Disclaimer: If I was Cassandra, I wouldn't be wasting my time writing this.
Song of the Chapter: This Ain't A Love Song – Scouting for Girls.
It wasn't long before Jace was reclining on a soft bed in a near-by hotel: unluckily for him, he hadn't had the persuasive powers of the Lightwoods' to secure him a house of his own. Still, the hotel itself was nice, all pastel colours and soft lights. The only thing out of place in his immaculate room was the scowl painted onto his face, almost by Clary herself. Why had no one warned him of the waiting before he secured a job for the Clave? He'd been told to wait at least forty-eight hours upon returning, so the Clave could make a decision. What decision was there to make? He was Jace Lightwood, after all.
"Excuse me?" Light pooled into the room from the ajar door, from which a pretty girl's head protruded. Her long, red hair cast a dark tint across the room, matching Jace's mood. Jace raised an eyebrow moodily, not even bothering to reply. "Um... there's someone who wants to see you in the lobby. Should I, um, send her up?" Typical. They sent him the one who couldn't even string a coherent sentence together in his presence without a million 'um's'.
"At this time?" Jace's voice was sharp, cold. "Ridiculous. Who?" He couldn't help taking out just a little of his anger on the irritating girl. The girl's blush deepened.
"Um, a girl." Jace raised his eyebrow further: how descriptive. But he couldn't deny his rapidly speeding-up heart. "Long hair, I think." Finally, something useful. And evermore intriguing. A girl with long hair... his heart was beating rapidly now, not far from leaping straight from his chest. All the tension and hurt he'd felt earlier was locked away in the far corner of his mind. It couldn't be... it wasn't her. There was no way, not after the look she'd flicked him as she left, loaded down with pain. It couldn't be her.
"Send her up." He said shortly, making a split-second decision. The girl nodded, her cheeks a furious shade of red that rivalled tomatoes, before ducking out of his room and scurrying away. Jace suppressed a slight smirk at her reaction to his, well, god-like body.
He waited for what seemed like hours, but could only have been minutes. When the door finally opened again, his head snapped up immediately. The door didn't let out even a slight creak, but his super-sharp hearing could come in handy in even the most mundane of situations. His heart was in his mouth, almost choking him with hope.
"Jace?" His heart sank straight down to his toes: the voice was too high, too breathy to be Clary. Even her name sent a jolt of pain through him.
"By the Angel, what?" His voice was laden with irritation and anger. "What is so damn important that you feel the insane need to talk to me now?" He was taking it out on someone he hadn't even looked at yet. When he did, his bad mood tripled.
"Jace..." Aline's voice was tear-choked. "I was just... just worried about you..."
Jace bit back the insane urge to growl at her.
"I don't care," The thing he wanted most in the world right now was for her to jump out of the window and not get up again. "I don't freaking want you to worry about me, that's not for you to do. It's for my family. I mean, Angel, do you not understand hate? Heads-up, it's what I feel towards you." He realised after how harsh his words had been, how cutting, but he was way past caring. His vision was almost tainted with red, he was so annoyed.
"Please, Jace, you don't understand..." Aline moved towards him, only to feel the full strength of his fist connecting with her cheek. She cried out in pain, but his face was impassive, set in stone. "Clary... Clary..." She choked on the blood she was spitting out: he'd knocked a few teeth out as well as near-destroying one side of her face. Jace's face seemed to come back to life just as Aline crumpled; he hadn't known she was so weak, and he didn't really care at this moment in time. Clary...
He grabbed her shoulders, hoisting her up roughly and shaking her violently. The blood from her mouth hit his face, but he hardly noticed.
"What about Clary?" He said roughly. Aline looked at him weakly, despair etched in every line of her face.
"Demons... went to her house," She said, seeming to grab back something of her diminished strength. "And... they killed her. I'm so sorry Jace... So sorry..." She started to sob again, clawing her way into his frozen arms.
He didn't notice. He didn't stop her. He didn't care. The world was... meaningless. He couldn't imagine a world without Clary, without her warm, auburn curls, the way she smiled, the way her lips moved against his, the way her face lifted in a smile when she saw him, the way her eyes lit up when she beat him at his own game... His own life was meaningless without her. She made him strong, the opposite of everything he'd ever believed.
He stood, Aline falling from his lap. She hit the floor hard, crying out. Jace looked at her a split-second.
"Jace..." She took her chance, her voice suddenly strong again, "Maybe this was... meant to happen, y'know?" Jace's glare could kill; his eyes pierced through her like a knife. "I mean...." She quickly backtracked. "Maybe this gives... us... a chance?"
Jace had thought himself beyond feeling. A hot surge of pure, amazing rage proved him wrong. Aline's face turned from hopeful to terrified as he raised his foot above her head.
"No... Jace! Please!" She begged, but it was too late. He brought his foot down, feeling the soft tissue break easily beneath his heavy boot. Once he started, he couldn't stop: he took out every inch of rage he had on her, everything. His face was impassive the whole time.
The whole ordeal was strangely quick, her breath leaving her not long after Jace's first enraged kick. Once it was over, he didn't feel any better at all; in fact, he felt worse. He'd just killed a girl. Not a demon, a girl. He was no better than Valentine himself: he was a cold-hearted, murdering monster. He didn't deserve Clary, but he still felt the overwhelming urge to join her. A world without her wasn't worth living in. It was an urge he couldn't suppress as he left the hotel swiftly, leaving a few £20 notes on the hotel clerk's desk.
Unknown to him, an invisible force drifted through the halls of the hotel, feeling every live source. If he didn't find someone suitable soon, the Underworld would once again claim him. It wasn't long, however, before he slipped into a girl's head, latching onto her brain like a leech.
A/N: Sorry sorry sorry, short and intense chapter that's late too. . Sorry, school concerts and my internet keeps crashing on me. It should be fixed now though, so I'll HOPEFULLY have another, longer, better chapter up tomorrow. Alright, to clear something up from the last chapter...
Imperfection is a book about all the Shadowhunters' flaws. .
The 'magical' smoke came from when Valentine 'disappeared'.
Anyhow. Thankyou all so so so so so so much for the reviews for the the last chapter, you brought my faith back (: 3 Thankyouuu! Please review this one too, to make my day? ^^
