Cursed (Infernal Devices Fanfiction)

Chapter 4- "Angels Hate Me."

Disclaimer: SOME of the dialogue in this chapter, all characters (but Grace and Philip), the main story line and settings belong to Cassandra Clare. Everything else like the rest of the writing and my own characters belong to me. I do not own The Infernal Devices as they belong to the brilliant and fantastic mind of Cassandra Clare.

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'Did you have to hit me, where I'm weak? Baby I couldn't breathe
And rub it in so deep, salt in the wound like your laughing right at me.'

- Bad Blood, Taylor Swift
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Grace sat in the carriage, keeping an eye on the sleeping Miss Gray but also wandering her own thoughts in her head. What happened at the home of the Dark sisters had unnerved her slightly. They knew her for one thing which should have been impossible. She could remember to this day the conversation she had with Charlotte and Jem a few weeks after they had arrived from Shanghai...

-*-*-*-*- Charlotte -*-*-*-*-

"I've had a letter from the Council," Charlotte told the twins who sat in front of her. She was still struggling to look them directly in the eye even though they had been at the Institute for three weeks now. The boy, who was the elder one by twenty two minutes she was told, had the look of pure exhaustion in his eyes but a glint of hope and happiness coming from within. It hurt her to see the pain he had gone through and was still going through but made her feel oddly child-like at the same time.

The girl was a different story. Her eyes just looked shattered, liked someone had smashed the insides of her like glass. Charlotte had got to know her, little by little, in the past few weeks as she tried to wheedle information from her. She hadn't talked to anyone at first, only to her brother when she was sure they were alone. She seemed like she was always on edge, petrified all the time and, what took Charlotte a while to figure out, underneath it all she was ashamed of something. As for what she was petrified of, Charlotte had read the Silent Brother's report to know that it was of herself...or what was inside her.

"Have they made a decision?" James Carstairs asked, staring intently at her. He was still so fragile and weak but his spirit was strong.

"They have, James," Charlotte replied. She was slightly worried about how they would take the news. Grace had been under investigation for a while since the Silent Brothers learned of what the demon Yanluo had done to her. Nephilm are too proud, she thought. They were debating the life of a young, tortured girl because they thought she "damaged" the Shadowhunter's pure and angelic race.

"They aren't going to strip her Marks," Charlotte explained. Jem relaxed at that news. "They have taken your report into account, James, as they have with my observations of your sister over the past few weeks. However, they have decided on a different course of action."

"What could they possibly want?" Jem exclaimed. "She has suffered enough."

"They have made two demands," Charlotte said, picking up the letter that was on her desk. "Number one: she must not make any acquaintances with any kinds of Downworlders, even half Downworlders." That was obvious. They didn't want the knowledge that their "pure" bloodline had been tainted by demons, like a Downworlder themselves, because to the Clave, Shadowhunters were meant to be better than Downworlders.

"How can she do her job if she's not allowed to do that?" Jem asked, his silver eyes burning with rage. "She can't not make contact with Downworlders, it's simply impossible in this world."