I'm being really slow at updating. I don't know what to say but sorry. Enjoy

-jen

Chapter 20

Clary stood on her balcony, watching the flickering lights of the city below. No one was outside. Not a single person. She'd noticed the same thing a few days ago, when she and Jared had been sitting on the roof. Valentine had to have noticed this. Or maybe it was his doing. She didn't know.

"What are you up to little sister." Jonathan said causing her to jump. She hadn't known he was there. He gracefully walked over to the railing and leaned on his elbows.

"it's none of your concern Jonathan." Clary said purposely going to the other side of the balcony, farther away from him. Jonathan smiled.
"Sure." She just stared.

"What do you want?" Clary snapped after a few moments of silence. He shrugged.

"Just to talk to my sister." Clary turned away from him.

"Really, because there's not much talking going on." He laughed, and waltzed over to her, blocking her exit.

"Okay, then I'll talk. What do you think of our father?" Clary crossed her arms over her chest.
"What do you think?" Her voice came out even more bitter than before. If Jonathan noticed he didn't act on it.

"I think you hate his guts. You want him dead but can't do anything about it. And-And," Clary opened her mouth to respond but Jonathan continued. "I think you're scared." She narrowed her eyes.
"You are so full of it." Jonathan inched closer to her.

"I am not, Clarissa Morgenstern." Hearing him acknowledge her as part of the family made her speechless. Only a few days ago he'd wanted her dead. He definitely wanted something. "You're afraid that Father will make you kill your little friends. And he will. I know he will. You know he will. And you're afraid to test the rune. You're afraid to see if you can beat it or not." Clary gulped.
"You don't know me." She said.

"Oh yes I do dear sister. I know you very well. I've watched you. I watched how you interacted with Jace. You were afraid to be around him. You were worried about what Father would ask you to do. You certainly were in pain when I had you whip him." Clary slapped Jonathan then-good and hard across his right cheek. His head snapped to the side. She slipped under his arm and back into her bedroom. She was aware of him following behind her slowly. She was expecting him to hit her twice as hard, but the punch never came.

"Clarissa." He said. She turned slowly.

"Get out of my room Jonathan." He grabbed her wrist and pulled her into him, smiling. "Jona-"

Alec lay in the corner of the basement, curled into a ball sobbing. Magnus sat a few feet away watching him with worry in his eyes. He wanted to do something for his love, but there was nothing he could do. When the pain had started almost two days ago, Alec had refused to let anyone touch him. Magnus knew that it was the parabatai rune Alec and Jace shared, that was causing the pain. He'd seen pain like this before, but it hadn't lasted as long.
"Is Jace dead?" Isabelle asked quietly. Magnus turned to look at her. He'd seen the rune Alec had on his shoulder. It didn't have the white appearance it normally got when a parabatai died. No, this was different. It was no longer the dark black of a normal rune, but a strange greyish color.

"No." Magnus said. "I don't know what's happened to him, but he's not dead." Isabelle sighed.

"It's been two days." She said. "How can he be in this much pain?" Magnus shook his head. He couldn't answer that. "We'll just have to wait and see when Alec feels better. For now, just leave him be."

The remainder of the Clave members sat in a circle on the other side of the basement, talking in hushed whispers. They'd been like that since they'd arrived the previous night. "What are they planning?" Isabelle questioned.

"I believe… They are planning a rebellion." Magnus responded.

"Shut up." She struggled in his vice grip. He was unrelenting. Eventually He shoved her hard enough that she fell to the ground. "I'm not going to hurt you little sister. " He said calmly. "I would just like to talk to you."

"I don't want to hear anything you have to say." Jonathan sat cross-legged in front of her.

"What if I said I wanted to get rid of our father?"

"No surprise there." She muttered.

"I want you to help me." Clary just stared at him. "I want him dead Clary."
"So you can take over. I've got it Jon. And no. I will not help you."

"Why not?" Clary narrowed her eyes.

"You're worse than him." Jonathan shrugged.

"Yes, well I've got Jace down in that basement Clarissa. If you don't help me I'll gladly kill him off. And it will not be a quick painless death." She didn't know that he was lying. He would never kill Jace. Killing Jace would mean killing himself and that would be counterproductive. Clary narrowed her eyes.

"Even if I wanted to, I couldn't help you." Jonathan smiled.

"Because of your stupid rune? Please." He scoffed. "You're smart- at least somewhat. You can figure something out."

"If I could I wouldn't be here now, would I." Jonathan shrugged.

"I don't think you've tried hard enough."

"Get out." She snapped. Jonathans shoulders dropped but he smiled, the smile he put on when he was up to something.

"You'll help me eventually Clary, whether you like it or not." He laughed. "Just you wait."

The whip hit Clary's back with brute force. She awoke with a start, and let out a shriek. She hadn't been expecting the sharp pain so early. What time was it? 3am? She had no idea. There was no sense of time in this blasted place. She waited for her eyes to adjust, but there was nothing to adjust to. It was just blackness that surrounded her. No one spoke and the whip hit her again. What was on her face? Was she wearing a blindfold. Was this some new form of torture. "J-Jonathan?" Clary questioned. Her voice was soft, like a childs. She'd only allowed herself to sound so vulnerable once before. Once again, no one responded to her. The pain continued to sharpen on her back and she could feel something wet creeping down, most likely blood. On the sixth or seventh blow it got even harder to stand the beating. She was tired and disoriented and in serious pain. She could hear the crack of the whip and another blood curdling scream left her lips. Something clanged to the floor and hands were on her shoulders. She groaned as something came into contact with her sensitive back. She realized then that it was a chest. She was pulled into the body. "How was that Clary?" Jonathan's harsh voice whispered in her ear. "How does it feel being vulnerable? I'll tell you it wasn't fathers idea for this one." He chuckled slightly. Clary didn't dare say a word. Her breathing came out rushed. The ropes suddenly came undone. Clary dropped to the floor like a sandbag. Jonathan pulled her back to her feet. He didn't remove the blindfold, or the bindings on her wrist. "Walk." He snapped.

"I can't see!" He pushed her. She stumbled.

"That direction. Now walk!" Clary did as she was told. When she hit stairs, she fell forward. Jonathans hand grabbed her shoulder to keep her steady. They continued on for a few minutes until he told her to stop. Then another voice spoke up.

"I don't have tolerance for disobedience." Valentine spoke, calm and collected. Clary swallowed. "I've already told you this. Yet, you ignore my warnings. Over. And over. And over." He sighed. "We'll be moving into our home in a week, Clarissa. Once there, I wont take any pity. You'll do as I say. I really wanted to believe you could work without that rune you made me but it looks like it won't happen." Hands forced her to her knees. Valentine got down in front of her and pulled out his stele. He drew delicate lines on her neck, pain growing stronger and stronger by the minute. Once done, he leaned back and studied his work. "Throw her in the box. She can deal with the pain on her own."

"Yes sir."

Clary woke up caked in sweat. Her hair stuck to her face. Memories had been flooding back to her in the past weeks and truthfully it was freaking her out. She'd purposely pushed them to the back of her brain but they just kept resurfacing. She pushed herself out of bed, slipped on a pair of slippers and stepped out into the dark empty hallway. She walked quietly down the corridors finally resting in the kitchen. She grabbed some water and chugged the cold liquid until the glass was empty. It took three more for her to calm down. By then though, she was wide-awake. She wandered the hallways aimlessly. It was 4am. Everyone should've been asleep. However she could hear voices coming from her father's study. Against her better judgment she crept closer to the doors until she could understand what was being said.

"Are you sure they got in." Valentine snapped.

"Yes sir."

"So a rebellion is inevitable." There was a loud bang. Clary jumped.

"It looks that way sir." A new voice said.

"What should we do with Clarissa? Is she going to fight?" Valentine laughed.

"Of course she will. She and Jonathan are my two strongest weapons."

"And she'll do what you tell her to do?"

"She fears me too much. That plus the rune…. She's no threat." Clary backed away from the door slowly, wide eyed. A weapon. She was a weapon. She knew what he had planned. He was going to have to kill her friends. The door opened. Valentine stood there dressed in black. "Eavesdropping are we Clarissa?" He nodded for her to enter, which she did with her eyes lowered to the floor.