Expect the Unexpected
Chapter 2
As Clary was walking back towards her room to change, she tried calling Simon. Despite having known Simon for most of their lives, and knowing how many rings it usually took for Simon to either answer, or for his phone to go to voicemail, when it just continued to ring, Clary just became more and more concerned. When she had finally had heard enough of it ringing, with no answer and it not going to voicemail, Clary let out a frustrated yell. What the hell was going on? First Magnus wasn't answering when Alec had tried calling him, and now Simon wasn't answering when Clary tried calling. Was there some kind of Downworlder dampener that wasn't allowing calls to go through?
When she turned the corner, Clary caught sight of a shadow at the other end of the hallway and despite breaking into a full-on run, by the time she reached the other end, the shadow had vanished, as if it had never existed in the first place. With an apprehensive feeling coursing through her body, Clary walked back towards her room only to get the sense that she was being followed. Half turning her head, Clary could have sworn that she saw that shadow again, but when she turned fully, it was gone. With a frustrated sigh, Clary turned, once again, back towards her bedroom, only to let out a shriek and jumping slightly when she saw Alec standing by her door, silently watching her.
"What the hell Alec? You couldn't have, oh I don't know, made a noise or something to let me know that you were there?" Clary asked as she moved past him and went into her room, closing the door most of the way while she got something to change into.
"That's not how I operate. Did you call the Vampire?" Alec asked.
"For the last time, Alec, his name is Simon. How would you feel if he went around just referring to you, as 'Shadowhunter'?" Clary asked.
"I wouldn't mind. It's who I am." Alec replied with a shrug.
"Whatever." Clary muttered in response while pulling her jeans and a black tank top on.
"You almost done Fray? Every second that we stay here is another second that we lose in being able to save our friends." Alec asked as he lightly hit his head against the wall next to the doorframe.
"You know, for someone who was freaking out earlier and then told me to go get dressed, you can be a little less of an ass." Clary snapped as she fitted her thigh holster into place and put her seraph blade and stele into it. "You can come in now... if you want to." She added.
"I'm good. I already spent more than enough time in your room this morning." Alec bit out.
"Suit yourself."
This was going to be difficult. They could barely get along in the best of circumstances. How were they supposed to work together and get along while trying to find and save Jace, Izzy and Lydia? Not to mention the fact that Alec being possessed by that demon and killing Jocelyn was still fresh in both of their minds, and they could barely look each other in the eye when it was brought up earlier. Clary could not see any way for them to get through this without killing each other, but they didn't have a choice.
"Why didn't you call Simon?" Alec asked.
"I did... he didn't answer. And it never went to voicemail." Clary replied as she walked into the hallway while putting her hair into a ponytail.
"Neither Magnus nor Simon are answering? Do we know any other Downworlders other than Luke?" Alec asked glancing anywhere but at Clary.
"Well, I haven't tried Luke yet, but we know Raphael." Clary replied.
"Let's go. We need to get moving. We can call them on our way to the City of Bones." Alec said before grasping Clary's upper arm and pulling her along behind him.
"You know that I can walk myself, right? I don't need you to pull me along." Clary bit out as she pulled her arm out of Alec's grip. "And is there a particular reason as to why we are going to save Lydia first? What about Izzy and Jace?" She added.
"We can easily get to Lydia in the City of Bones. We need a portal to get to Izzy in Idris and we don't know where Valentine is holding Jace. If Lydia had any say in anything that was going on, she might know how we can save the others." Alec explained as he power walked ahead of Clary, causing her to jog to keep up with him.
"Look, I know that we are racing against an unknown clock here, but you are considerably taller than I am, so can you like, not walk so fast?" Clary asked.
"My brother and sister are in danger. The woman I was going to marry is in prison. I'm sorry you are so short, but when my family is in danger, I don't walk idly. Now either keep up and keep your mouth shut, or keep up and make yourself useful by calling someone else that might be able to help us." Alec snapped as he abruptly stopped and turned to face her, causing Clary to run into his body.
"Screw you Lightwood. You aren't the only one that cares about them. I might not have grown up with Izzy and Jace, but they are as much my family at this point as they are yours. Jace is MYbrother by BLOOD. And it's MY father who took him... AGAIN! So, don't you dare talk down to me." Clary fired back.
"You know nothing about how this family works!" Alec shouted.
"THAT'S NOT MY DAMN FAULT LIGHTWOOD! I didn't ask to be raised away from this world. That choice was made by my MOTHER when I was a BABY! So, stop treating me like I asked to be lied to every day of my life!" Clary yelled knowing that if it weren't for their invisibility runes, they would be drawing stares from the people that were walking by the Institute. "And let me remind you that it was my MOTHER that asked your BOYFRIEND to wipe my memories of the Shadow World for YEARS. If I had had a choice in anything growing up, I would have chosen to grow up in this world. But I didn't, so stop making me feel bad for something that was out of my control." She added before pushing past him and walking away.
"CLARY!" Alec called after her.
"SCREW YOU ALEC!" She shot over her shoulder.
"DAMN IT FRAY, LISTEN TO ME!" Alec snapped catching up to her and grabbing her elbow to turn her to face him.
"WHAT!?" Clary exclaimed.
"Don't you DARE talk about Magnus that way. This is not HIS fault!" Alec said, his voice dangerously low.
"You are unbelievable. I'm not saying it's Magnus' fault!" Clary exclaimed throwing her hands up in the air. "You don't get it, do you?" She asked with a deep breath. "Look, us fighting isn't doing anything to help our friends. Let's just drop it and go get Lydia out of the City of Bones." She concluded.
"Fine. You've been there more recently than I have. You lead the way." Alec said with a smirk.
Clary gave Alec a glare before turning on her heel and starting in the direction of the City of Bones. He knew that she had gone there to see Jace when he had been imprisoned before his trial for helping Valentine in the first place. Clary wasn't sure if she was more surprised or annoyed that Alec knew. But now was not the time to dwell on it. They needed to save Lydia and then they needed to find and save the others. For the rest of the trek to the City of Bones, Clary and Alec refused to speak to each other, and neither of them looked at the other. Alec felt like if they did look at each other, or if they spoke again, that it would just end with them yelling at each other again, and that had already proved to be counterproductive. And it was starting to feel like they could, just maybe accomplish this whole thing, but as the neared the entrance, there was a figure leaning against the wall next to the door, his back facing them, and his blonde hair reflecting the still rising sun's rays. At first when Clary saw him, she thought it was Jace and that maybe, just maybe, they had been right to think that the picture of Jace chained up was a horrible hoax, but Alec caught her arm and raised his bow, an arrow already in place, aiming it right at the blond figure.
"Who the hell are you?" Alec called out, sincerely hoping his voice didn't betray his already growing paranoia.
"The name is Sebastian Verlac. You may call me Seb, if you wish, Alexander Lightwood." The blond said as he turned to face Clary and Alec.
"You look..." Clary started.
"What are you doing here?" Alec asked, cutting her off.
"Same as you, I would suppose. I came on behalf of the Clave to talk to Lydia Branwell." Sebastian said with a shrug.
"Then why aren't you inside? Why are you waiting out here?" Alec questioned.
"The Clave was tipped off that you two were looking for your friends, and that you were informed that Ms. Branwell was here. The Clave can't allow either of you to talk to her." Sebastian replied before shifting his eyes to Clary. "It's nice to meet you Clarissa. I'm sorry to hear about your mother, Jocelyn. The Clave sends their greatest sympathies over her loss. We were so looking forward to having her back in Idris." He added with a smirk.
"Don't you dare talk about my mother like you knew her." Clary spat out.
"Clary, calm down." Alec muttered under his breath, not bothering to lower his bow.
"You two should really be on your way." Sebastian said.
"We aren't leaving until we get to talk to Lydia." Clary said defiantly.
"But see, you aren't going to be able to save Jace, or Isabelle, if you wait around to be able to talk to Lydia." Sebastian baited.
"What have you done to my brother and sister?" Alec asked, his arm straining at holding the string on his bow back for so long.
"I haven't done anything to them Alexander." Sebastian stressed.
"Alec, let's just go." Clary said as she gently placed a hand on Alec's arm.
"Scared Clarissa?" Sebastian questioned with a smirk and a raised eyebrow.
"Of you, not a chance." Clary snapped.
"Oh, you should be." Sebastian threatened and before Clary could stop him, Alec let the arrow fly.
Neither he nor Clary stuck around to see if it hit its target because as soon as Alec had released the string, they had both turned and ran as fast as they could. They ran until they couldn't breathe, and when they stopped to get their surroundings, they realized that they were close to Magnus' apartment and after a moment or two of rest, both took off running again, this time with a destination in mind. They only hoped that Magnus would be home and would be able to help them.