Sнadow Girl ▹ Jace Wayland (editing)

20.

The Renwick Ruins at the southern end of Roosevelt Island were exactly how i pictured them, ghastly and down right creepy. It's sharp outlines somehow clearly visable against the darkness of the river and the Manhattan backdrop. The truck followed the packed dirt road that bent around the curve of the chain link fence that surrounded the property.

Eventually the road grew too bumpy to continue driving up and Luke pulled over. He then hoped down from his side of the truck before going around the other side to help Clary. He offered me a hand but i ignored it, choosing to jump out of the trailer myself.

As my feet hit the ground, puffs of dust flew up of the dry packed dirt beneath me. The cars Luke had following us started to pull up one by one forming a circle around us.

Clary observed the ruins through the bright glare the multiple sets of headlights created. "It's a wreck." Clary said, apprehension flickering in her voice. "I don't see how Valentine could possibly be hiding here."

Luke glanced past her. "It's a strong glamour," He said. "Try to look past the lights."

I took another glance realizing the ruins had transformed into a three story Gothic revival structure that resembled a castle more than it did a small pox hospital. Luke fell into a quiet conversation with Clary as i continued to watch the building with wary eyes.

After he was done he sent me a stern look that didn't take long to interpret. Barely hours ago i'd confessed to him Valentine had killed my parents and now here we were quite possibly about to face him. He couldn't deal with me if i lost my cool and i wasn't known for being level headed.

Apparently the fence guarding the property was very real. A wolf, who went by Alaric, rattled at it experimentally before lazily raising a hand. With one quick swipe of his claws the metal chainlink turned into ribbons.

"Go." Luke ordered, everyone surged forward one by one.

Ahead of us on the porch dark shapes gathered moving towards the steps. Alaric sniffed his surroundings. "The stench of death lies heavy on the air."

I took a shaky breath. "Forsaken."

Luke shoved Clary behind him and she stumbled back on the uneven ground. The pack surrounded us shifting in a flash creating a wall of fur in between us and the forsaken. We moved for the porch staying in formation. The Foresaken's arrival was announced by the sound of a wolf's howl of pain. The sound quickly changed into a growl as the wolves attacked. The Forsaken hurled themselves forward, but the wolves met them head on claws tearing and teeth gouging. We moved towards the house painfully slow leaving a pile of blood and death in our wake.

Distracted, we hardly noticed the forsaken that had broken through the protection circle. It lunged for Clary's feet raising it's dripping knife. She screamed causing Luke to whirl round and drag her sideways. Instead of moving out of the way i met it's blade head on with my own. Metal clashed against metal sending sparks into the air. It pushed hard against me, but i slammed my boot into it's stomach sending it flying backwards.

While it was trying to recover i flung my blade toward it, it found home in the side of it's neck. This didn't faze it in the slightest as it kept charging. I drew the sword strapped to my back before turning towards it. I hissed as it flew straight towards me, but as it reached me i let my sword fall down onto its neck slicing head clean from body. Blood sprayed all over me, but it didn't even twitch as both pieces hit the ground with a loud thud.

I turned back around to face Clary and Luke. I must of looked downright psychotic standing there in all black soaked head to toe in blood with that wild feral hunger in my eyes.