Forgetting the Past

Chapter Five: Into the Subway

Clary hit the ground with a jarring impact and automatically rolled into a crouching position. They were in a rather secluded area; the afternoon noises of the ever-busy city were nearly distant, and only the occasional car sped down the nearby street.
She rose, brushing dust and grime from her gear, to see the others already gathering by a rusty trapdoor. It was set into the ground with no apparent purpose. Clary was relieved to see Simon was a part of the group, looking serious and alert.
When he saw Clary he immediately smiled, striding over to give her a brief hug. "I missed you, Fray," he said, coaxing a grin from Clary.
"I missed you too, Lewis," she returned, just as Maryse gestured for all of them to join her by the small door.
"Okay, everybody," she said, "we need to go in here. Be careful; once were get in, there's no telling what we might find down there."
They all gave silent nods of agreement, and Simon stepped forward to pry open the door with his unnatural strength. It gave eventually, but not without a screaming shower of rust. "This thing hasn't been opened for ages," Simon observed.
"A year and a half, to be exact," Magnus muttered, making Alec cast his eyes downward. Whatever had gone on down here, it didn't sit well with either of them.
Maryse ushered her son forward, and he obediently dropped down the hole. A light smack of feet landing on concrete resounded in the empty subway tunnel, followed by the sound of Magnus's heels hitting the ground beside him.
Suddenly Jace grabbed Clary's hand and bent his head to whisper in her ear. "Remember what we talked about," he said softly, just as Izzy stepped through the door. Clary nodded, and followed Simon down into the darkness.

The drop was far enough for sharp pain to shoot up from the bottoms of her feet to her calves upon landing. Flexing her toes inside their heavy boots, she stepped aside to let Jace leap to the ground beside her.
Taking her witchlight from her pocket, Clary lifted it so that its bluish blaze joined the light of the others'. She felt as if she were a part of a constellation- shedding light as she moved across the night sky silently as they crept down the hollow tunnel. The only exception to the arrangement of cold stars was the bright gleam of magic sparks that Magnus held; they were like a small galaxy in themselves.
Their group was very nearly soundless in the empty space. The Shadowhunters, who were trained to be swift and sneaky and had their quieting runes, the vampire, who had his inhuman grace and agility, and the warlock, who had feet trained by many years of experience, stalked down the tunnel. They met slight bends and a few distressed rodents, but nothing unusually notable. That was, until the small group saw a red glow on the far curve of the walls.
"What is that?" Clary asked under her breath, talking partially to herself and partially to Jace. He had been walking close by her side since they had all plunged into the darkness.
"I have no idea," he said back in a hushed voice. "But I think we're about to find out."
They rounded the turn cautiously, and found something that was completely and utterly shocking.
A spacious, concrete platform branched out from the tunnel. It had a skylight, which was covered by dirt from the top to avoid letting in the afternoon sunlight. On the platform was a pentagram that pulsed with enough scarlet red light to illuminate the area. In its sickly glow, Clary could see two figures that caught her breath in her throat.
To the left of the formation, standing outside of it, was a dark and slim figure clothed in a black dress. Her pale skin was fair and ageless, but her eyes were black pits. Reaching out of their emotionless depths were equally dark tentacles, and her mouth was twisted into a pleased smirk.
The other figure stood with its back turned to the group, but it was obviously male. Wiry and muscled, his hands formed fists at his sides and his shouldered were proudly squared. He was clothed in all black, which contrasted sharply with his pale skin and white hair.
His hair... Clary though with a terrorized pang.
He turned around, and the sight of him hit her like a blow to the stomach. She couldn't breath, couldn't think, couldn't move- her body was overridden with panic. He wore a clean cut, black suit and a silver bracelet. His face was all sharp planes and angles, eyes mirroring Lilith's both in color and by the dark limbs creeping out of them. White hair, textured like feathers but colored like snow, topped his head. Her mind buzzed with fear as she tried to comprehend the man's presence. His mouth twisted with cruel malice as he said; "Hello sister. I've missed you."
It was Sebastian.