Chapter 5: Agony or Darkness, which do you prefer?

Agony. At least Jace had never preferred agony, he was just in agony. It's been three days, and within those hours Jace has been coming in and out of pain, unable to think clearly, unable to leave her bedside. The windows opened and closed with the days, letting sun in. He didn't feel it, he didn't feel anything.

She wasn't waking up, that was what had scared him. He even threatened to kill Chairman Meow if Magnus didn't give him a good answer. On some terms, Magnus did give him an answer, the right one at that, but it had just allowed Jace to swirl even deeper in his worries. It only earned Magnus a worried and "you shouldn't have done that" look from Alec.

Magnus said that the brain of a Shadowhunter is hardwired so that if a enchanted substance were to move into the blood stream, all but the subconscious part of the brain will shut down. "It would have resembled a siege," Magnus stated.

He argued that this wasn't true. Simon had bit him before, and his saliva had to have gotten into Jace's bloodstream, so why wasn't he paralyzed. But apparently the substances were different, the Forsaken's had enchantments from runes. That made it all worse.

Magnus didn't even know what would happen, he suggested that everything would be fine. But he had also added that he didn't know whether or not the brain will shut down the subconscious as well, which means any minute, Clary could be plunged into nothingness. Death, without even knowing it.

That's what had scared Jace the most, not knowing. What would happen? What could happen? Magnus had tried his best, draining himself of all the powers he had on spells and rituals to try and awake the mind, but nothing, nothing but a little more rasp in her breath or a twitch in her fingers.

A messenger, Maia, sent to Idris, considering how Alicante had no phones. He also awaited the crushing wrath of Jocelyn, ready to tear him into pieces. Her was her little girl, a vegetable now because of some one she had hated in the first place. And he would have let her. He would have welcome the torturing punishment, for that's what he deserved. He had screwed up, and now he can't even pay for it! What a world.

He had to think. But how can he when a huge rock of emotions hanged over his head. It had crashed down several times now, and Jace had felt the pain full on.

Bloodstream, he thought, Magnus said the infection was in the bloodstream. So maybe it's not the spells that are not working, maybe the siege can be altered. But how? How were sieges altered? When the threat was eliminated. We need to get the threat out of her system. We need to bleed her. "We need to bleed her," he mumbled, his mouth dry and uncomfortable saying words considering how it's been days since he'd spoken any.

Isabelle from across the room, still pulling on the string to allow the curtains to gap wide, turned quickly, "What?"

Jace stared up into the sunlight, finally feeling its rays shaking him like thunder. He looked up vulnerably at Isabelle, and if it hadn't been such a gloomy time, Izzy might have scrambled to take a picture of the priceless expression.

"We need to bleed her," he said more loudly.