Clary groaned as she slowly opened her eyes. She didn't recognise where she was or how she got there. One second, she was with Simon and Alec going to meet Simon's boyfriend, then the next she was waking up here… in some cage surrounded by vials full of strange coloured liquids and syringes; it gave Clary the feeling of a torture chamber from a movie complete with the mold on the wall and burn marks on the floor. Clary pushed herself to her feet and felt her heart stop. Just outside her cage, floating unconscious in the air was her mother.

"Mom" Clary shouted running to the edge of the cage putting her arm through the bar trying to reach for her mother but just coming up short, that's when she noticed someone was standing to the side of her mother. A tall, bald man with runes on his skin and a red circle rune on his neck. Clary may have never seen a photo of the man before, but just looking at him, she knew. She knew this man was Valentine – her father.

"Hello Clarissa," Valentine said, "It's not a name I would have chosen, but then again I didn't know of your existence until a month ago,".

"Where am I? What did you do to my mother? And where is Alec? Where's my brother?" Clary said, she felt her hands and legs shaking from fear of the man in front of her, the man who scared the whole shadowworld into submission but like that was going to stop her from protecting her family from him, this man might be biologically related to her but that didn't mean he was a father to her. Luke filled that role for years before they discovered the shadowworld.

"Your whereabouts are not your concern," Valentine said, reaching out to brush a strand of Jocelyn's hair and tucked it behind her ear, "As for your mother, she arrived like this. She's currently under the influence of a sleep potion conjured up by a warlock,".

"And Alec? What have you done to my brother?" Clary said again, narrowing her eyes as she glared at the man in front of her.

"Alexander Lightwood. He's not your brother Clarissa, he's a monster. An impure Shadowhunter, a hybrid. A downworlder," Valentine snapped, "forget about him, Clarissa. You don't need him; my people will take care of him,".

"Like hell, Alec is a monster, he is the kindest person I know!" Clary shouted, no one called her brother a monster and got away with it, "Just because he may be a warlock doesn't mean he's a monster! If anything, you're the monster here! You're the one who wants to kill the downworlders just for being different,".

"Now, now Clarissa. Let me tell you something: when the Angel Raziel created the first shadowhunter with the mortal cup it was to defeat the demons, however, demons mixed with the mundanes and created the four downworlder species that we know of today. Those abominations didn't exist, they shouldn't exist that's why we as Shadowhunters must destroy all demons, including the downworlders," Valentine said and Clary scoffed, could he even hear what he was saying, he was acting like a madman.

"Spoiler Alert! So are half the animals on this planet! Different dog species are born from breeding two different types of dogs together, like a Labrador Retriever. Even species of wild animals are hybrids like Liger, Geep, Coywolf, or a Zorse. So, what are you going to do next, kill every animal on earth because they're impure," Clary shouted, she didn't care if the downworlders didn't exist when the shadowhunters were created what matter now was that they did and they deserved to be respected and not killed because they just happen to have demonic blood in their veins.

"You're overreacting, Clarissa…" Valentine started, but Clary interrupted.

"Don't accuse me of overreacting! You took my mother from me, you sent people to attack my friends, you've attacked me and now you've separated me from my brother," Clary shouted.

"Clarissa, you're my daughter, being a part of the circle is in your blood. You don't fully understand what has happened in our world, you don't know what the downworlders have done to us," Valentine said, "join me Clarissa and help me find the mortal cup,".

"I will never help you! I don't care what happened in the past between shadowhunters and downworlders, all I care about is what is happening now! And I will never help you," Clary said, moving into the middle of the cage and turning her back on Valentine.

"Think about it Clarissa, without the demons and their spawn the world would be a safer place" and with that Valentine walked out of the room leaving Clary alone with only her unconscious mother and her thoughts for company.


Alec felt what happened before his mind even had the chance to catch up with it. All he could feel was pain, in his arms, in his legs, in every inch of his body. This pulsing electric shock burnt into his skin from everywhere and anywhere, it hurt. It burnt. Alec wanted to bat whoever was hurting him away, but they chained his arms above his head and they chained his legs to the wall behind him. He barely remembered being with Clary and Simon before losing the ability to use his limbs. If these people had taken him, does that mean whoever here has Clary and Simon as well? He kind of remembered people walking towards him with… oh. They had circle runes on their necks, had Clary, Simon, and himself been kidnapped by the circle? If so, where were Simon and Clary? Alec could understand why they might have taken him, or Clary for instance, but why Simon. To the circle, they would assume he was a mundane, hell until they spoke in the café Alec and Clary believed Simon to be a mundane and not a vampire/ daylighter, so in theory, they had no need for a 'mundane'. Alec could only hope that they left Simon behind and he could find Magnus to help save them. That was if Magnus and Simon could find them.

"It's a shame he doesn't have a warlock mark. It would be a nice addition to my collection" an unfamiliar voice said before Alec felt another jolt of electricity surge throughout his body.

"Yeah man, can't believe Valentine made such an abomination like this," another voice said, "then again, he's the child of that Maryse slut so no wonder he's an abomination, that whole family is a disgrace to shadowhunters and the circle,".

That confirms it. The circle took him. Valentine had taken him. And whoever these other people were, they knew his biological mother, and because she was no longer with the circle; they were acting and saying demeaning things against her. Alec might not know his biological mother well, and she might have done some horrible things to both downworlders and to Alec himself, but she didn't deserve to be slagged off by the people who were doing wrong. Alec could only assume that Maryse was trying to redeem herself whilst the men in front of him for some twisted reason were still following the circle and its ideals. They hated downworlders and took marks from warlocks, the features which made them who they were, a mark which Alec apparently didn't have but that couldn't be right, Maryse said he developed his warlock mark before leaving with his mom but if that was true then what had happened to it because he was fairly sure he didn't have some animal feature that Jace and Isabelle explained that all warlocks have.

"They deserve to be wiped from the list of noble shadowhunters families… well everyone except for Isabelle Lightwood maybe, she's hot. When we take over and destroy the downworlders and the traitor shadowhunters for good, then maybe I can make her my submissive bitch" the first voice said again. Alec clenched his teeth, but other than that he didn't move. He didn't care if he hardly knew Isabelle Lightwood, she was still his biological sister and like hell was he going to let anyone from the circle put their grubby hands on her, if only he could use his magic, he could knock these people unconscious, find his sister and Simon and get them the hell out of here. But each time he tried to call on his magic nothing came, he didn't feel like he had emptied his magic reserves but at the same time, there was nothing there. It was like when he was kidnapped, that there was a block that he couldn't get past which was holding his magic back. Could the circle be blocking his magic? Did they have that power?

10%

Alec kept his eyes closed, his jaw tense when he felt another jolt of electricity go through his body. He knew they wanted him to wake up and beg; they wanted him to scream, but he would not give them that satisfaction. Even when all he wants to do was scream and cry, he wouldn't bow down to these bastards no matter how much pain they put him through. No matter how much they try to torture him.

20%

"Pangborn, Blackwell leave us. I wanted to take my time with this one" another unfamiliar voice said from what Alec could only assume was in the doorway to wherever he was being kept. Alec might not recognise this voice, but he knew who it belonged to. The power and authority behind it could only mean one thing. The person who had joined them was Valentine.

"Has Miss Fray turned to our side?" the first voice said.

"Not yet, but I think I know what will convince her," Valentine said walking past them and pulled his seraph blade out. The blade shone white before he pressed it against Alec's stomach and cut a small yet deep wound. Alec threw his eyes open from the pain and gasped whilst Pangborn and Blackwell grinned before leaving the cell he was in.

"Alexander Lightwood, it's a pleasure to finally meet you," Valentine said cutting another wound on Alec but this time on his chest.

"What have you done to Clary? And Simon" Alec said pushing through the pain he wasn't letting Valentine receive any satisfaction from his pain.

"My daughter is safe with her mother, not that it concerns you," Valentine said, making another cut, "… who's Simon? Oh, that mundane. We didn't need him, mundanes are useless and would only get in the way,".

"What do you want with me?" Alec said.

"I want you to tell me where Jocelyn hid the mortal cup? You're a warlock, she must have trusted you with its location," Valentine said, and Alec frowned. The mortal cup! Again!

"My mom never told me about the shadowworld, let alone about the mortal cup and even if I did, I would never tell you," Alec said, he didn't know where it was no matter how everyone seemed convinced that either Alec or Clary knew where it was, their mother had said nothing about a cup, their mother said nothing about the shadowworld and that Alec was in fact a warlock/ downworlder (kind of) and Clary was a shadowhunter.

"Jocelyn Fairchild is not your mother" Valentine snapped, cutting Alec again.

"I hate to break it to you, but I have adoption papers which say otherwise" Alec smirked through the pain as Valentine pushed his seraph blade into Alec's chest a small way before pulling it back out. It was obvious that he was trying to miss any vital organs.

"Jocelyn Fairchild will never ever be your mother, you downworlder abomination," Valentine snapped, slashing at Alec's legs this time.

Alec laughed, then gritted his teeth through the pain, "Haha, I like that. You're the one who made me like this, it's because of you I have these powers. The man who hates the downworlders, that same man created its abomination,".

Valentine growled, tightening his grasp on the seraph blade, narrowing his eyes. He would make this as painful as possible until this abomination begged for death. He brought the blade down, slashing from the top of Alec's chest to the bottom.

30%

Valentine's frustration grew as he kept slashing and cutting away, Alec wouldn't scream, he wouldn't beg. He kept silent, gritting his teeth as he took each cut. He felt the blood trickling down his chest from all the open wounds, but he refused to react. He tried to think of other things to take his mind off what was happening; he thought of childhood memories with his mother, Clary, and Simon. He thought of starting his band and their performances; he thought of Magnus, beautiful and kind Magnus. But no matter how much he tried to distract himself, he couldn't, he couldn't distract himself from the cuts and slashes of the blade of his skin or the electricity shooting through his body and into the wounds where Valentine shoved the electrically charged probe. He wanted to scream so badly; it hurt trying to stop himself, and he could feel his self-control slipping. He wouldn't hold up any longer.

But Valentine didn't stop. He kept cutting and shocking until his arms became a flurry of movement. Cut, shock, cut, shock, stab, shock, pain, shock, stab, shock, cut. Valentine could see the pain reflected in Alec's eyes, but he wanted more, he wanted this abomination to cry, to scream, to beg. But no matter how many cuts he brought to Alec's body, the abomination refused to make a noise, to sudden intake of air, no gasp, no whimper, and no scream. And that pissed him off. He dropped the electrically charged probe onto the floor, raising the seraph blade to Alec's chest just underneath his lungs, and pushed the blade into Alec's skin. Alec's eyes widened, the pain was worse than anything Alec had previously experienced but Valentine didn't stop there; he left his blade in Alec's chest, leaning down and picking up the probe from the floor and shoving it in the open wound with his blade. Electricity shot down the blade, burning everything it touched. The pain was worse than anything Alec had experienced before Valentine ripped both the blade and the probe from his body. And Alec couldn't stop himself. The scream left his mouth before he knew it.

40%

"I've met no one with such a high pain tolerance or resistance, if this another part of your freaky warlock powers?" Valentine said lowering his seraph blade and took a step back, admiring his bloody work on Alec's chest.

Alec smirked, "It's not power. It's the strength of will, you bastard. No matter how much damage you inflict on me, you will never come close to the pain of severe teenage bullying in high school. You forget Valentine that the mundane world is just if not more dangerous than the shadow one. I would love to see what runes can do against a tank or a gun before they blow your head off. Mundanes might not have these magical powers or runes, but we have our own initiative and weapons. You shouldn't underestimate us,".

"Then I will just have to keep going until I break that will of yours" Valentine smirked before piercing Alec's abdomen with his blade once more. And Alec screamed.

50%

Something was wrong. Alec could feel it deep in his soul. An unknown power was building up and raging war inside his body.