The Devil's Gift/The Bloody Handed

7: Memory of the Graveyard

"Go! Go, go, go!" I yell. I motion for Eddie and Dustin to climb through the portal as I run up and stab the bat in the head. Another one pokes in behind it, and they start to pile on top of one another. I pull my spear away and start to rapidly stab, hoping to get somewhere.

I look over my shoulder and see Eddie lifting Dustin up. I needed to do something.. anything. I close my eyes and take a deep breath. Maybe if I just focus.. like last time.

Memories. Like Eddie said.

I try to remember my anger and sadness that I felt when I found my parents. The blood, the screams, the note, the memories stripped away from me. I need to try and use it to manifest the ability of killing these things. I hold out my hand and open my eyes, but nothing happens. I feel a hot, thick liquid come from my ears and nose. I wipe it with my hand and look down to see blood. I look down at my hands. "No," I breathe. I was weak. I couldn't do anything but be mortal in this situation which didn't serve us any good. I look over to Eddie as he finishes hoisting Dustin up.

The ceiling starts to cave in more, breaking under pressure. There was no more time.

"Eddie! We have to go! Like now!" I call over my shoulder. I run over to them and look up at Dustin. "We need to lead them away. We have to be the bait or the go through that portal." Dustin shakes his head and tell me no.

"Just please- stay there, Dustin!" Eddie yells up. "You got this, man." He smiles. Eddie cuts the rope and runs to me. I hear Dustin scream for our names but my mind was in a tunnel and too busy on focusing surviving this situation. Eddie and I look at each other and nod. We go over to the front door, rip off the board, and bolt to the side of the trailer. I hear the bats retreat from the ceiling and make their way to us.

"Here!" Eddie points to a gaping hole underneath the trailer. I nod and we both slide in. I hold my chest as I couldn't catch my breath. He puts a hands on my thigh and looks over to me. "We will be fine. We will be fine.." he looks at me. "Repeat it."

"We will be.." my breathing was shallow and I hear wheezing coming through my throat. "Fine.." I close my eyes and shut them tight. "I couldn't do it, Eddie. I couldn't kill them, I tried- I tried to do that you told me and I'm sorry.. so sorry." I shake my head into my hands.

His arms protectively wrap around me. "Just calm down.. you're okay. You can't learn these things overnight. You're doing great. Maybe we can stall them out here. Just.. stay silent. Nothing loud." I nod and hold my chest. He looks over to me and softly smiles. "I'm proud of you, Gregerson. You know that?"

I look up at him and bite my lip, nodding. "I'm proud of you too." His thumb starts to wipe away the blood I had smeared all over my face. He starts to repeat soft strokes with his thumb and smiles at me. His thumb eventually turns into his hand, and he cups my cheek while his thumb still strokes my cheek bone. I turn my head sideways into his hand, embracing his touch. My cold hand meets up to his and I hold the back of his hand that was holding my cheek.

Suddenly, a screeching sound sounds in the hole we crawled through. Shit. A head starts to poke through, the bat snapping it's jaws and showcasing his teeth. Eddie starts to kick its face and it squeaks. I start to gather our weapons again and tuck them inside of my armor. He successfully flings it away and we crawl back out of the hole we came from, immediately starting to run.

"There!" He points to a bike and we run to it. "Get on and get behind me. Hold on tight!" He yells over his shoulder. I do so and grasp his waist tight, feeling his core tighten. I put my cheek up against his back as I look behind us and see them start to congregate again.

"They're coming!" He peddles faster and the wind slaps us in the face. The screeching gets closer and closer, and as soon as we got onto the bike, we were knocked off. We both fling off and land on our sides onto the hard ground. I go onto my all fours and cough up blood into my hand. I spit onto the ground and look over at Eddie who is already getting up and running to me. I stand up and we look around us. 

"We need an opening," Eddie says.

We look around and I immediately start to run for a gap ahead of us. "There!" We both run, hand in hand, and in the process bats start to attack and latch onto us. We fling them off of our arms and backs as we try to escape into a clearing. They were just like leaches. I feel tears burning my eyes as I feel blood pour out of me. I look over to Eddie who looked the same shape as me. His shirt was doused in blood.

As we continue to try and run from the bats, they eventually found a way to stop us. We stop in our tracks and look around us. We were completely surrounded. No. No, no, no. Not like this. We continue to look around us, not letting go of each other's hands. The bats begin to spin in a circle around us like my vision. I spit again and look to Eddie.

"This. This happened in my vision! They just.. circled." Eddie turns to me and pulls me into a tight embrace. I wrap my arms around his body and he does the same. I feel his hands push against me, and I look up at him. He looks down at me and softly smiles. How was he still smiling, even right now?

He tucks my knotted hair behind ear, his thumb going to my cheek. He starts to stroke it again.

"Clary Gregerson." He says almost as if he just met me.

"Eddie Munson?" I repeat in confusion.

Within moments, he narrows his head down some to meet my height. I was captivated by how his eyes captured me. His eyes were wide, scared, and hopeful. I denied my feelings for him for too long, thanks to how stubborn I was.

All of a sudden, his face roughly meets mine and our lips mesh. I feel my stomach light in flames as our lips dance together. His lips were warm, dry, bleeding. But I didn't care. His hands hold my face, as if he never wanted to let go. It almost was like our surroundings were nonexistent. My hands went from my sides to around his neck. My body was pushed up against his as if we were going to die at any moment. If any time was the time, this was it. When we knew we were utterly fucked.

The moment seemed too short to be true. He pulls back, and my eyes widen.

"Hello, Clary." Eddie's face merges into something that wasn't him. I fall back, and crawl away on my back. My elbows dig into the ground. It was Eddie before, but now it wasn't. Now, I was seeing things. The voice that spoke was the same one I heard in my vision. And if that was the case..

Then this was Vecna.