Chapter 7: Underground
Clary's POV
The last two and a half hours of my shift at work were a blur. My mind kept rolling over my encounter with that man, Luke. I knew Jon could tell that something was off with me, but he didn't bug me about it because I didn't stay near him long enough for it to come up in conversation. I knew I was going to have to fill him in on everything when we got home, but right now I was still processing what had just happened.
Our shift was coming to an end as Jon cleaned the last two glasses in front of him and I finished counting out my tip money. He looked at me from a few feet away, not much emotion was showing through his features except for curiosity. We left the club in silence, got on dad's Harley and made our way home. The elevator ride up the stairs was quiet, allowing the night to flash through my mind yet again.
Jon locked our door behind us and threw the keys on the dining table.
"So, are you going to speak, or do I need to start guessing what happened tonight?" I had my back turned to Jon as he started with the questions. "Was it a boy? Do I need to hunt down another creepy ma-"
"No," I turned around to face my brother, "not a creep. I don't really know what happened Jon."
His jaw clenched a little tighter as he made his way over to sit on the couch. I joined him on the opposite side and started trying to explain.
"It's nothing bad, really. I just…okay well it started with VIP 4. I served a group of men in there and as I was leaving one of them kind of…forced me into the storage closet."
Jon's jaw clenched tighter, his whole body stiffened at my words. I need to get to the point before he marches out of here and kills a man.
"He started questioning me about who I was because I looked like someone he used to love," I paused letting Jon think before continuing, "apparently he grew up with mom."
His eyes widened, "This guy knows our mom? How?"
"He told me that he was a shadowhunter and that he used to love her. At some point he was turned into a werewolf an-"
"You met a werewolf alone?" The anger was clear in Jon's voice.
"Yes. Jon. Can you cool it please I'm not enjoying your temper right now. Just let me explain everything."
After a moment of thought Jon nodded, relaxing into the couch cushions.
I took a breath before going through the conversation I'd had with Luke. He started off by asking me where she was and if she was okay and didn't like my answer. I could tell that this Luke guy really cared for our mom. He started explaining the circle more in depth to me. Apparently, he was our father's right hand man, and when he was turned into a werewolf our father changed the circle. Luke said he wanted to tell me more but that we'd have to meet at a more private location where the information would stay safe for sure. He wrote down an address and a time to meet on a sheet of paper and then he left me alone in that storage closet.
Jon thought for a moment as he took in the new information before speaking. "Why were you so hesitant to tell me all of that? That's not even bad information."
I looked down remembering the last thing Luke told me before he left that closet. "Luke told me about something father did to mother…it explains why she is the way she is."
"You mean why she went silent and couldn't even acknowledge her children anymore?"
I nodded.
"I thought that was just because our scum father was abusive." He said.
"No. He did something to her Jon. Something bad."
Jace's POV
Hodge hadn't given any of us a new mission since the Morgenstern siblings were brought into the picture. He's been so caught up trying to teach them the basics of shadowhunter's while also taking care of the institute since our parents are gone. Maryse and Robert have been in Idris for the last month on business with Max. To my knowledge Hodge hasn't told them about our new situation in fear that they would inform the clave.
Most of the time when Jon and Clary are here they are with Hodge learning, so none of us really see them aside from sometimes at training. They really don't have much to catch up on with training though, so it makes sense that they would be hitting the books more. I'm just getting antsy since I haven't killed a demon in so long.
You know what? Screw it.
I walked down the hall to Alec's room and let myself in. "I'm going to kill demons wanna come?" I looked around the room until I found Alec on the ground by his bed folding laundry.
He looked up at me obviously surprised I had just burst into his room, and then interested in my question. "Hodge finally gave us a new mission?"
I thought about his question hard before answering. Hodge hadn't given us the okay to go hunting, but if I told Alec that, then he wouldn't come have fun with me… "Yeah I just spoke with him before coming here. Izzy is busy, so it'll just be some good ole bro time for us."
His eyebrows shot up and a smile formed on his face as he threw his laundry back in the hamper and started to get ready. I went back to my room to get ready and then met Alec outside the institute's front door.
We spent the rest of the afternoon tracking down demons at random. Alec had asked me if there was a specific demon we were looking for on our mission and I made up some random lie about a shapeshifter down town harassing mundies. While we did capture and kill 4 demons, none of them were shape shifters.
"It's getting late Jace. We should head back and report to Hodge and grab some dinner."
I nodded, glancing around for a last minute headshot, "I'll report to Hodge if you pick up some Takis?"
Alec quickly agreed to Takis over food most likely made by Izzy, and we went our separate ways.
The institute came into view along with the barely visible figures belonging to none other than Jon and Clarissa Morgenstern. I stopped in my tracks as they turned the corner right before meeting with the institute. They weren't going in the direction of their apartment or their job…where could they be going?
My curiosity mixed with a small amount of suspicion, leading me to the decision that I should follow them. I don't think they have anything to hide. From what I can tell they have been completely honest with us so far, so what could go wrong?
Clary's POV
Jon and I concentrated hard as we tried to peel back the glamour in front of us. I noted that the task wasn't as complicated as it had been in the past few weeks. We started walking towards the small building once we'd both cleared away the glamour. The building looked like a closed down Chinese takeout restaurant at first glance, but we noted some symbols etched into the brick that weren't mundane in nature.
We didn't have to knock on the front door because the moment we stepped in front of it the door was opened. A big burly man gestured for us to come inside and we both did, Jon a little more reluctant than me. He was still pissed that Luke had forced me to listen to him the way he did.
The inside of the "takeout" place was pretty spacious. It was set up living room style with a couple couches, a coffee table and even a small TV hanging over a fireplace. Two bookshelves lined the back wall, both stuffed full with books.
People were scattered all over the room quietly chatting with each other, but it was obvious that their conversations were about my brother and I. None of them looked like the other, each had their own style and vibe surrounding them. I noticed that some of the men were the same ones from VIP 4 last night.
There were also two people apart from the rest in the fact that they were standing a questionable amount away from other people. One of them had green skin, white hair and black eyes. The other also had white hair, but her skin was blue and matched her blue eyes. They must be some kind of warlocks. Hodge gave us the intro to warlocks lesson last week. The one thing shared by everyone in this room was the intense fog of tension, touching us all.
I was shaken out of my thoughts when a man spoke up, "Welcome to our pack house."
"This is your pack house?" Jon asked with an emphasis on this.
Luke nodded, "It's a temporary house until we find something bigger, but for now it works." Luke moved in front of Jon and extended his hand.
All eyes were glued to this interaction. Jon was hesitant to accept Luke's hand, but finally did and they shook. I visibly saw some people release a breath they had been holding, and the tension in the air lessoned just a bit. I guess the pack wasn't expecting us to be nice or something. Weird.
"Everyone this is Clarissa and Jonathan Morgenstern. I believe that they can be a big addition to our movement if they choose to join. Please show them kindness and welcome them like you would one of our kind." Luke ushered us through the crowd of wolves and into another room that was empty aside for a large table sitting in the middle. He left us for about a minute before returning with the two people that had stood apart earlier.
The door was shut, but the tension from before had followed us in. "Who are they?" Jon asked before I could get the same question out of my mouth.
"My name is Catarina Loss and this is a dear friend of mine, Ragnor Fell."
Jon and I nodded at the two people and looked to Luke to explain. He stepped forward and did just that. "Catarina and Ragnor are both warlocks who are vital to our movement. We are in the beginning stages of recruiting right now and they are our first two warlock partners."
"What is your movement for?" I asked, very confused as how this had any connection to my mother, "And what does my mother have to do with any of this?"
Luke looked at the warlocks and back to us before sitting down at the table. We followed, and all sat. "Your mother is the reason this movement was created. She gave the order for it to be made."
I looked to Jon, surprised. He had his eyebrows furrowed in suspicion, "Explain."
"I know you know what the Circle is Clary, but do you Jon?" Luke asked, his eyes held a thick interest while they looked between my brother and I.
We both nodded, and Luke asked another question.
"Good, and what about the uprising?"
Both of us nodded again.
"So, you know how your mother and father murdered hundreds of shadowhunters?" Jon and I exchanged a glance as Luke hesitated before continuing, "And you also know about how your father was able to compel downworlders to join him? To kill for him?"
"Our father didn't tell us anything about this. We have recently learned some things about the uprising and the circle," Jon said. The tone of his voice holding irritation.
"We haven't been able to figure out what your father found or what he did to give him and your mother this ability," he paused looking at us both again before taking in a deep breath and sighing, "we had originally believed that your mother was in on it with your father, but that was before we received her messages."
"She sent you a message? What did it say?" Jon asked still irritated, but he sounded more intrigued now.
Luke nodded and looked to Catarina and Ragnor. "Your mother sent each of us a separate message. The one she sent me was about arranging this new movement, but the one she sent Ragnor-"
"Her message to me was an SOS." Ragnor said, interrupting Catarina. I'm sure the questions Jon and I were wondering were clear on our faces because after a moment of thick silence he answered mine. "It wasn't much, but basically she wrote that she needed help and was fearing for her life and both of yours."
My eyes widened as I thought of what father would have done to mother if she had been caught sending a message like that. I looked to Jon to find his jaw clenched and the same surprise I was feeling in lingered in his own eyes.
The meeting went on for about another hour as Luke explained their movement. Its main goal was to take down our father, but also figure out how he was controlling downworlders. The movement wants to stop him and prevent anyone else from following in our father's footsteps.
Luke explained to us that this movement was an underground movement, meaning that the shadowhunters had not been informed of it yet, and they were trying to keep it that way. They were afraid that the Clave would shut them down before they could even prove that they were a very needed movement. Once we'd heard all of the details Luke asked us if we would join. Jon and I had agreed to talk about it when we were home and we both assured Luke that we would inform him of our decision by noon tomorrow.
After our meeting Luke introduced us to all of the werewolves in his pack. I could sense that Jon was lightening up about the whole situation. He had taken a likening to a werewolf girl named Maia. She was absolutely beautiful with her brownish eyes and her brown curly hair. I knew Jon was very easily liked by the ladies from a few interactions I had witnessed at work.
My mind moved to Jace as I watched the two of them laugh about some joke my brother probably butchered. I imagined that Jace was most likely training right now back at the institute. I wonder if he could be trusted with what we've learned tonight. I know Jon and I were wanting to keep some things to ourselves, but I really don't think Jace would turn us in for joining this movement if he only knew the details of it.
Ugh. Who am I kidding I can't tell him any of this right now. I barely know him, and Luke already mentioned how important it was for this to stay underground.
Jace's POV
Two hours passed with them doing who knows what inside that werewolf den before they came out and started walking towards home. My mind was rolling with questions that I was afraid I wouldn't get an answer for without confronting the two of them about this little trip they've gone on. I want Jon or Clarissa to open up and tell me about this themselves, but will either of them ever do that? They are already keeping this a secret as is, so why would they tell me about it now?
The way I see it I have two options.
Option One: Tell Hodge. This is the option I should choose. It's the more logically option and it will probably be the quicker fix to the situation, but then there's option two.
Option Two: Woo Clary. Gain her trust and get her to open up to me. This option is more my style. It's not what Hodge would want me to do, which immediately feels more like me.
Huh. Decisions, decisions.
I hoped off of the building I'd been staked out on for the past two hours and started the trek back to the institute. My mind was still racing on what to do about the Morgenstern siblings. My mind told me to turn them into Hodge, Option One, but my heart told me to protect Clary, Option Two.
I don't know what it is about her. Girls throw themselves at me all the time. It's the very reason I glamour myself anytime I'm out doing mundane things. Don't get me wrong I love getting the attention from hot chicks, but when girls are constantly throwing themselves at you it gets a little old. Sure, every once in a while I'm into it, but lately it's just annoying.
My mind stopped running in circles about decisions, and instead started roaming over thoughts of Clarissa Morgenstern. She didn't throw herself at me, well except for when she was trying to fight me but that's completely different…or is it? Ugh I just wish I could read her.
I've flirted with her many times, but she rarely reacts like all of the other girls do. No. No, she's different. I crave her eyes being on me. I want her to look at me the way all of the other girls do, but she doesn't. When her eyes land on me they look innocent and intrigued, but not lustful. Maybe that's a good thing.
We haven't spent that much time together but during the times we have she makes me feel a certain way. That girl is so clumsy, I feel like I need to make sure and be there to catch her when she falls. The desire to protect her has hit me like a bus since the first moment I saw her. She was wearing Nike shorts and that t-shirt with a monkey on it, which I later learned to be her jammies.
I remember watching her brother come in and ask her about the bruise on her face. He'd mentioned wishing he could have 'taken the hit for her'. Her own father, the man who was supposed to keep her safe put his hands on her. The thought makes me want to hunt him down and cause him the very pain he caused her, but worse. Maybe that's why I feel so protective over her. Maybe he's the reason…or maybe there's something else making me feel this sort of way about her.
My mind went from protecting Clary to chuckling about her quirks. Her eyes always seemed to light up at things that I'd never find interesting. Like last week when she'd discovered that portals existed. Or that one time when Alec had accidentally brought home her favorite dish from Takis. Or when I gave her that flower I'd found outside of a random building on 5th street. She'd taken it and put it in her hair and wore it for the rest of the afternoon. Her little jokes keep conversation funny and her laugh…angel, that laugh could cure cancer. It's melodic and contagious all at the same time.
Damn.
What is she doing to me?
Author Note:
So sorry that it's been ages since I last updated, but school drowns me sometimes and it's hard to find time to write. With that said, this chapter has opened up a whole new ball game for this story. Things are about to start going down as suspicion on the Morgenstern siblings grows larger and the new movement spreads throughout the underground of the shadow world.
What do you guys think about Jonathan having a romantic interest in Maia? I kind of like imagining them together. I mean in a world where Jon is somewhat of a good guy…idk maybe they might work! I guess you'll have to find out in the next few chapters!
Thank you guys for reading & happy break off of school everyone!
