" when was the last time you saw your mother?" the asian police lady asked me.

She had long black hair, that was tied up in a high ponytail. She had a pretty face, but it didn't stand out. Her voice was calm but stern, just like you would imagine a police officer to sound.

" I saw her today, before I left to meet... someone"

" were you meeting the boy that was here with you earlier?"

Clary didn't know weather it was a good idea to tell the police officer about everything that had just happened, but she didn't see a point in hiding it, maybe they would even help her out.

" umm..." she finally said, " sort of. I was meeting my brother."

The officer was taking notes, scribling on her notebook. Her movements looked so urgent, like the more force she used to flip the pages of her small notebook, the closer she would get to solving the case, Like all the answers would be in the back of this little book.

" Should we contact your brother? He probably wants to know about this."

Clary shook her head.

" I'll tell him tomorrow, it's not that urgent for him to know..."

She looked up at the women's confused expression.

" He's never met her, I only just met him today. My parents got divorced before I was born, so we were split up."

Clary didn't tell her that her dad didn't even know about her slowly growing in her mother's stomach, but she decided that it could still count as being 'split up'.

" May I have your brother's name?"

" Jonathan Morgenstern"

" Sorry, did you say Morgenstern? As in your father was Valentine Morgenstern?"

Clary was baffled. How did the police know about her father? Why did the police know about her father?

" Yeah, at least that's what Jonathan told me... Sorry, but how do you know about him?"

" oh, I was the head of his case. You know, the fire incident. Valentine was somehow locked inside his apartment when the fire started, by the time the fire department came it was too late. There wasn't even enough of him to burry, all we found was a finger with the Morgenstern family ring on it."

Clary thought back to when she heard the story on the news, it can't have been more that a week. How had Jonathan been so calm meeting her? If it had been her mom, she would have been a mess for months, maybe even years.

" Are there any more questions left, or can I leave now..."

The officer must have seen the near tears expression on her face, because she told her she could.

Not knowing what else to do, Clary backed a bag with some clothes and other necessities went over to Simon's house.

Simon's house was like Clary's second home. Ever since she first met Simon in kindergarden, they had been best friends. It wasn't long before they basically started to share their houses.

Clary didn't have to knock on the door to Simon's house, because it was almost always open. Even on those rare days, when it was locked, Clary had a key.

Simon was sitting on the couch in the living room playing video games. His house was small but but cozy. None of their furniture matched, but Clary didn't care, as long as it was all comfortable, she really didn't give a damn. Everything was clean and tidy no matter when you came in, and there was always left over dinner in the fridge, from the night before. Clary had fell in love with Simon's house and everything in it the moment she saw it eleven years ago.

Finally Simon noticed her standing in the door way and the flood of tears she'd been keeping back, came out in a giant sob. He had his arms around her in a heart beat, telling her everything was okay, not even asking why she was crying. She was soaking his shirt in tears and probably snot, But she didn't give a crap. Her mom was missing, her dad was dead, the stupid guy who had walked her home wouldn't get out of her head, no matter how hard she tried to logic with her brain and lastly her hair had started to frizz from walking in the rain. She could snot on anyone's shirt if she god damned pleased.

" Clary what's wrong? what happened?" he finally asked.

Clary told the story for the third time. He gasped when he heard about her brother, then hugged her again when he found out about her mom going missing. By the time she was done, she already had a mug of steaming hot chocolate in her hands.

" So you find out who your dad is, a week after he dies... that sucks."

The tears were almost gone by then, along with the hot chocolate. Simon had already called his mom at work and told her Clary was going to stay over for a while. He told her he'd explain later, then hung up.

" Simon. I'm scared."

Saying it made it both better and worse. She finally said it, those two words, for the first time. She had never admitted being scared, even when she was little, even to mom. Her logic since she was five years old had always been, if I don't say it, it's not true, it doesn't matter. And until now, it had worked. Eventually she got over everything. But this time, things weren't that simple. It wasn't a scary ride at the amusement, or a small quiz that she hadn't studied for. This was her mom, not being home, or at work or anywhere she usually was. This was the first time Clary had ever been so totally lost, not even knowing the logical thing to do. This is life Clary. She thought to herself, If it was that simple, nobody could ever do anything great.

That night she slept at Simon's house. Simon told his mom what happened, partly because Clary was in the shower when she got home, but mostly because she'd already had to repeat it three times today, and every time she said it, the more real it became. When she got out of the shower, Simon's mom ran towards her. She gave her a hug and kissed her forehead, telling her everything was going to be okay.

She barely slept that night, and when she woke, her phone screen displayed a text message from Jonathan:

meet at the mall at 12?

needing something to do, she agreed.

sure.

Hey guys, sorry i haven't updated in sooooo long, but i was moving, then ther e was no wifi, then i had a competition, and just really busy. I hope you enjoyed this chapter, i tried to make it longer than usual. I'll try to update on sunday or monday but im not sure, anyways, thanks for reading, please review!