- 1998 -
In the South-eastern most part of Beijing, China a young girl, who could not have been older than eight or nine, ran at full pelt across the large courtyard. In her right hand, a seraph blade which glowed with heavenly light, and in her left, the golden pocket watch she had been tasked with retrieving. Her feet moved quickly, her steps soundless as though she weren't even touching the floor as she moved and despite the exertion, her breathing was steady and calm. Above her, a figure followed, jumping from roof top to rooftop in pursuit of the young shadowhunter. Evangeline's assailant was fast, although not fast enough, and within moments she had ascended the steps to the Imperial Vault of Heaven, coming to a rather abrupt halt when she reached the top.
"Ha!" Evangeline grinned triumphantly, spinning on her heel and turning to face the cloaked figure that had been following her. Her blade was still brandished, and she held the gold chain of the pocket watch tightly, ever cautious of an attack from all angles. She wasn't about to let this slip through her hands quite so easily.
"Very impressive Evangeline, and in record timing too…" The voice came from the man who had jumped down from the roof of the nearest building, landing effortlessly no more than two feet in front of the young girl. Evie didn't flinch as he landed; instead she beamed proudly up at the man before her.
Lawrence Calloway removed the hood of his cloak, revealing beneath it a head of dark hair not too dissimilar to the young shadowhunter's in front of him. He held out his hand for the pocket watch, and after a moment's thought, Evie surrendered it to him, a small flash of disappointment etching itself upon her rounded features at the realisation that she was not able to keep her trophy. Lawrence tucked the watch into the pocket of the robe he was wearing and then turned away from Evangeline, addressing the dark and empty courtyard.
"If you'd all be so kind as to reveal yourselves…" He announced to what seemed to be no one in particular, before glancing back towards Evie and winking.
Within seconds the courtyard came to life as the various shadowhunters that filled it de-glamoured themselves. Evie counted them as they did so; ten, twenty…more than thirty shadowhunters now stood in the courtyard of the Temple of Heaven, every single one of them smiling proudly up at her, their newest soldier. It became obvious to Evangeline at this point, that she had not only been tasked with evading one assailant, but countless, and on realising that she had succeeded in this she stood up a little straighter, her chest puffed up with pride.
Addressing the crowd, Lawrence Calloway extended his arms outwards as she spoke. "It has been a number of years since a Nephilim child lived within the walls of this institute, and I would like to personally thank you all for accepting both myself, and my daughter," he beckoned Evie to step forward, placing a strong hand on her shoulder as he did so "Evangeline into your home nine years ago." Around the courtyard there were small murmurs of response as the shadowhunters that surrounded the two Calloway's nodded in agreement. "After her trial tonight, it is my belief and I hope all of yours, that Evangeline has proven herself worthy of her birth right and confirmed her readiness to join the ranks here at the Beijing Institute."
The crowd erupted into a chorus of cheers of both agreement and of congratulations. It was very rare for a child to be brought up at the Beijing Institute, and Evangeline Mae Calloway had been the first for generations. Her mother, Qiaolian Calloway had been appointed head of the institute when she was pregnant with her daughter, and as a result, Evie had been the first child born at the institute for centuries. Whilst she had no siblings of her own, the other inhabitants of the Beijing Institute had made up her extended family; she had lived with them, trained with them and grown up amongst some of the most foreboding shadowhunters that China had to offer. She was mature beyond her years due to having spent very little time with children her own age, but with that maturity came wisdom, intelligence and a fierce sense of determination to be the very best.
As the cheers died down, Lawrence spoke again. "So with that in mind, I hope you will all join my family tomorrow night for Evangeline's rune ceremony, but as for this evening," he retrieved the pocket watch from his robe and pressed down on the small golden button on the top. The watch glowed, an enkeli rune emblazoned on the front of it, before the face was revealed. Allowing the golden chain to slip slowly through his fingers Lawrence dropped the pocket watch into Evie's ready and open palms. "It is time for bed."
Lawrence Calloway guided his daughter through the crowds, smiling proudly as he did so. Whilst they walked, shadowhunters of all ages came to congratulate the Beijing Institutes youngest recruit.
"Congratulations Evangeline…"
"I am so proud…"
"We always knew you'd grow into a fine young shadowhunter."
That night, as Lawrence Calloway tucked his daughter into bed she begged him to retell her favourite bedtime story. Although only ceremoniously, this was Evangeline's last night as a child and so after calling his wife in to sit down beside him, Lawrence agreed to his only child's request.
He recounted tales of the New York Institute, one which was established much more recently than the institute Evangeline had been born in, but had been opened, and ran for many years afterwards by multiple generations of Calloway's. Until nine years ago, there had always been a Calloway living in the New York Institute, and in the centuries gone by the Calloway's had made quite a name for themselves in the Americas as some of the strongest and most formidable shadowhunters there were. Lawrence told Evangeline of angels and demons, of great wars and terrible losses. He finished his story with one of true love, a young shadowhunter, travelling from Beijing on Clave business that met and fell in love with the acting head of Institute at the time. The pair had been quick to marry, and when Qiaolian Calloway was offered the chance to return home to run an institute of her own, her husband, and the father of her unborn child, was more than happy to leave his home in New York and travel with her. Whilst it had been difficult to leave the only home he had ever known and his family heritage behind, with Valentine Morgenstern's uprising, and the accords in New York on the brink of collapse, Lawrence had not spared New York a second glance as he and his wife had portalled to the Temple of Heaven and the wondrous architecture of the Beijing Institute.
"I'm going to go there one day," Evie announced sleepily after her father had finished the story, one which he had told her countless times in the past. Her parents exchanged a glance, despite having heard the story numerous times before, this was the first time Evangeline had ever given any indication of her desire to leave the institute in which she was born. Evie yawned, her eyes fluttering to a close. "I'm going to be the head of the New York Institute, you'll see…" And with that, she drifted soundly off to sleep, her last night of innocence washing over her in a soft wave.
- 2000 -
"You really think Maryse and Robert Lightwood are up to running the New York Institute?" Qiaolin asked her husband, her voice hushed as not to draw the attention of her eleven year old daughter who was studying her runes in the next room. She cast a glance towards Evangeline, whose hair was tied up messily as she scrutinised the pages in front of her. Despite being only eleven years old, Evangeline Calloway was more skilled a shadowhunters than some of the more senior inhabitants of the Beijing Institute where she lived, and this showed in the sheer number of runes that littered her skin already despite her young age. "…and what do you think they're doing, first Jonathan, and then that Cartwright girl and now they're wanting us to send Evangeline over."
"I really do." Lawrence nodded, pouring his wife a small cup of tea that had been brewing for the past couple of minutes, an old family recipe on his wife's side that had been passed down for many centuries. "…and whilst I don't know their motives, I think we should take them up on their offer, she's old enough to make her own decisions and she has wanted this since the day of her rune ceremony."
"Yes, but the silent brothers said-"
Lawrence held up a solitary finger, cutting off his wife before she could finish her sentence. "For once my love put what the silent brother's prophesised that day behind you, just for a moment. Look at her," he nodded towards the next room where Evie now had her stele in her mouth as she practiced an eidetic memory rune on her forearm, tracing it with her finger. "She is strong, and wise beyond her years. I think it would be foolish of us to deny her this. Besides, if she does not like it, she can always come home."
"That's my worry..." Qiaolin sighed. "She is so like you that I know she won't want to come home. New York City is in her blood, I fear that if we let her leave us she may never come back."
"…and if we don't, if we refuse the Lightwoods offer and somewhere down the line she finds out what we have done, she may never forgive us for it."
- 2005 -
"Are you really sulking over this Evangeline?"
"Evie." Alec Lightwood was corrected so quickly by Evie Calloway that he had almost failed to see her lips move, certain that she had thrown her voice or simply taken to using a recording of herself to correct something that people so often got wrong. It would save her both time and effort if she did choose to take the route of the latter option. He smirked, which earned him a glare. There were only a handful of people that Evie allowed to call her by her full name, the first being her parents, the second Robert and Maryse, and on the odd occasion her trainer, Hodge Starkweather, depending how she was feeling on the day. Usually Alec Lightwood fell under the category of 'people who could call Evie by her full name, if and only if, she was not pissed off at them' but unfortunately for Alexander, today was one of the very rare days that she was, in fact, pissed off at him.
"Okay, I'm sorry, Evie." Alec held his hands up in mock surrender, and made certain to emphasise her name as he spoke. "But by the angel are you serious? You are honestly angry at me? Today of all days?"
This particular day was of the utmost for Alexander, the day he and Jace were to undergo their parabatai ceremony, binding themselves to one another for years to come with a ritual almost as old as shadowhunters themselves. Despite her obvious reservations about the pairing, namely that Alec was desperately in love with Jace, too scared to admit it to anyone but Evie and certainly not ready to reveal it to the Clave, Evangeline was truly happy for both Alexander and Jonathan. She had lived in New York since she was eleven years old, she had trained beside the boys and Alec's younger sister Isabelle ever since she had arrived, and had formed close bonds with all of them, particularly Alec who she deemed to be one of her closest friends. It wasn't that she didn't believe that they were suited as parabatai, nor did she not believe that together Jace and Alec could truly be a force to be reckoned with; it was that she was jealous.
"I'm not angry at you." She muttered irritably, finally dragging her gaze from the floor to look Alec in the eye.
"Is it because Anya has had to go back to Chicago?" Alec asked knowingly, giving Evie a sad sort of look, one that made her want to punch him for being so smug.
Anya Cartwright, was Evangeline's very best friend, and had been since near enough the moment that she had portalled to New York from her previous home at the Beijing Institute. The two were fierce friends, loyal beyond reason, and something to behold whenever they were together. They had been training alongside Alexander and Jonathan to become parabatai, and would likely have been undergoing their own ceremony today had Anya not had to return to the Chicago Institute a couple of months ago following a family emergency. Evie didn't doubt that hers and Anya's ceremony would take place, but her sense of pride and competitive nature left her bitter that they hadn't done it first.
"No," Evie barefaced lied. "But speaking of Anya, it's lucky that she did have to go back when she did, because you and I both know we'd have kicked yours and Jace's asses in the trials." Alec smiled and Evie grinned back, her bitterness ebbing away with each passing moment. She reached up, adjusting the collar of the shirt that Alec looked extraordinarily uncomfortable in so that it was no longer sticking up at a jaunty angle. "Are you sure you're ready for this?" She asked quietly, not making eye contact with Alec as she spoke.
Alec cleared his throat, every muscle in his body tensing as he listened to the words of his best friend. His defences went up almost as quickly as the wards that protected the institute did and he took hold of Evie's wrists, gently lowering them from his collar and returning them to her sides. "I'm sure, why wouldn't I be sure?" The way his voice cracked as he spoke told Evangeline all she needed to know and she smiled at him sadly.
"I just want to make sure you know what you're getting yourself into, this is a forever sort of deal Alec."
"Me and Jace are forever." He commented dryly.
"I know that," she sighed, "and if it's what you want, and you're certain of it, then you know I am here for you every step of the way."
Alec pulled her into a hug, and the pair stood there silently for a short while, losing themselves in their own thoughts. Thoughts of the days coming events and the future that would unfold as a result of them. They only prised themselves apart from one another when Isabelle entered the room, letting Alec know that it was time and that everyone was ready for him.
When Alec left the room, Evie linked her arm through Isabelle's and followed after him. "Did you speak to him? About, well you know." Izzy asked in a hushed voice.
Evie nodded slowly, although Alec had never explicitly told his sister about the feelings he harboured for Jace, she had picked up on them almost as quickly as Evangeline had, she was perceptive in that way. "I did, and this is what he wants."
"You're a good friend Eve's, I don't know what we'd have done if you hadn't moved here."
"You'd all have died on that first mission in Brooklyn, that's what would have happened."
Isabelle laughed, earning herself a glare from her mother as they entered the ceremony room. "You're probably right." She whispered a response.
"You know damn well I'm right."
A/N: Here I am again, starting a new fic even though I have multiple ongoing but oh well what can you do. Here is the prologue for Treachery, my new Shadowhunters fic featuring my OC Evie Calloway. I have been working on Evie and her story for around about a year now, and I am absolutely head over heels in love with her and her character. I really hope you enjoyed the prologue to this fic, and getting to know a little about Evie's background. Please review/fave if you enjoyed this and would like to see more of Evie and her story and if people are interested and want to read more, I will hopefully be back again soon with Chapter 1! Thank you so much for reading, Ally x