The Mortal Instruments: City of Past Ghosts (Book 1)

Chapter 20: Soul Music

Chapter 20: Soul Music

__________

 

Everything was a dark foggy atmosphere.

Clary felt lost, like she was swimming in the middle of the ocean and she was drowning. And in that ocean, there was a force that kept pulling her down everytime she tried to come up for air. The surface was so close yet so far.

With a strong yank, the force pulled her down and kept her there. She could feel herself going paranoid and her head had begun to feel light. Everything was closing in on her

"There is no pretending," a voice echoed around her, like the person who said it was very far away. "I love you, and I will love you until I die, and if there's a life after that, I'll love you then."

She felt her heart stutter in her chest. Hearing those words, it was like she had found the surface, finally breaking free even though she was still held captive in this oppressing, dark space. To her, the words were like cold water in the middle of a desert, air to a living person or life to a corpse. The words had been so familiar, so real. But they weren't. Were they?

She wanted them to be.

******

Clary woke up with a start. She sat up and winced, her whole body aching. She rubbed her eyes and found her face stained with tears.

She wiped them away, baffled. She looked around and realized she was in her room, tucked in her bed.

She looked our her window and saw that the sky was dark and cloudy. She was in a pair of blue cotton shorts and a white tank top, When did she get into these clothes?

But even with the fresh change of clothes, she was still filthy; soot, blood and ichor stained her arms. She got out of bed and saw a new shimmering scar on her forearm. The scar of an iratze.

Her dream flashed back into her mind and she laughed quietly to herself. What was wrong with her? That feeling she got in the dream was absolutely ridiculous. She shook her head, clearing her absurd thoughts and dreams.

She padded into the cold bathroom, stripping out of her clothes and jumping into the shower. She turned the knob for cold water before adjusting the knob for warm water. She went under the relaxing shower, letting the water beat against her sore back. She grabbed a bottle of body wash that lied on the floor and squirted some of the soap on her palm.

Slowly, she scrubbed all the dirt and blood off her skin, even washing her hair. She watched the dirt, blood and soot go down the drain along with the lemon scented bubbles. As she scrubbed, bits and pieces of this evening's happenings flashed in her mind.

The face of the person who attacked her was blurry and was constantly changing everytime Clary tried to remember.

Did her attacker have blond hair...or was she a brunette? All she remembered was that it was a girl. And that funny glint of gold and silver.

Her head began to throb, like a humongous drum was being hit repeatedly inside her head. She turned off the shower and wrapped herself in a warm towel. She ran the towel through her wet hair harshly, planning to go back to sleep immediately. The clock on her bedside table told her it was four in the morning.

She threw on her clothes and crawled into bed. Her head sunk into the pillow but sleep remained out of reach. She groaned in frustration. She hated when she was tired but sleep ran away. She groaned, turning over as she closed her eyes.