Chapter 7 is here! It's getting really serious in the story now. The gang is starting to learn what's happening and why. It's still a long way from learning the real reason behind everything that's been going on. Also, Jace's and Clary's romance will bloom slowly, if anyone is wondering. I want the tension to build and I want it to break in a special way. I'm not sure how though. So, please enjoy and review!

Clary has decided to join the rest of the group and helps them pull the pieces together on the disappearance of their parents. The only problem is that more and more people are starting to disappear. They are on the verge of a war between the dark world of demons and downworlders and the shadow hunters struggling to protect humankind. How will Clary deal with this new development? Read on to find out...

Chapter 7

Jace jumps down from the roof top. I follow right after. We're walking down the street together. I decide to remove my mask and hood. I run my hand through my hair and sigh. "So, what do you know about my parents disappearance."

Jace shakes his head. "There was nothing, but a mess. Just like Luke. We've been trying to figure out what happened, but we haven't been having any luck. When you slammed your door on our faces earlier we finally realized how helpless we must have made you feel. You should have seen Izzy's face. She was paler than usual."

I look up at Jace. "Jace… you're an ass."

Jace glances down at me with a wide grin. "Oh, yeah? Well you're a midget."

I glare. "Don't make fun of my height!"

Jace throws his head back and laughs. We end up walking to an old church. I tilt my head and squint my eyes. It does look like an old church, but it doesn't. Jace takes me inside. That's where everything changes. Instead of being run down the inside actually looks like a fancy mansion.

"It's called the institute," Jace answers my silent question.

I make a face. "It sounds like a place for crazy people."

Jace takes me to an old elevator that creaks as it comes down to meet us. Jace pushes me inside. "Come on, Clary. We don't have all day. Haven't you ever seen an elevator before?"

I make a face. "Sure I have. I've just never seen one this old. Are you sure it's safe?"

"Nope," Jace smiles widely and shoves me inside.

Jace gets in after me and grabs me before I can run off. The elevator starts moving with a groan. I don't think this hunk of metal has ever been inspected. I look up at Jace who looks like he's enjoying himself. I punch his arm. He turns to me with a frown. "What was that for?"

I smile when Jace rubs his arm. "Just cause."

The elevator doors open up on a new floor. I step out and look around. Jace nudges me. "Follow him."

Jace points at a fat grey cat. I tilt my head. I look at Jace to see if he's joking, but his face is completely serious. I guess things are just going to get weirder from here on out. Jace starts walking when the cat starts walking. It takes us to a set of double doors. Jace pushes them open.

Inside it looks like someone grabbed as much paper as they could and just threw it all over the room, with a few books thrown in for good measure. I look up at Jace with a question in my eyes. Jace shrugs and motions me forward into the destroyed library.

When we get further into the room I notice two people lying in all the chaos. They both have black hair. It looks like Isabelle and Alec pulled an all nighter. I sign and shake my head. "This is really starting to get out of hand. You people have no clue what you're doing. You must have been getting really desperate."

Jace looks down at me with an arched eyebrow. "Yeah. Isabelle and Alec are really determined to find their parents. After their little brother, Max, died last year they haven't really been the same."

I rub the back of my head. "Wake them up."

Jace walks over and kicks Alec on the side. The blue eyed boy groans in pain and annoyance. "What the hell, Jace? Why'd you kick me?"

"Because you're so damn adorable," Jace smirks.

Alec blushes a bright red and looks away. Then Jace goes over to Isabelle and wakes her up by throwing her off the couch she was lying on. Isabelle lands hard with a thud. She sits up and glares at Jace. "What the HELL!"

Jace just grins then turns to me. "We have a guest."

Isabelle sees me and gets up quickly. "What is she doing here?"

I sit on a chair sideways with a leg thrown over the arm. "That's not very nice. You should be more hospitable to the person who is going to help you find all of our parents."

Alec throws a look at me. "We don't need your help."

I throw my head back and look at him sideways. "From the looks of it you really need my help. I've been researching this longer and more thoroughly than you. I already have a name. It won't be long before I figure out why."

Ace walks over to me and looks down at me. "Do you really think you can figure it out that quickly?"

I lift my head and hum. "Take me to your parents' room."

Alec clenches his fists. "No way. Their room is off limits."

I sit up properly and cross my arms. "Fine. Let's just sit here looking through a pile of useless papers while your parent's capturers get further away."

Isabelle throws Alec a look. "Stop being so difficult, Alec. She's only trying to help. I'll take you, Clary."

We all walk to the adults' room. It's basically a regular room. It's big enough for two people. That means there is enough space to hide any kind of information just about anywhere. I doubt these people would have been taken for no reason. They must have some sort of tie with Luke too.

I walk inside and look around. I check the closet. I don't find anything there. Then I check the walls. I go to my knees and check under the bed. I make sure there are no openings or secret compartments.

Just as I'm about to pull away I feel a slight draft. I frown and reach for it. The carpeting is covering it. I move out from under the bed. I look up at Jace. "We need to move this bed."

Jace and Alec push the bed out of the way. I pull out a knife and cut out the carpeting. I pull it away and find the handle to a small door. I grab it and pull hard. The door opens. I look up to Jace. "Do any of you have light?"

Jace reaches into his pocket and holds out a small stone. "This is a witchlight. Just imagine light."

I take the stone and lean into the opening. I hold out my hand. The witchlight explodes with light. I squint for a second before my eyes adjust. I look around and my eyes widen. I pull myself back out then pull off my coat. I then turn around and get ready to drop down.

Jace grabs my arm. "What are you doing?"

I look up feeling more excited than ever. "There's a secret room down there. There are boots and notes everywhere. It might have a clue as to where our parents disappeared to."

I drop down and land in a crouch. I hold up the witchlight. Something drops down next to me. Golden eyes look up at me. "Didn't want you getting to have all the fun."

I roll my eyes and turn away from Jace. I move to the desk and rummage through some papers. I catch a few things here and there that are really starting to make me worry. I grab a journal and start reading. This looks really bad.

What I get to reading is very disturbing. I turn to Jace who had been playing with some books. "Jace, this is bad. This is very bad."

Jace turns to me. "What are you talking about?"

I shake my head and gesture at the room with my hand. "Just reading through some of these things is making is become very apparent that something is going on between shadow hunters and Downworlders. Something really bad and I think the demons are using this for some dark goal."

Jace moves over and reads a page from the journal. "I don't get it. What's that supposed to mean?"

I grown in frustration. "Come on, Jace. I know you're blond, but try to keep up with me. It means that some time soon a war is going to break out and I think we're caught right in the middle of it."

Jace's eyes widen slightly. "But a war of this size would-"

"Destroy the world," I finish for him.

Jace looks up with a sickened expression. "Could it be that Luke possible knew about this too?"

I rub my face. "I don't know. We should probably go to my house to check if he has a secret room like this. I've never been allowed to go into the basement. Especially after my mom-"

When I stop mid sentence Jace narrows his eyes. "What is it?"

I rub my temples and breathe in deeply. "Three years ago my mother died. She was sick and nothing could cure her. It was some sort of poison no one had seen before… tell me, is it possible for demons to poison people as a form of assassination?"

"Why would they do that?" Jace frowns.

"Maybe the same reason Luke disappeared," I stand up straight.

"She got in the way," Jace mumbles.

I groan and sit in the chair. "This is not good."

Jace walks over and leans against the table. "That means this has been in the works for over three years. That's a long time to plan and prepare."

A vision of my dreams flashes in my mind. "No. This has been going on a lot longer than that."

Jace gives me a look. "You're just full of good news. Aren't you?"

I make a face and ignore his comment. "I had a dream not too long ago. It was of my mom. She was lying on a metal table and she was pregnant. There was a man in a mask and he injected her with two different liquids. One was gold and the other was black. I recognize the black blood as demon blood, but I don't know what the other was. Luke was there too."

Jace crosses his arms over his chest. "Are you sure you're not just over thinking this?"

I stand and walk to the other side of the room. "I just know this was real. I know enough to listen to something when it's being thrown right at my face. I know for a fact that my mother only ever gave birth once. Me. That means I've been apart of this longer than I've known."

Jace runs his hands through his head. "Then your mother has been there since the beginning."

I look up and lower my voice. "There was another dream with another woman. This was before my mother. She was in the same situation though. There was another man as well. She was injected like my mother. She was also pregnant. What bothers me the most is that you look so much like them."

For a second there is nothing, but silence. Then Isabelle's voice breaks it. "Hey! What are you two doing down there?"

Jace and I look at each other. We climb back up to where Isabelle and Alec are waiting. I grab my coat and lean against the bed. Jace stands next to me with his arms crossed. Alec looks between us then rolls his eyes. "If you're not just going to say it then I'll ask. What did you find down there?"

Jace and I exchange another look the explain everything. They look really sick by the time we finish telling them everything. Alec looks really concerned. "I don't understand how our parents are involved in any way."

I sigh and tilt my head back. "They're shadow hunters. If a war was going to break out then they're obviously going to be involved in it. Also, I don't think this is simply a case of kidnapping."

"What do you mean?" Isabelle frowns.

I cross the room and look into the whole in the floor. "Well, they're most likely very capable of taking care of themselves. They fight demons after all. Luke is a werewolf and a navy seal. A human assassin or simple demons should have been easily taken down. The blood in Luke's room was his, but who doesn't get hurt every once in a while in a fight."

"Are you telling me they set this up?" Alec clenches his fists.

I shake my head. "I think they were definitely attacked. I know for sure there's someone named Jonathan out there looking for them, but I don't think they were kidnapped."

"That's a very bold statement."

We all turn at the sound of the voice. Alec turns a deep shade of red when we see who it is. Jace makes a face. "What are you doing here? You're leaving a trail of glitter behind you."

Magnus narrows his cat eyes at Jace. "Watch your mouth, shadow hunter. I'm here on official business. I heard a little red head was visiting so I decided to kill two birds with one stone."

I turn to Magnus. "What is it?"

Magnus cocks his hip. "I came here to ask you how the meeting went. I guess it didn't go to well considering the pack is searching the city for their Alpha even as we speak."

I sigh and rub my temples. "Why do they have to be so stubborn… anyway, have you head anything new."

Magnus shakes his head sending glitter flying everywhere. "Sorry, hun… actually, there is something I wanted to run by you. A lot of people I know are going missing. That includes Ragnor."

I look over at Jace. "It looks like the big shots in town are all disappearing. Soon, they're all going to be gone and we're going to be the only ones left. Does anyone know anyone else who might have disappeared or could?"

Isabelle gasps. "Simon! He'll definitely be targeted."

"Your boyfriend?" I inquire.

Isabelle nods quickly while pulling out her cell phone. "Simon is a vampire. The only vampire in existence that can walk in daylight. They call him Daylighter."

Isabelle hurries off as she speaks quickly into her cell phone. I turn back to Jace. "Simon?"

Jace shakes his head. "I still don't understand what she sees in him."

Alec turns to me. "How do you know Magnus?"

I tap my chin. "The first time I met him was at school. It was my first day and I go lost. Then I went around looking for information about Luke from Ragnor Fell. He directed me to Magnus. Magnus so graciously agree to help me out."

Isabelle comes back to us. "Simon's on his way. He should be here soon."

Jace rolls his eyes. "Great. The bloodsucker is coming."

I smirk then turn to Magnus. "Maybe you should stay here too. You are too important."

Magnus beams at my statement. "Why thank you, darling."

As we all get settled in the library Isabelle runs out of the room when she hears the elevator. A few minutes later she comes back with Simon. They both looked a little flushed. It looks like they had themselves a make out session before coming here.

Jace gives them a disgusted look. "Can't you guys wait to do that when we're not in a state of crisis?"

Isabelle gives Jace the finger. "You're just jealous because you don't have anyone."

I try to hold back a laugh, but it comes out as a snort. I place my hand over my mouth. Jace glares at me then turns back to Isabelle. "Honestly, Izzy, you're not helping the situation."

Isabelle turns to me with an exasperated expression. "Will you do something about him?"

"What am I supposed to do?" I push my hair back.

"Make out with him," Isabelle blurts out suddenly.

My face turns completely red. "Why should I?"

Jace turns to me with a sultry grin. "I wouldn't mind that at all. What do you say about going to my room for a while?"

I punch Jace's arm again and give Isabelle a look. "Don't say things like that around Jace. Damn it!"

Isabelle giggles then turns to Simon. "Come on, Simon. Let's go sit over there."

Once Isabelle and Simon are sitting on a loveseat alone in the corner I turn back to Jace. "You're really immature, you know that? I'm trying to be serious here and you're making stupid innuendos."

Jace sits on the arm of a chair and can't see to get that smirk off his face. "It's just too much fun seeing you squirm. Now, tell me what we're going to do about all the missing shadow hunters and Downworlders. This can't be just a coincidence."

"Well, I was thinking we could first try going to my house and seeing what Luke has been hiding in the basement from me all these years," I rub my arm.

I look around for a place to sit, but the only place to sit is right next to Jace since Alec and Magnus are taking the only other couch. I sigh and sit in the chair. Jace looks down at me with an amused look in his eyes. "What's the matter, Clary? You look uncomfortable."

"Shut up!" I snap.

It's actually the complete opposite. It feels right behind this close to Jace, but if I tell him that it will give him even more reason to tease me. I can barely deal with him as he already is.

Magnus looks over at us while we're arguing. He smirks. "You should get rid of the sexual tension by kissing already. You'll see how stressed you are about it after you do it."

"Not you too, Magnus," I groan.

Alec gives Magnus a look. "I don't want to see them kissing. Why would you encourage them?"

The look on Alec's face makes me wonder. I look up at Jace who has the same curious expression. I think we may be thinking the same thing. Then I turn back to look at Alec. His face turns bright red as Magnus looks down at the blue eyed shadow hunter. "Relax, sweetie. I was only kidding."

I lean my head against my hand. "What are we going to do to pass the time now? We can't go out to deal with anything and we need to keep the two Downworlders here."

"Wait, why can't we go out?" Jace inquires.

I look up with a look asking if he's stupid. "Because, not only do you have to lay low for a while after going around asking questions about some serious business, but there's a werewolf pack out there searching for their Alpha out there. I don't want to get into a fight if we happen to run into them."

Jace groans and stands. "This sucks. Now we can't even go outside?"

"That's why I was asking what we should do to pass the time," I frown at Jace.

Out of nowhere Isabelle giggles. She places her hand over her mouth when she realizes how loud she was. We all look over to her. Simon looks really proud of whatever he just said to make Isabelle react that way. Jace walks over to them. "Will you two shut up? I'm already annoyed enough as it is."

Isabelle stands and gets in Jace's face. "Go away, Jace. I know you're really upset that Clary refuses to fall for your angelic looks, but that doesn't mean you have to take it out on all of us."

My face gets as red as my hair. I stand and glare at Isabelle. "Stop using me to annoy Jace, Isabelle!"

Isabelle turns to me with a grin. "Come on. Don't deny you want it too."

I growl in frustration then sit back down with my arms crossed. I really wish there was something to do other than sitting here doing nothing. I lean my head back. "I'm so bored…"

"What should we do?" Simon asks.

We all just look at each other not really knowing how to answer his question. Then it hits me. It's been a while since I've done that, but I think it will be enjoyable. Maybe…


Okay, everyone. I know I left this chapter in a weird way, but I don't know how to make them pass their time. I don't usually ask for help when it comes to writing, but I don't want to put something up that could come off as weird and out of place. So, I shall leave it to you to decide if you want. If no one responds I'll most likely just go with whatever I want. Now for the question. Should I make them play a game or perhaps they should forget about just hanging around the institute? Opinions and ideas are greatly be appreciated.