Chapter 3

Note: PLEASE answer my polls, and review, doesn't matter what you write, it's just nice hearing from you guys I guess :/ :). I'm taking ideas for the plot!

Jace's POV

As I walk to the store to pick up the plates, I pause at the door when I hear a loud crash. Clary? I think automatically. Did she drop it? Was it too heavy?

And then I hear a scream for my name. It chills my blood.

I let the door go and race to the back of the store that got broken into. First, I see a box of shattered glass spread out across the floor. And then I see eight Eidolon demons latched onto Clary's limp body. Six more stood in the way between me and her, one had ichor streaming down its face and a dagger in its hand. Clary's dagger.

My seraph blade was in my hands in a second and two of the demons were down in a few more seconds to follow. I ducked out of the way of a slick hand with four inch claws, and sunk my blade into the stomach of another. I pulled it out, and with an arch, I sweep it down and slice a demon in half. Two more advanced on me, and as I swiped one away, the other came up behind me and latched onto my waist. I struggled with its arms, but finally twisted around and speared it in the skull, making it vanish into black mist as the ichor sprayed from it.

I looked up, and all I see is a vanishing portal.

"Clary!" I sprint, but all I hit is a brick wall.

She's gone.

Isabelle's POV

"So, you put these in all the corners?" I ask Luke. Luke nodes.

"Yeah, just put peanut butter on them, set them back, and then when they snap it means you've caught a mouse."

"With my luck, that new stupid cat will get caught in them all."

"Or you'll snap your finger off," Simon says.

"And that's why you will be setting these."

"Only if you open those canned biscuits." I laugh.

"Deal."

"Okay, guys. Time to go." Luke grabs several packets of rap traps.

"Actually, I wanted to do some shopping," I say. And before they can interject to stay, I say, "You know, for girl stuff."

"We'll be in the car," Luke says, and hands me money. He and Simon leave without a glance behind them. I let out a breath and scanned the isle for what I was looking for.

I couldn't believe how much things we picking up with Simon. I found myself excited more and more each day to see him and be with him. We weren't just a couple, we were a team. But I wasn't sure what we would be now.

I found the section that I was looking for.

Pregnancy tests.

Jace's POV

I practically broke the door down as I flew into Jocelyn's apartment.

I had tried to find Clary. I made a portal rune, but I ended up stumbling into a dessert. No one was insight. I went back to the store, and picked up her dagger. I tried a tracking rune, and even though I wasn't physically able to be where she was, I could see what she was seeing, and that was nothing. It was pitch black. She must have been knocked out.

Jocelyn takes in a startled breath as her torso turns in my direction. The kitchen knife she was holding is now up and in front of her, and her legs are placed for balance. For someone who hasn't been an active shadowhunter, her instincts are still impressive.

"Clary's gone," I say in a defeated voice.

"She's... what? Where? Where is she?"

"I don't know. We got attacked by Eidolon demons behind the souvenir shop. They took her through a portal before I could get to her. I've tracking her, but they have a physical block, and reaching her through a portal won't work either." I don't know what else to do. And it's killing me. I wanted to say.

Anything that has gotten away from me, a demon or forsaken, was always running from me. But the difference was that I could see them. I had a way to reach them. But I couldn't think of a way to reach Clary.

Jocelyn freezes. If she wasn't a former shadowhunter, the knife would have fallen from her hands and she would have slouched. But she takes on a straighter posture, her mouth presses into a thin line, and her eyes light up. Clary does the same thing, when she is dealing with something bigger than herself.

"Get Magnus. I'll call Luke and have him bring the kids here." She tosses me a cell phone and receives a landline phone for her.

I dial Alec's number. I didn't have to think about it, my fingers did it automatically. I explain to him what happened, and he and Magnus were in the apartment in seconds. Jocelyn got off the phone with Luke; he, Izzy and Simon were on their way.

"Do- do you know, why?" Jocelyn asks in a small voice.

"No." My voice is thick, and harsh. "I have no idea. I didn't even know they were there."

Alec puts a hand on my shoulder. "We'll find her. She can't be that far."

"She can be anywhere," I shot back at him. I instantly felt bad for it, Alec didn't deserve it, but I didn't know how to conduct myself this time. I've always been able to control everything about myself, but now that the reality of Clary's disappearance was slowly sinking in, I didn't know where I would be in an hour or two. I needed to be on my feet. I needed to be chasing something, killing someone. But what could you do when you didn't know where to start?

"I'll do a tracking spell. Where ever we need to go to find her, we will." Magnus nodded toward me.

Luke came in through the door in a hurry, throwing the grocery bags down by the couch. He went straight to Jocelyn, to hold her, and then turned to us.

"What are we doing? Have you started the spell yet?" He demanded.

I looked over at Simon and Izzy. Isabelle stood with her arms crossed. And Simon was a wreck, but the look that he gave Izzy was incredulous. There was definitely more going on with them than I knew about.

"I'm just about to start," Magnus said, answering Luke.

Clary's POV

I didn't wake up for a while.

I drifted off into dream after dream. Most of them had to do with the wedding. Except, as I walked down the aisle, it slowly turned into the back of the store in New York. Another dream was when Jace stole my wedding dress so I was forced to walk down the aisle in a tuxedo, while he shimmered in gold by the alter. Another was when I was chained to a chair while I watched Jace get married and have kids, right in front of me. I saw Simon and Izzy leave, even when I desperately wanted them to stay so I could keep in touch with them. And finally, when what I thought an eternity was finally over, I woke up.

All I saw was white. Everything was completely white. The shadows of the walls came into view, and I felt around me. I was on a bed. No blankets, just a mattress on a carpeted floor. The lights were at least twenty feet above me, deeply imbedded in the ceiling. I wore a simple white dress. Everything was white. Everything. Except myself, and my hair. There was an outline of a door, but no nob or even a window. I went over to it, or attempted to, because my legs felt week and I fell the instant I stood. I tried again and again to stand, and when I finally could, I walked over to the door. I pushed and pushed, I kicked and I pounded, but I knew that it wasn't going to open. But I also knew that I couldn't help but try.

I screamed and hit the door in frustration. I needed out of here. I've never felt so hopeless before. It was always me who went to get Jace. Or my mother and Luke and the rest of the council members. I've never really been trapped, not like this. Not physically. And it was maddening.

You have not witnessed madness yet, Clarrisa Fairchild.

"What?" I said, looking around. No one was there. It was almost like the way a silent brother communicated, except the notice didn't bounce off my skull, it bounced off the walls.

Pounding on the door will not do you any good. Please don't ruin your beautiful hands. You'll be needing them soon.

Isabelle's POV

The enchantment didn't work. Once we got all the corners lit up, and the final piece was done, the circle of flames went limp like dust and smoke clouds swirled above in the air. It just went out, in the blink of an eye.

"Magnus?" Jace asked.

"I don't know what happened. It hasn't ever done that before," Magnus explained, looking puzzled.

"There has to be another way. Can we try again?"

"I can't," Magnus said. There was tiredness in his voice. "I won't be strong enough to do another one until tomorrow, and that is if you want the tracking spell to be strong."

"Did the demons leave behind anything? Anything at all?"

"They can't leave behind anything, Simon. They're demons, they vanish back to hell." Jace's voice was sour, as if he bit into an un-ripe plum. But no one blamed him, not really. Even Simon didn't take a great offense to his tone, even though I'm sure Simon might be suffering as much as Jace right now. Maybe a little less, considering Jace was white in the face already. Everything about him was tense, taught, and ready for action. Except there wasn't much we could do really. Except report it to the Clave.

"Do we report this?"

"Of course," Luke said. "We can hopefully get details on the break in at the shop, maybe there are some leads? Maybe the same demons who broke in are the same who took Clary." Jace flinched microscopically at the words took Clary. "I'll call the Clave and have them clear a portal entrance to Idris so we can speak to them. But I doubt they'll have time for us, an annual meeting is coming up. They may post-pone it 'till tomorrow."

Jace was eerily silent. I almost was expecting him to yell at Luke, tell him that it was unacceptable, and I'm sure he would, if he had a voice. I wanted to throw my arms around him, like we used to do as kids, (even though it ended in him pushing me away and storming up to the train room), but I refrained from it. Jace didn't look like he wanted to be approached by anyone unless they had a plan of action. So I let him be, and Alec and Magnus stayed with him. Magnus was already sleeping on the couch by the time Simon and I headed back to the institute.

We walked. I had hoped that this may be the time to talk about what had happened in the car, but he stayed silent. Even when I grabbed his hand, he didn't squeeze back as hard as he usually did. And I didn't blame him, losing your best friend an hour ago was a hard thing to take.

We finally get to the institute. It was beginning to get less and less strange entering into it with him by my side, instead of meeting up with him in the downworlder section when he had been a vampire. I missed him being a vampire sometimes, I even missed the biting a tiny bit.

"Okay, Simon. Let's talk," I finally said as we get to my room. "I know you know."

"Why did you get pregnancy test, Izzy? Do you think you're pregnant?"

"I don't think so, Simon. I just missed my period. But I'm not that regular all the time, so I'm just making sure."

"And what if you are!" he explodes. "What are we going to do? First Clary, and now this?" He was shaking.

"Simon, calm down. I haven't even taken the test yet, so we don't know for sure."

"Can you take the test then? It's killing me not to know."

"Okay, okay." I unwrapped three of them and headed into the bathroom.

Jace's POV

"What are they saying?" Luke raises a hand halfway, but then stops as he listens to what they had to say. Finally, he puts down the phone.

"It'll have to be post-poned. The meeting it taking up their time. They said shadowhunters go missing every day, so the issue won't be high on their list."

"But she's not just some shadowhunter!" I explode.

"Jace, if I could make them understand that, I would. Nobody is special to them, not really."

"She should be, she stopped the Mortal War! She is important, not just to us, but to them too. They are too stubborn, they see a chance to seize power and then they hold it over your head like we're a bunch of dogs!" I slam my hand down on the counter and turn to leave the house. I hear Luke reach for me, but Jocelyn grabs him before he can touch me. I hear her whisper leave him be, and she's right. I didn't want to talk to anyone.

I storm from the house and take my stele to draw a portal rune. I portal to the souvenir shop.

I sweep the area over again, looking for anything that might give me a clue. The ichor is gone, and there is a spray of blood, just a tiny spatter of it, in one place that had bits and pieces of glass. I sit next to the mess, trying to think of anything I could do.

We've reported it to the clave, but without any tracking spells, or any ideas as to where they would take her, they might not be any help. But if the demons that had anything to do with the break in were the same ones who took Clary, then they might have information that we can use to track them instead of her.

And that's when I remembered.

"The place is trashed. But there is some kind of pattern on the back of the store, you should check it out." I had told her. But in a rush to look for blood, or anything that you could hold in your hands, I forgot about the pattern on the back of the store.

I was on my feet in seconds, and ran over to the corner of the building that held the pattern there*. I mentally took a picture of it in my mind, and took a portal back to Luke's apartment.

Isabelle's POV

"So how long?"

"Not that long. Maybe a couple minutes or so?" I guessed.

Simon took a breath and sat down on my bed. Shock took less time to fade away on Simon, which meant the physical appearance didn't take long either. His eyebrows haven't stopped furrowing in over and hour, his muscles were tense, and his cheeks were sucked in from him clenching his jaw. And not only that, but he seemed to find out about the pregnancy tests at the wrong time. I was holding the bag when Luke was on the phone with Jocelyn, and I had dropped it when I heard the way Luke sounded on the phone, only because I've heard of that tone of voice before. Simon felt them bounce into his leg and just as he was about to ask me why in the hell I had dumped pregnancy test in him, Luke told us that Clary was missing.

"Simon?"

"Yes?"

"I know this is a stupid question, but, are... are you okay?"

"You're right," he sighed. "That is a stupid question."

"I mean, is there anything I can do?" I've never felt so useless with Simon. I wanted to hold him too, but I'm not sure that's what he wanted.

"You can make sure that the test comes up negative." He gives a nervous laugh.

"You know that whatever happens Simon-"

"I know. And I want you to know that I'm not some jerk that would abandon you, right?" For a second he sounds like a normal Simon, but as I face him his face is still pinched tight.

"I know. You're never a jerk to me."

"Are they done?" he asked again, impatiently.

"Yeah. They should be ready." I walk over to the bathroom and pick up the pregnancy test.