The sun kissed Clary's cool skin, warming it. After exiting their second swimsuit store-which had been over air-conditioned- Clary and Jace headed to a bright shop titled 'The Chairman'. The store windows displayed their current items-mainly swimsuits- and glitter. A lot of glitter. Light reflected off the confetti-like material and presented a very attention-hogging impression.
A bell chimed as Clary and Jace opened up the door and entered the shop. Unlike the other two, this store was only mildly air-conditioned. Inside, rack upon rack were draped with women's clothing. One side displayed men's clothes, the other woman's. Jace wandered over to the men's side, mumbling to Clary about trying to find a speck of non-glittered black clothing.
Walking to the desk, Clary found a friendly looking girl, who appeared to be a year or two older than Clary, finishing up with a customer. On a second glance, Clary realized that the girl's skin was a pale blue color, her hair white as bone, and when she turned around, Clary was met with violet eyes. She's a faerie! Clary thought with wonder, for she had never seen one before.
"Miss?" The faerie looked at her expectantly.
"Yes?"
"I asked if I could help you with anything." The girl smiled. Clary nodded, asking about a swimsuit, then followed the faerie girl.
The two of them stopped by rows of swimsuits. "Anything in particular you are looking for?" The girl questioned Clary.
"Uh, just something simple." The redhead watched as the other girl selected a few swimsuits and handed them over to Clary. Then she was lead to a series of changing rooms.
"Name?" The faerie unlocked a door.
"Clary." Her name was quickly scrawled in felt on a whiteboard, which was attached to the door.
Inside, Clary tried on three bikinis and two one-pieces. After deciding on a navy-blue bikini Clary re-hung the other swimsuits on their hangers. Twisting the door knob to exit, she found the door unreachable. Frowning, she tried again, twisting the knob every which way as panic swelled in her chest. Glancing up, Clary realized that the door reached all the way to the ceiling, meeting the floor with about a millimeter of space.
"Hello?" Clary called, fists banging the door, gently at first, then harder as no response came.
After what seemed a small eternity, Clary gave up, fists throbbing. Then, backing up, she rammed into the door, then tried with a well-aimed kick. It only added to her pain. All of a sudden, before Clary had time to react, the door flew open and a rag was shoved against her nose. The sharp smell of chlorophyll blotted out Clary's senses, dulling the sharp corners of the world until everything blurred together; then, simply darkness remained.
Simon paced worriedly around his room. He had sent 32 texts and filled up Clary's voice mail. It was the awful feeling in his gut that told him his best friend was in trouble. Last he had seen her, she had bolted out of his room. She hadn't even said where she was going. Wait. Hadn't she mentioned something about an Institute? Simon guessed that was the name of the place Clary had been staying at. Simon huffed in anger. Jocelyn was obviously not an option, but who else would know about the shadow world? Luke!
Grabbing his phone, Simon bounded down his stairs and out his door, shouting a quick 'I'm going to Clary's.' to his mother. Out on the streets of Brooklyn, he headed quickly to Luke's book shop. After a rather long walk, he arrived to find the shop closed for the day.
"Luke!" Simon rapped loudly on the door. "Luke, are you there? It's Simon!" After an agonizing pause, a figure made its way from the back of the store.
A friendly looking man appeared, shaggy brown hair and glasses perched on his nose. Luke. A grim expression was on Luke's face as he opened the door to let Simon in, peering quickly behind Simon as he entered. The two made their way to the back of the shop in tense silence. Finally, Luke turned.
"I suppose that you're here about Clary?"
Simon nodded. "I just need to know where she went, there is something I really need to tell her. She mentioned something about an Institute. I was hoping you would take me there." Although Simon had been there before, he doubted that he would be allowed in without Clary or Luke.
Luke frowned. "Simon, Clary ran away from the Institute. No one knows where she is. Only a note was left behind, it said not to look for her and that she was safe. Everyone there is looking for her."
Simon paled. "Can I help then? I-"
"No. The New York Institute is like a Shadowhunter's-only club. They're doing everything they can, Simon."
"Please Luke. Take me to the Institute so I can do something!"
Luke sighed. "I suppose you'll just waste your time trying to find it if I don't take you. Come on."
The two of them walked quickly to Luke's old truck. A tense silence draped over them once again, like a thick duvet. The rumbling sound of the engine mixing with the sounds of Brooklyn sounding outside the trucks windows. Simon stared outside his window, concentrating on trying to map their route in his head, so he would be able to go back even if Luke wouldn't take him again.
Eventually, Luke parked his truck in front of the Institute, which strangely contrasted the modern New York city surrounding the glamoured building. Simon followed Luke out of the truck and up the stairs.
Upon Luke's knock, the large door was opened by a middle-aged woman. She had dark hair and blue eyes. After seeing who was at the door, her grim expression shifted slightly, her eyebrows rising and lips pursing.
"This is Maryse Lightwood, head of the New York Institute." Luke seemed as if he was about to continue speaking, but the woman held up her hand.
"Hello, Lucian." She turned glanced at Simon before returning her attention on Luke. "I see this boy is neither a Shadowhunter nor a Downworlder.
Have you told him of the Shadow World? You know the rules-"
"This is Simon Lewis; he is a close friend of Clary's and found out about the Shadow World many years ago. Neither I, nor Jocelyn told him. He says that he has already been to the Intitute here."
"Then I know that he must be worried for his friend as I am guessing you have told him of her disappearance; but bringing him here is pointless." Simon then noticed how tired the woman looked, seemingly fatigued by life.
"Look, if you could just show me the note Clary left-" He was cut off by a voice, followed by a figure.
"Hey, Maryse-" A boy with blonde hair and tanned skin came up behind the middle-aged woman, stopping mid-sentence to stare at Simon; a look of contempt and superiority claiming his face.
"Sherman, we meet again."
"Jace," Maryse responded in a stern voice. "this boy is a close friend of Clary's. Will you please bring me the note she left?"
Jace, frowned but left. Maryse sighed and gestured for Luke and Simon to enter the grand building. The three waited in tense silence, inside but still by the door, until Jace came down. He seemed in no hurry, and took his time walking towards the three waiting people. Maryse took the paper from Jace and glanced quickly at the words before handing the note to Simon.
I have to go away for a while, please don't look for me, I'm safe. Please tell Simon I'm sorry.
-Clary
Simon frowned. Sorry? For running out on him? She was often like that, caught up in her own world and stubborn enough that she tended not to listen to anyone. Worry gnawed at Simon as he held the note. If only she would call him…
Maryse and Luke excused themselves, walking away among hushed whispers. After they left, Jace exited fairly quickly, saying he had better things to do than make idle chat with a Mundie.
Simon now stood in awkward silence, wondering what to do now. He could go up to Clary's room, but that would be just plain weird. He could just leave, but then he wouldn't have the chance to find out more about where Clary had left to and why.
Laughter broke the silence, the sound of two people came closer until two people burst in. Both of them froze when they saw Simon. One was the boy from when Simon had been there the first time- Max. The other person caused Simon's heart to race, she was the most gorgeous girl Simon had ever seen. She was tall with raven colored hair that cascaded down her back; when she turned to face Simon, his coffee-colored eyes met chocolate ones.
All Simon's thoughts were thoroughly scrambled. The girl was apparently a Shadowhunter, as black runes marked her skin. Upon seeing Simon, Max smiled and walked up to him.
"Hi Simon!" He seemed a bit shy, but his eyes sparkled.
"So, you're Simon. Max's been talking about you." Even her voice was perfect.
"Simon?" Max looked worried now, waving a hand in front of Simon's face.
"Huh? Oh...Yeah...I-I'm Simon." He introduced himself to the girl.
Max stuck his hands on his hips. "Simon, I already told Izzy who you were!"
Simon blushed, and the girl walked up to him. "I'm Izzy, Max's sister, as I suppose you know now. So you're Clary's friend, huh?"
Simon nodded, thoughts beginning to collect. "Uh, yep. I was wondering if you knew anything about
where she is." Izzy shook her head, causing her hair to sway.
Max seemed to be watching them with curiosity. A secret look in his eyes.
"Anyways…" Simon was standing awkwardly now, Izzy and Max seemingly unperturbed.
"Simon, I have a secret to tell you, come on." Max said suddenly, then turned to his sister. "Sorry, Izzy, I can only tell Simon."
Izzy nodded, smiling fondly a bit. "It's okay. I'll meet you guys in the kitchen when you're done."
She headed to where Simon presumed the kitchen was. After she had left sight, Max grabbed Simon's hand and lead him through a series of hallways and into a bedroom. The room itself looked as if it had once been splendid, but dust collected from years of neglect.
Max peered around the hallway before shutting the wooden door. Then he turned to face Simon, a serious expression on his face.
"I was there when Clary left."
"What!" Simon said loudly, before hushing his voice. "Why don't you tell someone?"
"If Clary didn't want anyone to know where she had gone, I will respect that." Geez, this kid is mature. Simon thought, impressed. "But I thought that you should know, 'cause you're her best friend."
Simon smiled, touched. "Thanks, Max."
The smaller boy smiled. "When Clary came back, it was just me and Jace in the house, but Jace thought I had left with Izzy and Alec. Clary ran to her room and packed her things and Jace followed her out of the house when she left. I don't think she wanted him to come though. I remember she muttered something about her brother? Jonathan?"
Simon shook his head. "So she decided to go with him after all."
"Whose him?" Max questioned.
"Someone bad, who is very...interested in Clary."
"Interested like Jace is?" Max replied innocently.
"What do you mean 'like Ja-" Simon was cut off by the sound of his phone ringing, blaring a familiar ringtone. One that he had been waiting to hear for days. He fumbled his phone out of his pocket andanswered.
"Clary?"
A/N: Ta-da! Thanks for reading:) Don't forget to review! Thanks so much to TheEternalDaylightingRanger for being such an awesome Beta!
(I though I would start to respond to your guys's review, but I only did the first three. Sorry to the others!)
Nizabear: Thanks so much!
5sos Team Calum: It really bugs me when people dive into relationships to fat in books, but I will try to speed the Clace up! ||Chapter 10 ;)||
: Thanks, and yup:)
-Elle
(Note: The first few chapter are being edited as of now so the next update may be a little bit late, sorry!)