Sorry! i know its been a month and like a half, but at least its not 6 months! heres the thing, last year i had to take a restraining order out on a classmate and so i couldn't go to that school any more, thus i had tutoring then went from 9am to noon and that was it, so i had more time last year to write and publish and do everything! but now i get on the bus at 6:40am and i don't get home until 5pm, so all in all yeah, might be more timed updates. not so many. anyhow, thank you all for hanging in there!

~T

Clary POV:

I've been staring at the wall for days...maybe two or three, I can't tell. I found that I didn't quite need sleep, and my energy was endless. My stomach only growled a little, showing that I was moderately hungry. My mind was still over-loaded and a deep, heavy feeling has settled into my chest, something dark and depressed.

Looking at the door which Jonathan had come through only hours ago, I could hear the absent sounds of the TV still playing through the wood, although the various music, grunts, and sound effects lead me to believe that it's a video game. Standing for the first time in what felt like forever, I walk over to the mirror on the wall. I close my eyes and focus, finding my wings. I feel the sharp numbing pain and I open my eyes without emotion to look at them. They were smaller... Possibly a 5 foot span as compared to my 20 foot span back at the Bone City. Confused, I narrow my eyes and will them to grow bigger, and sure enough, they obey and stretch another 2 feet. A sigh escaped my nose and I tilt my head to farther examine them, intrigued and fascinated. My vision becomes more solid and pure, and I can see every detail, every spec of dust in the air and every detail on every feather. I look closer at one of my feathers... It was white... And black. A dark ink staining its roots and spreading into the white. I reach back and touch it, thinking that maybe it's dirt or something…

There's nothing on it- It's natural... Suddenly, I hear the door close and I look over to see Jonathan standing there staring at me. As if by some newfound angelic instinct, my wings retract, disappearing into my back quicker than I thought possible. The sudden jerk of my wings causes my back to snap to an arch. The pain that accompanied it is so quick and violent that a scream escaped my lips and I fell to the floor, seizing violently and uncontrollably. My vision went blurry, and then it was as if I were watching from above my body.

I watched as Jonathan slowly walked over to me and picked me up, placing me on the bed gently and taking my vitals before leaving and returning with a cool, wet cloth. He rested it on my forehead and stares at me in such a possessive, lustful way. Why doesn't he understand that it's wrong?

I feel the pull, tugging me back to my body, but I don't want to wake up to this… I see the light and I know what will happen if I resist it... I'm not doing that again, so I let the force tug me back, snapping me into consciousness like a rubber band. My eyes opened with a snap and my breath caught in my throat before I was able to gasp in a decent breath. Jonathan sits in a chair next to the bed with his lips pursed and his eyes set intently on me. I glare back in a small act of defiance.

"Why are you here?" I ask, my voice sharp and crisp.

"Hello to you too. You've been in here for days. You need to eat; and what ever else it is that you nephilim need," he says plainly.

I eye him carefully. "What did you see?" I ask slowly, wondering what he saw when he barged in. To my horror he smirks.

"You've been hiding, angel." As he says that, My eyes go wide and the air in my chest is seemingly stuck for a moment

.

"Dont worry, your secret's safe with me," he practically purrs towards the end.

"Listen, Jonathan," I say and I shudder as his name rolls of my tongue, feeling dirty by just saying it. "We are siblings, we're blood related. The way you're acting- it's not right. It's incest. You want me in your life, fine," I pause, almost gagging at the thought of spending more time around him. "But not like this. This romantic vision of yours won't happen. But if you want me in your life like a sister, then fine. It's not just going to happen, though. Prove to me that you want me like a sibling should and not like a testosterone over run boy." I finish with a small smirk of my own, not realizing what was happening.

I stared at Jonathan and he stared back, we both sat in this silence for a while before he shifted in his seat and spoke.

"Very well, then. Anything else that you want?" he breathes gruffly.

He's not giving up, is he? He still hopes that we can happen, but… maybe it can… I think as I look at him. His silver hair like snow and his eyes black like coal. Could I have imagined it or did it seem like those lumps of coal burned with a hunger… for me? And is it worse to say that my heart rose in my throat when I looked at him? No…

"Well instead of just asking what I want, perhaps you could actually- oh I don't know- get to know me? It's not like we've been separated our whole lives or anything," I say sarcastically.

He shifts uncomfortably. "Well, what's your favorite color?" he says back with equal or more sarcasm, but it seems almost nervous.

I huff. "Idiot." I roll my eyes.

I roll over on the bed to face the far wall, and I hear him get up, and I think he's gone. Until I feel his fingers tracing the still-open wounds on my back. It stung and I let out a hiss and arch my back away from his touch. His hand pauses for a minute before it disappears.

"Do they hurt?" he asks quietly, almost… caringly.

I nod my head and am returned with silence.

Jonathan POV:

I stood there looking at her back… Two bloody lines formed a "V" shape and ran down her back where the wings had been. They were bloody and fresh, yet they were already scabbing over. The blood was smeared on her back and the bed, along with my arms from carrying her to the bed. Her scars…they looks gruesome. Looking at them made me think of the ones Valentine had inflicted on me, but… Valentine wasn't here anymore. I remember it clearly still to this day.

One Year Ago:

The crack of a whip sounded as it came down on my back. Blood, my blood, dripped off of my hunched form and to pool on the stone floor. I hated him. Another crack and I had to bite my tongue not to yell out. I despised him. Anger boiled in me.

"You're completely worthless, boy!" he said. "You had one job, and you screwed it up yet again! Find the girl and bring her back, that was all you had to do. You're a disappointment, Jonathan. You stupid, half-breed, imbecile!" He yelled and three more lashed bore down on my back, tearing the skin and sending agony throughout my entire body. I can't do it anymore...I can't handle this.

He raised it again and brought it down. It didn't collide with my back though, instead my hand had reached out and grabbed it. It coiling around my arm from the momentum, slashing my arm, and I pulled. Valentine fell to the floor in surprise, and I stood over him with a wolfish grin. I won't put up with this anymore.

Blood dripped all around me and covered my torso. I stared into his eyes. Greedy dark orbs like mine cowered back. I lowered my head to his neck and bit down, tearing the skin. His blood filled my mouth and I hated it, and yet loved it all at the same time. It was a rush to have that power, but the taste was awful, foul and rotten. It made my stomach curl, so I released and watched as his life bled out of him.

"Bastard." I said and I kicked his corpse, spitting his own blood back at him. I kicked again and again until I had had enough and let out a angry, saddened scream.

I barely even remember picking up his body and dumping it someplace. I do, however, remember how I went from person to person drinking their blood. Some were sweet and some were sour. Some like pits of black tar, and some as plain as water. But then there was Clary's…. Clary's was light, heavenly, angelic. Pure… And I needed more.

I looked at her, her face turned to look over her shoulder at me. I felt a twinge in my heart as I bore into her big, beautiful green eyes. I saw a hint of... fear? I don't want her to fear me.

I couldn't bite her again… I wasn't the monster. Valentine was! He was the foul, evil, disgusting monster. But I am not. I am stronger than him, I am better. I will not harm my sister, I will care for her. She will see all that I can be- I will make her proud of me.

A warmth passes through me, and I am slightly shocked by it. Why do I care what she thinks? Why do I strive for her approval? I am a weapon wielded to fight the Clave, and nothing more. I am nothing.

But then I looked at the small, fragile creature in front of me and I felt as though I could not breath. She was so beautiful, so perfect.

What is wrong with me? Why do I feel this way towards her? I do not feel. I am not supposed to feel. But I want to. I want to feel...to feel love. Is that what this is? Love. The word seems to bring an airy lightness to it, and I like it.

I'll show her that I can be just a brother… That I can get to know her and love her. Then maybe, just maybe, more can happen. Maybe some day, she will feel the same towards me.

Isabelle POV:

Two hours. Two hours have gone by now, and still no sign of Simon. A few rats scurried in front of me but they were no more than average sewer rats.

"Simon!" I called out, not caring if I attracted attention; the vampires were already long well aware I was here. I walked for another 10 minutes, scouring the place.

"Simon!" I called once more. I heard a squeak when I stepped forward, my foot brushing on something. I jumped back and looked down. A brown rat looked up at me intently, sniffing my shoes and the air around me.

"Simon?" I ask. The rat climbs up onto my shoe and scratches at my leg. It's definitely you, I think as I bend over to pick him up. I hold him up at eye-level to look at him closer. After a second, he scrambled out of my grasp and climbed up my arm, nestling into my shoulder between my neck and hair. If a rat senses something and goes hiding… Well, it can't mean anything good.

Sure enough, a vampire emerged just ahead of me from a shadow. Dark hair, olive skin and fangs poised and ready to kill. I took a step back cautiously, readying my whip.

"Señorita," the vampire spoke las he raised his arms in an act of peace, saying that he wasn't going to harm me. I still didn't back down.

"Return my friend, and you won't be harmed," he continued calmly, an easy air settled around him.

"Your friend? He's my friend, and his name is Simon!" I retorted haughtily.

"I'm pretty sure that his name is Ed," he said sarcastically.

"His name is Simon, and we'll be going now," I said with annoyance started to back away. I reached the stairs, but not before I backed into a wall of cold flesh, with arms that closed around me. I screamed and my elbow came back, hard. A swift blow to the vampires side made his grip loosen just enough so that I could easily slide out. I got out of his reach and started to move away once more while keeping my eyes peeled, my whip coming back, ready to snap.

The one who spoke Spanish leapt out at me, and instinctively the whip came forward, striking him across the face and body, before sending him into a wall. Taking the open chance, I started running, flying down the stairs and into the lobby once again. I had almost made it to the door when a hand gripped my shoulder and and pulled me back with such force that I was thrown to the floor.

Simon fell off of my shoulder and a tall, bulky-looking vampire picked him up. Simon squealed and bit him, causing the vampire to drop him. As fast as his small feet could carry him, he ran back to me as I was getting up. He climbed back on my shoulder, his small claws digging slightly into my skin to stay put. I stood and turned, taking a full inspection of the room.

Hundreds of vampires circled around us, forming an impenetrable wall with nowhere to escape. I readied my whip.

I'm not getting out of here, but maybe, just maybe, I could hold them back long enough for day to break, I thought as I stared at the glass windows in the front of the lobby. The sun was just beginning to rise, turning the black night sky into a deep blue, slowly lightening. 15 minutes. That's all that I need. I looked back at the vampires as they parted way for the Spanish speaking one.

"Who are you?" I ask bravely.

"My name is Raphael, young Shadowhunter," the boy spoke in a smooth voice. He looked so young, so pristine and untouched by the world. So innocent.

But I knew what he was doing. That's what they do, vampires. They speak soothingly when they wanted to calm their prey, for a less of a struggle and an easier take-down. They hypnotize Downworlders and even mundanes into being their own little information desk, or even a continuous food source.

No. I wasn't going to be anyone's food. Not tonight, not ever.

"Listen, you leech. I know what you're doing, and it's not going to work," I say, my voice slightly cracking from the tense situation. I wouldn't be like this if Alec were here with me.

But he's not, and I have to deal with this on my own.

Raphael tilts his head bemusedly, and studies me closely. "Oh? And what exactly am I doing?"

"That thing you vampires do when you want fast food, hypnotizing your prey until they practically throw themselves at you."

"Ahh, but my dear bloodling, I am not hypnotizing you ,nor am I hungry ."

"If I am not food then make them go away," I say, eyeing the sizeable cluster of vampires surrounding us.

I watch as he waves his hand and the vampires back away. He himself takes a step closer.

"Now, if only you'll give me Ed," he says.

"I told you he's not Ed. It's Simon."

"We do not have Simon here. What is he? Faerie? Warlock?"

"Human, and Warlock Bane turned him into a rat after he showed up at his house," I say in exasperation. I shouldn't even have to explain this to him.

Raphael snorts and laughs. "Serves him right," he says and then he pockets his hands and looks up, blowing a breath and looking back at me. "What will the Clave say? A mundane knowing about the Shadow World?" He tsks at me with his tongue. "Probably nothing, as the other Mundanes won't believe a thing he says. They'll probably just lock him away. It's you, though… you'll have have to face the Clave's wrath for not being discreet."

I narrowed my eyes at him. "How do you know?" I ask, daring him to challenge me.

"I have my ways," he smirks.

"What ways? And what do you know about the clave?"

"Everything, Miss Lightwood."

I choked back a gasp. How does he know? Do I smell? How?

"How do you know my name?" I ask, my hand readying my whip for battle.

He grins, fangs exposed once again. I take a step back, but once again, I back into something. I support beam, this time.

He sniffs. "Lightwood blood is as light as air. But I can still smell you," he says as he stalks forward. I just stare, and then feel Simon crawling down my back and into the hood of my leather jacket.

Raphael comes closer, much too close for my comfort. I can feel his unneeded breath spreading over my face. I turn away, making the mistake of exposing my neck to him. As soon as I realise this, I feel the piercing pain of his teeth sinking into my flesh. My eyes go wide and I gasp quickly before I feel the burning of his venom, causing me to scream.

The slow procession of the rising sun continues on, but the vampire was protected by the shadow. My blood loss becomes noticeable, hitting me hard. My screams fade away into my throat, and my muscles became weaker than I've ever felt them, and I was soon unable to fight. In the distance I heard the sound of glass shattering, but I was too weak to look.

As soon as I heard the growls, though... Werewolves... I felt a slight pain as Raphael's fangs retract from my neck, leaving me weak and feeling empty. I see him turn to fight as I fall to the ground. I attempt to keep my eyes on him, but blackness tugged around the corners of my vision. I saw a Werewolf snap at the vampire, and he jumped back immediately.

I was very aware of the strong, muscled arms that lifted me up and started to carry me away. I enjoyed the warmth that surrounded me, pressing me into this man's naked chest. Warmth was the last thing I remember feeling before the blackness overcame me completely.

Later:

I woke up in an apartment bedroom, beige walls, platform bed, simple art and a dresser with a TV on top. Simple and nice. I peeled back the covers and saw I was in sweatpants and on over sized t-shirt that had the logo on it for 'garroway books' I stood and went to the door, pressing an ear to it. No sound. I opened it and took in the family sized kitchen and dining area. plates from what must have been earlier stacked next to the sink.

"hello?" I called out

there was a clang and I jumped. a young man walked out of a doorway from behind me, next to the room I was in.

"sorry, hi, im kyle, jordan kyle`." he says and outstretches his hand for me to shake