Disclaimer: I do not own The Mortal Instruments characters.

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CHAPTER THIRTEEN: THE UNQUIET BEAST

Jace and Clary take turns driving until they are out of the state and well into the endless plains of Missouri. They only ever stopped for gas and food, so when Jace pulls the car onto a barely-visible dirt road, Clary questions him.

"Uh, where are we going?"

"This is our date night," he responds.

She looks around outside the open window at the surrounding corn. "But . . ."

Jace smirks. "You'll see."

She opens her mouth, but then Jace suddenly turns the wheel sharply to the left, causing her to scream. He drives right through the maize field.

"What the hell!" Her voice is uneven from driving over the rugged dirt.

Jace just laughs—a beautiful sound—and sends a wink her way. "Live a little!"

She only stares at him incredulously and holds on for dear life as Jace continues to do donuts in the cornstalks. Eventually, he pulls over near the edge of the new, man-made clearing. He jumps out before Clary can say anything.

Maddie appears in the driver's seat almost immediately. She takes one look at Clary's pale, horror-stricken face and cackles. "Your face!"

She points at her and Clary smacks her hand away. "Shut up," she places her hand on the door handle, but before opening it, she says to Maddie, "Could you stay away tonight? I don't want to have this night ruined."

She crosses her arms over her chest. "Pfft. Sure, whatever." And she pops out of existence.

Clary blinks, stunned. It's occurred to her that she's never seen her physically leave; she was always just gone. Shaking her head, Clary pushes the door open and jumps out of the truck. Her boots sink into the mud and she makes a face. She rounds the pick-up and finds Jace rummaging through the bed of the truck. He shoots her a heart-stopping grin when he sees her. I will marry that dimple, Clary swears.

He pulls out a cooler and asks, "You okay? I didn't mean to spring that on you."

His concern for her is so endearing, she walks up to him and wraps her arms around his neck. She kisses him. His shoulders relax as he wraps a free arm around her and deepens the kiss. He tugs and licks her bottom lip until she opens her mouth. A low groan escapes from the back of his throat. Clary pulls back, and he growls. She kisses him once more, simple and chaste, and pulls away before he can pull her in again.

Her fingers play with his hair. She smiles lazily and say, "You're adorable."

Jace leans down and touches their foreheads together. He brushes his nose against hers, feeling warmth on her lips as he laughs breathlessly. Her heart stutters and she resists the urge the kiss him again. "Excuse me?" he finally chokes out.

Clary shakes her head and kisses the corner of his mouth. "Nothing. You're cute, that's all."SheI pulls herself away from him completely. "Now, how about that date night?"

He grins at her devilishly and pulls out several heavy blankets and a lantern from the bed. He leads her over to the center of the clearing, lays down the blankets with the softest on top. He orders her to sit and she does. He pulls out two beers and several sub sandwiches from the cooler. He lights the lantern and places it between them, like a candlelight dinner.

She gapes at him. "When did you get all of this?"

He shrugs sheepishly. "You were asleep."

Clary splutters. "This had to have been more than one trip."

He grins. "You're a heavy sleeper."

She pushes his shoulder with hers. After that, they talk easily. They devour the sandwiches and joke around, and when they're not talking at all, they still use their mouths. It's perfect for not only those reasons, but Jace never brings up the day in Chicago. Some part of her wants him to talk about it so she can tell him about Maddie, but most of her is just fine making out. She's really fine with that.

As they lay side by side on the blankets, watching the dark sky, she shivers and rolls on her side to face him. Seeing his swollen lips and hooded eyes makes her smile. He extends his arm and she rolls into him. She places my cheek on his chest and sighs.

"You couldn't have picked a creepier place for this," she whispers as she scans the cornstalks.

He plays with her hair. "You don't like it?"

Clary lifts up her head to look at him. "No, I love it. Very Children of the Corn," she grins and kisses him once. She gets up on her knees and tugs at his hands. "Come on. Let's go explore."

He groans, but follows her up anyway. "What is there to explore out here?"

She runs over to his truck and stands on the bed. She looks over the maize fields until she sees a tall building not too far from where they are. The windows are either blown out or boarded up. The thing she finds the strangest is that it's not any sort of farmhouse or barn. It's several stories high, and looks like a prison with its tall fence and concrete walls.

She calls down to Jace, "Hey, get up here and look at this," and not a second later, he's standing next to her. She grins at him.

He looks at the building with narrow eyes. "You want to go there?" When she nods vigorously, he shakes his head. "No. No way, Clary."

Clary narrows her eyes at him. "'Live a little,'" she mocks.

She jumps down and hurries back to the picnic. As she picks up the lantern, she hears him call her name. She turns to see him still standing on his truck. "I don't think this is a good idea."

She can't help but feel like he's right. But something about that building calls out to her, so she cocks her head to the side. "You coming or not? I'm going with or without you."

He throws back his head and lets out a long, loud sigh. "Yes," he groans out as he hops down.

An hour of tripping over fallen stalks, falling in the mud, and still nowhere near the tall building later, they stumble upon something slightly more interesting. She tugs her hand out of Jace's when she sees it, and because she has the lantern, he has no other choice but to follow her. She illuminates it for Jace to see. In front of them is an in-ground tunnel with a wrought-iron fence. Beyond it, the tunnel seems to go down slightly and turns straight for the concrete building.

She laughs mischievously and head toward it. Jace pulls her hand before she can get very far. He says, "We are not going down there."

She points behind her with a thumb. "Do you see a way of getting around the giant fence? This gate is probably so rusted, it'll break open."

"Or we can just not go in at all," he mumbles.

"Why? Are you scared?"

Jace looks at the building. "Well, it is very American Horror Story."

Clary leans on one leg. "I'll protect you against any Tate Langdons in gimp suits." She holds out a hand to him when he hesitates. "Haven't you ever wanted to explore an abandoned place before?"

He sighs, defeated, and folds his hand into her. "Fine. But afterwards, we get to do what I want."

She swings their hands between them. "Sure. We can do whatever you want."

A boyish smirk slips onto his face. "Anything I want?"

She pulls her hand out of his and pushes him. "You are such a boy!"

He laughs and grabs her hand again. She tries to yank it free, but he's stronger. "I'm kidding." He kisses our intertwined fingers. "Forgive me?"

She rolls her eyes. "Only because you're hot."

A triumphant grin replaces his smirk and he reaches his free hand to open the rusty gate, but before he touches it, he says, "Okay, we're going to do this, but if there's anyone who needs to be protected, it'll be you," he pauses and she winces, because those words hit closer to home than they were intended to. She masks her face with a tight smile. "Why? Is it because you're the boy?"

Jace nods enthusiastically.

"What—so you think I can't defend myself?"

He pulls his hand away from the gate. His fingers brush her cheek. "You're perfectly capable of holding your own. But we need to work as a team here; while you have the light and take the lead, I have the strength to protect the princess." And to prove so, he whips around and kicks open the old gate and it falls backward with a groan. When it hits the stone ground of the tunnel, the sound is so deafening, it's impossible not to jump at the noise.

She tries not to look affected. "Impressive," she deadpans.

He winks and pushes her in front of him. "Ladies first."

She rolls her eyes. "Oh, you big baby!"

He shrugs shamelessly. "Someone's gotta bring up the rear," and he gives her a smile that she finds infuriating and thrilling all at once.

A little while later, they're standing in what seems like the lobby of the building. The place is dusty and echoes with each step they take. What's left of any furniture is collapsed in a heap of ash and rotted wood in the corner.

Jace lets out a low whistle. "This place is a dump."

"Nice observation," she retorts dryly.

He strolls past her. "What is this place?"

A flash of red from the corner of her eye catches her attention. Maddie stomps down the metal spiral staircase near the back of the room. She leaves no echo. Clary watches as she skips across the lobby and opens a door on the other side of the room. It creaks open and Jace's head whips toward it.

She follows Maddie. "Let's find out."

Jace doesn't move. "Uh, yeah. Clary, I don't know if you understand what just happened, but that door just opened by itself."

She ignores him and continues into the hall after Maddie. She stands at the end of the corridor. Many doors line the walls. She appears to be peaking through one of the doors' slots.

She giggles. "This place is so cool."

A shiver runs down Clary's spine at the tone of her voice. Of course she'd like a place like this. "I guess. What is it?"

"It's called the Garfield Asylum."

"Asylum?" Clary squeaks. Real attractive. Then she mumbles, "It really is American Horror Story."

She tips her head to the side. "What?"

She shakes her head. Apparently, her demon wasn't paying attention when Clary binge watched TV. "If this is an asylum, then why am I . . ." she falters, looking for words. "Then why am I so attracted to this place?"

"It's not you. I like this place because it's kind of like my second home, I suppose. People who are weak sometimes let their demons take control of them—kind of like Lucy—and they end up in places like this." She laughs. "Man, you are lucky you are one tough cookie, girlfriend, because you could be dumped in one of these joints. Trapped, isolated. Running around in the endless labyrinth that is your mind, trying to look for a way out. But you will be forever ensnared in your own special sanatorium. Although, I don't think you're as lucky as you could've been. I think you're already beginning to lose it."

Clary's throat tightens and her eyes burn. Her voice is hoarse and small. "What do you mean?"

A cruel smile plays on her lips. "It's your choice to see me. People don't see their own demon because they don't believe in them. They see them because they want to."

"Clary?" Jace shuffles behind her.

She crosses her arms over her chest and tries to blink back tears just as one falls down her cheek.

"Are you . . . Who were you talking—" He stops so abruptly, that she turns to face him. His eyes are wide in shock and terror.

"What?" Her voice shakes. Maddie silently shakes in laughter. Clary tries to ignore her. "What is it?"

He lifts up a trembling hand and points behind her. She whirls around and faces a body-long mirror. How had she not noticed this? She looks fragile and tiny. Shadows overlap underneath her eyes, her nails are bitten and chewed down to the nub. Her hair is stringy, like she hadn't showered in a few days, which is probably true. Her bones stick out in all the wrong places, like she's starved herself. And standing beside her, Maddie looks like an over-confident and more attractive Clary with a smug smile. Why hasn't she bailed yet?

"Who the hell is that?" Jace stammers, pointing at Maddie.