Inside You (Mortal Instruments FAN FIC:: Malec)

Chapter 19-Decipher

Huzzah for once it hasn't been too long! :P Sorry this chapter is so short but it's kind of a necessarily filler before everything kicks off. Next chapter is already hald written so hopfully you wont have to wait too long :D Enjoy and if you liked it please vote adn comment. More comments= quicker updating ;)

When Isabelle had rung them Clary could tell immediately that something was wrong. Isabelle’s voice had been tight and she avoided Clary’s worried questions, refusing to explain anything over the phone. So both she and Simon had headed over to the Institute as quickly as possible.

Jace quickly explained what they knew, frustrating little as it turned out, and they tried to decide what to do. But there were so many questions and so few answers.

Where had Alec gone?

Why had Alec left?

Was this anything to do with his previous behaviour?

Isabelle had collected together the crumpled pieces of paper that had been littered all over the floor and together they tried to make sense of them.

A number of worried glances passed between them as they worked through the notes, attempting to decipher the almost unintelligible scrawl. A tone of worry and confusion fell over them as they read further and further into the mess that had been Alec’s mind.

Simon came up with the good idea to use Alec’s laptop to make notes and search anything weird that came up. Although pretty much everything that they seemed to be reading could be considered ‘weird’ in Simon’s opinion.

“God I hope Alec’s ok.” Clary muttered as she came over to stand by Simon who was furiously typing things under the heading of Symptoms. Simon refrained from saying the clichéd ‘I’m sure he’s fine’ because at this stage it would feel like a lie so instead he gave Clary and quick one-armed hug before carrying on typing.

“There’s nothing useful here!” Isabelle said after another half an hour of reading and typing. “Nothing saying where he’s gone or why just a whole bunch of nonsense about blood and red eyes and nightmares.” Her frustration was palpable and shared by everyone in the room.

“Do you recognise this?” Simon said suddenly, holding up the piece of paper he had been studying and pointing to the rough drawing of a vase covered in some strange symbols none of them recognised.

Isabelle and Jace studied it closely, looking briefly at each other before shaking their heads. “Never seen it before.”

“You’re sure? It’s not anywhere in the Institute?”

“Simon, trust me it’s not ours.”

“Hmmm.” He opened a new tab and started researching. “This is the only drawing so I’m guessing it’s important. Maybe it’s a clue.”

“Maybe.” Jace said, looking unconvinced. But Isabelle jumped at any chance of progress.

“Good job Simon.” Isabelle said. He ducked his head quickly but she didn’t miss the slight smile that tugged at the corners of his mouth.

A little while later they had found out that the vase was of Tibetan origin and was supposedly used to contain some of the most dangerous fairy powders that existed. Each type of powder had different propertied and supposedly each vase was warded so that not just anyone can get in.

But this got them no further to finding their lost friend.

Clary glanced around, seeing everyone deep in studying their chosen notes, trying to decipher their meaning through Alec’s messy handwriting. She noticed that one of her shoelaces had unravelled.

Leaning down to retie the laces on her boots something sticking out from the corner of the desk caught her eye.

“Look.” Clary said, picking up what was revealed to be another sheet of Alec’s scribbled notes. “It must have fallen under when Alec left. Or maybe he was trying to hide it, though I don’t know why

“Another drawing,” Jace said grimly, taking the paper from her and examining it.

“Think it’s important?” Clary asked.

“What of?” Isabelle said.

“Some sort of chest. It’s got a whole bunch of sigils on the sides but I have never seen anything like them before.”

Isabelle came over to them too, peering over Jace’s shoulder to look at it. “Me neither. They’re nothing I’ve ever come across. Simon can you see what you can find?”

Jace handed it over to Simon while they went back to

Time dragged on and on with very little progress. Simon could find nothing about what the sigils meant or even what language they were in. They only thing they could deduce was that it was probably very, very old and probably kept something very dangerous inside.

But what, they didn’t know.

“Why would Alec draw that?” Simon asked, cracking his knuckles loudly in the silence.

No one even bothered to answer because the truth was no one had a clue.

Silence descended once again. Everyone filled with a feeling of utter helplessness that gnawed away at their insides and churned in their gut.

Isabelle hated it. Alec was out there doing on Raziel knew what and here they were effectively doing nothing and they were no closer to finding out where his was or what was wrong that when they had started.

“If only Magnus was awake,” Clary said sadly, “he’d probably know what it was. Or at least be able to make something of all this strange writing.”

“But he’s not so we need to keep going ourselves,” Isabelle snapped, ignoring Clary’s wounded expression and instead grabbing the nearest sheet of paper and stalking over to the window. But instead of studying the words on it she simple stared sullenly out of the window-lost in her own, dark thoughts.

Jace gave Clary a look that seemed to say ‘try to understand’ and ‘she didn’t mean it’. Clary did her best to ignore Isabelle’s words but they still stung. They were all worried about Alec; he was her friend too.

They continued studying in silence: Simon, typing almost continuously on the laptop; Clary, now situated on the floor near the foot of Alec’s bed; Jace, leaning elegantly against the wall, and Isabelle, still perched gloomily by the window, dark hair obscuring her face.

Eyes blurring from the stream of words in front of her Clary glanced up for a moment, her gazing resting on Magnus prone form, still exactly how it had been since they had first laid him in the bed.

“Wait!” she said loudly, jumping up from her position on the floor. Slowly, almost warily, she approached Magnus’ unconscious form, staring at him intently while the others gazed at her in confusion.

“Clary what is it?” Jace asked after a few moments of tense silence. Eventually she lifted her head and met his concerned gaze. She took a deep breath before speaking.

“I think…No I’m sure…his fingers just moved.”