I hit the ground with too much force, an audible crack resonating through my body as I use my arms to cushion my head. The grass and mud wedge under my nails as I grasp it in an attempt to stop my tumultuous entrance. My head is spinning and throbbing as fast as the wind howling all around me. It's dark here, and the ground is wet, soaking my clothes. I shiver and try to sit up, crying out at the pain that rockets up my arm.

My vision is blurred, but I push myself up to my feet and steady myself on the closest solid object. A tree—I'm in a park of some sorts, and I can see the tell-tale gray trails of cement. I call out for somebody, anybody. Where are Isabelle and Simon? They didn't jump too much sooner before me.

With my broken arm cradled to my chest, I stagger forward. I have to stop multiple times to reorient myself as a creeping darkness tries to overtake me. There's a warmth spreading over my forehead, and I reach my good hand up to try and see what it is. My hand is crimson when I pull it back, and the throbbing increases, overwhelming the sound of the wind screaming in my ears.

I push myself forward. I can't just sit here and let myself pass out, I won't go out like that. Each step splashes in puddles from the recent rain, and when I pause to catch my breath against a light pole, I see my reflection in one. I stare back at myself with exhaustion clear on my face, and defeat in my stance. My face is bloodied and my arm aches in its unnatural position. The picture is ruined when a drop of red creates a ripple in the calm puddle, instantly dispersing and curling out into the water. I need to keep moving.

The sidewalk curls sharply to the side and I trudge along it, seeing a street up ahead. People. I see people all standing about, looking up at something. I hasten my gimping pace, feeling the pain all throughout my body cease as I near the people, adrenaline coursing my veins like gasoline.

"Hey," I call out weakly. "Hey!"

Someone turns as I hit the entrance of the park, staring at me in horror before rushing over and placing their coat over my sopping wet shoulders. I can feel the darkness beginning to consume me and my legs go weak, the woman helping me safely to the ground. There's a loud echoing boom that shakes the ground beneath my tired body, rattling my bones and bringing back the pounding of my head. The people that were all standing around staring up are scattering out like mice, screaming. Some of them hold up cell phones, pointing them up to the sky.

With the last ounce of strength I hold, I roll my head in the direction they face. The bright flames and flying debris of a once-towering sky scraper come tumbling down slowly, dust and fire licking at the sky. Another thunderous explosion goes off and my ears ring as I watch in silent horror as the bottom half of the building begins to slide into the ground.

My last waking thought is that my room in my father's tower overlooked a beautiful green park much like the one I'm losing consciousness in.

Jace. His name runs through my mind as I fight against the mental restraints that keep me from waking up. It's a heavy, depressing fog that I can't lift or push through, no matter how hard I try. It's like an anvil on my chest, suffocating me. I can feel the rough scratch of the sheets around my body, nothing like the ones from the luxurious tower that has been my prison for the past weeks.

The tower. By the Angel, the tower blew up. The Resistance planted a bomb, that's why we needed to be gone before 9pm. The plumes of smoke and debris flying outwards are imprinted forever, and I don't know if my mom and Jace are even alive. The thought rips through me and I gasp at the realization, finally forcing my eyes open. I have to find them, but my head feels heavy and my mind is still a little foggy as I take in the white room around me.

I'm in a hospital room, the light from outside blocked by a curtain pulled around my bed and the overhead lights dimmed. I try sitting up, but I'm restricted by the oxygen cannula tubes getting caught on the rails of the bed. Removing the cannula, I sit up a little bit and groan at the dull aching in my arm—it's only in a splint instead of a hard cast, so the break mustn't be too bad. There's an IV in my other arm, so I peel off the tape and slide the small tube out gently and put pressure on it. I slowly stand up and shuffle past the privacy curtain to see a girl asleep in the next bed over.

Ignoring her, I go to the counter and sink across the room where I know I'll find supplies, and tape a thick piece of gauze over where the IV was. When I look into the mirror, I'm a mess. My hair is everywhere and there are deep circles under my eyes, and I feel grimy and disgusting. I'm still in a hospital gown, so I need to find clothes. Mine are in a clear plastic "patient belongings" bag, but they're covered in mud still. My stele!

I dig through the muddy clothes and find the slim wand-like piece of adamas and breathe a sigh of relief. Along with it are one of my small utility knives—but none of my deadly daggers, which were probably confiscated for safety—and a witchlight stone. I draw an iratze above the splint and grit my teeth together as I feel the bone set. After a few moments, the pain fades away along with the fogginess in my head. I unwrap the splint and stretch my newly healed arm out, all of the pain gone. I just still need clothes. I turn to the sleeping girl and quietly poke around near her bed, looking for her belongings. I find a backpack and take it back to my bed, shutting the curtain. I dump the bag out and find sweats, a hoodie, a cell phone and a wallet.

Without a second thought I take her clothes and place my stele into the front pocket of the sweatshirt, along with a metro card because I'll need some way to get around—but there's no cash. I tentatively grab the cell phone as well, thankful that there's not a passcode on it. I wipe my muddy sneakers down with the hospital gown and lace up, ready to go finally.

I peek out the small window on the door, and put the hood on the sweater up, tucking my hair away, watching as a nurse enters the room across the hall. I duck out and walk towards the empty nurse station with my head down; I figure the exit is somewhere past those doors. I turn the corner and stop, glancing both ways and trying to figure out which way the elevators are.

"Ma'am?" A woman's voice calls. I freeze up and turn towards them. It's a nurse in purple scrubs. "Do you need help finding something?"

"Elevators," I say, proud when my voice doesn't crack.

"Just keep going down this hall and make a left, you'll see them there," she says kindly. I nod and thank her before hurrying along and turning the corner. I see the elevators and make my way straight for them, leaving behind the sterile hospital in a dizzy search for answers.

Outside is chaotic; not in the sense that there are people running around screaming in terror, but there's just too much going on for my brain to handle. The crowds of people rushing down the sidewalks of the busy city disorient me, and the rain is falling again, weeping onto the city. I don't even know where to begin, I've never been here before.

I could try finding my way back to Jersey City where the Blackthorns and their rag tag group of misfits were hiding before Jonathan found us, but there's no promise that they're still even there, after Jonathan cornered us there. But there's a chance that they are, and it's all that I have to go off of, because the Resistance Camp is in Pennsylvania, and I can't make it there alone.

I need to find a subway to Jersey City.

"Excuse me?" I ask someone passing by, but they ignore me and keep walking. "Hey, where's…"

New Yorker's suck. I begin to walk with the crowds; I'm bound to hit an entrance eventually, right? I keep my head up, looking everywhere for any signs pointing to the subway. It takes a couple of blocks, but I finally spot an entrance across the street. I never thought that being underground would be so comforting, but it gets me out of the rain that seeped through the thin sweater, and it's a step closer to finding Jace and my mom.

It doesn't take long to figure out which train will take me to Jersey City. Armed with a stolen metro card, I find myself riding in a mostly-empty car, most of the daily commuters still at work. It gives me a second to collect myself and come up with a plan. If I find Emma and the Blackthorns, I'm sure that they can help me out. They were so kind and welcoming to us when Jace and I were passing through, and they supported the Resistance.

But, if I can't find them, then I don't know what I'll do. I guess hitch a ride back to Pennsylvania, and hope for the best, although it's unlikely that they're even there after Aldertree was murdered. It wouldn't hurt to poke around and see, though. They could be anywhere by now. Maybe I'll even try to make it all the way back home, to Salt Lake City. I wonder if they're looking for me. I wonder if they're alright.

I have to believe that they are; If I can't have faith in that much, I don't think I'll be able to make it across the city, let alone across the states.

It took an hour to get to the western edge of Jersey City along the waterfront, where I remember us sitting down in an alley to rest for the night; it was dark then, and everything looked so different. We weren't more than a few blocks from the water's edge, and I remember a rundown little convenience store nearby as well. I try to keep alert for the only landmark I know, but it seems like each and every corner store is the same.

It takes another few hours for my memory to start tickling at the sights around me in the rapidly dimming sunlight. A crooked street sign, an almost unnoticeable graffiti rune on the wall that I can see clear as day. The convenience store. I could weep, the joy is so profound in my chest. I'm so close, they have to be there. They just have to be.

With a new hope, I pick up my pace and go past another row of rundown houses, until I'm at the mouth of an alleyway. I pull out my dagger just in case, and inch down the alley, listening for anything at all. Nothing comes, and the dirty alley is empty. I go up to the dilapidated side door and pound on it as hard as my heart pounds into my chest, waiting expectantly. Again, nothing.

I try the door, finding it open. "Hello?" I whisper quietly into the space; it's empty. I pull out the witchlight and let it light up the room, revealing absolutely freaking nothing. My stomach drops to my ass as I roam through the boarded up building and find nobody; no mundanes, no Shadowhunters, no Downworlders. Not even a mouse. After checking the entire place, I board up the unlocked entry with an old empty bookshelf and find myself a place to sit.

With a groan of frustration, I sink down onto an old torn up mattress and pull out the stolen cell phone. I hold it for a few moments, contemplating my decisions. Whoever it belongs to could track me, which could lead the Clave to me. It could be tapped; which could also lead them to me. I'm sure that there are still some active members in hiding somewhere, and the last thing I need right now is for them to come out of the woodwork to hunt me down.

With a deep breath, I dial Isabelle's phone number and hold it to my ear, praying that she didn't lose it after she jumped from the roof. It rings a few times before going to voicemail, her cheery voice greeting me and telling me to leave a message.

"Hey it's…buttface," I say into the phone, wincing at the idiotic nickname that Izzy has always called me. She'll know it's me. "Tell Goldie to meet me where the Black-" I pause, not wanting to give away any names that could tip any unwanted ears off. I switch the names and hope Jace can put two and two together. "-stairs used to be. If he's not here by tomorrow evening, I'm going back home."

I hang up and stare at the phone for a few longing moments before I smash it under my sneaker, and hunker down for the night.

wHOOPS I suck kill me now but hey I'm still hella excited to bring this one to a close, sorry I kind of left you all to die on that cliff back there last chapter yep yeah uhhhhhhhh

sorry xD

Finals are over, I'll try better.

I'm aiming for finishing this before the New Year starts, but no promises. Review if you don't hate me too much? (And sorry for any typos Dx)