My take on the infernal devices

Chapter 9- Meeting the Lightwood's

Jem sat on Will's bed, while Will was drying his hair. Will was telling Jem all about Tessa, and Jem couldn't believe it.

"She's a shape shifter?"

Will nodded."So she can just transform into anyone?"

"And access their memories" Will added. Jem raked a hand through his hair.

"She's also a warlock" Will said, pulling a clean shirt on.

"Is she even allowed to stay in this institute?" Jem asked, a sense of dread filling his heart. She had only been here for a few weeks, and yet Jem couldn't imagine life without her.

"Well, she's wanted by deQuincy so probably is. Anyway, I think Charlotte's got attached to her. " Jem nodded.

Will lay down on his bed, next to Jem.

"Do you think she'll be ok?"

"Yeah" They lay there for a while, until Charlotte came in. "Jem? They are here" Jem nodded and got up. He looked back, at Will, who was now fast asleep. Jem smiled, and laughed to himself. Since Will was young, he had always been known to have the ability to sleep anywhere and at any time. Though, he still was the best fighter this institute had. Jem quickly slipped some shoes on and went with Charlotte to meet the Lightwoods.

Jem stood outside, and got up when he saw the red and gold carriage come up. It stopped just outside the gate. Jem quickly kissed Sophie, who was standing next to him, and then ran to the carriage. Gabriel and Gideon Lightwood stepped out of the carriage. Both Jem and the brother's nodded in acknowledge, before taking a suitcase each, the older brother taking two. Gabriel, the younger brother was the same age as Jem, a couple of months younger, but older than Will by a month. Gideon on the other hand was a year older than Jem.

Taking the luggage inside, Jem showed each of them to their rooms. Apart from small talk, they never really had a conversation. Jem remembered how he felt when his parent's died, he never wanted anyone to talk to him. They must feel like he did, seen as their sister had died a couple of days ago.

Jem dropped their suitcases off at their room. "Are you well?" Gideon asked Jem.

"Yes thanks. Just wanted to say that I know what your feeling, and if you need anything, just tell me" Jem said and Gideon smiled.

"Thank you. What time is dinner?"

"7" Jem said bye and closed the door, wondering what to do after, when Sophie walked by.

"Hey" she said, and he smiled.

"Hey, feels like I haven't seen you in ages"

"Me too"

"What do you think about a date sometime? We can get back to the way things were"

She smiled and nodded.

"Now I have to go and cook." She said. She kissed him on the lips before hurrying off. Jem looked around for something to do. He decided to go and see Tessa.

He opened the door and saw Tessa slowly stirring in her sleep. He smiled, relieved that she was ok. He went in and sat next to her, staying until she woke up. "Jem?"

He stood up, and helped Tessa sit up. "Yeah it's me. How do you feel? "

"I feel ok" She looked down, at her new white dress. The maids changed her out of the bloodied clothes Jem had seen her wear. Jem helped her stand up, and took her to her room, where she sat on the bed.

"Do you remember what happened?" Jem asked

Tessa nodded, and Jem couldn't help but ask her. "How did it feel changing into someone that's not you?"

"Well..." She trailed off, and Jem immediately wanted to hit himself. God why had he asked that? She had just woken up from being unconscious from it. The last thing she probably wanted to do was to talk about it. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked that" Jem said.

"No it's ok, it's just hard to out it into words. Well, first, the brother gave me a lock of hair, and asked me to try and find a connection to it. Immediately after I closed my eyes, I felt a spark, and I concentrated on it. The spark grew into a flame in my mind, and slowly I could feel myself changing. The first person I changed into was an old woman, she was still alive. It was so strange, I could feel her emotions, her memories flashed behind my eyes." She stopped, as if remembering the old woman. "She was so angry at her son, for marrying a man. "

"Why was she angry for her daughter meeting someone?" Jem inquired.

"The man was- a warlock" Tessa said, looking down.

Jem said nothing, he felt heart break for her.

"Look, there's nothing wrong with a warlock, it's just older people tend to dislike warlock's" Jem said, his hand slipping over hers.

"Why though?" She sounded genuinely curious

"Well, the woman must have been an old Shadowhunter" Jem looked at Tessa, who nodded in confirmation. "And a while ago, Shadowhunter's hated dowlworlders. They thought that they were below them, and tried to use them as servants and slaves. A couple of years later there was a huge war, in which the Downworlder's rebelled against the Shadowhunters, and eventually won. Now, Downworlder's and Shadowhunter's are mutual, and many Downworlder's stay in institutes, or help out, though not as slaves. Magnus Bane is an example. Charlotte and Magnus are quite close, so he helps out here and there, and if he needs any Shadowhunter's, then we help him."

"Oh" was all Tessa said. The bell rang, and Jem stood up. 

"I'll see you at dinner?" Tessa nodded, and Jem walked out of her room, the door shutting behind him.