Running in Circles- The Mortal Instruments Fanfiction

Chapter 3

This is dedicated to fizzy_writing for voting and commenting. You make me so happy!
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Inside each of us, there is a seed to do both good and evil. It's a constant struggle as to which one will win. And one cannot exist without the other.
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2 days later

Clary was exhausted. She had been training all day, and Jace never went easy on her, in fact she suspected he was harder on her to prove a point to the others. She had taken a shower in the Institute's change room, so she let herself flop onto their bed.
She didn't wake up or even stir until next morning, when Jace was gone.

Although this had happened before, it was rare, and Clary went downstairs, a hint of worry on her features.

On the stairs, she (quite literally) ran into Maryse. "Have you seen Jace?" They asked in unison. Their shared anxiety grew at this.

"I'm sure he'll turn up. Remember what happened with Simon?" Although she put up a cheery facade, Clary was convincing herself just as much as she was Maryse.

Throughout the day, Izzy, Simon, Maryse, Robert, Alec, and Clary's worries grew. At midday, Alec pulled Maryse aside, where they spoke in hushed voices for several minutes.

Later, around 4:30, Robert called an Institute meeting in the library. Once everyone (other than Jace) had assembled, Robert began,

"Jace hasn't been here all day. We all find this troubling, so we had a tracking spell performed by the warlock Ragnor Fell."

Alec blushed at this, knowing exactly why it hadn't been Magnus that Robert had hired.
Robert continued, saying "Mr. Fell's results were worrisome. He informed us that Jace is somewhere untrackable. At this point, we should assume he has been kidnapped."

Everybody in the room reacted differently upon hearing this. Clary gasped and covered her mouth, and Simon seemed largely unaffected. Where Izzy sat up taller and reached for her whip, Maryse's shoulders sagged, not wanting to lose another son. Alec's hand instinctively went to his parabatai rune.

It was Clary who was the next to speak. "If anyone has an idea, now would be a great time to share it with the rest of us."

At this, Robert and Maryse shared a look, and Alec looked between his parents, biting his lip.

"Is there something you three aren't telling us? Because keeping secrets from each other won't help us find Jace any faster." Said Izzy, with more than a little indignation.

"Yes." Alec and Maryse said, while Robert said, "No." All three sighed in exasperation.

Maryse began. "About two weeks ago, we were issued an ultimatum by an anonymous source. They said that we should leave the institute immediately or 'suffer the consequences.'" She drew air quotes around the last bit.

Alec continued, "We received one threat every few days, and it always varied, but was never acted upon until now."

The tension in the library was thick. All six were clearly uncomfortable.

"What were some of the threats?"
This time it was Robert who answered, saying "One day, they threatened to set demons on Clary."

Izzy interrupted, "But they did, remember? It was just unsuccessful!"

In a flash of brilliance, Simon put in, "Maybe they just meant to give you a scare, and not do any harm. That makes me think they're reluctant to hurt us; the only took us as a last resort!"

Izzy grimaced, "Or maybe they need us alive."
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Jace opened his eyes and, wincing, raised his head.

The first thing he registered was the dark, the second was that he was bound to a hard, wooden chair by rough rope. There was no way he would be able to escape these.

By the angel, was that a duck? Jace squirmed uncomfortably and his chair skidded backward, digging into his back painfully.

"Oh, are you finally awake?" He heard a deep, raspy voice say.
Then he blacked out again.
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"What were the other threats? We could take preemptive actions," suggested Clary.

"They said they'd cut off power and communications at the institute."

"How would they manage that?" Izzy queried.

"There are ways, with a powerful enough warlock" Alec said quietly.

"Magnus is the only one strong enough near here" Maryse put forward, fearing an outburst from Robert.

Robert shook his head and sighed loudly, but ultimately agreed, albeit reluctantly.

"What else?" Asked Simon.
Each issue was put forward and insured against, and, as they were getting up, Alec seemed to win a silent fight with his parents.

"They know about Lydia."
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YAYYY it's done I'm really excited about this!! It's just flying out of my hands and I already have the next part started. You have no idea how much y'all mean to me, whether you voted, commented, or were a silent reader. I mean wow. 50 reads. Wow. Just wow. I can't fucking believe it.
As always, vote comment and have a great day.
Bye!!
Ev.