Crown Of Thorns

Saved By A Stranger

Rem slowly shut Sydney's door, and stuffed her Stele back into her weapons belt. She slowly looked over her shoulder to see Ash walking down the hall quickly, and away from her. Rem sighed to herself and quickly jogged down the hall to catch up to her. 

Once she caught up, Rem looked up at Ashtyn, but her level stare was focused straight ahead. Her blue eyes slightly narrowed, and her bow was making a slight jiggling sound against her back as they walked. 

"I'm sorry," Rem said quietly. She saw Ash's eyes close for a second, before opening again. She still refused to look down at her Parabatai

"Are you?" was all she mumbled before shoving the front doors open with her shoulder roughly. And walked down the stone steps of the Academy. Rem swallowed hard and sighed again, watching her dear friend walk down the long pathway that led to the large iron gate that was surrounding the entire Academy. As they got closer, a faint blue glow was coming off of the metal. A protective Ward had been casted upon it to keep unwanted visitors out. 

Because Idris was a Holy place, demons couldn't step foot on it's soil. But ever since the Dark War, when Sebastian Morgenstern was able to break through the sacred Wards surrounding Alicante, with his army of forsaken Shadowhunters demons have been known to find themselves sneaking in much more frequently. Which was when the Academy had been reopened. Training Shadowhunters in case of another war. 

Because the entire city ran only on witchlight, the streets were dim. Rem slowly reached into her pocket and pulled out the witchlight her brother had given her a long time ago. As a present. Ever since that day she had held the thing close at all times, sleeping with it under her pillow, and even carrying it with her from class to class. She felt closer to William when she had it in her hands. 

Ash grabbed her own witchlight and shined it over the gate's security system. She slowly held up her hand with the Clairvoyant Rune on it, the screen scanned her hand and the gate unlocked. Ash pushed the gate open, and held it open for Rem as she stepped through. Rem held her witchlight up and looked down both sides of the street. 

"All clear," Rem whispered, and began heading down the west street. Ash close on her heels

"I don't understand why our parking lot isn't closer," Rem said, as they walked to the only parking lot for the Academy's students. Ash shrugged and grabbed her keys out of her pocket. Ash had bought herself her own car before coming to the Academy. A black pick up truck. Typical. 

Ash unlocked the doors and the two got inside. Ash tossing her bow gently into the back, and Rem made herself comfortable by placing her feet up on the dash board and leaning back in her seat. Her favorite position. Ash never complained, and Rem never changed. 

"So are you actually going to talk to me? Or is this whole Patrol going to be filled with awkward silence?" Rem asked, once the two pulled out of the parking lot and began down the road. Ash remained quiet, and kept focused on the road. 

"Awkward silences are appropriate sometimes," she said. And reached over and flicked the radio on. Rem growled and looked out the window. Wondering when Ashtyn would give up and finally talk to her. They were Parabatai. It wasn't like they could keep this up. 

"I just... Hate it when you put yourself in potential danger like that," Ash finally said, about 5 minutes into the silent drive. Rem looked over at her

"Ash, it will be fine. No one will find out-"

"What if they do, Rem? Then what? We're screwed. I'm nothing without being a Shadowhunter. And I couldn't stand the idea of you suffering like that either," Ash said. A serious look on her face. Rem sighed and rubbed her eyes

"We have to play this out until we can place Audrey some place where we know she'll be safe," Rem said.

"Why the hell is she so scared of her own family, anyways? Isn't this troubling to you? At all? Come on, Remmy. You may take risks sometimes but you're no fool. You know just how dangerous this is," Ash snapped, her hands gripping the wheel so hard her knuckles were white. Rem swallowed hard and sat back against the seat, looking back out the window.

"It's the protector in me, Ash. We were born to fight, and protect. That's what Shadowhunters do. I can't just let Audrey go back to a place that's obviously dangerous," Rem mumbled. Ash let out a frustrated growl.  

"Stop!" Rem cried, sitting up in her seat quickly. Ash slammed on the breaks, and looked over at Rem with a glare. But she had already threw off her seat belt and bolted out of the truck. 

"Rem!" Ash shouted, but Rem raced around the street corner. Ash cursed and grabbed her bow, and quickly got out of her truck to follow.

Rem sprinted down the street, her eyes locked on a Shax demon crawling up ahead. It turned sharply and crawled down an ally way. Rem grabbed for a seraph blade and yanked it out of her belt. 

"Miguel," she whispered. And the blade blazed to life. She slowly crept down the ally. Her eyes sharp, and saw the Shax demon trying to climb up a building. 

Rem cried out and raised her blade.

Only to be roughly shoved aside. She yelped as she made contact with the ground. Her shoulder let out a hiss of pain, and her blade skidded across the ally. She looked up to see a figure dressed in dark gear rush forward. And swung something down, colliding with the demon. The thing let out a cry of pain, before completely dissolving into ashes. The figure slowly lowered it's blade, breathing hard. It definitely wasn't Ashtyn. This figure was more male. 

The figure turned and began heading towards Rem. Who tried to scramble back, but was too stunned. 

"Stay away from her!" Ash's sharp voice shouted from the opening of the ally. The figure looked up, and slowly pulled it's hood down. 

To reveal a stunning set of blue eyes. And a very masculine face, with a sharp jaw and thin lips. The guy had black hair that was curling into his forehead. It looked as though he needed a cut.

And his hands were covered in dark Runes. 

"Wh.. Who are you?" Rem asked. Looking up at him. He smiled a sexy smile and slowly reached for her-

"I said, step away from her!" Ash's voice grew dark, as she raised her bow. 

"Remmington," the guy whispered. Rem's eyes slowly widened. This guy knew her name. Her full name.. No one ever called her that. Only family. 

"How do you know my name?" Rem snapped. He raised his piercing eyes to look into her gray ones. Rem felt her cheeks flush and her stomach flip.

"I knew you're brother," he said. 

Rem slowly stiffened. Her face blanching. 

"W-what?" she stuttered. The guy smiled a smile that any normal girl would swoon over

"William," he whispered "William was my best friend," 

Rem swayed, feeling her head begin to spin. Her vision slowly going fuzzy

"Remmy!" Ash yelled, and rushed forward.

The last thing she remembered was hearing Ash's worried cries before Rem passed out cold, and every thing went black.