Forgetting the Past

Chapter Fourteen: A Turn of Events

With her eyes closed, Clary soon fell into a sleep plagued with nightmares. Like most of the time, it was Sebastian; haunting her mind with the words and actions that never ceased to crush her. But something was different about this-
the dream was incredibly vivid. She could see Sebastian, standing at the edge of the woods somewhere in the Idris countryside, beckoning her to him. Her breathing quickened as he looked her right in the eyes, and she feared it wasn't a dream. But it had to be. There was no other explanation.
Turning away from her, he looked deep into the woods. By midnight, practically nothing was visible, but she knew his demonic abilities could compensate for that. He raised his hands up in the air, chanted something, and moments later, several sickly forms emerged.
Clary could tell her heart was racing, in a distant sort of way. Six hellhounds, accompanied by a trio of Raum demons, emerged from the trees. He began to speak to the monsters in a rough, crackling language. She felt herself shaking, shaking uncontrollably-
She bolted upright in bed, Jace's hands pulled away from her shoulders. She was still panting hrs m the vision. The bedroom was black with darkness, apart from the faint glow of moonlight illuminating the room. Her eyes were wild, darting around the room as Jace spoke, and a cold sweat stuck her tangled hair to her forehead.
"You were having a nightmare, Clary," Jace whispered with worry. "Hey," he said reaching for her shoulder when she didn't respond. Instinctively, she flinched, and his eyebrows furrowed. "Clary," he asked, "are you okay?"
She drew in a sharp breath as it finally dawned on her. Sebastian had sent the dream to her on purpose. He was trying to scare her. And he had been successful.
"Clary!" He called, leaning in front of her so she was forced to look at him. Although her eyes wouldn't focus, it was good enough for Jace. "What's wrong?!"
She finally made eye contact with Jace. "He's coming."
He blinked for a moment, confused. "Who? Do you mean-" he paled. "Sebastian."
She flinched again at the mention of his name. Her senses were hyperactive after her dream, but her mind still needed to catch up. She nodded.
"But I thought you said-"
"I don't know why. But we need to be ready. We have to get weapons-" she said, swinging herself off the bed. Just before her feet hit the floor, a terrible noise stopped her dead. Something was scrabbling at the door of the bedroom.
"Shit."
Everything that followed happened in a blur.
Clary hit the floor immediately and lunged for the nightstand. Throwing open the drawer, she pulled out a seraph blade and threw a second to Jace, hilt first. The door burst open in a shower of splinters and demons. In rushed the sickly, white Raum demons with their ugly tentacles for limbs, followed by a pack of hellhounds nearly invisible in the shadows. Their eyes burned red with hellish fire. As the hounds leapt toward them, their hot, stinking breaths turning the air acrid, she screamed out "Nakir!" The blade in her hand exploded with blinding light, but she was already halfway through swinging it. Jace yelled something, and his knife soon burst to life also. The demon in front of Clary was hit in the chest, throwing it off balance but not killing it. She swore loudly as the light was doused with demon ichor and fizzled out.
Jace continued to swing his blade, beheading a demonic canine that quickly exploded and disappeared. A second was on him already when Clary felt a sharp pain circling her upper arm, like dozens of burning needles digging into her skin. She yelled and kicked out, but her other arm was quickly trapped in the steely grip. She struggled against the restrains, screaming as her ankles were collectively wrapped with another barbed tentacle and she was yanked to the ground. She saw Jace give her a wild and fearful look, momentarily distracted by her struggle. It was enough for the hellhound in front of him to knock him over, pinning him to the ground. He called out to Clary, but the demons were dragging her out the door already. She tried to break free, to possibly injure one of them, but struggling only resulted in a more acute, burning agony where their barbed appendages gripped her. Frustration overwhelmed Clary and she commenced screaming curses at the monsters.
As they unceremoniously dragged her down the stairway, loud thumping sounded through the floorboards up above. Clary heard Jace frantically crying out to her, but she couldn't answer. She was gritting her teeth to try and endure the searing pain in her limbs. Darkness began to close around her vision, and she failed to fight it. The barbs must've been poisonous.
The last thing Clary remembered was her body, growing limp, being dragged outside by the scuttling demons. For a moment the moon was bright, and then it was all black.