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City of Spirits

Chapter 3: Marked

Clary stared at the beautiful woman named Magnolia with curious eyes. "Where am I?" she asked, more confused than ever. Slowly, she tried to sit up, but she quickly felt the effects of her head injury when the room started to spin, and she fell back down.

"You're safe, and that's all that matters," replied the woman Clary knew to be Magnolia.

"Just get some rest, you had quite a head injury," Andrea put in. They were still staring down at Clary like they were doctors and Clary was a high priority patient.

Clary really wanted some answers right now, but she felt the strong fatigue weighing her body down as if bricks were piled on top of her. Plus the room was still slightly spinning which was doing a good job of keeping her still. Defeated, she closed her eyes and fell into a deep sleep.

When she opened her eyes again she immediately recognized the ceiling of her room at the Institute. Her body no longer felt weak, and thankfully, the room was staying in place. Seeing that she wasn't going to spill the contents of her stomach anytime soon, she rose off the bed very slowly.

Her room was completely dark, and that helped a lot. She wasn't sure how much light her eyes were ready to take. She moved her body to let her feet hang off the bed, and she took a deep breath, savoring the scent of the well-known room. That was when she noticed it.

In the corner furthest from her was a dark shadow; a dark shadow shaped like a man. Her heart nearly stopped along with her breath. But she was no coward. She felt a lump in her pocket, and she reached into it to pick up the familiar shape of the witchlight. Slowly, she held it out in front of her. Then, taking a deep breath, she activated it, illuminating the room in a beautiful light.

She gasped when she saw that the figure in the corner was the man from the street that she had been so afraid of. His skin was pale as bone, and his eyes were glowing red like blood in the supernatural light. He smiled, that same wicked smile. Clary cowered back until she could go no further. Like before, the room began to spin, and everything else became a mysterious blur…except for the mortifying figure of the man. The man smiled at her fear the whole time. His smile was so horrible, so evil. For some reason Clary felt as if his dark red eyes had captured her in a net that she could never break out of. Intense moments that seemed like endless decades passed, and all the man did was stare at her with that dreadful smile and those capturing eyes.

Then he broke into a cloud of black smoke that moved toward Clary with tremendous speed. It wrapped her in a cocoon of smoke, suffocating her. The smoke smelled of pure death and it seemed to drain all hope from her body and all happiness. She tried to scream, but the sound disappeared into the cold and black abyss around her. Soon she began to feel a great sense of fatigue, and a small tear ran down her pale face. Everything good felt like it was vanishing, and she thought of Jace. She thought of his handsome face, and his angelic smile. More importantly though, she thought of how much of an idiot she had been for letting him believe that she didn't care for him. Now she was probably going to die, and he would never know the truth. He would never know that she loved him completely and unconditionally.

Cold wind felt like it was wrapping tightly around her, but then she felt a strange burning sensation on the palm of her right hand. It was faint at first, but then the slight burning sensation turned into pure fire and flames. Clary felt her entire hand catch on fire with the pain emerging from her palm. The pain was unbearable, utterly unbearable. Tears began to emerge from her eyes; again she tried to scream, but the sound was swallowed by the smoke.

"Clary!" It was Jace's voice. She searched for him, but she saw nothing but darkness. "Clary!" This time she felt his strong hands on her shoulder which ripped her out of the darkness. Suddenly, she saw his face, his beautiful, mystical face.

It was no longer dark. The room was bathed in sweet light. "What happened?" Clary choked. Her heart rate was still racing with fear.

Jace had a petrified look on his flawless face. He was truly scared for her. "You were having a nightmare," he answered quickly. They were in Clary's room in the Institute and the clock revealed it to be early morning.

Clary gulped and wrapped her arms around his neck. He was surprised by the move, but then he enclosed his strong arms around her waist, trying to protect her from whatever had frightened her so much. He felt her tears soak through his shirt and wet his shoulder. "It was so much more than a nightmare though," Clary quietly sobbed.

Clary then became rigid and began to shake. A look of pure terror washed over her face, and she jumped off the bed and was in the bathroom in a quick moment. Jace, quite worried and confused, rushed after her. When he reached the bathroom door he saw Clary rubbing her hands vigorously in the sink, with her face as pale as chalk. "Clary?" Jace whispered. She did not notice him. She seemed like a mad woman.

He approached her cautiously. Carefully, he put his hand on her shoulder, but she did not seem to notice him. "It's really there. It really happened," she muttered under her breath. Jace had never seen her act in such a manner.

"Clary, you're going to rub your hands off. What's the matter?" He reached into the sink and grabbed her wet hands. Her entire arm was shaking, and Jace heard her whimper a bit as he pulled opened her hand to examine it.

"It wasn't just a nightmare," she cried glaring at her hand. Shining bright red in the palm of her hand was a strange symbol nearly glowing red. It was an "x" made from two zig- zagged lines. "He was here, in my room," continued Clary. Her eyes were red from crying, and her cheeks were pale and wet with tears.

Jace reached over, trying to stay calm for her sake, and wiped a newly formed tear from her cheeks. Her skin was cold as ice. "Who was here?" he asked. "It wasn't Valentine was it?"

Clary shook her head slowly and snatched her hand away from him. She backed off slowly shaking her head. "No he's worse much, much worse," she seemed to be in some sort of daze as she spoke. "He's like pure fear." She couldn't believe how scared the man made her. In the time she'd been a shadowhunter she'd faced much worse and had overcome it easily, but this man made her petrified. She looked up at Jace who was frozen in place. "It's as if he's meant to scare me and only me. He is my fear," she whispered.

Never had Jace seen his beloved sister this way. "Does he have anything to do with yesterday?" Jace asked curiously and worriedly.

Clary furrowed her brow. "What?"

"We found you out cold in the elevator late last night. Someone had put you there. You've been out of it for awhile. You don't remember what happened before that?"

A confused look was still on Clary's face. "I don't know how I got into the elevator, but I remember what happened before that...but it all seemed so unreal," she answered.

"Well what happened?"Jace crossed his arms and leaned against the bathroom wall. He was trying to relax in hopes that it would help Clary relax, but he was still quite worried for his little sister.

As Clary explained the events of the day before Jace listened with deep curiosity. After she finished, he was kind of shocked. "A woman was impersonating me?" he asked, stunned. "Why would she do that? How would she do that?"

Clary shrugged her shoulders. "I kind of got the feeling that she was protecting me."

"Protecting you from what?" He glanced down at her marked hand. It was still shaking in either fear or pain. "Was it him? Did you see him yesterday as well?"

Slowly, Clary nodded. "He said he wanted me. Then something happened and I fell to the ground and hit my head. I think that Magnolia woman saved me or it was the other woman…Andrea. They can turn into some weird kind of white smoke…like the man…except it's white."

Jace was getting more confused by the minute. "Did you say Magnolia?"

Clary nodded. "Have you heard of the name? Madeline said she was cursed I think."

"Well it's supposed to be a legend. I guess the Clave doesn't want to talk much about it. Magnolia supposedly killed her husband and escaped from the curse that was her punishment. They could never capture her, and it's said that the curse has given her strange powers and immortality…among other things," Jace explained.

"Powers?"

Jace nodded. "They say she has the powers of a ghost, and she's not the only one. Over the centuries she has helped others escape to gain the same powers," he paused. "Over the years they've come to be known as spirithunters."