City of All Things Ruined - A Mortal Instruments Fan Fiction (COMPLETED)

Chapter 16

CHAPTER 16 – A FINE INTRODUCTION

CLARY 

Clary awoke to find herself in unfamiliar clothes, in an unfamiliar bed, in and unfamiliar room. When she turned over, she was begging to see Jace lying next to her, but as Clary had suspected, there was nobody there. Reality began to flood back to her in flashes and blurs of colour. Jace’s phone call. Sebastian’s brute force. Intense pain.

Hauling the silken covers off herself, Clary began to take in her surroundings.

The white-walled room contained a grand, ornate double bed, a wardrobe, dresser, a desk, bookshelf, a full length mirror, two beanbag chairs, and countless paintings, most likely priceless.

Clary stood in front of the mirror and turned her body around at different angles, staring at the white silken nightgown, which clung elegantly to her slender figure. It had thin straps, and hit her mid-thigh, instantly making her attempt to pull it down to conceal her bare legs.

She noticed that her thick red hair was pulled tightly back behind her in a neat bun, and a fading iratze was visible on the back of both of her shoulders, and on her neck. The wound given to her by Sebastians ring was also gone.

Her lips were a bright red, most likely from the attention they had recieved the previous day, but much to Clary’s relief, the necklace of red marks Jace had trailed across her collarbone and breastbone were still there. That was something Sebastian could not take away from her.

Inspecting the dresser, Clary found strapless dresses, cropped denim jeans, shorts, cropped tops and lingerie all arranged in neat piles. Upon closer inspection, Clary noticed that all of the items were labelled with her name, and were all in her size. Her jeans that she had been wearing earlier were nowhere to be found.

Taking a deep breath, Clary headed towards the door and gently pushed it open. She longed for her stele, for a soundless rune to aid in her sneaking. With every step, the oaken floorboards creaked loudly, sure to draw the attention of anyone nearby. The hallway was long, and as Clary slowly walked down its length, she noticed there were several other doors down this hallway.

When she reached the end of the hallway, she peered around the corner and into what appeared to be a dining room, only to shrink back against the wall after realising the room was occupied.

“Clary, so nice of you to join us,” She heard her brother call from the dining room. Clary sighed in frustration, before revealing herself to him. “My companions and I were just discussing some things, but I’m sure they won’t mind introducing themselves to you.”

Clary instantly felt uncomfortable wearing such revealing clothes in front of strangers, and her brother. Again, she tugged at the bottom of the nightgown, urging the fabric to stretch and cover her bare skin. The room in front of her was spacious and ornate, furnished with a rounded glass table, an animated fireplace and a low-hanging chandelier.

Sebastian and his companions sat closely around the table, all with a glass of some wine or spirit in front of them. The four people sat alongside Sebastian were all completely unfamiliar to Clary, and as they all stood up, she noticed that they were all dressed incredibly casually, contrasting to the rooms formal appearance. As the group walked over to her, Clary took a step backwards, only to bump into her brother who had somehow gotten behind her.

“Come now Clary, remember your manners, we just want to say hello.” He smirked, and then pushed Clary forward towards his circle of companions. The first person to extend their hand towards Clary was a lanky brown haired boy, with pale skin and piercing blue eyes.

“Hi, I’m Link,” He said, his Australian accent becoming instantly recognisable. Link shook her hand politely before taking a step back and looking at the boy to his left.

The boy had blonde hair that stuck up at the front, and deep brown eyes. He advanced on Clary, and pulled her towards him quickly, his one hand wrapping around her waist, and the other resting on her cheek. “The names Felix,” He said, staring Clary’s lips rather than her eyes, “Sebastian, you never said your sister was hot?”

The rest of the group laughed, except Sebastian, who seemed to almost growl at Felix, who had now backed away jokingly. He raised his hands in the air in defence, and then poked the girl next to him.

The girl had long brown wavy hair, high cheekbones, and a perfect complexion. Instantly, Clary was jealous of the girls beauty. The girl extended her hand, and firmly shook Clary’s hand.

“Amelia,” The girl said, not releasing Clary’s hand from hers. Suddenly, Amelia’s face morphed into Clary’s, and her hair shortened and coloured to look exactly like Clary’s. Next, she shrunk a few inches, lost some of her curves, and gained freckles, before looking down at herself. “Wait, I guess I’m Clary now.” She said, earning a gasp from Clary, and a roar of laughter from the group.

“Sorry,” Amelia said, “Old habit.” Within seconds, Amelia released Clary from her grip, and returned to her normal appearance.

“Seth?” Amelia encouraged, elbowing the final boy, Seth, in the ribs. The boy shot her a glare, then stared at the ground, arms crossed.

“Yes…” Sebastian said, spinning Clary around to face him, “Seth is a quiet one, keeps to himself.” He looked down at Clary dryly.

“Okay, what the heck is going on here?” Clary asked, pushing away from her brother, but accidentally knocking into Link, who steadied her quickly. “I was kind of expecting to be tied up, or in a cage or something, but you just told me all your names, and you’re not even trying to stop me from leaving here.”

“If you wanted me to tie you up, you should have just asked.” Sebastian purred seductively, advancing on Clary yet again. The group behind her were silent, until she heard them all take a single step backwards.

Clary did not doubt that her knees were trembling. “Typical of you to only answer that  partof the question brother” Her voice cracked at the end of her retort, earning a smirk from Sebastian.

“Well, little sis, there’s not much you can do to get away from all five of us, now is there? You can’t lift a finger without one of us knowing, yet alone escape, so I would just be a good girl and do what we tell you.” Sebastian replied cruelly, almost certainly adoring the power he now had over his ‘rebellious’ sibling.

He lifted his hand up in front of Clary, and showed her his ring that had transported them both to this place. “We all have one of these rings, little sis. Wherever you are, we can get to you in seconds… Not to mention all the weapons we have on us.” Clary heard the sound of daggers being unsheathed behind her, but felt only three sharp points in her back, easily poking holes in the thin nightgown. She dared not turn around to see who had spared her the discomfort, but instead, she stared angrily into her brothers eyes.

“I’m getting changed.” She said, storming past him.

“Somebody go with her.” Sebastian laughed cruelly; Clary could almost hear the smirk in his voice.

“I volunteer as tribute” Felix said, causing Link and Amelia to burst out laughing. Sebastian growled again, then sighed.

“I’ll go with her Sebastian.” Amelia said, before following Clary down the hall and back to her room. Clary slammed the door and locked it before Amelia could get inside, only to find her already sat on her bed.

“Locking doors doesn’t get you very far here Clary,” She said, almost sympathetically, but that didn’t stop her from drawing her seraph blade and pointing it at Clary, “Get changed.”