The Dark Ones

Chapter Five

Missed Call 18

Messages 23

I let out a sigh, ignoring everything and clicking on Simon's contact.

"Clary!" He yelled, causing me to wince at the loud noise, "is everything okay?"

"Yes," I told him quickly, "I just wanted to say hey and ask if you told anyone anything."

"I didn't tell anyone," he responded, and I let out a small sigh of relief. "I was thinking about telling your mom, but I don't think she likes it when you communicate to her through me when you go missing."

"Yeah, you're right." I laughed, shaking my head before realizing he couldn't see me. "Okay, I'm going to call her, okay? Talk to you later."

"Please call me later, but soon." He asked, and I agreed before hanging up.

I took a deep breath before pressing on my mom's contact. Before it could get finished the first ring, she answered.

"Clary?" She asked, her voice an octave higher than what I remembered it to be. I could hear that she was frantic. "Where have you been? Are you alright? Are you there? Clary? Are you hurt?"

I sat for a moment, feeling comfort at the sound of her voice as she ran through more and more questions. After a few seconds, I realized that I should answer. "Mom," I breathed. "I'm alright. I'm not hurt, I'm somewhere safe."

"Clary, you need to home right now." She told me sharply, and I closed my eyes as they started to sting.

"No, mom." I said, a sense of finality in my tone. "I'm not going back there. I can't risk seeing Jace."

"Clary, he's a boy. You are stronger than this." She responded, "I have no clue what happened, but it's Jace. You two will make up."

"He cheated on me, mom. And after everything... I just couldn't take it." I responded, a tear rushing down my cheek. I could hear her gasp.

"He did what?" She asked incredulously.

"Listen, I'll be home, okay? Just not now." I told her, and I could hear her breathing shakily.

"Clary, I need you. Please." She pleaded, but I didn't respond. "Please come home. If not now then soon."

"I promise I will, mom." I told her, and I could hear her take a deep breath. "I love you."

"I love you too." She said. "After everything that's happened, I really could only think the worst."

"I know. I'm sorry that I didn't call sooner, my phone was dead. But I am okay, and like I said, I'm safe." I explained quietly, and I could hear her let out sigh.

"Where are you, Clary?" She asked suddenly.

"Somewhere safe. Please, trust me." I said.

"Alright." She responded. "At least call Simon, I know he is worried sick about you."

I bit my lip, realizing that she didn't know that I already did. "I'll call him now. Bye mom," I responded.

We said "I love you" once more before hanging up, leaving me with only a few more people to call. I saw Isabelle's name on the list, and I inwardly cringed before deciding that I should explain to her that I'm safe, not by any help of her own.

"Clary?" She picked up after a ring or two, but it wasn't her voice.

"Who is this?" I asked, wondering if it were Alec.

"Clare, don't hang up-"

"Jace?" I felt a blaze of indignation spark within me. "I don't want to talk to you."

"Clary," his voice broke, and he took a deep breath. "I want to talk this out."

I could feel my heart pounding and I stood up. "Jace, you cheated on me," I told him, my voice rising in volume. "You told me that you wanted to be with me forever. You told me you loved me. You lied, and you expect me to talk to you?"

"I do love you, Clary!" He cried, and I heard him sniffle.

"Not enough!" I yelled, and I moved to hang up, but the sound of my door opening caused me to avert my attention.

"Clary? Are you alright?" it was Noah again. I wiped at my face, realizing that a few tears had fallen during the exchange with Jace.

"Who is that?" Jace asked, and I could hear concern and jealousy dripping in his tone.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" I asked, holding a finger up at Noah. He nodded, leaning against the doorway. "I want to talk to Isabelle."

I looked at Noah, "who is that?" He asked, his voice low.

I mouthed, "Jace" and his eyes widened in response.

"I need to talk to you." Jace replied. "You never let me explain myself."

"There's nothing to explain, what you did was pretty self-explanatory," I told him, feeling anger rise within me again as I remembered that night with absolute clarity. "I don't care what you have to say."

"Then I'm coming to find you." He told me, and I spark of fear crackle through me. My gaze shifted to Noah, and considering that he couldn't hear what Jace was saying, I chose my words carefully so that he could know what had been said.

"You're coming to find me?" I asked, my eyes wide. I watched as Noah furrowed his eyebrows, shaking his head.

"I'll be there, you can bet on it." He said. "I have no way of knowing that you're safe, and I need to know that you're safe."

"Jace, don't come anywhere near me, okay?" I asked. "It will just make everything so much worse."

"I just want to be with you." Jace said, a vulnerability in his voice that I hadn't heard in a while.

"You're feeling it right now, aren't you?" I asked, and he went silent. I looked away from Noah and toward the wall. I was talking to Jace at that point, and it was personal. "That feeling that whatever you do, nothing will be good enough. Feeling like the person you care about most in the world is slipping right through your fingers... And there is nothing that you can do about it. Nothing you can do to stop it. Right?"

"Yes." He told me, his voice low.

"I felt that too, Jace." I responded. "The only difference is that I wasn't the one that caused it. You were, and I decided to let you go. You should do the same for me, for my sake."

Before waiting for a response, I hung up, throwing my phone onto the bed and looking back toward Noah.

"He can't come here," Noah tried to reassure me.

"Yes he can, Noah," I responded, sitting down on my bed. I shook my head, "all it would take is him coming and requesting entrance when no one is awake."

"That's not what I mean," Noah replied, moving to sit beside me. "I know that he's capable of getting in here because he's a shadow hunter, but he won't."

"What do you mean he won't?" I questioned, looking at him sideways.

"Look, you might be upset when I tell you this... But there's something I have been keeping from you." He told me, and I felt as though my heart was sinking. I motioned with my hands for him to continue, "why do you think the Clave is afraid of us? A few nobodies that just decided to start a group?"

"Because you're all powerful," I replied. "That's what the Clave released... That there were five—" And then I stopped abruptly. There were five of them, and I had only been introduced to four. "Who is the fifth, Noah?"

"The other member is the one that got us all together, Clary. He found all of us and formed a sort of team." Noah explained, and I could feel my heart pounding again.

"Who is it, Noah?" I asked. "Who is the other member?"

"It's..." He hesitated. "It's your brother, Jonathan. Jonathan Morgenstern."