Detained [2] 《SHADOWHUNTERS》

Chapter Eleven

Andina found her biological sister on the fifth floor of the Institute, sitting on the bed inside of her bedroom. She was perched awkwardly, knee supporting her chin as she hovered over a sketchbook. Her back was arched forward in a way that made Andy wonder how she could possibly be comfortable. Her orange hair was tied back in a messy bun that only served to keep the hair out of her face.

She sketched furiously on the page and Andy could see the graphite staining the side of her right hand from the doorway. 

"Hey," Andy greeted softly, as if Clary were a deer that she didn't want to scare away. The wide-eyed look the redhead gave her only solidified the feeling.

Clary dropped her pencil and straightened up into a much more comfortable-looking position. "Andy," she stuttered, pushing her notebook to the side. "What, uh... Did you need something?"

Andy frowned, furrowing her brow as she entered the room. She kicked the door closed behind her. "I heard about what happened," she said, strolling over to the bed. "I just wanted to check on you."

Clary dropped her eyes to analyze the bed sheets, but Andy had already caught a glimpse of the young girl's tears. Without another word, Andy moved to sit next to the redhead, laying a comforting hand on her shoulder.

Clary glanced up, startled when Andy made contact. Her lip was quivering but the determined frustration in her green eyes made it clear she was trying to contain herself.

Andy let her fingers drift over the girl's back much like she would instinctively do when comforting Jace. "I'm your big sister, you don't need to hide how you're feeling from me," she mumbled, trying to ignore how weird the statement felt.

Clary let out a shaky sigh and sniffled, falling forward as she reluctantly let her emotional barrier fall. Andy caught her in her arms, letting the girl's head rest on her shoulder.

She didn't mind when sobs began to wrack Clary's body, only tightening the grip she had around the girl. "I sh-should have just g-gone to Idris," Clary stammered through tears.

The brunette couldn't make sense of the statement. "What would you do in Idris?"

It took the girl quite a while to explain, but Andy soon understood what had happened while she and Jace were with their father. Jocelyn was the most wanted person in the Clave's eyes besides Valentine himself, and the Clave had ordered her back to Idris to keep a close eye on her. Jocelyn understandably hadn't wanted to leave her daughter, and Clary believed that if she had just agreed to go with her mother, they would've been gone before the demon possessions were even occurring. 

Andina just listened and rubbed her back, trying shush the distraught girl. Clary could blame herself as much as she wanted, but there was no getting Jocelyn Fairchild back.

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After Simon had returned to occupy Clary for the time being, Andy decided she needed to change out of the clothes she had worn into the sea water days ago. She had thought then that things could not get any worse, with Valentine having the Mortal Cup at his disposal and a growing army at his sides. She had been so wrong.

She headed to her room without thinking much of it, but when she opened the door her feet stopped abruptly. She looked around her room with wide eyes and the beginnings of a sneer growing on her thin lips. The place was a mess, much more so than usual.

Clothes were flipped out of her dresser, splayed around the room. A few of its drawers were tossed onto the floor, the rest thrown open carelessly. Books that had been on her desk were discarded onto the ground and her journal was missing from its usual abode on her now empty shelves. The sheets were torn off of her bed and discarded beside it, and the mattress was falling off of the frame. Over by her weapons shelf, there was nothing but a wooden staff. Not even her old training seraph blades were left inside of the room.