•

•

__________________________________

Time seems to of stopped. Monsters like the one before all emerge from almost every single person in that small room. Beautiful dancers and strong bouncers alike become hideous monsters. 

My eyes lock onto Clary who's on the ground, her eyes frantically looking around the room. When her eyes lock onto mine, I'm brought back to the present. A monster that was once a man, the same man that Clary used to get in, I recognized, was right in front of me, his mouth wide open and his sharp teeth glistening in the artificial lighting of the room.

A scream rips from my mouth as I hurriedly step back, away from the creature. He closes the gap between us in two big steps and reaches out for me. Suddenly his chest lights up a blinding white light before he disintegrates. Falling in his place is a silver arrow. Lifting my head, the brunette from earlier rushes toward me.

"Are you okay?" He asks, wrapping an arm around my body as his eyes glance over my figure. Words fail me as a monster tries to attack my savior from behind. It's like my arms have a mind of their own. One minute the monster is in pursuit, closing in fast. The next, it disintegrates on the end of the blade in the hand. "What?"

Dropping the weapon, the blade disappears and the handle clatters on the ground with a gentle thud. I back up out of fright, my back bumping into the handsome stranger behind me. He wastes no time wrapping his arm around my body, but I don't even acknowledge the grip. The handsome stranger stares at me with wide eyes but I choose to ignore his stare, my eyes looking for Clary but she's nowhere in sight.

Worry clouds my vision, thinking the worst. I burst out of the handsome stranger's arms and make a run out of the room. Once out, I frantically look around for my sister. Upon seeing a mop of red hair, I follow, quickly closing in on her. Muttering apologies to each individual I bump into, I pass by Simon and Maureen, each with two drinks in their hands.

"But.. Val! Valerie!"

Rushing out in the cool evening air, I hurriedly continue. Finally finding my sister getting into a taxi, I slide into the seat next to her, grasping my hand in hers. Tears slide down her face as she looks at me and she tells the driver shakingly to drive.

The drive to our home was tense as I debate whether or not to ask Clary if she's alright. Obviously, she isn't with tears pouring out of her eyes and I can tell she's lightly shaking so I do the next best thing. I wrap my arms around her shoulders and pull her into me.

Clary relaxes against me as her tears stain my shirt. But I think nothing of it. I just continue to rub my sister's back and give her the comfort that she needs right now.

↬•↫

"And then these creepy tentacles seem to come out of the bodybuilder's face and... and then the guy just... vaporized. I mean, I was drugged right?" After Clary and I got back to her home and she settled down a bit we finally were stable enough to explain to our mother what had happened tonight.

I let Clary lead since she had seen what had happened more clearly than I had.

"What did the markings look like on the blonde guy you were talking about?" Jocelyn asks, glancing between the two of us. 

"Who cares, mom, okay? Are you even listening to me? I think I killed a guy." Clary's voice faded on the last statement. Getting up, I wrapped my arms around her, giving her a gentle hug. That seemed to do the trick because she calmed down a little bit.

"Clary, do they look like this?" Jocelyn asks before she rolls up her sleeve. Taking out a stele that looks almost identical to Clary's she waves it over her lower arm.

A marking eerily similar to the one Clary painted on Simon's van appeared on her skin. My breath hitched in my throat as my arms unconsciously tightened around Clary.

"Mom, what the..."

"Everything you saw tonight has a meaning and an explanation and I've dreaded having this conversation with you since the day you were born." Jocelyn gets up and grabs Clary's hand in two of hers.

"What's going on? Am I going insane?" Clary asks, her frantic eyes searching her mother's face. I'm holding my breath for the big reveal. I mean it has to be a joke, right?

"No, you're not. But the protections are wearing off. You're 18 now and you need to know the truth."

"Protections? What does that even mean? Mom, mom... you're scaring the hell out of me." Clary pulls her hand from mom's and comes to stand next to me. I grab her hand and give her a gentle squeeze. She looks over at me, giving me a small smile.

"I know, and that's why I've put this off until the very last minute." Jocelyn sighs before falling back into the couch, exhaustion clearly visible on her face. Guilt floods my body at her expression. Everything she's done, she's done to protect us and it's slowly catching up with her.

Suddenly, Dot appears in the living room, a worried expression on her face as she addresses the oldest Fray in the room. "Jocelyn, look out the window. Magnus called to warn us. They found you."

Jocelyn quickly springs up and bounds toward the window. Lightly pulling the corner of the curtains away she pears outside before pulling away altogether. "Dot it's time."

Jocelyn turns toward Clary and me. "Okay, listen to me. You two can not be near me."

"What's happening?" My voice sounds hoarse from the question and I swallow a few times. "I got a very powerful man angry."

"What did you do?" Clary asks, clenching my hand in hers. "I hid something from him and his followers."

"Followers? Mom, why can't we just call the police?" I was getting desperate now. Jocelyn turns away and rummages through some draws before pulling out a necklace.

"The policeman you need to call is Luke," Jocelyn says, placing the necklace around Clary's neck. "Keep this with you and think of me when you wear it."

"Mom, this is not the time for more birthday gifts. What the hell is happening?" Dot returns with a weird green potion of sorts. "Only if you need it," she says, giving the potion to Jocelyn who merely nods in response.

"Trust your instincts. You are more powerful than you know. Both of you are," Jocelyn finishes, giving each of us a kiss on the forehead. "Mom, I need to understand -"

"Dot, open it."

Dot merely nods before her hands are engulfed with purple flames. I step back in horror as I watch two doors swirl with the purple flames. Clear swirls appear in between the two doors and I can faintly make out what looks like people on the other side. A portal?

Jocelyn turns her attention back to Clary and me. "Everything I've done. Every mistake I've made is because I love you both more than words"

"Mom, what are you doing?" At this point, Clary has more tears falling down her cheeks. "Please, mom. Don't do this," I whisper.

"Luke will explain everything. He'll hide you guys."

"Hide us?" Clary whispers. Jocelyn nods. "From the circle. He's the only one you can trust. Trust no one else." For some reason, the blonde guy and the brunette guy flash through my mind and I swear I can feel both of my marks tingling. 

"Mom, I don't -"

"Where is Luke now?" Jocelyn is shouting, trying to have her daughter hear over the pounding of shoes as they make their way closer to the house.

"At the police station!" I say frantically. Glancing at Dot, she gives us a small smile one that I can't return. "Remember, I love you both."

Suddenly the wind picks up, flying my raven hair around my face. Jocelyn and Dot both start to fade away as I'm sucked into the portal behind me.

Suddenly the heavy wind stops. Opening my eyes, I see we are in front of the police station. Clary is seated next to me, her gaze locked on the concrete but her eyes seem far away.

"Clary? Val?" 

Startled, I spring up. Grabbing onto Clary and steadying her on her two feet. "Captian Vargas."

"It's two in the morning. Why are you guys here so late?" She asks, glancing for any injuries that we both might have sustained. "Uh, um... Luke said he'd take us home if he was still here."

"Still don't trust those cabbies, huh? Well, he's in the middle of an interview. It might take a while." I purse my lips, nodding my head to go along with Clary's lie. "Cool, we will wait in the cafeteria."

"Hey, is there some sort of problem? Guy trouble?" Vargas asks, taking a step closer to us. "Yeah, sure. Guy trouble, it's, uh... something like that."

Clary quickly grabs my hand and pulls me up the rest of the steps toward the entrance to the police station.

Running down the hallway, I can faintly make out voices. Pulling Clary down beside a wall that leads downstairs, we can clearly make out the conversation of the interview.

"The minute we found out Jocelyn Fairchild was alive, you were easy to track," The rough voice of a man hits my ears as my brows crease. "Fairchild?" I hear Clary mumble beside me.

"Turns out you and Jocelyn were never that far apart. The circle has her now. It's only a matter of time until we catch the daughters." My breath hitches in my throat. They know about Clary and me.

"You can have all three of them if you give us the cup," a woman's voice speaks this time. However, it's Luke's next words that has a sob getting trapped in my throat. "I don't care about any of them. They mean nothing to me. Kill them if you'd like."

Clary lets out a quiet broken sob as tears slid down her face. I can feel my own tears slide down my face as I huddle close to Clary, wrapping my arms around her body.

"My people want the cup. Why do you think I've been hanging around them all these years? Now, when I find the cup, I'm going to keep it. And you can tell Valentine and the circle that."

"No one mentioned Valentine," the first person voiced. "No one needed to," Luke interjected.

I couldn't handle any more of this conversation. First Jocelyn lied to us and now Luke. By the look on Clary's face, I could tell she also had enough.

"Come on," I whisper, helping her up as we both make our way out of the police station and out into the rain. Racing down the street, I try to hold back my tears, but it's no use. Once they start pouring, there is no stopping them. 

Finally, we reach our home and Clary wastes no time rushing inside. "Mom! Mom!"

Walking in behind her, my eyes come in contact with blood smeared on the floor. My hand shoots up toward my mouth as more tears slid down my face.

"Mom.." Clary whispers. She apparently saw the blood too.

Walking in deeper, the house is a total wreck. Tables and chairs are turned over. Cabinets and drawers are opened, all of their content is thrown on the floor. Our couch is slashed open and even some of our hardwood floors are missing.

"Mom!" Clary shouts, grabbing an axe from its broken case. She starts marching around the room, shouting for our mother.

Just then Dot appears in the doorway. Clary exhales, dropping the axe as she makes her way over to Dot. "Dot!"

"They took Jocelyn," Dot says, calmly. This causes the hairs on the back of my neck to rise. Quickly, I grasp Clary's arm, pulling her back from Dot.

"Who took her?" I try, testing her. "Rogue shadowhunters looking for the mortal cup."

My eyes narrow slightly at her response, my grip on Clary's arm tightening when I feel her try to pull away from me.

"What the hell are you talking about?" At least she has stopped pulling away from me.

"Think Clary. Did your mother ever mention a cup? A very important cup. It's gold, almost like a chalice." Clary doesn't even know how to respond. I can tell, she's about to give up. "No. No. I don't know anything about a cup. One of the antiques downstairs?"

Dot shakes her head. "No. No. Not those. Think Clary, this could save Jocelyn."

"I can't think. Someone kidnapped my mother," Clary explodes, gripping her hair and lightly tugging it. I feel really bad for her. Keeping my eyes trained on Dot, I set a reassuring hand on my sister's shoulder.

"You know more than you think you do, Clary Fray."

Suddenly Dot turns into the same demon that I saw at the club before. Pushing Clary behind me out of pure instinct, I brace my body for pain when I notice the demon lunge toward me.

Sharp teeth embed themselves in my shoulder and all I feel is immense pain. Screams rip from my throat as I stumble backward. The demon dislodges its teeth from my flesh and I hear a guttural growl.

Just then the demon starts to glow the same silver color as the ones in the club. I knew instantly it was about to disintegrate. And it does just that. Standing in the place of the demon is Jace smiling down at me. "What no 'thank you' for saving your life?"

I sway a bit on my feet, my vision becoming cloudy. A strong arm wraps around my waist as I'm cradled against a hard chest. "Careful. That demon got a piece of you."

"Demon?" I whisper. My eyes lazily trail over his face before I see Clary behind me. She appears unharmed but is staring daggers at me. "Clary?"

"Yeah. What did you think that miserable, disgusting thing was?" Jace asks, glancing behind him at Clary. His grip around me tightens and a ghost of a smile appears on my mouth. "I like when you touch me."

Jace's eyes widen before a smirk tugs the corner of his mouth. "I'm glad, mate." My eyebrows crease.

"Why is the room spinning?" I whisper, hiding my face in his chest. He smells so good. "Demon venom," is his short response. I close my eyes.

"Is that bad?"

The world fades before my eyes as I lose consciousness. The last thing I hear is Jace mutter. "I got you and I'm not letting you go."