Hey people! I'm so sorry that I haven't updated in forever, but I've been busy with school and now that it's out, I'm just now getting the chance to update! Oh yeah and I decided to call Clary's brother "Sebastian" because, if you haven't read CoFA, Clary and the Lightwoods don't want to call him Jonathon because that was Jace's real name, too, and it was easier to give her evil brother a stranger's name. And don't worry, this takes place after CoG, but you don't have to read CoFA to understand what's going on because I'm going to pretend, for the sake of the story, that is, that CoFA didn't happen.

Oh and in case you haven't heard, this is like info from a few weeks ago, but they picked the actor who will play Jace in the movie! Whoo! I'm so excited! :D Anyways, on with the story!

Disclaimer: I don't own MI

Clary looked around frantically for somewhere to go to escape, but it was pointless. She was running through a dark forest at top speed without a flashlight or witchlight as her evil brother chased and eventually would catch her- Clary had no doubt of that fact. Being part demon and having been raised by Valentine, Sebastian- she couldn't force herself to call him by Jace's real name- was extremely strong and fast. In a fight against Clary, an inexperienced shadow hunter who had grown up among mundanes all of her life, he could have her killed in only a matter of seconds.

She continued to run, panting as she did so, wishing that she had stayed with the others. If she'd stayed with her friends, she wouldn't have been in this mess. Then a terrible thought went through her head: What if he's already killed them? It was possible, when she thought about it. After all, she had been gone for nearly twenty minutes. Sebastian and possibly some of his demon buddies could have picked a fight with her friends and had them killed in a few minutes. They were all great fighters, but they wouldn't be expecting an attack at all, much less one from Sebastian, whom they all had thought was dead. He would have had the element of surprise on his side and not to mention a working vehicle. Clary pushed the thought from her mind. She knew Jace wouldn't have given in so easily, and neither would the Lightwoods. And of course they had a werewolf, vampire, and warlock on their side, as well. They could have escaped and be on the run just like she was.

Suddenly, Clary's foot caught on something, probably a tree root, and she fell to the ground. She put her hands out, catching herself before her knees hit too hard, but she knew that this was it. There was no way she could get up and run away before he caught up. Oh, God! He's going to catch me. I'm about to die! She rummaged through her pocket for her seraph blade, shifting to a more comfortable position as she did so, as a last attempt of saving herself. The blade lit up as she named it and she saw a quick glimpse of his face, only a few feet in front of her, with a smile that sent chills down her spine before the blade turned dark again. Her eyes searched frantically for her brother in the moonlight for a few seconds before she realized that he was gone. Sebastian had left.

"But he could have killed me," she muttered to herself. "Why would he just leave?" She put the blade away, sure that he wouldn't come back. At least, not now. She attempted to stand, but her knees were too shaky from her close encounter with death. Clary realized how exhausted she was and decided she'd just stay there for the night. Climbing a tree or finding shelter was pointless since her only real problem had just gone away and would be able to kill her if he came back, whether she was in a tree or not.

She leaned back against a tree trunk and closed her eyes, trying to fall asleep, but she had too much on her mind. She had no idea where her friends were, or whether they were even alive or not. If they were, had they fixed the van or at least gotten a ride back home? If not, were they okay, and were they out looking for her? Had they even noticed she was gone? Did they care that she was gone?

Sighing, she pulled her mp3 player back out, putting the headphones in her ears and hoping the music would get her mind off of the current situation. Tomorrow, she would try to find them. They were probably angry with her for leaving without telling them, but she didn't care. She needed to warn them about Sebastian so they would at least be prepared when he attacked.

After an hour or so of tossing and turning, trying to get comfortable, Clary's exhaustion finally caught up to her and she fell asleep, completely unaware of the group of people wandering around less than a mile away.

Jace was frustrated, to say the least. This was all his fault and he knew it. If he had just pulled over like Clary had asked, they would still be on the road with a working van, driving to their destination. Of course, he was too stubborn to show such weakness and stupidly thought he could get them there safely. Now, his girlfriend was out here somewhere by herself without her backpack, which probably meant she didn't have her camping supplies and witchlight, much less food and water. He couldn't help but think that that was his fault, too. He shouldn't have been so harsh on her in the van. After all, she was only trying to keep them all safe. She had probably run off to get away from him, and he couldn't blame her. If she had stayed, he knew he would have taken his frustration out on her by making her think it was her fault, and she probably knew that.

"Jace," the voice was Maia's, quiet and a bit sympathetic. "We need to make camp. I know you want to find her, but-"

"I'm not stopping," he said stubbornly.

"Jace, you can't look all night. You need sleep."

He turned around and looked at Maia, angry now. "Do you honestly think I can sleep right now? My girlfriend is out there by herself without anything and it's my fault. Now we're our whole group is split up because of me and our van doesn't even work anymore. You guys can stop here, be my guest, but I'm going to keep going until I find her."

"Look," Simon cut in. "I know you're tired, and I'm just as worried about Clary as you are, but pushing yourself beyond your limit isn't going to help her. She's probably found somewhere safe to sleep and is perfectly fine."

"But what if she isn't? She could be hurt and needing our help. She could even be dead already because we're taking so long!"

"I'm sure she's fine," Maia said. Jace turned around and began walking again, deciding to ignore the two Downworlders. If they wanted to stop, they could do so without him. As he had told them, he wasn't planning on stopping until he found Clary, even if that meant going a few hours, possibly even days, without sleep.

"I might as well have just planned out a date for them at a fancy restaurant and paid the bill myself!" Isabelle continued rambling as she led the way through the dark forest. Alec and Magnus stood back a few feet, following slowly and talking amongst each other.

"Does she usually talk this much?" Magnus asked Alec, who just nodded in response.

"I mean, seriously, how stupid am I? I should have just stayed over there and kept an eye on that werewolf. Better yet, she could have come with you guys and I could have gone with Simon and Jace!"

Magnus snorted. "I wish Maia had come. At least she knows how to keep her mouth shut."

Alec shook his head. "I've never seen Izzy get this worked up over a guy. I mean, normally she doesn't even have to say anything and she's already won him over."

"Simon must be really important to her, then."

"Either that or she's just frustrated that for once she has some competition and Simon isn't just waiting on her hands and feet."

Magnus shrugged. "Either way, I'm tired of listening to this. Any chance we can make camp? I think I have some earplugs in my bag, only one pair, but we can take turns using them and maybe get some sleep while she keeps talking about her problems."

"Thank God," Alec said, then raised his voice to call to his sister. "Izzy! It's late. Let's make camp." Isabelle turned around and nodded. They'd been walking for an hour or so and it was no doubt past midnight. If they wanted to find Clary, they would need to get some sleep so they would be ready for all of the walking they'd be doing the next day.

Magnus started pulling out the sleeping bags while Alec and Isabelle set up the tent. They had tried to pack lightly, so they would all share the tent. When they were all set up, everyone was lying in a sleeping bag, feeling about as comfortable as one can be when pretty much lying on the dirt with only a small cushion underneath.

Alec sighed and closed his eyes. Finally, some peace and quiet! He thought, perhaps a little too soon.

"Okay," Isabelle started. "So when we meet up with them, should I act like everything is normal? Or should I act all standoff-ish? Or maybe I should talk to Simon. Ooh! I've got it! I can pretend I'm sick and then-"

"Augh! Make it stop!" Alec screamed as he tried to cover his ears with his pillow.

"What's wrong?" Isabelle asked frantically.

"What's wrong?" Alec sat up, looking his sister straight in the eyes. "I'm not a freaking therapist! Stop complaining about your love life to Magnus and me! It's not our fault, so we shouldn't have to be punished. Man, if only Clary were here, then you would have a girl to talk to about all of your boy troubles." He lay back down, satisfied that he had made his point.

"Aw, I miss Clary now," Isabelle complained. "What if she's not okay? Oh my God, poor Jace! I mean, he loves her so much! You can see it in the way he looks at her, or even just when she's brought up in a conversation. He'll die if anything happened to her. Oh my God, Jace is like Edward Cullen! Aw, what am I going to do about Simon? I really like him, and I-"

"Shut up!" Alec yelled. "God, I am so glad I'm gay. If I had a girlfriend, I seriously would have ripped out my hair by now! I don't know what your problem is, Izzy, but I'm not even sure how you can go from talking about trying to find Clary to your love life again in just a matter of seconds."

"Well," Isabelle said, unfazed by his words. "I started talking about Clary, which of course makes me think of Jace, for obvious reasons, and Jace is acting like Edward Cullen, who's a vampire, just like Simon, and so-"

"I don't care!" Alec yelled. "Just let me go to sleep! Magnus, where are those earplugs you were talking about?" When his sparkly boyfriend didn't answer, Alec turned around to find that Magnus had fallen asleep with the earplugs in his ears. So much for taking turns, Alec thought as he sighed and put his head back on the pillow. His sister was finally quiet, and Alec felt himself finally dozing off.

"Hey, Alec?" The sound of his sister's voice startled him and he jumped. He sighed. Of course she would wake him right when he was falling asleep.

"What do you want?" he asked.

"I need to go pee."

"Then go." Alec was even more annoyed to know that Isabelle had woken him up for no reason.

"Um, there isn't exactly a toilet nearby." Alec groaned. This was going to be a long night.

Aw poor Alec! And Jace, too, of course. And then Izzy too since she's having problems with Simon. Okay, so poor everyone pretty much. Oh and I know the Jace part was a little short, but it will be longer next time. And for those of you who might be worried about Clary, don't worry, she'll meet up with someone (I won't say who) soon, so review and I'll update! Please and thanks! You guys rock! :D