This is a much shorter chapter than usual, but I think I'll post fairly soon to make up for it. It's also probably the most dramatic chapter so far (well, at least the one that affects the story most.)
Thanks for reading, guys!
She met his eyes. There were far worse things than death, but she was not going to show how afraid she really was. Clary clenched her fingers into the velvety surface of the chair. Every breath she was taking was measured and even, and her eyes were steadily on Valentine's. Other than her fingers, which were rapidly turning white, there was no outward sign that they had frightened her. "And it is…?"
"I don't know why you should get to know. It's pretty unlikely that you'd understand anyway. Right, Father?" Jonathan said, menace shining in his eyes. Everything with these two, Clary thought, was word behind words. Messages, suggestions, threats, all of which were never delivered directly.
"I'm not going to do it, you know." She directed the statement at Valentine. It probably wasn't the smartest idea to be riling up the person who had a massive amount of control over you, but she never had responded well to being controlled.
"That's it. Enough of your insolence. Jonathan," Valentine looked over his shoulder at him, "take her to L2."
Jonathan didn't reply, but instead gracefully pushed himself up from his chair and walked towards her. There was something about the way he walked that reminded Clary of a vampire. Almost an animal-like poise was present in his steps, and swiftness in the way he moved. He seized her roughly by the shoulders, forcing her to stand and stumble out the door. She struggled to look back, but when she did, Valentine was watching them. Goosebumps erupted down her arms and legs, and she turned her head rapidly.
Clary sat on the cool stone with her head on her knees. How could she go from the comfort of her bedroom to a place where severity was entirely contented so quickly? Jonathan had taken her to a room with only a small window and a bed. Slate grey stonewalls surrounded her and the view wasn't much of a clue to her location. Just lots of dark woods and a few glades, with a single dirt road leading out of the place. The lock had clicked in the door as soon as he had shut it, so there were few escape routes she could plan. Questions that she hadn't had time to think about before flooded her mind now. Would anyone notice she was gone? If they did, when? What were Valentine and Jonathan going to do?
The sound of the lock turning in the door awake Clary a few hours later. Eventually, she'd stopped scheming and planning, stopped thinking and just lay on the bed. She sat bolt upright, traces of sleep fogging her mind and making her movements clumsy. The bed's blanket was warm and soft, just begging her to go back to sleep, but someone was coming. Clary had to be alert. Jonathan entered the room, grinning smugly. Behind him, someone with the pallor and grace of a vampire followed.
"Don't bother fighting, Clary." He smirked.
The vampire stepped forward.
"Simon?" she gasped. He took another step. "I'm so sorry, Clary. Please don't hold this against me." Another step closer to her.
"What… what are you doing here?" Her head was hurting and spinning, and it wouldn't stop. Simon was a vampire. Her only link to the mundane world, her best friend, the one she told all her secrets to… except one. She guessed it was the same with him.
One more step brought him by her bedside. He knelt down and put a hand on hers. She ripped it away. Betrayal and anger stirred in her stomach. He looked into her eyes, and she looked back, unable to look away. Caught in his eyes like a rabbit in headlights.
"You will be completely loyal to Jonathan and Valentine Morgenstern. You will believe everything they do is completely and totally true. And you will do everything they say. Their enemies are yours. Their allies are yours. The cause they are working towards is a valuable one. But you won't remember life before this. It will be shadowed and it won't be meaningful." Simon whispered to her, his voice, soft and persuasive. Fight it, Clary! She screamed at herself in her mind. But it was hopeless. Simon was too good at using the encanto power of vampires.
"Sleep now, Clarissa Morgenstern." He said. She obediently lay down and shut her eyes.
Voices floated in and out of her consciousness. "…it will take effect immediately…last for a while, I think."
"…if you mention this to my father, vampire, you'll find yourself plunged into a tank of holy water…redo it later...of course he didn't know!...just count yourself lucky."