Middle School of Bones - A Mortal Instruments Story

Chapter 9

Simon's mom asked way too many questions. Given what had happened, it was understandable, but it still made me uneasy. I didn't think answering her honestly would help, and I wasn't used to telling her lies. Thankfully, she didn't ask about Jace Wayland. In fact, it didn't seem like she noticed him at all. I wondered if Jace was using some sort of magic to make her ignore him and if he could teach me. Turning invisible would be a good trick to know.

Mrs. Lewis parked in front of my building. She offered to walk me upstairs, but I declined. She told Simon to call her when he was leaving, said goodbye, and drove off.

Simon and I headed inside as we'd done together a thousand times before, but this time felt different. Jace trailed silently behind us. He stopped as we exited the stairwell, and Simon and I walked down the hall alone. We came to a stop in front of my door.

"Okay, don't freak out," I warned him.

"You can't say that and expect me to..." He trailed off as I pushed the door open. Everything was the same as I'd found it the night before. I realized I'd been half-hoping for something different, for someone to tell me it was all just a dream. Simon was shaking his head in disbelief. 

"I know your mom likes redecorating," he said, "but this is a bit much." 

"Something bad happened to my mom last night," I started. "She called me before I left the party, and I think someone hurt her."

Simon's mouth fell open. "What the- Clary, we have to call the police." 

I shook my head. 

"That's not everything. There was a creature here, too. A demon." Simon's eyes widened. "Jace saved me. He's something called a Shadowhunter. The Lightwoods are, too. They hunt demons. And... they think I'm one of them."

Simon took a step back. "This is crazy, Clary. Demons? That's... that's so cool!" He paused. "I mean, it's horrible and everything, but you actually saw a demon? Do you think there are any more?" He looked around the room, as if one would pop out from behind the curtains.

"Simon, focus." I was sort of relieved by his reaction, even if it wasn't the time for excitement. I was scared he wouldn't believe me, but I realized I shouldn't have been worried. Simon was Simon, after all.

"Sorry. I just... Maybe you ate something weird at the party that made you hallucinate. That happens at parties with high schoolers, right? Maybe your mom's just with Luke. Have you tried calling him yet?

I hadn't. I plucked the home phone from the floor--surprisingly in the same spot it was tossed before the demon attack--and dialed Luke's number. It rang for a long time before going to voicemail. I left him a message to find me and hung up.

"Are we searching the house or not?" Jace came into the room. 

"Yeah. We can start with my mom's room," I said. I led the way. The demon's corpse was gone, thankfully, and I showed them to mom's closet. I doubted she'd mind us digging through it, considering everything. I pulled out the box I'd found the shirt in and let Jace go through it. We spent an hour searching mom's stuff until Jace declared everything to be mundane.

Simon pushed away the box he'd been looking at. "Is there some sort of spell you can use? Like Fine-tooth Comb. Or... Presto Appear-o!" 

Jace barely glanced up. "I'm not a magician." He was examining his knife again.

"Then what can you do?"

I stood. "I don't think there's anything here," I said. We'd gone through every box. "I think we should try to find Luke. He knows my mom the best, and he might be able to help."

"Great." Jace got up from where he'd been sitting. "Let's go. This apartment's making me sad."