The Mortal Instruments: The Other Daughter. The Other Sister

Chapter 6

They were seated in the living room, an awkward silence filling the room. Tessa and Jem both held steaming cups of coffee. Tessa was staring at Angelica with a face full of confused recognition. After what seemed like an eternity, Magnus cleared his throat and smiled at Tessa and Jem. "So what brings you two here to Le Casa Bane?"

Tessa placed her cup down, grateful for an excuse to distance herself from the drink. She preferred tea. "Well, me and Jem decided to come and visit our oldest friend, but we didn't realize we would be interrupting something" She nodded toward Angelica and Alec. The dark haired Lightwood stood up to shake the couple's hands. "No, it's ok. You weren't interrupting anything. My name is Alexander Lightwood and this is Angelica Morgenstern. We live here." Tessa's blood ran cold at the name. Morgenstern

She had been hearing that name for months now. First, of that tyrant, Valentine, Jocelyn's ex-husband. And then of her son. To some, that name was associated with demons and unimaginable horrors. A synonym of death. She had never come face to face with a Morgenstern except for Jocelyn and Clarrissa. She wasn't sure they counted though. Those two were more Fairchild than Morgenstern. But this girl couldn't be related by blood. To her knowledge, Jocelyn and Valentine only had two children and Valentine never remarried....Tessa narrowed her eyes. She was confused. Physically, the girl seemed to share no traits with the Morgensterns. She was neither a red-head nor did she seem to inherit the trademark white-blonde hair. Her green eyes were more of deep sea green than the emerald shade of the Fairchilds. But the way she held herself, the way she talked, the way she observed everything you did, followed your every movement....it screamed Morgenstern. Still, there was something about her that seemed familiar. A softness behind those hard eyes. Overall, based on looks alone, She must be adop..

"I know what you're thinking and yes, your observations are correct. I share no blood with the Morgensterns." She had a faint accent, a lilt to her speech. "By bloodline, I am one of the last of the Carstairs." Shocked silence filled the room only to be broken by the sound of a cup hitting the floor and shattering. All heads turned to the sound to discover Jem,who had dropped his coffee cup in surprise, staring wide-eyed at the girl who just claimed to be one of his last surviving family members. His lips moved but nothing came out. Tessa shook his shoulder in order to get a response. "Jem? Jem, answer me? Jem?" Without a word, Jem's lips twitched into a small smile before his eyes rolled back into his head and he fainted to the floor with a soft thud.

Jem groaned as he came to. He blinked and raised his hand to shield his eyes from the florescent lights of the loft. Angelica glanced his way and opened her mouth to alert Tessa but she saw that the young woman was already by his side. She watched as Tessa looked over him, checking for bumps and bruises frantically. He grabbed her hands and laughed as he brought them to his lips for a sweet kiss after reassuring her that he was fine. Angelica turned away as she felt a tug at her heart. She had begun to feel the tug when she had begun to start looking for the New York Institute. She felt it most when she witnessed acts of love. Love between couples, between parents and children. Love between siblings. And she hated it. No, hate wasn't a strong enough term. She loathed it. It was a reminder of what she could never have. She could never fall in love. She could never have a family. Her family was dead and gone. All that was left of them was the memory of the death and destruction they had caused. It also reminded her to harden her heart. She silently cursed herself for letting her guard down. She was here to restore honor to her family, not cosy up to the locals. Her fist tightened at her sides as she remembered how low she had sunk these past few days. She had cried like an insolent and sentimental fool. She had allowed herself to shed tears. Her father would have had her whipped her for even thinking about allowing the tears to fill her eyes. The knife at her back burned as hot as the rage inside of her. She turned on her heel and marched straight into the nearest bathroom. Her breathing was shaky but her movements were smooth as she pulled the knife out, rolled up the sleeve of her green shirt and with a swift and fluid gesture, blood welled from the slash on her forearm. She exhaled with relief as she felt the pressure lessening. The knife cooled as did her temper with every cut of her wrist. Finally after 3 more flawless executions, she was satisfied and the knife had gone back to its usual level of warmth. She quickly rinsed her arm, her knife and the sink from all evidence of that her blood had ever been there. Her breathing had returned to normal. She applied an iratze and watched as the fresh wounds faded away to dull, white scars. This was her form of release. Yes, she could've blown off steam by hunting or training but this was the way she enjoyed the most. How else could you punish yourself and enjoy it at the same time? After all, as her father used to say: Pain is the best form of discipline. Especially for a soldier. A knock on the door brought her back to reality and out of her thoughts. "Angelica, are you alright?"

It was Alec.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Why wouldn't I be?" She forced a smile into her voice.

"Well, I just wanted to let you know that Jem is awake and...he would like to talk to you."

I finally updated!! Yay!! I'm so sorry I made you wait for a new chapter. I'll try my hardest to keep the chapters coming. I just want to give you guys the best work that I can produce and a lot of times, I freak out and delete the whole chapter in order to start over. Thank you for reading. Remember to comment!! I love reading your responses.