I sit down next to Skye on the couch opposite of my crying mother and grim faced father. I can't help but notice that this is the first time I've ever seen my father cry. My father gently starts to push my mother up. She whimpers then suddenly jumps up off the couch.

    "Please Jace don't do this." She begs him. I'm still so confused.

  My father shakes his head his eyes watery. My mother crumbles to the ground wrapping her arms around her legs. My mother has never cried like this. She hardly ever cries in general. My father gets up and kneels beside her.

    "Clary," he whispers to my mother. "Think about the kids, honey. You need to stay strong for them."

  My mother looks up at my father and whispers something I can't hear. He nods. My mother wipes the tears from her cheeks and slowly stands up. My father leads her to the couch and they sit down next to each other my mother clutching his hand. I can't stand the silence anymore.

    "Mother? Father? What is going on?" I ask.

  I look over at Skye. I definitely do not like what I see. Her face is pale making her red hair stand out like a flame and her green eyes show no emotion. Oh no. She's shutting down. Leaving everyone outside of her new walls. I was so close to getting her back. We all were. But now she's slowly slipping back inside of herself. I can't let her do this again. It's just not healthy. It hurt me to see her push everyone away the first time. It just might kill me if she does this again. My father clears his throat.

    "Skye. Damian. We were ordered by the Clave to leave for Idris early tomorrow morning." He says. 'We' who is 'we'? I take a deep breath to clear my head.

    "What do you mean we? We as in you and mom. Or we as in all of us." My father sighs and a tear rolls down his cheek. Despite not wanting to admit it I'm scared. I'm scared of what is going to happen to us all.

    "Look I don't know how to explain this to you two without scaring you but I need to tell you the truth okay?" He sighs again. "Clary's brother Sebastian has returned. He is searching for the Mortal Instruments his father could never keep long enough to succeed in killing all Downworlders. The Clave refused him when he demanded them and told him they would give him anything else he wanted." My father stops and looks down at his hands.

  I don't like where the is is going. Things are starting to click inside my head and I'm already pretty sure of what will happen.

    "What did he want instead of the Mortal Instruments dad?" I say. I'm almost positive I already know but I want to hear him say it himself. He sighs again.

    "Sebastian said that he wanted his sister and her family. If the Clave refused, Sebastian said that he would send all of his demon army on all of the Shadowhunters." Just as I had thought. My sister gasps and clutches my arm. Through all of this she hasn't said a word. I'm worried for her. What if this time she never comes back.

    "They refused right?" I ask. It's a shot in the dark. I doubt the Clave would even remotely consider the option. My father shakes his head.

    "I'm sorry Damian they accepted and they are offering us up tomorrow afternoon. But what is the life of four Shadowhunters compared to the small amount we have left to fight the demons already on Earth?" His voice is sad. This is wrong. All of this is so wrong. The Clave is going to offer up the people who helped saved the Shadowhunter race the first time. They can't just send us off to certain death. I know it's pretty exaggerated but it will probably happen. Who knows what Sebastian will do.

  I'm about to say something when Skye bursts out in tears and almost falls off the couch from shaking so hard. My father swiftly jumps up and kneels in front of her whispering softly. I don't know what to do. I have never been able to help much when she has a nervous breakdown though my father always does, no matter how bad they are.

    "Hey, hey Skye it's okay we'll make it through this, all of us okay? I promise." He says soothingly. My sister whimpers a little, her tears finally starting to dry then all of a sudden she bursts again. My mother slowly stands up and kneels down next to my father.
    "Sweetie it's going to be okay. Stop crying please. It will make it easier on all of us if we all stay strong." My mother pleads. Wrong choice of words. My sister's face hardens all emotion leaving in the blink of an eye. My father frowns.

No. No not again. Please don't do this again.

    "Skye don't do this to us again. This isn't a solution." He says to her. She suddenly stands up and starts to walk to the door. Before she leaves she turns back to us all.

    "Mom said to be strong. She said that it would make it easier on all of us. If wiping all emotions away somehow scrapes a little torture away from us all then I'll do just that." She whispers. Her face is blank, void of all emotion. It's scary how well she can hide all her emotions. She leaves slamming the door shut behind her. I sigh and lean back against the couch. My mother sniffles silent tears run down her cheeks.

    "I'm so sorry this is all my fault. I only wanted to help her but I didn't think she would take it that way. I'm so sorry." She cries into my father's shoulder and he hugs her. Then he reaches up and takes a hold of my arm dragging me down beside him and hugging both my mom and me close. For the first time in a long while I let myself cry.

This chapter and the one before are both under 2,000 currently. I'm going back for a round of editing and hopefully updating a new chapter. Votes and comments would be greatly appreciated. Honestly. After I edit I will try to update another chapter. Hopefully closer to 2,000 words.