The Institute – Hallway
Alyssa walked down the hallway with Izzy, heading for the Ops center.
"So were you able to see Jace today?" Izzy asked.
"I wish but once again I was denied entrance into the City of Bones to see him. But at least this time I know why I'm being prevented from seeing him. He asked for it." Alyssa said.
"What?"
"He requested that the Silent Brothers not allow me to see him. Apparently, I'm supposed to forget about him and move on with my life."
"He does realize that's not possible, right? You guys are soul-bonded."
"If he doesn't, he should have realized it by now." Alyssa said, with a smirk that Izzy noticed, causing her to stop walking and Alyssa to do the same.
"Lyssa, I recognize that smirk. What did you do?"
"Nothing devious, if that's what you're thinking. Since he doesn't want to see me, I sent him a message through a certain pint-sized redhead sister of mine."
"And if you ask me," Clary said, walking up to them with a smirk identical to Alyssa's. "I think the message was very well received. Although, Lyssa, you owe me one. My fingers and palm are still stinging from delivering your message." Izzy's eyes widened as she put two and two together and looked at Alyssa.
"You sent Clary to slap him."
"No, I sent Clary to talk some sense into him, and if he didn't listen, to knock, or in this case, slap some sense into him. He seems to have forgotten I'm just as stubborn as he is, if not more." Alyssa shrugged, and the three of them broke into a chuckle.
They were about to resume walking to the ops center when they heard a voice calling for Alyssa and Clary. Recognizing the voice, Alyssa sighed and nodded to Izzy to go ahead, then she and Clary turned to face Jocelyn as she walked up to them.
"I've been looking all over for you two." Jocelyn said. Alyssa raised an eyebrow and looked at her as if she had said something absurd. "Clary, I heard you went to see Jace. Is he okay?"
"He's locked up in the City of Bones. How do you think he's doing?" Clary snapped. Alyssa gave her an impressed look. "Look, we're late for this debriefing, so can we just…" Clary turned to leave.
"Wait. There's something I have to tell you both." Clary turned back to her. "The Clave is reassigning me to Idris." This piece of news shocked and confused Clary. She wasn't expecting the possibility of being separated from her mother.
"What? Why?" Clary asked.
"I'm Valentine's ex-wife. I hid the Cup for 17 years. They're…testing my loyalty." Jocelyn said.
"Either that or they're just looking for excuses to get you to Idris and tie you down there." Alyssa commented.
"But the Clave has to know that you're not on Valentine's side. Just tell them you'll prove your loyalty here."
"Clary, if it were that easy, the Lightwoods wouldn't have lost their standing in this Institute and with the Clave. The Lightwoods used to be at the top of the chain before Valentine resurfaced." Alyssa said.
"Your sister's right. It's not up to me. It's either I go to Idris or I run." Alyssa scoffed at this. "And...I've done enough running."
"But I just got you back." Clary said sadly.
"Sorry, not to ruin the sentimentality of this whole scene and all that, but why am I here? Why are you telling me also? This is something that you're supposed to be telling just Clary, not Clary and me."
"I want you two to come with me." Jocelyn said. Alyssa gave Jocelyn a look as if she'd grown three heads.
"Move to Idris?" Clary asked.
"I know, it's a big change, but I could finally show you both where we come from. And we'd have a fresh start, together."
"And why would I come with you? Or did you think that just because I haven't been overly hostile to you recently, I've forgiven you entirely for what you did?" Alyssa asked incredulously, looking at Jocelyn.
"Alyssa…"
"Look, Jocelyn, I'm only being civil because of my dad and because I know he loves you. If you're going to Idris, then all the best. If Clary and my dad decided to go with you, then good for all of you. But don't delude yourself into thinking I'm going to come along so we can forget what you did and start all over.
And I'm not just talking about you abandoning me. I'm also talking about the fact that you tried to kill me and my husband because of something that isn't my fault. As far as I'm concerned, you're just the woman my dad's dating and Clary's mother. You're not my mother." Jocelyn had tears in her eyes after Alyssa finished and looked like she was about to say something but Izzy and Alec walked over to them at that moment.
"Demon attack downtown. One mundane dead." Izzy said, looking at Clary and Alyssa.
"Even though we have Lyssa, we still don't have Jace, so..." Alec said, trailing off and looking at Clary. "You're with us."
"Wait. You want me on your team." Clary asked.
"Don't push it, Clary. He's only asking you because we're a man down." Alyssa said.
"And everyone else is on patrol." Alec continued. "Gear up." He then walked away.
Streets
A police car pulled up beside Luke. One of the windows rolled down. The officers in the car looked at Luke.
"We got a 10-54." One of the officers said, then he and his partner looked behind Luke, but there was nothing there. "I don't see a dead body though."
"Nothing to see here. It's just a false alarm. Some dumb kids pulling a prank." Luke said.
"Alright, you have a good night, huh?"
"You too." Luke responded, and the officer drove away. Seeing that they were gone, Luke turned around and walked through a glamour, which showed that there was a dead body, a dead man, lying on the ground with a hole in his chest.
Izzy was kneeling next to him, examining his body. Alyssa and Clary were also there, standing beside her, with Alyssa looking down at the body and looking it over.
"Well, this is one nasty demon. He punched a hole right through his chest."
"With that kind of strength, I doubt it's done yet." Luke said. Alec walked over to them.
"Nothing in the immediate area." He said. Izzy stood up.
"Izzy and I are taking the body back to the Institute." Alyssa said.
"I'll run some tests to see what kind of demon we're dealing with." Izzy said.
"Clary and I will widen the perimeter. Although I'd be glad if Lyssa joined us." Alec said. Alyssa just folded her arms and gave him a look. "You're the best tracker there is. If there's anything to find, you'd probably find it faster than we can." Alyssa rolled her eyes at him.
"Flattery will get you nowhere, big brother. But fine, I'll come along. I need the distraction." Alec shook his head at her with a smile, then turned to Clary.
"Fray. We got a demon to hunt. Come on." Alec said. Clary went over to him and her sister then they made their way down the street. "Most important thing; don't slow us down. You slow us down, you get all of us killed."
"Sounds reasonable." Clary said.
"In a jerk kind of way." Alyssa put in, rolling her eyes at Alec. She then took out her stele and drew a rune on Clary's hand.
"What's this for?" Clary asked.
"After we finish this mission, we're going to the library, and you're going to study the entire Gray Book." Alyssa said, putting her stele back in a holster on her thigh.
"Ok, but what does this do?" Clary asked.
"Lets you see the demon's heat signature." Alec answered. Clary looked around, blinking.
"Whoa." She said, her senses feeling overloaded.
"Yeah, the first time can be a bit overwhelming." Alyssa said. She then frowned as she caught the scent of blood.
"The trick is to focus. Try to…" Alyssa wasn't listening to what Alec was telling Clary anymore. She turned around and inhaled deeply.
The scent of blood became even stronger as she breathed in. She walked forward, trying to determine the true direction of the scent. She glowed her eyes, drawing her wolf to the surface to sharpen her senses and allowing her to track the direction of the scent. She heard something from the same direction.
"Alec, Clary." Alec and Clary looked from their conversation and walked over to her. "I smell blood and ichor."
"Where?" Alec asked. Alyssa pointed in the direction and led the way, with Alec and Clary following.
Alyssa led them to an alley where they stopped when Clary and Alec saw the demon's heat signature and blood on the ground. They both took out their blades while Alyssa readied her whip.
Hearing something behind the dumpster, they walked around it to find a girl sitting on the ground, leaning against the wall with blood on her hands, looking scared and trembling. The girl looked up at the three Shadowhunters.
"What happened? Who are you?" She asked.
"It's okay. We're here to help." Clary said softly. Alyssa offered the girl a soft smile as she put her whip away and knelt beside the girl.
"It's a classic possession hangover. Once the demon leaves the body, they have no memory of what they did." Alec explained. The girl wasn't even listening. She looked at her bloody hands in fear and shock.
"Is this blood?"
"Hey. Hey. Calm down, okay? You're okay." Alyssa said, placing her hands on the girl's arms. The girl looked at her hands again. "No, no, don't look down at your hands, alright? Just look at me."
"I don't understand. What's going on?"
"We know nothing makes sense right now. But we're going to help. I promise. Okay?" Clary said with a reassuring smile.
The Institute
Returning to the institute, Alyssa smelt the blood before the alarms began to blare. She started running in the direction of the smell, Alec and Clary following her, later joined by Isabelle.
They ended up in the training room, where they found a Shadowhunter dead with a hole in his chest. Another sat against a wall, shocked. He seemed to be having the same symptoms as the girl from earlier. Lydia had joined them now, as had some other Shadowhunters.
"Oh my God, Welkie." Clary gasped.
"What happened?" The shell-shocked Shadowhunter asked.
"Classic possession hangover." Clary said to Alec. Alyssa looked around the room, then down at the body and at the Shadowhunter, who was still in shock.
"Hole punched right through his chest." Lydia said.
"Like our mundane in the morgue." Izzy added. As Alec knelt down by the body, Alyssa spotted a bit of ichor near the body.
"The demon is here, in the institute." She said, catching everyone's attention.
Ops Center
"Activate emergency surveillance." Lydia said to the Shadowhunters in the Ops center. "Victor's unreachable. I've ordered the institute to be put on quarantine until we kill this thing." The Shadowhunters hearing this, went to gear up, grabbing their weapons.
"But I don't get it. How did the demon get past the wards?" Clary asked.
"Same way it got in without setting off Izzy's necklace. The wards aren't exactly infallible. It must have some advanced cloaking ability." Alyssa said.
"It hid in that dead body and let us do the rest." Izzy added.
"I didn't know demons could do that." Clary said.
"Well, they couldn't until now. Then again, Forsaken couldn't also get past the wards months ago before that attack, and yet the one that attacked Alec and Hodge got in. So what does that tell you?" Alyssa asked rhetorically. It clicked for all of them then.
"This new form of possession, cloaking ability, targeting the Institute, it's..." Alec began to say.
"Valentine." Clary finished for him. The six of them, including Lydia and Raj, who had joined in just then, gathered around a table. "His experiments. Mom told me how he was determined to create a super-being that could defeat the Clave. It's what he tried to do with my brother, Jace and…" Clary trailed off, looking at her sister.
"And who?" Alec asked, not understanding why she trailed off.
"Doesn't matter. Let's focus on the matter at hand." Alyssa said, giving Alec a look and a subtle nod in Raj's direction. He nodded imperceptibly, understanding. Izzy caught their interaction but said nothing on it, knowing Alyssa would tell her when she could.
"Both victims had damage in the prefrontal cortex." Izzy said.
"That's the part of the brain that's in charge of our cognitive control functions. Basically, it focuses attention, helps to predict the consequences of actions.
It also plays a role in how we coordinate and adjust to situations, plan for the future, and in managing our emotional reactions. When it's damaged, everything goes out of whack.
Your emotions go haywire and mostly focus on anger, making you aggressive. Your empathy decreases as well, making you emotionally blunt." Alyssa explained.
"Exactly. This demon must be feeding off of negative aggressive emotions. Anger, hate, rage. Causing the victim to violently act on those urges." Izzy continued.
"How do you know this stuff, Alyssa?" Lydia asked.
"Online classes in pre-med courses and forensic science, moving on." Alyssa said.
"So we continue to scan for venom and heat signatures. Try to narrow down the host before it strikes again." Alec said. Lydia pulled up a hologram 3D model of the institute.
"Alec, Alyssa, check the living quarters." Lydia instructed, then turned to Izzy and Clary. "You two take the utility tunnels."
"I'll stay with you." Raj said to Lydia. Alyssa barely contained a snort at that.
"Day just keeps getting better." Lydia said sarcastically.
"Good luck." Alyssa said in a sing-song voice.
"Thanks. I'm gonna need it." Lydia said before walking away with Raj. Alyssa let out a laugh before walking away with Alec.
Hallways
Alec and Alyssa were walking down the hallways when they heard a scream of pain from ahead.
Sharing a look, they ran toward the scream and came across Raj looming over Lydia who was on the floor. Acting quickly, Alec nocked an arrow into his bow.
"Lydia." Alyssa yelled, gaining Raj's attention. Alec then shot the arrow into Raj's leg, making the demon in him groan in pain. Alec nocked another arrow, but before he could shoot again, the demon in a form of black smoke left Raj's body, disappearing into an air vent. Raj fell to the floor in a heap as Alyssa and Alec ran closer to Lydia, kneeling beside her. "Hey, you're gonna be okay." Lydia held her arm in pain, moaning.
Clary's Room
Clary walked into her room to see her mother there and called to her, making her turn to face her daughter.
"You caught me…being a helicopter mom. Making sure there are no monsters under your bed."
"Well, given what that demon just did to Lydia, I don't blame you. I just saw her in the infirmary." Clary said with a chuckle.
"How is she?" Jocelyn asked.
"She's hurt pretty badly, but she'll pull through."
"It's nice to hear something positive."
"Yeah." Clary said, hesitating before taking Jocelyn's hands in hers. "Mom, about Idris…" Jocelyn smiled sadly, knowing what Clary was about to say. "There is a part of me that wants to come with you, but…I have to learn to stand on my own. And there are people here that I can't leave." Jocelyn just kept on smiling and stroked Clary's cheek.
Outside the room, Alyssa, who had stopped as she passed, was standing leaning against the wall listening. In her moment of distraction, the demon came out of the air vent and possessed her, making her eyes go entirely black.
Hallway
Clary walked in, leaving a voicemail for Simon. She then saw Alyssa sitting on the floor, leaning against the wall, looking dazed. She immediately hung up and walked closer to the older girl, looking worried for her.
"Alyssa. Alyssa?" She called out. Alyssa came out of her daze and looked down at her hand, which was covered in blood, then looked up at Clary, a question on her lips before she got distracted by the distinct smell of blood assaulting her senses. She first thought it was the blood on her hand but then she noticed a trail of bloody footprints leading into one of the rooms, which had the door open.
Clary followed her gaze, also seeing the footprints and followed it into the room. What she saw had her gasping in shock as tears gathered in her eyes and fell down.
Alyssa, hearing her gasp, got up and entered the room only to stop in shock at the sight in the room. Jocelyn was lying dead in a pool of blood, with a hole in her chest and her heart missing. Alyssa looked down at her bloody hand and then back at Jocelyn's body. She was immediately filled with guilt when she looked toward Clary, who had tears falling down her face. Alec joined them in the room and stopped short at the sight. He connected the dots when he saw the blood on Alyssa's hand.
Ops Center
Clary, Alec, and Alyssa are all watching the surveillance footage from the room where Jocelyn was found.
They watched as Alyssa spoke to Jocelyn, then pounced on her and proceeded to kill her, ripping a hole through her.
"Oh, my God. Clary, Lyssa…" Alec tried to say, but Alyssa picked up her seraph blade from the table and walked away, murderous eyes.
Training Room
"Alyssa. Alyssa!" Alec and Clary followed Alyssa into the training room, calling for her but she ignored their calls.
She moved toward the weapons but stopped when she heard someone else enter the room. By the scent, she knew it was Izzy but there was something off about her. She turned around as Alec began to speak.
"Izzy, we need your help. Jocelyn's…"
"Dead because of her." Izzy said in a demonic voice, glaring at Alyssa, then lunged towards them. They all dodged to the side. Izzy turned back to face them, her eyes a soulless black.
"It's inside her." Clary said as Alec de-glamoured his bow and arrows and she took out her blade.
"It's still Izzy. Be careful where you aim." Alec said, readying his own weapon. The demon inside Izzy tilted her head and growled.
It moved faster than either Alec or Clary could follow and threw Clary to the side. Then it hit Alec's bow out of his hands, seeing his hesitation to shoot. It tried to hit him but Alec dodged and grabbed Izzy from behind. "Izzy, please stop! Izzy…" Alec pleaded.
The demon grabbed him and threw him over her shoulder on the floor, making Alec grunt from the impact. Crouching over him, the demon inside Izzy stroked Alec's cheek in an almost caring manner.
"Always the favorite child. I'm done living in our shadow."
"Izzy, if you're in there, please listen to me." Alec pleaded. The demon smirked, then the smirk faded.
"Nice try." It raised Izzy's hand to plunge it to Alec's chest, but before she could bring it down, a gold whip wrapped around her wrist and pulled her off him.
The demon stood up and looked up to glare at Alyssa, who had been the one to pull it off of Alec.
"That's enough." Alyssa's irises shifted to the green that showed her wolf was at the surface, but this time her sclera had also shifted to a black color, indicating that her demon side, which had been buried for a long time, was also out to play. "Why don't you pick on someone your own size and kind?" Her voice was also shifted just like it had the night Jace was arrested.
The demon in Izzy grinned maliciously and growled, then lunged at Alyssa. Alyssa easily subdued Izzy, locking her into a bind that had her struggling to free herself. "Release Izzy now, demon." The demon growled and struggled again. "Hard way it is." Quickly, Alyssa took a seraph dagger from the holster on her thigh and stabbed the blade deep into Izzy's shoulder.
She pulled the dagger out, letting the demon out of Izzy's body. Izzy fell against Alyssa, weakened. The demon took its smoke form in front of Clary, who glared at it with her blade ready. "Clary, now!" Clary swung her blade at the demon.
"Go back to Hell where you belong." She said right as she killed the demon. Both Alec and Clary rushed over to where Alyssa was kneeling, holding Izzy, kneeling beside both of them. "Izzy…Izzy, are you alright?"
"Izzy! Izzy, please. Please be okay, Izzy." Alec pleaded. Izzy woke up, gasping softly.
"What happened?" She asked, disoriented. Alyssa helped her sit up and lean against Alec, who gently pulled her into a hug. Relieved that Izzy was going to be okay, Clary looked up at her sister, but she refused to look back at her. Before Clary could say a word, Alyssa walked out of the training room, causing Alec and Clary to share a look. Alec concentrated back on his sister, running his stele over her Iratze just as Jace and Aldertree entered the room.
With the demon now vanquished, Clary numbly sat down to process the shock of her mother's death. Simon rushed in and went straight to Clary.
"Hey." He said softly and pulled her into a hug she returned numbly.
Seeing that everything was fine, Aldertree walked out, leaving while Jace went over to his brother and sister. He and Alec helped Izzy stand up. Seeing how weakened she was, Alec lifted her into his arms and left the room with Jace behind him. Jace looked back at Clary and Simon then fully left the room.
After making sure Izzy was going to be fine, Jace went in search of Alyssa. He found her on the roof, leaning against the ledge.
Feeling his presence behind her, Alyssa turned to face Jace, her face tearstained, and more tears fell from her eyes.
"Jace?" She said tearfully. Without a word, Jace went towards her and drew her into his arms, wrapping her in a hug. Feeling the touch and warm embrace of her husband, Alyssa finally broke down and cried in Jace's arms, sobbing heavily. However, even his touch couldn't take away the guilt and pain she was feeling in her heart.