Forgetting the Past

Chapter Twenty-Six: The Final Meeting?

Sebastian looked at her menacingly as Clary stood still as a statue. The tension in the silent room was tight and mentally straining for her, waiting in suspense for his next evil act. Drawing a dagger from his belt, Sebastian flicked the blade over the inside of his wrist, drawing a trickle of black blood. Her heart jolted within her chest, and her eyes widened. The last time he had poured his demonic blood on her, Clary had felt as if she was drowning in toxic acid. Her mind screamed at him to stop, but her mouth didn't move. Showing weakness would only make his punishment worse.
This time though, he didn't hold his arm over her. Instead, he brought the dagger, wet with his dark ichor, to her elbow and sliced it through her skin. Clary screamed out with the combined pain of the dagger and his blood under her skin, and Sebastian grinned. He slowly moved the blade up her arm, all the way to her shoulder before removing it.
"Stop!" Clary screamed, her mind crying out for relief. Thoughts buzzed around her head, all muted by the agony. She screamed, not with words, but with rage and fear and hopelessness. She couldn't take this anymore. She would never be rescued. She would be Sebastian's living voodoo doll for eternity. She hung her head with frustration and hopelessness. Each scream felt like a stab wound to her chest, where her broken ribs ached, but she couldn't stop.
Sebastian cocked his head, giving her an evaluative look. "Sister," he began calmly, but his words were drowned out as Clary hollered at him once again in a voice like venom. "You monster! You, horrible, awful thing! Let me go, leave me alone!"
Dark fury burned in his eyes, and he grabbed Clary by the chin. Her words died on her lips, so many unspoken, as he gripped her face between his fingers. She whimpered as he dug his nails into her skin.
"Let me finish," he growled, then released her chin. Clary drew back quickly, glaring at him, but didn't say a word. "You are being irrational. The more you resist me, the more painful this will be for you." He uncurled a whip from his arsenal. "And as for that little episode..."
Crack. The breath went out of Clary. She was barely aware that her dress was shredded, almost falling off of her, but her body was covered in so much blood and filth she didn't feel naked at all.
Crack. She sobbed as the leather strip dug into her thighs, burning like fire.
Crack. She couldn't do this anymore.
"Stop," she cried, "please. Just stop."
Surprisingly enough, Sebastian lowered the whip.
"I'm done. I can't... I can't stand it anymore. Let me go."
He chuckled low. "I won't be letting you get away anytime soon, Clarissa. But I will release you from your bonds in time."
She clenched her teeth, reprimanding herself for how weak she had sounded.
"I offer you this, though," he continued. "Obey me, and you will find life down here... Tolerable." With that, he laughed grimly and disappeared through the door. Clary winced as it banged shut behind him.
She waited for the sound of the lock turning. She waited, but it didn't come. Perhaps he really meant to release her from this prison.
Clara's breaths shuddered, but the more she tried to steady them, the more her chest cavity hurt. Her wrists felt numb with the pain of being chained above her head once again, and her legs throbbed with the pain of the new whiplashes. Not to mention the slice down her bicep that was seeping scarlet blood. Her skin felt town to pieces, charred like overcooked toast from her burns yesterday. Moving quickly or suddenly made her breath hitch.
Without warning, the door bowed in with a loud bang. Somebody was trying to break in. Her heart pumped inside her chest, fear spreading through her veins. "No, no, no..." She whispered, afraid of whatever was pursuing her now. Two more deafening bangs, and then she heard the door unlatch and glide open gently.
"Well that's a lot less fun," somebody declared, and Clary's eyes went wide involuntarily. That was Jace's voice.
The door swung all the way open the reveal Alec's hand on the door, with Izzy, Simon, and Jace behind him. Her heart threatened to burst with joy and hope.
They all looked frozen, and the only face Clary dared to study was her fiancée's. He was relieved, flustered, shocked, and... Broken?
"Clary..." He said almost inaudibly.
Simon shook his head. "Oh my God."
Jace strode toward her quickly, his eyes fixed on her own. "We should have come sooner," he mumbled to himself. "We should've come sooner..."
"Jace," she finally choked out, throat feeling raw and dry. "You're here."
"And we're too late," he said grimly, looking up and down her body.
"No- no," she said, beginning to feel woozy from the shock of him being there. "You're here, and that's more important than anything."
He commanded the seraph blade in his hand to blaze to life, using a tone devoid of all emotion. Quickly slicing the chains around Clary's wrists without making eye contact with her, he caught Clary as her legs gave way beneath her. The room around her was spinning.
She was vaguely aware of the others rushing toward her, speaking, trying to help, but the loudest thing was Jace's heart beat in her ears. It had a rhythm all its own, comforting, pulling her under.
She realized she was unsteady from the blood loss, and not from shock, just before she blacked out.

It was like having an unbreakably strong sense of déjà vu, except since some distant part of Clary's mind knew this had happened before. She was in complete darkness with the angel girl she had seen before, but she looked more solid and real this time. Her brilliant white hair and gown lay untouched, as if they had never seen stain. She had gold and silver wings that stretched impossibly wide compared to her slight frame, smooth and soft appearing. Her eyes were large and watery but bold; a pure emerald green. She gazed up at Clary and spoke into her mind.
We meet once again, dear one.
"Tell me who you are," Clary said. It had nagged her mind ever since this angel had first met her in the suffocating darkness of unconsciousness.
It would not be right. But I fear this may be the last time we meet.
"We need your help," she said without further preamble. "We can't defeat Sebastian on our own. He's too powerful."
I am aware, the girl replied. Her features were so serious, but even so, Clary doubted she was older than seven or eight in her current form. You have my blessing and gift with you. Do not fear.
"What do you mean?"
Now is not the time for explanations. You must go. Have faith in heaven's power, and mine.
The darkness began to fade, giving way to light. The girl was swallowed up in it, disappearing more quickly with each moment. "Please, don't go! Don't leave!" Clary called out. She thought she saw a look of immense sorrow on he angel's face before she was completely gone, but perhaps it had been only her imagination.