Silence | Simon Lewis

chapter five

chapter five: burning soul

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DEATH IS A peculiar thing, it lessens you, bites at your most vulnerable insecurities, teething on your pain and tears that have devoured your once previous happiness. It is something that you shouldn't wish upon anybody, as much as you might. Shadowhunter's dealt with death all the time, it was around them twenty-four hours a day, in all shapes and forms. Venus had once felt her hand knocking on death's door, only to be ripped back to the living.

Her mothers skull was extremely close to where the Soul-Sword was held, she could see Jace just ahead, leaning against a stone pillar whilst keeping his eyes fully fixed on Clary. It was a good thing he didn't turn around, Venus wanted to focus on her family.

The skull had some sort of energy to tell her that it was her mothers, she could almost create her mother's face out of it. She could picture the thin lips that never smiled, her set, furious eyes that were the same colour as Venus's own. But her mother had golden locks that seemed to actually be made of gold. As a kid, her mother let her braid it in-between training sessions and she missed those days.

Next to her mother's skull, she had to assume it was her younger sisters. The skull was smaller, the teeth were still milk teeth and she only had a couple that had fell out. Her sister wasn't hard to picture, she definitely took after her mom. The blonde hair seemed to have copied onto her sister, along with the eyes but not her lips. Her mother always told her that the one thing that her sister took from her father was his lips, they were slightly plumped and tinted with rose. Venus used to wish she could have had them too.

The silent brothers took their energy from the skulls that were built inside the walls and it felt wrong for Venus to touch them. She wanted to feel her mother's energy, also her sisters, but she couldn't bring herself to do it. Venus hadn't realised she was crying until she looked away from the skulls. Her eyes burned, as if they were alight with a fire, and she decided that she had seen enough.

It didn't take long for Venus to find her way out of the City of Bones, passing the statue of a soldier with angel wings. For Shadowhunters, the descent into hell is easy, but sometimes Venus didn't agree. As she rounded the corner of the stairs, she noticed Alec outside, arms folded and his eyes darting around as her searching for signs of trouble. On the other hand, Isabelle was flirting with Simon, only to make Venus scoff.

"V." Alec spotted her, noticing the tears dripping down her cheeks. She didn't bother to wipe them, she knew that they would just keep reappearing anyway. Simon and Isabelle stopped talking when suddenly she felt Alec's arms around her. Shadowhunters were told to make sure that they put their work before their personal life, but today Venus hadn't done that.

Simon's mouth gaped open, "Is Clary okay?"

"I thought I could handle it," Venus ignored the mundane as she dug her fingers into Alec's leather jacket, "I thought it would help-"

"It's okay." He whispered, resting his head on top of hers. She didn't mind seeming weak in front of Alec, but she made sure she never cried in front of Isabelle. But Venus was certain that Izzy was also hugging her too. Although Alec had rarely seen her like this, Venus had to admit that it was nice to be consoled.

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The mundane had tried to speak to Venus several times, each she had ignored him. He hadn't gotten on her nerves, but she just wasn't in the mood for his chit-chat. Venus didn't know him, all she knew was that he was Clary's best friend, maybe even more, and it was her job to just keep him safe whilst Jace and her were in the City of Bones. She could tell that Simon was getting worried, due to the amount of pacing he was doing, not to mention the hands in his pockets were shaking.