Tessa

I gave a little sigh as I rested my chin in my hand, staring out the drenched window. Rain poured from the windows, smearing any sight of light. I glared, closing my eyes to see if I could force the rain to go away. I opened them with the pain of it still raining. I huffed, angrily. So, I can have the power to change shape, but not control anything else?

I was more disappointed than angry because Jem and I had made plans to have a picnic in the park, inviting all the others, but it turned out to be just the two of us. Henry was too occupied with a new project he was working on, Charlotte had to finish sending messages to Idris, Jessamine snorted and said she had plans that evening, and Will only stared at me when I asked, spinning off into the other direction.

Ever since Will and I had that disagreement, he had been acting strange, so I feared that he was upset with me for not taking up with his offer. I didn't care though. I would rather him mad at me than being his little pleasure toy. He could find tons of girls like that. He could use his stupid glamour on them.

I wonder if he has thought of that. I laughed.

Sophie, of course, was planning on accompany us, but ever since Thomas died, she had been quite depressed lately. So, I figured that the sunshine and fun would cheer her up, but now the weather would never do that.

The short knock on my door made me jump a little, but it was unfortunately visible since Jem started snickering. I gave him a look of exasperation, showing him I was clearly in no mood. His face stiffened into a line, staring past me at the rain.

"I see you noticed the rain," he stated.

"Of course I did Jem!" My voice cracked. "That means our picnic plans are over."

"We could always go the next day it's sunny," he tried lightening the mood.

"But when will that be Jem? Will that be when you are out on a mission with the others? Our sick to your bed?" I didn't mean to sound so harsh, but Jem knew it was my disappointment talking.

Jem continued to bear outside. "Well, there is always another way."

The smile on his face made me think of Will.

Jem steered me to a room that was almost completely empty, except for a few benches, but candles roamed everywhere. An organ down by the alter sat, dusty and restless. The alter was filled with more than half of the candles in the room, a few large statues, but the painting on the wall behind the alter was the most extravagant part of the Institute I have ever seen.

A large painting of a man stared down on us. The painting only showed from his head to his waist. His hair was a shaggy brown, his eyes a light white-ish blue. His body was full of muscles, surely stronger than any man. His hands were in fists, showing his strength in power. The most wonderful part of him was his wings. His wings were much larger than him and the wings were even folded back behind him, a bit. His wings were full of muscle and strength, being able to hold him up. Every feather was distributed in the painting, every detail of his skin and light. This painting was the biggest painting I have ever seen. It was most extraordinary.

Jem watched every trace of my reaction, smiling wider with every twinkle my eyes made. I knew because I could see him out of the corner of my eye, or when I would glance over at him in wonder.

"What is this place?" I asked, dumbfounded.

"In your world, it would be called a church."

I gazed at him in confusion. "Then what is this for your kind?"

Jem's eyes traced over the painting, becoming lost in another world. "It's more of a place to come pay respects, like most churches do. Also, we come here to think, stay in peace. You can find Will in here a lot."

"Really? Why?"

"No one really knows. Most likely to come ask for forgiveness of all the stupid things he does," Jem saw my unfaithful look. "That's what Charlotte thinks."

"And what do you think?"

Jem thought for a moment. "I believe he comes here to escape from the world he lives in and thinks."

I nodded my head, agreeing that it could be a possibility. I honestly thought it was because he came to plan for gruesome things.

"Why are we here?" I asked, the silence killing me.

"The man in the painting is Archangel Raziel, the statues beside him are two others, Michael and Uriel. Raziel is who created us. If you ever went to church in New York, Tessa, I would try asking Raziel to help clear up the rain."

I nodded, following his orders. I found a seat on one of the benches, resting, closing my eyes for a moment. The second I heard piano music, my eyes shot open, searching for the reason of the music. I found Jem at the piano, his cane leaning against the wall beside him, playing it beautifully, not once looking down at the keys.

"I see you play the piano as well," I snorted.

His eyes still closed, I saw him smile. I grinned at his sweet smile.

I closed my eyes, focusing on picturing Raziel in my mind. As I slowly pictured him, I felt him becoming real in my mind, until he physically moving, waiting for something.

Dearest Raziel, would you grant me the wish of stopping the rain so I could go onto my picnic. I have done so much to keep my brother, turning out he didn't even care. I want a little in return. I don't ask for much, well, this is my first time asking something from you. You can make it rain any other time you wish, but for now, all I wish is for this day to stop raining. Thank you, and bless you.

I opened my eyes, finding Jem waiting for me to return from my "slumber". Once I turned to him, he stopped playing, smiling widely.

"Let's see if your wish has come true," he said.

I stood up to follow him out the doors, but I took once glance back at the painting of Raziel. To my surprise, Raziel pulled up his head a little, smiling at me. For some reason, I knew that my wish was fulfilled, and yet, the painting moving didn't frighten me because since last year, I believed anything was possible. I just gently bowed my head a little and he placed himself back to his original position. I hurriedly quickened my pace to catch up with Jem.

Once we stepped into the corridors, Jem found the closest window to us, and we peered outside.

The clouds were gone and so was the rain. Sun was shinning down on London, which was a surprise most of the time. I smiled and Jem's eyes danced down toward me. My wish had worked.

Sophie came running up toward us, out of breath and tired. "W...wi..."

"Sophie, calm down," Jem ushered.

Sophie bent over half of her body as she calmed her breath, controlling her air once again. "Charlotte said we all most report to Will's room immediately."

Jem's face was questioning, so I spoke for him. "What ever for?"

"Will had seen the miraculous recovery of the rain, so he believes Raziel has sent us a great gift. He claims Raziel has given him wings and he's going to fly out of his window."

Jem and I met eye contact. This is certainly something Will would come up with. Something utterly stupid and dangerous. Those words describe Will perfectly. WE could see from Sophie's stupendous look that she was thinking the same thing as us.

Sophie led us to Will's room, which was happily open for anyone welcome. I caught Charlotte standing beside the large window, speaking to Will. Henry was admiring some of the things in Will's room, or at least pretending and thinking of his latest project. Jessamine sat in one of the chairs, fanning herself from the new grown heat, noticeably bored out of her mind.
I smiled, knowing this was my new family since my parents and aunt were died, and my elder brother turned against me. I had this taste in my mouth whenever I thought of Nate, a horrible texture of something disturbing.

Charlotte was as small as ever, being maybe half of my size. Her sweet wavy brown hair grew to her chest, shorter than most girls so it could easily be tied back during a fight. Her eyes were the same chocolate brown as her hair. She wore a overgrown dark, plain shade of mahogany. Jessamine would cruelly note that the dress was too loose for the small Charlotte Branswell, not to mention how the color wasn't her color.

My eyes slowly roamed over to Jessamine, still fanning herself. Her curly blonde hair was pinned back out of her face, her bright green eyes viciously searching of Will's room, thinking of how horrid boys' rooms are, no doubt. Her dress was a pale pink with black stripes, her favorite dress in her closet, the perfect dress: fitting her figure over every trace and the right colors to compliment her (in her opinion). She was the easiest one in the group to read, as in how they act.

Henry became focus in my sight, so I quickly thought about him. Henry's hair was a dark orange, any type of ginger could say that. His eyes were a bright green, brighter than Jessamine's hint deeper green. Henry was a sweet, bumbling fool as everyone called him. He was always interested in his projects of building great machines and weapons for the Clave. He was already in his mid-twenties and he still never even escorted Charlotte, his wife, out to something spectacular. I loved with Henry dearly, but he could happen to get in the way sometimes, but if he is truly focused, he will fight with all his might.

Jem walked from my side, traveling toward Henry to ask what has been going around. I studied Jem, almost in a day dream way.

Jem was turning eighteen years old in less than a month, a big celebration in Shadowhunters' lives because that meant they were finally able to go to the meetings with the Clave and join some of the most dangerous missions. Jem, unfortunately, looked weaker and sicker by each day. His hair and eyes still stayed the brightest silver ever seen, but he was completely frail that most of us feared he wouldn't be able to make it into a fight. Jem proceeded to disagree, but I knew somewhere deep in his heart, he felt the same way. I watched Jem "hobble" over to Will and Charlotte, speaking in low tones.

My glance lastly went over to Will. Will was one of the most attractive men you could find around, too bad that he was the biggest jerk around. Will had dark brown hair, almost black, that made his deep darkened blue brighter than they could have been. Will was the tallest one there and he turned eighteen not too long ago. Although he was now welcomed into the Clave meetings, he would rather sit in weapons room and put some glamour on the wall so he could witness everything. Charlotte always scolded him whenever she found out, but everyone knew there was no use.

"No, Will, don't be stupid," Charlotte demanded.

"Stupid is my middle name," Will responded, smiling like an evil child.

"Yes, right next to Bastard," Jem answered.

Will glowered at him, but forget it easily. "I made a huge mound of hay at the bottom, so in case of anything, I should survive."

Charlotte stuck her head out the window, but once she brought it back in, it was full of annoyance. "Will, that's the only hay we have."

"Which we won't have to use because I will fly today," Will growled, trying to convince himself as well as the others.

I didn't know whether he was being plain stupid or he was drunk.

"Step back Charlotte," Will said, pushing her aside. "Jem, I would recommend it if you stepped away from the window."

Jem sighed, turning around, walking toward Henry, knowing there was no reasoning with Will. Will glowered a smile, staring down the window. He backed away far across the room, putting one leg in front of the other as he counted. With full force, and some speed glamour, he beckoned toward the window, rushing, howling in his joy. Once he reached the sill, he placed his feet on them and pushed off. He soared through the little a few feet, but stopped in midair. He gulped as he stared down at the floor, then zooming toward the Earth. He fell straight into the hay, but not going through it, which could have ended badly.

Everyone raced toward the door to get outside to check on Will. As Jem and I strutted out of the room, Jem spoke.

"Shadowhunters should make a flying glamour just for that idiot," he jabbed a finger toward the window.

I broke into laughter.