A/N Please review and tell me what you think!

Blood pooled at my feet. I clung to Jace as we watched the men who murdered our father leave, leaving the still body in front of us.

I gasped as I woke up. I quickly got out of bed and headed for Jace's bedroom. When I pushed the door open, it was empty. I frowned. I turned to Church as he casually strolled down the hallway.

"Take me to Jace." I told him. He turned and headed the opposite direction than he had been heading. I followed him. He led me into the weapons room and then left. I walked through the maze-like aisles of weapons, steles and witch lights. Alec was sitting at a table, sharpening a knife, but Jace was no where to be seen.

"If you're looking for Jace, he left a couple minutes ago." He said without looking up. I nodded.

"Oh. Okay." I turned to leave but Alec's voice stopped me.

"You okay?"

"Yeah, fine." I heard him get up and cross the room to get to me. I turned around to look at him.

"Another nightmare?" He asked. Everyone knew how prone I was to night terrors. I nodded.

"Yeah, but I'm fine." I walked out of the weapons room.

Isabelle and I were hanging out in her room. She was working on her hair in front of the vanity while I twirled my stele around my fingers.

"You have to tell him eventually." Isabelle said

"What?" I asked, not following.

"Alec. You have to tell him about your crush on him."

"No. No I don't."

"Rissa-."

"Isabelle! No." She huffed but said nothing else. Just then, Church came into the room. He meowed loudly and motioned for us to follow him by jerking his head and hurrying back the way he came. Isabelle and I exchanged looks. Then we got up and followed him. He was moving faster than expected from a fat cat like him. We hurried after him. He led us down to the front door. Alec and Jace were leaning over the red haired girl from last night. We ran over to them.

"What happened?" I asked, kneeling down. She was unconscious, looking pale and sickly.

"She was attacked by a Ravener." Jace told us.

"And she's still alive?" Isabelle asked, surprised and suspicious at the same time.

"Let's get her to the sickroom. Isabelle, get Hodge." Jace swung her up into his arms while Isabelle hurried off again. Jace, Alec and I got the girl to the sickroom and lied her down on one of the beds. Alec hurried off to go see Hodge and Isabelle.

"Where were you?" I asked Jace.

"I was investigating her. She could see us in the club, Rissa. I wanted to know why and how!"

"And then you two got attacked by a Ravener demon?"

"No. She did. She killed it." He told me.

"By herself?"

"No, she had a herd of unicorns helping her." When in doubt, Jace reverted to sarcasm as a way out.

"Jace-." I started.

"Yes, by herself!"

"She's still a mundane." I reminded him.

"I don't care. The Ravener demon was after something. She stays here, with us, for now."

Alec and I watched the red haired girl as she lied, still unconscious, on the bed.

"Do you think she'll ever wake up? It's been three days already." I broke the silence.

"You have to give her time. Demon poison is strong stuff and she's a mundane. She hasn't got runes to keep her strong like we do." He reminded me.

"Mundies die awfully easily, don't they?"

"Marissa, you know its bad luck to talk about death in a sickroom!"

"Sorry, but it's true…" I mumbled.

"Now that I look at her… It definitely is the same girl from Pandemonium." Alec added after a moment.

"I know. Jace said she killed a Ravener."

"Yeah, I know… I thought she was a pixie the first time we saw her. She's not pretty enough to be a pixie though."

"Well nobody looks their best with demon poison in their veins." I shot back.

"Is Hodge going to call on the Brothers?" He asked.

"I hope not. They give me the creeps. Anyone who mutilates themselves like that-."

"We mutilate ourselves." He reminded me.

"I know, Alec, but when we do it, it isn't permanent! And it doesn't always hurt…" I muttered.

"If you're old enough. Speaking of which, where's Jace? He saved her, didn't he? I would have thought he'd take some interest in her recovery."

"Hodge said he hasn't been to see her since he brought her here."

"I guess he doesn't care."

"Sometimes I wonder if he- Look! She moved!" I cried.

"I guess she is alive after all. I'll tell Hodge." He sighed and left the sickroom.

A little while later, I watched as the girl hauled herself up into a sitting position. She looked around.

"So you're finally awake. Hodge will be pleased. We all thought you'd probably die in your sleep." I told her. She whirled around to look at me.

"Sorry to disappoint you. Is this the Institute?" She asked, looking around again.

"Is there anything Jace didn't tell you?" I asked, rolling my eyes. Sometimes my brother could be such the idiot…

"This is the Institute, right?" She asked with a cough.

"Yes. You're in the infirmary, not that you haven't figured that out already." She clutched at her stomach with a gasp of pain.

"Are you okay?" I asked, standing up.

"My stomach." She moaned.

"Oh right. I almost forget. Hodge said to give you this when you woke up." I poured some liquid from the pitcher into a cup and handed it to her.

"You haven't eaten anything in three days. That's probably why you feel sick." I explained to her as she took a sip.

"What is this?" She asked.

"One of Hodge's tisanes. They always work." I told her. I stuck out a hand for her to shake.

"I'm Marissa Wayland, by the way." She shook my hand, keeping the cup in her other hand.

"I'm Clary. Clary Fray. Did Jace bring me here?"

"Did he ever! You got slime and blood all over the carpet in the entryway. Jace said you killed that Ravener demon all by yourself."

"I guess I did." She guessed she did?

"But you're a Mundane."

"Amazing isn't it? Where is Jace? Is he around?"

"Somewhere, yeah. I should go tell everyone you're up. Hodge will want to talk to you."

"Hodge is Jace's tutor, right?"

"He tutors all of us." I pointed towards the bathroom.

"The bathroom's through there and I hung up some of my old clothes on the towel rack in case you want to change. We should wear the same size. You're pretty small."

"What happened to my clothes?"

"They were covered in blood and poison. Jace burned 'em."

"Did he? Tell me, is he always really rude or does he save that for Mundanes?"

"Oh, he's rude to everyone. Except me. Well, sometimes, but not nearly as much as everyone else." I explained.

"Is he your brother?"

"Yep."

"Older, I'm guessing?"

"By almost three years."

"And you're Alec and Isabelle's siblings, right?"

"No. What gave you that idea?" I asked, frowning. We, for one, looked nothing like the Lightwood's and, for two, were all nearly the same age. It wasn't logical for us all to be biological siblings.

"Well, you and Jace live here with Alec and Isabelle, don't you?"

"Yeah, so?"

"Why don't you live with your own parents?" Beatings from demons, I could take. That question, however, made me flinch.

"Because they're dead." I told her.

"Oh… Did they die in an accident?"

"No. Mom died when I was born. Dad was murdered when I was eight… Well, eight-ish. Jace and I saw the whole thing."

"Oh… Was it… Demons?" Okay. I was officially done.

"I'm going to let everyone know you've woken up. There's soap in the bathroom. You might want to clean up a little. You smell."

"Thanks a lot."

"Don't ask about my parents and no insults shall be exchanged, got it?" I hurried from the room.