Raising Hell

11. That Hurted

By the time I make it across town to the cemetery, Simon's body was already buried. Clary is sat on the ground beside his grave while Jace is crouched beside her. I watch as he fails to comfort her. She looked numb, like she wasn't allowing herself to feel anything. It was the look of someone trying to detach themselves from their guilt.

"That mundane's a fighter," Jace says to Clary as I approach. "He survived the vampires at the Hotel DuMort. He survived the werewolves at Jade Wolf. He survived accounting, for whatever that's worth."

"He also survived being my boyfriend." I sit next to Clary and stare down at the grave. "That must have been horrifying."

Clary chuckles. "He is a fighter, isn't he? Look, I know you guys think emotions cloud judgment, and that whole falcon story, I--I don't think I'll ever be able to wrap my head around that, but all of that contradicts the first rule of being mundane."

"What's that?" I ask her.

She looks at me with a gentle smile. "It's that love makes you stronger. It was my mother's love for me that made her betray Valentine and steal the Cup. It was your love for us that made you stay despite the risks. It's love that makes you fight harder for what you want."

The corners of my lips turn up. Out of everyone, I expected Clary to be one of the last people to forgive me. After being lied to her whole life by her mother and then being lied to again by her own friend, I had expected her to be furious with me. "Thank you, Clary."

Clary opens her mouth to say something but stops when the ground starts rumbling. The three of us get to our feet, backing away from the grave. Jace's hand goes to Clary's arm and Clary's free hand catches my wrist, all of us backing away together. Raphael, who was apparently lurking in the shadows, comes forward carrying a duffle bag.

"It's happening," he says as he drops the bag at the end of the grave.

A hand shoots out of the grave, feeling around the ground. A wave of relief passes over me, followed by fear. He pulls himself out of the ground, grunting and growling. When he lifts his head, my eyes immediately go to the fangs jutting out of his mouth. The scene looked like something straight out of a horror film. As soon as he's above ground, Raphael opens his bag and begins to pulls out blood-bags.

"Simon," Clary whispers, inching towards him. "Simon, it's me. It--it's Clary."

Simon moves towards her with a hiss, causing Jace to pull Clary back. I step in front of them, my hand reaching for my daggers. Simone responds to the threat by pouncing on me. I am knocked to the ground and he pins me to the ground. His fangs hover over my throat and I hold my breath to keep from screaming.

Jace grabs Simon roughly, throwing him off of me as if we weighed the same as a bean bag. Raphael responds rather calmly, throwing blood bags over to Simon. I watch in disgust as Simon rips them open.

"Addie," Jace offers me a hand to help me up, which I take. He pulls me up effortlessly.

"Don't call me that," I tell him.

"You're welcome," he responds sarcastically before going over to Clary.

"Jace," I tear my eyes off of Simon to look at him. "Thank you."

He nods at me, giving me a forced smile.

"Very hungry," Raphael states as he watches Simon feed. "Drink up."

Blood soaks through Simon's shirt and stains his face as he tears through the blood bags. The sight nauseates me, but I can't look away. It's like trying to look away from a trainwreck. He gets through multiple bags of blood before he finally looks up at us, recognition setting in. His eyes are wide and his body shakes as he pushes himself onto his knees. I take a hesitant step towards him, dropping to my knees. Slowly, I reach out to put a hand on his shoulder. He flinches away at first, but I continue to reach toward him until my hand touches his shoulder.