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A Door Into The Dark

Everything was slowly but surely blowing up in their faces. Every opportunity they had seemed to be slipping through their fingers like sand in a timer. We're they on a timer? Was all of this just counting down till they lost Jace for good? Arya didn't want to think like that. But did she have any choice?

She wasn't the only one who felt like they were pulling their hair out. Alec had been dealing the worst—undoubtedly. The echoes of his fist meeting the leather outside of the punching bag could be heard in echoes from outside the training room. His fists were red and tender, his face the picture of frustration.

"Alec, are you okay?" Clary asked the raven-haired boy. He paid no mind to the slightly sad glimmer behind her eyes nor the thinned skin on his knuckles.

The boy barely spared a glance in the girl's direction—an action which she noticed. "Bold of you to show your face here." He grumbled, throwing a fist full of anger into the leather bag that was bruised and beaten. 

The redhead froze in her approach. "I can explain." She insisted. But of course, now that the news of Clary's mother's attempt at killing Jace and Clary's blatant disregard of the whole situation had reached Alec, he couldn't have been more furious with the girl.

Alec scoffed. He highly doubted that there was any reasonable explanation she could concoct that would justify her actions. "Unless your explanation can bring Jace back, save it." He spat, the tone reflecting his anger, similar to the fist that hurled into the pad again.

Clary uncrossed her arms and dropped them down to her side. "Alec, Jace is my brother, too." She insisted.

Alec's face turned cool and stony when he turned to the girl who was standing in the doorway with a sorry look in her eyes. "You barely know him. I grew up with him. I fought by his side. He's my brother. He's my best friend." Alec listed, his connection with Jace simply couldn't be rivalled, even against Clary's.

Clary sighed. "Alec..." She spoke softly, taking a few steps closer to the sweaty boy. He didn't allow her the chance to touch him and backed away, recoiling his arm from her attempting to give him sympathy.

She looked down at the ground, the runes floor of the training room catching her attention. "Alec, I want Jace back as much as you do. I... I am not my mother." She spoke softly. Although, while it was evident that she and Jace had some sort of bond, nobody could truly comprehend how much Jace and Alec's was.

Alec finally looked at her in the eyes, his jaw was clenched and his eyes burned as he looked down at her with such bitterness. "How well do I even know you? I mean, you show up out of nowhere, you convince my brother, you convince my sister, you convince my girlfriend, you convince me to search for your mother. And the next thing I know, Jace is gone. And your mother is the one trying to kill him." He spoke harshly, his words laced with venom like poison in a chalice.

"I had nothing to do with that, Alec. I would never hurt Jace." Clary countered with equal velocity.

The boy rolled his eyes at her words and scoffed. "Since you've arrived, you've caused nothing but problems. My family lost their birthright. Izzy and Arya were almost deruned. Arya almost died. And now Valentine has my parabatai. And it's all because of you." he spoke, stepping closer and pointing an accusing finger close to her face. He was gazing furiously at her when Izzy walked in and put a stop to their arguing.

"Alec." His sister stopped him swiftly.

Clary couldn't bear to hold his gaze. His intimidating posture and cold eyes looked down on her with such anger that she had to look away. "I'm sorry." She said sincerely. She couldn't deny and say that Arya was lucky that Alec loved her as much as he did. Because if he didn't and he looked at her the way that he had just looked at her—despite Arya being much more mentally and emotionally built up—she was sure that the girl would have slapped him. And she didn't wish Alec's burning gaze upon anyone.

Isabelle stepped towards the pair and stood beside Clary. "Alec, this isn't her fault." She defended, but Alec spared no glance in her direction, nor paid no attention to her words.

He continued to look at her with venom. "When are you gonna realize you don't belong here? You never have." He said lowly, looking away and then walking out of the room with fury in his stride.

Izzy sighed as she watched him leave. "Alec." She sighed, walking after him at a brisk pace to try and catch up with him.

✧

After losing Alec who was persistent in his strides away from the two girls, Izzy headed towards the next best person—more likely the only person who could actually help her deal with her brother. And that was his girlfriend. Izzy didn't want to be that cliche girl who thought that a boys girlfriend was the only person who could make them see sense. But Arya wasn't just Alec's girlfriend. He had been her best friend—alongside Jace—since they were eleven and she was the only one of the two who could actually see sense in situations.

"Ari?" Izzy called, jogging down the steps towards the main floor of the institute where the girl was standing with her arms crossed and a stern frown on her face while Alder-tree stood in front of her. His face held a smirk that Izzy could tell was taunting the girl.

"Don't test me. I am the head of the institute. And now you know the consequences, I'm sure we won't have this
problem again." He had spoken softly with a grin since he knew that he was in control. He knew that he could control the girl before and he knew he had complete control over her actions. "Understand?" He frowned.

"Got it." The girl spoke emotionless. Alder-tree smiled and then turned away from her and that was when his eyes turned cold and bitter as she watched him walk away. She rolled her eyes and turned back to the laptop screen behind her, beginning to close everything she had on it.

"Arya?" Isabel asked once she had reached the girl. Her head was now rested against her fist. She ran a hand through her hair and practically slapped the laptop decreed closed.

"mhm." She hummed, not even looking up at her parabatai. Just because she was angry at Alder-tree didn't mean she needed to bore her vicious stare into her sister.

Izzy looked around them to see whether Alder-tree was still within hearing distance. "What was that about?" She asked, taking the seat next to her.

Arya sighed and ran both her hands down her face with a tired groan. "Alder-tree caught me trying to research Jace's whereabouts." She huffed, fiddling with the black band that was around her pinky finger.

Izzy nodded understandingly. "What did he say?" She asked curiously, swishing her high slicked back ponytail over her shoulder and rubbing her bright red lips together.

The girl shrugged, standing up and rubbing her eyes. "Just a load of empty threats." She said brushing it off, although deep down—not so deep down—she knew that Alder-tree wouldn't hesitate to follow through with his warning. Izzy looked at her with a hard stare, silently telling her to expand. "He just threatened to derune me, Izzy, don't worry about it." She shrugged, walking away.

Izzy didn't understand why the girl seemed to be brushing it off so easily. She didn't understand why she didn't seem to be bothered with the idea of being deruned. She couldn't help but think that maybe Arya had finally snapped under all the pressure and the girl had finally given up.

✧

Congregating as an institute had previously been brief and rare. But now nobody could seem to get anything done with the number of times they have pulled away and it almost seemed as if it was purposeful.

Although Arya was glad that it was Lydia speaking to the institute this time and not Alder-tree. "There's a clear pattern. Young, strong, highly-skilled fighters, all abducted from boxing clubs, dojos and gyms." She explained from the stand before them all. Izzy was stood close the Arya, she had planned to keep a close eye on the girl now she seemed to have given up. Because that was the last thing she wanted the girl to do. Alec was still furious and the frown on his face only hardened when he saw Clary walk into the room. "Valentine must've realized that even with the Cup, creating Shadowhunters isn't easy. He needs mundanes who are more likely to survive the conversion." She explained.

Standing so close to Arya, Izzy was finally noticing everything she had been looking past before. The way her hair didn't seem to be sitting so neat as it usually did, the way she had been rubbing her eyes so frequently and the bags beneath them, the way that she didn't really meet anyone's eyes as if she was guilty of something. But Izzy knew Arya. She knew that she only fiddled with her ring when she was worried about something, how she was constantly around people since she loved company and now she had become slightly distant.

"When did the briefing start? Nobody told me." Clary asked with a frown, standing beside Izzy and looking between her and the parabatai beside her.

Isabel looked down at her from her heeled height. "That wasn't an accident." She pointed out.

"Your job is to stake out the potential targets, and catch the Circle members when they try to abduct them." She continued to brief, catching the eye of Alder-tree when he walked in. Although his gaze was firmly sat on Arya and the fact she was only looking at Lydia. "We capture a Circle member, we have a shot at Valentine." She persisted.

Alec turned to his sister and Arya. "And Jace. That's how we get to him before they try and kill him." He insisted, Izzy took note of how Arya looked away from him as he did so and began to spin her ring again. She was hiding something and it had to do with Jace.

Isabelle looked at Arya as she spoke her next words, having just been threatened of de runing. "Just keep your cool in front of the boss." She persisted.

Lydia looked over at the other three. "You have your orders. Dismissed." She spoke, looking at the trio directly.

Clary desperately followed after the blonde woman as she walked away from the crowd and back to the office halls. "Lydia. Lydia, please. You need all hands on deck. Let me help." She begged. She knew that it probably wasn't worth trying for because there was little to no hope for her. But even then she had to try.

"Absolutely not. Your lack of training is a liability. Besides, you're too close to this." Alder-tree cut into their conversation before Lydia had the chance to give her a response. Lydia looked at the girl sympathetically before she and Alder-tree departed, leaving her alone in the hallway. Before her mother approaches her.

"This isn't coming from me." She sighed, looking down at her daughter who was still angry at the woman for her attempt of killing Jace. Jocelyn then departed too and was once again left to stand in the hallway alone.

Although Clary was disappointed she didn't have a chance to argue her case, had she not been denied so quickly, she wouldn't have been in the hallway to overhear the conversation that was happening behind not so closed doors.

"Nice to see how well you had things under control here." Alder-tree had scoffed bitterly in a harsh whisper.

Lydia had scoffed. "Stop making this personal." She demanded, crossing her arms over her chest to seem her intimidating self beneath his glowering and high standing gaze.

"The Lightwoods and the Legacy are also too close to this. With Jace still out there, it clouds their judgment." The man insisted.

"Izzy, Arya and Alec are the best we've got. They stay in." Lydia continued to argue their side. She knew that no matter what anyone said, they would not stop looking for Jace. He was too deep routed into their group.

Clary watched as Lydia departed the office where her previous conversation had taken place. Once there was nothing to hear, she turned towards the other three who seemed to be getting ready to leave. "Izzy... Izzy, please. You wouldn't want to be benched on this. Let me come with you." She tried to beg the girl, desperate to be involved.

"Did you not hear me before? There's no place for you here. Let's go." Alec told her firmly, turning to look at Izzy and Arya before walking away and with the two girls following. Izzy sent Clary a sorry look while Alec lead Arya away by the hand around her waist. The girl leant into him, having missed the feeling of his arm around her. But she knew that by the end of the night, it wouldn't be happening for a while.

✧

Alec, Izzy and Arya headed towards the fighting ring and were stopped by the bounce at the door. His hands were crossed over his chest with an emotionless look on his face. He looked stony and persistent but he let them in—despite their doubts. It was an open area with the lights dimmed down with a higher concentration of light on the rink where two muscular men were boxing while the crowd around them watched observantly on their every move, cheering as a punch hit every here and there.

"He said the best fighters in the city come here," Alec murmured to the pair, holding his hand firmer around his girlfriend's waist once they entered.

Isabel looked around at the room and the people in it. "It's only a matter of time before Valentine hits this place." She agreed, checking her waistband in case her seraph blade had disappeared—it hadn't.

Once the fight had finished, one of the fighters headed off in the direction of Alec, Izzy and Arya. Alec had moved his hand so that his finger was looped around one of Arya's belt loops as he approached the group with a smug grin.

"You got some moves." Arya complimented. He stood closer to her and looked down at the girl while Alec held a glare to the side of his face.

He looked at her cockily and tilted his head to the side, looking at the girl up and down. "Yeah? How about I take you home and show you some of those moves, up close and personal?" He smirked, moving his hand to rest on her waist, but Alec pulled her back before he had the chance.

The raven-haired boy scoffed and rolled his eyes at the boy. "That's funny. You really think you have a chance with her?" He asked, looking down at his girlfriend who was smirking at her boyfriend a little.

The bigger fighter turned to Alec with a glare instead this time. "And who are you?" He asked with a smirk, looking at Arya hungrily once again. Alec hated the way he was looking at her like he could have her when he couldn't.

Alec stood taller against the man and looked him directly level in the eye. "I'm the guy who's gonna put you down if you don't shut your mouth." He said harshly, his eyes had hardened and Izzy couldn't help but smirk at the protectiveness of her brother.

Mark grinned even wider this time. "Why don't you come up and try, pretty boy?" He beaconed with his head toward the ring. The raven-haired boy didn't hesitate to talk a step forwards, prepared to swing at the man but Arya stopped him by grabbing his arm before he had the chance.

"I got this." She assured, heading toward the centre of the ring with the larger man. "What are you waiting for? Let's go." She taunted, tilting her head to the side and looking up at the man with a smirk.

The man shook his head. "I don't fight girls, especially hot ones." He denied and Izzy and Alec laughed from the side—Arya could win a fight in her sleep. Although Izzy noticed when Alec's jaw clenched as the man still looked at the girl like she was prey.

Arya scoffed and rolled her eyes. "Then I guess it's gonna be really one-sided." She shrugged. She spans her leg around and the man ducked it but her other one had already made contact with the side of his chest and her fist had already marked his check. She flipped backwards and twisted his arm, flipping him onto his chest with her on his back, holding his hands behind his back with her knees.

Arya grinned when he grunted and looked down at the man struggling beneath him. "Still wanna take me home?" She asked tauntingly, tilting her head further to see his face that was riddled with discomfort.

Arya then let go of him headed back over to her boyfriend and her parabatai. Alec looped his arm around her waist again and pulled her into his side. Izzy couldn't help but notice the way that her brother and best friend could have been part of a movie.

✧

Arya knew Alec was going to be mad. She had convinced him that they should split up while Izzy pretended to be Mark. He had agreed somewhat reluctantly but he noticed the strange way she was acting and also noticed when she didn't arrive back with the pair when Valentine's men arrived and killed himself to revoke them the chance of gaining any information.

He and Izzy in utter defeat looked around the boxing hall for the girl and yet couldn't find her anywhere. Arya knew that this would potentially break Alec down even more, but she also had the chance to do the opposite and if she could then she would.

✧

"Magnus!" Arya called out profusely when she made her way into the Warlocks lair. She was desperate and needed to work as hard and as fast as possible to pull off what she was about to do.

"Yes?" Magnus asked, poking his head out from one of the doorways, looking at the girl curiously.

"I need a favour and I need you to say yes." She Persisted, sitting down on his red leather sofa and taking one of his woven pillows to fiddle with the string hanging off of it. "I-I know where Jace is. And I know how to get to him. But I need you to help me." She explained.

"Okay," Magnus answered bluntly, he didn't need any more convincing. Although, it was more like his rabid curiosity which encouraged his deduction to accept.

✧

Alec and Isabel walked at an equally fast pace once they exited the room and into the brisk cold winds. The overwhelming worry for his girlfriend almost certainly overpowered the feeling of cold against his skin. Isabel was feeling the same, she had an ache of worry in her chest and she was just waiting for the dreaded moment where she would feel just like Alec did when he lost Jace to Valentine. Because that could have been very well what happened to her own parabatai.

✧

The pair eventually made their way back to the institute, a determined gaze on their faces as they made their way straight to the computers. "We should look at the aerial drones." The brother suggested, running a stressed hand through his hair with panic.

Isabel who was equally worried sighed through exhaustion. "We've already done that." She stressed.

Alec didn't pay any kind to her comments. "So we do it again. Maybe we didn't look close enough." He suggested. Now, they were not only looking for Jace but also Arya and with neither of them there, both himself and Izzy were worried that this would destroy their group even more.

The girl tried to be the voice of reason for the two, although her impending doom was just as present as his.