Deranged

Chapter XVIII: Lost the Touch

I'm happy to announce that Hamza has come back. Sorry for all the chapters in Maheen's and Hana's perspective,  but it's for a good reason. :)

This chapter is written by Hana.

Hana had a couple of hours. She needed some gear, obviously. Hopefully, Maryam was not at the Institute.

It was freezing outside; Maximus and Mason took the car, and all Hana had was a jacket.

How am I supposed to get home?

Home?

Hana sighed. She was already starting to feel the pull to Nephilim-founded places. She never thought of what she'd do if she could not convince the Clave to take her back.

Would she go back to her old life? Stay in school?

She shook her head to herself. That would be ridiculous.

Standing at the door of the Ritz Carlton and staring outside was not going to help her any further.

"Hana?"

The Shadowhunter turned around to face the familiar voice. "Samrah. Is everything okay?"

"Yeah. Well, no. Everything's not okay." Samrah was wearing her fuzzy pajamas shamelessly in the center of the hotel lobby. Her hair was as perfect as always, and her cat-like eyes were hidden with blue contacts. She looked like how she always did back in their apartment, but her face was not telling the same story.

"Well, what's wrong? Is it one of your episodes?" Samrah would have these moments where she would kind of cry over the fact that her life was screwed up, but it really wasn't, and Hana would remind her of that and how great their friendship was...

"Oh."

Samrah ran a hand through her dark hair and pursed her lips. "You're with a new crowd now, and I feel like I'm not too important for your life, so I'm thinking of leaving tomorrow, but I don't know how you'll feel about that and —"

"Samrah, you're rambling again. Slow down. Why wouldn't I want you here? I love you being around, you know that." Hana put a hand on her shoulder. Was she even saying the right words? She didn't have much experience.

"I do, too, but..."

Hana twisted her wrist, a gesture for her to continue.

Samrah just sighed. "Never mind. It's probably just the stress of it all. I should go to sleep."

Hana nodded and watched her walk away. Wait, hadn't she been bunking at the Institute? What got her to have a change of surroundings.

"Wait, why don't you go back with me? It's safe at the Institute," she called after her friend.

Samrah turned around and raised an eyebrow. "Come on. It's barely even safe for you."

Hana frowned. It wasn't safe. What was she thinking? For all she knows, Maryam has eyes and ears on her every move and planning to kill her in her sleep.

Before Hana could reply, Samrah was off.

That's not that Samrah I know.

Hana rubbed her temple and reminded herself, nothing is the same anymore.

You can't go back to the same life you lived if this doesn't work out. You won't be the same. And the world won't be the same if you let the Shaman kill his way to the top.

Hana didn't care about the cold anymore. She walked to the Institute despite the cold, her mind coming up with over runes that would help her in the little mission of hers. Which was in...