It has been 2 years since I became a professional Shadowhunter and finally got the others to stop breathing down my neck every second of every hunt. I wasn't that helpless "little girl" anymore. I was to be feared. I'd even one-up'd Isabelle, and that's saying something.
Before I had left, I traced a soundless, stealth, speed, strength, and the other traditional runes that Shadowhunters usually use for a hunt, into my skin. The burn of the stele had now grown to be a comfort instead of a pain to me; it reminded me of whom I was. Something that had been hidden from me for most of my life.
I silently crept around the corner of a warehouse that I'd heard what infested with demons that had been killing mundanes for kicks. To the mundies, this building looked like an abandoned building with broken windows and molding walls. The cold air felt as if Jack Frost himself was blowing kisses at me. Normally my hair would be surrounding my face and neck to prevent the cold, but I've learned that when you're on a hunt, ponytails or some kind of up due are completely mandatory. Getting your hair in your eyes for even a split second can mean certain death.
As soon as I curled my fingers around my seraph blade in the waistband of my gear, a bloodcurdling scream erupted from inside the house. I gathered my strength and kicked the door in with one swift blow; something I'd learned from Jace.
So much for a quiet entry.
Immediately after I barged in, 2 demons heads whipped around to look at me. One had brown hair with silver frosted tips and scaly skin while the other had snow white hair and red eyes. The one with the white hair had a knife on the Mundie girl's neck. She was looking at me with terrified hope in her eyes. I pulled out my seraph blade.
"Gabriel", I whispered, and the blade shot up in a blazing blue glory. The demons hissed, and I smirked. I was ready for this.
Suddenly, another demon emerged from the depths of the warehouse corners. He had his arms crossed behind his back and walked towards us with unexpected tranquility. From the looks of it, he must have been their leader.
"Shadowhunter, you must have heard of our ware bouts. You've come here alone. Very stupid decision if I may declare, but not unexpected behavior. None of you seem to be all there," This demon had a more distinct look than the rest. Not only did he speak intelligently unlike most demons, but his hair was the color of storm clouds while his eyes were like looking at sunlight through a glass of whiskey. I didn't let his unique features distract me from my objective, though.
"Save it for Hell," I hissed, and lunged at the biggest threat in the room; the white haired one. I went for a death blow to the heart; but the frosted tipped one dove at me to try and diverge my attention from his partner who was about to slit the girl's throat. I won't say that I expected this, but I was still a Shadowhunter with mad reflexes.
Quick as a flick of Isabelle's whip, I used the momentum from my last step to spring me over the frosted tipped demon and propel me through a front flip onto the ground In front of Red Eyes. Jace would have been proud; I'd always been bad at flips.
As soon as I landed, I clenched his hand that was holding the knife and twisted, hearing a satisfying snap that meant a break. The girl, now free from Red Eye's grasp, crawled away and into one of the dark corners. Red Eye's was still wailing from his now broken wrist, and Frosty knocked himself out trying to tackle me. Some demons, I thought. I was about to finish the job when I remembered the other demon. Where had he been through the whole fight?
I grabbed Red Eyes and put my seraph blade to his neck. With a quick swipe of the blade, he dissolved into a black liquid and disappeared. I stood up straight and glanced around the room. The only remaining conscious demon was standing in the corner, arms still crossed behind his back. There was no sign of emotion on his face or any sign that he'd registered that I'd just killed his men.
Since he wasn't posing a threat at the direct moment, I ignored the knocked out demon on the ground and stared at the conscious demon. He stared back. I didn't want to make any sudden movements. Demons who looked as if you could just walk up and kill them were always traps.
Finally after 4 minutes of constant staring, he spoke up.
"Well, you seem just as skilled as the last Shadowhunter who came in here years ago and brutally murdered my men. Jace Wayland,"
I could feel a shift in my face at the mention of Jace, and he picked it up.
"Ah, so you know Wayland! Small world, isn't it? Quite fascinating if I may add," he took his hands from behind his back, revealing a small box.
"You see, I've done this quite often, in several different locations. I gather some recruits and a load of unexpecting mundanes, kill them off, and reel in a Shadowhunter to collect one of these," he opened the small wooden box and held it out to me. I didn't move, but I did get a glimpse of what was inside. It looked like… locks of hair.
"I just love gathering the remains of Shadowhunters who invaded my home and yet never managed to kill the leader. See, this one here," he pulled out a short lock of blonde hair. "Is Jace's. Lovely, is it not?" He twisted it around in his fingers. "He has a wonderful head of hair, though judging from how dreadfully arrogant the boy is, he most likely already knows that." I glared at him. He escaped Jace?
"You're crazy. You're not getting any of my hair for your sick little trophy case," I tightened my grip on my seraph blade which was held closely to my side. I could hear it buzzing, eager to slice through the stormy haired demon.
"Ah, my dear girl, but I already have!" He moved towards the collapsed demon and I tensed. He lifted Frosty's limp hand and uncurled his fingers to reveal a piece of dark red hair; my hair. My free hand quickly shifted to my ponytail, and he was right. I could feel a small chunk that was shorter than the rest. That's why he lunged at me. Not to protect Red Eyes, but to collect his master's prize.
All I could do was scoff. I wasn't leaving until this demon was dissolved.
His eyes scanned my face which was tightened with determination.
"Oh my, we've got a feisty one! A 5'2 young woman who has the goal of executing me like the rest; That's almost laugh worthy." A smile tugged at the corner of his chapped mouth.
"Oh, you'd be surprised what I'm capable of," I said with arrogance before quickly lunging at him, seraph blade pointed. Expecting me to go for a straight through blow, he quickly skipped to the side. But I wasn't stupid. I was a highly skilled hunter who could think a step ahead.
I quickly followed his movements. Seeing the surprise in his eyes gave me the extra boost I needed to swiftly jump and round house kick him right in the jaw, hearing the similar snap I'd hear with Red Eyes. He didn't go down, though. His eyebrows rose.
"I seem to have underestimated you. I won't make that mistake again," he dove with insane speed and swept my legs from under me, knocking me to the ground and causing the air to shoot out of my lungs. I gasped and sprung up, but not fast enough.
The demon thrust me against the wall, causing my head to slam against it. My vision blurred for a moment, but quickly cleared. He pulled a blade from his belt and held it against my throat, the cool, sharp metal stinging my skin.
"Now my darling, are there any last things you'd like to say before I can successfully add your locks to my collection?" He smirked, but I knew that he wasn't a powerful enough demon to have no reaction from what I was about to do. My seraph blade had skid away from me when he tackled me to the ground, so that wasn't an option. But I had something else in mind.
"Yes," I choked, "In fact, I do. Do you know someone by the name of… Christo?" By using God's Latin name, the demon flinched, giving me just enough distraction to close my hand around the holy water in my belt and splash it onto his face, causing a sauna steam affect. He wailed, and I dove from under his arm. I questioned how he had escaped Jace when he couldn't even figure out that he should have pinned my arms so I couldn't use them, not that I was complaining.
I quickly spun around and pulled an extra seraph blade from my back strap, something I couldn't have done pinned against the wall. "Michael," I yelled to it, and it erupted in red demon quickly spun around, still steaming, but not fast enough. I leaped onto his chest, wrapping my legs around his torso, and without the hesitation I would have had years ago, tore the blade through his neck, spraying me with black liquid as his head dropped to the ground. I leapt from his now headless-body, breathing hard. He quickly folded unto himself until he was nothing, and besides his head, perished back into the fiery pits of Hell.
As I was walking to retrieve my fallen seraph blade, I heard whimpering from behind me. The girl.
I grabbed the blade, still covered in Red Eye's blood, and stuck it into my waist belt. Before turning to go check on the girl, I calmly walked over to the now rustling and grunting scaly skinned demon, just now regaining consciousness, and stuck Michael through his back, causing a wail to erupt from his mouth before he dissolved. I grimaced.
I wiped the drying black demon blood from my face, hoping that I wouldn't look to gruesome for the girl, and ran over to her. I tucked Michael back into my back strap before crouching in front of her, pulling out my witchlight to see her more clearly in the dark. She had dark brown curls and green eyes that were full of unspoken terror.
"Hey," I whispered. It was hard to be consoling when you're covered in demon blood and cuts, but I had to try. "Hey, you're going to be okay. Let's go, I'll take you to get you fixed up, alright?" She nodded, and slowly rose to her feet. We began to walk towards the door, but I stopped mid stride.
"Hold on a second," I said to her, and turned around towards the still lifeless head of the stormy haired demon lying on the ground. I approached it, and spit right onto his face.
"Add that to your trophy case," I said, and walked out the door, half carrying the girl.
