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Flymeaway xxx
*****
Jace clicked his fingers at the barman who, although giving him an extremly disapproving look, poured him another vodka. He drank it straight tonight. He wasn't in the mood for namby pamby drinks that just beat about the bush. He wanted to get drunk. As fast as possible. A flock of girls hovered around him reluctant to get close but also reluctant to leave. Jace had beaten them away afew times already tonight but he knew, as much as they did, that he was going to fold soon and that it wouldn't be long until he was welcoming them with open arms. If the ever drink took effect that was.
For some reason, it wasn't making him forget tonight. Clary swam in front of his eyes, which he promptly squeezed tight before downing the drink. He clicked his fingers again and another appeared. He was twirling the small glass between his fingers, staring at the rainbows the light cast off of it, when he was slapped in the back. He turned abruptly to face the attacker with his fist raised.
"Hey, Crazy," Travis stood towering over Jace, "Not seen you in while," Jace didn't reply. He didn't even stand up. He knew that he could easily beat Travis in a fight, especially now that he saw Travis as nothing more than a pesky little human. "Mind you, I haven't seen any of those invisible folk either. Right bunch o' trouble they are. You must have seen them right off, ta for that, mate."
At this Jace turned back to the bar, threw the vodka down his neck, and melted into the crowd ignoring Travis's words completly. Girls positivly threw themselves at him. Blondes in short skirts rubbed themselves against his supple frame as he passed; brunettes wearing nothing more than bakini tops stroked his face; even a few red heads were there grasping at his designer clothes. He couldn't look at the red heads.
His stomach was twisting madly. He needed to find Simon and get out. Bodies pressed against him as he tried to force his way to the door. It seemed as if nobody knew who he was anymore. Travis was suddenly at his side again so, in an attempt to win enough respect to simply get out of Pandem, Jace hit him. Hit him hard. The crowd roared as Travis fell backwards... and gasped as he dissapeared. Only Jace could see his body fold in half multiple times before it vanished.
Jace laughed to the crowd, for no reason really other than to fill the void of shock his face had begun to show. Then, he swagered out of the club. It must have been the endless years of practice that enabled him to act so cool when inside he was shaking so hard that it felt as if his organs couldn't function. No one stood in his way or pushed up against him as he left, everyone looked at him with horrified awe. Jace didn't like it. He had made himself a figure of hate not power like he used to be.
He walked in the drizzling rain. It ran down his back and puddled in his leather shoes. He estimated the time to be about 2am, but there was no way to tell for sure. All of a sudden, he found himself in his old neighborhood. He must have made his way out of habit. His head was so foggy that he knew he wouldn't have been able to find his way here on purpose. He stood in the middle of the road. It was quiet, nobody was around and all the windows were dark. He looked at Tom's old house, it looked so decrepit, as no one had ever lived in it. Jace had no desire to enter the building which he didn't find very odd, what was strange was the pull that the house next door to Tom's had on him. It was very well kept with a small green patch of grass surrounded by well kept borders of flowers in front of the door. The windows were painted a powder blue and although the curtains were closed and no lights were on, the house eminated a sense of warmth and security. It seemed true.
Destiny.
Jace found himself walking towards the front door. He tried the handle but it was locked. Just as he was about to smash the door down, it was opened by a small old lady who had to dive out of the way as Jace landed face down in her hall. He got up quickly muttering about how he had ment to do that all along but the woman was gone. He heard a clatter from a room at the end of the hall and followed the sound into her kitchen. She was boiling a kettle and setting out cups.
"Tea?" she asked,
Jace was slightly taken aback at the hospitality she was showing to a stranger who had just tried to force entry to her house in the middle of the night. "Sure," he replied mystified.
She set a cup on the table and gestured for him to sit down. She sat opposite him, waiting.
He took a sip of his tea and smiled timidly, relieved that it was plain tea with no bergamot; Clary was brought to the very forefront of his cloudy mind again. His smile seemed enough for the old woman and she began to drink hers too. They sat in silence for a long time but Jace couldn't take it any longer,
"Sorry, but why did you let me in?" he asked,
"Well, if I hadn't have let you in, I wouldn't have a front door." He noticed that her voice didn't sound nearly as old as she looked,
"Right." Jace couldn't understand how he had managed to get himself into such a strange situation. They were silent for a time again.
"Why are you here?" the lady asked out of the blue,
"I don't know." Jace admitted. They lapsed into silence once more, then he suddenly realised what this was about, "Because Clary wanted me to come." The truth was liberating.
She smiled widley at him. "Yes. Why did she want to come here?"
Jace thought for a while, "It was the first step to finding out about my Uncle, I suppose."
"Yes..." She was trying to coax something out of him,
"And...she wanted to find him?"
She sighed exasperatedly, he just wasn't getting it at all, "Look at the whole picture, Jace. Find the parallels." How she knew his name he was unsure but it seemed as if a lot of strange people did these days, which was slightly disconcerting.
"What do you mean?"
"What's the same?"
"I don't understand..."
She was clearly getting annoyed now, "Okay, okay...Let's start with what you want."
"I want a lot of things and no offence but I really don't think you can give them to me. I have to tell you that if you try I will hurt you, it's not beyond me."
"No, you imbusile! What are you looking for?"
"Clary." The word came out of his mouth before he stop it.
The old lady's wrinkled face broke into a grin. She had very few teeth. Jace had to swallow back vomit. "Good!" she exclaimed, "Now, what were you trying to find before she was taken?"
"Tom?"
"Yes!"
She was waiting again but Jace was now beyond confused. "I'm sorry..." he began,
"Look boy! Look...What is the same?"
"We are both looking for something?"
"Almost...I thought Shadowhunters needed to be smart."
"I'm new."
"Doesn't mean your allowed to slack...THINK!"
Jace felt great resentment towards this woman. She obviously knew what he needed to do, why didn't she just tell him already? He tried to think as she had advised but he didn't know where to start... That was it!
"Your where I need to start!" She smiled again, and listened, "Clary knew! She wanted to come and see you so we could find Tom. She thought he had been taken by Jocylin, like she has now. So if you could help her find Tom, you can help me find her!" Jace blurted out,
"Well done, boy!" Jace flinched at the word 'boy', he had never been a boy, he was always far more advanced than that. "But I can't help you enough. You won't make it on your own,"
"What do you mean? I don't need anyone else."
"Really? I think you do."
"Fine." Jace gave in to humor her, "I'll bring Simon with me," he had forgotten all about Simon. Guilt flooded him, he would phone him asap.
"He won't do."
"How do you know? You don't even know who he is."
"I know he's a Mundie with a balance problem and lack of social skills." The way she said 'Mundie' left Jace in no doubt of that fact that she wasn't human, "You need Nephilim support. Preferably a partner."
"My Nephilim support is Clary."
"You won't make it to Clary without support!" she raised her voice, "You need Alec and Issabelle, it's the only way."
"Is there nobody else? What about you?"
"HA! I'm not Nephilim!"
"Oh," Jace felt extremly stupid,
"You'll need this!" The lady exclaimed as if she had just suddenly remembered. She handed Jace a glass wand.
"Crap." he stated as he stared down at the stele, "I mean, how am I even supposed to use this?"
"Ask Alec." she said before ushering him out of the door.
"Thanks." He mumbled quietly as he walked down the street.
"YOUR MOST WELCOME DEAR!" he heard her shout.
As Jace walked back to the institute, he was filled with a new found hope. The way his strange neighbor had acted, there was still clearly hope for Clary. However, he wasn't looking forward to talking to Alec...he just hoped Izzy was better by now.
*****
:D
