opposite her, letting out a sigh as he realised he had to acknowledge the elephant in the room, even if it seemed neither of them really had to.

"So," Magnus murmured, leaning his forearms on his knees as he learnt forward and watched Alice carefully.

"You didn't scare me off, if that's what your wondering." Alice replied, looking out the window and examining Fei's back yard in the moonlight. There were a few people gathered outside to smoke, and she could smell the twinges of burnt tobacco in the air wafting towards her in the chilly breeze.

"But you left the room." Magnus pointed out again, still speaking calmly.

"Yeah or I would've either passed out or thrown up, and that's kind of embarrassing." Alice said, looking back at him. He tilted his head to the right slightly, as if asking her to elaborate. "Oh my god, fine, so when I'm on my period I get extra sensitive to bodily fluids. So the sight of blood, no matter where it's coming from just makes me want to puke, usually I'm fine, but when I'm bleeding myself, I don't really like to see any more than necessary."

"Okay."

"And just like bones cracking just... gross." Alice added, shivering purposefully as she looked back out the window and breathed in deeply. Magnus chuckled quietly, running a hand through his hair as he sat back and lent against the back of the toilet, glancing out the window himself then looking back at Alice. "So what happened?"

"Trey and Charlie are taking them to A&E," Magnus explained,

"Did you break his jaw?" Alice asked, looking over at him and into his eyes. He nodded, watching her expression intently as she raised her eyebrows. "Ouch,"

"He'll be fine."

"Are you not worried they'll talk? They'll have to file a police report if they go in looking like that." Alice said and Magnus raised his own eyebrows and smirked. "Right, sorry, you've done this before." She laughed and waved her previous question away.

"Even if they do talk, no one can back their stories up." Magnus explained, "No witnesses. The perks of doing this shit at parties, no ones sober enough to remember who went where when." Magnus smirked, glancing down over Alice's body before looking back into her eyes.

"Can I ask you something?" Alice asked, turning to look at Magnus as she side stepped a little to lean her back against the wall fully. He nodded and waited for her to continue in silence, watching as she