A Drink From The Cup *REVAMP*

Chapter 3

Ara Jean's P.O.V.

I have to be honest. I have no idea at all why I went back. Maybe the unanswered questions led me back. Or maybe it's the fact that the crazy I had just heard finally made my life seem normal. Whatever it was I knew I had to go back.

So when Jace with the perfect hair started disposing of the demons in my backyard, I stole the codex. Well his girlfriend's codex.

I searched through the pages and that's when I found page 140 and page 217.  Those pages talked about Glamours and Institutes. So I read them and found out that Jace lives in an Institute that doesn't actually look like an Institute because of the glamour covering it. That's like the glamour he wears when hiding fom us mundanes. "Totally not confusing!" I had said sarcastically, rolling my eyes at the Codex.

       I was about to start looking for the Institute but apparently my body had other ideas. I had forgotten how late it was because within the first step, a wave of sleep washed over me and I was out.

      I slept until morning when an uncomfortable crick in my neck awoke me. I slowly stood up, my body stiff from falling asleep on a park bench in the middle of New York.

     After waking from the worst sleep of my life I resumed my quest to find the Institute. "My quest" meaning me walking around town hoping Jace's Institute would pop up while ignoring phone calls from Zahra. I didn't want to pull her into my crazy world.

After looking for a few minutes and finding nothing I started to lose hope. That's when I passed an odd crumbling church. I didn't give it much thought until out of the corner of my eye I saw the abandoned church turn into a beautiful building. Still in awe of what I had just seen I cautiously walked towards the building. I kept staring at it, waiting for it to change back but it never did. It had to be the Institute! I mean nothing else would make sense. So I took a leap of faith and knocked on the door. I yelled:

"My name's Ara Jean and I need to talk to Jace the shadowhunter!"

Now I am standing and waiting for an answer. Also I'm hoping this really is the Institute and that I'm not just hallucinating. A weird blue light appears behind me. Then I hear a voice.

"So you came crawling back, huh?"

 "What the-"

    I turn around to see the all too familiar face of Jace Herondale, his golden locks tousled like he just stepped of a plane. A girl is next to him. She has the same red curls I do. The ones that I can never tame. She also is undeniably shorter than Jace. Like me. In fact she looks just like me!

    "So, why did you come back? You weren't exactly happy with me the last time we spoke." Jace says smirking.

"Oh shut it Herondale! I didn't come back for you! I came back because I still have questions. Here's one of them. Who is that girl next to you?" I ask curiously.

"This girl is the amazing Clary Fray! My girlfriend. Also the owner of the codex you stole." Jace gives her a quick peck on the lips as if to demonstrate and then grabs the codex from under my arms.

"Wow I didn't know you could actually care about people! Hi Clary! Sorry about the stealing thing! I just had to come back. Even though I can't stand your boyfriend, he never answered all my questions."

"You remind me of my self when I was younger. I'm impressed you found the Institute. You should probably rest from the journey but I'll answer one of your questions first."

"Ok! What is up with the tattoos?" I ask.

"Tattoos? That's what you ran away for?"

I know that voice almost as well as my own.

"Zahra! How did you find me?" I ask turning to face her. I hadn't thought of it as running away but I did forget to tell my mom I was leaving.

"Easy! I used your mom's phone to track you. You should've thought about that before running away and giving your mom and your best friend heart attacks!" Zahra says with a pained expression.

"Who is this?" Clary and Jace ask in unison. For a second I forgot they were there. 

"My best friend Zahra!" I say.

"AJ who are you talking to?" Zahra looks at me with confusion.

"The guy from the park! Wait. You can't see him." I forgot about that. Before I can tell Clary and Jace to take off their glamours, Zahra's grabs my own and trys to drag me away from the Institute.

"But they still haven't answered my questions? The reason I came here in the first place!"

"Still not sure who "they"are." Zahra says.

If Zahra can't see them then why can I? Whatever. My questions aren't going to get answered anytime soon so why bother? Once again I give up and try to believe that everything that happened wasn't real. It is going to be a lot harder this time around.

"Zahra just take me home."

"Always."

Hope you enjoyed chapter 3! What did you think? And Zahra saying always at the end is a reference my best friend a.k.a. rainfairy79 will get! ☺️ Love her and everyone else who has supported this story! Speaking of stories go read the amazing story: The Last Hope! It is so good and just reached 500 reads! Yayyyy! I even have a character in it! The character Nayeli! 😄 Bye for now!