The Dark Ones

Chapter Seven

I walked hurriedly to my room, closing the door as I stepped inside, and I sat down on my bed. Closing my eyes, I willed my thoughts to come to a halt for just a brief moment. Of course, I was not given that luxury. I could feel myself becoming overwhelmed, and I wished that I was back at home, sitting next to Simon and watching some silly movie that he'd decided to put on.

I thought of a time before I knew of the Shadow World, and before my name was associated with a devilish man and a murderous brother. I could feel tears beginning to well up in my eyes, dancing along my water line and threatening to spill over, and I covered my face with my hands. I sat there for what felt like hours, silently crying to myself.

I was torn from my thoughts when there was a knock at my door. I quickly moved into a sitting position, wiping at my face and swallowing hard, "come in." I said, my voice sounding strained.

When the door opened to reveal Sebastian, I could my stomach churn and chills prickling along my skin. I maintained my composure as he looked at me, feeling the urge to cry once more. "Clarissa?" He asked, his eyes trained on mine. "What's wrong?"

I shook my head, but that didn't stop the tears from coming. I covered my face once again, but this time I was hiding from him. The last person that I wanted to cry in front of was Sebastian. Crying implied vulnerability, and I didn't want him to see that side of me and exploit it. But, of course, my own will-power failed me once again.

I didn't see him move, but I knew that he was sitting beside me when the bed dipped downward slightly. I felt an arm go across my shoulders, and he pulled me into a hug. "It's okay," he said, in a tone that I knew better than to trust.

I pulled away, wiping at my face for the second time. "I'm sorry," I murmured, sniffling. I looked up at him, taken aback by the look of concern on his face. Narrowing my eyes, I wondered if he had just gotten better at feigning emotions.

"What's wrong?" He asked, and I dismissed the thought.

"Just overwhelmed," I told him, and it wasn't a lie.

"I know that we haven't been on the best terms, Clary," he told me, and I bit the inside of my cheek. "But I just want to have the opportunity to show you that I've changed. I don't want to ever see you upset, it hurts me." As soon as he said that, I tilted my head at him. I tried to analyze him, to distinguish the lies from the truth, but I couldn't. I concluded that maybe he had gotten better at faking emotion. "Anyway, I just wanted to make sure you were alright. We were going to leave soon, if you still wanted to go."

"I'll go," I responded, sniffling again, "I just need to get changed."

"Okay, I'll leave you to it." He gave a small smile before standing up and making his way out into the hall. I watched him go, thinking about what he had said to me before and how compassionate he sounded. Dismissing yet another thought, I stood up and walked to the bathroom. After rinsing my face, I walked into the corridor.

"Hey Clary," I heard a voice and turned to see everyone standing in the along the wall, waiting. It was Noah who spoke, and as soon as I made eye contact with him he continued, "Dylan has something he wants to say."

"What?" Dylan turned, "no I don't." Noah put his hand on his back and pushed him toward me. "Dude," he groaned before looking to me. "Fine, I'm sorry for assuming things about you and prying."

"It's alright," I responded with a shrug, not knowing what else to say.

"See? Now we're all friends again." Noah said with a smile.