Sebastian's Return

Chapter 3

Clary was awake before both her mother and Luke. This was only to be expected considering that Jocelyn and Luke had stayed up till past midnight catching up on each others' pasts.

She crept into her mother's room, halting for a moment when she saw Luke lying fast asleep on the couch in the hall. She recalled the events of yesterday and recognised him so satisfied that their house hadn't been invaded by some random stranger, she pushed open the door into Jocelyn's room and tugged at her mother's duvet persistently.

"Clary, it's not even-" she started in a grumpy voice before looking at her alarm clock and sitting up bolt upright. "Oh god, it's already nine! I didn't realise."

"Come on!" insisted Clary. "I need to go to Simon's house."

Jocelyn sighed in exasperation pulling back her hair into a rough ponytail before she made her way to the bathroom.

Clary meanwhile, took it upon herself, to dance around the flat, singing, "I'm going to Simon's house! I'm going to Simon's house!"

"Who's Simon?" came a sleepy voice from behind her.

Clary turned around abruptly to see Luke reaching for the glasses that he had placed on the coffee table and stretching. She looked at him warily and debated whether or not to speak to him.

"Mummy says never to speak to strangers," she said cautiously.

"I'm not a stranger. Your mummy and I were very good friends when we were younger," he replied, the corners of his lips twitching with amusement.

"Like me and Simon?" she perked up suddenly.

Luke smiled. "Yes, just like that."

At that moment, Jocelyn wandered in and looked pleased at the interaction between Luke and Clary.

"Who's up for some breakfast?"

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"I'll pick her up at around 2," Jocelyn informed Elaine, who nodded in agreement.

She ruffled her daughter's hair affectionately and with a quick goodbye, made her way back home. It was surprising how conveniently this had worked out. Normally, Jocelyn would have to stay at home, sitting at her desk forlornly, busying herself with painting but this time she had Luke to keep her company. Not that she didn't like painting; she loved it, but she missed socialising with friends.

"Simon guess what? I met mummy's best friend yesterday. They used to be friends like us," Clary said to Simon.

"That's cool!" Simon replied as they made their way up to his and Rebecca's shared room. "Should we play a game on mummy's phone?"

"Yeah!" replied Clary enthusiastically as Simon hurried away to retrieve Elaine's phone. He returned within a matter of seconds, proudly holding an iPhone in his hand.

"Let's play Flappy Bird," he suggested as they settled themselves on his Ninja Turtles duvet cover.

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Jace sat curled up on the window seat in the library of the Wayland Manor. A fire had been burning for three hours in the fireplace but the manor seemed to always maintain its chilly temperature all year round.

He turned over the page and gazed with dismay at the endless words of Romanian literature. Despite being only five, his father Valentine insisted that he widen his vocabulary and understanding of languages so he was learning Romanian as well as Latin, Greek and more. At this age.

But every child gets bored. And Jace was not an exception. Although he had a natural thirst for knowledge, he had been studying for the past three hours and he was completely fed up. He found that he couldn't focus on anything and his mind was not processing a single word of what he was reading.

Frustrated, he placed his book next to him and looked at the shelves upon shelves of literature that filled the massive library. However, Jace had never been allowed to make his own selection of books to read; he was restricted to particular volumes chosen for him by Valentine who only believed in broadening his knowledge.

He glanced cautiously at the door, and darted to the shelf on the far right, which he'd frequently seen his father use. He ran his fingers along the spines of the books and pulled out a particularly thick one. It read 'Notes about my son: Jonathan Christopher'.

Curiosity getting the better of him, Jace flicked through the pages to find them covered with his father's slanted handwriting. Engrossed, he started reading.

'Jonathan is improving. His memory seems endless; he's able to memorise and recite all the names of the angels and is becoming fluent in a total of 5 languages. However what concerns me is his nature. He seems to lack emotion and although this is an advantage, I fear-'

"JONATHAN!" came a booming voice from behind him. Jace dropped the book in surprise and whipped around to see Valentine Morgenstern striding towards him. His fury was evident; his eyes burned into him like silver burned werewolves or sun burned vampires.

"Yes father?" said Jace meekly, too scared to meet his father's eyes.

"How dare you rummage through the bookshelf that I specifically told you was out of bounds?" he said in a steadily rising voice.

"Sorry father, I- I got bored."

"BORED?" roared Valentine, grabbing the boy by his shoulder and shaking him hard. "I'll make sure you never get bored again."

Jace squirmed as Valentine kept him in his grasp while yanking his stiff leather belt from around his waist.

"Father, please," he pleaded, his eyes widening in horror as he realised what was about to happen.

"I'll teach you a lesson you won't forget," Valentine said, bringing down the belt across Jace's back. Jace cried out as the buckle slammed into his spine. As he turned around to nurse his back, down it came a second time, this time slapping him across his face, the buckle poking his eye. He could feel his cheek sting with a fiery pain. Valentine had no mercy. He clutched at his face when the belt hit him yet again; this time the blow knocking him off his feet.

Jace could bear it no longer. He cried out to his father to stop but the words hadn't even escaped his mouth before he was responded by another whip. He curled into a ball, trying to protect himself in vain as lash after lash beat down upon him. He was bloody all over. He could feel blood already drying upon his forehead and soaking his golden hair into an ugly shade of red. Fresh blood welled out of his wrists, trickling down his hand onto the cold floor.

Jace was unaware when Valentine left the room. He may have blacked out and lost consciousness but he had no idea. He continued to lie there on the floor for what may have been hours, torn, beaten and bloody, yet Valentine didn't return to check on him. So curiosity did kill the cat. Or almost did. Jace felt torn in two piece; not only weak physically but also mentally.

After all, if a five year old has only one parent and that one parent was merciless, unforgiving and devoid of love, who can he turn to?

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Helloooo, Holly and Rachel here! Wasn't this a depressing chapter?

By the way, Jace says that he is actually six when this incident happens in the City of Glass but we've made him five because he's meant to be a year older than Clary (we think?) and she is four in this fanfiction. :)

Please let us know your thoughts and give this chapter a vote if you enjoyed it!

Thanks for reading. >_<