JACE POV - THURSDAY

I was in the woods, and I could hear her voice floating through the trees. I didn't know who she was, but I knew I had to find her. I spun around and saw a flash of red through the trees. I ran after her, but she was always just out of reach. Ahead I could see the edge of the cliff. I screamed at her to stop, but as she turned to the sound of my voice, she went over the edge. I ran to edge, but all I could on the rocks below was a red cape.

My alarm went off startling me awake. I had barely slept in days, and while these dreams were better than my usual nightmares, they were unsettling. I hit snooze and buried my head under the covers. I was almost asleep when I was startled again by the sound of somebody pounding on my door.

"Get up, or you'll be late!" Izzy screamed.

"Fuck off," I yelled back, pulling myself out of bed.

I threw on jeans and a black shirt, not bothering to check in the mirror I left. Alec was waiting on the porch talking to Izzy, she turned to me.

"About time loser," she turned to Alec, "Bye." She hugged him and went to leave.

"Yeah, love you too," I mumbled, lately she seemed angry at me. I wish I knew why. She turned back to me with a sigh.

"I do love you, but you're an ass and need to learn how to treat people better." With that, she walked down the steps and left. I didn't have the energy to decipher what she meant.

"You ok?" Alec asked.

"Yeah," I said with a small smile. He patted me on the back, and we headed to the car. I let him drive.

"So, any news on the Clary situation?' Alec asked.

"What do you mean?' I asked rubbing my head.

"I don't know, have you talked to her?"

I'm not sure if it was because I was exhausted, or I needed someone to confide in, but I didn't hold back. "She is driving me crazy," I sighed, "She dyed her hair and straightened which makes me both angry and disappointed. Then I tried to apologise to her, and she told me to fuck off. All because I ruined some book that was probably given to her by an old boyfriend, 'Jonathan' and she doesn't listen, and it drives me mad."

"Wow," Alec said with a smirk.

"No, we are not going there." I shook my head, "She is just irritating, that's all."

"Sure..." Alec said. Again, as soon as we arrived at school I escaped from him.

My day was miserable. I was too tired to focus, Jordan was excited about the song he and his partner were working on for music, I just nodded pretending to listen. Then came to for music class. Jordan excitedly walked to his table without another word for me. Out of curiosity, I watched him, realising I didn't know anything about his partner. To my surprise, it was Maia, Izzy's friend. I had a feeling he was excited about more than just the song.

Cautiously I sat down next to Clary, she didn't even look up. We spent the whole lesson in painful silence. Every time I tried to speak, the words would die in my throat. One of her pencils started to roll off the desk, we both reached for it at the same time, our hands touching. She jerked her hand back with a hiss and furiously started collecting her things. The bell went, and she left before I could say anything.

I was so over everything, so I decided to skip last period. I wandered around the halls, killing time before the final bell.

I was about to walk downstairs and head to my car when somebody slammed into me. They were about to fall, so I reached out and wrapped my arms around them. It was a girl, her body was pressed up against mine, her hands knotted in my shirt. She looked up, startled I realised it was Clary. There was a panic in her eyes and something else. At that moment she took my breath away.

"Are you OK?" I asked, and she nodded in return. I struggled to find something to say. She looked frightened and exhausted. Different from her usual closed off self. Guilt started to claw its way back into my chest. I was about to speak when the bell went, and she jumped away from me. She turned and literally ran away from me. I couldn't blame her.

That night I tossed and turned. In my dream, I could hear the mystery voice, and once again I followed her. I was running as fast as I could through the dense twist of the trees. Branches snapped and cut my skin, but I kept running, desperate to save her. She was always just out of my reach. "Stop! Please, you have to stop!" I cried, but she kept running. The fear gripped my heart, and there was a sinking feeling in my stomach. I could hear my heartbeat pounding in my ears, we were approaching the cliff. "No!" I screamed as she went over. I dropped to the ground sobbing and looked over the edge. This time there was a body in the red cape. It was my Mother.

I woke up screaming. Sitting up I wrapped my arms around my knees and cried. My nightmares had crossed over, and I could never imagine my mind allowing me one night of peaceful rest. I dreamed of my Mother often, but that never dulled the pain of seeing her dead eyes staring into mine. The only thing that made her go away was heavy alcohol and the occasional strange girl in my bed. Lately, I had neither. My waking thoughts drowning in the guilt of Clarissa and my dreaming thoughts of her.

I needed to take the edge off. Stumbling to the medicine cabinet, I found my secret stash of sleeping pills. I down a couple with vodka and crawled back under the covers.

When I awoke again it was to the sound of bells tolling throughout the house. Rubbing my aching head, I got up in search of aspirin. Who the fuck is ringing the bell? I thought as I swallowed the pills. Everyone who usually came over knew to either text or let themselves in. Maybe Izzy ordered stuff online again.

I headed down to the kitchen. The elevator was in use, so I took the stairs and ran into Max. "Hey, Buddy," I said ruffling his hair, he scowled at me. "Who was at the door?"

"Izzy's new friend, Clara or Claire? I'm not sure." He said with a shrug. "Can you make me a grilled cheese?" He asked.

"Of course," I said as we headed into the kitchen. I didn't remember seeing or hearing about Izzy having a new friend. Something about it nagged at me, but I decided to shrug it off, focusing on Max instead. "So how was school this week?" His eyes lit up, and he launched into a story about how he kicked the winning goal in soccer.

A couple of hours later Jordan and Magnus showed up. Together with Alec, we grabbed a couple of drinks before heading to the music room. As we got close, I could hear music wafting down the halls.

"Izzy and the girls." Alec sighed, "I told her we had practice today."

I was about to comment when I heard the voice. It was the same voice I heard at the park, the one that haunted my dreams. My mystery girl.

I walked faster and stepped into the room, the boys following behind. Izzy, Aline and Maia were playing their usual instruments with a fourth addition singing with her back to us.

She had large brown curls, a knitted jumper, skinny black jeans and a pair of boots. I tried to remember all of her occasional friends at school but none of them matched this description. My heart beat anxiously, and there was a strange feeling in my chest.

The song finished and the girl seemed to sense something. She turned around, and to my horror it was Clary. It felt as if a heavy weight was being pressed into my chest.

"Fuck." She whispered into the microphone.

Yay, another chapter. I have so many plans but struggle with the writing (Slowly getting my mojo back). I hope you enjoy this and just a heads up, this story may get dark. I'll post warnings at the start of those chapters. Please leave me feedback and as always thank-you for reading!