Disclaimer: World belongs to Cassandra Clare.

Chapter V

We seemed to drive for at least twenty minutes. I stopped crying somewhere in the middle of the journey and was forced to deal with the aftermath of my breakdown by wiping up my snot with my shirt sleeve. It was dark outside as we passed through the populated region in our town into the outskirts. Every once in a while, a house would appear in-between the trees. We drove up one of the hills that surrounded Greaton that oversaw the town. We finally came to a halt in front of a house. Even in the dark I could see some of its details since a porch light was left on. There was a large picket fence surrounding what seemed to the entire property, but it was hard to tell since it was dark and the fence seemed to stretch on forever. Within the fences boundaries, one blue paneled house laid about thirty yards away from a two door garage which we were currently backing into.

I though about how odd it was that a pair of Shadowhunting Nephilim lived in one of the most boring and conventional houses I'd ever seen. We pulled into the garage next to another car that was covered with a grey tarp. The garage itself looked ordinary minus all the junk you normally find. It was empty except for one wall which had a variety of tools hung on it and a plastic trunk beneath it.

I opened the car door and stepped out with both of them, and we walked through a door out to the garden. In the Garden there was a wide expanse of an untrimmed lawn with a dirt path leading to a vegetable garden which was behind the garage. behind the vegetable garden there seemed to be a gazebo and a whole lot of darkness.

"Wow, if I were asked to describe the Shadowhunter's headquarters it would not have turned out like this," I mused out loud.

"That's kind of the point," the brother said to me cheerfuly, "my name is Lysander by the way, me and June are twins."

"Yes, except I'm older. I would have toured you through the house and property but it's getting late and you never know what's lurking outside," June interjected while her eyes shifted through our surroundings. I tensed and heard Lysander laugh.

"Good plan. Those trees seem like they mean business," Lysander joked, June muttered something under her breath while leading us towards the house.

"For now are you fine with sleeping in the living room?" June asked me as she unlocked the front door and let us through. When Lysander flicked on the light I could see that we had walked into a living room.

It was large and well decorated with a variety of rich colors. There was an impressive fire place with two crossed swords hanging above it. It had a traditional feel to it for reasons I couldn't place my finger on. After a second I realized it was becasue that there wasn't a t.v. set or anything else that would hinted at what decade it was. There was an upright piano backed up against the wall with two ink green chairs facing it. Then there was the main seating area which held one long sofa and two love seats. There was a low bookshelf which held some novels and a few knickknacks. The one thing covering the dark wooden floor was a large Persian rug. At the very end of the room there was a large door and a regal staircase which lead up to a dark loft.

"Nice," I said under my breath as I took in the view, "It didn't look so big from the outside."

"It isn't, there are only two bedrooms upstairs and the kitchen is through the door," Lysander responded while smirking.

"You will be staying in this room till we can find you a more suitable residence and inform the Clave of your existence. It's likely that you'll be transferred to an Institute. Lysander, go get some linens." June told her brother, who was already halfway up the stairs.

I was moving? I guess it didn't matter since nothing was left for me in Greaton and it wasn't like I had another home to go to. Instead of voicing my concerns I asked the first question that came to my head.

"What's an Institute?"

"It is like a Shadowhunter embassy, which usually are in big cities like Los Angeles," June responded.

"So… this isn't an Institute?" I asked confused, "You can live in a house if you're a Shadowhunter?"

"No, this is more of an outpost, this area has a lot of Downworlder activity and it is easier for the Clave to keep track of things if some of us stay near high activity areas."

"Really? I haven't seen many Downworlders," I was still unsure of whether to relay my vampire experience to them. The more I thought about it the more Ebony's disappearance, my vampire encounter and the discovery had in common. If, for whatever reason, my vampire encounter had anything to do with Ebony running away I didn't want the Clave to know about it. Since I was moving, I wouldn't be in danger much longer anyways so I just let it go.

"That's because it's recently become a hub for them," Lysander said as he climbed down the stairs with an armful white linens, "A surprisingly large number of them settled here to escaped the big cities up north and south to avoid scrutiny from the Clave."

"Doesn't that seem like a wasted effort if you guys just follow them?"

"The thing is they don't know we're here, so we're trying to keep it on the D.L." Lysander said, while laying out the linens on the largest couch I moved in to help and he passed me the pillow case and a pillow.

"Make sure that you get a goodnights sleep, were going to start your training early tomorrow morning," June said while walking towards the stairs.

"Training?!" I gulped, my makeshift bed had been made and Lysander began to move up the stairs with her.

"Don't worry, we just go for a run and do some basic cardio," he said trying to reassure me. I attempted to smile back. I hadn't taken P.E. for nearly a year and the exercise that I normally did was limited to walking to-and-from Ebony's house.

The next morning June was true to her word and woke me up while it was still dark out.

"Whatsahappening?" I asked groggily as she kept shaking me.

"It is five thirty and you have half an hour to get ready before we need to go," once my eyes were able to focus I saw her wearing full work out gear along with one of those angle bands that counted how many steps you took.

"I didn't bring any work out gear!"

"I left some for you on the coffee table, there is a bathroom through the kitchen door to the left," with that, she opened the front door and took off. I got up and peered through the window and saw her stretching outside. I shook my head and walked towards where she had said the bathroom was. Fifteen minutes later, I was ready and I scraped my hair up into a pony tail and entered into the kitchen and found Lysander sitting in the dining room table, which had a large vase of sunflowers sitting on it.

"Mornin', there are bagels on the counter and butter from both cows and peanuts in the fridge and I'm afraid we're out of jam at the moment. Also, all drinks are in the fridge too." he said while flipping through the sports section of a newspaper.

I went to grab a bagel, there were two left, and I smeared a thick layer of peanut butter and went to pour myself some orange juice.

"The cups are in the far left cabinet," he added helpfully.

"Thanks," I said as I poured myself a glass and put the carton back in the fridge. When I joined him at the table I was aware of an absence.

"Is June still outside stretching?" I asked him.

"She should be onto her circuits by now," he responded putting down his newspaper and taking a bite from his own bagel.

"Shouldn't she eat something before we run? I'm no expert but I usually feel like passing out if I do any physical and mental exercise before breakfast."

"She probably already drank her morning protein shake,"

"Should I be doing that too?" I asked him nervously. I hated protein shakes, I had tried a sip of my dad's once and nearly upchucked on the spot.

"There's probably something I should tell you before you run away screaming, not all Shadowhunters are like June," he said in an undertone, "I love her and everything but she takes Shadowhunting very seriously so don't feel intimidated and compelled to be as… intense."

"Good to know,"

The backdoor attached to the kitchen flung open and June stepped through. She was glistening with sweat and looked at the pair of us, "okay time to get going."

"I still have five minutes to read the comics!" Lysander protested.

"Well, we have a lot to do today so the comics will have to wait. Up!"

We all stood up and June lead us through the back door. She and Lysander began to jog so I imitated them. Once we were through the gate, June turned right, leading us up a very sloped hill.

"Were not running up that are we?" I asked them aghast.

"Well, before we actually train you in fighting it's important that you have good stamina," June responded.

"Contrary to popular belief, running away is an important part of self-defense," Lysander added.

"Exactly, a demon might scamper off once they see you, so you need to catch it before it gets away," June said, "now up the hill!"

"Not exactly the idea behind self defense," Lysander said under his breath.

"We do not need self defense," June lectured, "our duty is to protect others."

After that illuminating discussion, we ran for exactly one hour, twice I felt a heart attack coming on when both times it actually turned out to be a violent bout of gas passing through me. We were back at the house and I had collapsed against one of the dining room chairs.

"What exactly did you mean when you said that you did a lot of jogging?" Lysander asked me.

"That. Wasn't. jogging!" I accused them while trying to catch my breath.

"Luckily for you, that is it for today. Lysander and I have some business to attend to," both of them stood up and went up stairs. I retreated into the bathroom and ran through the shower quickly and changed into clean clothes.

Both June and Lysander were in the living room fully changed and showered when I got walked back in.

"We are going out to scout while you wait here. You are free to eat anything out of the fridge. I would also advise you to read up on Shadowhunters while we are away. There is a book called the Codex and it is upstairs on the bookshelf. See you in a couple of hours."

They were gone and I wandered into the kitchen to get the one bagel that was on the counter. When I walked in I couldn't find it and I opened the fridge to see what else there was. In disgust I realized that everything was healthy, so I settled on a bowl of cereal. The bad thing about being left in the house alone was that I went back to thinking about my mom. I should ask June about where she was going, or if she was staying in Greaton. To distract myself I thought about Ebony, which was actually still quite a stressful topic, and how she had tried to escape from the Shadowhunters for some reason. I then realized that I was in a cornucopia of possible knowledge and I had done no investigating. I needed to find some answers, something that could lead to me Ebony and why she might have left. I also hadn't found any nondescript doors that looked like they could be holding top secret information, so I figured that they kept all their information hidden somewhere else. I began my search with the most innocent room in the house, the kitchen. I opened all the cabinets and drawers one by one.

Nothing was out of the ordinary. The spices were in the spice cabinet, the dishes were stacked, and the pantry was normal (except for the abundance of muscle milk and power bars). I moved into the living room next.

I looked through the shelves and opened the books one by one to see if I could find anything hidden in them. I kept a flask in the middle of a Gone With the Wind copy, so I thought it couldn't hurt. I had searched the entire bookcase to no avail. I stomped over to the fireplace angrily, wondering if it was fruitless to even try.

If I were a Shadowhunter possibly hunting a five foot five girl with bleach blonde hair and fake boobs, where would I keep that information?

Obviously I was looking in the wrong place and upstairs was my next best option. But it was a lot harder to come up with a reason for me snooping up there in the first place if they came back. My eyes unfocused while peering through the window as I weighed the risks, was it worth being caught or should I pick up my search for another day.

With a start, I realized that there was a small shed out approximately 20 yards away from the house, partially hidden among the trees. Bingo, I thought. If I were to hide anything anywhere here, it would have been in there.

I eagerly walked out the front door and hopped off the deck. The shed was actually quite close. I could more easily make up an alibi for this, if they were in the house when I returned I could say I stepped out for some air.

When I reached the door, I saw that they had one of those locks used for school lockers. Luckily, I had learned to pick them in middle school. After a couple minutes of tinkering with the lock, and some nervous glancing to see if any cars were approaching, I managed to unlock it and I slid it into my pocket while closing the door behind me. The shed was quite roomy in comparison to most other garden sheds I had encountered in my life but for some reason it still looked smaller in comparison to its exterior. A slanted skylight illuminated the interiors wooden paneling which had been painted a sickly blue color. I understood why their garage was so clean, they stored their junk in here. Even then they still didn't have that much of it.

There was a desk which was covered in some pretty paper and a variety of pressed flowers. Some of the pressed flowers were also pasted on paper and hung on a wall in neat little frames.

In a box to the left of the desk there were a load of dusty framed photos. I pulled one photo out, and it was a picture of Lysander and June who looked about five years younger, next to them were two much older men and a boy slightly older then the twins. Everyone was smiling in the photo. June's hair was a lot longer then it was now, and her smile exposed a few dimples in her cheeks and chin. I suddenly felt very wrong going through their stuff. I put the picture back in the box and backed away from it. I thought of ending my search right then. There was nothing else was in the room except for a couple more instruments (which were hanging on the walls), a pile of chairs, and some gardening and camping equipment. I almost turned away until I heard a loud noise, as though something had dropped. My heart stopped and I turned to the door, thinking I had been caught. But that couldn't have been right since the noise had come from the opposite facing wall.

There was nothing there accept for a full length mirror which leaned against the wall, which looked to be the newest thing in the room. I walked towards it, maybe the noise had come from outside? But it sounded like an echo, as if it were inclosed. There was another noise of a number of things falling. I sat in confusion for a while longer. Where could that noise have come from? Then it hit me. I walked up to the mirror and ginger put my ear up against it but heard nothing else.

I decided to take a look at their property to see if there was something outside. Just as I was about to open the door a tiny mouse squeezed through the crack bellow and ran away from me in a frenzy. A little disgusted, I moved to the opposite end of the room until I saw it run behind the small refuge created by the mirror and wall.

Compelled by instinct, I walked towards the mirror again and peered behind it. It was completely dark. I moved it over carefully and my jaw fell open.

There was a small doorframe that had a steep staircase going deep into the ground. The limited light from the skylight didn't tell me much else. I peered around the room for something that could help me see and caught sight of a flashlight among the camping equipment. I picked it up and turned it on while pointing in down the staircase.

I did something infinitely stupid, and began to walk down the staircase while using my flashlight to guide the way. The stairs went on for about one flight before abruptly turning to the right and continuing again. I finally found flat surface and looked around.

From the dim lighting, I could see that I was in some sort of library. The walls seemed to be a deep mahogany and the floors were covered in large slabs of stone. There were several large book cases and a comfortable looking red velvet love seat with a round persian rug on the ground bellow it. I saw that, apart from the books on the selves, there were also books littering the floors. If this wasn't a good place to start looking for answers about Ebony, I didn't know what was.

On my way to the selves my flashlights rays revealed another surprise, a small doorway which seemed to lead to a hallway. While books were a good place to start, I was looking for files, or something that would provide some explanation as to why these Shadowhunters were hunting for Ebony. So I gulped down my fear and began walking through the dark hallway, which twisted in a different direction unexpectedly. Fear began to seep through me. What if I was entering a Shadowhunter torture chamber? Or worse, they kept a demon locked up that fed exclusivly on the flesh of purple haired teenage girls. My fear kept expanding and after another turn I saw an opening to a room ahead. I creeped forward quietly and the design of the room came more into focus. There was a orange hue coloring the room (presumably through an open flame or candle light) and through the doorway I saw a table that was piled high with books, strange bottles and a variety of papers. Excitement coursed through me and as I wondered if anything about Ebony was written on those papers. I scurried forward into the room. I peered around quickly and it seemed to be quiet and empty (with no locked up demons in sight). I picked up the first sheet of paper and was met only with a paragraph of fancy writing in another language. The letters were a mixture of crude and picturesque, it looked like a mix between Greek and those weird prints found at the end of a font list on Microsoft Word. I put the paper back down and looked around the table some for something else. I was about to pick up a scroll when a sparkling stone under a couple papers garnered my attention. I reached out for it slowly and as I peeled away the first layer of paper something grasped my hand. When I looked up, a green snarling demon was glaring at me with his equally green hands holding me in place. I screamed louder than a howler money trapped in an oven.