Clary

I watched the clock on my arm go down. My heart was racing with so much fear. "Should I go back to the house? What if mom needs me there. Did I make a mistake by leaving?" I thought to myself. The numbers continued to climb down. 5...4...3...2...1.......

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I ran down the stairs to find my mom. Fear washed over my entire body as I flew into the kitchen. "Mom?!?!" I asked desperately. I heard her walking towards me and I turned to face her. "Clary?" She asked in a worried tone. "Whats wrong?"

I pulled up my sleeve and showed her a small clock that was moving on my arm. It was counting down. She came closer to me and took my arm in her hand. She sighed. "So young." She muttered to me. "MOM?! What is this?" I asked her. Tears threatened to pour out of my eyes. I was so scared and confused. I was begging for an explanation.

"Mom?" I asked with my voice cracking. "Come. Sit down." She said while tugging me towards the chair. I waited anxiously for her to explain.

"There are a certain group of people who get this. My mom had this and passed it down to me.... now I have passed it down to you."

"But what is it? Why cant I see yours?" I asked her still confused. "The timer lasts for three years. Your fifteen now, so when you're eighteen, something will... happen." She said with hesitation.

"What? What will happen?" I asked her and she sighed. "I dont know." She whispered. We stayed silent for a few minutes, then she broke the silence.

"When I told you your father died, I told you a lie about how he died. I prayed you wouldn't have to go through the same thing I did. I didnt want you to be afraid. But I know now that you need to know."

"Know what?" I asked with hesitation. I didnt know if I was ready to hear this.

"I told you I met your father when I was nineteen. By then my timer still hadn't run out. I still had a year left for whatever to happen...happen." She paused and I waited for her to continue.

"The day after you were born the timer went off. I thought it was just a mix up. I thought that bringing you into the world was the thing that would happen. It was the happiest day of my life." She stopped and a tear rolled down her cheek.

"I had just been released from the hospital and your father went to grab the car for us. They wheeled us down that day to the parking lot to where the car was parked." More tears rolled down her face.

"You father jumped out of the car and came right over to us. Next thing I knew I heard the police yelling at some guy who was running towards us. Apparently there had been a bank robbery right next to the hospital and the man was getting away." She smiled with another tear.

"Your father always wanted to do good. So when he saw the man he grabbed ahold of him to try and stop him. What he didnt know was the man had a knife in his right hand." I put a hand over my mouth and felt tears slowly roll down.

"He stabbed him right in front of us. He collapsed into my arms and thats when I saw the timer disappear." She wiped her tears trying to be strong for me.

"You see, this could be something that could change your life forever. For good or for bad." She explained to me. She grabbed onto my arms. "Be careful."

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My three years were up. I watched the clock on my arm go down. My heart was racing with so much fear. "Should I go back to the house? What if mom needs me there. Did I make a mistake by leaving?" I thought to myself. "What if the one person I loved died because I wasn't there to protect her?"

I was panicking. So much so I had to lower myself to the ground so that I wouldn't collapse from anxiousness. I tried tasking deep breaths, but every time I looked at the clock, it kept climbing down. I was terrified. 5...4...3...2...1.......

"Are you ok?" I heard someone ask me. I lifted my head to see a guy around my age. "Umm...yeah...yeah I'm fine." I said while shaking my head. My anxiety didnt go away, but I put on a fake smile so he wouldn't know.

My phone buzzed and I looked at it. "Are you ok?" The text asked. It was my mom. I let out a breath of relief knowing she was alright. I quickly texted her back and once I was done I rested my head back against the building I was leaning on. "What is supposed to happen then?" I asked myself.

"Are you sure you're alright?" The guy asked again. My head shot up. I forgot he was standing there. He smiled at me sympathetically. "I'm Jace........Wayland! Jace Wayland." His face went red and I chuckled.

"Clary Fairchild. Nice to meet you." I said. He extended his hand to help me up. I took his and he pulled me to my feet. "Thanks." I said to him. He just smiled.

"How about drinks? I know a great place around the corner." He asked me. I smiled back at him. "Sounds great." I told him. He smiled wider and we walked down the street together.