Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters except for Mary, and some other characters I made up. Besides them, all the other characters belong to the wonderful Cassandra Clare.
A/N: Thank you to everyone who reviewed and answered my questions. It was quite interesting actually to get people's opinion. In this chapter it is going to be another repeat chapter from my first version. Sorry, but like the last chapter I had to have it.
To my anonymous reviewers:
**Anonymous1997: Yes, Magnus is going to make an appearance, but not anytime soon, maybe two or three more chapters away. Hopefully this update was faster than the last one.
**AM: Lol, don't you ever worry about writing long reviews. The longer the better! As for your first question I, myself, haven't thought about what happened to Simon's leg when he was younger. Maybe I'll make a little short and put it with the outtakes I'm writing. But what I'm thinking about Simon's leg injury has to do with a vampire. :) As for your second question, I can't, and won't put up my old version. It is exactly like this version, except it is shorter, has bad grammar, cheesier, horrible, and not as exciting. I also can't because I've been using some of the older chapters as my building blocks for my newer ones, so I don't even have some of them, and also I don't want to put up something really bad on fanfic when I have a better one. And as for your last question yes, it is Magnus.
**Allliee- Thank you so much for reviewing! And yes Jace is coming in this chapter.
***Thank you to my back up beta Regina de Morte a.k.a. Mezza**
Once Clary was in the village center, she waited next to the gray statue of the angel, trying to camouflage herself into the statue with her gray cloak. Clary's eyes started to grope with exhaustion as she waited. She never had a day without sleep before, by this time at night she would have been in bed.
The cold spring night bit her skin through her cloak, and the wind occasionally blew her hood down making her quickly pull it back over her head. In the distance, crickets chirped in unison, as the night owls 'whod.' An hour passed by before all the lights in the center were washed away into the darkness.
Clary stepped away from the statue, and looked around the center from the pale light of the moon. There was a sound of something moving in the bushes from far away, Clary turned around to see a large shadow between the butcher and shoemaker's houses. But the second she blinked, there was nothing there. I must be sleepy. Not too shortly, Clary heard a low whine of a horse coming from same direction. Clary was frozen for a few minutes then slowly went toward Thomas Cartle's house.
Most of the villagers didn't lock their doors, either because they were too poor, or didn't see the need to. Clary knew that Thomas' doors were always open to let people come in if they needed him. Her hands slowly grabbed Thomas' front doorknob. No, there is a bell attached to the door, she remembered.
Clary sneaked around to the back of the house, opening the gate carefully. She slowly walked to the back door, and turned the doorknob. The door opened with ease, Clary quietly sighed with relief. She stepped inside; the wooden floors creaked, making Clary freeze. She could hear soft snores coming from upstairs. Clary smiled at the sound, it almost sounded like Simon's. Clary suddenly felt a pain in her heart. When will I see him again? Will I even see him again? Clary shook the thought away, and focused back on what she was doing.
She walked down the same hallway she entered earlier in the day. Clary pulled down the hood of her cloak, and went inside the first room. In it were tall bookcases filled with books. The wallpaper looked dark yellow with an unusual design that Clary couldn't see clearly. It seemed to be old and worth a fortune. In the middle of the room was a large carved desk. There were shelves upon shelves of books, Clary looked at them mesmerized. She walked up to collection of books, soundlessly. The moonlight shined through the big windows. This must be his study.
Clary's hand fingered through the titles of the books. She had never seen so many books in her life, all in one place. Clary's hand stopped when she saw the title Mysteries of Eve and Adam, and pulled the book out of the bookshelf. As Clary did so, some things fell out of the side of the bookshelf and onto the floor. Clary quickly put the book back in place, and picked up the objects on the floor. Clary brought the objects to the moonlight; they were scrolls. Clary's heart beat in excitement. Are these the ones? Clary opened one of them; it was a map of the kingdom of Idris. It stretched from the far west corner to the far east corner of the land with series of trails to the Mountain of Adam.
"Good evening, Miss Lewis." Clary turned around to see Thomas leaning on the side of the door to the study. His dark brown hair looked different in the moonlight. Thomas smirked when he saw Clary's wide green eyes, startled.
"Please, don't tell them Mr. Cartle. I have to get to-"
"Miss Lewis, I'm not going to tell anyone. I am although appalled that you didn't ask for the maps. I've never predicted you to be a thief." Thomas said playfully. Clary carefully looked into Thomas brown eyes. He's joking, she thought.
"How did you know it was me?" Clary asked. Before Thomas could answer, he turned his attention out the window. Clary followed his gaze to see a shadow behind a tree. Thomas went closer to the window as Clary did the same; there wasn't anything there, but the tree. Strange, Clary thought, the second time tonight. Thomas looked at Clary who was still looking the tree.
"Well," Clary turned around when she heard Thomas' voice. "To answer your question. My instincts told me that you were up to something. So I stayed up, and waited. Then I heard you come in the back door. "
"Who's upstairs then?" Clary asked, curious.
"A patient of mine," replied Thomas. Clary stepped toward him, Thomas' heart pounded by the sudden closeness. He took Clary's little hands, and spread his hands wide as Clary did the same. They both looked at their hands, then at each other. "Clary, I'm only letting you go through with this mission because there is a voice in my head telling me that you're going to be okay. I promise not to say a word to anyone, even Mr. Lewis," Clary let out a sigh with relief. Thomas' voice grew more serious, "Just promise me to come back alive. I can't bare to lose our new… friendship." Thomas leaned forward, and kissed the top of Clary's head. Clary's eyes closed when Thomas's lips touched her forehead. She opened her eyes once she felt his lips lift off her skin.
Clary looked up to see Thomas already looking at her. "I promise," she said. Thomas went to the corner of the room and picked up something, and came back. It was a brown belt with a tall narrow leather pouch. Clary's eyebrow furrowed with confusion. Thomas laughed at her soundlessly.
"This is a belt to hold the maps. I'm sure you'll find it useful." Thomas put the belt around Clary's waist, and buckled it.
Clary looked at the belt, it surprisingly felt light around her waist. She put the scrolls of maps into the leather pouch then looked up at Thomas. "Thank you so much. I will be forever in your debt," Clary sincerely said. Thomas smiled.
"It is the least I could do, considering that I hadn't helped." Thomas said with a frown.
"But that's not your fault," Clary argued.
"Yes, but I would rather have the power to help in someway."
"But you do, I've heard of rumors of miracles you've done," said Clary.
Thomas smiled, "I suppose." Thomas's smile vanished. "And I suppose this will be goodbye for the time being."
"I guess it is," Clary smiled halfheartedly. "Good bye Thomas."
"Good bye Clary," Thomas said staring into her eyes. Clary quickly walked away to the back door. She turned the knob, and pulled the door open. "Oh, and Clary," said Thomas behind her. Clary turned her head toward Thomas. "Thank you for the goat milk. It was delicious." Clary smiled, and stepped out into the cold night. Clary pulled the hood of her cloak back over her head. Clary took out a random map from her pouch, and examined it in the moonlight. It was the path to the Mountain of Adam. Perfect, Clary thought. After she examined it, Clary put the map back into the pouch. She quietly ran back to the village center, and back to the main road. Clary continued to walk in the opposite direction from her cottage until she found a forest.
OoOoOoOoO
Clary walked through the dark forest until she reached a meadow. She smiled when she finally saw the moon. At least some things never change. There will always be the same moon, same sun, and the same sky. Clary took out the map that led to the Mountain of Adam and with the light the moon gave, she read the map. She looked ahead of her; she saw another dense forest miles away.
Clary looked around the large meadow. Even in the moonlight Clary could see how green the tall grass was. Clary could almost imagine the meadow in the bronze of daylight. She could see the squirrels and rabbits chasing each other across the grass, the butterflies dancing, the bees skipping from flower to flower, and the birds singing sweet songs. It almost reminded her of the meadow near her home.
Home, she thought longingly. Only in the few short hours of walking and Clary was already homesick. A cold breeze blew her hood down, Clary shivered. Behind her she heard the sound of breaking twigs coming from the forest. She turned around to see what is was, but she could see nothing but the dark forest and its shadows. All of a sudden, a figure came out of the shadows and stood only a few feet away from Clary. It was a man, a very handsome man with curly dark hair. There was a smirk on his lips.
"A pretty lady shouldn't be out this late." He took a few steps forward. Clary took a step back. "You maybe the most gorgeous human being I've ever seen in years." An evil grin was placed upon his lips. Clary quickly turned away from him and ran, but as she did he was suddenly in front of her.
"You can't run from me, sweetheart," the villain said. Clary was suddenly pushed back onto the grass. Pain shot up her spine, she hissed. She turned to get up, but noticed that the evil man was on top of her. Clary tried to push him away, but he was too strong.
"There is no use, my lady. You should just enjoy this while it lasts." His hands were around Clary's tiny arms; his legs were on either side of her thighs. The man leaned his head into curve of Clary's neck, and kissed her.
"Please stop," Clary managed to say out of her dry throat, the man grinned.
"So she speaks. I was starting to wonder if you were going to scream." The man's lips went down Clary's shoulder as his hands went down to her waist, holding her with a tight grip. Clary could hear her own heart beating faster as he kissed her. "Skin soft as velvet," he said as he placed his head on her chest, and listened to her heart. "A heart that flutters like a hummingbird," he continued, as he smelled her cheek. "And blood as sweet as honey."
The man's nails dug into Clary's waist. His lips went back on Clary's neck. His nose traced her throat as he toke a deep breath. Suddenly, Clary felt pain rising on her shoulder; she screamed loudly. A few birds flew out of their trees from the sound. At the same moment, there was the sound of hooves. The man on top of Clary turned around, and suddenly flew off of her. She looked at her attacker and saw in his sleeve was a small sliver dagger pinning him to the ground. Clary turned her head around to where she heard the hooves. There, outside the dark forest was a young man with light messy hair. He jumped off his white horse with a sword in his hands and advanced toward her attacker.
"I suggest you run bloodsucker. I can't image how chaotic this issue would become considering that it's against the rules to drink from a human. If you do this again, I will find out and I will hunt you down," said the young man. He spoke with pure anger. Clary couldn't see his face, but from her attacker's expression, she could tell it was frightened. Her attacker on the ground nodded, and backed away from the man. His sleeve tore as he pulled away from the dagger, and he disappeared in an instant.
Clary felt the pain growing on her neck, she screamed. Her rescuer turned his face around when he heard her high pitch screaming. He looked at Clary in an almost heartbroken expression. Clary's mind started to fog up, her eyes starting to close. She felt someone pick her up. One arm around her back, and one around her knees; a pair of warm lips kissed the side of her head, and with the strength she had left she opened her eyes to look at the young man. He looked down at her with his golden eyes. Clary almost gasped, but her energy slipped away from her, and she fell into an unwelcoming sleep.
A/N: Now who is this handsome stranger? Jace of course! I did promise that he is going to come into the rescue, didn't I? Well, Clary will have a more interactive meeting with him soon in the next chapter.
**If any of you would like to read my outtake from the last chapter of John, I'm going to put it up on my page. I will later make a little fanfic outtake thing, but I don't want to just yet. **
Tell me what you thought of the chapter! Can we try to get to 80 reviews? Please? Reviewers will get an EXTRA special outtake on Gavin. Yup, Gavin, you heard me right!