- Los Angeles, 2007 -

Everything was quiet as Amelia sneaked through the corridors of the Institute. Carefully she moved toward the training room, where Clary and Jace would be waiting for her. Amelia closed the zipper of her coat, when suddenly she heard something. She stopped and held her breath, afraid that even the sound of her breathing would be too loud and might draw attention to her.

There it was again. Quietly, softly, barely audible. Amelia narrowed her eyes and tried to spot something in the darkness. But the sound was gone; there was only silence left.

Slowly Amelia moved forward, when she heard the noise again, this time a little bit louder and closer. It sounded like footsteps. Someone was following her. Amelia felt her heart beating faster. Had someone found out what she was doing? Feverishly she tried to figure out what to do. She thought about simply returning to her room and pretending nothing had happened. Maybe then, the pursuer would leave her alone. But that was a stupid idea, Clary and Jace would still be waiting for her in the training room. What if the person following her found the two of them?

Amelia bit her lip. Like in a trance, she took one step after another until she had reached the end of the corridor. Instead of turning left to the training room, she turned right toward the restrooms. Quickly she rushed to one of the doors, opened it and slid quietly into the room. Keeping the door open a crack, Amelia pressed her face to the warm wood, letting her gaze wander across the dark corridor. Her heart was thundering in her ears - she was so close to being discovered.

The footsteps came closer. In the dim light of the moon shining through the huge windows, Amelia could see a small figure. She frowned. Her pursuer was standing only a few steps away from the restrooms, obviously baffled about the sudden disappearance of the person he was following.

For a second Amelia thought about waiting until the person was gone, but she had to know who was following her.

Amelia took a deep breath, pushed the door open and stepped out of the rest room.

"Why are you following me?"

Startled the person turned around and looked at Amelia. She gasped, not being able to believe who was standing in front of her.

"Ty? What are you doing here?"

Tiberius crossed his arms in front of his chest. "What are you doing here?"

"That's not the question, Ty. I -"

"Of course it is the question. I just asked it. A question demands to be asked. And you need to answer it."

Amelia sighed. It was difficult to discuss with Ty. He was only ten years old, but to her he appeared to be a lot older. Sometimes Amelia thought that there was an old and wise soul living inside his young body. Ty was unbelievably clever, much smarter than most children were his age. Without effort, he read books that made Amelia's head ache after having read only a few pages. He was an observer, his favorite subjects were bees - only the Angel knew why. Ty could spend days alone just watching the tiny animals.

Most people thought Ty was strange, but Amelia had always thought that he was special. She did not know why, but somehow Ty always reminded her of Mark. Of course, they did not look alike - not at all. Ty had black hair and grey eyes; his appearance could not have been more different to Mark's. But that was exactly what made them equal - they both looked different from their other siblings, standing out from the rest of the Blackthorn family. Just like Mark Ty loved books and reading; and just like his older brother Ty did not talk much.

In fact, Ty was not talking that much to anyone - except for Livia, his twin sister. Almost everyone else seemed to annoy him, what Ty usually clearly showed. Politeness was something that did not exist to him.

He was honest. Brutally honest sometimes.

When someone got on Ty's nerves, he told them that he did not want to talk to them anymore. When someone said something stupid, Ty corrected him or her. To him it was normal; to everyone else it was strange. Amelia had often wondered what was going on in his head, for his mind seemed to be so different from all the others.

Nevertheless, she liked Ty, even though she often did not understand him. But tonight he would have been the last person she would have expected to follow her.

Amelia put her hands on her hips. "Ty, this is serious. You have to go back to your room, okay?"

"You still have not answered my question," Ty insisted and she raised her eyebrows. "Ty, this is not the right moment for this discussion. Please, go back to your room and don't tell anyone that you have seen me."

Ty examined Amelia closely and for a split second, she had the feeling that he knew everything. He frowned, clearly angered. "You have secrets. All of you. I see you sneaking around, whispering. I want to know what's going on."

"Ty, listen." Amelia shook her head. "I don't have time for this, okay? I need to go, but I promise I'll tell you everything when I come back. But I need you to go to your room now. Please."

Ty did not move. His eyes were still fixed on Amelia's face. "This is about Mark, isn't it?"

She soughed. "I'll tell you tomorrow, okay?"

Without waiting for his response, she turned around and went to the training hall, still feeling Ty's gaze on her back.

Amelia dropped her hand and looked at the cross with the thorns she had just carved into the knobbed bark of a huge oak. At least she believed it was an oak, for she could not be certain. Here in Faerie everything seemed to be just as it was in Idris, but only at the first sight. If you looked closer, you could see the differences. The lake surely looked like a normal lake, but it was dead. There were no fishes in the water, no midges swirling around - nothing. It was the same about the trees; there were no birds or bugs in the branches or on the leaves.

It was almost as if everything here was only a detailed illusion of what Amelia already knew. More than once she had asked herself if Faerie looked different to someone else.

Amelia turned around and looked at Clary and Jace, who were sitting side by side on one of the rocks, talking to each other. She could not hear what they were talking about, but somehow she had the feeling that the two were discussing whether it was reasonable to come here again. Two weeks had passed since their first visit to Faerie. Two weeks, in which they had come here five times, carving the sign into trees and on rocks. By now, they had covered quite a huge radius around the lake. Every time they had come here they had turned to an other direction, but until now, they had not found a single trace of Mark.

Although Amelia did not like it, she had to admit that she began to have doubts. She was not willing to give up already - that was something she never would do - but she knew that she could not demand from Clary and Jace to accompany her much longer. To be honest - Amelia was expecting them to think about giving up. She was waiting for them to finally speak out loud what they had been thinking about and what she was afraid of hearing - that this was a waste of time.

Slowly Amelia went to them and Clary looked up. She smiled and asked, "Ready?"

"I think so." Amelia shrugged her shoulders. "It seems like there is not one single tree or rock left that hasn't been marked by me."

Jace nodded and stood up. "You've been quite busy, Amy."

Amelia looked at him, knowing what he was thinking.

And still we haven't found anything yet.

Jace withstood her gaze and Amelia took a deep breath. "Okay. I know what's going on in your minds. And I think we should talk about it right now, instead of avoiding the topic."

Jace and Clary exchanged looks and Amelia sighed. "Well, I guess I'll say it then. Our search has not been successful 'til now. And I know that you are asking yourselves how long this should be going on."

"Amy, you have to understand," Clary said quickly. "We know how important this is to you. It was a good plan, but it hasn't brought us forward."

Amelia frowned. "You want to call off the search."

"Yes," Jace said, but Clary shook her head. "No."

"No?" he repeated in disbelief and looked at Clary. She slid from the rock and went toward Amelia. "We don't want to stop."

"We don't?" Jace sounded puzzled. Clary ignored him. "We think that maybe it's about time to think about an other plan."

Amelia felt hopeless. Of course, she knew that Clary was right. They needed an other plan; the only problem was that this was the only plan they had.

"Do you think I wouldn't be aware of that fact? Do you think I haven't spent nights thinking about a better plan?"

Amelia's voice got louder and angry. "The truth is I don't have a better plan. I don't even have any idea. This was all I had. And it doesn't work. It just does not work! And that makes me angry. And sad." She felt the tears coming, tears of frustration and anger, but she did not want to cry in front of Clary or Jace. So instead, she swallowed hard and turned around. She went back to the lake, stood on the shore and crossed her arms in front of her chest.

Being here still felt strange. In some strange way, Amelia felt good in Faerie, although this place still scared her. But every time she came here, she felt close to Mark. Even though her mind kept telling her that it was not possible - it was as if she could feel him all around. Amelia only had to close her eyes and Mark was there. She could see his face and hear his voice. Sometimes, when she felt the wind sweeping softly across her face, it felt as if it were Mark's fingers on her skin.

In the first days after Mark was gone Amelia had dreamt of him almost every night. Sometime it was a nightmare, but sometimes she dreamt of the evening in the library. But the dreams had stopped.

Life in the Institute went on without Mark and Helen and just as the two had vanished from the Institute, Mark had vanished from her dreams. But here in Faerie he was still there. Here Amelia could feel his presence, without pushing herself. Here she was not afraid that she might forget him. That was one of the reasons why she wanted to return to this place.

Amelia was so absorbed in thought that she realized Jace, who was standing beside her, not until he spoke. "We can't go on like this forever, Amy."

"I know." Her voice was shaky and thin. Jace remained silent for some seconds. He had some pebble stones in his hand and was shaking them, so that they made a clattering sound. Carefully he took one pebble, hauled off and threw it into the water.

"It's not because we haven't found anything yet," he said quietly. "But the longer we stick to this plan, the longer we wait - the more time we lose. And that's not good."

Silently Amelia nodded and Jace threw another pebble into the water. She watched the waves on the surface of the lake and whispered, "If you want to quit the search, then do it. I'm thankful for your help, but I will not stop. We can try to work out another plan, I'll tell Emma, Jules and Grayson to think about it. But until we have something, I will return to Faerie to check if Mark has left a sign for us. I can come here on my own; I just need Clary to open the portal for me."

Jace wanted to say something, but Amelia had the drop on him. "This point is not negotiable."

He nodded. "Okay. But there's no way I let you come here on your own. This point is not negotiable, either. I admit it might be useful to return from time to time, but it should not be the main duty."

Amelia hesitated before she nodded too. She bit her lip and asked quietly, "Did you know it? That Clary was looking for you? Did you feel it?"

Jace thought for some seconds, before he answered. "No, I didn't know it. I was not myself anymore. I don't think I even cared. But I remember that I felt, that there was something wrong." He turned his head to Amelia. "No matter where I was, no matter how desperate I was - there was always something inside me, telling me there was another place I belonged to. There was always a part of me that was hoping, even if I didn't know it. And I think Mark will feel the same. He will feel that there are people searching for him, and when he finds the sign, he will recognize it. And he will know that his hope was not for nothing."

Amelia blinked and took a deep breath. "Thanks."

Jace raised his eyebrows and she said, "For finding the right words."

He smiled and threw the rest of the pebbles into the water. "We should go now. We've already been here too long."

"I'll be right there," Amelia said and Jace turned around and went to Clary. Amelia glanced across the water, before she closed her eyes and recalled Mark's face. She thought about what Jace had said. Again, she asked herself if it was possible that Mark might forget his old life. Some days ago she clearly would have answered that question with a "no", but now she was not so sure anymore. Since they had come here, Amelia had felt herself that she was forgetting. She forgot to keep an eye on the time they had spent here, or that this place was not her home. Somehow, everything else seemed to be more important. It was as if a thick fog had descended on her thoughts and memories, numbing almost everything. The fog seemed to vanish when she returned to the Institute.

Amelia frowned. Maybe this was the reason why she did not dream of Mark anymore, maybe Faerie made her forget him. The thought made her stomach ache and put a heavy weight on her chest.

She took another breath and shook her head. Never would she let that happen, there was no way she would ever forget him - no matter how often she came here. One last time she let her gaze wander across the hills and mountains, before she turned around and went to Clary and Jace. "I'm ready. We can -"

She paused and stared at the rock wall behind them. Clary turned around hastily and followed Amelia's gaze. "What? What do you see?"

Amelia frowned. "I - I don't know. For a moment, I thought there was something up there. It looked like metal. It was shimmering in the sunlight."

"Where?" Jace shielded his eyes against the sun.

Amelia pointed at some trees. "Somewhat above those trees there."

Jace narrowed his eyes and murmured, "I can't see anything. Are you sure?"

Amelia hesitated. "Now it's gone. Maybe I was wrong."

Jace dropped his hand and looked at Amelia. "It's really time to go. Before someone finds us."

"What if it's Mark?" Amelia countered. "We should wait."

"No way." Clary shook her head. "Chances are that it was someone else. Someone we would rather not run into. We'll go."

Amelia stepped forward. "But-"

"No," Jace said quickly. "Clary's right. We don't know whether it's Mark or some other faerie. But if it is him, he will find the signs. That's why we left them. We will return as soon as possible and check, but now we will leave."

Amelia cursed silently. She knew he was right. One last time she looked at the rock wall, before she followed Clary and Jace.

The door to her room was open a crack. Amelia frowned, pushed it open and entered the room, which was empty. Quietly she closed the door behind her and went to her bed, taking of her clothes while walking. She kicked off her boots, turned around and froze. On her cushion was a folded piece of paper.

Amelia took it and carefully unfolded it. She recognized the handwriting instantly - it was Ty's.

I know what you are doing, I am NOT STUPID! You're trying to find Mark. You should've asked me, instead of Julian - at least I've spent more than one day in the library. Mark's with the Wild Hunt, so you have to find the Hunt. The Hunt wants souls; they're also called Gatherers of the Dead. Where do we find dead people? In battles. Find a battle, find the Hunt, find Mark. Easy.

Amelia sank on her bed. How could they have been so stupid? A ten-year-old had given her the best hint since they have started looking for information.

She smiled. If it had not been so late, she would have run to Ty's room and hugged him for being so clever. Of course, he would have hated it, but she did not care.

Amelia sank into her sheets; the letter pressed tightly to her chest and closed her eyes. For the first time in weeks, she slept well.