"How long ago did he go missing?" Jonathan asked.
"I don't know," Clary said frantically. "At least a week. I haven't seen him since Jace came to stay with me."
The three who weren't wearing glamour runes were given curious looks by the rest of the people in the waiting room.
"Who would have taken him?"
"Maureen," Isabelle and Clary said in unison. They looked at each other in surprise before Isabelle continued. "She's the leader of the New York Vampires. Simon accidentally drank her blood before she was Turned, and she was kidnapped and almost killed in an attempt to get to him."
"How do you know all of that?" Alec asked.
"Simon told me." Isabelle sniffed.
Jace snorted into his shirt. Isabelle had been hoping to keep her renewed relationship with Simon a secret from her brother, but he could easily see that she wouldn't succeed.
"Please help us Jonathan." Clary pleaded.
"Of course. Although," He glanced over at Jace. "Jace won't be able to keep up with us."
"It's okay," Jace said wearily. "I'll just go back to the Institute and sleep."
He could already feel the lethargy settling in, clouding his mind. He shook it off, though, and pulled his arm back from where it rested on Jonathan's shoulders. He waved off the hand Clary offered him and began heading towards home.
"I'll be fine, just go." he told them as he walked away. He could hear his bed calling him from here.
-‹◊›-
The Hotel Dumort was eerily quiet in the fading daylight. A crumbling monument to times past, it silently dared the Shadowhunters to enter and seek out their friend.
Jonathan took the lead, with Alec and Isabelle behind him and Clary at the back. She was vaguely irritated at being left in a position of relative safety, but she also recognized that, as the weaker point, she would need more protection. Clary was the weak link. It was as simple as that.
Jonathan drew his sword, its gentle glow illuminating the gloomy hotel. They were quiet so as not to alert the waking vampires to their presence.
A loose floorboard creaked under Alec's foot, and they froze, waiting for some sort of alarm to sound. Nothing.
They continued on, placing their feet with greater care.
The hotel had an oppressive atmosphere; Clary felt as if the building itself was trying to choke the life out of her. She wished for something, anything, to break the ominous silence that engulfed them.
Suddenly, a muffled thump echoed through the hotel, followed by the clank and clatter of chains. As one, the group turned to the left, the direction the sounds had come from, and, after silently exchanging glances of confirmation, crept in that direction.
After a minute of stealthy creeping, they reached the vampire.
The vampire was chained to the wall by her hands and feet and softly murmuring to herself.
"Please, somebody help me, please, please…" her voice trailed off into meaningless whispers.
She obviously smelled them the moment they entered the room because her head snapped up from where it had been resting on her chest, her nostrils flaring. A wide, manic grin spread across her face at the sight of them, and Clary felt a flicker of fear. It was a trap.
"Nephilim, my Father is coming for you. The end is here. Darkness is falli-" the vampire's voice rose as she raved, until she was cut off by Jonathan's sword through her throat.
Clary stared at him, half in awe and half in wariness. He was so unassuming in appearance that she had forgotten that he had been the one who had first summoned Raziel.
"There are no more vampires in here. We should leave." Jonathan said as he wiped the blood from his sword.
-‹◊›-
Clary called her mom as soon as they left the hotel. The phone almost went to voicemail before Jocelyn answered.
"What?" her mom snapped.
"Something happened. All of the vampires have -"
"Disappeared, yes, we know. All the Downworlders are gone, and the demons are attacking in greater numbers than ever. I'm sorry, but I don't have time to talk." Clary could hear the exhaustion in her mom's voice.
"Do you want us to help?" she asked, unease curdling in her stomach.
"No, don't. Go to the Institute and prepare." Jocelyn commanded.
"What about -"
"Idris is under attack too. There's no one." she said quietly.
"Luke?" Clary asked, afraid of the answer.
"He's gone. Goodbye Clary. I love you." Her mom hung up, leaving Clary staring at the darkened street in shock.
Her body felt numb, her mind empty. She stared at the lit up buildings, full of people unaware that their only defense against demons was being slowly overwhelmed. Those lucky people.
"What's wrong?" Isabelle asked, breaking Clary out of her thoughts.
"The Downworlders have been taken against their will, and our parents are under attack by a lot of demons," She swallowed before continuing. "Idris too. We're probably next."
The other three were horrified by the news.
Clary felt the blood drain out of her face when she realized that Jace didn't know. He was vulnerable now too, weak from whatever training Jonathan was putting him through.
"Jace." she gasped as she whirled around and sprinted towards the Institute. If they were lucky, they would catch up to him before anything ambushed him.
Isabelle and Jonathan followed a beat later.
No one noticed Alec slip away, headed for another part of the city.
A/N: Sorry it's a little late guys. Writing the first part was a little like pulling teeth, in case you couldn't tell. Before I forget (like the last eleven chapters) : I don't own the Mortal Instruments. Those belong to Raziel.
