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"Clary, you need to not be so dramatic!" Charlie bellowed out as he reached forwards to grasp onto his sister's arm, stopping her from running into their apartment.
"Dramatic?!" She screamed, scoffing afterwards. She didn't know why Charlie wasn't freaking out as much as she was. "Our mother is gone!" The two siblings, drenched from the rain, took cautious steps into the shop that belonged to Dot. Glass shards were everwhere, as were antiques.
"Christ...it looks like a bomb's gone off." Charlie mumbled, scuffing some debri with his foot as he took a wary glance around. He felt his heart clench as the realisation properly settled into his being.
"Mom-!" Clary cried out, her own gaze flickering onto all the distruction of the auction shop. How had this night turned out so wrong? She fell to her knees, wailing and screaming, sobbing whilst the rain even flowed into the entrance of the shop where she had fallen.
"Clary, grab a weapon." Charlie's tone was authoritive and held no room for debate or fumbled words. It was direct, stern and demanding. His blue eyes hardened like ice as he looked at his little sister, grabbing a piece of wood that used to be a piece of a frame. He would have to use it as a staff of sorts if they encountered whoever had done this. "Clary, get. A. Weapon."
Standing to her feet, Clary reached for a double sided axe that felt so heavy in her grasp. She wasn't the strongest being on the planet, but she didn't think it would feel as heavy as it did.
"Stay behind me, alright?"
"Okay." She whispered quietly, a small hiccup leaving her lips due to her crying session just moments before.
Charlie's steps were slow yet precise. He didn't falter nor hesitate as he began to wander towards the entrance of their apartment, briefly checking over his shoulder to make sure Clary was behind him. Just as he was about to enter his home, however, a gut feeling of something being wrong occurred.
With a small lick of his teeth, he breathed out and disregarded what had happened and moved forwards instead.
"Keep a steady stance." He advised Clary as the pair of them split off from each other. Charlie gravitated towards Jocelyn's room, of which he found nothing. He left the room, about to head for his own, when he saw Clary speaking to someone familiar.
"Did your mother ever talk to you about a cup?" Dot questioned, taking slow steps towards the youngest Fray sibling. With a feeling of unease, Charlie slowly crept forwards, hoping Dot hadn't seen him. "A very important cup. It-It's gold, almost like a chalice."
"No!" Clary exclaimed emotionally, gaining Charlie's attention to the disregarded axe by her feet. "No, i don't know anything about a cup, Dot. O-One of the antiquities downstairs?"
"No, No, not those." Dot was quick to disagree, frowning as her frustration grew. "Think, Clary." She was breathing heavily, staring at the redheaded girl intently. "This could save Jocelyn."
"I can't think!" Clary snapped angrily, glaring at Dot. "Someone kidnapped my mother!"
"You know more than you think you do, Clary Fray." Dot said lowly before her mouth extended to make her look like those monsters from the club. Thinking quickly, Clary got out her Stele and imbedded it into Dot's stomach, making the creature squeal. Jumping into action, Charlie lept onto the monster's back and forced it to the ground, using his long block of wood to hit it over the head a few times, ignoring the many scratches on the arms he received thanks to the monster's four big-ass teeth.
Charlie quickly clambered off of the monster's back when he noticed the skin turning a mix of black and grey whilst the hair disappeared and almost everything else that made it look like Dot. It then growled out, and it went to attack Clary, but Charlie kicked it's torso, making his stumble.
"Clary-" he went to shove his little sister towards the door, but as she ran, the monster was quickly and caught her with it's large claw-like tooth. Charlie stumbled a little, his balance being knocked by something whilst his vision got a little blurry. "Clare-" he breathed out, his body swaying.
He felt his body slowly fall to the ground, his eyes still open as he desperately tried to look around, but he saw the outline of a blonde man standing in front of him, stabbing the monster before the thing disintegrated.
"Alec." The blonde man said, jutting his head towards Charlie, of whom was on the verge of losing conciousness. With swift movements, the blonde man picked up Clary - of whom had fallen unconscious, too - and headed towards the exit of the apartment.
~
Charlie groaned as he turned over so that he could sleep on his side, but instead, he was jolted awake with a yell of pain as his body collided with the ground.
"Son of a bitch." He cursed, slowly standing to his feet. His balance was a little off, causing him to sway a little before he tried to reach the bedframe of the bed he had been on.
"A mundane shouldn't even be here." His attention was caught onto a man with raven hair, hazel eyes and slightly pale but still with a hint of tan skin. He had tattoos littering his skin, too, whilst he wore all-black clothing and a leather jacket.
"Where is here exactly?" Clary questioned, to which made Charlie snap his gaze to her and he hurried to get to her. He whacked his knee against the edge of a bed, scowling at the slight shooting pain, before he grabbed the sides of her face and inspected her.
"You fuckin' tattoo my sister?" He spat, whirling around to face the three unknown yet familiar people. He felt his chest rise and fall, his anger increasing by the second.
"They're not a mundane, Alec."
"How do you know that?" The raven haired man said, glancing at blondie that Charlie remembered threatening. He started to get pissed off, however, as he realised they were ignoring him.
"Because the seraph blade lit up when he touched it!" Blondie exclaimed, gesturing to Charlie before he tilted his head. "And they're related." He then sighed and looked towards the raven haired, doe eyed girl that was sat on Clary's bed. "Look, Isabelle, can you-" the girl got the memo and stood, motioning for Charlie to approach her. He stayed where he was, keeping his ground whilst staring at her almost darkly. "I'm Jace Wayland." Blondie now introduced himself and Charlie raised a brow, his hard gaze now fixated onto Jace.
"I'm, uh-"
"Clary Fray. We know who you are."
"Am i the only one who finds this unusual?"
"No." Charlie immediately said as he took a few steps away, going towars the corner that was the furthest distance away from them before he slumped down, bowing his head as he realised he and his sister had been taken, too. Just like his mother.
"You find everything unusual, Alec." Jace retorted quickly, staring up at his friend with a knowing look.
"I have to report this to the Clave."
"You know what?" Jace spoke up again, an idea popping up into his mind. "Dial it down a notch."
"My brother doesn't have a dial." Isabelle said, grinning widely from her seat. "I love you, Alec, but you have a switch that's always on."
"I love you, too." The raven haired boy said sincerely before he snarled and gestures to Clary. "But this-"
"Hey, you know what? Give me a minute." Jace begged, and Charlie rolled his eyes. He felt something inside of him snap. The need to protect his sister was getting less and less apparent and it was confusing and frustrating him. "Here's a word you never hear me say. Please?" Upon Jace's begging, Isabelle stood to her feet and smiled softly.
"What is with you?" Alec asked, glancing between Jace and Clary with suspicion. He then noticed Isabelle standing and he glowered almost. "Really, no, what is with him?"
"Walk with me, big brother." Isabelle said, guiding Alec away from his parabatai and the stranger. She then looked to Charlie and smiled politely. "Do you want to join?"
"I-" Charlie lifted his head momentarily, glancing at Alec and Isabelle. The former seemed royally pissed whilst the latter seemed inviting. A cruel mix. "No, thanks." With a roll of his eyes, Alec walked out of the Infirmary with Isabelle by his side, letting Charlie stay with Jace and Clary.
"Your wound," Jace said to Clary, "It's healed."
"How's that even possible?" The redhead asked with wide eyes, staring at the blonde boy in front of her before she looked at her brother, of whom had no wounds on his arms, either, and had a new tattoo of sorts on his right forearm. She then scoffed and shook her head. "So, what, we're miraculously healed and all of you...." Clary checked the boy out wihout even attempting to be discrete about it, "stunning people have magical powers?"
"No." Jace scoffed with a laugh, shakng his head. "No, don't confuse me with a warlock."
"A what?"
"A warlock." Jace confirmed, suddenly his smile was wiped off of his face as he realised both siblings looked confused. Jace's eyes were drawn to Charlie's abdomen, however, as he watched the 6'2" man stand and head towards them. When he looked at Clary, he saw a damsel in distress, but when he looked at Charlie, he saw a man that could probably rip you in half. "It's one of the Downworlders." He continued with a clearance of his throat.
"Okay, you're not making any sense." Clary breathed out, her breath shuddering as it did so.
"Warlocks, vampires, Seelies-"
"Literally my brain is about to explode!" Charlie rolled his eyes, wondering on how dramatic his sister could be. He understood it was meant to be an overwhelming situation, but could she not just sit there and listen?
"Jeez, alright. Well, i'll keep it simple for you." There was a moment of silence. "All the legends are true. We're Shadowhunters. We protect the human world from the demon world. So those people you saw murdered at the Pandemonium, they weren't people at all. They were shapeshifting demons."
"I mean, no shit sherlock." Charlie grumbled, thinking back to the demon that was Dot and those at the Pandemonium that he had helped defeat.
"I'm not interested in being a part of your supernatural fight club." Clary said lowly, not even looking towards her brother. "Neither does my brother. We just wanna find our mom."
"Speak for yourself." Charlie scoffed, rolling his eyes before he swiftly grabbed onto a shirt that was hanging over the back of a chair and slipped it on. It was a little tight and simply accentuated the muscles he had beneath the skin.
He ignored the rest of the conversation, simply paying attention to the fact he was wearing sweatpants, no shoes and a shirt that was not his. When Clary's cellphone began to ring, Charlie took this as his chance to slip away from Jace and Clary. He entered the main part of the building and found himself staring in awe at what he saw.
High tech screens, computers, weapon racks- he did not want to leave like Clary did. He felt at home here.
"Charlie." He looked over his shoulder and saw Isabelle looking up at him, surprised he wasn't still in the infirmary.
"Isabelle, right?" He asked, receiving a nod in confirmation. "I, uh, need a pair of pants? And socks...and shoes." Isabelle found herself laughing lightly, amused by the way the strong-looking boy seemed to fumble when asking for the items of clothing.
"You remind me of my brother."
"The guy that likes absolutely no one?" Charlie asked, walking beside Isabelle as she lead the way someone.
"Yeah. He's cautious, is all. He's the next head of the institute."
"Institute?" Charlie asked, a shiver running up his spine as he realised that there was so much he hadn't been told by Jocelyn. This thought alone made his heart clench and made him realise he couldn't trust anything that had ever been told to him.
"We're in the Institute. It's like...a headquarters. Apart from our headquarter's is in Idris-"
"Idris? Wow. Mother of the year award goes to Jocelyn Fray for not educating her children." Charlie spat a little, shaking his head. "You'll have to tell me over a cup of coffee or tea."
"Why then?"
"Because i'm tired." Charlie retorted, a yawn escaping him just as he did so.
"You were unconscious for two days-"
"And i'm still tired. Welcome to life." Charlie quipped, stopping in his tracks when he realised Isabelle had done the same.
"This is my brother's room. Feel free to take some stuff from here for until we can get out shopping." Isabelle send a smile to Charlie before she turned and sauntered away, not missing the wince on Charlie's face as he stared at the wooden door.
Isabelle felt she was like a matchmaker when it came to her brother. She could almost sense his feelings without him having to tell her, and there was some inkling of a feeling towards Charlie on Alec's part. She reckoned it was attraction, but she wasn't completely sure. She just knew she had to come up with a plan and soon.
~
A/N
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