Alright, just for everyone's information, the mystery man will be revealed IN THIS CHAPTER. As in, you've run out of time! And FYI, only ONE of you got it right. (BTW, the italics part is Clary's memory so we don't have to go through the convo between her and Jace and everyone.)
Clary tried desperately to release the scream that was building in her chest as her body was yanked and pulled through the strange vortex. She didn't trust herself to open her eyes as she plummeted to only God knows where.
Eventually she collided with solid ground, smacking her knee off of a rock.
"Ow!" She exclaimed, pushing up off of the ground. Looking around, she realised she wasn't all that far from the Institute...
"Clary," someone uttered her name like a greeting.
She turned, expecting to see something terrible, murderous, and completely lethal when, as it turned out, it was only Raphael.
Clary stared at the vampire warily, what was he doing here?
"Raphael?" Clary eyed him. "What are you doing all the way out here?" Did he fall into the vortex too? "I thought you were back at the Dumort?"
Raphael chuckled, a hollow, sinister sound. There was something about him that was truly terrifying Clary... "Child, are you simply so naive to think that I am here coincidentally?"
"What are you talking about Raphael? I'm going back to the Institute!" Clary turned and began at a quick pace back in the direction of the Institute. She got no further than 2 feet before Raphael was in front of her again.
"I'm afraid I can't let you do that Clary," He smiled sympathetically.
"Why not?" Clary made to go around him but Raphael was too quick.
"Because, that would ruin everything. You see," He took another step closer to her, maintaining eye contact. "I have this little...plot. And you being there is getting in the way."
Clary eyed him warily. 'Raphael, I-"
"You don't seem to get it sunshine." He snarled, becoming more menacing than Clary had ever seen him. "Stay away from the Institute. Get a new life, new friends, new name, and whatever else you can think of. Because if you don't... Jace dies."
.
Clary, Jace, Isabelle, Alec, and Magnus walked stealthily up to the sewage drain behind the Dumort. Maia had returned to the Institute, claiming that one trip to that hotel was one too many for her.
Clary kept her eyes opened and she glanced around, ready to pounce. The past year she had spent in gyms, trying out for sports teams and general training. She was no longer scared little Clary, and Jace was about to find that out.
They swished through the knee-deep green drain water, everyone flinching when they heard even the smallest of sounds. Eventually, they ended their jumpy trip and arrived in the basement portion of the Dumort. The walls were oozing mould and water pooled in the corners where the bricks met the rotten linoleum.
They passed several rooms, all with common names like: boiler room; kitchen; electrical; equipment; and storage.
A red flag went up when Clary read the word: Storage. She stealthily pointed it out to Jace who nodded and motioned for Alec to follow him. Isabelle took the other side of the door behind Clary. In one great motion, Jace kicked in the door, startling the life out of a certain vampire...
"Simon!" Clary exclaimed, throwing caution to the wind and flinging herself at him.
He sat there, shell-shocked for a few second before wrapping his arms securely around her.
"Clary? How? I mean, oh screw it, I don't care! You're alive!" He exclaimed, standing up. Clary grinned at him, turning to leave when Jace told her to wait. He was looking around the room slowly, examining the doorway like it was about to explode.
"Going somewhere?" A smooth voice sounded from just out of their line of vision. Raphael stepped forward, revealing himself to everyone. "Clary, I see you've returned. Against my warning, might I add?"
"What do you want Raphael?" Jace snarled. There was a scuffle going on outside the door, but he ignored it. "What have you gained from this little trick?"
Raphael sneered. "I didn't appreciate Clarissa's game that she played when we bargained for the Daylighter in the first place. I figured that everyone was happy this way."
"Ha!" Clary scoffed, folding her arms across her chest.
"And what did you plan to do with Simon after all this? He would've escaped from here eventually." Jace rebutted, ignoring Clary's outburst.
"I didn't plan to keep him here long enough for him to discover how. When the situation died down I was going to dispose of him."
"And how were you going to do that? You can't kill him."
"There are other methods." He sneered. "Such as attaching him to a metal weight and letting him drift to the bottom of the pacific."
"Yes because that would've worked so well." Jace rolled his eyes. Sometimes amateur villains could be so naïve.
"I guessed that the rune Clarissa put on him would wear off; if I remember correctly, they usually do. It was only a matter of waiting. I also assumed that Clarissa would bite her tongue for longer than she did."
"Well you assumed wrong, no matter what you or your friends do, we're leaving here with Simon."
"That's what you think!" He snapped viciously. He then lunged forward, taking Jace's throat in the crook of his arm. Jace reacted immediately, elbowing Raphael off of him and flinging him into the wall. Clary responded by pouncing on the infuriated vampire and pinning him to the wall with her dagger jabbed through his shoulder. "Where are your little vampire buddies Raphael? Don't they care for their puny leader?" Clary hissed in his ear.
Raphael hissed venomously, tearing himself free from Clary's grasp. "They don't necessarily agree with what I'm doing. They refuse to help." He snarled bitterly. "Although I do have at least one ally in this situation."
"You mean her?" Isabelle yanked a petite female vampire into the room, knocked unconscious. That would explain the scuffle Jace heard...
Raphael let a fierce growl rip from his chest as he launched an attack at the nearest person: Clary, but not before Alec had torn out his Seraph blade, holding it firmly to Raphael's throat. Isabelle took her whip out, wrapping it around his wrists, rendering escape impossible.
"Raphael," Jace whispered authoritatively. It amazed Clary how he could sound so demanding while his voice was barely audible... "You have violated the rules that we have set for peace between our kinds. For this, we have no choice but to vanquish you. Any last words?"
"Stop!" Clary interrupted, throwing herself in front of Jace as he pulled out a blade of his own.
"What?" Jace sounded annoyed, as if he just wanted to get this over with.
"We don't have to kill him." Clary explained. "We can banish him instead."
"Clary..." Jace started to complain, but Clary ignored him.
"Raphael," she addressed the scowling vampire. "You are hereby banished from New York. Leave and never come back." Raphael shoved Alec away from him, fixed his shirt, spat at Jace and Clary, and left without another word.
"So," Isabelle sighed. "That's that. Let's blow." She flitted out of the room with Alec and Simon, after a smile at Clary, following her.
"Where did that come from?" Jace smirked at her, drawing her small body into his.
"I told you Jace, I'm not Clary anymore." She smiled. "I'm a whole lot more than that."
"I hope that dominating attitude goes farther than speaking to vampires..." Jace grinned wickedly, Clary returning his smirk.
"Oh it goes much, much farther." She gripped the neck of his shirt, pulling him in roughly to tangle her tongue with his.
.
After a teary proper reunion with Simon, Clary scampered off to Jace's room, preparing for a much-needed sleep. Jace was already there, staring out the window intently, like he was thinking about something.
"What wrong?" Clary asked, running her hands over Jace's shoulders, applying a bit of pressure in an amateur massage.
He remained silent, letting his eyes drift closed and his breathing slow in tune with the motions of Clary's hands.
"Hmm?" Clary insisted, sitting down cross-legged, behind him, moving her hands a bit lower.
"I was just thinking," Jace replied distractedly, exhaling slowly. He felt his muscles starting to relax with Clary's consistency.
"About what?" She continued; placing random light kisses on the back of his neck and shoulder.
He was silent for a long time, pulling Clary down with him onto the bed. She continued to massage his shoulders while he contemplated telling her what was on his mind.
"Clary... I've been thinking. Maybe we should... I mean maybe it would be better if... if we left the Institute." He admitted, dropping his head onto the comforter.
Clary paused her movements momentarily, picking it up again after the initial shock had worn off.
"Where would we go? There really is nowhere..."
Jace rolled over, stopping Clary's movement and facing her directly. He began idly playing with a strand of her fiery hair. "I don't know Clary. But we'd find somewhere; Dominican, Fiji, Hawaii... anywhere. This whole ordeal with Raphael has made me realise how dangerous our...profession really is. I don't want to lose you again." As he said the last line he pulled her down to him, cradling her cheek against his chest.
"Speaking of Raphael...what about him?" Clary reminded him. "He's loose now, if we leave the city he may come after me again... there'd be no boundaries stopping him."
"If you remember my dear Clary, he was never after you. He was after Simon. If you left, there'd be no way for him to use you to get to vampire-boy. You'd be safe..." He trailed as the thought of them finally being secure wandered into his mind. "I'm just thinking that if you were away from all of this chaos, then you might be able to live a fairly normal life. You can't here; if it isn't an attack on Simon, it's a demon terrorizing a local dance club. If it isn't a higher-up coming for an inspection, it's something else. We can never stop Clary; not if we stay here. Even if we quit they'll call us anyway. Our only option is to leave."
"I don't know Jace... what about everyone here?" Clary understood where he was coming from, but she was unsure of whether or not it was the right thing to do.
"I'm not suggesting we run away Clary... I'm suggesting that we... move out, so to speak." He had moved to rubbing soothing circles on her lower back.
"I don't know... I just don't want to think about it right now." Clary finally answered, slowly drifting off to sleep.
"Alright baby, we'll talk about it later."
And they would talk about it later, this Clary knew for sure.
REVIEW PEOPLE! Ok, Poll: Should Clary and Jace leave? Or should they stay? (Breaks out into: Should I stay or should I go? Because I'm a dork like that :P) Let me know :) Oh, and sorry about all the emails, I had a few issues with this chapter... (Thanks again to Sabs7 for the reminder! Hope the edited version is up to standards :D)