The Mortal Instruments

Hendrick had noted the newcomer, but didn't say much as Brianne took over. She had ignored his remarks well no matter as long as she had heard them so she could reflect on them later, she told him to go after Roxanne and did as he was asked, this time around, but she had a lead this didn't stop Hendrick from going to try and track her down. The older shadowhunter followed his younger companion, but at a lot slower pace. Eventually he caught up to her finding her under a bridge her fingernails digging into her sides and stomach. He went over to her. "Roxi, come on, don't do that to yourself. It won't do you any good, Brianne is still busy, if we go to the Institute maybe we can find a way to help you and Nick banish Slavko to whatever hellhole he comes from." Hendricks voice was gentle, and he held a hand outstretched to drag her to her feet and as an invitation to come along with him. "And Roxi open your eyes, Mrs. grumpypants may be harsh on you sometimes but she'll miss you when you're dead, just like the Old man would...." Hendrick said in a response to the last thing she had said before leaving them at the police station.

 

Nick obeyed Alarick and stood back a bit from the warlock. "If you needed a car so much, why didn't you just ask me to bring mine?" he questioned the shadowhunter and rolled his eyes. "Hang on a moment, I'll see if Masque's got a car we can take" As he turned to find car keys in Masque's disorganised apartment, he suddenly heard the swish of a sword.

Bound... bound with magic. He was helpless, hopeless, pathetic. He looked up momentarily and caught a flash of steel before a sudden sharp pain flared across his face. Blood dripped down his cheek and into his mouth. The pang of metallic taste was disgusting. He looked at the fairy with sorrow in his eyes "She... she was such a good muse... but she wouldn't behave... I'm so sorry, did you know her? My condolences" Masque explained sadly "Then the warlock arrived and took her away... but she's probably dead by now"

Nick was fuming "Alarick! Are you just going to stand there and let blondie murder him?" he faced the fairy with anger in his eyes but said nothing. "I found Masque's car keys" he muttered to Alarick with resignation. He couldn't bring himself to confront to fairy, and supposed that he was partially justified in his actions... but still.

​

"Sorry to have left you, but it seems I was right in judging you capable of defending yourselves" Paragon stated as he suddenly materialised ahead of the shadowhunter Brianne "Oh, and Grayson Keller has been dealt with. He won't be causing any more trouble in New York" Paragon clapped his hands together "Job well done, my friend! Anyhow, I should be returning to HQ, is there anything at all you'd like to ask?"

Black Rook and White Knight roughly took Grayson and injected him with a sedative to keep him suppressed while they took him back to base. Once there, taking a route to ensure they were not followed, they laid him out on a stretcher, tying him down, and brought him to Doctor Bishop's lab.
"Awake?" the doctor said as Grayson roused himself from the induced coma "Goodie. What's your name young man and who were you?"

 

​

Alarick acknowledged Nick with a nod of his head before turning to talk to Sien when....eyes flashing, he stood between Masque and Cin, blade and bow drawn. "Get out." His voice was icy and soft. "I gave my word that the warlock would not be harmed. You have made me break my word. I will not tolerate any more."

He could hear Nick berating him or something in the background, but he didn't turn his attention away from the fairy in front of him. "Sien, I hate to ask more of you, but if you could help Nick take Masque down to the car, I'll be along in a minute. I promise you that I'll pay you back in kind." Quid pro quo, after all. He pointed towards the exit. "There's the door. Go find your missing sister. It seems she may have more need of you then we do." he told Cin, eyes gone hard with anger. "When I make a promise, I keep it. I'll still help you. But in this, our partnership is ended." He would have to deal with Nick later, as well. Alarick did not appreciate being questioned by anyone. In that, he and his sister were alike.

​

Brianne tapped her fingers on her stele as Paragon appeared once more. "Two." she said finally, turning away from Valister but keeping a close eye on him. "What did you do to Grayson? And how can I contact you? I suspect I have an...acquaintance, who would like to speak with you." Not that I know the first thing about her, but she doesn't seem the type to hang around Ash. If anyone can help her, this guy is probably her best chance.

She paused, before bowing her head slightly. "And thank you, for your assistance, you helped me save the life of a friend. I appreciate it greatly."

​

Grayson swallowed, his mouth dry. "No offense, but I like them younger." He answered the doctor in a slurred voice, his mind not quite yet to the waking point. "My name is Grayson Kellar, and I am...was the Alpha to the Albany pack." Their original territory, even though they had eventually converged on New York. He wasn't sure there was much more left of a finger of the New York pack. Well....maybe not even that. "So, any way I can get more comfortable?"

 

​

Whatever Masque had said clearly pushed the buttons on Cid since he outright slashed his face. The warlock not being harmed had gone clear out the window. Sien gave Alarick a quick nod. "It's fine." He didn't doubt that Alarick would give him the information that he was hoping for, first though they would have to deal with Maqsue.

"Well Ms. Brianne, I am Valister Cron, a simple vampire just who just happened to stumble upon this and thus am curious as to what had happened. Thus my next question, what can you tell me about what happened here?" Valister asked. He had little to no intention on getting on the bad side of the shadow hunters nor was there any benefits to doing so. Thus he was clearly trying to show them that he wasn't a threat to them. He couldn't say the same for the girl who had decided to follow him. What she wanted to do was completely up to her.

 

Hendrick pulled the girl to her feet, he then saw the full extent of her wounds. The way she had been speaking it was as if someone else had been there. He really wasn't suited for this kind of care but he had to try regardless. "He hasn't won yet and while I still draw breath, I won't let him win. We'll beat him, for as long as we are still alive, he hasn't won." Hendrick said confidently, he had full confidence in their abilities to be able to defeat this ******* once and for all. He took off his jacket and ripped some of the fabric free to bandage up the scratches she had made. When he was done he took his stele and drew a healing rune on her arm.

As he put his stele away he looked her in her eyes. Her haunted eyes, she was trembling on her feet and he knew it wasn't from the cold. Asking her whether or not she was alright was pointless she clearly wasn't and she needed help, he went over it all in his head, they had been distant to her, because they didn't understand.... She had been all alone in this fight, when she needed them they had abandoned her.... Emotions played across his face as he came to this conclusion. "I won't let that happen, Roxanne... It's gonna be alright, I promise..." He picked his words carefully and needed to control his voice.

He looked at her, his face betraying all the turmoil inside of him as he spread his arms. "Do you need a hug, Roxi? Or is there anything else you need?" He asked her, not having dealt with anything at all like this before. No he had purposefully avoided it by going on mission after mission so there wouldn't be any time to think, to feel hurt, Aethelrick didn't always accompany him because he lacked the same sentiment. The broken girl in front of him only revealed the damage behind the walls he had put up. He really didn't like it, but as the oldest of this Institute he had also been picked as caretaker, no matter what Brianne said or did as the head, for some reason, he still needed to look after all of them.... And he was lacking the necessary skills to do it. And he had managed to avoid it until now, he wanted to run away to avoid getting caught in this, but he couldn't...

 

Nick glared at the fairy as he left, but was soon brought back to reality by Alarick's instructions. He approached the warlock carefully "I'm not going to hurt you. Are you going to come along nicely?"

Masque looked downwards, his gaze fixated on the floor. Blood from the fresh gash on his face dripped onto the carpet, but he didn't care. Masque reflected that this was the only scar on his face that wasn't self-inflicted. He mumbled slightly, then cleared his throat as he realised the shadowhunters couldn't hear him "...My mask... pencil... paper" he asked the younger nephilim.

Nick was confused but soon gathered what the warlock wanted. He picked up one of Masque's elegant masks and a paper and pencil that lay on a table near a half-completed sketch of some sunflowers. "Alarick, I think if we give him what he wants it'll make this a lot easier. Besides, he's not going to do anything dangerous with it"

​

"By all means. Though I don't like giving out contact details. You may have gathered I'm a very secretive man" Paragon replied to the nephilim "Usually people don't contact me. I contact them. But nevertheless I will give you the number of Black Pawn. One of my associates. She can always contact me if need be" Paragon bowed his head in response to her "Not a problem. As I always say, a leader should deal with issues personally sometimes"

Meanwhile, far away in the deep dark lab Doctor Bishop responded to the werewolf with a cold calculating expression
"You are not here for comfort, Mr Keller. Our Chairman, Paragon, is currently trying to discover the origins of downworlders. This does, of course, involve extensive testing" he maneuvered the stretcher under a large unfriendly machine and sat behind its console. Needles on the machine began to whir and tubes pumped strange materials through it, as it slowly lowered towards Grayson "This will only hurt a little. Trust me. I'm a doctor" Doctor Bishop lied. Without warning the machine suddenly lowered and needles pierced Grayson's skin in several places as they began pumping him full of unknown chemicals.

 

​

Alarick glanced at Nick, frowning at Cin's departure. The fairy would be back later, he knew. There was a slight ominousness to Cin's voice that he didn't care for. "Give him the mask, and the paper. The pencil...." The Shadowhunter hesitated. "Fine. But make sure to stay clear out of stabbing range, alright?" He glanced around the apartment, running his fingers through his hair before sighing.

"Let's just go, I think we've lingered long enough." He had a bad feeling about the future, and not just because of Cin. Trouble was brewing, somewhere.

 

Masque stood and graciously accepted the items, quickly affixing the mask to his face and breathing a sigh of relief as his visage was once again covered.

Nick lead the group out of the apartment and towards Masque's car, after the warlock mumbled some directions. Masque's car was a bright red Ford Fiesta and Nick opened it and got in the driver's seat, directing the others to get into the rest of it. Nick glowered over the steering wheel. The atmosphere in the car was tense. It wasn't every day you had to chauffeur serial killer.

Masque was unperturbed and seemed in his own little zone. He was sketching, little sketches of those who'd arrested him.

 

​

Alarick sighed, and followed, getting into the seat next to the driver, leaving one of the seats in the back for Sien. "Do you know how to get to the Institute from here"? Alarick asked Nick with a raised eyebrow, settling uncomfortably back into the seat. Very inferior to a horse. He thought to himself, ignoring the seatbelt and crossing his arms across his chest. "I'm uneasy." he admitted, glancing back at Masque in the backseat. "Something doesn't seem quite right, with any of this."

Normally, Downworlders who had killed so many were executed outright. Fairies and warlocks who had been less far gone then Masque had been sentenced to much worse. So why this treatment? Alarick rubbed his temples, grimacing. He knew, all too well exactly what the Clave was going to ask. He just hoped for once, he was wrong. "All right back there Sien?" He half turned to look at the warlock, whom he presumed had stepped into the car by that point.

​

Brianne smiled at Paragon's words. "You are most kind." She accepted the offer of his accomplice's number. "I'm sure my friend will be most appreciative as well." And it gives me the excuse to call on you, when I have more questions. She then turned to Valister, inclining her head. "It's Shadowhunter business, I'm afraid I can't divulge information to those who were not involved." She said, though her mouth dropped into a small frown. "Though I'm sure the word has spread already that Grayson Kellar, former Alpha of the Albany pack, is no more." She pressed a finger to her lips for a moment before letting the hand drop away. "You're welcome to accompany me back to the Institute, where we can discuss the matter further." She murmured, her gaze flicking to Paragon. "It's not safe for Shadowhunters to be on the streets for long, these days."

She didn't think he would be one to join them, but...."If you would like, Master Paragon, you may join us as well. Or, if you choose not, you can always find me at the Institute." She suppressed a grimace. But I suspect you already know that. "Shall we?" She asked the two standing in front of her before turning and walking away, leaving piles of ashes behind and a bad taste in her mouth. They had won...but at what cost?

​

Grayson tensed at the word "testing". It was not a friendly thing for any creature of fur, regardless of the permanency of that fur. "What are you-"
His sentence was cut off by sudden, teeth shattering pain. Grayson clenched his jaw shut, feeling the muscles strain and jaw crack as his neck arched, his body fighting the foreign substances the instant they were injected into him. He refused to scream, but a muffled groan made its way out of his throat as flashes of light dissipated before his eyes.

He waited for it to end. It had to end, right? The pain always had to end.

 

Despite his inexperience he must be doing something right as Roxanne walked into his open arms, he carefully held the girl who pressed her head against him and she cried. Asking him not to leave her alone. He was torn between bolting and leaving her alone, just to avoid getting caught in this and telling the girl he wouldn't leave her. Deep down he knew it was already too late to run away. He had been caught in the things he wanted to run from and there was no more running. He closed his eyes and lowered his own head on top of Roxanne's, feeling her hair touch his cheek. "I won't, Roxi.... I'll try and be there for you and it'll be difficult sometimes, but I'll try." He whispered in return, that idea from earlier really didn't sound like such an idiotic idea.

He held the girl close until he felt her pull away, letting go of her. "Come on, we should get back to the Institute, if we get back before Mrs Grumpypants does so we can check if the Library has anything that can help us in our fight." Hendrick said gently in hindsight there seemed to have been no right or wrong choice there. Had he stayed back there with Roxanne, Briane would have gotten herself killed without a doubt. So that was arguably the worse of the two options, but it seemed like it would have prevented him from getting caught in all this. Damn it, why did he have to run into those vampires or rather get wounded so badly by them... If he hadn't he probably would have been able to get away with a solo mission, oh well no going back now anyways. He realised that when they got back to the Institute, Brianne would like to hear what had brought him here in the first place and he wasn't exactly looking forward to it.

 

Jenny's pov:



She watched as the man she was watching had a weapon pulled on him. This was not really all that necessary. The women then said that she was Brianne, of the Shadowhunters. This day just keep on getting better. Another person appeared and there was someone hurt by the look of things. Grayson Keller was dealt with hum, this was interesting. The man she was watching then said he was Valister Cron, a simple vampire. What was a vampire doing here. Valister said he was in the area and just happened to stumble upon this. There was more to this then what it appeared to be. She continued to watch them for some time to see what they were up to. Something was up, people always wanted something for something there was nothing in this world that was free. So, what was the deal with this? She would just have to gather more information. Grayson Kellar was no more. Was this Grayson person the killer that has been killing all of the people in the city? She stepped out from where she was so that she could be seen. "Alpha of the Albany pack", she said. "Most interesting that a werewolf is around. Really one should not interfere with a Shadowhaunter." She turned to Brianne. "Is the Grayson Keller responsible for the resent deaths in the city." She then thought some more. "I hope that you find help for your friend that was hurt." She met it too. She did not like to see people hurt for no reason. "I am sure you could find a healer."

 

​

Morrigan glanced up as Ash motioned for her to stay put. She narrowed her eyes, waiting until he had left before removing herself from the bed and creeping to listen by the door. Before the usual mask had slid over his face, he had looked startled, perhaps even apprehensive. What, or rather who, would cause the warlock to look that way?

She knelt down, her hand touching the wood of the floor to steady herself as she tucked her hair over one pointed ear before stepping out into the hallway She had to nearly hold her breath to keep from making noise as the door opened below, but what she heard next sent her heart racing, one of her hands reaching up to cover her mouth to mute any noises she might make. Cin. The name fluttered through her mind with fear, nearly sending her into a mad dash to hide under the blankets like a small child.

Ash spoke in a low tone, and whilst she couldn't make out the words, it didn't take a huge leap in logic to understand that the two knew each other. "Oh Goddess." She whispered, silently creeping out the door and into the next room. The clothing she had worn before, the jeans and t-shirt lay on the bed. With a grimace she slipped into them, hating the feel of the rough fabric over her sensitive skin. The bruise on her throat barely showed above the collar, and she yanked her tangled hair in front of it, keeping it from view before creeping back to the stairway, peering around the corner.

"Now." Cin said, his tone one of anger. The sound of it was foreboding, and her instincts told her to run, hide, anything to get away from what his voice promised was in store. She had a terrible feeling that she knew exactly who Cin was here for. "I see," Ash murmured, turning to look up the stairway. She froze, thinking for a moment that he had seen her. What are you doing? Then he turned and smashed Cin in the face.

She cringed, biting her lip as she pressed a hand against the wall. Her heart was torn between running, and escaping while she had come on the chance, and jumping to Ash's rescue. But it wouldn't be rescue, would it? You'd only get in the way. Just wait. He wanted you to stay away. Just wait.

 

​

Sien followed behind Nick as they headed towards Masque's car. Upon taking his seat in the back, another wave of uneasiness washed over him. Once again due to this being a means of travel he was less comfortable with, but also because he was sitting next to the killer. Fortunately the fact that he was more so focused with his drawing made this a little bit better.

"I've been better." The warlock simply replied.

"I see." It wasn't much of a surprise that he wasn't able to get any information from Shadowhunters regarding what they were going, but what Brianne said next was different. He'd only known about Grayson Keller being no more from the stray wolf that he had interrogated prior to entering the courtyard. Plus the invitation to the institute was a good idea as well. "I accept your offer."