Ummm... I graduated. Can I use that as an excuse for why I haven't updated in five months? No? Oh well, okay then. I'm just gonna ignore that and throw out there that I refuse to abandon this story! You guys have been phenomenal in reviewing and throwing me love and support so I can't bear to just give up. I haven't given this story thought in awhile due to my mind exploding with an amazing Percy Jackson story (it's actually quite similar to the base of this story except that Percy and Annabeth must navigate through her pregnancy and raising a baby) if you'd like to read it it's called "Don't Think So Much Annabeth".

Okay way off track there, but anyway now that I'm off until mid August I can update more. I'm trying to set a specific day to post updates for my different stories. Please leave a review, PM, or vote on the poll on my profile on what day you'd like to see this story updated on. If you read more than one of my stories, please specify which day you would like that story posted. As of right now it's looking like either a Tuesday or a Friday.

Thanks and happy reading!

Note: Robert and Maryse Lightwood will be for the most part OC, because I needed the 'unconditional doting parents' type for the story to make some different aspects work.

Months passed without incident since Jace and I had gotten into that horrible argument. No one locked themselves out of anything, we didn't fight about anything other than what to watch on the television, and most importantly summer was finally back. While the cold and winter season in general didn't really bother me, I wasn't too keen on wearing layers and layers of clothing. So now that I could lounge around comfortably in shorts and a t-shirt, my general mood had improved.

I was especially excited when Jace told me he wanted to take me to the 4th of July party his parents were throwing. I had been excited yet nervous, as I had never met them before. I knew they had adopted Jace when his parents (their best friends) had died in a horrible car wreck, but I had no other knowledge about them. Were they nice or mean? Would they like me? Did they enjoy Jace's brand of humor or did they find it annoying?

My worries were unfounded though, seeing as Jace insisted his parents adored me after I had met them. I had to believe him seeing as his mother was already planning a girl's spa day with not only Isabelle and myself but also Maia. When Izzy called her and told her, Maia went crazy and began talking to Maryse every day to help plan the weekend. I wasn't sure how much planning a single weekend took, but Maia and Maryse refused to disclose any details to Izzy or myself.

It was now two weeks after the party, and Jace had taken me to the beach for our six-month anniversary. I personally didn't feel a big deal needed to be made about it, however Jace insisted that we do something special to commemorate it. I was deeply thankful my skin didn't burn like that of the usual auburn individual, allowing me to tan on the beach and play in the water with Jace without roasting. I wasn't the best at it, but he had been slowly teaching me how to surf. The first time I actually survived a wave and was still standing I fell off the board from sheer excitement causing several other surfers to laugh and clap.

Then later that same evening we went to a simple restaurant. We had been enjoying our main course when a young married coupled approached us, mainly me, and began to gush while telling me how much they loved my paintings. I almost passed out on the spot when they offered me a contract to do a family portrait of them every year, offering each painting at thousand five hundred dollars. I had agreed in a haze, swapping addresses and numbers so they could send me the first couple photos from their engagement day and their wedding day along with three thousand dollars plus the shipping costs to send them the portraits. I was still in shock as they left, Jace laughing at the fact I was speechless.

"I told you your paintings were worth a lot more than you thought. Seems like the word is starting to get around about your portraits." Jace had manged to beat me to the hot tub in the beach house, his long legs taking up most of the room.

"I'm still wondering how they heard about me. They live in Chicago. That's not exactly close to New York, Jace." I forcefully moved his legs out of my spot before sinking into the blissfully hot water. While I did enjoy swimming in the ocean and tanning, I really liked the hot tub in the attached area of the beach house Jace rented for the week.

"Chicago has a lot of plays and musicals all the time. Maybe they were doing the same play as the Landmark at the same time, and when people would Google it both results would pop up. Then people would see the painting you did for the theater." I nodded my head, the possibility actually making sense for once. Usually Jace's theories were random crap he thought of and then spit out before thinking it through, just because he knew it would be either entertaining or annoying.

"Wow Jace, for once you didn't speak complete gibberish. I'm proud of you."

"I'm proud of me too, Clary. Thanks for noticing my brilliance.t I may just have to start applying it more often in the future." I giggled and he grabbed my arm to pull me to his chest. Strong arms wrapped around my midsection as Jace kissed my neck. I made a noise that was between a groan and a giggle, causing Jace to smirk.

"I love the odd sounds you make Clary. Not as much as I love myself, but even that can't compete with my love for you— all of you." Anyone else would have saw that as half an insult, but I knew Jace was saying that he loved all of me as a whole more than anything else, odd sounds and all.

"I love you too, Jace."

"I'll never leave you, ever. I promise." My heart swelled and I felt tears pool in my eyes.

"I promise too, Jace. I'll never ever leave you either." Jace swiped the tears from my face, and kissed me.

~.~.~.~.~.~.

It was the middle of the night when my bladder started complaining. I grumbled as I got up, upset I had to leave the warmth of the bed. I stumbled around the master suite, running into multiple things before finally locating the bathroom. As I washed my hands, I looked out the window towards the beach. I felt a bit of sadness that we would be leaving in two days, but I was also excited to get back home. I had really enjoyed my time here with Jace, and tried to shove back the small feeling of disappointment whenever someone would catch a glimpse of my promise ring and congratulate us. Secretly I wished it was an engagement ring, but I knew it was too soon. I had already tested the waters once by moving in with him after only a couple weeks, saying to hell with anyone who wanted to judge. I was twenty, almost twenty one, and could make my own decisions.

I turned to leave after drying my hands when a flash of light came from the water. I frowned, wondering what in the world it could be. No one swam at night except for the professional surfers when they had a glow stick party, and even then they were never alone. My heart dropped when I realized it could be someone trying to signal help, perhaps a child that wandered off from their family.

I ran pass Jace soundlessly, not knowing if I even had the time to wake him up. Someone could be dying right now, and I might be the difference between their death or survival. I bolted down the stairs and to the front door, only to meet a pair of arms around my waist and something cold pressed to my neck as soon as I passed the doorway. The force I had been running at caused the object to cut slightly into my throat, making me cry out in pain.

"If you want to avoid this knife becoming embedded into your larynx, I would stay quiet you stupid harlot." I vaguely recognized the voice, and thought that someone she had talked to or been around had followed them to the beach house. I nodded my head slowly, trying to stay quiet as the knife was withdrawn a few inches.

I could tell it was a man that was holding me captive, and that his eyes were black. He had a mask on and was wearing black from head-to-toe making it impossible to identify him. I wanted to scream for Jace, but knew I would be dead by the time he reached me. The blade of the giant knife my captor was holding seemed sharp enough to slice through my neck completely. I didn't want to find out if it really could.

"I knew you would be stupid enough to try and save some idiot, so I threw a light in the ocean to make you come outside. Truly Clary you have become an intellectual dullard since high school, the same as that liar Jace Wayland. I told him you were mine, not his. He was not allowed to have you and yet he disobeyed my orders! Now you both will pay, possibly with your life." Fear truly ran through me now, the realization I was going to be kidnapped hitting me hard. I wanted to speak to him, but the gloved hand covering my mouth made it impossible. This was someone from our high school, and they apparently didn't like Jace and liked me way too much.

"You will write a note to your beloved Jace telling him you decided leaving him was the best option for both of you. You will say you never want to see him again, and not to worry about your things in his apartment because you don't want them back." I nodded again, shaking as he led me inside and directed me to show him where paper and a pen would be. As he dug the pad of paper out of the kitchen drawer, I had to think of a way to let Jace know something was wrong.

I knew I couldn't think of a clever hidden message to hide in the note, and I had no way of knowing how smart this guy was— he might spot it. I almost cried when I realized that what we had shared in the hot tub earlier may have just saved my life. Neither of us had ever broken a promise to each other, and hopefully Jace would realize that when he read the note.

As I wrote my captor stood close behind me, the knife pressing into my back should I try to run. My free hand was tucked in close to my stomach, so as I wrote I pressed my nails as hard as I could into the palm of my hand. When I felt the skin finally give way the pen in my other hand stopped for a moment, and I bit my lip to stifle a cry of pain.

"Hurry up and write the last part before I save myself trouble and just kill you now. The red of your blood would look lovely in contrast to this white carpet." I took a shuddered breath and continued to write. I felt blood pooling in my other hand, and hoped it wouldn't drip down and onto the counter. I signed my name with a flourish and then put the pen in my other hand. It hurt like hell to roll it against the gashes I had created, but I had to leave something for them to know what happened to me. Jace would see the blood on the pen and know something was wrong. My captor tugged roughly on my arm and began to drag me to the door. The pen fell onto the white carpet, drops of blood splashing onto the carpet as well.

Panic seized me as the pen hit. If he noticed it then I was as good as dead. Thankfully he kept dragging me to the door, not looking back behind us. Right as he shoved me forward and out the door, I squeezed my hand as hard as possible and felt the blood run down and drip onto the wooden porch. The blood wasn't easily seen, but I knew Jace would see it if he looked for it. As the knife was pressed against my throat again I quickly flung my hand backwards, hoping a few more droplets would hit the white door.

I felt a small degree of relief that I had at least left Jace the clue I had been kidnapped, but the panic was still washing over me as I was drug to a black vehicle. A rag with a disgustingly sweet smell was shoved in front of my face, the thought of him having complete control over me while I was passed out being my last thought.

~.~.~.~.~.~.

Before I was fully awake, my arm sought out the warmth that was usually tucked up against my side in the morning. After feeling around and not even finding a warm spot on the bed, I opened my eyes and sat up. Clary wasn't in the room, and the bathroom door was open so she wasn't in there. I yawned and stretched before swinging my legs around and going downstairs to look for her. The lack of any sounds made me think perhaps she had went downstairs in the middle of the night for something and crashed on the couch, but there were no bodies in any of the rooms. Now frowning I made my way to the kitchen, stepping on a pen lying in the floor. I cursed, noticing the odd colored red ink I had just busted all over the place on the white carpet. I would have to pay for that to be cleaned before we left.

I left the pen lying on the floor for the moment, going into the kitchen area to grab a cloth to pick it up with. As I turned from the drawer, I noticed a notepad lying out that hadn't been there the night before. I saw Clary's signature and smiled— she probably had went out to go get something. I picked up the note, calmly reading until I realized Clary hadn't went out for something.

Jace,

I'm sorry to leave in the middle of the night, but it was the only way I could do this.

We're not good for each other and I believe it's best that we never speak to or see each other ever again. What we had was fun, but now it's over.

Don't worry about my things here or in the apartment. I don't need them back and you taking them to me would be too painful.

Thanks for everything.

Clary

I was shocked when a few tears hit the paper. Swiping at them I tried to collect my thoughts into some semblance of order. There had to be a logical reasoning to this.

The note said Clary was leaving me, and it's in her hand writing, but the hand writing looked odd like she was shaking as she wrote it. She could have been crying as she wrote it, explaining the shakiness, but why are there no water marks aside from my own? We had just promised to each other last night that we would never leave each other, and we made it a point to keep our promises no matter what.

Something was terribly wrong.

Ice ran through my body as I cautiously walked over to inspect the pen lying on the floor. The writing on the paper was in blue ink, not red. I punched the floor in anger as I realized the pen was covered in blood. Some of it had already dried, the other parts still slick with it. I noticed the considerable amount of blood on the pen and the other drops on the white carpet leading to the door, which meant Clary had been bleeding badly. I whipped out my phone to call the police as I ran to the door. I almost tripped as I stopped suddenly at the frame, spotting the droplets all over the porch instantly. Blood had also been flung onto the door, the brownish-red color standing out glaringly from the white door.

"Hello, 911 what's your emergency?"

"My girlfriend's been kidnapped, please send someone immediately." I hung up, knowing it would get them here faster than if I explained. I quickly dialed another number, knowing she would be the best person to help me find Clary.

"Hey Jace, what's up?"

"Isabelle, I need your help now. Please get here as fast as you can, take the jet and I'll get the landing cleared. Clary was kidnapped last night." I heard the dial tone, and knew Izzy was on her way. I gripped my hand on the counter so hard the wood creaked and my knuckles turned white. I wanted to cry, but I knew that would help nothing.

"I'll find you Clary. I'll find you alive. I promise."

Well this is quite the cliffhanger, but it was well passed time that the plot began to pick up into the dramatic climax. I only envision this story to continue on six or so chapters, including the epilogue. As of right now I'm thinking a sequel, but it all depends on the demand of one. If no one responds that they would like one, then I won't write it. But I do have a plot written out for it, and it's ready to go if interest is shown. Hope you enjoyed this chapter, and I'll try and post the next one by Friday.

Read and Review!