Whoo! This chapter sure was a pain in the butt. It kind of led up to the rest of the battle, and I had to get it perfect before showing it to you all. It's not exactly enlightening, but hopefully you all will still enjoy it. Things are seriously getting interesting!

And by the way, don't forget to check out my new story "Expelled" based on Clary as a human! It's dramatic, but not as... evil or terrifying as this story. not really just how I feel about that. Anyway, enjoy!

Conan swallowed against the fear in his throat. He didn't have to look around to know what everyone else was doing. While he stood still, too frightened at the moment to move as the blood was pounding through his heart at an alarming rate, Karrie and Kadan stood in front of Alec's bed with their weapons drawn, while Michael and Bat crouched in front of Luke, protecting him. And Conan had to somehow manage to step between the intruder and to attempt to keep him safe, considering he was pretty much a sitting duck.

Chase's idea sounded good at first, but now he just felt like an idiot.

The knowing smirk on Jonathan's face meant Conan had walked right into some kind of trap. His hands gripped the sword tighter when the older man stepped through the door. What as Conan even doing? He knew he couldn't win. Hell, even if all the conscious people in the room fought him at once, they still wouldn't win. It was like five year old kids fighting a hell hound. He was starting to sound as pessimistic as Emily.

"What do you want from me now?" The voice was Simon's, coming just behind Conan. The way he spoke made Conan think that this wasn't the first encounter the two of them had together. "Want me to stick another sword through my stomach?"

Jonathan laughed, and it went through Conan's body like it was butter. "No, Daylighter. I want you to take them out. We've got work to do." When no one responded, Jonathan stepped up to Conan. He was close enough that the front of his sword was pressed against Jonathan's chest, but he just smiled as Conan's hand shook like an earthquake of fear. "And who are you, exactly?"

Simon suddenly went on the defensive. "Just let the kids go. They're being children and acting on impulse. Let them go, and I'll come with you."

Jonathan's dark eyes bore into Conan's as Simon spoke. It was obvious that the vampire's words just went in one ear and out the other.

But then, Jonathan's eyes flicked up to Simon's, and the annoyance radiated off of him in waves. "You'll do as I say, whether you want to or not, and I'll do as I want, because I simply don't care. For example," His hand, quicker than anything he'd ever seen, including Emily's speed, kicked the sword out of Conan's grip with enough force that it stuck to the wall over Luke's bed. Bat and Michael had to duck to dodge it. Then, Conan felt his airway being squeezed so tight that he thought that his windpipe was being crushed. He grabbed at Jonathan's hand, but the guy didn't even look like he was struggling. "Now, Daylighter," Jonathan said slowly with a sly smile on his face. "This is because you didn't listen the first time."

Conan suddenly wished that he was dead so he didn't have to see what was about to happen. Jonathan pulled Conan's gun out from his back pocket, easily dodging any attempts Conan made to grab it, and shoved him up against the wall, holding him there as his feet dangled above the floor.

The barrel of the gun then moved so fast, Conan didn't even see who Jonathan shot until the blood exploded and the bodies hit the floor. Within one second, four bullets were fired, but only two bodies hit the floor, cries of pain and shock screaming through the air.

Kadan and Bat both hit the floor with a bang, literally. Blood exploded through their chests and soaked through their gear. Bat would be fine, Conan knew that much. They weren't silver bullets, so the worst that could happen would be if he passed out because of the pain. But as for -

"KADAN!"

Anger exploded through Conan's veins as Karrie crouched next to her brother, screaming at him to open his eyes. He knew what happened when Shadowhunters were shot. That wasn't a wimpy pistol, and the way Kadan lied motionless on the floor told Conan that Jonathan was a damn good shot too. While Karrie cried onto Kadan's chest, ignorant to the rest of them for the moment, Michael was so shocked, not being used to violence, that he just stared at the bodies, going back and forth between Kadan, Bat, and when he looked up at Jonathan, Conan made his move.

As a werewolf, it was in their blood to protect their own. They were a protective species, and when they failed in their duties, it caused foreign emotions and actions in them. Conan was the one that got all of them involved. It was Conan who called Bat and Karrie. It was Conan that said the others could come, could help, and it was his fault if any of them were killed. All the blame would be on him, and he had a job to do to stop it.

Whatever was happening inside him, all the emotions, anger, and fight that was building exploded. His hands released Jonathan's and he used all of his strength to lift his legs. The lack of oxygen was making it difficult, but he managed to kick out, hitting Jonathan's left knee as he laughed at the scene before him and making the man collapse. The gun slipped out of his hand and rolled to the other side of the floor. Conan's legs didn't hold him as he hit the floor, and he felt to all fours, clutching at his throat. He could barely breathe. Spots were starting to form in his vision. There was no way he could fight in this condition.

"Jonathan, stop!"

Conan looked up to the door, and froze at the sight. Lilith herself stood in the doorway, looking shocked at the scene before her. She didn't quite look how he pictured her. Maybe it was his difficulty to actually think, but he tried his best to focus.

She was about as human as he had ever seen her. A red, floor length dress covered her body. Her eyes weren't quite like the snakes they were supposed to be. So far, they were about as normal as his were. That was the scary part. It would've been easier to fight them if they all looked like nasty, black, gross looking demons other than humans.

"Just let me kill them," Jonathan begged and suddenly, Conan was yanked from the floor like a doll. His own sword was pressed against his throat as he was, once again, thrown against the wall. Apparently, Jonathan was a fan of throwing people against walls.

Conan was vaguely aware of Simon, slowly pulling out the first sword with a pained expression on his face. "Whatever you want me to do, I'll do it," he said slowly as the first sword slid out and landed on the floor, covered in blood. "Just let the kids go."

"Shut it," Lilith demanded. "You don't want to watch someone else die on your behalf, do you? I'd keep your mouth shut if I were you." Conan felt a shiver run down his spine as Lilith's eyes then landed on him. "How exactly did you find us, little werewolf?"

Considering Conan was the same size as Jonathan, little was a bit of an insult. He wasn't in any shape to talk crap though, especially with a sword to his throat. So he just kept his mouth shut.

Jonathan didn't like that. The sword pressed into his throat more, stinging his skin. "Speak up, you animal."

"Chase," Conan answered when the sword started to cut through his throat. "Chase told me."

"So they've met up with Gemma," Jonathan inquired. His eyes shone with something Conan didn't recognize, but it looked like a form of excitement. "Jace should be arriving soon. The portal shouldn't take too long to get them to their destinations."

"Jonathan, calm down. We're still doing this my way. And I need this set up before Leviathan comes back with the others. And Simon, if you take that other sword out, I swear I'll let Jonathan kill every single person in this room."

Simon froze, his hand on the hilt of the second sword that held him to the wall. This was looking worse and worse by the second. Conan went from succeeding in finding the missing people, to getting two of his friends severely injured, possibly killed, and sticking the rest of them in a room with the two most dangerous creatures on the planet.

"First thing is first." Lilith stepped into the room, arms behind her back as she surveyed the situation for the first time. Her eyes settled on Bat's form, and she shook her head slowly. "That's too bad. He was a good little helper."

"Helper?" Conan asked without realizing it. "What the hell are you talking about?"

The laugh that came from Jonathan was… bone shivering. "You really think that Bat, in his stupid state, could have figured out all that information? We gave him the picture, gave him everything that you presented to Isabelle, to my sister, to Magnus that day when we killed Chase's mother. We had a whole plan set up if you asked questions about it, but sure enough, you just took in the information he had and disappeared back to the Institute. Because of Bat and Chase, things have been going according to plan this whole time."

The look on Lilith's face confirmed everything. Bat was… a traitor? He couldn't have been. Conan trusted him! They were werewolves! They didn't betray each other, end of story. So many emotions ran through Conan's body, and he felt himself visibly shaking with anger, rage, frustration, confusion, and every other bad feeling under the sun. He felt that familiar feeling, the one that started in the pit of his stomach, radiating out to his fingers and toes. The anger was causing him to change, to go all teenage werewolf on Jonathan's ass, and although he seriously wanted to, he knew that it would be suicide.

The sword cut deeper into his throat as he took a deep breath, squeezing his hands to calm his nerves. He closed his eyes, leaning his head back against the wall. Could this get any worse?

Of course it could. What was he thinking? Lilith's footsteps forced Conan's eyes open again and the insane devil smiled when her eyes landed on Michael. He was still staring at Kadan, too stunned to move at the sight of his dying best friend. "Well, well, well, you look just like your father."

"Can I kill him too?" Jonathan asked.

Lilith ignored him, stepping up to Michael. Conan felt so sorry for the kid. He might have looked like Jace, but he seriously had the backbone of a snail. His grip on the seraph blade was loosening and he looked like he might have pissed himself.

Lilith's hand came out, touching Michael's cheek with her fingertips. He flinched but was frozen in place at the same time. "Now, little Shadowhunter, you have a choice to make." Lilith stepped back, looked at Conan, Simon, and then back to Michael. "Simon, the girl, or Conan."

Michael's eyes widened at what Lilith was saying. Conan glanced over at Simon, who frowned and glanced back at him. Someone was about to die, and since Simon was the indestructible Simon, Karrie was Michael's girlfriend, and Conan was Conan, it didn't look too good on his part. To quote The Hunger Games, one of Simon's favorite movies:

The odds were not in his favor.

Chase landed softly, feet first, on solid ground as he emerged from the portal. His head felt jumbled, something that's never happened before, but he shook it off, looking around.

It looked like a cafeteria. Circle tables with connecting chairs were everywhere. An opening to what looked like a buffet line was to the right, but it was empty. The entire room was empty and dull. The doors and windows had plants of all kinds growing on them, while other weeds of the sort were breaking through the tiles on the floor. A few tables had been kicked over, some broken in half like a fight had taken place, and it looked old, but he hated how the place made him feel. It was… creepy.

"You get used to it."

Chase jumped at the voice, and found his sister. It was like she knew what he was thinking, saying what he wanted to hear. Back when they were younger, it always made him feel better, knowing that she knew how he felt and could help him. But now, it wasn't something that he enjoyed.

He then realized he was on some kind of stage, and his sister sat on a chair in the middle of it, just behind him. She looked relaxed, her arm draped over the back of it as she looked up at him with a knowing smile on her face.

What happened to her? Chase wondered. The girl he knew, the sister he loved, was not the one sitting in front of him. It had only been a week since he'd seen her, but had the loss of their mother really made her into this… thing? She seemed like a heartless robot earlier, talking about their mother like she didn't care and talking about Lilith like they were longtime friends. What had changed in her? What had Lilith done to her?

"Staring at me is going to get you nowhere." Gemma stood to her feet, and he instinctively took a step back when she took one forward. "Chase, I'm here to help you. To make you understand. You don't need to be afraid of me."

"I'm not afraid of you," he said. "I'm scared of whoever you're trying to be."

Gemma shook her head, stopping her movements and standing still. "Brother, you have to understand that I did what I had to do. This was the only way."

She made it sound like she was forced, like there was nothing else she could've done. But Chase knew better. "Mom always said that we had a choice. Whatever it is that you did, you didn't have to do it."

Gemma's jaw set suddenly and her eyes darkened in anger. Chase made a mental note to keep his mother out of the conversation if he wanted to live through it.

"You don't understand what I went through."

"Then help me understand."

"I watched her die!" Gemma snapped, throwing her hands in the air. The cool, calm, and collected act that she tried didn't last long at all. "I watched Lilith torture her, telling me that it was your fault, and she was right. Everything that has happened has been your fault. From the beginning, it's been you. You're the reason that dad was killed. You're the reason Leviathan was released. You're the reason that the past four years of my life have been torturous and painful. I witnessed the death of our parents because of you. All the pain that I've gone through has been your fault."

"I know that." Chase's voice was surprisingly steady, considering he had lost days of sleep thinking about this very subject.

He couldn't stop himself from flashing back to the infirmary, where he finally opened up and confessed everything to Emily and her family. He had hoped that telling someone might have finally cause part of the burden to fade. Although it helped with the sorrow and pain, the guilt increased even more. If he didn't get control of it, it would eat him from the inside out.

His hand went to his hair, pulling against the brown curls with frustration. "I know that it's my fault. Gem, I've spent four years trying to fix it."

She shook her head in disbelief. "And you've failed, time and time again."

"Then tell me how to right it!" He lowered his voice then, stepping towards her once. "Just, tell me what is going on." It might have been just a single step, but it felt like he was slowly mending what separated them. If he was going to get to the bottom of this, he had to figure out what happened to her. He had to figure out what was going on. He had to help Emily, Jace, Conan–

Chase's eyes widened as the realization of the situation set in. Where was Emily? Where was Jace? The portal separated them somehow. The idea that he was now alone, with someone who was not his sister, wasn't exactly appealing. What kind of situation was Emily in? Was she even alive?

He felt his chest tighten and gripped at his gear that covered it. What if he had already lost her? He never had a chance, never had the ability to protect her like he promised Conan. It was an empty promise at the time, and he knew that, but Chase still wanted to try to make it happen. If anyone lived through this, Chase would choose Emily over the entire Herondale family in a heartbeat.

But he had to focus on one thing at a time. He couldn't think of Emily when he had the obstacle that was his sister in the way.

Chase closed his eyes. "Gem, just tell me what happened."

"I already did." He opened his eyes again, trying to figure out his words. She noticed his expression, shaking her head a bit. "Chase, you never were one to pay attention to the details, to really think things through."

"Meaning?"

"Lilith gave me a way out," she repeated from before. Chase remembered when she said that, when he called after her before the portal. Before he realized something was going one. Before his kiss with Emily.

He bit his lip until it bled, hoping that maybe pain would keep him out of his head and onto the task at hand. Emily needed to stay out of his head if he was going to get through this, and that wasn't looking so good at the moment.

Somehow, he managed to ask the question that he wasn't sure he wanted the answer to. "What do you mean a way out?"

"A way out of the pain. To forget. To not feel all the hurt. To not feel betrayed. Lilith gave me a way to let all that go."

"I never meant to betray you," Chase said softly. "Gemma, you know that I never meant to hurt you."

Gemma slowly started to walk towards Chase, the steps taking what felt like hours. "Do I? Chase, you've been focused on Emily for so long that I pretty much felt invisible."

"That's what Lilith told me to do!" Chase practically screamed. It echoed off the walls of the lunchroom, and he sighed, calming it down a bit. "She said that she'd kill you unless I did what she instructed. Focusing on Emily was to keep you safe."

"And now she has one more request for you."

Gemma stood in front of him now. She was close enough so that he could see the color in her eyes, the same color he had. He could smell the demon stench and the smell of burned skin from the runes that were freshly placed on her skin. A few scars and burn marks were around her face, something he hadn't noticed before, and it made his anger return. Lilith had done this to her. Lilith had forced his sister into this through all the pain and suffering.

"Chase," Gemma whispered. "I can show you how to let go."

He furrowed his brows, looking down at her from the six inch height difference. "A way out?"

Gemma nodded. Her hand came up, touching his cheek, and something sparked inside of him. It wasn't like when Emily touched him. It wasn't a burn or a feeling of electricity between them, but like a flow of water. It felt like Gemma's body was flowing through Chase's, down his neck, into his chest and settling over his heart. Everything started to fade. His body wouldn't move, and as his eyes locked with his sister's his mind faded into the background. The ability to think, to care, to worry, to love all disappeared as his chest lifted and Gemma leaned forward, her mouth by his ear.

"Let go, brother. Let it go."

Jace landed gracefully on his feet in the middle of a…

He didn't even know. The place was messed up, like something that would be in those scary movies that Simon used to watch. It looked like a basement – a medieval, creepy, dirty basement. There was a single light right above him from where he stood in the middle of the giant, unsanitary, concrete box he was dropped in. Chains hung from the walls that looked to hold prisoners, but they were all empty. And that was it. There was nothing else but the smell of rust and metal.

So where the hell was he?

And where was his daughter?

Emily. Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit. Jace looked around quickly, pulling his seraph blade out but it was then that he realized there was no door. It literally was a box, and there was no way for him to get to his daughter. Even if he knew where she was. But he didn't. She was somewhere, one her own, probably with that jerk, Chase, and dealing with the demons from the darkest part of hell on her own.

The thought made him shiver.

He had to get out of here. He dipped, ducked, and touched every corner of the room, but there was nothing that indicated there was a trap door or a way out. It was a fucking concrete box! And since when does a portal separate people like that? Chase, Gemma, and Emily should've landed in the same spot as him. This was a part of Lilith's plan. It had to be. And Jace didn't like the fact that he was at her mercy. He felt like a mouse caught in a trap, waiting for the cat to come out to get him whenever it fancied to.

His eyes traveled up, and his heart sank. The roof was about three stories tall, and he could totally make that jump. And when he noticed the trap door, he realized that this basically was a cage, and when the door opened, he really felt like he was going to have a heart attack.

It was pulled back, and darkness was revealed beyond it. Jace moved right under it, craning his neck to see who it was. Chase? Lilith? Agramon? Emily? He couldn't tell, and he quickly wondered how far underground he could be.

"Whoever you are, get your ass down here so I can kill you," he called, his hand tightening on the hilt of his seraph blade. His rage was started to build up, and he had the need to kill something, anything. He wanted to hear the demons scream. He wanted to feel them fade beneath his hands. He wanted to watch them turn to dusk, to curse and glare at him as he conquered them and sent that back to where they should stay. And he wanted nothing more than to do that to Lilith, again.

There was movement, quick and almost too silent for Jace to hear it, and then a body was falling through the trap door. He instantly recognized who it was, and caught the girl with the red hair. The impact knocked him back, landing on the hard concrete but he couldn't care less. He was too focused on the girl in his hands.

Her curls covered her face as he cradled her to his chest. Her breathing was steady, her gear slashed across her back. The pale skin that showed was paler than normal and made her look sickly. Jace slowly sat up, flipping her as gently as possible until her face was visible.

"Clary?" he whispered as he touched her cheek. But whatever happened to her had knocked her out cold. She didn't respond at all, and Jace didn't have time to ask questions before another body fell to the floor.

He jumped up quickly, another body using him as a cushion as she fell to the floor. "Izzy?" Jace asked with pain in his voice. She had landed right on his sweet spot, so what could he do? It hurt! But she was just as unconscious as Clary. Completely and totally nonresponsive.

This was bad, and only getting worse. Clary and Isabelle were supposed to be in the Institute where they wouldn't get hurt. How did they get here? Demons couldn't get in, and yet here they were, lying at his feet as he slowly stood up. His blade was long gone, and he didn't even try to look for it. He just stared, as immovable as his wife and sister.

They didn't look too bad. Other than a few cuts and bruises, they looked like they did after a normal demon hunt. Their gear wasn't ripped and torn. No broken bones. But Jace still felt the blood pounding in his head at the sudden, terrifying realization of what was happening. And when another body hit the floor behind him, the fearless rune on his shoulder started pounding like a drum against his skin.

He slowly turned, wishing he had his blade in his hand. Standing a few feet away from him was Leviathan. He was substantially shorter than Jace, and looked every bit the part of a demon. His skin was gross, slimy, and black and other than his size, he didn't look human at all. Jace would've focused on him completely, ready to attack him, but his attention was drawn to another figure. One that was in Leviathan's arms. One that looked extremely sick. One that reminded him too much of his unconscious Clary a few feet behind him.

Jocelyn.

Leviathan smiled, his teeth sharp and shark-like. "Good luck with that threat from earlier."

Emily awoke in a lost, groggy state. It was like waking up from the best nap ever, but still feeling tired or exhausted. Her body didn't want to move. Her eyes didn't want to open. But slowly, she lifted her lids and the room came into view.

It looked like a hospital room. How would she have gotten there? The walls were white and bare. A single window was covered with bars and showed the setting sun in the distance. The same plain colors decorate the tile floor, the bed sheets that Emily currently lied on, and the door that was shut to her left. And the room smelled of demons, their stench taking over all of her senses as she sat up.

Her arms felt weak, shaking as they held her up. What was going on? How did she even get there? The last thing she remembered was following her father through the portal. It wasn't anything different from a normal portal trip, but now it seemed that it actually was completely different.

Because as soon as she stepped through the liquid membrane, her mind went blank. Bits and pieces of the trip, like images, came back to her mind but she didn't remember landing anywhere. She couldn't remember what happened to her. There were no potions, spells, or runes that were involved, and would Gemma really do this to all of them on purpose. And if so, what happened to Chase? Where was he? Where was her father? This whole thing was to deal with Leviathan, Lilith and Agramon. While Emily sat here, dazed and weak, her father could be fighting the demons on his own. And he wouldn't win!

She had to get out of here. She had to find him. Slowly, she got to her feet, which were surprisingly unsteady and started to walk towards the door. To her relief, she at least had her gear on, but no weapons were in sight. Someone had to take them from her, but she couldn't pin point who it would've been. In fact, she couldn't pin point anything. Other than the fact that there was a bed, a door, and a window in her room, she didn't know a thing.

Much to her frustration, she pushed against the door, pulled as hard as she could, but it didn't budge. It looked old, the once green faded to an almost grey. She thought that maybe she could actually break it down. Her strength was slowly building back up, and she stepped back, took a deep breath, and jumped against it. Pain shot through her arm in a wave, reaching down to the pit of her stomach as she felt to the floor, and echo pounding through her room.

"Well, that was stupid," she said to no one in particular as she gripped her shoulder.

She looked up, staring at the ceiling from her spot on the floor. All she wanted was to stop thinking about all the negatives, but she couldn't. Chase was out there with his sister, probably Lilith, getting hurt in all the way possible. Her father was in danger, extreme danger. And if Emily didn't get the hell out of there, the rest of her family would be in danger as well. Her mother, Isabelle, Conan, Karrie, they would all be threatened. Leviathan in his current state was practically indestructible.

But it was when she stood up, looked around, and her eyes settled on the words above her 'bed' that she realized how bad things really were. It was written in blood, and dripped down past her bed. The creepiness of it all made her shiver.

Rochester State Hospital For The Mentally Insane

Get Comfortable Emily. You're next.

Your Uncle, Jonathan

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