City of Heavenly Fire (The Mortal Instruments Fan-fic)

Chapter 16: Kaleidoscope's Light

The darkened halls of the hideout slowly filled with the putrid scent of acid. A figure detached itself from the shadows that lined the walls and stepped cautiously into the pitiful ray of light provided by a lone, dying torch that flickered in it's metal casket.

The hazy form took on the shape of a slim girl; or what looked like one. A much larger mound of black was being dragged behind the girl.

A flash of silvery hair. Soft panting. The quiet click of a door closing. Then the hall was silent once more.

Maureen leaned against the door from the inside. If she were human, she was sure her lungs would have burst long ago. Even so, her muscles shook with her every movement. She scrambled to her feet, trying not to gag as the overpowering smell of demon blood filled her sinuses.

The low and damp ceiling of the supply room seemed to sag somewhat in the middle, like it was caving inwards. A single bare bulb dangled dangerously on the ceiling with a chain as thin as a spider web's. Cupboards lined two of the four walls while the others held racks of weapons. A thin wooden table was pushed against a corner of the small room, used as a makeshift stretcher.

Maureen didn't think her arms could support a body a couple times larger than herself, however, even with her Downworlder strength, instead opting to drag him into the centre. She averted her eyes as much as she could as she straightened, pushing down the feeling of panic and terror clawing up her throat.

The dusty shelves at her head level were filled with various liquids and slimy-looking concoctions in murky jars brown from disuse. Maureen's hands scrabbled through the jars with gritted teeth, pushing down the taste in her mouth as her hands felt suddenly cold and wet. At last a roll of once-white bandages fell beside the body that lay on the hardened dirt.

Even near death, Sebastian's cold and hard expression was unreadable. His charming features Maureen had fell for so long ago were all but lost in the ice that coated his entire being like a shell, never once letting anyone through. Not even Maureen. His face showed no pain; only darkness deeper than the thickest of shadows. The strong line of his jaw was clenched, though, beads of sweat forming under his pale blonde hair.

The dagger had struck home. The only visible part of the dark iron was the adorned grey hilt. Black blood stained the floor, oozing out of the wound that missed his heart by mere inches in rivulets.

Maureen gently fingered the hilt. With only a millisecond's hesitation, she pulled upwards, clenching her eyes shut for the blood-curdling scream that was sure to come. But it didn't, which was almost worse. He was stone still... as if he was already too far gone.

The thick bandages she pressed to his chest were black and steaming in seconds. Maureen's hands smarted from the contact with the demon-injected blood, and her palms blistered an angry red. The skin healed to a shell pink after a few moments, only to be burned once more.

Then, as if her brain had just finally caught up with time, she froze, dropping the ruined cloths. Maureen shot to her feet, spinning on her heels and out the door, abandoning all attempts of stealth.

She sprinted down the tunnel-like hall of the hideout. Her mind was numb, but her footsteps led her through the labyrinth of halls and doors, halls and more doors.

The vampire stopped, panting heavily, at a knob-less metal door. With the twin torches on either side of it and the heavy padlock at it's centre, it looked like the entrance of a villain's lair in a cliche movie.

She ripped the fake lock off and stood on her toes to reach the top-right corner of the door. A single 'J' was engraved in the metal, no bigger than a pea. Maureen ran her index finger carefully over the carving, from tip to tip.