OKAY! ITS HERE! THANKS FOR NOT KILLING ME.. yet..! And I hope you like it! And PLEEAASSEE Review! Heheh it's kinda easier and more helpful if I know what you guys do and don't like. Not that I dont like the favs and follows but.. they dont really critizez and I know this sounds weird but There's gotta be SOMETHING screwed up in here! Sooo if you pretty please could review. Even if its just like one or two words like "Sucks!" or "Im a potatoe!" Either one would at least get me to think about something! And yes.. saying "I'm a potatoe" would actually help. Don't ask why because its had to explain. Anyway, read.. and hope ya like it.. dont have to of course. OH AND! Thanks to everyone who has reviewed or favorited or followed! I hope you all get invited to a Magnus glitter party! :D

Chapter 7: Questioning the Devil's Fire

~Clary~

By the time the door shuts, Im on the floor, slumped against it. What the hell just happened!? He wasn't..He didn't.. Shit. He knows. I bang the back of my head on the last thought.

"Hey Clare, is that you!?" I hear Jon shout from somewhere in the house.

"Ugh.." I mumble to myself,"Yeah. Just got home!"

I hear stomping and someone running down stairs. Jon pops out from behind one for the doorways and stand for a moments, confused. His eyes roam around the dark hallway, searching for me. Finally he just flips the lights on, practically blinding me. I throw my arms over my face and curl my legs up so I could block all the light out.

"Oh, there ya are. Why are you so late? Mom is about to get home and I had to make dinner and set the table! Thanks a lot! I mean really, how could ya almost be late on the first day then be late getting home!? What? Are ya hiding something, hmm?" he complains, but I know he's just joking. Though the last part he just smiled like he had no idea. I mean… he doesn't. But still. It hurts to see him be so careless about it. If he knew about me, the real me, he'd understand why at least. So I think that's why it hurts that he doesn't realize, that he's so clueless.

"Hey.. you okay?" he worries and I can hear his light tread from one side of the hall to the other, where I am. He kneels down and I look up at him. That's when his cool and relaxed look turns to sad and worried. He looks deep into my eyes and I guess that's all it took for him to notice. He moves beside me and pulls me into his arms, I lean my head against his shoulder while he runs his hand up and down my back soothingly.

"Its okay, Clare Bear. He's not coming back.. its okay. I know it will be okay." He says in a small and quiet voice. But his words don't affect me, at least not positively. I could feel tears welling up in my eyes. No! Your not allowed to cry! Ever! You know the rules. His voice wont leave my head. Why cant he ever just leave me alone?

"You don't know that.. you cant promise." I say weakly, balling my fists into his shirt.

"I do Clare. He cant find us. We'll be alright, don't worry. Your safe."

"How?" I just couldn't see how he just knew

"Because, i made sure he couldn't."

"But when I go back-" I start but he stops.

"You'll be safe then too. I'll go with you or.. or you can bring your friend Isabel. Her brother Jace told me that she's into the fashion thing. That she wanted to be a clothes designer. She'd love to go to the Julliard's school or whatever with you." He tried again. I chuckle at his attempt, only I'd know how useless his comforting act worked. It was already pretty much too late for him to save me. Or anyone for that matter. Haha! How much ya wanna bet that Jace is gonna try that crap. Or maybe he'll be just like he seems and tell Iz or Jon about it. Tough luck for him, cause no one would believe him. Not fully at least. Eh. Whatever. Its still pointless. I push him off me and walk up the stairs to my room. Pulling out my headphones and phone(Both of which, I had in my pocket.) I took off my jeans and put on my long pj bottoms. All I wanted to do was hide under my covers and fall into the music. And I did just that. All night. Even when I heard mum come home. And even when Jon knocked on the door and shouted the warning of dinner on the table. I just ignored him. I just wanted to be alone. As always. Your just an outcast. You always will be.

~Jace~

I was lost. Not like lost lost, as in I have no idea where I am. I mean seriously!? Have you seen this town? It barely made it on the map! But no. I was lost in my head. I know that probably doesn't make sense, but its exactly how it was. I was lost in my head. I didn't know what I was suppose to do or think. I didn't know whether to be freaked or or.. worried or excited or I don't know! Anything would be good! I guess I could feel all of them, you know, because I was pretty worried and freaked out about how she had and got those scars or if there were anymore. Oh crap. Please tell me there aren't anymore.. And I could be kinda excited or at least a little glad that now I had an excuse to follow her around at least! Um.. dude..? Yeah? You might wanna revise that last part. Oh.. yeah.. thanks. No problem man, anytime. We should stop this now.. Stop what? Um well.. this is uh.. kinda.. OH ya mean this talking to yourself thing? Yeah.. Yeah we should.

' I was pulling into my spot in the garage but than I get blocked off by a tiny and very sparkly mini cooper. No.. no no no! He can NOT be over tonight! I move the bike between the two cars and carefully move it into the garage. Between all of us in the family(not including Alec since he moved out. Wish he'd actually stay out!) we all had a part of the garage. Iz had her many boxes of shoes and clothes and makeup. Plus she had boxes of stuff from when she was a kid… well.. a little kid I mean. Because she still technically is a kid.. technically. But yeah! She had childhood stuff in some. Than Max had his little drum set and toys. Mom had her photos and wedding dress I think. Than I had my side. And let me tell ya, my side had all my friends places look like crap! Im not sure where to start really. I mean I have three cars(sadly only one was actually mine) plus my bike. So obviously I had some things to take care of my beautiful babies! And what kind of guy would I be without a pool table? And what if I had my guys over and they wanted a drink and I was workin on my bike or something? There was no way I was going to go all the way to the kitchen, inside if I might add, just to get a few drinks? And their gonna want more so why don't I just make it easier on myself and put a full out fridge and freezer out here(Freezer because Iz likes her girly drinks when she's out here. Oh and Alec's boyfriend uh.. Meg? Megan? Mag.. Mag.. Magnes! Yeah that's it! I think?) But yeah. That's my side and with all the other sides stuffed into this garage.. It was very necessary to carefully pull my bike in. Or anything for that matter!

When I walked in, I could here Alec's boyfriend telling another story about himself. Oh great.. it's the trip to Peru story! -.- I knew everyone was eating dinner in the dining room, but I just walked past them, causing his story to stop short as im pretty sure they all stared at me as I walked by.

"Jace?" Iz questions. I pause on the first step and slowly look over at her. I guess I must have looked pretty upset or I don't know stressed, because she just looked at me and than smiled a little sadly and sat back down. The boyfriend on the other hand… not so much. He made a huge dramatic moment of taking his napkin out of his collar(Noob..) wiping his mouth(of course that had to be the most dramatic!) than pushing his chair out and striding like some fashion model(Seriously, hand on hip and everything! It scared me) right up to me and putting his fingers through my belt loops and pulled me backwards to the table. He than kicked Alec's chair on the way, making him nearly stab himself with a fork, and gestured with his head to the chair next to where he was sitting. Alec scrambled out of his chair and pulled the other chair, swaying his arm from me to the chair. His boyfriend than pushed me into it and sat me down, than Alec pushed the chair in to where I was pretty much stuck. Magnus(Yeah! That's his name!) than walked around the table to where he was sitting across from me, than he leaned forward and rested his chin on his folded hands and smiled sweetly at me( pearly white teeth and all.. by the way.. remind me to never let him bit me. He's got some sharp looking teeth! Poor.. poor Alec. I just found some new respect for him!)

"Now, Little Jacey, why don't you explain to Auntie M why your in such a shitty ass mood hmm?" he said in a little too kind voice. How does he manage to curse and still be able to talk like that?

"I bet he lost his lucky socks or something.." mumbled Alec, but he was only answered with a cat-eye glare from Magnus. Poor.. poor.. so very poor Alec

I glanced over at Iz, hoping she'd help me out a little. She just stared back at me with an apologetic look. That back-stabbing little-

"Hun, I could sit here all night if I had to, but either you answer me now or your not going to be waking up tomorrow with that same beautiful face you think you have now" that same sweet little voice. Wait.. did he just call me ugly? My eyes widened and I opened my mouth to tell him who the ugly one is but he cut me off.

"Get over it, pretty boy. Now tell!" he snaps. I sigh and open my mouth once again to tell him. Than the doorbell is ringing. Non-stop. Damn.. someone sure wants to see us…

"OH FOR THE LOVE OF GLITTER!" Magnus shouts and stands up so fast his chair slams into the wall. He does his model stomping.. thing to the door and slams it open.

"WHO THE HELL ARE YOU AND WHY DO YOU HAVE THE SHITTIEST TIMING OF ALL TIME! I WAS ABOUT TO ACTUALLY GET PRETTY BOY TO CONFESS!" Oh. Crap..Seriously.. Poor.. Poor Alec!

There in the doorway was Jon, Jem, and Will. All of them had a worried look on their faces. I stood up slowly, hoping I could slide out the garage, but Manus(without even looking) pointed at me and yelled "SIT! We are NOT done yet!" I slump back down.

"ONE OF YOU ANSWER ME NOW!"

"We need Jace.." Bless Jon's soul! Standing up to that demon cat!

"May I ask why?" he crossed his arms and gave him his "You better not even dare test me" look.

"Well.. its kind of a family thing.." Jon started

"Excuse me!? Jace isn't part of your family at all! And since this is about my little C than you can tell me too!" Wait.. this is about Clary?

"How would you know if its about Clary?" Will tested. Uh oh.. sorry man. Bad idea. Magnus slowly walked up to him. And it's a good thing that they are the same height, because if Magnus was any shorter.. well.. I'd just felt really bad for Will.

"Do you know who I am?" Magnus asked

"Uh.. the Fruit Cup who dresses like a chick at school?" Oh shit.. this isn't going to be good.. And I was right. Magnus softly put his hands on Will's shoulders and than his face turned from sweet little kitten to wild killer tiger and he slammed his knee into Will's 'special man space', when Will bent over, groaning, he slammed his knee into his nose and I could here the cracking all the way in here. That cause him to fall down with one hand on his hurting 'areas'. And than Magnus slammed his heel into his guts than used the tip of his rather pointy shoes to jab him under the ribs. Yeah… he kinda deserved that.. but still.. remind me to never piss off Magnus Bane!

"I'm The Magnificent Magnus Bane bitch! Next time get it right!" he snapped with a final kick to his feet, earning a loud moan from Will.

"Now! Do you wanna answer my question about my baby girl or do ya wanna end up like that road kill over there?"

"Ya know, I really think you should probably know about this little thing too. I mean haha Hey! Jace doesn't even know my sister so uh.. hah. Can we like.. come in? Or.." Jon rambles nervously. And I DO know her… you just.. don't know.. I should probably tell him that.. Nah he'll ask how than and I don't wanna A) Tell him about this morning.. or this afternoon and B) I might end up telling him "our little secret".

"Yeah, that's what I thought. Now get your pretty little asses in here. Though you can leave the road kill there. Not sure he'll be able to get up anyway." He shoved them in and slammed the door shut. They all sat down in the living room. Jon and Jem on the couch. Magnus and Alec on the loveseat. Iz on the armchair with a huge bucket of icecream and a giant spoon next to her(Im gonna go with that she thinks that this is bad news. Heck I think this is bad news!) And I was leaning against the fireplace, trying not to look like I know too much.

"K, spill! I my babe ok?" Iz said through a huge mouthful of ice cream.

"Um, well, I'm not sure…" Jon mumbled, avoiding everyone's death glares.

"What do you mean "Your not sure"?" Alec asked. Wait.. does he care.. wait.. does he know her? Am I the only one who had some screwed up childhood memory issues?

"Well, she came home really really late. And she pretty much broke down the second she shut the door." Oh no. This is all my fault… "When I walked into the hall to the door all the lights were off and she was on the floor against the door just sitting there and I could see her so I turned the lights on and she flipped and put her arms over her and curled up. So I walked over to her and said a few normal brother stuff like 'Why were you so late' and 'I had to do all the chores' You know the normal stuff. Than she looks up and me and.. she just looked scared." By the time he finished the last sentence, he had his hands in his hair and was leaning on his knees.

"Was it like last time…?" Magnus asked, softly. How does this guy just change his mood like that? … Like last time?

"Um.. well. Not really. Last time, well you know.. I caught her last time. But I don't know.. she wont come out of her room since she got home." They all look down at the floor, as if they all knew exactly what he was talking about. Why cant I know anything about this?

"You don think..?" Iz mumbled quietly through her ice cream. You don't think WHAT? I want to know!

"I hope not. I left her with mum at her door. She's been trying to get in there for hours, but Clare Bear wont answer. I told mum that I would try and go get some help. So I obviously came here. The asking for Jace thing was just a cover.. Sorry dude." He finishes with a look of apology towards me. Okay. Im done!

"What! What happened that ALL OF YOU know about and I DON'T!? Because for some reason I seem to be at the end of this inside thing you all got goin on about Clary! Oh! And Jon! I do know her! Wanna know why she was so late tonight? Yeah, cause of me! Well sort of.." Before I could finish I had five hits to the torso. I doubled over, coughing hard. When I glanced up, I had five pairs of furious eyes on me. They took that the WAY wrong way!

"I… wa..was.. goin.. to" three slaps and two kicks. I fell to the ground moaning. " .. you. That I was.. only taking.. her home. She.. she went missing and I found her.. at. Oh god, this hurts." They are some seriously protective friends! " I found her in the court.. yard. Under the tree… s.. she fell asleep and I gave her a rid-" I was once again misunderstood and was punched three times from Jon, Magnus, and Iz each and Alec and Magnus kicked me while Jem, Jon and Iz slapped and punched me more. When they finally stopped I yelled out. "STOP!" I was squinting up at them all, holding my arms over my stomache. They all looked blurry and Magnus was starting to sparkle a little more than normal. "P.. Pleassse just let me.. finish. I gave her a ride HOMMMEe! She ffell asleep soo I talkked to herr for a w.. while aand took her h..ho..hommm.. I think I'm gonna puke…" Magnus elbows Alec and he ran to get a trash bin.

"Wait so.. that's it.. you just found her, woke her up, and took her home? Than why did it take so long?" Iz asked. I squinted harder at her and shook my head, causing my head to spin faster. "Alleeeecccc!" I called, falling back down onto the floor from my sitting position. He came running with the bin and Magnus snatched it out of his hands and held it to me.

"Watch the nails babe, I had to go all the way to Brooklyn for these perfect hands." He said looking away and messing with his other hand. That little..

When I was finished yakking up my lunch, I hugged the bin to me and sat up.

"Kinda.." I said hoarsely to Iz, glancing up at her.

"Kinda..? If you want to know whats going on YOU need to tell US what happened with OUR babe!" Iz shouted pointing at me than them than.. them again. I couldn't really follow along very well just yet.

"We were in the parking lot for about on hourJUST.. JUST talking! Swear on my life that we just either talked or sat there. I guess she didn't wanna go home or something. Im not sure really." i managed to croak out. I looked up at all of them and with on eye pratically swollen and the other throbbing, my jaw and face hurting, and don't even get me started on the chest and stomache!

"So… what happened?" I asked quietly. I just really wanted to know the background story for those scars and I think there were bruises too. I just want to know.

They all looked around at each other and finally(And I expected this in the least!) Alec sighed and started to speak.

"Well.."

Sorry for the small cliffy...