Authors Note:
Yes I am back everyone, like truly back which is exciting, one reviewer told me ages ago that the people following my story and favouriting it were like a sort of weird crazy family, and so I'm excited to be back with this beautiful family of readers, writers and reviwers. Hopefully you are still looking forward to the chapters to come, I know I am! I've got everything figured out (me thinks) hehe. I'm going to try and upload three chapters in three days (maybe more…) including yesterdays because school will start soon and that means I will need to focus more and write a little less… but we will see how we go! Here is your chapter lovlies…
Chapter 16: Two birds, One stone
She felt her eyes open painfully slowly, like she was ripping years of cobwebs and dust that sealed her eyelids together, keeping her in bitter darkness. She could feel a cool chill brush over her body that sent shivers down her spine, or what she thought should be shivers because her body didn't move, she did not shake from the cold, her body didn't rise and fall with easy breath, she couldn't speak, only her eyes could move. Slowly. Painfully. Adjusting to the darkness around her, she wondered if her eyes will still closed, as her surroundings were almost identical to the blackness she saw when she had no vision. Her head began to pound, throbbing with such ferocity she wondered if he brain would simply burst, it was paralysing pain. She wanted to sit up but she didn't, she couldn't, her bones and muscles wouldn't work together to force her up, she remained lying, motionless in the darkness. Her palms faced down onto the surface she was lying on, she felt the cool, cold cement beneath her and wondered where she was. She didn't feel safe or at home, it couldn't be somewhere she knew… she felt lost. An eerie thought came to her, perhaps she was wondering in her own mind, a hallucination or some sort? Impossible, but she wondered.
Perhaps she was in the morgue at the hospital… she hadn't died had she? She couldn't of, her eyes were open wide now, searching around the blackness for something she recognised. But there was nothing. The raspy voice inside her head, reflecting the exhaustion she felt told her it wasn't possible for her to be dead, she was seeing around her, her eyes moved, that was all but her eyes moved. She thankfully ruled out the possibility of death. She'd had no idea how long she'd been lying on the frozen concrete that felt like ice on the skin of her arms and legs, she had no sense of time, it could have been years or hours or even minutes. It could be a dream. Some say that the dream you think lasted you the whole night, only lasted six seconds before you woke up… perhaps this was her dream? Maybe she'd only been lying here uncomfortably for a matter of seconds. Anything seemed possible to her… even the prospect of being dead seemed like there was a slim chance it was real, but she tried to reason with herself.
She decided she had to move, she couldn't stay here like a vegetable and do absolutely nothing at all, she had to try. Move a hand, bring her knee up, raise her head… anything to show her she wasn't completely useless. She willed her hand move up to her chest, she begged it to pulling it in her mind with so much force, the pounding in her head became unbearable. And yet, her hand lay exactly where it had when she woke up. She suddenly felt very alone. Unable to reach for a weapon and without even being able to check if she had a weapon with her was deeply unsettling. She was defenceless, she could have had all the seraph blades and swords in her pockets if she'd wanted, but if she couldn't move someone could glide their own blade across her neck in an instant and she could do nothing about it. She began to feel something she'd been trained to supress, she felt it bubbling like a witch's potion in fairytales within her stomach, making her nervous and unsure of herself. She started to become afraid. Fear pulsating throughout her small, slim body driving her crazy. Her mind brought forth all the possible worst outcomes there could be for her situation, being slaughtered by demons who had imprisoned her, being stuck here forever never seeing her daughter or husband again, being poisoned slowly, taking years to kill her… everything came rushing to her until she felt something she thought impossible. A small tear trickled down her cheek, she could feel it. The only part moving except her eyes. She felt the tear slowly travel down the creases of her nose down onto her cheek and then burning very suddenly. At first she was confused, why was it burning? What was going on? She wondered but then it came to her, tears are salty like salt water. If the tear had travelled into a cut or graze on her face, burn it would. More questions arose amidst the previous where am I and what will happen, questions that created more fear inside her than ever before. Why did she have injuries?
She was defenceless and alone and cold without any help or ability to move, Jocelyn was afraid.
-Impulses-
Clary stood, staring at the punching bag in front of her, her indents in the bag slowly evening out as her body heaved with her heavy breaths. Her hands shook in fists by her side as she felt the anger inside her bubbling to the top, knowing when she exploded she would need to release it on this bag on not something or someone else. So she stood, staring intently at the bag, waiting for it to become new again, waiting for her anger to build, her whole body began to shake except her legs, holding her in steady stance that gave her the maximum amount of balance and control. She felt her chest rise and fall with such force she knew she was pushing her body to its extreme, sweat dribbling down her face and dripping to the floor from her chin. Her sports top and leggings were drenched from her workout and her knuckles ached and were slowly swelling up but she didn't care, it didn't matter to her. She was angry, angry at the world, angry at every single person who tried to touch her and console her. She was simply angry, and pain wasn't a factor in her consideration to stop.
Finally, the punching bag was ready as was she, and she threw herself at it without a second thought screaming at it as her fists connected with the stiff material in front of her. She jabbed, punched and kicked it constantly, not stopping for a single second to take a break; all she wanted was to destroy something. And if it wasn't the punching bag, she'd settle on herself. She let out another ear piercing scream as she ran at the punching bag with more force than before, leaping and twirling her body around to smash her foot into the top of the bag, where the chains held it to the beam above. The chains cracked slightly and then disintegrated, the punching bag falling down to the ground, the broken chain smacking against her foot, leaving a red imprint. Clary didn't flinch at the burning pain that radiated up her foot, she simply stared at the mess she'd made on the floor and then walked towards the training room exit.
As her hand connected with the door knob and she began to open the door she felt an overwhelming pain shoot all through her head, like a migraine she'd never experienced before in her life. Her hands rushes to grab her head as her knees wobbled and sunk to the floor. She screamed as her head began to pound, the pain was so severe her body began to tingle and the room shook around her slightly. She couldn't hear anything around her just the deafening ringing inside her head. Her hands grasped at her head trying to silence the pain that was bringing tears to Clary's eyes, as she shook on the training room floor. She let out another scream again but she couldn't hear it, only felt her mouth widen and then close after a few seconds. She collapsed further onto the floor, crawling up into a foetal position and rocking backwards and forwards like a child who'd lost their mother. She kept rocking and the tears continued to dampen the training room's mats that she was laying on, her hands never left the sides of her head.
Then silence, the pain became a low buzz, but Clary couldn't move from her position, she felt like her body had been turned into a statue by the headache. And then she heard it, not a yelling or screeching voice, not a voice for everyone to hear, but the chilling calmness that spoke only inside her head.
Those you cannot kill, you must paralyse.
The voice sounded so familiar, like something she'd heard almost everyday of her life, but she couldn't put her finger on it or remember who was speaking to her. It certainly wasn't one of the Silent Brothers. Rather than hearing a multitude of shapes and soundes within her head that made up the words, she could hear the breath of the person speaking to her, and the way their tongue clicked on the T of cannot… this wasn't the work of one of the Brothers. But she didn't know who it was, even more chilling was the message she'd been delivered… Those you cannot kill, you must paralyse. What did that mean? Maybe her mind was playing tricks with her, maybe her concussion had gotten worse and she was imagining things who knew, but she needed to find Jace and figured everything out. As soon as she'd made the decision to go find him, the unbearable pain began to shake her whole body all over again.
-Impulses-
"Please try it okay? I's really not that bad!" Isabelle whined at her adoptive brother who was sitting on a bar stool staring at her with an incredulous look on his face as she waved a plate at him. All he could see was a mush off what he thought was supposed to be scrambled eggs but god knows she'd put something else in there to 'spice it up' a bit and that's never good coming from Iz.
"Iz, I'm not eating that okay? What'd you put in it?" He questioned her, he wasn't going to eat anything she cooked unless he'd watched her prepare and cook the meal as well as knowing exactly what had gone into it. Just to keep himself safe. Her cooking wasn't terrible, but with a mother who had spent little to no time with her children as they were growing up and was too busy running the Institute, Isabelle had to teach herself the ways of a cook. Maryse's absence as a mother in the Lightwood's younger years became more and more obvious as they grew up. Both the raven haired children had a minimal relationship with their mother, and had more of a mutual respect for her, and both children were often left to fend for themselves, teaching themselves how to study and train for upcoming exams when most parents would guide their children. Jace was a bit different, as a child he'd refused to see Maryse as anything but the head of the Institute and it was only in his later years that he saw her more of a motherly figure in his life, but that was the extent of it. There was love between the three children for their mother, but it was minimal and more a business situation. The head of the Institute couldn't have children who ignored her, it'd look back.
"It's just eggs, you love them! I've made them for you before for Angel's sake! Why won't you trust me?' She moaned back at him. She clearly really wanted him to eat it. So Jace gave up and grabbed the plate setting in front of him with a knife and fork, looking suspiciously at the food. As he scooped some eggs onto his fork he heard Isabelle whisper "what was that" and he put the fork down to listen. For a while he heard nothing, and was about to return to his odd looking eggs when he heard a blood curdling scream that he recognised instantly. Before Isabelle could count to three Jace was sprinting down the halls of the Institute and running to the training room. They heard a second scream and Jace push himself to run even faster. 'What was happening?" he thought to himself, an edge of uncertainty tainting his thoughts. Then there was silence again, as if nothing had ever happened, Jace was nearing the training room's entrance when he heard the sound that shattered his bones. A final scream from his wife, who he found curled up and shaking on the training mat.
He froze for only a second, distraught at what he was seeing, his brain screamed at him to grab her but he second guessed himself. Was she injured? Would touching her make it worse? Was it more side effects from her fall? Was she okay? Then before he realised what he was doing, his strong, capable arms cradled his shaking wife against his chest as he ran to the infirmary to find her a bed. As he crashed the infirmary door open, Clary let out a short screech that echoed in Jace's ears. He placed her carefully underneath the white sheets of a hospital bed and tried to hold her still as she shook violently under his grip, he had to calm her down. This shaking was dangerous for her, especially if she was recovering from a concussion. Her eyes were squeezed shut and her lips curled an obvious sign that she was experiencing immense pain which made Jace's entire insides ache. Seeing the one you loved hurting this way was almost impossible to bear.
-Impulses-
Isabelle stayed a bit behind Jace, not wanting to encroach but she also wanted to see what the hell was happening to Clary, she was her sister in law after all. All she could see was Jace trying to hold her down, trying to stop her uncontrollable shaking. He was attempting to coax her out of the state she was in which Isabelle guess was a lot harder than it looked with Clary's occasional outbursts and constant screams that sounded like they filled up the whole Institute. It was a devastating sight to see, and Isabelle couldn't understand why the two people in front of her who she cared so much about continued to be hit with problem after problem and hurt after hurt. It just never seemed to end for them and it wasn't fair and Izzy knew it. She knew it wasn't fair and it frustrated her to no end, she wanted them to be happy and every time they were they were shattered with something new to deal with. She was constantly astonished by their fight, the way they both stood up and got on with it, never giving up and always fighting for each other, the ones they loved and what they believed in.
Jace was clearly struggling, not just with holding Clary down, but with watching her face plastered with pain, and Isabelle could tell so she came up on Jace's opposite side to help hold her sister in law down. Jace was whispering 'Shhh baby' over and over so Isabelle focused on keeping her shakes at bay. Within a few seconds of this, Clary's eyes grew wide, her beautiful emerald pupils, huge disks that bore into Jace's own gold eyes and then she gasped before falling limp in the bed. Isabelle wondered when it would end.
-Impulses-
"You tell me right now what the hell is going on with her" Jace shouted at one of the Silent Brothers, a finger jabbing the brother in the chest, hard and accusingly. Maryse stood beside her husband Robert who had returned from Idris after hearing the news of Clary and her mother, Alec stood with Magnus at the doorway to the study, Isabelle was behind Jace and oddly Aline Penhallow had also joined the group of Shadowhunters in this meeting.
"I want to know, right now" Jace spat through gritted teeth, his arms flexing as he pulled his hands into fists by his side.
"Jace…" Isabelle whispered quietly under her breath so no one could here but her brother, except obviously the Silent Brother would hear as well, "Just cool it okay?" She tried to stay sympathetic but going at the Silent Brothers was going to do more harm than good as far as Isabelle was concerned, and there were powerful allies but more powerful enemies. Jace only growled slightly in response but Isabelle was worried, she had to keep Jace under control, if he lost it they were in trouble.
Jonathan Herondale-
"It's Lightwood" Jace hissed, cutting the Brother off.
Jonathan Herondale, we would like to remind you that though the Brotherhood is the source of much wisdom and knowledge and is often called upon as a source of answers to peculiar situations, we are not the source of all knowledge and we do not have the answers to all of your questions. Mr. Herondale, please take into consideration that perhaps Clarissa Fairchild is-
"It's Lightwood. Again" Jace corrected, which worried Izzy, he needed to calm down a bit and stay focused on helping his wife, not arguing with the Brother.
Still suffering the side effects of her concussion and fall that she experienced at the news of her mother's condition which I do believe was the situation that occurred. We would also like to advise that perhaps keeping the young girl under closer scrutiny would be beneficial, to ensure no unusual behaviours arise apart from those predicted, the rashness and blunt nature that she displays.
"Brother Darkel, I would like to ask, is there any news that you may have on Clarissa's mother? Jocelyn?" Maryse enquired calmly from where she leant against the study desk, "Her attack seemed rather… odd" she added.
Again, we would like to make sure you understand that we do not have the answers to every situation that occurs. We Brothers are in our few and cannot have eyes and ears everywhere the way we once we able to. We have made the decision to look no further into the attacks on Jocelyn Fairchild, it has been decided that it is not a dire enough occurrence and therefor does not require our expertise. However, we would like to inform you that we do not believe there is anything peculiar about the attack and that Jocelyn Fairchild has simply been… unlucky.
And then the moment Isabelle was trying to avoid occurred before her very eyes. She saw Jace storm up close to Brother Darkel and slam his hand against the Brother's chest, but Brother Darkel did not move or even waver, he simply stood and moved his head hidden under his hood down to stare at Jace, Isabelle only imagined that unsettling sight Jace saw.
"Not dire enough? Not Dire Enough? There is a women who has been attacked viciously leaving her completely brain dead leaving her whole family worried sick about her wondering what the hell is going on and she isn't important enough to you? What occurances have happened that are considered more important Brother? Being a member of those who run this Insitute we are also informed for your information of occurances that are unusual and need the Brother's assitence and we have had no reports of anything out of the ordinary occurring. Except for Jocelyn's attack… care to tell me what I'm missing? Brother?" Jace slammed his hand against Brother Darkel once again before stepping back and composing himself.
Mr. Herondale, though your tone of voice and manner is utterly unacceptable we will let it slide under the assumption you are under a great deal of emotional stress. The situation with Jocelyn does not seem to be improving, and the Brother's time is precious, we see little need in wasting it.
Isabelle just stared at the Brother. There were times when Isabelle couldn't understand where the Angel Jace was coming from but on this one, she was by his side all the way. Before Jace could do anymore rude damage to the Brother she stepped forward, her boots clicking against the floorboards and stood directly in the small space between her brother and Brother Darkel.
"Brother Darkel, I would like to remind you that on the odd occasion, the Brotherhood are in fact wrong. Should you be wrong in your decision to no longer investigate the situation with Jocelyn, we will not hesitate to make your mistake and blunder public. It would be a devastating situation for the Silent Brother to have their image tainted now wouldn't it? I would also ask my brother, Jace to just remind you Brother of what Clarissa said to us when she calmed down from her state, which is something I am also requesting you Brothers look into, if you feel like doing your job again. Jace?" Isabelle turned to return to her place slightly behind Jace but closer to him than anyone else.
"Brother Darkel, should someone tell you the words Those you cannot kill, you must paralyse would you feel the need to investigate what this means and who was telling you this? Furthermore do you believe that if this was being spoken to you through your mind that there was something that should be… looked at about the situation?" Jace enquired calmly staring at Brother Darkel, knowing he'd backed him into a corner leaving him with nowhere to go but reply yes.
"As the head of the Institute we are no longer asking Brother Darkel, we are instructing you to continue your research and investigation into Jocelyn's attacks at the voice and message Clarissa heard only last hour. Should you choose to do your job, all should remain peaceful" Robert spoke up for the first time in the whole meeting, "This is our final decision, and we will not compromise" Robert finished. Isabelle knew that it was extremely rare for any head of an Institute to instruct the Silent Brothers to complete a job that they did not feel necessary, normally the judgement of the Brotherhood was trusted with unwavering loyalty, however in this case it was clear that this group of Shadowhunters were not ready to put the attacks on Jocelyn aside. The situation continued to grow increasingly worrying and odd, and it made Isabelle wonder if the attack on Jocelyn and the effects it was having on Clary weren't all just coincidental but rather they were linked. And this more than anything made her stomach churn with nerves.
-Impulses-
"Did it work?" A raspy cold voice scratched from the depths, the tinkling of water dripping cutting the silence and providing some eerie background noise.
"Killing two birds with one stone" A hard male's voice replied, projecting throughout the dark space. "Such a wonderful occurrence"
Hello :)
I hope you liked this chapter, I'm pretty happy with it! Haha Tell me what you think (reviews are quite lovely, yes they are) and tell me what I'm not doing too well that I will try and work on! Look forward to the next chapter which will be up asap with more reviews! Yay!
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Green-doves