Chapter 10
Back again! Sorry for the cliffhanger, that's why I spent all morning writing this for you guys! Not much to say today… alors je te presente… Chapitre 10!
Once Clary was inside she was astounded. Everything to her right was in flames. Her office, Simon's office Hodge's office were all in flames. Luckily Izzy's office was on the other side of the Institute so it was merely filled with smoke. Simon's lab would be in ruins. Even though it wasn't burning, the smoke would definitely kill the insects, reptiles and plants. Luckily the bone room where Penryn's remains and Sebastian were was not affected too badly by the explosion, but if it spread any farther, it too would be destroyed. She took a breath the started coughing. The smoke was getting thicker. She pulled her jacket sleeve over her hand and held it to her mouth, using it as a filter from the smoke. It didn't work very good but it was better than breathing in full on black smoke.
She walked towards the bone room, then her walk turned into a jog, then a full on sprint. She reached the bone room coughing, thankfully the air was cleaner in there. She was leaning against the door for support. "Se-cough-bastian!? Izzy!?" No answer. then she saw the remains. They were all where she left them but then she looked over at the skull to see a rolled up piece of paper in between the mandible and maxilla. She picked it up to reveal a chart of letters and numbers. Over the chart it read: suivre la carte, lire la colonne vertébrale, écrit sur les bras, la clé est trouver. Clary knew what it said. She looked down at the spine, the vertebrae had been re-arranged. She quickly pulled out her phone and grabbed a picture. Then she heard a groan. She turned around quickly to see Sebastian lying in the corner, his arm was gushing blood. "Oh my god, Seb," she whispered and ran over to him. His eyes slowly opened and he hissed in pain as she touched his arm. "Oh my go-" she was cut off by a loud band. She ran towards the doorway and looked out into the Institute. The fire was making it's way towards the door, one of the windows had cracked and broke from the heat, allowing oxygen in and the fire to grow. Shit she thought. She would have to cary Sebastian out of there or they would both die. But she still hadn't found Isabelle.
"Clary?!" she heard someone yell. It was Jace. She knew it. She turned to Sebastian quickly. "Don't you dare fall asleep on me Seb," she said then ran over to the doorway. "Jace!" she called before coughing from the smoke. He looked over and saw her. "Come on we have to go!" he called to her. Clary shook her head. "No! I found Sebastian! I ne-cough-need help getting him out!"
At that, Jace raced towards the bone room. He looked about as shocked and as out of breath as Clary did when she came in. "Grab his other arm!" Clary said, carefully taking hold of Sebastian's injured arm and putting it over her shoulder. He was coughing a little and was starting to close his eyes. Jace then lifted him up off the floor and put his other arm over his shoulder. "Let's go!" Clary stopped and started looking around frantically. "Wait," she said. "Where's Isabelle?" she asked. "She's outside!" Jace called. "Come on!"
They raced through the Institute, they were sweating and coughing loudly on their way towards the door. They made it but their victory was short lived when another window broke and the flames exploded towards them causing Clary to yelp. The made it through the door only for all three of them to fall onto the concrete. Clary looked down at her leg that was now beginning to sting. She had at least a 2nd degree burn on her lower right leg. Jace has a few on his hands and Sebastian had one on his arm, thankfully not the bleeding one.
…
A few minutes later Clary's burn was treated and Jace's hands were bandaged up from the burns on his knuckles. "You're crazy," Jace said walking over to Clary. "You know that right?" Clary chuckled. "Ya, that was kinda stupid now that I think about it," Jace looked at her. "Kinda?!" he said. "You jumped out of a moving vehicle and then ran into a burning building! Kinda stupid doesn't even begin to describe it. Clary moved over on the bench for him to sit next to her. "But then again, Sebastian probably would have died if you didn't go in there to get him. The firemen would have been too late."
Clary blushed a little. "Well, ever since my parents and brother disappeared, I was alone. No other family, no friends, and when I came here, I just felt like I was home." she said looking at the partially burnt building. The fire had been extinguished for a few minutes now and the firemen were checking whether they would have to tear the building down or if it could be repaired. "Isabelle, Simon, Hodge, Sebastian, Maia, they all became family to me. Even if all I did was work. And when Simon said that Izzy and Simon could still be in there, I just couldn't let them die. I didn't want to lose everything again."
Jace put an arm around her shoulder and pulled her close. She flinched a little at first but then leaned her head on his shoulder as he rubbed her arm. Then Hodge came over. "Clarissa," he said and Clary sat up. "Ya, Hodge what is it?" Hodge looked behind him to where Sebastian was being treated by a paramedic. "You might want to see this." he said. Clary and Jace looked at each other then got up and made their way over to Sebastian.
The bleeding had mostly stopped on his arm but the cut marks were visible. On his arm were knife marks made into letters. It spelled: NQP RSU FUJW OARTLEER KTRN - R.O. Izzy and Simon soon walked over and when they saw it. Iz put her face in the crook of Simon's neck and he rubbed small circles on her back. Before anyone could say anything there was a slamming of a car door. That made a few people jump. It was Alec. There was a man with him wearing a dark grey suit with an electric blue and bright pink sparkled tie. He had bright gold eyes and black spiked hair and he was wearing blue… eyeliner? "Izzy!" Alec called. Isabelle looked up and ran to her brother. "Are you okay?" he asked hugging her. "I'm okay," she said quietly. "I'm okay."
"What happened?" he asked. Simon spoke up. "There was an explosion in Clary's office." he said calmly. "The Institute was in flames." Alec looked over at the Institute, black and charred from the fire. Clary was paying no attention to what they were talking about. She was looking at the writing on Sebastian's arm. She pulled out the paper and looked at the message written above the chart. Suivre la carte, lire la colonne vertébrale, écrit sur les bras, la clé est trouver.
"Écrit sur les bras…" she whispered. Then it hit her. "Guys…" she said. "You might want to see this." Soon she had the whole crew surrounding her. "This piece of paper was in the victim's mouth when I went to get Sebastian." she said showing them the paper. "It says: suivre la carte, lire la colonne vertébrale, écrit sur les bras, la clé est trouver. It's french for; Follow the map, read the spine, written on the arms, the key is found. There is a chart on the paper, which must be the map and the spine was completely re-arranged on the victim and the writing is on Seb's arm," she said.
"The killer left us a message."
Dun dun DUN! What does it say?! You'll have to wait and see! Magnus showed up! Yay Malec! In the mean time everyone… eat some cupcakes. You cannot resist the awesmazingness of cupcakes! Enjoy, as always!
-TBBG
