Almost seventeen years before Clary Fairchild came into everyone's lives, a young girl around one year old showed up on the steps of the New York Institute. There was no explanation for who she was or where she'd come from. Just a sleeping girl wrap...
She still wasn't sure where she was, but the fact that these clothes were here told her that she wasn't here through a coincidence. This had been planned. Hodge had been working with someone and they were quite thorough.
After investigating the doors, she found that one of them led to a tiny bathroom with just the essentials. She used this to wash her face of the now smudged makeup, and the cold water helped to perk her up a bit more.
The only other door in the room was obviously the exit, but when she tried to open it she found that it was locked.
Deciding to test her angelic abilities one last time, she gently placed her hand on the door knob and closed her eyes. Picturing the Unlock Rune clearly in her mind, she heard a quiet clicking noise, letting her know that it had worked.
Smiling, she opened the door carefully and glanced in either direction. When she saw that the coast was clear, she slipped out.
It wasn't until she was standing in the hallway that she realized she had no idea where she was or which way she needed to go. She wasn't even sure where she wanted to go. In the end, she figured going anywhere was better than just waiting for her kidnappers to come back for her.
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Clary and Jace stood behind Izzy as she worked on the computer, trying to pull up the surveillance feeds from around the institute.
"How's Lydia?" Clary asked, when Alec joined them.
"Better." He said. "Magnus is doing what he can to help her, but it's bad. And the Cup is definitely missing."
Everyone was quiet for a second before Clary seemed to realize something.
"Hey, where's Celeste?"
Alec pursed his lips. "I haven't seen her since the wedding. I stopped by her room, but she wasn't there."
Izzy shook her head. "I'm sure it's nothing to worry about. She's probably busy talking to another member of the Clave."
Jace nodded. "Hodge is missing too."
"Maybe he was attacked too." Izzy said worriedly as she fast-forwarded through the footage of the camera placed in the Head of the Institute's office.
"Maybe he's the one who attacked Lydia." Clary suggested.
"Hodge?" Izzy asked, a little surprised. "No way. We've known him our entire lives. He would never do that to us."
Izzy finally found what she was looking for and played the footage at regular speed. They all watched as Celeste walked in behind Lydia, the two of them chatting about something.
Lydia walked over to a wooden panel with a bag and her stele, and when she traced a rune over it the panel dropped open to reveal the Cup. Just as Lydia was taking the Cup out, someone crept into the room.
Neither of the girls noticed him, and he lunged at Celeste. He grabbed her by her hair and slammed her head against the coffee table.
Hearing the commotion behind her, Lydia spun around to take in the scene before her. She had hardly opened her mouth when the man yanked the Cup from her hands and bashed her over the head with it.
