You guys, please don't hate me for disappearing xD I CAN EXPLAIN. I spent the last two weeks studying for a week of exams. I hadn't touched my laptop in ages. God, I'm so happy to be back. Anyway, I'm a little rusty, but here's chapter 2. I hope it isn't as bad as I think it is, considering I've been out of practice for a while.
Jasmine wasn't sure what the time was, but her tired eyes gave her the feeling it was well over midnight. The Inquisitor practically pushed her through a Portal, her duffel bags in her hands. Jasmine thanked the Angel that the Inquisitor had allowed her to bring her stuff. Her right bag felt heavier than it had before, though. Knowing her grandmother, the older woman had probably packed whatever empty space had been left in the bag with food.
Come to think of it—her uncle Arash had carried the bags down to the front door (the Inquisitor wouldn't let Jasmine out of her sight). Maybe he'd put a few extra things in there. She couldn't imagine what, though.
Once on the other side of the Portal, the Inquisitor yanked Jasmine all the way down to the curb. It felt good to be in New York again, Jasmine thought as she eyed the bright city lights. It was too bad she'd have to spend the night in a cell.
Imogen received a call then, oddly enough—Jasmine hadn't even thought the Inquisitor would have a cell phone. Grumbling something incoherent, she picked up. Jasmine put her bags down for a minute to stretch and rub the sleep out of her eyes.
She wondered why she wasn't at all nervous to be spending the night in the Silent City. Perhaps it was a consolation to know she would soon be in the same building as Jace. Maybe she would even get to hear his voice. The Angel knew how much she had missed his obnoxious, inconveniently timed sarcastic jokes and his stupid, yet clever one-liners.
The Inquisitor hung up, looking a tad distraught. "Change of plans," she said. "There has been an attack on a faerie child. I have to get to the scene of crime as soon as possible."
"So, now what?"
The Inquisitor glared. "Now, young Sianoor, I will have to drop you off at the Insitute. Unfortunately, the Silent Brothers do not have a phone I can call, or I would have told them to come and get you. Thankfully, we are not far from the Institute. We can walk."
Jasmine didn't complain—hell, why would she? She would get to see Isabelle and Alec again. She picked up her bags, and willingly followed in the Inquisitor's lead.
A couple of blocks later, Jasmine wondered. "What about the trial?" she asked, as she caught a glimpse of the cathedral-like building.
"You're not off the hook just yet, Jasmine," said Imogen bitterly, as she willed the doors of the Institute to open. Once inside, the Inquisitor pointed accusingly. "I will be back before sunrise. Don not even think about running for the hills. Understand?"
"Yes, ma'am," said Jasmine.
"Good. Try not to cause any trouble." She was gone before Jasmine could roll her eyes. Jasmine carried her bags to the elevator, where she set them down to pet the Institute's Persian cat, whose ears perked up upon seeing her.
"Hey, Church," said Jasmine with a smile. "Where are Isabelle and Alec? Are they here?" She wasn't sure what to expect, but she had seen Jace talking to the feline before, and it had worked for him.
Though apparently, cats just didn't take Jasmine as seriously, because Church did nothing except purr under her touch. She sighed and straightened up. Right, then. Time to check the rooms.
She pressed the button of the elevator and waited. When the doors opened, a tall, lanky figure ran into her: Alec. Jasmine caught his elbows before either one of them could stumble. "Hi," she said, grinning at him. Alec blinked twice at her, as if she'd suddenly grown an extra head.
"Jaz!" gasped Isabelle behind her brother. "What are you doing here? How did you—"
"Long story," she said, and eyed the other girl's attire. "Why are you dressed in gear?" Behind Izzy and Alec stood Clary, her green eyes standing out like two emeralds against her pale skin and light freckles. Somehow, Jasmine still couldn't wrap her head around the fact that Clary and Jace were siblings. They didn't look or act alike—the only thing they had in common was be their mindless hard-headedness.
"Something's happened in the Bone City," said Alec.
Jasmine frowned. "Isn't Jace down there right now?"
"Yeah, we're heading there right now," Isabelle said.
"I'm coming with you."
Alec looked hesitant. "But—"
"No buts, Alec!" She was already in a squatting position, digging through one of her two duffel bags for her stele and daggers.
"You're not even in gear," Alec said.
"Oh, who cares?" She tied a belt sheath around her waist and slipped her blades, stele and witchlight stone into it. "Let's go."
Isabelle sighed. "We'll Mark her on the way. Come on."
o000o
The moment they arrived in the courtyard of the Bone City, Jasmine felt a shiver crawl down her spine. There was a statue of the Angel Raziel in the courtyard's center, its eyes closed. The Angel held a stone grail in his hands, representing the Mortal Cup.
"Last time I was here," said Clary, "Brother Jeremiah used a rune on the statue to open the door to the City."
"I wouldn't want to use one of the Silent Brothers' runes," Alec said with a frown. "They should have sensed our presence before we got this far. Now I'm starting to worry." He took a dagger from his belt and cut himself with it. He held his hand over the stone Cup, letting the blood from the gash drip into it. Jasmine knew she shouldn't wince, being a Shadowhunter and all, but she did. Something about seeing other people wounded—people she cared about in particular—made her feel uneasy. "Blood of the Nephilim," he said. "It should work as a key."
The eyes of the statue opened, showing only more stone, and a hole opened at their feet. The blackness inside didn't allow Jasmine to see further than the first couple of steps going down. Jasmine reached for her witchlight stone.
"Something's wrong," Clary said.
"God, I hope Jace is all right," said Jasmine, her stomach lurching violently. She felt as if she was surrounded by negative energy, which wasn't even that unlikely. As she made a move to walk down the first step, Alec caught her arm.
"I'll go first," he said.
Jasmine took her arm out of his grasp and pushed past him, ignoring his sigh of exasperation. She held the witchlight stone overhead, illuminating the path down into the ground. Jasmine didn't slow down for the others to join—even when they called out to her.
"You'll get lost, you idiot," Isabelle hissed around the corner.
"Well, then pick up the pace," Jasmine hissed right back. The stench of rotting fruit filled her nostrils, along with the smell of ashes and smoke. Demons, she thought worriedly, and reached for one of her daggers. The only sounds which Jasmine could make out were her pounding heart, the squeaking of boots, and her own ragged breathing.
When she felt a slender hand on her shoulder, she gasped and spun around, her dagger raised next to her face. Isabelle grabbed Jasmine's wrist before the blade could cut her.
"Jumpy," said Isabelle. She looked over Jasmine's shoulder, and her eyes rounded. "Is that blood?"
Jasmine turned around to see a smear of something dark red on the wall.
"Looks like it," said Alec, having joined them with Clary by his side. He was holding an seraph blade in his hand, aripping the handle tightly.
"What could have happened?" asked Isabelle. "The Silent Brothers—I thought they were indestructible…" Her voice trailed off as she saw something. Clary's witchlight stone began to shine brighter, and then Jasmine saw it as well.
It was the body of a Silent Brother—the corpse, actually—impaled on one of the spires, his neck broken. Jasmine felt bile rise up in her throat.
"Oh my God," she choked out, willing herself to look away. Images of not only the Silent Brother, but Alaric as well flashed in front of her eyes. Jasmine wondered if she would ever forget the sight of Alaric taking his last breath.
"Alec," said Isabelle. "Do you see—"
"I see." Alec's voice was grim. "And I've seen worse. It's Jace I'm worried about."
Isabelle went forward and ran her fingers over the black basalt table in the middle of the room. "This blood is almost fresh. Whatever happened, it happened not long ago."
Alec moved toward the Silent Brother's impaled corpse. Smeared marks led away from the blood pool on the floor. "Footprints," he said. "Someone running." He motioned for the three girls to follow, and they did.
The footprints led down a narrow tunnel and stopped at a set of double doors. As the air around Jasmine grew thicker, she grew more and more impatient. Where the hell was Jace?
On the other side of the double doors, she could make out a slumped figure. Her breathing hitched, thinking it was Jace. She set off into a run, and gasped when she saw that it was another Silent Brother, his mutilated face frozen with the kind of fear Jasmine had never associated with the guardians of Bone City.
"Jasmine!" Alec called out as she stepped over the Brother's corpse. Her hands were trembling as they closed around the metal bars of a cell. There was another figure on the other side, curled up in the corner.
Tears burned at the back of her throat when she realized who she was looking at. Quickly she reached for her stele. She didn't know if a simple Opening Mark would work on the cells of the Silent City, but she sure as hell could try.
A sound like ripping cloth tore through the air as Jasmine Marked the cell door. Clary had joined her at this point, her chest heaving as if she'd just run a mile.
Isabelle's shriek sounded in the distance as the door blew off its hinges, crashing into the cell. Jasmine wasted no time in waiting for the metal to cool down—she ducked into the cell, dropping on her knees next to Jace.
His hand was outstretched on the floor, the skin of his wrist bloody, bruised and bare, an open manacle lying not far away.
Jasmine set her stele and witchlight down, abandoning them completely. She was almost afraid to touch Jace, afraid to see if he was still alive or not. Clary stood a little distance away, her arms crossed. She looked as scared as Jasmine felt.
Hesitantly, Jasmine turned Jace over, revealing an ugly bruise on his cheek. The rest of his skin was very pale, but a vein pulsed at his throat. He was alive. His eyes darted under his eyelids, and Jasmine choked back something like a sob, though she wasn't crying. If anything, she was relieved.
Her hair fell around her face as she leaned forward and put her lips on his. She didn't care if his sister was watching. She wouldn't have cared if the whole world were watching.
Jace's hand came up and touched her elbow. She sat back, tucking her hair behind her ears. "Jasmine," he said. "What are you doing here?"
"Saving your life," said Jasmine half heartedly. She brushed his hair out of his face.
"You're really here? I'm not—I'm not dead, am I?"
"I can see why you'd think that. I have been told my kisses are heavenly," said Jasmine. Jace made a sound like choked laughter. Jasmine was grinning as well, until she noticed that his pupils were dilated. She brushed her thumb over his cheekbone. "Did you hit your head?"
Jace laid his hand over hers where it lay on his cheek. "I don't know, I might have."
Clary stepped forward. "Are you all right?"
"What's going on?" asked Alec, ducking through the low doorway, Isabelle just behind him. Clary pursed her lips. Jace struggled into a sitting position, peeling Jasmine's hand off his gray face. The front of his shirt was spotted with blood. "What happened? Can you remember?" asked Alec, kneeling down.
Jace held up his uninjured hand. "One question at a time, Alec. My head already feels like it's going to split open."
"Who did this to you?" asked Isabelle angrily.
"No one did anything to me. I did it to myself trying to get the manacles off." Jace looked down at his bloodied wrist and winced.
"Here," Alec and Clary said at the same time, reaching for his hand. In the end, Clary dropped her hand and Alec got out his stele. Jasmine's put hers back though her belt sheath.
"Thanks," said Jace once Alec was done. "Brother Jeremiah—"
"Is dead," finished Clary.
All of a sudden, Jasmine heard a blood-curdling scream. One that made the hairs on her arms stand up. She gasped and flinched, raising her hands to cover her ears.
"Jaz? You all right?" asked Isabelle.
Jasmine nodded, the voice suddenly gone. She slowly lowered her hands, shrugging off the concerned looks the others were giving her.
"My head—" said Jace, his face twisted in pain.
"Maybe we should go," said Clary. "Before whatever killed them…"
"Comes back for us?" said Jace. "I think it's gone. But I suppose he could still bring it back."
"Who could bring what back?" Alec asked. Jace said nothing, and pulled himself to a standing position, using the wall to hold him up. Suddenly he went paper white, and began to slide down the wall. Alec caught him.
"Jace—" began Alec.
"I'm all right," Jace said, but he was holding onto Alec's sleeve. "I can stand."
"It looks to me like you're using a wall to prop you up. That's not my definition of 'standing.'"
"It's leaning," Jace said. "Leaning comes right before standing."
"Stop bickering," said Isabelle, kicking a doused torch out of her way. "We need to get out of here. If there's something out there nasty enough to kill the Silent Brothers, it'll make short work of us."
"Izzy's right. We should go," said Clary.
Jasmine frowned when she saw that Jace's eyes were shut tightly. She stood up and got out her witchlight stone, willing it to light up. It did. "Can you walk?" she asked Jace.
"He can lean on me," Alec said, and drew Jace's arm across his shoulders. Jace half-fell against him.
"Wait," said Jasmine hesitantly, "I might be able to heal him—"
"We'll fix him up when we get outside," Alec interrupted. "Come on."
I'll try not to take so long to update this time :p Feel free to leave a comment! Thank you, and goodbye ^_^