Chapter 3 – Into the lions den

Clary tossed and turned in her bed, she couldn't get Jace out of her head and it was killing her that she didn't even know him and already he had taken up more than a crucial amount of headspace.

After over an hour she decided to get a glass of water to cleanse the dryness in her throat. When she got down stairs she saw that the light in the kitchen was on and she could hear the faint hum that meant the refrigerator was open.

When she entered the kitchen she saw her father sitting at the table, the fridge wide open next to him, he looked sad, almost in pain. "Hello father, is something wrong?" she asked quietly.

His head jerked towards her and he reached out to slam the fridge door closed, "No, nothing's wrong, how has school been lately?" he asked, he seemed genuinely interested.

She was shocked, when was the last time they had had a normal conversation, she didn't know if they ever actually had at all. "Uh, it's been schooly" she realized he must be sober, but why, what made him decide to be better?

"Ok, any boys?" he asked, and then she remembered, it was her mother's birthday tomorrow, he usually didn't drink on her mum's birthday, it was almost like a punishment for what he'd done to her. One day a year, on the day his wife was born he stopped drinking and his mind was cleared enough for the guilt of everything he had done that past year to eat away at his insides like a plague.

"Uh, maybe, just one" she said cautiously, this was dangerous ground.

"Oh, yeah, he nice, good looking, popular?" he leaned back in his chair.

"Uh, yes, all of them" she said, although the nice thing she wasn't so sure about.

"He'll hurt you just like I hurt your mother, it won't be intentional, but one day he'll drink too much cause he's stressed out and then He'll hit you too hard, and you'll fall, and then you'll be in a coma, you wait and see" he burped and she winced, she didn't like it when he was like this, she never knew what to expect.

"I thought you said mum was hurt in a car accident" she said when his words registered in her brain, he had beaten her mother into a coma, she suddenly felt all her sympathy for the pathetic, alcoholic man before her seep away and get replaced by a swirling pool of dread.

"I did it, it was an accident, I won't let it happen to you, you are forbidden from leaving the house except to go straight to and from school" he said seriously, "you'll thank me one day".

"I will never thank you, never" she hissed and ran upstairs to her room, she grabbed her backpack for school and emptied out all the rubbish and spare paper so that she could fit her art supplies and clothing in it, then she climbed, carefully out of her window and ran to Simons house, it was three blocks down from hers.

Xxxxxxxxxx

The back door was locked, she wandered around to his bedroom window and peered in. Simon was asleep in his bed, his forehead slightly wrinkled and his hair hanging around his head in slightly shaggy clumps. He had forgotten to take his glasses off and for a millisecond Clary's heart squeezed with affection, then her gaze caught on the picture of her and Simon when they were little, maybe five or six, Clary's mother was In the background, walking towards the pair with a canvas tucked under one arm and a loving smile on her face. Clary felt her heart drop down into her acid filled stomach and turned away from the window, tears welling in her eyes and spilling down her cheeks like drops of ocean water, warm and salty.

She decided not to bother Simon and walked away from his house, searching for what seemed like an eternity before an old two story house caught her attention and brang her out of her blurry daze.

She walked up to the door, not sure what was drawing her to the house so strongly. Instead of knocking on the front door she walked around and jumped the back fence, looking in all the windows she passed. Her blood froze in her veins as she looked up at one of the second story balconies and saw a shirtless boy standing there, glaring down at her with golden blades for eyes.

It was Jace.

'Are you stalking me?" He growled, she didn't think he was joking.

"N-no…I swear I'm not! I just got lost…I ran away from home." Her voice faded as she realised she was telling him stuff that was none of his business "Like I would stalk you anyway…of all people. I would rather stalk my dead grandmother."

He frowned "you ran away?"

"Yeah, why do you care?" it was her turn to glare.

"It's just…well, you seem like you have no place to go. You can stay here if you want, I mean, only till you find another place." He scratched his head almost awkwardly.

"What…" she stared at him with disbelief and his eyes widened like he didn't know why he'd said that either.

"Uh…I don't know…" he scratched his head.

"Ok then…I think I'll just go sleep in the park." She walked to the fence and he flipped over the balcony, landing on his feet a few metres behind her with an almost silent thump.

"Don't…you can sleep on my couch, that's got to be better than a park bench or whatever. I already offered, it's not like I can take it back. So you may as well stay here."

She sighed "I guess it's a little better than the park."

He looked insulted "You're welcome for my generous and selfless offer."

"Actually…maybe the park bench isn't that bad." She reached up to grip the fence.

He quickly darted forward as dizziness caused her to sway and fall backwards, right into his chest. "Hey, what's wrong? Do you need a doctor?" he asked in a panicky voice.

"N-no…I'm fine. Just sick." She mumbled as she tried to stand back up without falling on her face.

Without another word he scooped her up and carried her inside his house, her eyes drifting closed as he ascended a dark wooden stare case.

You better hope he is nice…