I think he made it worse. What could that possibly mean? Clary certainly had no idea, and she wasn't sure she wanted to. Clary turned her body, the sheets wrapping around her in true cocoon fashion, and she groaned, untangling herself from the sheets. Sitting up in bed, Clary looked over to Isabelle, who was sound asleep, and snoring lightly. She didn't have the heart to wake Isabelle, so Clary quietly grasped for her sketch book, finding purchase, when her hand went to the floor. Next to it, were her pencils. She gingerly left the bedroom, closing the door behind herself.
Clary had found something new to sketch; the water. She sat, just at the water's edge, her feet in the water. The sounds of the small waves breaking, were oddly comforting. Clary knew she should be sleeping; she hadn't slept well in so long, it was almost driving her to insanity. She knew, though, it wasn't sleep deprivation driving her to slowly to insanity. It was a certain boy. One with gold eyes and hair. I think he made it worse. The words teased at Clary's mind, sending her mind spiralling to what Magnus could have meant. She bit down on her lip, as she focused intensely, something she found herself doing often. For the first time in days, her head wasn't spinning.
-*#*-
The ground shifted beneath her, as she shifted, herself. The heat was not unwelcome, but the bright light certainly was. "Clary?" A gentle voice asked, shaking her softly. "Clary, wake up."
Clary sat up, rubbing at her eyes, not even bothering to smooth down her hair; whoever was waking up sleeping beauty, would have to get a look at sleeping beauty. She was almost certain she looked like a racoon; the dark bags under her eyes from sleepless nights, the messy nest of red curls. Her eyes finally focused, staying open completely.
Her "prince" just happened to be someone who couldn't even be bothered to comb his hair. Alec.
"Alec?" Clary grumbled, her voice thick with sleep, as the confusion set in; there was an imprint of her body in the sand, sand all over her shirt, shorts, sketch book. "Huh?" Clary said, half to herself. Alec's hand held her arm, as he looked her over. "We're on the beach," he said. Clary nodded. "I know, I just-I don't remember falling asleep."
"You almost gave Isabelle and Magnus a heart attack this morning, when they woke up and you were gone." Alec said, making Clary's stomach churn with guilt for scaring them like that. "Sorry, I just-" Clary cut off. "I couldn't sleep."
Alec gave her a sympathetic look. "Again?" He asked. "How long has it been since you've had a good nights sleep?" Clary gave a shrug in response. "Well, then, come on," Alec said, holding out his hands to her. She accepted them gratefully, allowing him to full her to her feet. Brushing off her clothes, Clary picked up her pencils and sketch book.
They walked in silence, and Clary assumed Alec didn't think she noticed the worried glances he'd send her every few steps. "What did her mean?" Clary blurted, wanting to take back the words almost instantly. He furrowed his eyebrows in question. "Magnus, I mean. When he said 'I think he made it worse'?" Alec sighed. "You don't remember, do you Clary?"
This time, it was Clary's turn to give Alec a questioning look. "Remember what?" Clary demanded. "I shouldn't even be telling you this," Alec muttered, but then stopped walking altogether, and looked Clary in the eyes, bending down to be on her level, grabbing her by the shoulders. "You can not-I repeat, can not-tell anyone I told you this, got it?"
"Okay," Clary shrugged, not seeing what could be that big of a deal she couldn't tell anyone. Alec took a deep breath. "You remember the crash Jonathan and your Dad were in, right?" He asked, his face abnormally pale. Clary squinted at him slightly. "Yeah, they both died on impact," Clary said, trying to keep her voice even and devoid of emotion. Alec shook his head. "No, that's wrong. Only your Dad did-Jonathan was alive for a few minutes afterwards."
"Alec, I don't-" he cut her off. "You were sitting in the backseat, Clary." he said. "You were asleep for days, days. It was awful, we thought we were going to lose you. But you came back to us, and you looked fine; you were still Clary, well and truly." Clary looked at him, unsure if this was true, or just some elaborate lie. But then again, Alec never lied.
"But," Alec hesitated, looking down at the ground, before he met her eyes again. "Your memory was screwed. Everything was normal, except little bits and pieces of your memory. Like, you remembered Isabelle, Magnus, your Mom, Luke, me, instantly. But Jace..." He bit his lip. "Jace, what?" Clary prodded.
"You didn't remember at thing about him, other than the way you guys were before you became friends," Alec said, his answer too vague for Clary's liking. She raised her eyebrow's at him, her expression expectant. "Well, like you are now, bickering and fighting. That way." Alec replied.
Clary shook her head. "That's not true, Alec," she insisted. "Wouldn't my memory have come back by now? And wouldn't someone have let it slip?" Alec let her shoulders go, scratching the back of his neck nervously. "All of us have let something slip, except your parents and Jace-well until now," he replied, his tone slightly stressed. "Every time we did, you had no clue what we were talking about, so you didn't bother with it-thank God," he sighed.
"Too early for all this," Clary muttered. Alec turned back to face her, raising an eyebrow at her. "It's noon, Clary."
"Oh," she said simply. "Why did everyone lie?" Clary asked, her voice quiet. She felt so vulnerable, all of a sudden; everyone knew these things about her, that she didn't. "The doctors said it would overwhelm you, and that it would probably be better to let everything come back on its own." Clary bit the inside of her cheek. "But, it never happened," Alec said. "So, here we all are, waiting on the day you remember everything the way it's meant to be."
"'Meant to be?'" Clary asked, taking a few steps back from Alec, who had seemingly just realized what he'd said. "Clary-that's not what I mean-" Alec started, but Clary didn't find out what he'd meant, because she bolted off down the beach, in the direction of the house.
Clary burst through the front door, slamming it shut behind her. She could hear chatter from the kitchen, were they all seemed to enjoy hanging out-for whatever reason. "Clary, is that you?" Isabelle called out. Clary didn't have it in her to answer, she didn't think she could face Isabelle and not loose it. She would snap, just like that.
Isabelle wandered out a little bit from the kitchen, the open floor plan allowing her a decent view of the front door and staircase. "Clary," she sighed a breath of relief. Clary didn't make eye contact with her, trying to leash in her raging temper. "Are you okay? I was so worried," she said, trying to pull Clary in for a hug. Clary pushed her away, and Isabelle frowned at her.
"What the hell is up with you?" Isabelle demanded, resting her hands on her hips. Magnus wandered into the front room next, seeing the conflict on the rise, he slowly tried to back out of the room. "Oh, no you don't," Clary said, sending him a look that would've had him dead, had looks been able to kill. He froze on the spot. "You really want to know?" Clary asked.
"As a matter of fact, I do," Isabelle said, her calm slowly fading away, showing the fiery anger hidden just beneath her surface. "I know," Clary said, her voice low and angry. "The crash, the lies, everything." Magnus looked down at his feet, and Isabelle paled. "Not one of you thought it might be a good idea to tell me? It's been almost three years! I still don't remember, and I had to find out from Alec!" Her voice had risen to a shout, drawing the curiosity of Jace. "Leave," she heard Isabelle hiss at him.
"Why?" Jace asked, looking from Isabelle, to Magnus, to Clary. "I can't believe all of you," Clary said finally, opening the front door again, and walking right back out.
She didn't know where to go. She didn't know what to do with her flaming temper. Clary tossed her sketch book and pencils in the sand, as she took the last step. There wasn't many places she knew around here, but surely there was somewhere she could go, at least for a little while. Somewhere she could just get away from everything.
An idea chimed in at just the right moment. No one would even think to look for her in a store; she hated shopping. So, without hesitation, Clary headed further into the small town.
There was a small bakery, right near the corner of a street. It was tucked in between a men's clothing warehouse-which was much smaller than any warehouse ought to be-and a book store, Clary made a mental note to visit the book store some time, before ducking into the bakery. Her nose was immediately attacked, by the delicious smells of freshly baked bread, and cupcakes.
"Hey, can I get you anything?" A voice interrupted Clary's thoughts. There was a girl, she looked about the same age as Clary; auburn hair, tied into a tight pony tale, dark skin, cargo pants, and a black tee, all covered in flour. Clary gave her a weak smile, the best one she could muster. "No," Clary said. "Just looking." The girl nodded, and disappeared through a door.
Clary sank down in a plastic chair, the vibrant orange colour was reflected on the wall. She propped her head up on her hand, staring out the window, as people passed by. Nothing made sense, and suddenly, her head was spinning again. Now she knew what Magnus had meant. Jace was missing whatever they had before the crash. But what had they had? Being friends with Jace, it seemed like a whole other concept, one that was teasingly familiar.
There wasn't one thing Clary remembered about the crash, let alone being in it; her mom had hidden any knowledge away from her, refusing to speak about it. But from what Isabelle had told her, it was pretty bad. Is that why she had felt so confused after kissing Jace? Because they had been friends, or was it different? Had they been secretly dating, or something? The thoughts scared Clary, more than she wanted them to.
Sighing, Clary picked herself up, and moved to open the door. All of a sudden, a small takeout container was thrust in front of her. She looked up, to see the pretty girl from behind the counter. "Take these," she said. Clary gave her a curious look. "Why?" The girl shrugged. "You just looked so sad, I thought these might help." She thrust the box at Clary once more. Reluctantly, Clary took the box, and opened the lid. Inside, were six delicious-looking red velvet cupcakes, with cream cheese icing. "Let me pay you," Clary's hand dove into her pocket, fishing for the ten she'd put in there yesterday. She found it, and held it out to the girl. The girl stuck her hand up. "No," she said. "No charge."
"Are you sure?" Clary asked, reluctantly pulling the ten back. The girl nodded. "I'm sure." She said, and was off again, before Clary could argue further.
Clary resumed her actions, of leaving the store, now holding a box of cupcakes in one hand, while the other shoved the ten back into her pocket. She made to go to the book store, see if she could find a book to help pass the time. She just couldn't go back to the house; not now. Maybe she would just go home, hitch hike, or catch a plane. Something.
A small bell sound rang out through the shop, as Clary pushed open the door. There was an elderly woman sitting behind a glass counter, holding open a book. She had white hair, pulled tightly into a bun behind her head, and round glasses perched on her nose. The walls were lined with books, upon books. The aisles were lit by dull lights, just giving enough light to be able to read. The old woman smiled at Clary, before resuming her reading. Clary skimmed her eyes over the labels on the side of shelves, she headed for the one that read fiction. It was always much more fun to visit a world that wasn't your own.
There wasn't much there she hadn't already read, but what was wrong with re-reading some of your favourite books? Clary picked up a copy of The Hunger Games, debating whether or not it was worth it, to buy a book she already had back home. She decided against purchasing another copy, and gave the old woman a weary smile before leaving.
It was going to be a long night. And she refused to go back to the house.
Hey guys! An update! Woo hoo!
Major plot twist there, huh? Bet you never saw that one coming, did ya?
Oh, well. I guess Clace might just have to be put on hold for a while. Leave a review, if you want more!
Next chapter when I get 100 reviews!
Hope you all enjoyed!