My life (you know, the normal Shadowhunter "OMG, I am going to die" kind of normal life) was never very complicated. I hunted demons, kept Downworlders in line, et cetera et cetera. But that all changed when the new boy came to town.
And yes, I mean that from the schoolgirl point of view. I was a normal kid by day but moonlighted as a Shadowhunter. Does the Institute know about me, you ask? No, they don't. And I didn't want them to, especially after Tuesday.
But, with the new demon activity it was kind of inevitable, don't you think? And with the new kid (kids actually) it kept getting harder and harder to fit in.
"Fia?" I faintly heard my best friend Richie say to me. I ignored him. "Fia!" Richie screamed at me and hit me upside the head.
I grabbed my head and turned to him angrily, tearing my gaze away from the new kids. "What the hell was that for?" I whisper-shouted at him.
"Class is over, Spaz. Gotta go to your next class. If you remember what that is." We had this thing where we were the meanest people in the world to each other all of the time, well, unless one of us was really, really down in the dumps.
And no, Richie is not a Shadowhunter nor does he know what one is.
"Yeah, Jerk, I'm the forgetful one? Who was the one that forgot to come to my birthday party one year, then came a week late? You, right?" That one was true. Very bad day for him, I must say.
He didn't reply, just turned around and signaled for me to follow him. We had six and seventh period together.
As we walked by, I saw the new kids (or at least two of them) looking at the necklace I always wore. It looked like a crescent moon on its side with five little dots under it, all of the things surrounded by a circle. I didn't even know why I wore it. I just kind of did.
I shrugged it off and kept on walking, not meeting their expectant gazes.
Richie was already a ways ahead of me, so I decided to take my time getting to seventh period. In fact, I decided to skip. Mr. O'Connell just hated me too much.
I snuck out of the school and headed over to some dark alley.
No I wasn't looking for trouble, it just kind of found me.
Around the corner I the alleyway I found, much to my distress, a Jikininki demon, a ghoulish and hideous creature that feeds on human corpses.
Luckily, it wasn't eating anyone. On the other side, I might be its next snack.
From my backpack, I pulled out a Seraph blade and whispered, "Barachiel " and watched the blade glow to life.
The Jikininki was really big. It was all puffed up and icky looking, though it mostly seemed human other than the super pale face and bloatiness.
It came at me with hands and feet, trying desperately to reduce me to a corpse from which it could feed when, suddenly, I heard a shout from behind me that said: "Duck!" And as I did, I saw a blade fly over my head and implant itself in the Jikininki's head.
But I also saw the tip of a blade pointing through the Jikininki's chest from the other side.
As the demon slowly fell, I saw a lone boy behind it, looking accomplished at his handiwork. He didn't seem to notice me, and from the look of the inky back runes along his body, I didn't want him to.
I looked behind me and saw three people. One had scruffy blond hair, cut short (no duh a guy). He was obviously the one who threw the knife and screamed duck at me.
Then there was a girl who looked kind of Goth, clad in leather. She had long curly blond hair and shades that looked really old.
The last one was a guy with shortly cut brown hair (shorter than the other one) and was significantly shorter than the others.
The two groups just looked at each other and I prayed I could just sneak out and pretend that this hadn't happened when the guy with short cut blond hair (the other guy had long blond scruffy hair) said:
"Five, we have to go."
I turned to him and raised and eyebrow. "Did you just call me a number? My name is Fia, not Five."
He looked at me like I was an idiot and so did his buddies.
The guy on the other side came over to me and helped me up. "Not a good idea to pick a fight with a Jikininki demon on your first hunt. Thought your parents would have told you that."
I rolled my eyes, wishing I could just disappear. "This isn't my first hunt. And you didn't give me enough time to actually take it down." I muttered.
"If I could take it down that easy, you should have been able to." Then he looked at me closer. "I haven't seen you around here before. Who are you?"
"I don't just tell random people that." I said (and no, first names do not count).
"Are you calling me random? I am far too handsome for that." I rolled my eyes again and started to walk away, only to realize the other way was blocked by the "numbers."
I walked around the Shadowhunter in front of me and worked my way down the alley, but heard a shift in the air and suddenly the girl with long blond hair was in front of me.
"We've been looking for you for a long time. You need to come with us." She said with a thick Australian accent.
"Actually," the Shadowhunter stated. "This is a matter of the Conclave. She needs to come with me." He moved up to stand next to me.
"If this turns into a match of tug-of-war, I'm not going with anybody. Not that I would go anywhere with any of you in the first place. Because my mom actually taught me not to speak to strangers." That was a lie. I didn't even know who my parents were.
"You are coming with us." The short one said. "We need your help to find the others." He stated it so simply, like I should have known exactly what he was talking about.
"What others?" I asked in exasperation.
The one with short blond hair spoke then. "Numbers Seven, Eight, and Nine."
"What is that supposed to mean? Is it some sort of spy code or something?" He gave a sigh and began to start over when I held up a hand and said, "I have heard enough. You and your friend are obviously crazy. I am going with the other guy." I turned away and walked along side the blond guy who was smirking in triumph until the girl grabbed my arm.
"We have worked to hard to find you than to let you get out now. You are coming with us whether you want to or not." She said, her voice cool with anger.
"Give me proof that I am this 'Number Five.'" I demanded.
"That necklace you're wearing is Number Five's symbol." She said and then took out a piece of paper with nine different symbols on it, and Number Five's symbol was the one that I wore around my neck.
I grabbed at the necklace and though things over. Either go with the "numbers" and find more numbers, or go with the Shadowhunter to the Conclave and most likely face certain death. I chose…the "numbers!"
"Okay." I said quietly. "I believe you. I'll go with you."
"Didn't you just say you were going with me?" The Shadowhunter asked. "You know, it is very rude to break a promise like that."
I snorted. "No way am I going to stand in front of the Conclave. In your dreams, Shadowhunter."
"Why?"
"Why what?" I asked.
"Why won't you stand before the Conclave? It not like you've done anything bad, right?"
"The Conclave doesn't know I exist." I said cautiously. "And I would like to keep it that way." I added uncomfortably as I turned to walk away with the others.
"Well, Fia." The Shadowhunter called back at me. "The Clave will find you some day. Eventually you'll have to cross into Idris or even come face-to-face with and Institute. Why not face it now?"
"Better late than never." I shouted back to him from across the wide berth separating our two groups.
"Oh well. Your loss. The Clave can be forgiving sometimes, but if you're hidden for too long…well, I can't guarantee anything."
"I've stayed hidden for seventeen years without anybody's help. I'll live." I replied.
"Well, have fun. I'll see you soon."
I didn't have time to ask him what he meant by "see you soon," because he was already gone.