The months I had been training to be a Shadowhunter never prepared me for this. I crashed into the ground, having dozens of sharp pebbles dig into my knees and hands as I heard the whirl of the portal closing behind me. I slowly lifted up my head and viewed the scenery around me.

I was currently on a dirt path leading from a large house behind me to miles and miles away into the unknown. On either side of the path was a large forest with pine trees and shrubs squished together. Sun beat heavily down upon us and the sky was crystal clear and free of any flaw except for a few white puffy clouds here and there. I slowly got up and wiped away the remaining shards stuck into my skin and turned to look at the house-mansion behind me. It appeared to be five stories high and it was covered in red bricks. Windows made a delicate pattern, but I couldn't see anything beyond them because they were blocked with blood red curtains. By the layout and theme of the mansion, it looked as if this house was based off of a medieval hotel.

It was beautiful, but something was off.

"Do you like it?" A voice hissed beside me. I didn't turn to look at him, only placed my eyes to the ground. "Look at me Clarissa!" He demanded. I slowly brought myself to follow his order and looked at him as coldly as I could manage.

"What is it that you fear most about me?" Sebastian asked, using a much softer tone.

I didn't know exactly what to think of his question, but one thing above all other reasons did taunt me severely. "It's that I can never get away from you. Wherever I go, it seems that you always know where to...the thing that scares me most about you is that you know my every move."

The corner of Sebastian's lips curved up slightly and as if he couldn't resist, he brought his hands towards my face, gently stroking my right cheek and hair. His action surprised me and I had to close my eyes to keep from pulling away. "You're a very smart girl," he whispered, "and you're absolutely right. However, the thing that you should fear most about me is that I believe in punishment, little sister." My eyes snapped open and I took an unstable step backwards, but my brother quickly caught at my arms and shoved me forward towards the mansion's doors, now being opened by two regular looking men dressed in rags. They were probably Shadowhunters as well, captured by my sick brother and put to work as his slaves. The thought scared me even more.

One of the men was tall and slender and his face was beginning to sink in while the other seemed to have lost a lot of weight, but was currently looking decent, making me assume that he had been recently captured. I tried my best to keep from moving forward, but my strength betrayed me and every step I was forced to make seemed to get longer and longer. I noticed that the floors were all dull wood and I realized that all of the walls were bare, just a simple taupe color with damaged or worn out areas. He lead me down at least three flights of stairs until we reached a dark brown door. My brother released me to grab a set of keys from his jean pockets and roughly shoved them through the keyhole. The door swept open and Sebastian retrieved one of my arms to drag me down a dark staircase.

The only light came from small candles aligned on the walls encaving around us. They were all in perfect condition and their flames were vibrantly unbelievable. "It's amazing isn't it? These candles have probably been here for over hundreds of years. They'll probably last another dozen or so," Sebastian explained. Although I was interested, I was so terrified of what was in store for me that I kept my mouth shut. I bit my lip with anxiety and took in a sharp breath when I saw the dungeon I was now standing in. Cells made of thick metal bars filled the walls that seemed to stretch for miles.

In the center of the room––where I now stood––stood a pair of chains dangling from the ceiling. I could barely see a few openings in the bricks that composed the area directly behind the chains, probably the only space of wall not occupied by cells. Except, from what I could tell, the cells were all empty.

Sebastian shoved me towards the ground and walked slowly over to a steel table a few feet away from where I sat. He lifted up many weapons like knives and clubs, but I had yet to see any seraph blades or steles. Every time he lifted up another option, the blood froze inside of me and my head became increasingly dizzy just thinking about what he could do with each one.

Sebastian finally lifted up a whip, much like Isabelle's except his was black, rather than Izzy's brilliant gold one. My brother examined it carefully and placed its tip to his cheek, as if to admire it. "This one is perfect, wouldn't you agree?"

I looked down and tried to ignore the obnoxious pang in my sides. Sebastian set his most favorable weapon down and slowly neared me, every step felt as if he were Jaws, swimming closer and closer to me to ttack. He pulled at my arms and I stood automatically, hoping for a punishment of less severity. He half dragged and half walked me over to the chains and I could feel my right wrist being cuffed, then my left.

The chains made my hands have to stay in the air and I could barely touch my feet to the floor. While I swayed slightly, Sebastian retrieved the whip and circled around me until he stopped at my back, "You could've prevented this from happening, little sister. If only you had joined me earlier," He hissed into my ear." Waiting for the pain to kick in was almost as worse as actually being struck.

He whipped me again and again, until I could feel blood trickling down my throat and only hear the faint echo of the swoosh! I screamed aggravatingly loud, but that only seemed to trigger even more anger in my brother, for it felt as if his power had increased immensely each time.

I counted every time I had been hit and he stopped finally at thirteen. By the time he had set the weapon back on the desk with the others, I felt awful. I could barely keep my head up and nausea was spreading all throughout my stinging body. "Think, Clarissa. This is just the first day and you already have thirteen new scars. It's your choice if you want to receive anymore, but I'd much rather prefer my women unscarred."

"You...you...aren't going to heal me?" I asked, my voice muffled from the blood in my mouth.

I felt his hard fingers clasp around my chin and I was forced to look up at him, "Clarissa, of course not. I want these scars to forever remind you of who you belong to. Me." His voice a snarl. With that, he turned away on his heels, walking towards the staircase.

"I...don––do not belong to you!" I screeched." Sebastian turned around, dead in his tracks and nearly sprinted over to me. He raised his hand and cracked me across the face, I spit up blood, not being able to contain it anymore.

"Say it Clarissa. You belong to me!"

"No!" I spat with as much power as I could tether. His fist hit my stomach like a bullet, but I refused to scream.

"SAY IT!" He demanded. I stayed silent. "Oh Clarissa, you're really not making this easy on yourself at all."

He stomped over to the desk and this time he picked up the first knife he laid eyes on and came back over to me, holding it to my throat. "Say it."

"I belong to myself Sebastian."

Sebastian was stunned at my response and he swiped the blade across the cheek he'd bruised earlier. I could feel my blood running down my face and I felt weak knowing that it sickened me.

"Stupid girl! Say it now."

"Why don't you just kill me?" I said, surprising myself with the fury in my voice.

He smiled pleasantly. Sebastian's smile could've fooled anyone into thinking he was pure, but I see him for who he truly is, a monster. His smile made me even more angry and I held back the urge to spit in his face. "I do recall telling you that there are so many more things worse than death."

"If you're just going to force me to stay down here as your prisoner and beat me to a pulp, just to get me to do whatever it is you want me to do, then you're a coward."

"I'm a coward?" Sebastian chimed, "Clarissa do you know why I want you so bad." Maybe he wants you was what Jace had told me in Idris, before Sebastian had really showed himself for who he was. Jace had assured me that he didn't mean that Sebastian had wanted me in that way, but now I wasn't so sure.

"Not really. I clearly do not want to help you burn down the world, Sebastian. No matter what you do, you cannot force me to help you!"

"We'll see about that little sister, later. But no, what I meant was do you know why I want you so badly?"

"No," I responded, truly unaware of why Sebastian wanted me over the thousands of other female Shadowhunters much more beautiful and skillful than I.

He started to stroke my hair and leaned in close enough so that I was forced to smell his minty fresh breath, "I want you because I am not going to be like our father and let the girl I love run away from me. Together, we're more powerful than anything and deep down I think you know that you have feelings for me too."

"Yes I do. Feelings of hatred and disgust...and I know that you do not love me," I gritted my teeth and my words angered my brother entirely.

"You can say whatever you want to, but just know that you do belong to me and to make our love eternal, we shall be wedded...very soon."

"NO!" I shouted, making the chains rattle.

"Yes."

Sebastian returned his knife and gave me a slightly kiss on my temple before leaving me alone in the dim dungeon to cry my eyes out, but not because of the pain.