Sent Back

Chapter Two: "My Sister Did What?"

ALEC'S POV

I'd been stuck in 1878 with Jace for a week now, and still no sign of our sisters, or that we were living the Infernal Devices - a book trilogy that both Erin and Sarah loved. We were in London, where the series apparently happened, so we could only hope that it was Infernal Devices and our sisters would show up soon before anything bad happened to them. There's four rules to travel by time demon: Firstly, if you know what happens, you must change the past as little as possible. Second, you must be sent back to an ancestor of yours - in mine and Jace's case that was Will Herondale. Third, only those who aren't parabatai can be split up, meaning wherever the girls were, they'd be together. Fourth, those split up must meet again at some point. And finally, a simple time demon preference: People are normally sent back to times when they're not likely to survive. This meant that if it was Infernal Devices, it was vital Jace and I met up with Erin and Sarah soon.
"Will and Henry are back," Jace said. Will and Henry had gone to investigate the house of two warlocks known as the Dark Sisters because if rumours they'd heard about the Sisters. "By the Angel..." he muttered.
"What?" I asked, looking out the window. Will and Henry were there of course, but so was a brown haired girl, a black haired girl with a messy ponytail and in Shadowhunter gear from our time, and a blonde wearing the same gear with her hair falling out of a messy braid. "Jace, why is Henry carrying your sister?"
"I have no idea," Jace replied, going off to meet Will and Henry. I followed after him.

When we got down to where the girls were, we found out Erin was actually unconscious - which explained why Henry was carrying her, I guess.
"What on earth happened?" Jace asked.
"The Dark Sisters happened," Sarah replied.
"Yeah, no shit. Is Erin alright?"
"She will be."
"What happened to her?" I asked.
"She... may or may not have gotten herself struck by lightning." Sarah replied.
"My sister did what?"
"Jace, in your sister's defence, she didn't mean to get struck. She was trying to stop Miss Gray from being struck. She succeeded, but the lightning hit her instead." Will spoke up.
"I know... hey Sarah, I have to ask - how many book references did she make?"
"Surprisingly, only two."
"Let me guess, she called it a shucking time demon?"
"Yup, and she swore in Elvish or whatever language they speak in Artemis Fowl when she got hit."

A while later and I was waiting with Jace, Sarah, and the dark haired girl from before - Tessa Gray, for Erin to wake up. Jace was staring at a silver bracelet in his lap, with a guitar charm and a pick - Erin's bracelet. Clary had shown her how to shrink her guitar and pick to charm size, so Erin wore them on a bracelet most places she went. I guessed the bracelet fell off while we were fighting the time demon. He sighed, and stood up, fastening the bracelet back around his sister's left wrist.
"We didn't even realise she was missing that," Sarah said. "Too much going on I guess." Jace sat down next to me again, and Charlotte and a Silent Brother came in. Tessa stared in shock at him.
"Silent Brother," Jace explained. "Our medics. And keepers of knowledge. You'll get used to how they look." Sarah just rolled her eyes at Jace's description of them.
"Miss Gray, Miss Lightwood," Charlotte spoke. "I am Charlotte Branwell, head of the London Institute, and this beside me, as Jace told you, is Brother Enoch."
"I was - Will was with me - and Sarah, and Erin. In the cellars. Will said - where is Mr. Herondale?" Tessa's voice shook.
"He's here," Charlotte replied. "In the Institute."
"Is Miss Herondale alright?"
"We're not sure," Sarah replied. "She's not dead, that's all we can be certain of." Tessa had moved to stand by the door, causing Charlotte to say that wasn't too good for her.
"You mean because I can't run," Tessa said, licking her lips. "I can't get away.
"If you demand to get away, as you put it, after we have talked, I will let you go," Charlotte replied. "The Nephilim do not trap Downworlders under duress. The Accords forbid it."
"The Accords?" Charlotte spoke to Brother Enoch in a low voice, and he drew up his hood. He walked up to Tessa, said something to her, and walked out the door. Tessa sat in another chair by the bed where Erin lay.
"What is it?" Charlotte asked, moving to sit in the chair opposite Tessa's. "What did he tell you?" Tessa shook her head, gripping her hands together in her lap. "First," Charlotte said, "please call me Charlotte, Miss Gray. Everyone in the Institute does. We Shadowhunters are not so formal as most."
"Charlotte," Tessa said experimentally. Charlotte leaned back slightly in her chair.
"Second, let me tell you what I already know about you, Theresa Gray. You're American, like those of us sent back by the time demon. You came here from New York City because you were following you brother, who had sent you a steamship ticket. His name is Nathaniel."
"How do you know all this?"
"I know that Will found you with Miss Herondale and Miss Lightwood in the Dark Sisters' house. I know that you claimed someone named the Magister was coming for you. I know that you have no idea who the Magister is. And I know that in a battle with the Dark Sisters, Miss Herondale was - and still is - rendered unconscious, and the three of you were brought here."
"Mrs. Black," Tessa whispered.
"Dead," Charlotte and Sarah replied. "Very."
"And Mrs. Dark?"
"Gone. We searched the whole house, and the nearby area, but found no trace of her."
"The whole house?" Tessa's voice shook slightly. "And there was no-one else in it? No-one else alive, or... or dead?"
"We did not find your brother, Miss Gray," Charlotte replied. "Not in the house, nor in any of the surrounding buildings."
"You - were looking for him?"
"We did not find him," Charlotte repeated. "But we did find your letters."
"My letters?"
"The letters you wrote to your brother and never sent," Charlotte said. "Folded under your mattress."
"You read them?"
"We had to read them. I apologise for that. It is not often we bring a Downworlder to the Institute, or anyone who is not a Shadowhunter. It represents a great risk to us. We had to know you were not a danger." Charlotte explained.
"You're trying not to cry," Jace noted. "I usually find looking at a light directly helps - try the witchlight." Sarah just looked at Jace in shock.
"How'd you know that?"
"Sarah, if you hide your emotions you generally find ways to not cry."
"Yeah yeah. Did your sister tell you that or something?"
"No. I knew that even before I knew Erin existed."
"How can you not know you have a sister?" Tessa wondered.
"Long story," Jace replied.
"Basically, Morgenstern boys are - were - evil," a voice explained. We all looked to the bed in shock, only to see Erin sitting up there.
"Miss Herondale, are you feeling alright?" Tessa asked, worried.
"I'm fine, thank you. And please, call me Erin." Tessa nodded, and addressed Charlotte again.
"So, Charlotte, you have decided I am not a danger, then?"
"Perhaps only to yourself," replied Charlotte. "A power such as yours, the power of shape-shifting - it is no wonder the Dark Sisters wanted to get their hands on you. Other will as well."
"Like you do?" Tessa asked. "Or are you going to pretend that you've let me into your precious Institute simply out of charity?"
"It is not charity," Charlotte said. "It is my vocation. Our vocation." Tessa simply stared at Charlotte blankly.
"Perhaps it would be better if we explained to you what we are - and what we do."
"Nephilim," Tessa guessed. "That's what the Dark Sisters called the other three. You're one as well, aren't you? Is that why you have those - those markings?" Charlotte nodded.
"I am one of the Nephilim - the Shadowhunters. We are... a race, if you will, of people, people with special abilities. We are stronger and swifter than most humans. We are able to conceal ourselves with magics called glamours. And we are especially skilled at killing demons."
"Demons. You mean - like Satan?"
"Demons are evil creatures. They travel great distances to come to this world and feed on it. They would ravage it  into ashes and destroy its inhabitants if we did not prevent it." Charlotte explained.
"Our job is like the job of mundane police forces. Their job is to protect those living in their cities from each other, it is our job to protect them from demons and other supernatural dangers. When there are crimes that affect the Shadow World, when the Law of our world is broken, we must investigate." Sarah added, before Charlotte spoke again to explain more.
"We are bound by the Law, in fact, to make inquiries even into the rumour of Covenant Law being contravened. Will told you about the dead girl he found in the alley; she was the only body, but there have been other disappearances, dark rumours of mundane boys and girls vanishing off the city's poorer streets. Using magic to murder human beings is against the Law, and therefore a matter for our jurisdiction."
"Mr. Herondale seems awfully young to be a sort of policeman."
"Shadowhunters grow up quickly, and Will did not investigate alone." Charlotte replied. "That is not all we do. We safeguard the Covenant Law and uphold the Accords - the laws that govern peace among Downworlders."
"Downworld? Is that a place?"
"A Downworlder is a being - a person - who is part supernatural in origin. Vampires, werewolves, faeries, warlocks - they are all Downworlders."
"Those creatures exist?"
"You are a Downworlder," Charlotte responded. "Brother Enoch confirmed it. We simply don't know what sort. Erin and Miss Lightwood -"
"Please, call me Sarah."
"My apologies Sarah. As I was saying, Erin and Sarah no doubt know what you are, but relying on knowledge from those who know everything that happens in your past is not always a good idea. Those who know what happened in the times a time demon sends them back to are not advised to risk changing the past in any way.  You see, the kind of magic you can do - your ability - it isn't it isn't something an ordinary human being could do. Neither is it something one of us, a Shadowhunter, could do. Will thought you were mostly a warlock, which is what I would have guessed myself, but all warlocks have some attributes that marks them as warlocks. Wings, or hooves, or webbed toes, or, as you saw in the case of Mrs. Black, taloned hands. But you, you're completely human in appearance. And it is clear from your letters that you know, or believe, both of your parents to be human."
"Human?" Tessa repeated. "Why wouldn't they have been human?"
Before any of us had a chance to answer, the door opened, and Sophie, the maid, came in. She set the tea tray she carried on the table in the centre of the room.
"Sophie," Charlotte sounded relieved to see her. "Thank you. This is Miss Gray, Miss Herondale, and Miss Lightwood. They will be staying with us this evening." Sophie straightened, turned to the girls, and curtsied.
"Miss,"
"Sophie, did you bring  in that dark red earlier, as I asked?" Charlotte inquired. "Could you have it brushed and sponged for Tessa?" Sophie nodded, and went to the wardrobe. "I took the liberty of having some of Jessamine's old dresses made over for you. The clothes you were wearing were ruined."
"Much obliged," Tessa replied stiffly.
"Miss Gray," Charlotte looked at Tessa earnestly. "Shadowhunters and Downworlders are not enemies. Our accord may be an uneasy one, but it is my belief that Downworlders are to be trusted – that, indeed, they hold the key to our eventual success against the demon realms. Is there something we can do to show you that we do not plan to take advantage of you?"
"I..." Tessa took a deep breath. "When the Dark Sisters first told me of my power, I thought they were mad. I told them such things didn't exist. Then I thought I was trapped in some sort of nightmare where they did. But then Sarah and the Herondales came, and they knew of time demons, and magic, and had that glowing stone, and I thought, Here are people who might help me." Tessa looked up. "But the only ones who seem to know why I am the way I am, or even what I am, cannot tell. And even if I cannot know yet..."
"It can be... difficult to learn how the world truly is, to see it in its true shape and form," Charlotte told Tessa. "Most human beings never do. Most could not bear it. But I have read your letters. And I know that you are strong, Miss Gray. You have withstood what might have killed another young girl, Downworlder or not. "
"I didn't have a choice," Tessa responded. "I did it for my brother. They would have murdered him."
"Some people would have let them." Charlotte said, at the same time that Jace said,
"I know one girl who would let them."
"But I know from your own words that you never even considered that." Charlotte continued, leaning forward. "Have you any idea where your brother is? Do you think he is most likely dead?"
Tessa sucked in a breath.
"Mrs. Branwell!" Sophie cried, looking up.
"Sophie is my good angel; I tend to be a little too blunt. I thought there might be something you knew, something that might give us knowledge of his whereabouts."
Tessa shook her head. "The Dark Sisters told me he was imprisoned in a safe location. I assume he is still there. But I have no idea how to find him."
"Then you should stay here at the Institute until he can be located."
"I don't want your charity. I can find another lodging place."
"It would not be charity," Charlotte replied. "We are bound by our own laws to help and aid Downworlders. To send you away with nowhere to go would break the Accords, which are important rules we must abide by."
"And you wouldn't ask for anything in return?" Tessa's voice was bitter. "You won't ask me to use my – my ability? You won't require me to Change?"
"If you do not wish to use your power then no, we will not force you to. Though I do believe you yourself may benefit from learning how it might be controlled and used - "
"No!" Tessa's cry was so sudden that Sophie jumped and dropped her brush. I glanced over at her then back at Tessa.
"As you wish, Miss Gray," Charlotte replied. "There are other ways you could assist us. I'm sure there is much you know that was not contained in your letters. And, in return, we could help you search for your brother."
"You would do that?"
"You have my word." Charlotte stood up. None of us had touched the tea on the table. "Sophie, if you could help Miss Gray dress, and I will bring her to dinner?"
"Dinner?"
"Certainly. It's nearly seven o'clock. You've already met Will; you can meet everyone else. Perhaps you'll see that we're to be trusted. Alec, Jace, if you could show your sisters where their rooms are?"