Hello all (: I am Mrs. Jace Wayland-Herondale, and I have adopted this story from LuminousFishy. She has decided to retire this story, and has given me permission to finish up the story. I might change the rating from K+ to one higher than that, maybe T. Just to be safe!(: Our writing style is very different, but I've tried my best to match hers, but seeing as she lives in the UK, and I in the US, some minor grammar things will be different for sure. Sorry this is unedited, I will try to get the next one to my lovely beta Tamani7.
Any of you who already follow me, or have just randomly happened upon this story, you must turn away, or go search LuminousFishy and read the first 13 chapters of the story, Because they are not up here yet. I'll get on that soon and add the first chapters, it's just that LuminousFishy's readers have been waiting and I wanna get this to them.
Disclaimer: Cassandra Clare owns all rights to The Mortal Instruments and it's characters. LuminousFishy is the original owner of this story and any context later posted, I'm just finishing it for her.
Lemme know what you guys think, I really need the input so I can better this story for y'all. Seriously guys, help me out please! Love you guys!
"Really, Jonathan, was it necessary to break his arm?" Someone hisses to who I presume is my brother, Jonathan. I keep my eyes shut tight and try to keep my breathing even; hopefully they won't notice that I've woken up. The voices come closer, accompanied by heavy footsteps that stop right beside me.
"Clarissa. Wake up!" the man booms, his large hand clamped on my shoulder, shaking me roughly. I jolt upright and meet eyes with an older, more sophisticated looking version of Jonathan- Valentine Morgenstern. I would recognize that creepy face anywhere, especially after having to study him and his 'accomplishments' for years in school.
I glare at the man as he studies me from head to toe, Jonathan standing at his side, smirking at my annoyance.
"Just like your mother," Valentine murmurs with a grin as he reaches forward to touch my hair. I reflexively jerk away and swat at his hand. That doesn't seem to fare well with him- at all.
"Don't try to hit me, Clarissa. You're sixteen years old, you should know better," he growls and grabs a handful of hair, pulling me to stand up, painfully, might I add. When he releases me, I step back and bring a hand to rub my sore scalp. Asshat.
"What do you want?" I ask and cross my arms over my chest. He grins devilishly and turns on his heel, beckoning me to follow him. Given no choice but to follow, I walk ahead, noticing the floor-to-ceiling glass windows overlooking the city. Given the circumstances, I can't even enjoy my first trip to the Big Apple, which sucks. Maybe someday I can come back and sketch this view.
When my gaze goes back to Valentine, he is seated behind a large dark wooden desk, tapping away at his computer. I walk up to stand in front of his desk and slam my hands down, trying to make myself as big and intimidating as possible. It's pretty hard given the fact that I'm vertically challenged.
"I asked you something, Valentine. What do you want with me?" his eyes briefly flick to me but he dismisses me and returns his gaze to the computer. When he is done, he pushes the keyboard back and leans forward on his forearms.
"First off, Clarissa, you will not speak to me in that tone or manner. Second, I am your father and I expect you to treat me as so. You may call me father or sir." I may call him father? He says it as if it's some great privilege, geesh. "And third, you will obey me, or you will be punished; you will find that my parenting techniques differ greatly with your mothers." The way he says it, with so much venom and hatred towards my mom, scares me. I guess arguing is completely out of the question, eh?
"Um, okay?" I say skeptically. When he gives me a stern look, I add on "sir," to appease him. I'll have to get used to that for the time being, until I can find a way out of this hellhole, at least. "May I ask where my mother and boy- uh, where my mother and friend are? And you said if Jace and I turn ourselves in, our friends would be safe," I stutter out, hoping to get an answer this time. He sighs and turns from me, bored with my presence, and flicks his wrist in Jonathan's direction.
"Show her to her quarters, Jonathan. Explain to her why she is here and all of that nonsense." He sounds completely bored now; one minute he was animated and marveling the likeness of my mother and I, the next he's pulling me by the hair and scolding me, and the next he is bored. He must be bipolar.
He didn't even answer my other question, either. For all I know, he could be lying not keep his promise of safety for the others.
Jonathan leads me swiftly out the large double doors, grumbling the whole way about what a nuisance I am. Totally feeling the love, here. I pay close attention to the hallway we are in; When we get in an elevator to go down, I see that we are on the fifteenth floor out of twenty-five. Jonathan punches the button for the tenth floor and the elevator lurches downwards at top speed, leaving my stomach up on the fifteenth level. When it finally stops, I have to grab the railing to keep myself from falling, and I swear that Jonathan calls me an idiot under his breath.
We walk out into a much warmer looking hallway, much like an upper class hotel would look like. My brother storms down the hall, making me jog to keep up with his long legs- I obviously inherited my mother's height.
"Can you slow down?" I finally shout when he is a few meters ahead of me again. He groans and stops in his tracks, turning slowly to face me with an annoyed expression.
"Listen, you little brat, I don't need to hear your whining and crying, so cut it out," he snarls sharply, making me jump a little. It was completely unexpected, but I take it in stride.
"Look, it's not my fault I have short legs, okay? So you can just stop being such an asshat and show me to my room!" I say with a hand cocked on my hip defiantly. His eyes flicker and roam from my eyes to my feet and back again. Wait, what?! Did my brother just...check me out? I knew that the Morgensterns were weird and power hungry, but I didn't think they'd be quite this weird.
"I think you should just shut up now, sis," he says with a smirk at my discomfort. Weirdo. After a few more turns in the hallway, we come to a stop at a plain door, one that looks just like all the others in the hallway. He shoulders it open and walks in, going straight for a couch in what seems to be the living room.
He plops down and covers his face with his arm, ignoring me while I explore the rooms. Straight across from the entryway is the living room with a comfy looking leather sofa and recliner chairs, and a huge flat screen on the wall. At least the Morgensterns know how to live comfortably- if I weren't here against my will, I could definitely get used to this lifestyle.
There's a bedroom off of the hallway with a king sized bed and deep purple bedding with earthy green accents all over the room. Again, I really wish I could stay… maybe being the heir to an evil ruler wouldn't be too bad… No, Clary, shame on you for thinking that! Especially when your mother and boyfriend are somewhere trapped in the building!
"Alright, are you going to tell me what I need to be doing, or what?" I ask Jonathan. He uncovers his face and stares at me as if I'm stupid.
"You're joining our… empire, or whatever you may call it," he says simply.
"And there's no getting out of it?" I ask hopefully.
"Nope." At that, I get a hint of an idea. Maybe I can go with it…
"Then I better get settled, huh?" I say nonchalantly and try to act a bit more chipper. He rolls his eyes and nods. "Well, what exactly do you guys even want me here for?"
"Dunno. Just to have you on our side," he says in a tired voice.
"Is Jace here? I'd really like to see him," I add on after an awkward silence. He snorts and shakes his head.
"You'll have to take that up with father, little Clarissa," he snaps sharply. I have to bite my tongue to not correct him. I hate my full name. And the fact that he called me little.
"What about our mother?"
"Ha! What of her? She's no mother to me; she abandoned me. How could you love someone who abandoned their other child?" he growls, sitting up straight and glaring at me, fingers clawing into the couch.
"Well I didn't know she had any other children up until recently…"
"Well, she's fine I suppose. Valentine has some sort of an obsession with her," he says, his mood changing back to normal as quick as Valentine's. They way he talks so easily and casually pisses me off. He's been trying to be friendly, I think, but it's just sort of creepy. Thankfully, he soon gets up to leave.
"Dinner is served at six on the dot. Father hates tardiness, just so you know," he says and is out the door before I can even reply.
"Somehow, I already knew," I sigh to nobody and lock the front door before going to the bedroom and laying down. Hopefully some non-medicated sleep will help clear my mind, because I'm pretty sure I'm due to spontaneously combust at any time now.