Simon had left. Jace was mad at her. Her mother was disappeared, the mortal cup was nowhere to be found. Luke didn't care. Alec had threatened to kill her, if she told Jace the oath Alec took would compel him to do as he meant, by shadowhunter nature, he would have to obey wether he wanted or not. Isabelle had the heart of a frozen rock and would never be friends with Clary.

Clary laid still, on the edge of her bed, drawing. Tears prickling down her cheeks, she could take no more. She drew Jace and her in the Greenhouse, him with massive and angelical wings. The midnight flower on Clary's hair, used in decoration. The perfection of the moment was palpable in the air. She wished she could rewind time, and not kiss him. Jace would never like her. He had said so.

Now she was truly alone. How could she had been so stupid? Over ten years? Simon was her best friend. She would have never guessed that the only girl he liked was her. Not liked, loved. Even worse. Clary thought.

She couldn't sleep. Not one hour had passed and her birthday had already started badly. But she decided she wouldn't take pity on herself anymore. She decided to do something on her own. She decided to go and roam the halls.

As she took a tour through the institute, she was followed by Church, the cat who seemed to know everything but kept quiet about it. She was comfortable for his company, otherwise she would have been creeped out. She started to go up and up the stairs, until she reached the very top. There was another staircase to the rooftop, in which she and Church climbed up with excitement.

It wasn't cold. In fact, it was so hot and humid that Clary chose to take off her jacket. The view was awesome. The city skyline was incredible. The city lights sprinkled and plunged through the darkness like tiny lightbulbs. building taller and shorter, all mixed up, all part of Manhattan, all part of one city that hid so many shocking secrets. Full of living creatures. Full of dead ones. Foreign ones.

She felt her eyelids tilting down. She laid down on the bench she was sitting in and fell asleep almost instantly.

Clary was awakened by the deep, acoustic voice of Jace. It was still dark. He looked worried and pale faced. She sat up.

"What happened?" Clary said as she sat quickly, alarmed.

"We've been looking for you for nearly an hour! What were you thinking? Why did you sleep on the roof?" Jace blurted out a little too harshly.

"Because i couldn't sleep. You don't have to worry about me, since you don't care." She replied, in a harsher tone.

"You're right. I don't." Jace was looking at her with angry, almost fiery eyes. That look made her shiver.

"Where's your boyfriend?" He asked.

"What do you mean 'my boyfriend'? I haven't got one." Now she was angry.

"The mundane, then, where is he?"

"Gone. He left. He was mad at me because i didn't like him back." At this, Jace's eyes softened a little. Before he could answer, Clary continued.

"Does this makes him my boyfriend? Tell me. Mock me. Do whatever you want, because you've already ruined my relationship with my only best friend." Clary said, pained, angry.

Jace's look was softer now. It no longer frightened her. He didn't apologize. Suddenly, his face tensed, and he screamed at her, warning her, to look behind, to get down. But she already felt the bite in her neck, the stench of the creature, the slimy, skinless hand gripping her shoulder to keep her still. She screamed in pain. Fell to the ground, the demon still digging at her skin.

Jace rushed toward the demon, and had pierced and snapped his neck in one swift movement of his hands and knife. She laid still on the ground, with agonizing pain spreading across her neck, then shoulder, then her whole back. she couldn't move.

"Clary!" Jace screamed as he rushed toward her, with his face as pale as paper, kneeling to reach her.

But more demons were coming. 3 or 4 of them were landing next to Jace, and as Clary watched, not able to move by the pain, he had already managed to slaughter them quite fast. Sunlight was approaching. A few minutes and the demons would disappear. But that was too long. She would be dead by then. Gathering all the strength she could use, she crawled to the bench and ripped out a long piece of wood from it. The piece was sharp at one edge, rectangular in the other.

"Clary! I'll take care of it! Just run!" Jace screamed.

I can't run. I would collapse from the pain. She thought.

One demon came charging at her. She was ready to plunge the wood into his chest. It came running faster every second, and when it was close enough, she stuck it right where she thought a human heart would be. The thing wailed and shrieked, as oozes of thick black blood squirted down its body, when it finally collapsed and started shrinking. Sunlight had hit in the far corner of the roof. But Clary couldn't run there. She had to keep killing these things until sunlight was unbearable for them.

Jace came running to her, having killed the demons he was charging at before.

"Clary! Run! to the corner!" He was frantic. His shirt was stained with demon's blood.

"I can't." Clary almost whispered. She didn't have the strength.

Jace's face looked even more worried. He picked her up and started running towards the piece of sunlight at the edge of the roof. More demons were coming towards her, towards them, but they immediately backed off once they saw the gleam of the light prepared to kill them with a single flash of it.

When all the demons disappeared, at once, Clary was put down by Jace. She saw him. His whole face had slashes of blood, apparently his cheeks cut off, but he was still beautiful. Still himself. Still Jace Wayland, the brave shadowhunter Clary Fray was lucky to overcome at Pandemonium.

"Clary. We have to get you to the infirmary. You've been bitten by a flying demon." His concern was palpable. His anger was gone, instead worried eyes stared at hers.

"Okay. I'll try to stand up." Once she stood up, she regretted it. Her ankle was as broken as the wood she had cut off earlier, and she felt the dizziness overcome. She gasped in pain and horror. Jace had caught her just in time.

"Clary. Please. I'll carry you. Just keep your eyes open." He was now carrying her, with one arm in her bending legs and the other supporting her hurting back.

"I'm so tired." It was barely a whisper, but she was trying to keep her eyes open, really trying to. She would do anything to stay awake.

"Hold on. It's just one moment." He raced down the unfinishing stairs, and was in the door of the infirmary in no time at all. His look was more worried than before. She could hear, feel the tiredness in her voice.

"Are we there yet? I'm not going to die, am i?" Clary forced the words up her throat, gathering all her energy to form these words.

"You'll be fine. I promise. I swear by the Angel." and with those words, Clary fell back, with soothing relief, that Jace was holding her, making her feel secure.

Jace had smiled at her. She was fine. She was going to be alright.