Seventeen

                                    

                                          
All rights go to the amazing mind that is Cassandra Clare for all the characters in this story. Carries on straight from last chapter.
                          
Jace's POV
                          
I looked towards Clary again, she was sitting there still on the sofa talking to herself. In the times we had seen her here before the escape, she hadn't acted like this. She was a little crazy but we weren't surprised considering the amount of drugs she was on and how they treated her. But seeing her act like this again made me think of what the previous two years in the asylum must have been like. We only saw her here three times before we got her out and lots of awful things happened to her, the demon attacks, the abuse of her treatments, going insane due to being so trapped. If that only happened in three visits, what happened in two years? And now she was back here. But instead of just being trapped in the asylum, she was also trapped inside her own head. I wondered if I would ever get through to her. I had been trying for hours and I think I was losing hope. I walked back over to her. She frowned at me.
                          
"Hello." She said. I smiled.
                          
"Hi." I sat down across from her. 
                          
"Do I know you? I've been having some trouble with my memory."
                          
"No." I smiled again as I shook my head. "We don't know each other." She looked at me. "Would you mind if I sat here for a moment with you?" She smiled. 
                          
"Sure." She said with a nod. I kept looking at her as she looked around a little. I couldn't take my eyes away from her, because even though this wasn't the Clary I knew, I kept thinking it was the closest I would get. I missed her and I dreaded not getting her back. 
                          
"Can I tell you a story?" I asked. She looked back at me with a childish nod. "Its about this girl that I met. She had lots of troubles but I liked her as soon as I met her. She wasn't like other girls, she was different and I loved that about her. When we met, she was in a bad place and I just wanted to help her, I hated seeing her miserable. One day, I decided that she didn't deserve the life she had and so I did help her. I took her out of the darkness and into the light. A light we shared, if only for a little while. Because I find that nothing really lasts forever. I found myself slowly losing her as she started to pull away from me. Then I lost her for good. She died. And when she died, I remember thinking that there was no point anymore. For a while, my mind was only focused on avenging her death, making sure that the one who did it would pay. But things changed. Someone came along and told me there was a chance to get her back. And so I dived in, not caring what I had to do. I just wanted her back with me. I finally had something in my life that I didn't want to lose. . . and then I lost it." When I finally looked up, I saw a tear fall down Clary's cheek. I looked at her surprised. 
                          
"Jace." My eyes widened. 
                          
"Clary?" I asked. She nodded. I launched myself towards her, wrapping my arms around her small waist. I felt her body shake as she held me tight, her hand on the back of my head. She pulled back after a moment and looked at me. I reached up and wiped away the tears from her face. 
                          
"I've been screaming, just begging someone to hear me but they couldn't." The tears falling from her eyes again. I placed both my hands on either side of her face and made her look at me.
                          
"Its okay, I'm here now. I'm right here. And I won't ever leave you." She leaned her forehead against mine. "I promise." She pulled against me again and I hugged her back. She pulled back again and looked at me. 
                          
"I love you." I smiled.
                          
"I know."
                          
"I'm sorry I pushed you away." I rubbed my thumb over her cheek. 
                          
"It doesn't matter now." I said shaking my head. "What matters is getting out of here." 
                          
"How?" She asked.