Contrary to popular belief, Adele was trying to escape.

What kind of father kidnaps his own daughter, she thought, just so he can meet her? Even though she didn't think going back to Jace and the others was the best idea either, it was still a better idea then staying here. If the stories were true, her father really was a murderer. A bastard, she remembered Jace had said. What kind of other crimes might he commit? Would he really harm her?

She wasn't going to wait to find out. Lying in the dark with the covers pulled up to her chin, she kept her eyes closed, pretending to be asleep. The door had opened at around eleven and she had to force herself to breath naturally as she felt the eyes on her face. It was Jonathan. He had closed the door again, leaving her alone once more. Ash had not come by to check on her.

She waited until about midnight, the luminous digital clock in her room finally hitting the digit 12. When she opened the door to her room, trying the knob, she found that the door wasn't even locked. Wondering whether she should be suspicious or happy that the door wasn't locked, she crept out into the hallway, letting the door behind her close softly.

The chandeliers that were on the walls were dimly lit with flames that flickered as she moved past them. The house was eerily silent and to Adele, who had grown up in a household where the inhabitants sometimes couldn't get to bed until three in the morning, the silence of this house was now unnerving.

She knew Ash's room was down the hallway. When she got there, she noted that the lights weren't on. Either he was reading with a flashlight or he had gone to bed. She was betting on the latter, however. Pushing the door open slowly, she let her eyes adjust to the dark. Adele could make out his form in the blankets on his bed sheets, eyes closed, letting out soft whistles of breathing that proved he was asleep. His seraph would have to be nearby. Most Shadowhunters she knew slept with it nearby. Jace slept with it in his hands. She knew from firsthand experience that it was a bad idea to wake him up in the middle of the night. Ash, however, seemed to be holding nothing in his hands. The stele could be in the waistband of his pants but she doubted this. The seraph could be in the spot next to the mattress and bedframe and the stele could be in the drawer next to the bed.

She decided to find the stele first. It would prove the most useful to her if Ash did wake up and find her there. Stepping carefully, she moved closer to the bed. Up close, framed by the pillows and blankets, Ash looked peaceful and angelic. She was reminded of the paintings of angels that hung in the Institute. His soft and steady breathing barely stuttered even when she leaned over, reaching a hand for the drawer. The drawer slowly squeaked open and she reached a hand inside. Slowly, she felt around. The drawer was dusty and had clearly not been used for a long time because dust coated her fingers. Oh, by the name of the Angel. She was allergic to dust.

Adele turned her head away as she felt the sneeze building up in her nose. She tried to stuff it down. Not now, she thought desperately. Stupid allergies. She managed to not sneeze but now Ash had tilted onto his side, so his head was facing hers. She held her breath for a moment, waiting to see if he would wake up but he didn't do anything. Carefully, Adele continued her investigation of the drawers again.

The first drawer had a lot of dust. The second had even more dust then the first. She could feel the itch in her nose and her hand was already starting to itch. Great. She was going to get hives. Well, she'd rather get hives then stay here, that was for sure. The third and last drawer finally produced something besides a promise for allergies, although it wasn't what she was looking for.

She picked up the journal, turning it over in her hands. Itching at her hands, she flipped it open to the first page. Glancing at Ash, she saw he was still asleep; was he drooling? It didn't matter. She didn't have much time and the sooner she got out of here, the better.

It was a journal of some sort. Opening the front cover, she saw a name written in cursive. Long and elegant.

Valentine Morgenstern, it read. Morgenstern. Her last name. But who was Valentine? Another one of her relatives? Some secret brother she wasn't aware of? Briefly, she considered the possibility that it might be Ash but she dismissed the idea quickly. There was no reason for him to lie to her. Was it Jonathan? She considered this longer. It might be. He looked like the sort of person to lie about his name. Those dark enigmatic eyes hid more secrets then they let on. She flipped to the next page, a cloud of dust rising in the air. She sniffed but didn't sneeze.

January 21st 1991,

One cup Ithuriel's blood mixed in with her morning breakfast.

There was nothing else but that. Ithuriel's blood? She frowned. She knew, of course, who Ithuriel was; every Shadowhunter knew who he was. But what did the journal refer to when it said Ithuriel's blood? Angel blood was extremely rare and hard to come by. Jace had often said that, besides demon's blood, it was probably the hardest substance to come by on Earth.

She flipped the page.

January 25th 1991,

The nightmares have disappeared. She slept the entire night now. Celine's boy is safe and adjusting nicely. As for Jonathan, he can only be described as strangely lacking in remorse-

"Mother,"

Adele nearly dropped the book. Startled, she looked towards Ash but he was now lying on his chest with his arm draped across his head. Murmuring, he went back to sleep, but she knew that she couldn't risk staying any longer. Carefully, she replaced the journal in the drawer and shut it.

Well, she knew one thing-the stele wasn't in the drawer. She glanced towards Ash. She wasn't particularly eager to be trying to be rummaging around in his pants but if it had to be done…

Luckily, she was spared from that by an idea that just struck her.

It came in the form of Simon. Simon was an avid comic book reader. He had tried imparting some of that knowledge on Adele and it had partially worked; she could name the entire cast of Star Wars as well as the character they played. However, she had never really been a big fan. She remembered that when Simon was reading late at night, he would sometimes fall asleep while reading. When Isabelle or Adele came to wake him up the next morning from where he was crashed on the couch, his comic books would almost always have some sort of bookmark in them. Not a folded page or anything like that; in Simon's eyes, that was simple blasphemy, a crime punishable by death (which was easy for him to say; he was a vampire). Usually his glasses. Sometimes a stray scrap of paper.

Looking at Ash, she had a feeling he might get along with Simon if the two had ever met. It was safe to assume they might have the same common habits. What book had he been reading? The Flowers of Evil. She crossed round to the other side of the bed. There. On the floor, the book had been placed with care.

Crouching, she picked it up. There was something heavy in the book; she flipped the book open and sure enough, the stele was there.

She pulled it out. A dizzying sense of triumph filled her. She had found it. The stele. Adele set the book back down on the floor. Ash still hadn't moved and her earlier suspicions were confirmed; he was, in fact, drooling. However, her concerns right now did not involve whether or not her brother was drooling in his sleep. She was far more concerned about getting out of the house.

She set the stele to the skin of her forearm…

And nearly had a heart attack when a soft voice from behind her said, "I wouldn't do that if I were you, Adeline,"

Whirling around, she spun to find a figure sitting on the dresser at the far end of the room. Even from here, she could see the pale, almost white blonde hair that covered the figure's head and the dark, almost predatory eyes that seemed to watch her every move with little besides amusement, as if she were some small child that had not yet been explained the basic concepts of the universe.

"Jonathan," she said. Her pulse was hammering in her throat but she gripped the stele tighter. "Don't come any closer."

"Oh, you don't trust your own father, Adeline?"

"No one would, especially when their father kidnaps his own daughter just so they could have some daddy-daughter time," she retorted sharply. Her hand was shaking but she steadied herself, once more setting the stele to the pale skin of her forearm. She knew the rune she wanted to draw, she could picture it in her mind clearly but something was holding her back. She was hesitating and it annoyed her.

"Adeline…" Jonathan's voice held a distinct trace of warning. She raised her eyes, meeting his eyes defiantly.

"My name's not Adeline, it's Adele. And if you had a shred of decency-"

"Don't talk to me about decency, when the man you've been living with for sixteen years doesn't have the decency to not steal other people's daughters."

"Steal?" Adele swallowed. "He didn't steal me, he saved me from-"

"From what?" Jonathan jumped of the dresser. He made no noise as he came closer to her, moving the way a panther did-lithe and graceful. Ready to pounce. Adele backed away.

"From what, Adeline?" Jonathan's voice had turned into a smooth purr but beneath it, there was something hard and dangerous. "What did he want to so desperately protect you from?"

Adele swallowed. She knew what he expected to hear and what she was going to say.

"Stay away from me," she said instead, "I don't know you, I've never seen you before in my life."

Jonathan didn't reply. He had stopped walking, choosing to stare at her with an amused expression on his face.

"Adeline-"

"I'll use this on you!" She waved the stele wildly. When he didn't react, she moved it down to her skin, starting to trace an invisibility rune.

"That's a really bad idea, actually,"

Stiffening, she turned around. It was Ash. He was holding a seraph, pointed at her chest, level with her heart. His green eyes were narrowed and trained on her and he was still dressed in his nightwear clothes-a grey shirt and black boxers. Bearing an eerie resemblance to Jonathan, save for the green eyes, his expression wasn't as cruel.

"Ash," she said.

"Little sister," he tilted his head, smiling in a way so Adele knew he wasn't actually smiling. "What are you doing up so late? Shouldn't you be in bed? It is past your bedtime, after all,"

"You asshole," she hissed. She didn't know what else to say; her plan had been going well until Jonathan had caught her. She still had no clue how he had managed to creep up on her. Had he been in the room the entire time, watching her silently? And if he had, how had she failed to notice him?

Ash's mouth twitched like he wanted to smile but he didn't. He moved closer, pressing the blade against the fabric of her nightgown.

"Drop the stele and we can put this all behind us,"

"I don't think so," she replied. She threw the stele at us head and surprised, he ducked. This allowed her time to move out of the way of the blade, side stepping and as she did so, launching herself at him, knocking him to the ground.

She had the element of surprise and so she tried to put it to good use. Wrapping a hand around his neck, she tried placing him in a chokehold. He was much stronger then her and faster too; she felt him slip out of the hold and suddenly she was being pinned to the ground with her wrists next to her head. Ash was hovered over her hips, a smug expression gracing his pretty features.

"Is that the best you can do?"

Adele lashed out with her feet, enraged but he evaded easily. She tried headbutting him but he simply laughed, moving his own head out of the way.

"That's enough!" Jonathan stepped in. "Ash, get of her,"

Ash moved of her. Now both he and Jonathan were standing over her, looking at her similar expressions of arrogance.

Real family resemblance here, she thought sarcastically. We should get pictures taken.

"Adeline, it's an extremely unwise decision for you to try and escape," Jonathan said. He looked vaguely disappointed, as if Adele had failed him in some way.

"I told you, my name's Adeline." She launched herself at Jonathan but didn't catch anything. Where he had once been standing was now empty space. She turned around, and he was standing there, on the far side of the room, looking extremely amused.

"You'll have to be faster than that," Jonathan clucked his tongue, "tell me, who taught you to fight? Jace?"

"It's none of your business," she spat, getting up.

"If I had taught you to fight you'd be as good as Ash," he looked thoughtful, "you have even become better then me. The possibility is there."

The arrogance level here was marvelous. If there had been an arrogant-o-mometer in here, it would have exploded due to the high levels of arrogance it was detecting here.

Adele launched herself at Ash this time. She managed to bring him down to the ground, giving him a good kick in the thighs. He let out a grunt of pain and grabbed her wrists, twisting. She felt something snap and screamed, hitting him in the face, managing to give him a bloody nose. He retaliated by a sharp blow to her head which knocked her of him. The world was suddenly spinning. She wanted to puke but when she leaned over, nothing came out except dry heaving.

Someone's hands roughly grabbed her shoulders, forcing her to stand up. The world tilted of it's axis and her knees buckled as she crumpled to the ground and she lost all train of thought.

At least she had tried.

~:~

A/N: Yeah, so the book reference thing with Simon refers to the habit most book lovers have of using pretty much everything and anything they have on hand to hold their spot. Personally, I've used anything from tissues to gum wrappers to receipts. Adele basically used the logic that Ash was being lazy and had decided to grab the first convenient thing he could use, his stele. Clever or not? ;)

Anyways, thanks for the continued support guys! Please remember to review and tell me what you think. If you could favorite this story that would be great too!

Happy Writing!

-Amber :)