~Scratched Chapter 3: Forest on Fire

He couldn't help it. Almost on his own violation he followed her into the house, allowing his glamour to diapear as he walked into the magical zone which was the residence of Magnus Bane. The house was extremly bright and already smelled of alchohol and fairy drinks. He glanced around for the redhead, but couldn't see anything but a smoky filled dancefloor and a roatating disco light. Then he heard it. Crying. Despite everything else it was loudest to him, the sounds of mundane crying had always affected him, always gotten to him. Prehaps because it had reminded him of himself?

In a smaller room off of the dancefloor was the host himself, dressed in brightly colored clothes that would have looked better in the 60's. But now he had his hand comforting over a young girl's shoulder, her red hair splashing over the green couch like a forest on fire. She was crying still, and from a distance he could still see the trails of tears that came down her face. The warlock wasn't speaking, seeming as though at a loss for words. He came closer, feeling almost guilty as he listened to the sparse conversation that flowed awkwardly between them. It was obvious that the girl wasn't comfortable around the warlock as he always was, but he doubted the disliked the man for the same reasons.

" It's just Luke told me to come here" she whispered sounding confused. " He didn't explain, but he didn't sound surprized.

" Luke?" the warlock asked, his eyes puzzeled at the sound of the name. The girl sighed, pulling out a yellow wallet and showing the warlock a picture.

" Lucian Graymark" said the warlock and the girl looked at him shaking her head.

" No, Luke Garroway." she said taking the picture back.

" Clarissa, I knew this man. He is... from my world"

Jace's eyes widened from his spot near the doorway. The girl associated with downworlders other than Magnus Bane? She was comfortable with this Luke which meant she may be connected to this world after all. She just looked so mundane, so normal. There were no fighting lines carved into her face, no visible wounds or scars. But then again, only shadowhunters bore the scars of fighting and the lines of battle....

" What do you mean?" Clay asked, placing the photo back into her wallet with shaking hands.

" Lucian or Luke, is what we call one of the Children of the Moon.Lucian grew up in New York, raising a pack of about nine of ten. This was before he met your mother. They knew each other from before, before Lucian was bit. After several years, after your mother married her husband, and before she had you, Lucian dropped out of our world and news spread that he had killed himself with a silver knife. This is likely around the time he dropped the name Lucian Graymark and picked up the identity of Luke Garroway, a small New York bookshop owner and caring fatherly figure. He left his entire life, but his face remains the same. Despit the years he's been away."

Clary looked down. Luke had come into her life when she was younger, after her father died in that fatal car crash and her mother began living on her own. She could barely remember the days that Luke wasn't in her life, and like Magnus had said, he had become a fatherly figure to Clary since she was very young.

"How did you know about the bookstore?" she asked, her voice shaking.

" Oh, your mother often talks about you, herself and Luke durring her visits. Sometimes I should consider charging her more since I act as both a miracle worker as well as a relationship consultant." he rolled his eyes and smiled lightly.

" What am I going to do about my Mother, Mr. Bane?" she asked, and Magnus shrugged. " Not sure yet, I"ll contact the institute tommorow morning, you can stay in one of the higher bedrooms tonight. I'll throw the switch early tonight." he smiled and watched the partygoers for a moment before getting up and leaving Clary on the couch watching him as he walked with the swagger of a overly hyper teenage girl.

She sat by herself, the lights of the party flittering off of her worn clothes and rebounding off of her face. The wet trails were nearly dry, yet her face remained as pale as that of one of the Night Children. He had heard Magnus say that he was calling the institute tomorrow. Why he would want to send someone who lived with downworlders into the hollowed grounds of the institute he would never know, but Jace seemed almost happy about it. He glanced around to see Isabelle with Alec. They were walking back across the dancefloor, a stingingly red substance absourbing the the fabric of one of the sleeves of Alec's white dress shirt

." For the love of the angel, what happened?" Jace cried getting up from his place on the floor. He bounded over meeting them at the cross point between the two rooms, his eyes locking with Izzy's.

" Alec got attacked." muttered Izzy sounding embarassed. " There was a fight between a Night Child and a Child of the moon and Alec decided to be mediator.

" Alec" cried Jace, not understanding his foster brother's foolishness. He then looked down at his arm, which was becomming more red by the moment. He glanced around, seeing the warlock about to reenter his party.

" Mr. Bane" said Izzy, noticing him too. She rushed towards him, pulling Alec with her by his good arm.

" I didn't invite the Children of the Angel to my party" he said curtly and turned before Jace spoke up.

" Magnus, please my brother, Alec was attacked while trying to help a fight at your party."

" Night and Moon always fight. I never try to do anything to solve what happens naturally."
" What about Alec" cried Izzy showing the warlock her brother's are where there was a scratch and a bite. A scratch from the paw of a Moon and the fangs of a Night.

" Was he scratched and bitten?" asked Magnus and Izzy and Alec both nodded.

" Then he's fine. The venom from the bite takes away the power of the scratch and vice versa. He's fine. He'll just be a little crabby untill the wounds disapear but nothing else."

Magnus began to walk away, before turning back to the Shadowhunters, a gleam in his eye.

" I recently aquired a houseguest, a young girl whose mother was abducted. I was going to take her to the institute tommorrow, but I figured Hodge wouldn't mind if you all took her tonight?" he glanced over at Clary, who had her cellphone up to her ear.

" Her name is Clarissa. Let's just say it's my fault that she only knows that much." he smiled and left the room leaving the three shadowhunters and the girl on the couch.

"Simon, he said he'd take me to this institute tomorrow? Does that mean I'm crazy, I mean I haven't said anything unintelligent to the guy. And he says he knows Luke and my mother..." she stopped looking up. A group of three teenagers had come up to her, their beautiful features causing her to stare. "I've gotta go" she said quietly and hung the phone up, still staring.

" She can see us?" whispered Alec and Jace nodded. The girl put her phone away and glanced up at them with a confuzed expression.

" Where's Magnus?" she asked, her voice quiet.

" You mean you're lovely host?" asked Jace sarcastically, " He decided that he wanted you to come with us now instead of going tommorow morning." Her eyes narrowed and she glanced over at Isabelle and Alec.

" Your from the Institute?" she asked, " you don't look insane" she commented and then glanced down as the phone in her pocket vibrated.

" Haha, yes mundane institutes house the mentally unstable, but this kind of institute houses somethine else entirely." said Jace and the other nodded understanding.

" That's great. But why does this all concern me." she took the phone out of her pocket and began to text someone.

" This concerns you because you're currently in the house of the High Warlock of Brooklyn and you're surrounded by downworlders."

" Jace" whispered Isabelle and Jace shrugged.

" She'll find out anyways" he said and took a seat beside her. Clary cowered away from him, hitting her hip into the armrest.

" What's wrong with him?" she asked and Jace noticed she was talking about his brother.

" Alec? He was recently attacked. Nothing big. Not if I were you, I'd be glad I wasn't staying here." he said and she sighed. Jace noticed that Isabelle hadn't spoken yet.

" Are youn alright Izzy?" he asked her and she shrugged,

" I think the drinks are getting to me." she turned to Clarissa.

" Can you please just decide whether you're going tonight so I can get home."

" Yeah, alright" muttered Clary standing. She had long legs hidden under tight jeans. She contintued to text someone as they watched her. Then she put the phone away.

" Sorry, my best friend's really worried about me. I swear he'll have a heart attack if I don't respond to him immediatly."

" A guy? Is he cute?" Isabelle perked up completly at the mention of a boy.

" He's a mundane, Izzy" said Alec rolling his eyes, his 'crappiness' from the bite begining to show. But Jace just laughed, it was histerical how the mentionings of a single guy could bright Izzy back from the begining of a hangover...

" Luke"

" Did you go to Magnus"Luke asked almost sounding as though he didn't want to be bothered.

" Yes. He knows you Lucian" whispered Clary angrily

" He told you? Well I doubt you really understood any of it anyway. It's complicated."

" He told me to go to the Institute. He says it will be better for me there. He asked a few people to bring me there."

" That's fine. Just tell Hodge something. Just say, 'Luke wanted you to know, that the blood runs high once more and the bridges built before are broken and unfixable."

" That doesn't make sence"

" It will to him. And do me a favor, Clary. Don't call me again." he said harshly and then hung up the phone.