Scarred for Life

Chapter 31

Alright guys, this is the second to last chapter! It is now one o' clock in the morning and it has taken me 4 hours, 2 bathroom breaks, 4 strawberry kiwi Capri Sun's, and 1 big bag of flavor blasted goldfish to get this chapter up! Enjoy!

P.S: Please read the AN at the bottom. There's some important stuff.

Clary P.O.V

I looked up at my childhood home in disgust. Instead of having those stereotypical childhood memories of baking cookies with my mom or sitting on my father's shoulders while I put the angel on the top of the Christmas tree, I remember the first time Valentine broke my arm when I was two, and the night my mother was murdered.

Was she really dead though? She just disappeared one night, so I had always just assumed that Valentine had gotten rid of her. It's not like he or Jonathan ever did anything to discourage my claim. My father's words kept coming back to me. I had told him that I couldn't ask her anything because she was dead, but his words planted that seed of doubt in within me.

"Is she?"

No. She has to be dead. She would have saved me if she weren't. I will avenge her. I will kill Valentine and Jonathan and Valentine for everything they've done to me… and her.

I once again looked up and the Morgenstern Manor, this time strategically. I took survey of all of the windows and doors, finding possible exit routes. Valentine will probably have Jonathan on the first floor, keeping out any possible intruders.

Get through him, and the rest was easy. Valentine will be in the basement. To get there, I will have to go through the secret door located in the library. He should be an easy kill, since he will be too focused on raising the demons to notice me.

I'll go in through the second floor window. If I attack Jon from above, I might be able to surprise him enough to throw him off his game.

I crouched below the balcony on the second floor, and jumped. I landed lithely on the balcony railing and moved soundlessly to the doors. As Simon would say, I had 'officially entered full stealth-mode'. As I moved down the hall, I thought of Simon.

It had been almost a month since I had banished him from the Institute. I still don't know for sure what happened, but I have a sneaking suspicion that it has something to do with my dear brother.

Shouts from the first floor had me racing down the stairs. I rounded the corner and smacked into a wall. Wait, not a wall, a person. Still gaining my senses, I didn't have time to react as Jonathan spun me around and pressed a blade to my throat. Very intimately, his other arm wrapped around my stomach and he leant down to whisper in my ear, "So nice of you to join the party, Clarissa. I had missed you so."

The word 'party' definitely made since. There were 4 people standing on front me. All of them I had somehow wronged, but I still loved dearly.

Isabelle, the one friend I'd ever had.

Magnus, the only one who truly knew everything I had been through.

Michael, my biggest secret.

And Jace, the boy who owns my heart.

I spoke, my voice sounding cracked. "Why are you guys here? All of you should hate me." It was, surprisingly, Isabelle who spoke.

"I do, but no one should have to fight this battle by themselves."

Jonathan chuckled and I could feel the vibration of it through my back. "This isn't a battle. You will all be slaughtered, starting with my sister. If you come anywhere near us, her head will be separated from her body. Then after her, I think I'll order your little vampire to kill himself."

Isabelle looked up sharply. "Simon?"

"So that's the bloodsucker's name? I've been in his mind for a while now, but I never really bothered to learn his name. Where have manners gone?"

I rolled my eyes, done playing Jonathan's helpless maiden. "They're probably buried somewhere deep down, which, coincidentally Johnny-Boy, is exactly what's going to happen to you. Stay golden." With that, I shoved my heel up between his legs, hard.

He fell to his knees. The knife that was pressed against my neck came down with him, creating a shallow slash from my neck to my waist. My shirt was now torn, but I didn't care. I grabbed a dagger from my belt and spun, throwing the blade up to block Jonathan's oncoming blow. Any pain he was feeling in his nether-regions was obviously gone.

I parried another blow before stabbing at his leg, opening a deep gash in his thigh. Our dance continued, a block for a block, and injury for an injury. One wrong step and the other would be dead. The others were just standing on the edge of the room. Their weapons were drawn, but they couldn't interfere because Jonathan and I were moving too fast.

My chance for the killing blow came when Jonathan raised his sword above his head, leaving his chest and abdomen wide open. I quickly stabbed at his ribs, feeling the blade sink home. I could feel his blood rush over my hand. The realization of what I had just done started to sink in.

I just killed my brother.

Sure, he was a monster. He may have done unspeakable things to me, but he was still my flesh and blood. I ran over to the nearest window and opened it, spilling the contents of my stomach all over the bushes. I was so out of it that it didn't really register when someone came over, pulled my hair out of my face, and started rubbing in between my shoulder blades. When my nausea had passed, I turned around and looked up instantly melting into those gorgeous, tawny eyes.

I self-consciously reached up and wiped my face, making sure all the vomit was gone. He smirked, but then his face changed to one of concern as he rubbed my arm. "Are you all right?"

I put my guard back up and nodded. "All that's left now is Valentine, and then we can forget that all of this ever happened." He looked disappointed, but nodded.

I was extremely thankful to see that someone had already removed Jonathan's body. All that remained was a dark stain on the floor. That's your brother's blood, Clary. You put that blood stain there.

I looked over at Michael and asked him, "How did they find you?"

He smirked, and identical smirk to Jace's. Like father, like son. "I'm not completely sure, but I think that I can thank Magnus for that." Magnus' dark chuckle confirmed his theory.

I allowed myself a small smile. "It's good to see you, Michael. You know, alive and all."

"You too, kid. Hopefully we'll all stay that way for a while."

I wasn't positive, but I'm pretty sure I heard Isabelle mutter an 'Amen' under her breath.

When we finally arrived at the library, I flipped a switch on the lamp sitting on top of the desk. Instead of a light turning on, a section of the bookshelf slid away to reveal a doorway. Cliché, but effective.

I was hit with an unfortunately familiar scent as we walked down the stone steps. Blood, a lot of it. The others must have smelled it as well because we ran the rest of the way down the steps. What we found was… shocking.

Valentine was lying inside a pentagram, dead. Leaning over him was a Greater Demon, unrecognizable to me. He reached inside his Valentine's chest and pulled out his heart. His voice was practically a purr as he eyed his prize.

"2,000 years since I've been in the human realm and I am greeted with a delectable feast. I will savor every last morsel."

"Yeah, sorry Daddy-kins, but that's not going to happen." My eyes widened as I realized that Magnus was referring to the demon as 'Daddy-kins'.

The demon looked up, recognition crossing his features. "My blood runs in your veins, hello son. To what do I owe this honor?" Well at least I know where Magnus gets his sense of humor.

Magnus gave a short bark of laughter. "Well isn't this just a silly coincidence, we were actually coming to kill the man who's heart you just pulled out of his chest."

"He is the first of silly little humans whose hearts will be eaten by me and my fellow demons. As soon as you let me out of this god forsaken pentagram, we shall rule this dimension together!"

Jace, not able to stay quiet any longer, added in his two cents while Magnus started saying the banishing spell. "Sadly, my fanged friend, eating hearts is frowned upon in our society." The demon glared, and Jace continued. "I know, right! My sentiments exactly. You've inspired me. I'm going to go home and write a strongly worded letter to the Clave about how we can whatever we want! I'll even throw in some choice words such as SWAG and, if I'm feeling especially rebellious, YOLO."

"YOLO?" That was the demons last word before getting sucked back into whatever hell-hole he came from.

"Yay, it's over. Now can we go home? My legs are in desperate need of a waxing," Isabelle whined.

Magnus drew up a portal in the corner of the room. "Of course we can go home. I need my beauty sleep."

Jace smirked. "Well then, I hope that you are planning to sleep for a few hundred years."

Before it could turn into a full-fledged cat fight, I interjected with a question I was curious about. "Was that really your dad, Magnus?"

Magnus smiled, his cat eyes glinting. "Of course it was, Clare-Bear. Couldn't you see the resemblance?"

Okay, I'm getting a little depressed that this story is coming to an end. It's been almost a year since I started this and I want to thank everyone of you that have read this story. If you think I'm mushy now, just wait until I write the last chapter.

I want to thank all of you for letting me devote almost a year of my life to you and this story. I feel like you guys have helped me feel better about myself as a person and helped me grow as a writer.

I am going to start a survey about whether or not I should turn my one-shot, If Only, into a story so please vote on that!

Feel free to drop a review in at any time of the day. Even if it's not even very story related, I've been told I'm much more social when I'm talking to someone not in person.

Questions:

1.) What was your favorite line in this chapter, or story?

2.) What was your happiest, saddest, or most embarrassing memory?

Thank you guys,

ByTheAngel99