Jonathan had been true to his word. He came for me an hour after I arrived at Isabelle's. Luckily, Jace hadn't bothered us at all. For which I was thankful for. I don't think I could have handled him. Especially after what he did.
"Hey, sis," Jonathan smiled. "Ready to go?"
I pursed my lips and shrugged. "I guess." I said my goodbyes and made my way to the passenger seat of Jonathan's car. As soon as Jonathan pulled away from the curb, I squealed. The car swerved before continuing straight again. "She had a Tardis bookshelf that opened up to a room that looked exactly like the inside of the Tardis!"
Jonathan chuckled. "Really? You must have loved that. I know how much you like that show. Especially when that Tennant fellow was the Doctor."
Grinning, I nodded vigorously. "It was amazing! We stayed in there the entire time. The hour literally flew by. Isabelle asked if I could go back tomorrow, but for longer."
The car grew silent after I asked my question. Jonathan glanced sideways at me. "Do you like her? Think she's nice?"
"Yeah," I answered quietly.
He nodded. "Okay. You can stay. Tomorrow is Friday so if you want to sleep over just let me know. I'll pack a night bag for you and bring it over." I beamed at my brother. I can't believe he's going to let me stay over. The only person I've ever had a sleep over with was Simon. "But I'm going to have Alec and Jace sleep over at our house so I know who you're over there with." I knew he wouldn't have let me stay without a compromise, but this was an okay compromise.
It was time for bed before I knew it. Thankfully, I didn't have any nightmares to deal with. Usually I got away without having nightmares, but sometimes I wasn't so lucky. I woke up on my own the next day and I began to dress quickly. In the middle of getting dressed, I made my way to the floor length mirror I had on the bathroom door. There were long scars running along my sides and across my stomach. Valentine had decided to use a knife one day. It hadn't ended well.
The scar on my face was so obvious. Isabelle hadn't even asked how I received it. I knew she saw it. I mean, who couldn't see it? Jace got the entire cafeteria talking about it. I hated it. It was a reminder of the pain and torture I had gone through. The scar was also a reminder of how our mother died.
Jonathan came to wake me up shortly after I finished getting dressed. He was surprised to see me up and dressed. "I'll meet you downstairs then. Luke made pancakes and Isabelle showed up with her brothers."
I sighed and headed down. Isabelle was sitting at the table having a conversation with Luke while Alec and Jace stood by the door talking in hushed voices. All conversations stopped once I walked in with Jonathan behind me. Luke smiled at the both of us and motioned to our usual seats, pancakes already on the table. I took a seat next to Isabelle and began to eat my pancakes, at one point offering her some which she kindly turned down.
Alec was the only one keeping an eye on the time so he told us when it was time to head to school. I still didn't know why they were at our house, but I shrugged it off. Isabelle climbed into Jonathan's car with me. As we were pulling out of the driveway, I decided it was a perfect time to ask Isabelle what they had been doing at the house.
"So, Isabelle, why were you and your brothers at my house?"
"I just wanted to talk to Luke. Jonathan texted me last night about a sleep over and I wanted to make sure Luke knew who I was and what my intentions were going to be."
I looked toward her. "Are you taking me on a date? Because that's totally what it sounds like."
Isabelle laughed. "I didn't mean for it to come out like."
Jonathan was shaking his head and laughing by the looks of it. I settled back in the passenger seat. There was an eerie silence in the car the rest of the way to school. Jonathan and Isabelle got out of the car first. I stayed for a moment thinking about school. I didn't want to go in, but I knew I had to. Jonathan wouldn't force me. Neither would Luke, but they'd be concerned as to why I wasn't going into school.
After a few moments, I slid out of the passenger side and slammed the door shut. My mood turned sour as soon as I saw Jace walking toward us. Out of nowhere, I was picked up and thrown over a shoulder. Glitter covered said person's back. It was obviously Magnus. Magnus was the only one I knew who wore glitter. Well. . . At least this much. Maybe Aline or Kaelie wore glitter. Probably not.
"Magnus, put me down!" I hissed. "My shirt is going to ride up and─"
He put me down and patted my head. His eyes were apologetic. "Sorry, biscuit. I forgot."
"It's fine," I muttered and pushed through everyone to walk into school. Someone ran up beside me and touched my shoulder. My head whipped to the side to find golden eyes staring at me with concern.
"Clary, what's─"
My body tensed. Why was he concerned? He started the whispers yesterday! "Get away from me," I said shakily.
Shock filled his eyes and he stopped walking. I practically ran into the school. The bell chimed and I realized I wouldn't make it to my locker in time before History started. This time I did run. I got to class in time, but I ran into Sebastian Verlac. He had messy black hair and dark eyes. Sebastian grabbed my wrist tightly making me gasp in pain. He let go of it and apologized. "I am so sorry! I didn't want you to fall." I nodded and tried to slip by, but he stopped me. "I actually wanted to ask you if you'd like to go out for dinner tonight."
"No, she wouldn't," Jace's voice came from behind me. "She's actually got plans."
Sebastian looked at me questioningly. I sighed. "He's right, but maybe another time?"
This time Sebastian nodded and let me slip by. Jace followed close behind. "Why are you going out with him?"
"Why do you care?" I narrowed my eyes at him. "You like to ruin people's lives anyway."
Jace raised an eyebrow. "What's that supposed to mean? What have I ever done to you?"
"You said those things," I cried. "You─ you caused all the whispering and pointing in the cafeteria! And you dare ask me what you've done to me? I have trouble as it is keeping people from talking about my scar." Okay, so that was a bit of a lie. "Then you had to come along and mess it up!"
He ran a hand through his hair before cupping my face between his hands. "Clary, that wasn't me."
Although before I could ask him who did it, Mrs. Branwell came into the classroom and told everyone to sit down. Then she began her teaching. Jace kept trying to get my attention throughout the lesson, but my mind was wondering. If Jace didn't do it then who did? Why would anyone dare? Especially because Jonathan is my brother.
The bell rang in record time. Or at least it felt like it was record time. After that, classes flew by. I avoided everyone at all costs. Jonathan watched me carefully from afar along with Magnus. I could see them watching. Earlier in the day I saw Simon following Isabelle around like a lost puppy. It was sad to watch, but amusing at the same time. Jace backed off after he realized I no longer wanted to talk.
I sat in my last period class staring out the window. There was still a half hour left, but I couldn't stand sitting still any longer. I gathered my stuff and walked to the teacher's desk. "May I go to the nurse?"
The teacher gave me a look of concern, but nodded nonetheless. I quickly walked the halls to my locker. After getting what I needed, I made my way to the class that Jonathan was currently in. I spotted him looking bored in the back of the class. He just so happened to look my way and raised an eyebrow. I motioned for him to come with me. Jonathan nodded and stood up. I couldn't hear what he was saying to the teacher, but I figured he asked to go to the nurse. I stepped back from the door and started my way back down the hall. Jonathan joined me moments later. He wrapped his arm around my shoulders and pulled me against his side.
"What's wrong, Clare? You've been acting weird all day." Concern was prominent in his voice. "Did someone say something again? Because if they did, I'll beat them."
I shook my head. "No one said anything. . . Not really. They don't care about my scar. Jon, I just want everything to be normal. I wish that we never had a father that beat his kid and wife. I want mom back, Jon," I choked. "It's not fair! Why did it have to be her?" I dropped my things and buried myself in Jonathan's chest. He wrapped his arms tightly around me and held me as I cried.
It really wasn't fair. I knew everything happened for a reason, but to take a mother away from her children in an evil, cruel way was ridiculous. Jonathan didn't take the beating we did. He called the vile man father even when I flinched away from him. Sure, he didn't know, but could there have been ways he found out sooner? Could we have saved our mom?
"Shhh," Jonathan tried to sooth me, but to no avail. I was shaking in his grasp, images from that fateful day flashing in my mind.
Valentine standing over our mother with an evil smile on his face and a dark glint in his eyes. I was huddled in the corner clutching my face. Valentine had already scarred me. He squatted, eye level with our mom, and showed her the blood dripping off the silver blade of the knife. I screamed at him to stop. That this wasn't right. But he didn't listen. He threw the knife toward me and I tucked just in time. Valentine stood and began kicking her continuously. She screamed in pain and agony. I crawled to the knife and picked it up, about to do something that would save us all. Unfortunately, Valentine saw me move and growled. He lunged and me and began to beat me like he beat our mother. That was when Jonathan had come into the house.
"Clary, snap out of it!" When I focused, I found myself staring into golden eyes.
At that moment, it didn't matter who was holding me. Only that I had once again relived my nightmare. I sobbed and let Jace hold me. "He killed her," I sobbed. "It's all his fault she's dead." All the noise that I hadn't noticed I'd been engulfed in stopped. It got eerily quiet. Still, I paid little attention. Jace was rubbing my back soothingly and trying to get me to tell him what I meant. I pulled back and sniffled. "I watched it," I whispered. "I watched him kick her over and over and over. He wasn't going stop. I knew he wasn't. He advanced on me when I tried to stop it! B-but Jon saved me. H-he was too late for her." Black dots danced in my vision. Jace's image flickered. He became Valentine in a matter of seconds, but I was out of it. I couldn't push him away. So I let the darkness consume me.
So how about some Clace?
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