"Aidan. Aidan, get up." My shoulders rattle as whoever was hissing at me shook me in an attempt to wake me up. I groggily open my eyes to take a look over at my attacker. It was my mom, and her face was urgent. I immediately sit up. "What? What's going on?"

"The hunters. They're here." She whispers before going to grab my duffle bag I was told to keep packed for emergencies. She holds her hand out for mine and I take it. We run out of our shared room at to the door. I was only twelve, but I was used to constantly running from a threat I hardly believed real. I thought my mother had made it up to explain the absence of my father.

We race down our apartment stairs and to her crappy little station wagon. She throws the duffle bag in the trunk as I get in the passenger side. When she's in, she turns the key to turn the car on. All the engine does is squeal. She panics, trying the key over and over. "Come on!" She screams and bangs her hand against the steering wheel.

"It won't work, love." A male voice says from the backseat. I turn to see a man around his twenties in age. He had jet black hair, accompanied by dark blue eyes. With a smirk, he shoves cloths in front of both of our faces. That was all I could recall before falling into a relaxing slumber.

When I wake next, I'm tied to a chair directly in front of my mother. I pull my hardest, but the ropes were too tight. I look in front of me to see that my mother hadn't yet woken up. The door creaks open as a man walks inside. "Ah, I see you're finally awake. It's nice to meet you, my little Thunderbird. My name is Jace." My eyes widen and I look back to my mom, desperately urging her to wake up.

I hear Jace laugh as he walks over to stand near my mother. I notice his hair and eyes are both significantly lighter than our attacker's. "What do you want?" I ask sternly, trying to seem manlier.

He picks up a large dagger, running his finger along the edge. "Your head on a stake, my dear." I watch him as he moves behind my mother, holding the dagger at her neck. I gasp and struggle harder against my bonds. "Don't hurt her!"

My demand is ignored as he presses the edge to her skin. "I won't. If you tell me where the rest of you nasty things are hiding." I feel my mouth dry and my eyes water. "I don't know.." I whimper. With a snort, he presses hard enough to draw blood. "Let me ask you again. Where is the rest of your family hiding?" Even if I knew, I wasn't sure I'd tell him. This guy seemed like he meant business. Like my mother had always taught me. This was happening because I didn't believe her.

"I don't know, I swear. Please, just let us go." He clicks his tongue then stabs the knife into my mother's arm. She wakes up with a scream from the pain. She still seemed dazed, almost like they drugged her with something other than what they did me. I turned my head as the door opened. A thin, yet muscular girl walks in. Her hair was a bright shade of dyed red, and her eyes were muddy brown. "Now Jace, I told you to place nice with our guests." She grins as she scolds him, pushing herself up on her toes to give him a kiss when she reaches him. "I would, love, but they're extremely frustrating."

With a look of contempt, the girl looks my way. "Oh, he's just a baby. Maybe we could work out a deal with him." She looks back at Jace with pleading eyes I wasn't entirely sure were sincere. "Clary, we don't make deals with the monsters we hunt." She pouts her lip before walking over and kneeling in front of me. "I think we should for this one. He doesn't even know what he is yet; he's not old enough to have his full abilities." I shy my head away from her hand when she reaches up to touch my cheek. Growling in frustration, she stands and turns to my mother. "Kill her. Then we'll work out a deal for him."

"Mom, no! Don't let them do this!" I yell out. I twist so I could see her from around Clary. She gives me a sad smile. "It's okay, baby. Mommy's going to be okay." I felt tears stream down my cheeks. "I don't want you to go.." I whimper. "I'll always be with you, Aidan. Okay? I love you."

Before I could reply, she lets out a gut wrenching scream as a dagger is stabbed into her from behind. I could do nothing but watch as the life drained from her face. I wasn't given much time to grieve, because Clary turns to look at me. "Now, little one. We have a great deal for you. Don't we, Jace?" She asks. Jace simply rolls his eyes as he wipes the blood off of his blade.

"Right. Anyway, we're going to let you live. On one condition." She leans in close to my face, grinning ear to ear. "You will never, ever have kids. And if you do, we'll hunt you down and slaughter them in front of you before slaughtering you. Understood?" I give her a meek nod. My mind was already starting to spin from the pain. Before I knew it, another cloth was being shoved against my face. I got one last glimpse of my mother before the world around me turned black.

I woke up in the backseat of the station wagon. As the memory of the previous events surfaced, I felt my body prepare for what was the hardest crying I had ever done up until that point.