Chapter Three:

Time Jump- Three Months Later

Clary POV:

It's been three months since everything went down with Valentine and the attack on the Institute, and I wasn't feeling much better. My injuries were healing but I was still scared out of my mind that it would happen again. I know that it was my fault for going with them, but I had to save my friends. I couldn't live if anything happened to them that I could have prevented.

"Hey Clary, how are you feeling today?" Magnus asked. He has been checking up on me once a week to make sure everything was healing properly.

"I'm alright today. Still super sore, but my injuries seem to be healing." I said as I got out of Jace's bed. I refused to sleep alone.

"Have to had an itch for heroin lately?" Valentine had succeeded in getting me slightly addicted to heroin but it wasn't that bad. Every now and than I would have the urge for it but never gave into it.

"Yea, but I'm not giving into it. I will not let him have that hold over me." As much as my body longed for the drug I refused to let the urge consume me.

"Good. I have a potion that will help with the itch if it ever becomes too hard to handle. You seem to be handling the temptations very well, but this is just in case. I'll see you around Clary." And with that Magnus left.

The rest of the day went by pretty slowly. I stayed in bed most days. I still didn't have much energy to do much else. Just making it to the bathroom was hard. Valentine really did a number on me. It was about nighttime when Jace entered the room.

"Hey Clary, Alec, Izzy and I are going to Pandemonium tonight for a sweep."

"Okay, be careful." He leaned down and kissed me.

"Always am." And with that he was gone. I didn't know how long hunting was going to take tonight and I was nervous to sleep alone. As 1 am rolled around and they still weren't back I figured it was time for me to get some sleep. I shut my eyes and the darkness consumed me, leaving me to the nightmares that flood my memory.

Jace POV:

It had been a long night and we didn't make it back to the Institute until 2:45 am. Alec, Izzy and I made our way up to our rooms when suddenly we all heard a piercing scream. We all begin to sprint to my room. I opened my door to see Clary violently thrashing around in my bed screaming.

"Stop torturing me! Please!" She began to scream. "Ow! Ow! Ow! Stop it that burns! Valentine please!" She was screaming and kicking. Soon she was still and she was speaking. "Kill me, I don't care but don't you dare harm them." Soon after that there was this high-pitched scream. I ran over to Clary and tried to wake her up. She popped up gasping for air.

"Clary, you're safe. Everything is okay." I cradled her in my arms and she slowly fell back asleep. I placed her down on the bed and went to take a shower. When I came out she was still sound asleep. I crawled into bed next to her and drifted into a soundless sleep.

Clary POV:

The nightmares have been getting worse lately and I can't stop them. I remember them from last night. And I remember waking up to Jace trying to calm me down. I felt horrible that he had to deal with me. I woke up considerably early and wouldn't go back to sleep in fear that the nightmares would consume me again. I got out of bed and made my way to the bathroom. I decided to take a bath to cleanse my soul. It had been about an hour since I got in the bathtub. I heard the door open and Jace was in the doorway.

"Good morning." I said and he made his way over to the side of the tub.

"How long have you been awake?"

"About an hour. I was to scared to go back to sleep, I thought a bath would help relax me."

"Why didn't you wake me up?"

"You looked content and I didn't want to bother you. You got in late last night and then had to deal with me."

"I would do anything for you Clary." He leaned in and kissed me.

"I know." After our conversation I got out of the tub and made my way back to the bed. I needed a nap, taking a bath was the most movement that I've done in awhile and it took all of my energy.

Jace POV:

After Clary had fallen asleep I sat in a chair and read a book. I never left her alone, I was scared that she would be taken from me again. It had been about two hours into Clary's nap that she began to stir. She was becoming restless but she wasn't waking up, she was mumbling something. I got closer trying to hear it "Give me more. Please. I'm begging you." I have no idea what she is talking about. "Please, I need more." More what? "Valentine, I need more." This doesn't sound good. "I will not tell you anything, but I need more. Please." Suddenly she woke up.

"Hey, it's okay. What were you dreaming about?" I rubbed her back to try and calm her down.

"When Valentine was injecting me with heroin."

"You asked him for more."

"I know. I needed it. I was getting addicted, and I was going through withdrawal. He promised I could have more if I gave him information, but I refused. So he stopped injecting me with it."

"That's a good thing Clary."

"Not for someone becoming addicted. It was horrible. I wanted it so badly. I craved it. I felt like I was being deprived of oxygen, it was a part of me, and when he didn't give me any I was losing it."

"Do you crave it often?"

"Yes. All the time. So far it hasn't been that bad. I've been able to ignore it for the most part but its getting bad."

"Do you want that potion that Magnus gave me?"

"No. I don't want to use that unless it's a really bad case. I want to over come this on my own. I don't want Valentine to win this battle."

I nodded and leaned in and kissed her. I went down to the kitchen to make Clary some food. If there was something that I could do to help her it was make her food. She still didn't have an appetite but it was understandable. All she seemed to want these days was heroin. It was kind of freaking me out. I'm not very knowledgeable about mundane things, and I've never been around a drug addict so seeing Clary like this was new territory for me, and I was really scared for her.