Here is chapter 11. Sorry for such a long wait. I've been dealing with a lot of things like school work and home life so it's difficult getting things up quickly. Now my computer is acting up so it might be like this for maybe another few more days. Forgive me. Please enjoy and review!
Clary is unlocking more secrets about herself and her destiny. She must learn what it means to be a shadow hunter. She still doesn't know who is making everyone disappeare and now she must learn to deal with her feelings for Jace. Of course, no one gets far being serious all the time. It's time for Clary to have some fun before things go to hell. What will happen when Clary decides to let Isabelle convince her to go clubbing? What will Jace think of his innocent red head being turned into a sultry babe? Read on to find out...
Chapter 11
Jace pulls me into the kitchen and makes me sit down. He sits across from me and watches me carefully until he finally breaks the silence. "I'm sorry. For not waiting for you to tell the others about what you learned from the spider demon. It was your information to give."
I'm thrown off for a second. Then I narrow my eyes. "Who put you up to this?"
Jace shakes his head then makes a face. "No one, but I'm sorry. I know you're already feeling a lot of pressure from everything that's been going on lately. You don't need to feel left out too."
"Listen, it's nothing-"
"No it's not nothing!" Jace stands and paces back and force through the kitchen. He comes back and leans down to face level. "Clary, you deserve to be treated better."
I look away. "Really Jace. I'm okay."
Jace sighs then stands up straight. "I'll wait for you to tell me what's really going on with you. Until then, we need to get back to the others so we can figure out what we're going to do now."
We go back to the living room where everyone is arguing about something. When Jace and I enter they all turn to us. I try to run, but Jace grabs my arm. I give Jace a look. "Let go."
"If I have to suffer so do you," Jace pulls me over.
Jace sits on the chair and I sit on the arm of it. Isabelle stands in front of us with her arms crossed. "Clary, tell Simon and Alec that Magnus and I are allowed to go out shopping."
"No one is allowed to go anywhere," I frown.
"You went out already," Isabelle puts her fists on her hips.
I cross my arms. "Because I went out to get things for you. The only reason anyone should go out is for something important. Shopping is not one of those reasons. Stop complaining and sit down already. We need to discuss our plan of action."
Jace looks up. "So, what do you plan to do about stopping the war?"
I make a face. "Well, we need to go back down into the secret room to try to figure out what started this all. Also, who started it and why. Then we need to come up with a list of all the people who have gone missing and who might go missing."
Simon, Alec and Magnus all agree to write out the list. Isabelle, Jace and I go back to the secret room. I go down first. Jace jumps in after me, but Isabelle is a little hesitant. "Are you sure we should be here? I mean, this is mom and dad's secret room. They obviously kept it hidden for a reason."
"If they hadn't kept it a secret we wouldn't be in this situation," Jace throws back.
Isabelle jumps down into the secret room. "Listen, Jace. I'm just as mad at them as you are. They should have told us, but everyone has a reason. They didn't tell us for their own reasons."
"No one could possibly have a good enough reason," I pick up a book.
Jace sits in the chair and grabs the journal from before. "Well, we're going to find out what that was. I mean, I know why you were involved, Clary, but I don't know why it was so important for them to keep it a secret from us."
Isabelle sighs and moves around the secret room. I sigh and put down my book. I think about Luke. What possible reason could he have to keep such a big secret from me? I know Luke loves me and wants to keep me safe, but I think I had the right to know.
Jace sees me expression and grabs my hand. "Hey, we'll find Luke. That werewolf is strong."
I give a weak smile. "I know."
Isabelle walks over to us and holds up some papers. "This has a language I don't understand."
Jace takes the papers and frowns. "I don't know this one either."
I take the papers and smirk. Slowly it builds into a laughter. Jace and Isabelle look at me like I've gone insane. Isabelle crosses her arms. "Just what is so amusing?"
"This language…" I burst into another fit of language.
When I sober up I read the paper and sigh with relief. Jace stands and looks over my shoulder. "Can you read the papers or not?"
I nod and hold up the papers. "When I was really little my parents and I created a method of writing to each other so no one could intervene in our conversations. They taught me two alphabets when I was growing up. The normal one and this one. I know exactly what this says."
"So who wrote this?" Jace asks.
"Luke, obviously," I sigh.
"What does it say we're supposed to do?" Isabelle takes the papers from my hands.
"We need to go to my house and look in the basement," I take the papers and fold them up.
I put them in my back pocket then go to the door. We go back up and go find the others. They're arguing about who else might disappear. The list for those who have already disappeared looks like it's already finished. I take it. Luke and the Lightwoods are on the top of the list. They're followed by Ragnor Fell and a few others. The list goes on and on.
Magnus sets the other list in front of me. "Here. These are all of the people we think could possible go missing. It's a long list, but I think we got them all."
Jace takes the list then looks at the rest. "Everyone, get geared up. We're going over to Clary's to check the basement."
Everyone gets up and heads to the weapon room. I'm a impressed at how many weapons they have. I stick to what I already have. I have my seraph blade in my boot and my gun stuck to my hip. I haven't really used it in a while, but it's good to be prepared.
Isabelle notices me not gearing up. "Do you want me to get you a weapon?"
I shake my head. "I'm good."
"We have weapons that actually work against demons," Isabelle motions with her hand.
I sigh and tuck my hair behind my ears. "Nah. I'm good with what I have. Just hurry up and finish getting ready."
Once Isabelle is gone I pull out the papers to read them again. I felt relieved when I first read them, but it worries me. Luke tells me that I might find out things that could come as a surprise to me. If Luke is saying that I have no doubt in my mind that it's true.
As I'm reading I see a glint of a blade. I look up quickly ready to fight, but it's just Jace throwing a knife in the air and catching it with ease. He makes it look easy.
Jace holds out his hand. "Give me your hand."
I frown. "Why?"
"Just do it," Jace takes my hand.
I give Jace a look, but he ignores it. Instead, Jace touches the tip of his blade on my skin and creates a marking. Where the blade moves blackish ink looking stuff appears on my flesh.
When Jace finishes I lift my hand to my face. "What is this?"
"It's a rune of protection," Jace places the blade at his waist.
"A rune of protection?" I look at my hand.
Jace takes my hand and pulls me over to a table full of weapons. "If you're going to be fighting with us you need a stele to create runes. This is something every shadow hunter knows."
I look at the table with a frown. Jace picks up a stele and hands it to me. I wrap my fingers around the hilt and sigh. I stick it in my belt next to my gun. Then I turn to the others. They're getting dressed in special clothes and armor. I smirk. "Figures."
Alec looks up, obviously having heard me. "What's that supposed to mean?"
I play with the sleeve of my coat. "Oh, nothing."
Jace is now giving me a look. "What's going through your mind now, Clary?"
A smile pulls at my lips. "Nothing… I was just thinking about how it's amusing that you have to put on so much armor. I didn't think shadow hunters needed so much. I thought you were stronger than that. Seeing that you have angel blood and all."
"Well not all of us were blessed with being injected with angel blood before birth," Alec snaps.
I smirk. "I guess not."
Jace bumps my shoulder with a grin. "Why don't you and I go ahead of the others to make sure the street is safe? Let Alec cool down."
We go to the front door where I make sure all my weapons are secure. Jace opens the door and lets me pass through first. I feel warmth from the seraph blade in my boot. I look around carefully. "There's a demon nearby."
Jace's body gets tense. Then I see a shadow moving down by the gate. Jace's eyes narrow. He moves quickly toward the gate. When Jace gets there it's absolutely silent. Too quiet in fact. Then the demon attacks. It grabs Jace and throws him away from the institute. It looks at me and grins. I reach back for my hood and run forward.
The demon gets distracted when Jace attacks it again. I see another demon coming from the shadows. I reach down and grab the seraph blade. The demon sees me and growls. I pull out the seraph blade and strike out. The demon moves out of the way and slashes with sharp claws.
I duck down and move into its defense. Then I thrust upwards into the demon's chest. In a second the demon is down, bleeding black blood. I stick the seraph blade back into my boot. Then I look over at Jace. He's done with his demon as well.
Jace turns and grins. "Not too bad."
I smile then walk over to him. The others come out of the institute and meet with us. Alec gives me a look, but talks to Jace. "Let's go."
Jace turns to me. "Lead the way."
We start walking in relative silence. I look over my shoulder. They look uncomfortable with the silence. I roll my eyes. I turn to walk backwards so I can look at everyone. "Just because we're walking at night it doesn't mean you have to be mute."
"Thank GOD!" Jace lets out a relieved breath.
I give Jace a look. Isabelle moves forward and grabs my arm. "Hey, after this do you think we could go to a club? It's not like I don't enjoy everyone's company, but being alone with just us is really starting to get on my nerves. Come on, Clary. I'll even give you a little makeover."
"No thank you," I make a face.
Jace moves forward. "Actually, it could be fun. Come on, Clary. It's just one night. After we check the basement we should go out. It might be the last chance we have to have a little fun for a while."
Then everyone, except Alec, is begging me. I don't know when it came down to this. If they wanted to they could easily do it on their own, but I don't want them getting out of control and disappearing on me. That would not be good.
I sigh and pull away from Isabelle. "Fine. You can go, but I'm staying in the institute."
"As if," Isabelle flips her hair over her shoulder.
We get to my house. We go inside and head straight to the basement. Magnus scrunches up his nose. "You live here? Why didn't you use the front door?"
"Because the front of the house is a book shop," I grab the key on a hook next to the door.
I unlock the door then turn to the others. They nod encouragement. I sigh then turn the doorknob. I push the door open then immediately duck down. I look at the wall. "Damn it, Luke!"
Jace looks at the dart full of poison. "Whoa. It looks like Luke really didn't want anyone getting in here. Not even you."
I pull the dart out of the wall then examine it closely. "Yeah, well, where there's one there's bound to be others. Give me a second to disable them."
I shake off my coat and lightly step forward. I look around. I find the disabling switch on the other side of the room. Figures. Luke would try to make it hard for me. It didn't say anything about these stupid traps. Not only that, but I also have to deal with everything else that's in the room.
There are a lot of bookshelves and tables everywhere. Everything is stacked and ordered properly. I roll my neck and take a step back. Jace leans forward to speak in my ear. "How are you going to get to the other side?"
"Knowing Luke, he probably did something high-tech, which no one would expect from him," I turn to Isabelle.
Isabelle frowns slightly. "What is it?"
"Do you have your make up with you?" I ask.
"Of course," Isabelle lifts her head.
I hold out my hand. "Hand it over."
Isabelle looks at me in horror. "You are not seriously thinking about using my make up and waste it just like that. I won't do it. I refuse to let it go to waste."
"Do you want to get into this room or not?" I give Isabelle a look."
With a groan of sorrow Isabelle hands over her powder. I crush it under it's a fine powder then stand in front of the room. I look back at Magnus. "Can you give me a slight wind, please? Just strong enough to blow the powder through the room."
Magnus nods and moves forward. I turn and hold up the compact. Magnus creates a wind the blows through the room. Red beams appear. It's a little cheesy, but it works. I have a feel that if I touch one of them it will not end well at all.
With that I give the compact back to a pouting Isabelle. I tie my hair back. I step forward and over the first beam. I duct down as the other beam comes closer. I get into an awkward position. I groan then I hear Jace chuckling. "Now we get to see just how flexible you are."
I throw Jace a look. "Shut the hell up! For all I know I could set off a bomb if I touch one of these beams."
Jace just grins as I bend down and place my hand on the floor. Then I slide my body under a low beam. I'm glad I'm not much bigger. That was close enough as it is. I pull my leg up then step over the next beam. I bend backward and flip over the next few.
Then I'm standing on the other side of the room with just a few more beams to go. I take a second to figure out where I'm going next. I can barely reach the panel to deactivate the traps. Then I hear Jace's voice. "Your legs are longer than your arms."
I roll my eyes and get ready to give Jace a look, but then I realize he's right. I turn back to Jace and give him a look. "You're going to enjoy this. Aren't you?"
"But of course," Jace smirks.
After rolling my eyes again I balance myself on my hands. Then I spread my legs to reach the panel. It opens and I pull the lever down with my foot. I immediately collapse and lie on the floor with a groan. I hear footsteps coming closer.
Jace crouches next to me and tugs at my hair. "Get up. We have work to do."
I frown. "Leave me alone. I'm tired."
"No you're not," Jace chuckles.
Jace grabs me and lifts me onto my feet. I refuse to hold myself up so Jace throws me into a chair. I slide down so I'm barely sitting on the chair then look at the table next to me. I frown slightly at what I see. I sit up and grab a paper. "No way."
Alec turns to me with an annoyed expression on his face. "This is all in some strange language I've never seen before."
I look up at Alec. "I can read this. I can't believe Luke wrote this all in the language Luke and my mom taught me. He must have really wanted to keep this a secret."
Jace hands me a book. "This has your name on it."
The book does have my name on it. I open it to the first page. It has the writing Luke and Jocelyn taught me. I frown when I read the first page. "Then he knew…"
Jace pulls up a chair to sit next to me. "What does it say?"
I rub my cheek. "If what it says here then Luke knew that things would eventually go this way. He knew war was going to break out. There was nothing he could do about it. The only thing he could do was leave me everything I would need in order to deal with it."
Everyone sits around me as I read from the book Luke left me:
Clarissa, if you're reading this it means things have made a turn for the worse. Let me start by saying I'm sorry for never telling you the truth. Your mother never wanted the life of a shadow hunter for you. I tried to keep it a secret from you the best I can, but I know it would eventually come up. I wanted to keep you as safe as I could. I started writing this book when you were taken to the island because I knew things were already starting to get out of hand. It was only a matter of time before the world started to fall apart. Whatever you may read in this book I hope it doesn't change how you feel about me or your mother. We loved you too much to let you get caught up in our war. I see now that it was a foolish choice. We should have prepared you from the beginning. I love you, Clarissa, and I hope this book helps you…
When I stop reading I shut the book. I squeeze my eyes shut so the tears threatening to come out don't. I run my hand over the cover. "Luke knew this war was going to break out. This book could tell us everything we need to know."
Isabelle stands and grabs my shoulders. "Listen, Clary. You need to get your mind off of things. Let's go out clubbing and maybe then we'll be able to wrap our minds around this whole situation."
"You seriously want to go clubbing when we have so much to go through here?" I give Isabelle an incredulous look.
Jace takes the book from me and studies the cover. "Actually, I think it's a good idea. When you think too hard about something you tend to over think it. You can't find your answer that way."
I look up at Jace a little surprised. Then I smirk. "Well, well, well. It looks like the blond does have something smart to say after all."
Jace rolls his eyes then grabs me. "Yes I'm blond and yes I have smart things to say. I'm only great to look at, but I'm intellectually gifted. Now, let's get back to the institute to get ready. I haven't been out to a club in weeks."
"Oh, you poor thing," I put as much sarcasm in my voice as possible.
We all leave the room. Magnus and Isabelle are making a big deal of the whole situation. Alec and Simon look annoyed at the thought. I feel the same way. I don't really know how to categorize the look on Jace's face. It's a combination of focus and determinations. With a little excitement and deviousness thrown in for good measure.
When we get back to the institute Isabelle grabs me and drags me to her room. The last time I was here there were some disturbing things going on behind her door. I make it a point not to go anywhere near the bed. I don't want to be close to what was going on their last night.
Isabelle makes me sit in front of her vanity mirror. "Alright. Take off your coat and pull your hair out of the tie. This shouldn't take much work. You have great skin and your eyes are gorgeous. Lucky, bitch. This is going to be so much fun."
There's no point in trying to fight her. This is going down her way or she'll probably throw a tantrum. I'm not allowed to look in the mirror until Isabelle is finished with make up and my hair. Then I have to go through the whole wardrobe situation. I hate getting dressed up.
Isabelle decides to put my hair up, but I don't like the feeling so I put it down again when she's not looking. Isabelle gives me a look when she sees what I did. "Damn it, Clary. You looked good with your hair up."
"Well I don't like it up," I cross my arms over my chest.
With an angry growl Isabelle throws a black dress at me. Or, at least I think that's what it is. It looks short enough to be a shirt on Isabelle. On me it will probably only go to my mid thigh. Isabelle makes me stand and pushes me to the bathroom. "Go change quickly."
"But it's too short," I complain before Isabelle slams the door shut.
I frown, but get into the tiny dress. I feel so exposed. It's not that I haven't done something like this before. It's the opposite. I've had to dress like this before in order to get a job done in the past. Those times I had to go to a professional to get my hair and makeup done. I could never do it for myself.
As I'm about to look in the mirror I realize that Isabelle had put a towel over it so I can't see myself. I groan and go back out to the room. Isabelle squeals when she sees me. "Oh my GOD! You look absolutely amazing. Just wait until Jace gets a look at you. He's totally going to fall hard for you."
"Why would I want that?" I frown, but blush at the same time.
Isabelle wags her finger at me. "Don't try to deny it, Clarissa. I know you two have a thing for each other. I'm not blind. Now, come put this belt around your waist. Put these heels on too."
When I hear the word heels I freeze. "There is no way in hell that I'm putting on heels. I don't care what you say or do. I refuse to wear anything other than flats or boots."
Isabelle pouts and throws the heels on the floor. "Fine. I'm getting you boots."
I sigh with a little with relief. Then Isabelle comes back with the boots she promised. They still have a little bit of heel, but it's not extreme. That's all I ask for. They go up to just below my knee and are plain black with a gold chain around the ankles. Isabelle hands them to me.
After quickly putting them on I stand so Isabelle can take a close look at me. She nods her approval then moves me in front of the mirror with my back to it. "Alright, Clary. Are you ready?"
"I guess," I mumble.
When Isabelle turns me around I gasp. I've never seen myself like this before. I look just like my mother. I move forward to get a better look at myself. This dress shows off what curves I have. I mean, I'm not totally flat, but I'm not busty like Isabelle.
Isabelle hands me a coat. "Take this. It's going to be cold tonight."
I frown at the coat she gives me. "What's wrong with my coat?"
"Are you kidding me?" Isabelle waves her hand at my coat that's lying across the foot of her bed. "That thing may be okay to wear into battle, but it certainly no good for a club. We're trying to make an impression."
"No I'm not," I take the coat she offers.
It's only until now that I realize that Isabelle is already dressed and ready to go. I guess I didn't notice because she always looks so beautiful. As apposed to me. I don't like make up at all. I like the natural look. I'm lucky Isabelle didn't decide to pile so much makeup onto my face.
When we head downstairs I can hear the guys talking about stupid guy stuff. Like who's the strongest or who's the largest. That one was Jace. I make a face. I don't understand why Jace has to be so crude and annoying.
At the bottom of the stairs the guys stop talking and turn to stare at me. Their mouths drop open. Even Alec's even though I know he doesn't like me at all. I look at Jace who looks like he wants to let his draw drop, but knows it wouldn't look attractive.
I sigh and move forward. Isabelle grabs me and pulls me toward Jace. "Hey, Jace. Don't you think Clary should let me put her hair up? It would look amazing."
Jace frowns slightly. "No way. I like it down."
Magnus moves forward and hums his appreciation. "Honey, you look hot. Not as hot as me, but close enough."
"You're starting to sound like Jace, Magnus," I smirk.
Magnus looks genuinely offended. "Excuse me? I am nothing like that conceited bastard."
"Hey!" Jace yells indignantly.
I roll my eyes and pull on my coat all the way. We're all walking out the door when Jace grabs my hand and leans down to speak into my ear. "You look great."
My face heats up. Before I have a chance to say anything Jace pulls me out the door and to the cars Simon called before Isabelle and I came down.
