Chapter Twelve
When Clary opened her eyes she soon wished he hadn't. The room she was in was very dimly lit but from what she could see the walls were splattered with blood. It was small, with stone walls and a single flickering light overhead. She felt as if she'd been trapped in a horror movie.
As Clary tried to sit up she felt a sharp pain at the back of her head and her vision went a little fuzzy. She quickly decided it would be better to stay down, as she didn't want to black out yet again. She finally looked down at herself. Her boots were nowhere to be seen and her gear was gone, leaving her in a tight black tee shirt and black leggings. She assumed that all of her weapons were gone as well as they had all been stashed in her gear.
Kicking herself internally for getting so distracted, Clary tried to evaluate the situation she was in. It was obvious that she had been kidnapped and most likely by either vampires or werewolves. That thought brought tears of fear and despair to her eyes and she quickly wiped them away. Stay calm, she thought, assess the situation and find a way out.
She glanced at the single, small, presumably locked, door across the small room and sighed. It was steel and probably very thick, she wouldn't be able to break it or the lock. Clary still didn't know where she was and who took her. She was fairly certain it was the vampires as Luke would be furious if the werewolves had done this. If vampires did this, she thought, then to get past them I would need a seraph blade or… she jolted slightly making her head hurt worse. Holy water! Of course, and maybe I still have the one in my shirt. She quickly glanced down at her chest, inside her shirt. She had put a vial of holy water there in the worst case scenario occurred with the vampires, which it had. She smiled as she saw the vial and pulled it out of her shirt.
Staring down at the small bottle she was surprised when the door creaked open and there was a faint clicking sound. She gripped the holy water in her hand, holding onto it as if it were her only hope of surviving, which it probably was. A vampire strolled in, wearing a black suit with slicked back dark hair. His skin was pale and she could see the black veins underneath it, which meant he hadn't eaten in awhile. Trailing after him was Lily, in a sharp gray pantsuit and heels, owing the clicking she had heard earlier.
The vampires shut the door behind them and Clary gulped, no matter how many years of training how to handle bad situations and how to fight, it was difficult to fight the feeling of sheer terror flooding through her. Lily smiled and her fangs snapped out as she said, "Hello, Clarissa." She walked towards Clary slowly, her hands clasped behind her back. "You're probably wondering why you're here, aren't you?" She looked expectantly down at Clary, who was still unable to sit up but tried to look menacing from her position on the floor.
"I know why I'm here, Lily," She spat, putting an emphasis on her name. Lily raised her eyebrows in mock surprise and crouched down to get a closer look at Clary. Clary kept her gaze steady and defiant, despite the fear she felt.
"You do? Well go ahead and tell me, this should be interesting." She said, and her eyes danced with amusement and she cocked her head at Clary, awaiting an answer. Clary thought carefully, and quickly, as she needed to give Lily an answer.
"I understand that the land disputed tonight was originally yours, however, it's public property now and if we had given it to your clan you would've eaten every mundane that stepped onto it. The werewolves will at least stay away from the mundanes."
"Ha! Stupid little girl, you're here because every single time those mutts try to take our rightful land you always give it to them." Lily was breathing heavily and flecks of spit flew as she talked, "Vampires never win. You are biased towards them because your stepfather is the pack leader! I don't see why they even allow you to be the "diplomat". You're just a dumb little bitch with the "angel boyfriend", well hey guess what life isn't a fairytale! So until the Clave gives us back our land, you're stuck here, so I suggest you behave." And with that she turned and stormed out of the room, leaving Clary bewildered and in pain on the concrete floor.
...
Jace slammed his knife point first into the library table and yelled, "Will you just be quiet! Clary has been kidnapped, we have no idea where she is and all you idiots are doing is arguing! We need to find her, it's been 12 hours and we've done nothing!" Jace was panting and every person in the room was staring at him with a mixture of fear and disapproval.
"Jace," Magnus started carefully, "we're doing all we can, we have no clue as to where she is and all we're trying to do is find a place to start. We don't even know who took her and my tracking spells aren't working."
Alec piped up helpfully, "Actually I think we've all agreed that it was most likely the vampires. They were the most angry about the deal and since Clary was the negotiator…" He trailed off as he saw Jace's face. He smiled guiltily at Jace and Magnus who were glaring at him, "Sorry, I'm just trying to help."
"Yeah well you're not!" Jace exploded and after seeing Alec cringe away from him a look of guilt crept across his face. "Sorry Alec, you're not the one to blame here." He turned back to Magnus and asked, "Alright, how are we going to find her?" Magnus started to open his mouth but Jace held up a hand and said, "No I don't want to hear who we think it is, I want to find her, so if you can't tell me at least a way to find her, you can stay silent."
Magnus sucked his teeth and took a calming breath, trying not to yell at Jace. "We know where Lily usually takes her… captives," he said carefully, trying to avoid saying the word 'victim'. "We can send you and a few shadowhunters to go check it out, it's not a guarantee that she'll be there, but it's our best shot." He shrugged slightly and looked expectantly at Jace.
"Finally! Why the hell couldn't you have said that to start with!" He threw his hands up in exasperation and turned to leave. Alec jumped up and gestured to a few other shadowhunters to join him as he followed Jace out the library door.
After they had gotten their gear and weapons together, they left the institute in a swarm of black, Jace stomping ahead, scarily silent. They took the subway and within 15 minutes they had reached the ominus house that Magnus had said was where Clary might be.
It was something straight out of a horror movie, decrepit and dark, with boarded up windows and a slanted roof. Jace didn't even hesitate. He moved quickly and quietly inside, Alec a just behind. The house was a maze of twisting dark hallways and occasionally they would see blood splatters or bloody handprints on the walls. Jace assumed the dungeon would be in the basement so he crept down a creaking wooden staircase towards the basement, becoming more grateful for the light-footed rune he had on his upper arm with every step.
…
Clary dragged herself to a sitting position and had to immediately lean on the wall behind her, her head spinning and her stomach lurching. She blinked hard and opened her hand, looking at the small vial of holy water, possibly her only hope of escape. With a deep breath that hurt her broken rib, she struggled up and stood, leaning heavily on the concrete wall. She breathed quickly, feeling like fire was raging throughout her body. She groped along the cold, hard wall, her vision blurry and the room spinning around her. Finally she reached the door and pulled out the extra stele she had hidden in her hair. With trembling fingers she unlocked the door and pushed it open carefully.
The vampire standing guard a few feet away was large and muscular, covered from head to toe in fresh blood. She shivered at the sight of him and was sure that if he as much as looked at her, her knees would buckle and she would pass out, the prospect of fighting him was out of the question. She opened the vial and crept up behind him, very grateful for the stealth training Jace had given her. She tapped him on the shoulder, and when he turned she threw the holy water in his eyes and as he screamed, she used her last burst of adrenaline and ran. She ran, up the old wooden bloodstained stairs and kept running, blindly and without direction.
And suddenly, she ran into a wall, no not a wall, a person. Jace. She briefly glanced at his shocked face before her vision went black and she crumpled to the floor, Jace's arms reaching out for her frantically.
Jace was creeping down the stairs when he heard running and heavy breathing, he stopped and drew out his seraph blade, ready for a fight. When Clary, her bright red hair matted with dried blood, ran right into his chest. He immediately grabbed onto her arms as she pleadingly glanced at his face before her eyes rolled back in her head and she fell to the floor. He grabbed onto her waist and scooped her up into his arms, turning to Alec with a look of panic. Alec immediately ran to him and checked Clary's pulse and nodded at Jace. After this brief exchange they immediately left, without a word. Rushing back to the institute.
…
When Clary opened her eyes she was in the institute infirmary, propped up on at least 4 pillows and laying next to her was Jace, his arm protectively around her waist. She looked down at her arms, covered in iratzes, and tried to remember what happened after she escaped that horrific room. As she sat there, remembering the holy water, and the stairs and Jace's arms around her as she fell, he woke up. She looked at his sleepy face and smiled, his golden hair was rumpled and his eyebrows were drawn together in a look of concern. He blinked and said, "You're awake, how are you feeling? Are you in pain? Am I hurting you?" He went to draw his arms away but she shook her head.
"No don't, I feel better with your arms around me, I always do." His smile was heartbreaking, sad and loving and so very open. So very unlike how Jace usually looked. He brushed a hand lightly over a bruise on her cheek, that same look of worry on his face. She closed her eyes, savoring his touch, trying to forget about the pain in her face and her head and her ribs. He kissed her lightly before he pulled away to look under the bandage on her forehead.
Jace found it difficult not to cry, he usually had no issue shutting down and hiding his feelings completely, but Clary looked so fragile, so hurt, that he couldn't bear it. He checked her injuries, making sure that the iratzes had continued to heal them and repeatedly asking her if she was in a lot of pain, to which she always responded that she was alright. She was so tough, no matter what, even when she didn't have to be, it was one of the things he loved about her. He thought back to when they had returned to the institute, the look of fear and worry of Magnus' face as he had rushed them to the infirmary. He remembered how broken she had looked, extremely pale with a black eye and bruised cheek, her head bleeding and her chest rising shallowly and inconsistently.
He had refused to leave her side even when Magnus forcefully told him to move away, that he had to work. After the iratzes and magic had started to work, Magnus had left and Jace had curled up next to Clary's sleeping form, wrapping his arms around her and falling into a deep and fearful sleep. But she was back, and she was alive. And for that, he was so grateful. After he'd checked her all over, making sure she was ok, he looked back at her face. She was crying, silently, tears sliding down her cheeks. He was startled and immediately said, "Are you ok?! What's wrong, what did I do?"
She laughed slightly at his worry and caressed his cheek, "I love you. I love you so much, you are the best man I've ever met. You've done nothing but make me see how incredible you really are." And that pushed him over the edge, he started crying, tears falling onto the white sheets. Clary looked surprised but then pulled him up and kissed him, hard. Her hands slid into his hair and he gripped her waist, and they continued kissing for many minutes after.
Oh my god. Wow I'm SOOOOOOO sorry, I haven't updated in so long and I'm really really sorry. And I left you on a badly written cliffhanger, I will try to write some smut by the end of February, I really do apologize, life gets crazy sometimes. But I did update, I hope you like it. Again I really apologize. I will update soon, I promise. - Meg
