Chasing Death (TMI FanFiction) // UNEDITED

Chapter Twelve

Beth spent the whole of the next morning thinking about that book. She had never seen it in the Institute library before though she hadn't been in there long enough to notice. So, she decided to see if she could find the real book. This was unlikely, though. The original was down in Edom, way out of her reach. Besides, if she were to find, she wouldn't have a clue as to which weapon she should use in order to open the portal. Not just that, Jonathan was dead, him coming through the portal and into the real world just didn't seem likely.

As she entered the library, Beth was glad that no one else was around. It would seem weird to them if she was caught just wondering around the library looking for a book they have probably never heard of before. With the size of the library, it became clear to Beth that it was going to take longer than a day to find this book if it was there. She decided to start with where she remembered the book being in her dream.

This approach wasn't as helpful as it could have been. The library she had seen in the dream had been burnt and almost every shelf was burnt and disfigured. So, Beth went with a rough estimate and started with the middle shelf that was closest to the sofa. She remembered seeing the pattern of the fabric on the remains of the chair and figured it was a good place to start if she was going to find it.

Starting from the bottom, she ran her fingers along the spine of each of the books in an attempt to find the one she was looking for. The only significant difference between the book she was looking for and all the others was that it didn't have a title. Five rows in and she had nothing. The shelves were beginning to get further out of her reach when she noticed a book without a title. It had the same pattern running down the spine, but it was just out of her reach. So, she climbed onto the sofa and managed to grip the edge of it and drag it forward. As she did so, her foot slipped from the arm of the chair and she fell to the ground. To avoid a loud noise, Beth managed to land on the floor with a soft bump and a forward roll. The book lay just beside her.

Beth reacted to footsteps in the hallway and scrambled into a suitable standing position, the book tucked down her jeans with her T-Shirt covering it. "What are you doing?" Charlie asked, looking surprised a he spotted Beth by the shelf.

"I was just looking. I haven't been in here very much and I was curious," she said. The lie had come easily to her as she had been preparing for discovery since she entered the room only minutes before. Beth shuffled towards the sofa and took a seat, Charlie's eyes on her the entire time. He didn't say anything, though, instead he took a seat in the opposite sofa and watched the door. She knew he was waiting for the other so they could discuss what was reveal yesterday, but she'd rather study the book.

Moments later, the other group filed into the room. No one looked at her and they all avoid sitting the empty seat, James and Elizabeth even opted for standing rather than sitting next to her. "Right, we need to talk about yesterday," Charlie said, leaning back on the sofa.

"What's there to talk about? I'm sure we got everything out in the open yesterday," Clary said.

"We may have gotten the full story, but we need to figure out what we're going to do next. That Rune came in handy yesterday and without, we'd probably be in a worse situation now than we were yesterday."

"That may be true Charlie, but that Rune came from Edom. It's a demon Rune. We don't know what other powers it may possess. Besides, I'm not sure normal Shadowhunters can use those types of Runes," James butted in. Beth looked at her father, awestruck.

"What do you mean, normal Shadowhunters?" Beth asked, trying to retain the anger that was beginning to build up.

"He means someone that isn't part demon and will one day end up trying to take over the world given half the opportunity," Elizabeth replied.