The Best Friend

12

Eventually, I had turned off the music and went to bed when I heard they were no longer pounding on my door. I pulled the blankets up over my head and let sleep take over. The same visions appeared as last time, besides the Jace and Clary scene. Alec laying bloody and still on Madame Dorothea's floor and Jace laying bloody and beaten on the floor of the library. And my parents again. It's always how the visions end and what causes me to scream until I feel like my lungs may explode.

I jumped when I woke up as I heard knocking on my door. I didn't answer though. I just pulled the covers over my head and tried to fall back asleep, even though it was almost impossible because the sunlight was brightly streaming into my window.

"Ali, will you please just open up the door and talk with me?" Jace asked, and continued when he heard no answer. "Look, I'm sorry I didn't remember your birthday. I've just had a lot on my mind."

I scoffed at that.

"I know you just had a nightmare. I heard you screaming. I'm really worried about you so could you please just let me in?"

No answer from me.

"Dammit Ali! Stop being so headstrong and just let me in!"

I remained silent as Jace pounded on my door. The pounding grew louder and louder until it eventually stopped. I sighed in relief thinking he had gone away. But as soon as my head hit the pillow, the door burst open with a loud bang and slammed down on the ground after coming off the hinges.

"What the hell?" I yelled at Jace, who now stood standing in my doorway.

"You didn't open it." He said, surprisingly with no amusement in his voice.

"Yeah, I know! That was the point!" I said angrily.

"Why are you getting so angry?" He asked, his voice started to rise as well.

"Because you just broke my fucking door!" I yelled.

"Only because I was worried about you! I heard you screaming and you weren't opening up! Not the door or about what's going through your head!"

"Well maybe I don't like opening up!"

"You've opened up before to me, so why not now?"

"Because I thought I could trust you before! But now you told Clary about my nightmares and you're leaving me for her!"

He stared at me with a blank expression on his face. He always did this, acting like nothing hurt him. And I hated it. Before he could come up with something to say back, I pushed him back into the wall and ran down the hallway towards the weapons room. I grabbed whatever weapon I could get my hands on before going up to the training room to try to calm the anger. I started with the punching bag, but that didn't last long being that the chain broke after a really hard kick. I then moved to the bow and arrow, and that didn't last long either because my arrows were snapping from the force of how hard they hit the target. I then moved to the throwing knives, my anger still boiling inside me. I picked up the first knife and clenched it so tightly that my knuckles turned white. And then I threw. I watched as it sailed through the air and hit dead center in the target. But I sat there frozen, unable to move. It was almost like any other knife I've thrown in practice except for one difference.

The knife had been on fire.

And now so was the dummy.

I looked down at my hands to see they were glowing. Not in the healthy 'you're skin looks great healthy glow' kind of way. They looked like they were lit.

"Holy shit." I said out loud. "This is not normal. This is not good. Holy shit!"

I then started to choke on the air I was breathing and realized I had not put the fire out and it was now causing the floor of the training room to burn. I suddenly couldn't think. I couldn't remember where we had the fire extinguisher or even if we had one! I didn't know what to do, but suddenly I didn't have a reason to panic. Water was spraying from the ceiling if the training room and extinguished the fire along with soaking me. The alarm also started going off and I waited for someone to come running. And of course they all did. Alec, Izzy, Jace, Clary, and Hodge all stood waiting for me to explain what the hell just happened. I looked down at my hands, my mouth moving, but no words coming out. I couldn't exactly explain what happened to them if I didn't even know what just went on.