3. Chapter 3 (1/2)

jace woke up the next morning to the smell of coffee

ewing. he looked over at the alarm clock on the nightstand next to the bed. it read 10:30 am. woah. he never slept in that late. it was embedded into him. he woke up at 7:00 every morning so he could train.

he shook his head, and showered quickly, putting on a pair of drawstring sweatpants and socks, and leaving the room, shirtless. he went down the steps and into the kitchen where everyone was already up.

he did a double-take. clary sat on the counter by the stove, a pair of crutches leaning against her knees. she wore a pair of short pajama shorts, and a tank top. her long red hair was in pigtails, and bandages covered the expanse of her body, and there was gauze wrapped around her leg from the middle of her thigh, to her calf. jace watched as she instructed isabelle on how to make pancakes. the others stood around them watching as isabelle burned pancakes again and again, and clary waved her hand and the burned ones disappeared, new supplies in their place. isabelle got frustrated, and held the spatula up to clary's face like a weapon. she just laughed, and moved the spatula. she snapped her fingers and the pancake mix, skillet, and spatula disappeared, replaced by a whole buffet of

eakfast foods and drinks.

they gawked, as plates and cups floated through the air, and hovered in front of them expectantly. jace reached out cautiously, and grabbed the plate and cup, as if they might attack him at any moment. the others followed his lead, and filled their plates, sitting at the bar. he watched while sipping coffee as jonathan lifted clary from the bar, and carried her over to the other side of the bar, so she sat across from alec. he took her plate and filed it with food, before sitting on the other side of her.

sebastian looked at her expectantly. "so… i think you've kept us waiting long enough. are you gonna tell us exactly what happened last night?"

she sighed, picking up a piece of bacon. "well, you know mom and dad got killed demon hunting, right?"

they nodded and she continued. "well, that's not exactly how it happened. most people think they died on a daily night raid, but that day… we were in the house, and my parabatai and i were making dinner while mom and dad talked. and out of nowhere, a demon flies straight through the window. i had created a rune that would immediately kill any demon that came in the house, so it died instantly… but more just kept coming. hundreds of them. we were forced to run. they followed us out to a park, and it was there that they died. and meghan. when we got there, we fought like hell, but at sometime, they all grouped together and… they kind of molded together until they formed a greater demon. we stood there watching in disbelief, and it just watched us straight back. it was enormous. its eyes were glowing red… anyway, it turned and looked straight at me and said "clarissa morgenstern, we have been searching for you for almost a millennia now. if i had my way, i would have sunk my teeth into your neck the second i arrived, but i'm bound to my master, so i must abide by his rules. you will come with me, and we will make a great feast of you, and finally be free." so naturally, i went at it. i had no idea what it was talking about, but i really wanted to kill it. … but then out of nowhere a whole horde of demons comes and attacks me. the others tried to help me out, but the greater demon started to attack them. i was all alone. … eventually, i had killed them all, … but by then it was too late. it had killed them. … i felt meghan die. … that feeling… it was unlike anything i've ever felt before. i felt hopeless, guilty, enraged… and even more guilt. she died, because i was too slow. too weak. and mom and dad. seeing them there. … i lost it. all my power just came flooding out. i couldn't control it. that whole park… it turned to ash. all the trees, grass, plants, everything. i passed out, and woke up a week later surrounded by silent

others. the clave had ordered them to stay close to me and eventually train to use and control my powers. it took almost half a year. i wasn't able to get out of bed for almost two weeks, so i did a lot of my training indoors."

she shook her head, as if to clear it. "but that's not the point. yesterday at the club, i got the same feeling that i did at that park. i knew that the same thing was about to happen, so i pushed isabelle into the closet. and i was right. at least three different hordes of demons showed up last night, and morphed into a demon at least twice as big. he said the same thing to me, but never finished before attacking me. and after i killed it, i went to make sure isabelle was okay."

they stared at her in shock, before jon stood up. "how could you keep this from us?! i can't believe you didn't tell us! what_"

clary turned on him,her eyes blazing. "what was i supposed to say, jonathan!? that they died because of me? that i was too weak to save them!? how am i supposed to tell someone that!? how am i supposed to tell my own