I don't own the MI series.

When they were thirteen Valentine ordered them to start to attend Circle meeting. So here Clary was watching Valentine speak. She was shockingly bored and didn't why every single one of the people there were staring her father with rapt attention. She had heard it all at the dinner table and had already memorized the topics he went over. Downworlders where the same as demons and must be exterminated and that everyone must remain true to the 'cause'. Clary resisted the urge to roll her eyes and share a look with Isabelle. Both were didn't agree with Valentine but Clary thought ruefully Isabelle seemed to just be doing it to rebel. She studied the order of the seats. Valentine was at the head with Jonathan was at Valentine's right and Jocelyn on the left. Sitting next to Jonathan was Jace. Clary was next to Jocelyn.

Looking across the table she met Jace's eyes. He winked. Sometimes Clary wondered about him. Where Jonathan was utterly loyal to his father, Jace was … complicated. It seemed as if he shared Jonathan's loyalty but there were times when Clary had caught Jace looking like he was annoyed, bored or even uncomfortable when he listened to his adoptive father speak. It made her wonder. She knew what it was treason to speak out about Valentine. She could be tortured and killed for it. But it wasn't right. He wasn't right.

Valentine's cool voice pulled her out of her thoughts. "And with our children going to Alicante for school we must be especially cautious."

Clary's head snapped up and she stared at Valentine.

He continued like he hadn't noticed Clary. "We need to exterminate any Down worlders on the way there." He finshed with that topic and went on as Clary continued to tune him out, thinking about what he'd just said.

*CTD*

It was time. Clary was wearing a bottle green old fashioned and was packing the last of her brushes. With a sigh she looked around her room one last time. It didn't really look like her room any more. The art tools were gone, just like the pretty glass vase that held a new collection of flowers every week and everything else that made this room hers. With a sigh she lifted the suitcase of the bed and started to drag it outside. She made a face at the carriage waiting for them. She hated riding in carriages. They were bumpy and rough. She wished she could have ridden Garnet but Valentine insisted that none of them bring their horses.

A servant, James, she thought reached out a hand to take her last suitcase. She handed it to him and looked around for her mother. She'd promised to say good bye before Clary left.

Clary took one look at the carriage and raced back into the manor and into her mother's studio, to find Jocelyn lying on the floor, unnaturally pale at the feet of a man, her throat torn open.

No Clary thought wildly, Not a man, a vampire. If Clary had painted the scene, she could have mixed all the red she had and she still wouldn't have gotten the exact shade of her mother's blood dripping from the vampire's lips.

"Jace!" Clary screamed, looking around franticly for a weapon. There, one of the three knifes that her mother used to sharpen her drawing pencils. The vampire lunged at her and Clary felt her instinct kick in and stabbed the vampire as hard as she could. The vampire hissed and fell back. Using the vampire's wound to her advantage and grab another knife.

But there wasn't a need because before she could make another move, a streak of blonde breezed past her and was on the vampire in a second.

Jace's face was a dark mask as he plunged the knife into the vampire's chest, over and over again, like it was a worm that had multiple hearts.

"Jace," She whispered. "Jace he's dead!" She yelled her voice cracking.

Jace looked at her like she'd slapped him, but he nodded and stood awkwardly. Then Clary remembered why she came up and who was lying on the floor injured.

"Mom!" Clary wailed, dropping to her knees and pulled Jocelyn's head into her lap.

"Go get Father!" Clary ordered Jace, who bolted to the doorway to run into Valentine and Jonathan. Valentine's mouth was tight thin line, like a wire and his eyes were pitch black. He knelt by Jocelyn's motionless body. He looked up and took her pulse. Then he started to carve an irtaze into her neck. Clary moved beside Jonathan and for the first time in years he put his arm around her shoulder and gave her a reassuring one armed hug and pulled her out of the way when Valentine picked up Jocelyn and carried her out of the room.

The trip was postponed until Jocelyn recovered, or at least that was the plan afterwards. But when weeks turned into months and Jocelyn still hadn't said a word to anyone. She ate, and she was awake but she almost never got out of bed. In the months that followed she aged rapidly. It was almost like the vampire had not only drained her blood but her life force. She'd gone gray but not just in her hair, but her skin, her eyes and even her eyelashes seemed to.

Finally Valentine put his foot down. It was at dinner, which had become stuffy and boring.

"What?" Clary asked frowning

"I said Clarissa that you will all be going to Alicante for training in a week," Valentine snapped through clenched teeth.

"But Mom's not better yet!" Clary protested, feeling oddly uneasily.

"That may be, but none of you can squander your natural talent as Shadow hunters, for just one person," Valentine said with deliberate care.

"But, she isn't just one person! She's our mom!" Clary yelled.

"Clarissa! I am your father and you will respect me!" Valentine roared.

"Why!" Clary challenged "Why should I respect the man who has a bloodthirsty vision!" They were both standing now, Valentine towering over Clary.

At this comment Valentine seemed to have taken on a deadly calm, and seemed to have control of himself, but then Clary was on the ground and her cheek was burning. Looking up she saw Valentine still standing there, glaring at her. Jace and Jonathan were staring like they couldn't believe what happened.

Then Valentine said, "You may apologize now, Clarissa."

After that there was slielece except for Clary's ragged breaths.

*CTD*

"Then the Clave accepted the rule of Valentine, but there were some traitor Shadowhunters that left and joined the Down worlders in a resistance against Valentine." The teacher paused to take a deep breath, like he had just run a marathon. His bald head was shining with sweat and his tiny black eyes as big as Clary had ever seen them.

It had been a year since Valentine had shipped them off to Alicante. Clary hated the school. She hated its teachers, who were constantly praising Valentine, the students who pointed at her and whispered, crazy mother, blood-thirsty father and brother, freak, monster, unnatural. The only thing that kept her relatively sane was Isabelle.

Isabelle was like fire, enchanting the Shadow hunter boys, dating them for a month or two then dumping them. Like how you feel so warm and nice next to a fire only to get burned by it.

Her brother Alec, seemed to fade though, seeming like he'd be happy if he just disappeared completely into the background. So in Clary's mind it didn't really make much sense to her why he and Jace were such good friends. Jace was like Isabelle, playing with girls and then breaking their hearts when he was finished.

Jonathan was the biggest mystery of all. He hated the school as much as Clary did constantly talking of how the Shadow hunters were fools who didn't deserve to be called warriors. He rarely went to the secret parties that students often held and when he did he sat in the corner, glaring at everyone and anyone who passed by.

So when Isabelle suggested they skip the day Clary didn't hesitate to say yes. She felt a minuscule amount of guilt for letting their brothers suffer the long day, but she dismissed this, by telling herself that she and Isabelle should talk, catch up.

"So do you know why Jonathan is so… uptight?" Isabelle asked as they looked down on the edge of the city. They weren't supposed to be out here. You had to have official documents to get out of the city limits legally, but it'd been a long time since Clary or Isabelle for the matter had done something legal.

"I don't know. He's just so, reserved. I think it was something Valentine had done to him, when he was privately training him." Clary answered.

"Mhhhhhhhhhh. I'm bored, let's get a little farther!" Isabelle demanded

Clary nodded, her eyes searching for something that wasn't there in the surrounding hills. "'Kay" She replied distracted.

"So there's a party tomorrow night, do you want to go?" Isabelle asked

Clary opened her mouth to say 'sure, why not?" but before she could she felt a thick awful cloth bag over her head, cutting off her air and felt as it slowly dragged her into unconsioness.

First off I know it's been along time and I'm sorry I haven't updated. I know it was slow in both of the chapters but it will pick up, I promise.