A/N: Thank you, Athenee and Jeffrey for betaing my story!
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters, sadly. They all belong to the wonderful Cassandra Clare.
"Clary? Clary! CLARY, MOVE OUT OF THE WAY!" shouted Simon. I felt myself fly sideways to the ground. Something cracked as my head hit the pavement. Everything happened in mere seconds. I felt my head go numb, clouding my eyes with darkness.
OoOoOoOoO
I heard a soft constant humming noise that sounded like it was coming from miles away as I got control over my mind and body.
I stretched my legs carefully, then my arms, and my back. I finally opened my eyes to see an endless gray sky. There was so much gray that I thought somehow between the time I woke up and the time I fell unconscious, the sun had vacuumed all the colors out of the earth.
Slowly, I got up from the hard, mist-like ground that was also gray, and looked around. I could see silhouettes of people crouched on the ground. They were all apart, coloring the gray ground with black dots.
I started walking to one of the silhouettes, but as I got closer, I wanted to back away. He was lying on the ground, staring up at the gray sky, not blinking. He looked almost dead, like a statue. But unlike a statue, he looked faded. Like he was about to turn into dust, and he did. I screamed, frightened.
"Sir!"
"I wouldn't worry about it too much. He's better off in hell than this place." I turned around to the male voice; there was no pity in it. He spoke as if it happened often.
It was a boy, around my age. He was tall and had an arrogant look to him. Unlike the man on the ground, he looked very much alive, and almost had color in this colorless place. His hair was fair, a white-ish gray, implying he was blond. His eyes looked neither white nor black, making me wonder what his eyes looked like in real life. At least I thought this wasn't reality.
"What exactly is this place?" I asked. He smirked, making his eyes tinge with humor.
"Welcome to the Inbetweens, newbie." And just like that he disappeared.
"Wait!" I yelled. "Come back!" I thought I heard a snicker. Asshole.
I started to walk to one silhouette, then to another. Some lied on their backs looking at the gray sky, just like the man. Others hugged their knees, looking mesmerized into the unknown, almost rocking back and forth as they whispered under their breaths.
"Gray."
"Crash."
"Home."
"Crazy."
"Hell."
None of them, though, were faded like the man was, nor was as alive as the boy looked; but they all seemed somewhere in between. Hmm, in between, I thought.
All of a sudden, a blinding white light shone out of the gray sky to a silhouette on the ground far away. It left just as quickly, taking the person with it. I gasped.
"I bet she's glad she's out of here," said a female voice. I turned to see a girl my age with black hair, and dark eyes. She looked just as alive as the boy.
"You're the newbie, right?" Her voice was bored.
"Yes," I said, confused. "I think."
"You remember what happened to you before you came here?" I tried to search my mind, but couldn't find an answer.
"No," I said, honestly.
"Hmm, figures. You're not even hyperventilating," she said. My eyebrows furrowed.
"Am I supposed to be?" I asked.
"Most would be if they were in your shoes." She hesitated. "I'm Isabelle."
"Clary."
"Well, Clary, did Jace tell you about this place?"
"Who's Jace?" I asked.
"The guy you just talked to." So he's Jace.
"No, all he told me was that I am in the 'Inbetweens.'" Isabelle rolled her eyes.
"Jackass, leaving me to do all the explaining," she muttered.
"It's okay if you don't want to tell me, I mean-"
"That's not it, it's just well…hard to explain exactly where we are." She took a deep breath. "Jace and I have been here for a few years, and can't seem to get out. So we made a theory about where exactly we are. We knew each other before this place. We can't seem to remember what happened before either, but we think we were in a car crash which caused us to go into a coma, which we are in right now."
"Basically, from what we've observed, you only get better or worse in this place. Once you get better and hear your heart beating loudly through this world, the light from the sky would come and take you back to life. Or you get worse, and fade away and go wherever you go to after death."
I tried to process what she said. I still had many questions.
"Why do you call it the 'Inbetweens', then?" I asked. She grinned.
"Because in our minds, we are in between life and death."
"Do you think we'll ever get out of here?" I asked in a small voice. Isabelle stepped closer to me, and put her hand on my shoulder.
"Yes." She smiled sympathetically. "I just don't know how long we are going to stay in this place, and which fate we'll be sent to. But I'm pretty sure we'll get out." I looked up into her eyes.
"Thanks," I said. She let go of my shoulder and dropped down. I sat down with her.
Neither of us spoke for a few minutes. I could hear whispers around us, and the constant humming noise.
I turned to Isabelle and asked, "What's that weird humming noise?"
Isabelle turned to look at me with a weird look on her face, "You hear it?" I nodded. She genuinely smiled.
"Seems like you have hope after all," she said.
"What does it mean?" I asked, confused.
"It means your heart is beating strong enough to hear it in this world," said Isabelle, "at least that's what we think. Jace and I couldn't hear the humming for a long time while we were here. Maybe you'll get out of here faster than us." I smiled, and looked at the misty ground.
"I hope so." I look at her. "I hope you guys get back to reality, too." I smiled, and she smiled back.
OoOoOoOoO
I stared at the gray ground, bored, feeling out of place. Someone came next to me, and sat down. I didn't look up, because I didn't need to. The hair on the back of my head rose, telling me it was Jace.
"So I'm guessing Isabelle told you?" he asked. There was another bright light shining miles away, taking another person back to life. I wonder how long that person was here.
"Clary?" Jace waved his hand in front of my face, trying to get my attention.
"Yes," I said, finally, looking at him.
"Is that a 'yes' that Isabelle explained to you about this place, or 'yes' that you are paying attention?"
"For both, I guess," I said, shrugging.
"I have to say I'm surprised. You are taking the information rather well," he said, thoughtfully.
"How many people have you told your theory?" I asked. He placed his head on his knees.
"Only one," said Jace.
"Meaning me?" I asked.
"Yeah," he said, sheepishly.
"Well then, maybe your theory keeps me sane." He turned his head and smiled.
"Maybe."
OoOoOoOoO
Days turned into weeks. Then weeks turned into months. Then months turned into a year. The sound of suffering was still loud as ever, as was my heart. It hummed stronger day by day. My new friendship with Isabelle and Jace also grew stronger. We were almost always together, except for those rare moments when Isabelle or Jace disappeared. I was never alone, though, and for that, I was grateful.
After I got to know Isabelle better, she started to be more open and friendly. She soon started to tell me of what she remembered in the real world, describing her long shopping trips with her brothers and Jace, and how they would always complain. Once when Jace was gone I asked her if he was her boyfriend. She stared at me and started to laugh. She said that if there was one thing that she knew was true in her real life, it was that Jace was not her boyfriend. I was happy when she said that, though I wasn't sure why.
Jace remained arrogant, but spoke more freely, and at rare moments was sweet. Whenever I felt homesick, he would come up with funny stories in his real life to cheer me up. Whenever he left abruptly, I worried each time if the light consumed him. As selfish as it seemed, I wanted him to stay with me as long as possible. But I knew he was growing stronger each day as Isabelle and I were. Whenever he smiled, my heart warmed, and the humming grew stronger. His teeth were as bright as the light to life, and his eyes blazed, making me wonder again what his eye color was. I finally asked him.
"Jace, what color are your eyes?" I asked. Jace turned his face away from the misty ground and looked at me funny.
"Gold, why?"
"Your eyes are not really light nor dark. It's hard to guess what color it is in this colorless world," I explained. I tried to imagine him with gold eyes. I could almost see it, but I hadn't seen gold in so long that my memory of it was vague.
"How about yours?" asked Jace, breaking me out of my thoughts.
"My what?" I asked, unsure.
"Your eyes," he said, "what color are they?"
"Green," I said.
"Green," Jace repeated. Then, with a sad smile, he said, "I miss green." I smiled.
"Me, too." Then, we started talking about all the things we missed: pizza, our parents, the sky, and everyday things like going to school.
"What I miss especially is drawing," I said.
"You draw?" Jace asked. I nodded.
"Yeah, I do. On Sundays I would usually go to Central Park and draw all-" Jace interrupted me.
"You live in New York?" he asked, anxiously.
"Yeah, in Brooklyn," I said as I looked at him with a curious glance. "Why?"
"I live in New York, too," he said, smiling. My eyes widened.
"You do?" I asked, surprised.
"I do," he said. I smiled.
"Maybe I'll meet you by the Alice and Wonderland statue someday."
"Maybe." We grinned at each other.
OoOoOoOoO
Weeks passed and we knew one of us was going to cross over soon. We kept silence, not wanting to touch the topic; instead, we would sit in a circle, looking at the misty, gray ground, doing nothing. Isabelle finally said something.
"This is ridiculous, you guys."
"You're right," I agreed. Jace continued to look at the ground.
"Look, guys," Isabelle said looking at both of us. "One of us is going back to life. I can just feel it in my bones. Heck, we are all going to go back. But if I never see you guys again, particularly you, Clary, since I only met you here, I just have to say I love you both so much and wish you both all the best." Her voice became uneven, and tears shined in her eyes. I was awed; Isabelle-the strongest person I'd ever met, was crying. I came close to her and hugged her.
"I love you too, Isabelle," I said. My eyes blurred as I smiled. She hugged me back. I wiped my tears with my hand. I looked back to see Jace standing, smiling at us. We stood up next to him.
"I love you too, sis," Jace said, raffling her hair. Then he looked at me, and put his arms around my waist. I placed my hands around his neck immediately. We stared at each other. He hunched down, hugging me. His lips were to my ears. "I love you too, you know. More than you'll ever know." He kissed my forehead, and then he stepped away. I looked at him, confused with what he meant. He just smiled.
OoOoOoOoO
One week passed and my heart was becoming louder than the sound of Isabelle and Jace's voice. We didn't leave each other's sight for all those few days, trying to learn more about each other before the light took us away.
"When I was little, I would hide in my mother's closet. By the time my mother found me, her closet would be a mess, and I would be trying to walk in her heels, which I failed miserably." We all laughed. I could almost imagine little Isabelle falling and breaking her mother's favorite shoes.
All of a sudden, a booming sound consumed my ears. I jumped. Isabelle and Jace noticed.
"Are you all right?" Jace asked, worried.
"I'm fine," I said, reassuring him. He didn't look convinced. The loud booming noise boomed again; I flinched. It sounded rhythmic, almost like a heart beat.
A heart beat. I froze; Jace shook me out of my reverie.
"Clary?" I looked up at him with sad eyes, realizing what was happening.
"Jace." I hugged him. Then I turned to hug Isabelle, who was also staring at me with concern.
"What's happening?" asked Isabelle, whispering to my ear as we hugged.
"I think it's time." She turned her head to look at me to see if I was being serious. She hugged me tighter. I hugged her just as hard.
"I'm going to miss you," she said.
"I'm going to miss you, too," I said. Then I added, "This isn't goodbye forever, though, I'll see you real soon, okay?" She nodded, too choked up to say anything more. I faced away from her, then looked at Jace.
"Are you leaving?" he asked softly.
"I think I am," I said. He took both of my hands into his. He looked at me with an expression I couldn't understand. I got closer to him.
"Take good care of yourself, okay?" he said. I nodded.
"You, too. You better show up by the statue when you get out of here," I said, playfully. He smiled.
"I will," he promised. He brought my hands to his lips. Just as he kissed them, a blinding light shone on me, and without a final goodbye, I left the Inbetweens.
OoOoOoOoO
I felt grogginess as I became aware of other sounds around me. There was something in the room beeping, and I could hear footsteps moving around me. Other than the sounds, I could smell the scent of disinfectant and death. I realized I was at the hospital.
I tried to move my eyes, but couldn't. I waited for a few minutes to get the feeling of my body again. From my head to my toes, I slowly began to feel. The first thing I felt was that something was around my nose and face. Then I felt a little sting in my leg. I tried opening my eyes again, and opened them to the incandescent light. It was so bright that I had to close them. After a little while, I fluttered them open again, adjusting to the light. I tried to sit up, but the things around me stopped me from doing so.
"Clary!" someone said. I could hear them rush over. It was my mother. She began to cry when she saw my eyes were opened. "I thought I was going to lose you. It's been a whole month since I've seen your eyes open."
I opened my mouth to say something, but couldn't because of the oxygen mask. I tried to smile at her instead.
"I missed you so much," she said as she cried into my arm. I missed you too, I thought.
OoOoOoOoO
One week later, I got released from the hospital and my mother didn't leave me out of her sight. After days of talking to her, I finally convinced her that I couldn't live in her apartment forever. I reunited with Simon the day I got released, and didn't realize how much I had missed him until I saw him. It was summer now, so I didn't have school. But I had to make up for all the work that I missed, and had to do my finals. Even so, I always managed to go to Central Park with my sketchbook and pencil every Sunday, waiting by the Alice and Wonderland statue wondering when Jace would show up.
Weeks passed by, and I started to get worried. What if they never crossed over to life? I thought. Soon, Simon realized something was wrong, and I told him everything from when I saw the old man fade, to the time I was taken by the light. He stayed quiet throughout the whole time. After I finished, he cleared his throat to say something.
"Clary, did you, um, ever think that maybe they were never real?" Simon hesitated. "That the Inbetweens don't exist?" he asked calmly.
"Of course it exists, Simon! They exist! They have to! I could have never made that place up, Simon, not with my imagination," I said stubbornly. I couldn't think otherwise.
"Clary, you were in a coma. You can imagine almost anything in a coma," said Simon.
"Simon, stop saying that. They are real!" I said in frustration.
"Clary, this isn't healthy. You have to let them go, or this will consume your entire life." I huffed in annoyance. I stood up from the chair I was sitting on.
"If you don't believe me, then get out," I said.
"Clary-"
"GET OUT!" He got up and left. I sat back down in my chair, and began to cry.
By the time I was done crying, I decided that I had to go to Central Park one last time; I could not believe what Simon had said. I knew his logic was right, but I had to try one more time, even though it wasn't Sunday.
I got to the statue and waited on a bench. Soon the warm sun lulled me to sleep.
"Clary," said a voice. I felt someone shake my arm. "Clary?" I slowly opened my eyes to find a tall man standing in front of me. I couldn't see his face since the sun was shining right behind him. I squinted my eyes.
"Who are you?" I asked. The stranger laughed.
"Did you forget about me already, Clary?" he asked. The voice was familiar. I stood up immediately.
There in front of me was Jace. Everything about him radiated gold, including his eyes. He wasn't joking when he said they were gold. I'd never seen such a brilliant color in my life.
"You're here," I said, taking a step forward.
"I'm here," he said.
"You're real." I smiled.
"I'm real." I swung my arms around his neck, and held him. He put his arms around my waist and did the same.
"I can't believe it," I said whispering to his ear. I could feel him smile.
"Me neither," he whispered back. After a long time, we broke the embrace. I looked at his gold eyes that were staring at me lovingly.
"Come on," he said. "Let's go find Isabelle, she's been searching for you everywhere."
"She's awake?" I asked.
"Yeah." He nodded. "She's been awake for awhile."
"Then lead the way," I said. He took my hand, and we left the park, and into the loud city.
A/N: Just wanted to say a couple of things:
*To all you "The Basket" fans, I am very sorry for not updating for months. I am probably going to update next month when school is out. I am hoping to finish it up this summer.
*About the story: I came up with this idea a few months ago, and took me forever to finish. If you are confused to how Clary was in the Inbetweens for a year, when she was actually in a coma for a month. It is because time in the Inbetweens moves faster than in the real world, and since they have nothing to do, it seems even longer.
If you have any questions about the Inbetweens or about any of my other stories don't be afraid to ask!
Review! :)