All right, it's about 1:50 around where I'm from but I'm too tired to do anything about it but write. This is a one-shot idea I got randomly before I got to bed so I'm writing it all down right now and then going to post it up and, hopefully, it has no actual serious errors. One-shot, and if it's good enough–and with enough good feedback–I might actually finish this! Be warned: I tend to write like I'm on crystal meth when I'm cracked out tired. You were warned…
"Clarissa Fairchild, you better stop walking if you want to ever use those skinny little legs of yours again!" Jace barked, storming after her as she ran into the Institute library.
Despite his command, Jace was surprised that she actually stopped and whirled around in time for him to catch himself, just barely avoiding a nasty collision.
"What?" she snapped at him, her one word cutting him deeper than a seraph blade could. "What could you possibly want to tell me now at a time like this to make me feel better? That you got distracted and just barely swooped in on time to save me before that Raum demon killed me?"
Jace winced. That was what happened, but the way she spat it at him made it seem much worse than it really was. If only she would let him explain himself… "Clary, just please let me–"
"Let you what? Waste more of my precious time so that you could try to defend yourself?" Clary paused and took a deep breath to steady herself. She strolled over to the red plush chair near the fireplace and plopped down, reveling in the floating-on-air feeling and finally giving her legs a break. Jace was hard to outrun and she was no track-star. She watched as Jace took the chair opposite her but didn't protest.
"I'm sorry," Jace began, figuring Clary was giving him the opportunity to humor her. "It's just…lately, I've been distracted." Jace didn't flinch when Clary snorted. "I don't know what's wrong with me, but for some reason, I got a feeling that something big is about to happen and I can't seem to keep focus on anything but that. It's something that's been always sent to the back of my mind, never thought more of except in the worse opportune moments. I'm sorry, Clary. You've got to understand me, please. I'm a victim to my mind," he added with a wink.
Clary felt her face flush despite herself and raised her chin. "You aren't forgiven. Jace, I could've died. My life was at stake and right when I needed you the most, you weren't there for me. Had Alec or Isabelle been there to pick up the slack, I would've been fine with it. More than, actually. But no one was with us and like I said, I could've died. Jace, some things aren't easily forgivable."
With that said, she stood up and gave Jace a backward glance. "I'm leaving you some time alone, Jace. So you better take advantage of this time to think about that 'stormy front' of yours, okay? Get back to me when you're done with your musings."
But as soon as Clary approached the massive library doors, something felt…off. The moment her fingers brushed the handle, an icy shock shot up her arm and she jerked her hand away. "What the…?"
Jace was at her side in seconds and he reached for the doorknob the same way she did. But the second his hand closed around the doorknob, he was gone. Clary whipped around frantically in time to see Jace soaring through the air until he crashed into the giant oak desk with the two angels carrying the great table on their backs, identical grim expressions on their faces. Clary stared back and forth from a groaning Jace to the massive doors until it finally clicked: a Locking rune. Someone placed a rune on the door to keep them confined into the library. Desperate to get out, Clary proceeded to pound her fists against the door, screaming for anyone to hear her.
"Clary?" She immediately halted when she heard Alec calling her from the other side. "Clary, stop it!"
She froze. "Alec, please help us! Jace and I are–"
"I know," he cut in. "And I'm the one who put the rune on the door, so you can quit kicking and screaming."
"What?" she shrieked. "Why in the Angel's name would you ever do something so stupid like–"
"Listen to me," Alec barked, taking both Clary and Jace off-guard. "I am so sick of you two bickering back and forth the way you do, and I think I speak for everyone when I say that. I love you Jace, like a brother, and I respect you Clary, but if I got to lock both of you into a room to get you two to talk, then so be it."
"Alec you're being–"
"Difficult?" Alec laughed derisively. "Then what does that make you two?"
Clary flinched; never had it crossed her mind that maybe her presence around Jace affected everyone around them. Jace was rendered silent, too stunned to come up with something cocky or witty to say.
"What are we going to do?" Clary whined, sinking to her knees when Alec's receding footfalls disappeared.
"You heard the man," Jace jeered. "We're going to talk this out until we are so in love with each other, everyone else will puke sunshine and butterflies."
"Fantastic," Clary said, her lip curled in disgust. "And just how do you plan on doing that?"
But before Jace could answer, the tiled floors began to vibrate under her feet, causing her to lose her balance even though she was already sitting down. The vibrations didn't stop there; the walls around them were shaking in place with such intensity that Clary feared the entire Institute was going to collapse. But that wasn't what scared her the most; what did was the look of unadulterated fear in Jace's eyes.
"It's midnight," he whispered, loud enough for Clary to hear over the bell's tolling. But that was the last thing he said before he dropped to his knees as if he'd taken a blow to his back and began to writhe as if he were experiencing excruciating pain. Then the screaming happened. It was the scream of anguish–of a pain so great it was all consuming–and it was coming right from Jace.
"Jace!" Clary cried as she swooped in to look at him. But he threw his arms out in front of him as a way of holding her back and wound up striking fear to her very core when she saw blue and purple veins lacing every bit of skin possible. "Jace, please!"
But when he finally lowered his hands, what lay in front of her whimpering and twitching about held no resemblance whatsoever to the boy she once loved, the boy named Jace.
Rate and review! I'm not sure I want to continue this, really, since my heart isn't all that into it. It was a good one-shot, I'd like to think, so please tell me your theories and I might tell you what happened to Jace :)