Okay, so I was really excited to write this chapter (: Well, I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it! And please, can I get one review? Just to know whether or not I actually have an audience, ya know? Anyways, I'll let you get to it! (:
"Did you hear that?" Will whispered. We had gone into Hyde Park, hoping to find some clues, when we heard a rustling. I nodded and took out my seraph blade. We had all ducked into a bush by then, and Will and Jem took out their blades as well. "Okay, let's observe first, before charging in. We need to know what they're doing." Jem said. Will and I nodded and we all looked over the bush into a clearing where we had heard the scuffle. I could see moving shadows, but not very well, so I took out my stele and drew a Nyx Rune on my hand.
Everything burst into detail and I could see the colors of the leaves, and the ivory skin of one of the figures. I stared, shocked. "Now, why would a mundane be fighting with a Demon?" Jem muttered. As soon as the words left his lips, the Demon charged at the man once again…only to be grabbed and hurtled into the tree on the opposite side of the clearing.
Will tensed. "Jem…Jem that's two Greater Demons. The one who looks like a man? He must be one of the oldest, not many Demons can take the appearance of a human, and he has Demon Markings on him…but I can't quite make out what language…" Will murmured. The Demons started shouting at each other. "What are they saying?" Jem asked.
"Balik, leave here at once! I don't want to do this, but I will if I have to!" I translated for the man. Jem and Will stared at me, shocked, as I continued translating.
"No! Not until she is mine!" the ugly demon with no eyes on its face said.
"Stay away from her!" the man snarled.
Will furrowed their eyebrows. "Who's this girl they're talking about?" he murmured. He looked at Jem and I and nodded, giving the signal to get ready to attack. We all took a step back, still crouched, getting in a fighting position. Snap! We all froze as the Demons' heads snapped towards our direction. "By the Angel." Will swore as he lifted his foot, seeing that he had stepped on a twig.
"Who goes there?" The man snapped, speaking in English. Will and Jem stood up. "Nephilim, just lovely." Spat Balik. Will grinned. "It seems we have a few Demons on our hands. Are we ready to go you two?" He asked, not bothering to be quiet. The Greater Demons looked confused. "Two? There is only one Shadowhunter at your side." The man said, confused. I took in a deep ragged breath and stood up, looking into the eyes of the man. "Yes, Will. I'm ready." I whispered. The man froze. "Annabeth." He whispered.
Jem and Will looked at me, confused, as the Demon Balik looked at me with greed and lust. "Ah, so this is the girl!" he shouted. He spat out some weird gooey substance at the three of us. It hit Jem and Will, sticking them to a few nearby trees. But when it got to me, it burned up, just before touching me. I felt stinging and looked down at my chest to see the Demon Marking of protection glowing.
I sprung into action then. "Raziel!" I shouted, flinging it at Balik. He screeched as it hit him in the shoulder. I ran to Will's side and took his sword then turned to see Balik rushing towards me, only to be tackled to the ground by Judas. "Annabeth, get out of here!" He roared, his eyes completely black. I shook my head and stabbed at Balik with Will's sword. He roared in pain and flung Judas off of him and ripped the sword from my hand, tackling me to the ground.
I struggled under his weight. "So this is the famous Annabeth Morgenstern." He sneered. I froze. Morgenstern? What was he talking about? I curled up underneath Balik and kicked his chest, sending him stumbling backwards, just to have his head twisted so sharply, his neck was broken and he crumpled into the ground before turning to dust. I looked up at his murderer to see the unhappy eyes of Judas.
"Annabeth, I told you to run." He said angrily. I glared. "No! You can't tell me what to do! I'm just doing my job! And what are you doing here anyways?" I asked him angrily as I picked myself up from the ground, brushing myself off. "Trying to protect you!" he snarled. Suddenly, something bright whizzed through the air and sunk into his shoulder. His eyes widened and he looked down to see a seraph blade.
I was yanked away from Judas by Will, who stepped in front of me with Jem. "Stay away from her!" he snarled. Judas looked at Will, amused, as he pulled out the seraph blade. "I believe this is yours, little Shadowhunter." He said, holding it out to Will. Will glared. "Don't patronize me you filthy thing." Judas laughed at this and looked at me. "And these are the young men you surround yourself with? Well, he is better that that Lightwood character I suppose." He said, looking Will up and down. Jem raised a brow.
"How do you know Gabriel? And how do you know Annabeth?" Jem demanded. He turned to Jem and stared at him for a long time. "Demon poisoning? That's a nasty business, I'm sorry Shadowhunter." He said sincerely. Jem looked taken aback. Judas grinned and, suddenly, appeared behind me. "But, if you do not mind, I will be taking this one." He said, flinging my over his shoulder and sprinting off before I could even let out a word of protest.
I could hear Will swearing as he and Jem followed after us. But, as soon as I heard the sucking sound of a Portal, I knew that they wouldn't make it. I looked up at them and nearly cried when I saw the looks on their faces as the Portal closed behind us.
Jem and Will walked back to the Institute in complete silence. Jem was angry and frustrated, but he couldn't imagine how Will would be feeling right now. Jem knew that Will had loved Annabeth more than anyone else, maybe even more than Jem himself. They had grown up together and were almost like brother and sister and, Jem wondered, maybe they would even learn to truly love each other.
They stopped when they reached the gates of the Institute. Suddenly, Will kicked the gates and slammed his fists into them. "Damnit!" he hissed. Jem stared at Will with sympathy and placed a hand on his parabatai's back. "Will, its okay. Annabeth is a tough kid and the best we can do for her now is tell Charlotte and Henry." He told Will. Will nodded slowly and tried to put on that blank face he wore so much, but he failed.
They walked into the Sanctuary to see Charlotte, Henry, and Gabriel speaking with Larten and Darren about Camille and her whereabouts. "I suppose we could also ask Magnus, between him and myself I am sure that we will find her." Larten was saying. The boys let the door slam shut behind them, causing everyone to turn. Charlotte smiled at them weakly. She looked so tired.
"Hello, boys. How was Demon Hunting?" Henry asked. He was answered with silence. Larten froze. "Where is Annabeth? She had gone with you two, did she not?" he asked worriedly. Jem bit his lip and looked down. "James, William, where is Annabeth?" Charlotte demanded.
"She was taken by one of the Greater Demons." Will said. Larten froze. "What?" he gasped. Charlotte gaped. "Wait, by one of the Greater Demons?" she shouted. Jem nodded. "Yes, Charlotte. There were two, one was the Greater Demon Balik and the other was the Greater Demon…" he trailed off, furrowing his brows. "I think I heard Annabeth call him Judas." Will said. Henry practically started choking. "What! The Greater Demon Judas?" he shouted. Jem nodded. "Yes, he was in a human form." He said. Henry's eyes widened.
"What happened?" Gabriel asked. Everyone was silent as they spoke. "Wait," Larten said when they were done. "You said that the attack from Balik only affected you two?" he asked. Jem nodded. "Before it burned in front of her, something on her neck started glowing…it looked like Demon Marking." Will said quietly. Silence. Jem paused. "Wait a second…" he said, thinking. He looked up at Charlotte.
"Charlotte, Annabeth could understand the Demon language they were speaking in, she even spoke to Judas in this language." He said. Gabriel let out a grunt of annoyance. "Your point being?" he asked. Jem ignored him. "It's not a Demon language I recognized, but I have heard it before. It's the same language that Annabeth screams in when she's having a nightmare." He said.
Charlotte's eyes widened. "Oh dear God…" she whispered. She sunk her head into her hands as Henry rubbed her back. Larten stood up. "Darren, come." Will looked at him. "Where are you going? You won't find her, Vampire. She's in the Demon realm." He said bitterly. Larten nodded, shrugging on a coat. "Yes, I know. I am going to Magnus Bane, he will want to know this." He said. Gabriel narrowed his eyes at him. "Why would Magnus Bane care? He's an idiotic Warlock." Larten frowned at him.
"You know something that you're not telling us." Will said angrily. Larten turned to him. "It is not my place to tell, maybe if you Nephilim were not so hateful, she would tell you." He said. He was about to leave when Jem spoke. "Wait." He said. Larten turned. "Don't go…He'll bring her back." He said. Everyone stared at him like he had gone crazy.
"Don't be so daft, Carstairs!" Gabriel snorted. Jem shook his head. "No, the Demon kept talking about a girl and when they discovered us, Balik tried to attack her, but Judas wouldn't let him. It's like he was protecting her." He said. Gabriel frowned. "What did this Judas look like?" he asked. "Well, he had black hair and a silver hoop in his right ear and his eyes were pink, a bit darker that Annabeth's eyes." He said. Gabriel's face grew pale.
"That's the man from the party!" he gasped. Everyone stared at him, waiting for more information. "While Annabeth and I were dancing at the party my father hosted in Hyde Park tonight, a man came in and asked her to dance. I remember her leaving the party with him after their dance." He explained. Henry frowned.
"This is strange behavior for a Greater Demon, even one like Judas." Henry mused. "One like Judas?" Darren piped up. Henry nodded. "There have been many accounts of Judas taking people into his Realm for a short while before returning them, but a Shadowhunter? And one that he seems to be protecting?" Henry frowned again. "I feel like there's something I'm missing here…something obvious…" he said. "Perhaps I can help?" a meek voice said. Everyone looked to the doors of the sanctuary to see Tessa in a blue dress, standing in the doorway, holding a book of Demons.
"You're looking for Judas, right?" she asked. They nodded. Will raised a brow at her. She flushed. "I was eavesdropping." She admitted. Jem smiled warmly at her. "It is quite alright, Tessa. Have you found Judas?" he asked her. She nodded, then frowned, then looked confused. "What is it, Tessa?" Charlotte asked warily. She looked up at them. "It says here that Judas was killed sixteen years ago by Felicity Morgenstern." Charlotte and Henry shared a look.
"That's weird…Charlotte? Henry? Do you know the significance of Morgenstern?" Jem asked. They sighed and nodded. "Yes, though it's a long story." Charlotte said. Larten and Darren sat back down and said, "We have time."