Clary's heart thudded painfully in her chest, and the pounding behind her eyes grew more and more persistent as she started floating back to consciousness. Slowly, she opened her eyes to a blinding light and tried to throw her hand in front of her face only to find it restrained at her side. She groaned and let her hand fall back down; she felt it smash against what felt like concrete. She scraped her knuckles and winced as she felt the skin tear, and tried to open her eyes for the second time. The light wasn't as bright this time but it still took a while for her eyes to adjust, she blinked a few times until the room started to come into focus.
She was surrounded by dull grey walls and was sitting on a cold hard concrete floor, the room was cold and as far as she could tell had no doors or windows and the only light came from a naked bulb hanging above her head. There was a terrible screeching noise and a section of the wall in front of her slid away revealing one of Sebastian's minions. He was wearing a red cloak and his expression was set in stone. Clary recognized him from Alicante but couldn't place his face, it made her sick what her brother was doing, he turned shadow hunters into murderous disciples who couldn't think for themselves, he tore them away from their family and friends leaving them as empty shells of who they were. The man walked towards her the sound of his heavy boots echoing against the walls, he didn't look at her when he un cuffed her and kept his gaze averted when he yanked her roughly to her feet. It felt like all of her blood rushed to her feet and she was overcome with a wave if dizziness and nausea. She doubled over and the man pulled her back to her feet giving her a good shove forward sending her stumbling down a narrow was poorly lit with covered sconces lining the halls casting dim shadows along the floor making the hallway look long and dark.
They walked in silence the only sound was their footsteps and the occasional cough that Clary couldn't suppress. Wherever Sebastian brought her it was damp and smelled like mold, it wasn't until she looked down that she realized that she didn't have shoes on and they were walking over uneven bricks that got progressively colder the farther they got away from the cell where she woke up. Finally they reached an old wooden staircase that didn't look like it could support itself let alone the weight of her and her escort but seemingly unfazed by the creak of protest they gave out when he stepped on them, he dragged her up after him each step groaning when they applied weight to it. There was no light in the staircase and the man leading her didn't have a witch light and she was amazed his steps didn't falter. She tripped a few times and smashed her shins against the next step and found herself practically hanging off of the man to avoid falling. After a few more steps he stopped and Clary walked right into his back making him growl at her, there was a loud creak and the stairwell was suddenly flooded with light, he didn't give her a chance to adjust, he just pulled her forward dragging her after him. Everything else was a blur; they turned down hallway after hallway and as hard as she tried to remember how many lefts and rights they took everything looked the same and she lost count after her escort gave her arm and extra hard tug. After a painstakingly long walk they arrived at a small plain wooden door. It was a dark brown colour and the wood looked old and worn. The man hesitated slightly and finally looked at her. He had a bright pink scar running from his forehead down across his left eye; he looked almost nervous and took a deep breath before pushing the door open and thrusting Clary into the room closing the door behind her. She clenched her fist ready to fight but found that she was alone.
The room was dark like the rest of the place, the only light coming from a fire sitting in the grate. She walked into the room and looked around; it was extravagant to say the least. The bed was lavishly furnished with brightly coloured sheets and a deep red comforter. There was a day bed under a window and book cases lining the far walls. Near the fire place there were couches covered in throw pillows and the carpet was soft and decorated with intricate designs. Clary let herself be momentarily distracted by the grandness of the room and didn't hear the door open behind her. She didn't hear Sebastian walk up behind her, didn't know he was there until his hand tangled in her hair. Clary gasped and reached her hand up over her head trying to free herself but Sebastian just tightened his grip and tugged her backwards. Her back was pressed tightly against his chest and he pulled her head back so her cheek was against his. "Clarissa, it's been longer than I'd care to admit." She felt his breath against her neck and had to fight against the urge to cry, there was nothing she could do. He was taller than she was and outdid her in brute strength, the only way that she may be able to overpower him was with some kind of weapon but right now with him pulling at her hair and his legion of minions probably poised at every entrance she had no way of escape. Instead she let him pull her down onto the sofa and scooted into the far corner of the couch away from Sebastian when he tried to sit down next to her.
"Oh come on Clary no need to be rude, you haven't seen your brother in over a year and you act like we're strangers." Clary didn't know what to say so she stared at him in silence. "Really there's nothing you want to say?" he purred, "No questions you want to ask me? Why did I stop going after Jace maybe, why I brought you here?" Clary avoided looking him in the eye and kept quiet. Sebastians lips quirked up into a sneer and he continued. "Hmm where should I begin; well Valentine always had a dream Clarissa, a dream for us." He draped his arm over the back of the couch and reclined, resting his feet on the coffee table, he looked relaxed which was more than could be said for Clary. "You see our father was royalty. We are royalty Clary and all he ever wanted was for us to be treated like so." He looked at her like he was waiting for her to catch onto something but she wasn't quite sure what it was and just looked at him confused. He sighed and pressed his hand to his temple like he was fighting a headache. "Everything was going according to plan until you fell in love with that shadow hunter! How do you expect our blood to stay pure if you let him defile our bloodline" Clary's breathe hitched and she started to feel sick he couldn't be talking about what she thought.
Sebastian jumped up knocking the table over and making the couch rock. "Clary don't you understand we have to keep the bloodline pure!" She jumped when he took a step towards her and tried to sink even deeper into the couch. Sebastian sighed theatrically and righted the table, then sat on it so he was facing Clary. He almost looked sad. "Clary I-" he averted his gaze and looked like he was struggling with what he was trying to say. He grabbed her hands and squeezed them tight until she looked at him and his stare was so intense that Clary couldn't look away. "Clary I don't want to hurt you and I don't want to have to force you to do anything, I just wish you saw things from my eyes. You and I, we're better than everyone else and by spending the rest of our lives together and… and making sure the bloodline continues we could create the next generation of elite shadowhunters." Clary felt her stomach drop and could feel her hands start to shake. Sebastian looked at her hopefully but she saw his expression change, he looked like the Sebastian she saw in the demon realm, the brother she'd always wanted the brother who cared for her in the only way a brother should; not this twisted form of a sibling. He let go of her hands and eased away from her sucking in a deep breath. "I can force you to do anything I want Clary. I can threaten everyone you've ever loved."
Clary's heart started to race and images of Jace popped into her head and her hands stopped shaking as she clasped her knees to try and calm down. "Don't you understand Clarissa I don't want to force you to do anything and if you don't want to stay with me, if you don't want to give me a chance then I won't make you." Sebastian looked defeated but genuine and it took a minute for her to process what he said. "Sebastian," her voice wavered, "I don't want to stay with you, I want to go home." He sat there and stared at her for a moment before standing and walking towards the door, "I can't force you to love me Clary, but I won't let you leave." With that he walked out of the room and closed the door quietly behind him. When she was finally alone she let herself curl into a ball in the corner of the couch and cry. She cried because she felt helpless, because she missed Jace and Simon and Izzy and didn't know if they were alright. She let herself unravel completely late into the night decided to wait until the morning to make a plan to get back to Jace.
Okay so it is a bit rushed and I'm uploading later at night than expected after an annoying call into work. So I'll try for a better chapter next week. So I'm sorry if this one is disappointing but I'll try for a better one!