*Disclaimer: I'm not Cassie Clare. I'm running out of creative ways to do this. Any ideas? I managed to update in a relatively short amount of time, but I'm just saying, next time will probably be way longer. Enjoy. :)
Chapter V
Leaping up, Clary Marked Jace with a rune for speed, one for agility, and one for stamina. "Dammit. How the hell did demons get into the Institute?"
"I've no idea," he responded tersely. "Give me your stele so I can mark you."
As soon as Jace finished, and her arms stung, Clary drew the Portal in the grass. "Go. I'll close this up."
He nodded, leaving without taking the record of Valentine's experiments. Putting her foot into the Portal, she paused, indecisive as to whether or not she should bring the book. Too late, it dawned on her that hesitating was unwise. The talons of a demon closed around her ankle, stabbing and tearing at her flesh. Lunging, her hand closed around the book, not a moment too soon, because another demon had joined the first in its campaign to rip her leg off.
"Get off me, you filthy beasts," she snarled, whipping her leg from side to side so that the Ravener and the Shax slammed against each other, the stinger of the former stabbing the head of the latter. Whirling, Clary hurled a seraph blade at the Ravener, the blade meeting its target dead on. The hilt stuck out of the head, squarely in-between its disturbing eyes. Satisfied that there would be a second to spare, Clary closed the Portal, while she yanked a Circassian dagger from her combat boots. Quickly, she stuffed the manifesto into her pocket.
Before she even got to survey her surroundings, demons had surrounded her from all sides. Their eyes varying from none to something like thirty. Idiot, you're about to die. You don't have time to count demons' eyes, she berated herself silently. The dagger flashed, and the head of a Raum fell off, rolling to her feet. She curled her lip in distaste, before kicking it towards a Drevak that was creeping up on Izzy from behind. You know what, Simon? Maybe playing soccer with you wasn't such a bad idea after all. Glancing her way, Isabelle nodded her thanks, before flicking her wrist so that the whip slashed out, slicing all the demons around her in half, their insides pouring out and the already vile and putrid scent worsened by umpteen times. As quickly as the demons disappeared, more took their spot, appearing from nowhere.
"Ugh! For the love of all things holy, or in your case, damned, TAKE A SHOWER!" Izzy shrieked, taunting the demons. Clary suppressed a smile, and turn back to her own problems. The demons were nearing, and she was almost backed up into a corner. Make the best of your surroundings, Alec had told her during training. Spinning to face the wall, Clary took a step, before planting her foot firmly on one of the countless motifs depicting Shadowhunter history that covered the entire Institute. Leaning forward and putting her weight solely on the leg braced against the wall, she rose on her supporting leg and pushed herself off the wall. Throwing back her arms and arching her back, she somersaulted through the air, aiming for top of two demons' heads.
Thinking quickly while she flew through the air, Clary grabbed one of the candles that had adorned the Institute when it was Halloween. Maryse had decided that the lit candles added a nice touch to the Institute, and they had remained lit ever since.
The force of her jump jolted through her. Her feet had landed squarely on the ugly heads of the two demons, and they turned to a pile of ashes, their skulls dented. Her boots were covered in ichor and demon gut. "Those were my favorite boots," Clary exclaimed, outraged, as she shoved the flaming candle into an approaching demon while the dagger rammed into the brains- if they have brains- of the other.
When Clary finally got a chance to observe the situation, she saw Izzy fighting five demons, her whip unfurling around her, moving so quickly it was like she was encased in a golden globe of light. The tendrils of her long hair flew, making Clary wonder how Izzy could see. Her seraph blade was in the other hand, slashing at any demon that managed to bypass her whip. Each time a demon fell and turned into a pile of ashes, another would take its place. Jace was in a similar predicament, with demons that seemed incessant. Finally, she saw Simon, looking pitiful in a pool of blood, similar to that of when he first became a vampire.
Clary made her way over to her best friend, trying to dodge the pools of blood, poison, and acid. Her dagger was out in case any demons attacked her. She took down seven of them while walking a meager distance, around ten meters. Remembering that there could be infinite demons, the never ending stream suddenly made sense to her. Someone had managed to create a portal to the multiple dimensions, allowing the beasts through. Glancing down at the Daylighter, Clary presumed that from the state of his injuries that he would be okay, and since he hadn't started burning up yet, he wasn't infected with demonic toxins. "Guys! We have to get out of here!" she shouted above the din and snarls of the demons.
"No, really, Sherlock?" Somehow, Jace had managed to be sarcastic in this situation. Clary made a mental note to ask how he did it.
Beckoning, Clary drew her fourth portal of the day. It was exhausting, and its toll on her was greater than she could ever have imagined. Jace and Isabelle hurried over, heads down, boots kicking demons' faces inwards. They looked like the hounds of hell had attacked them after multiple sleepless nights. Which was basically true, she reminded herself.
"Don't think. I know where we're going," she instructed them. Envisioning Luke's farmhouse with the last of her strength, Clary dropped through the hole in the floor, dragging Simon's lifeless body with her.
"Sorry, Simon," Clary muttered as she dropped his unconscious form to the frozen grass and rushed to the door to draw an Open rune on the locked and bolted door. Several seconds later, everyone else landed; Jace with that ridiculous cat-like grace and Izzy heavily on her left leg.
Swiftly, Clary closed the Portal after casting a worried glance at the hole in the sky from which they had fallen. Satisfied that there wouldn't be any demons, Clary put away her weapons and drew her stele. She cast a worried look over her shoulder at Izzy, who was bleeding profusely from her right leg. As soon as she finished with the Portal, Clary ran over to support Izzy's weight on her shoulder.
"Jace, grab Simon, would you?" Even though it was phrased as a question, Clary issued it like a command. He nodded an affirmative, before picking up Simon's body like it was a ragdoll and kicking open the door. Clary and Izzy followed behind, Izzy hobbling, and Clary staggering slightly under the weight of her friend. Jace held the door for them, and once they were in, he slammed the door shut, bolted it, and turned around to see a stele flying at him.
Clary sat Izzy down in the overstuffed chair in the living room and gently unlaced her boot, examining the wound. Spinning around to ask for her stele, she noticed Simon slumped on the couch and Jace standing in the doorway, as if unsure about whether or not he was allowed to come in.
"Stele?" Clary requested. It was gently tossed to her, and her arm shot out to grab it. Hurriedly Marking Isabelle with multiple iratzes, she once again looked at the deep gash on the leg. The actual cut was gone, but her leg was still swollen and looked like Izzy had been playing in a field of poison ivy for a week. Steeling herself, Clary apprehensively turned towards Simon. The blood flow had lessened, though it still stained the white couch.
"Luke is going to murder me when he sees his furniture," complained Clary. Izzy gave a weak snicker at this. She frowned as she slowly turned and gave Izzy her best death-glare. "If you think it's so funny, you can clean it up and explain to Luke and my mom, why the once white couch is now tie-dyed with blood," she challenged.
Isabelle blanched and her eyes grew round. Clary gave a satisfied smile that didn't reach her eyes because they were muddled with concern about Simon. She noticed that Jace had disappeared from the room, and heard sounds of somebody searching for something from the kitchen. "We're going to need blood; iratzes are so not going to help."
"Thank you, Captain Obvious," came a weak voice from behind her.
"Simon. You okay?" Her eyebrows were furrowed. "Do you remember what happened?"
"Merry Christmas," Jace said sarcastically as he set down the vial of blood. "Don't ask for any presents from me this year."
So, that's what the loud rummaging was, Clary realized belatedly.
Simon downed the blood in one shot and regarded Jace calmly. "I wouldn't want anything from you, anyways. I don't associate with murderers. Especially not people who murder their brothers."
Izzy opened her mouth to agree, but Clary beat her to it. "Whoa! Nobody murdered anybody. Jace didn't murder Alec. We're trying to find out who did. It's probably the same person who opened a Portal for the demons into the Institute, and there is a rock-solid alibi for Jace."
Simon and Isabelle looked at her as if she was insane. Clary registered the astonishment, anger, betrayal, disappointment, and confusion in their eyes. Normally, it would've hurt, knowing that her best friends had so little trust and faith in her, but Clary consoled herself with the fact that nobody knew the whole story. Jace looked at her simply with gratitude and appreciation in his eyes.
Clary took a deep breath and launched into a long narrative about how someone had coerced Jace to either bring the demons to the Institute or to Idris. Jace added in details about how he thought that if everyone at the Institute died, it would've been better than if all the Shadowhunters in Idris died. Together, they managed to bring Izzy and Simon up to date with their findings. Their part ended half an hour after they began.
"Your turn. How did the demon's get into the Institute? Last time, they were outside, waiting for us," Clary queried. "And did you guys want any coffee? I'm dead on my feet." As she stood and headed for the kitchen, a chorus of yeses chimed from the living room. Simon requested more blood. With the percolator on, Clary waited in the doorway between the kitchen and the living room, catching snippets of friendly conversation while the familiar and comforting smell of coffee filled the air. Clary watched everyone as they sat and talked, glad that they were no longer lobbing accusations of murder at each other. She would've loved to draw the scene; it was almost like how she imagined The Knights of the Round Table talking, but modernized.
Simon was sitting with his back ramrod straight, while Izzy slouched and leaned forward. Jace was sitting on the floor with one leg crossed over the other. Isabelle had accepted her brother back with open arms, but Simon was still suspicious. It was plain in his eyes that he didn't quite believe Jace. Could he be who we're looking for? Clary pushed away the unwelcome thought. Of course he wouldn't. He has no motive, and he's been my best friend for years, she reasoned with herself. So why wouldn't the feeling of unease go away?
The coffeemaker hissed, signifying that it was ready. Grabbing chipped china mugs, Clary distributed generous amounts of coffee, before opening the fridge and taking a flask of blood. Grabbing the handles of two mugs in one hand, and the handle of the last mug and the blood in the other, she walked confidently back to everyone else. Who knew? Shadowhunter training can help one's balance. She remembered the devastating attempts at gymnastics that her mother had forced her to do when she was little.
Clary sat the drinks on the table in between everyone, before sitting across from Jace, snatching her coffee, and warming her hands. Izzy grabbed two sugar cubes and dumped in a copious amount of milk and Jace stuck with his black coffee.
"So… how did the infernal demons get onto hallowed ground? It's a logical impossibility. So is the fact that Simon was in the Institute and wasn't a Projection."
Izzy swiveled in her chair to look at Jace, who had asked the question. "I don't know. Technically, in order to make a holy object, or place in this situation, would be to damn it. So, it would have to be someone who had knowledge of such magic."
Clary and Jace locked eyes with each other. "The person with the notes."
Jace nodded slowly as comprehension dawned on his face. Simon and Izzy also locked eyes with each other. However, they looked utterly bewildered. Jace took the liberty to explain to them.
"When I was in Idris, I found this note-"
"That I burned," Clary completed for him.
"And the threat that I told you about? It came out of nowhere."
"Wait. But you said there was also demon blood? Wouldn't that have worked to undo the hallowing?" Simon asked from his perch on the blood-stained couch.
"No. I would have to draw a Rune for Demonic Power with it to break the holiness. The same one that Jonathon used on the wards," Jace clarified, seeing that Simon was going to ask if it was the one Clary's brother used.
"Could someone have drawn it from the outside?" Clary was unfamiliar with the way that the Clave hallowed the ground for an Institute.
"No," Izzy answered. "It's the same principle as the wards. Because a demon can't get into the Institute, there shouldn't be any way for the charm to be evoked."
"So, it's not Camille or any of the vampires. They wouldn't have been able to get in." Isabelle nodded to answer Simon's question.
"Not the fey, either. They've never been inside the Institute," Clary added.
"Not necessarily. They could've sent someone in."
"But there's always someone in the Institute."
"Not when we're all at Taki's."
Clary put her head down and began just listening to the debates between everyone else. Their voices all became one, until it sounded like Izzy arguing with herself, because her voice was the highest and loudest.
"No mundanes then. They wouldn't be able to see the Institute."
"Wrong. Mortmain could."
"This is counter-productive. In that case, the vampires could've done it with the aid of some other race. They might've masterminded the whole thing. If we're just going to conspire about who did this, we may as well start pointing fingers at everyone, including each other."
Silence.
Then everyone began talking at once. Their voices grew louder and louder, a cacophony of different pitches, ranging from the tenor of Jace's voice to the soprano of Izzy's. Their individual voices could be heard now, as they were all shouting.
"GUYS! SHUT UP!" Clary exploded. Everyone looked at her with murder in their eyes, before seeing her defeated and exhausted expression and the circles beneath her eyes. Their gazes softened, and just as Clary was about to sink into the oblivion of much needed sleep, a snide voice remarked from behind her, "Falling asleep at a discussion, Clary dear?"
Everyone's heads snapped towards the source of the voice, just in time to see a tall, thin, Asian man unfold from a cloud of sparkles.
Three guesses as to who it is. :) Review! At least another four so I can make it thirty... but the more the merrier. Let me know in your review:
a) Who you think the antagonist is.
b)Whether I should make the chapters longer, shorter, or whether this length is good.
c) Any specific requests or questions you may have.
d) Any constructive criticism to make this story better.
Happy Holidays, everyone!