Fanfiction


"Are you sure we can't go down to the basement?" Jace sighed while he scratch the covering of the sofa with his fingers. "I promise I will not touch anything, I just want to look at it." He said, and raised his eyebrows in amazement, act that made everyone believe he was talking of innocence.
Clary looked up from the sketchbook to Jace's direction and let out a laugh of distrust. "Come on Jace," she said, "It's always start with 'I promise I'll just look at it' and end with 'if we are here, why to not touch it?'" Clary stopped her speech when she saw Alec's facial expression.
"Unfortunate word choice," he mumbled with giggle while he moved aside the hair from his face.
"You know we mustn't go down to the basement while mom and dad are in important meeting. Beside, why are you so eager to go to this dusty place?" Isabelle asked, waving her hands.
Jace closed his eyes. "Because I'm bored. Nothing happened her, I just wanted to go down and see something that I had never saw before." Jace said in the most innocent voice her could have raised. No one seemed to believe him, but there was an atmosphere of identification in the air.
Finally, Clary sighed. "I guess that nothing would happened if we just look at the things. What do you think, Alec? These are your parents, after all."
Alec looked at her and then at Jace like he thought if he could trust on them. "Fine. But we would only look, I'm the adult here after all."
"And I have more life experience." Jace said in sarcasm. "Come on, it's been so long since we did something normal."
Everyone knew he was right. Since Jonatan raised from the death and the death of Max, they wasn't like they was before. It was like their life had been harder and harder.
"Let's go." Alec said finally.

The basement of the Institute was just like in horror movies – there were shelf everywhere with dusty things on them. Cobweb were stretched from all sides and Clary began to wonder when the last time that somebody go down to here was.
"If we are here," Jace began to say, "Why won't we look for something interesting?"
"I knew it," Clary said, waving her hands, "We shouldn't go down to her."
Jace made a smile on his face. "Oh, come on Clary, we won't break anything – "
"I think," Alec began to say, "That she is not worry that we will break anything, I think she is worry that you will break something."
Jace looked at them for a moment and then move on, "Fine. If you want follow me, I stay her." He turn on the witchlight in his hand. The light glow on the room, that looks bigger in the light.
"I'll stay with you." Isabelle said and took a step forward.
Alec gazed at her with unbeliever look. "Isabelle!"
"Jace is right. We didn't do something normal since – "
She paused. It seems that Isabelle took Max's death harder than everyone else, maybe because she blame herself that she didn't listened to Max when she could.
"I'll stay her with you to." Said Alec finally, braking the silent.
"Me to." Clary add just after him. Jace nodded and looked forward, explore the place.
"We split, search for something interesting." He said and then they split, without resistance. Alec went near to Isabelle and they went to the left said of the room. Clary decided to go with Jace, which started to go without waiting for her. She gazed around at the shelf – except from dust and objects that belonged to somebody that lived who-knows-how-much-long-ago, it doesn't seemed that the basement hiding something interesting.
Until Jace suddenly stopped, in front of large metal gold frame. The metal was rusty and dusty, the frame had a big red bottom on her left said. That was the only thing on her. Jace forward to the bottom, cleaning the dust that accumulate on him and on the frame.
"I think we shouldn't touch it. It looks old." She said, trying to keep Jace away from there. She had a bad feeling on this thing.
"The Institute of London." Jace suddenly blurted.
Clary narrowed her eyes. "What?"
"That's what written her – 'Home - The Institute of London'" He said, looking deeper at the button as if he wondered if to press it or not.
"Come on Jace," She said, getting close to him. "Let's see if Alec and Isabelle found something interesting."
For one moment, she thought that he was going to press on the bottom. But then he made a step back and looked away from the strange object. "You are right, let's see what they found."

***
"I'm covered in dust." Isabelle continued to compline as they climbed the stairs back from the basement. It turns out that what Alec and she found was no more than dust, jars covered with dust and unidentifiable things with more dust. "I swear that I'll never go down to that basement again." She said, cleaning pieces of dust from her clothes.
"Oath is a powerful thing. Besides, you are exaggerate. I enjoyed it." He said, smiling at her.
For one moment, Isabelle sign and Clary was sure that she is going to shout on Alec, but instead, she gave a laugh to air and smiled at him. "You are right." She said and hugged him. Grains of dust flew everywhere.
Now, Jace was what that worried Clary. Since they saw whatever-it-would-be, he didn't speak or even looked at them. He seemed lost at his own thoughts.
"What about you?" Isabelle asked and looked at Jace and Clary. Clary opened her mouth to tell her about the strange object, but before she could say something, Jace spoke for her.
"Oh, nothing special, just dust and jars." He said with a smile on his face. When Isabelle turned the look from him, he looked at Clary with gaze that seemed like – 'please don't tell anyone.'

***
Clary decided to stay that night at the Institute. After she informed Jocelyn countless times that she was well and she will come back home tomorrow morning, Jocelyn gave her the promotion to stay at the Institute for a night. (If she would sleep in her OWN bedroom, of course).
She lent Isabelle shirt that was too big for her, wide and wear the jeans that was on her. She jumped on bed and before she noticed, she fell asleep.

***

The sound of open door woke Clary at the middle of the night. She stood up, half asleep, toward the door. She opened her, just a little so she could see out of her room.
She surprised to see Jace, wearing his black coat, sinking out of his room toward the basement. She waited until Jace go down the stairs and then she turned to the rooms – she decided to wake Alec. She opened his door room and then went to his bed. He didn't woke up, even if she called his name, so she shake him a little.
"Alec come on, this is important!" She said, "Alec, I think that Jace is going to do something really stupid –"
Before she could move, Alec catch her hand. "Can I understand why you are shaking me in the middle of the night?" he asked in anger, his voice half asleep.
"Me and Jace – we, we didn't find just dust and jars like he said. We found sort of large metal frame, and – and I think he is about to do something stupid."
"Like what? What he can do with a large metal frame – "
"There was a bottom on this frame. A big red bottom. There was written there – ' The Institute of London'. I think, that he would press on it and – I have a bad felling about that."
For a moment Alec just looked at her and she was sure that he is going to shout at her or tell her that she was stupid, but what he said finally was – "Go to wake Isabelle."

They went down to the basement in silent. They tried to be as quiet as possible, because they didn't want that Jace will know they were after him. But it was hard to walk in the basement without witchlight turn on in your hand.
They went among the shelf, until they saw the large frame and Jace in front of her. He was so sunk in the frame, that he didn't noticed they were there.
"Jace." Isabelle said at him and he turn to her with surprise on his face.
"What on hell are you doing here?" he asked in horror. It doesn't seemed that he was expecting to see any of them in this place.
"I can ask you the same question." Alec said and crossed his arms. "What are you doing, Jace? Why are you her, dressing like that in the middle of the night?"
"I know you know, Alec." I see it in your eyes." He said in absolute innocence. Alec didn't turn his look away from him.
Isabelle waved in her hands. "Jace you don't know that you never press on the red bottom? You don't see movies? It's always end with explosion or death or worst – "
"But we don't live in movie." He said, getting closer to the frame. "Come on, what could happened? If it was something destructive it wouldn't be in the basement of the Institute."
He took a step forward. "Jace, don't – " she began to say but it was too late. Before anyone could have done anything, he press the bottom.
For a second, nothing happened. But then the big frame became full with blow light.
"Jace, get away from there!" Alec shouted towed him, just as the blow light came out from the frame.