Clary looks at the window of her passenger seat at the small town of Madison, Delaware. Moving to a new house and school was every teenager's nightmare. She did want this, but she and her mother, Jocelyn had no choice.
"Wow. " The redhead mumbles and turns to her mother. "Mom, are you positive there weren't any other places looking for vice principals?"
"Like where?" Her mother asked.
She shrugs her shoulders. "Guantanamo Bay?"
"Ooh, too hot." Jocelyn answers.
"North Korea?" Now I just sound dumb, Clary thought.
Her mother purses her lips. "No. They didn't call me back."
"Detroit?" She continues to keep guessing. Clary never wanted to move in the first place. In New York, she had school, friends, and everything. Madison, Delaware had nothing.
Jocelyn tries to cheer her daughter up. "Clary, this place isn't so bad. You're gonna love the house. It's beautiful."
Right when they pull into town, both of them gazed at the town square they drove though. Clary and Jocelyn grew up in the big city so they weren't really used to small towns. "As long as Magnus doesn't turn it into his glittery palace of doom." Clary smirks.
"Hey, Magnus is happy that we're here." She assures her of her old friend. "You know you miss him."
Magnus Bane was Jocelyn's dear friend and Clary's godfather. She remembers when he would tell her stories about ancient times and throw glitter at her every time. "Yeah, I do." The redhead admits. "Especially the Christmas presents he sends us. But I hate how he says that I looked like Rosemary's Baby when I was born."
Her mother took a left and giggles, "He's only joking with you."
"Mom, I'm gonna the freak from the concrete jungle who's mother is the vice principal." she complains. "Getting a ruby necklace from Magnus would maybe make my day."
"Yeah, I just hope they got McDonald's here." Jocelyn added.
At last, Jocelyn pulls into the neighborhood. They parked in the driveway of their new house. It was a regular-size house with small lawn. The house was painted white with a red roof.
Both of them get out of the car. They walked into their new house. "This is it." Jocelyn shrieks. "Come on, come on. Look. A yard. You'd never get this in New York."
Clary rolls her eyes. "You don't have to keep selling me on this place." She assures her mother. "I'm staying because I love you."
"Aw, I love you too." She gives her a hug. "Wow, look at that house." The girls turned to the two-story next to theirs. It was large and with a small lawn. The house was painted dark and looked depressing as the other houses in the neighborhood were bright and beautiful.
"Mom, it looked like nobody lives there." Clary points out. She then realized that she was wrong as she noticed a black Silverado and a dark red Camaro parked in front of the old house.
Jocelyn and Clary walked into the empty house. Both had them different reactions to it. "Look at this kitchen." Jocelyn shrieks. "It's bigger than our apartment."
"We don't cook." She reminds her mother.
'Well, look at all this counter space to put the takeout on." Jocelyn stands silently for a moment. "Do you hear that?"
Clary nodded. "No, I don't hear anything."
"Exactly." She smiles.
Moments later, a loud voice startles them. "Live from New York, it's my best friend, Jocelyn! With special guest, my god-daughter, Clary!" It was none other than Magnus Bane, Clary's godfather and Jocelyn's friend. "Get in here with a hug!"
"Hey!" Clary hugs him tightly. She actually did miss Magnus. He was like a cool uncle that got her presents and wasn't that responsible since he had no children.
After hugging his god-daughter, Magnus walks over to his old friend. "Oh, my goodness! Look at you! You're not in any color. We should change that."
Jocelyn embraces him in her arms and patted him on his back. "Oh, my God. It's good to see you, Magnus."
"Wow, you too." Magnus pulls back and looks at Clary. "Okay. Let me take her in. Oh, my gosh. She gets more beautiful every time I see her.
Clary smiles. "Thank you, Magnus." She fakes the smile because she knew what he was going to say.
"Thank God, because you were such an ugly baby." The man quickly added. Clary's smile dies as Jocelyn frowns. "What? It's fine. She's pretty now. I'll admit when you were born, you resembled Rocky Dennis, but you're a pretty Orphan Annie now."
"No, the danger's past." Clary stated. "Okay, I'm gonna start unloading, okay?"
"Okay, sweetie. Just be careful." Her mom tells her.
The redhead walks outside and opens the trailer full of their stuff. For the two of them, they had a lot of things. First, Clary took out two two suitcases and takes them to the living room. After that, she found a box that was full of her art supplies. In another box next to it had her dad's old Yankees cap.
For a moment, Clary looks at it and puts it on. "Hi there." A voice calls out.
Clary looks towards the dark house. A woman standing on the lawn of the house was looking at Clary. She was tall with a fit body. The girl had on a black tank top and purple pants. Her hair was raven black and she looked like an exotic super model.
"Oh, hi." Clary responded.
"You need any help there?" She asked the redhead.
She nods her head. No, I got it. It's just my art supplies."
"Wow, that is a lot of supplies there." The girl commented.
"Not really. It's just my markers, paints, color pencils, oil pastels, and black pens." She then quickly introduced herself. "I'm Clarissa, but I go by Clary."
"I'm Isabelle, but I go by Izzy. I live next door." She gestures to the dark house.
Clary purses her lips. "Oh, that's cool. Do you go to the high school?"
"No, I'm in college." Her answer then made Clary lose hope in making a friend. "It's just me and my brothers living here."
A bell chimed in Clary's head. "Your brothers? How many are there?"
"My older brother, Alec, and our younger brother, Jace." Izzy explains to her. "Yeah, Jace is about your age."
"That's cool."
"Well, I gotta go to work. It was great meeting you. Bye, Clary."
"Bye, Izzy."
Soon Clary stands there watching the brunette get into the red Camaro and drive off. The redhead then proceeds in carrying in art supplies.
"So you're the new neighbor?" A voice startles her.
Clary Fray looks up at the direction the voice was coming from. She found a boy peeking his head out the window of the creepy house next door to hers.
The boy was about her age. His skin was light and he had blonde hair. From where Clary was standing, she had a clear view of his face. He was the image of the Greek god Adonis. Immediately, she assumes that he must've been one of Izzy's brothers, though he looked nothing like her.
"Yeah, nice to meet you." Clary responds to him.
"How long was the drive from New York?" He asked her.
His questions spooked her a little. Clary lifted an eyebrow and asked, "Are you a mind-reader?"
The blonde chuckles, "No, I can just tell by the hat that you have."
"Oh, yeah, the Yankees." Clary nodded. "Well I came from Brooklyn. Just me and my mom. I'm Clary, by the way. Clary Fray." She felt her introduction was a bit too much.
"Jace Herondale." He tells her his name. It surprised Clary that he was Izzy's young brother.
"Oh, yeah, you're the little brother." Clary says. "I, uh, just met your sister."
All of a sudden, a voice calls out. "Jace!"
Jace turns back and looks back at Clary. "I gotta go." Then, he left the window.
"Good talk." Clary says aloud.
Out of the blue, a man appears at the window staring at Clary. He was tall with raven black hair. The man had a striking resemblance to Isabelle with their hair color, eyes, skin color, and facial features.
"Hi." Clary awkwardly says to him. "You must be Alec. I, um, just met your brother and sister." He kept staring at him, which made the redhead feel uncomfortable. "We're just moving in. Just... Just me and my mom. "
"Do you see the fence?" The first words to come out of his mouth surprised the young teenager.
Clary responds. "Uh, yes."
"Stay on your side of it." He tells her in a harsh tone. "You stay away from my brother, my sister, and me, and we won't have a problem."
The girl stood there confused for a second. "What? Okay?"
Once she said that, Alec slams the window shut, startling Clary. It confused her that Izzy and Jace seemed so nice, but Alec was so cold towards her. She couldn't exactly if it was her or him.
Clary walks into her house and sets her box down in the living room. She takes off the cap and tosses it into one of the boxes. After that, she enters he kitchen where Magnus was sitting down with a cup of coffee in his hand and Jocelyn was at the counter with the coffee pot. "Well, just met our neighbors." she informs them.
"Do they seem nice?" Jocelyn asked her daughter.
"Two of them, yes, but the older one is a big teddy bear." Clary comments.
"Oh, Alexander?" Magnus says his name. "Yeah, he moved to town a few years ago with his siblings. Very mysterious.
Jocelyn puts some cups up in the cabinet and questions her old friend, "Siblings? You mean by themselves? Do they have parents?"
"I don't think so. Alec is the eldest so he takes care of them. They're not really the center of attention in this town. Never given anybody trouble."
Listening to Magnus's information made Clary think. Alec seemed more than just mysterious. "Yeah, I can tell he is quite mysterious since he told me to stay on my side on the fence." She smirks.
"It's okay, Sweetie." Her godfather assures her. "He's not a terrible person. I think he's just incredibly shy."
Shy, she thought. He's probably Hannibal Lector. "What made you think that?" Jocelyn asks.
"Every other week, he comes into my store to buy toadstool mushrooms." Magnus Bane informs them. "He could never look me in the eyes, and keeps stuttering. I give him a compliment and he blushes like he had a schoolgirl crush on me. It's adorable. Very sexy. I love his scent."
Clary makes a face. "Eww."
At that moment, her mom starts laughing. "Wow, Clary, I haven't heard you say that about boys since you were like seven."
"Only if they're big, scary hermits who scare away innocent neighbor girls like me." Clary implies.
As Clary rummages through a box, she found an old photo. It was a picture of her and her dad, Valentine at the beach. Clary was ten at that time and her dad looked completely healthy. They were making a sand castle while Jocelyn took the picture of them
"I remember that day." Jocelyn says as she gazes at the photo of her late husband. Although Jocelyn seemed calm, Clary couldn't already feel her stomach twisting in a knot. "You okay, sweetheart?"
Clary snaps back to reality. 'Yeah, sorry. Um...I'm gonna go get a head start decorating my room. Knock it off my bucket list."
Her daughter goes to her new room, but Jocelyn knew that her daughter was still hurting. After Valentine's death, Clary hasn't been herself lately. She ignored her friends, stopped doing her drawings, and even stated home from school for a week. Jocelyn tried to cope with her, but she keeps shutting her out.
"How's she doing?" Magnus asks about her.
"Oh, it's been hard." She answers him. "She's putting up a wall. Hopefully, a change of scenery will help."
Magnus was then concerned for Jocelyn as well. "How are you doing?"
The woman looked down for a few seconds. "Hopefully, a change of scenery will help."
"Jocelyn, I just want you to know that I'm here for the both of you." Magnus tells his friend.
Slowly, her heart begins to warm. "Thanks, Magnus. I appreciate that a lot."
"Plus, Clary will need a father figure in her life." Magnus quickly added. "Who says I shouldn't be it?"
For one thing, Jocelyn wanted to laugh. "Let's see. One of the few many things that make you different from Val. If Clary comes down in a short tight dress, Val would not let her leave the house. And what would you do? Throw glitter on her and then let her leave."
She knows me so well, Magnus thought. "I want her to look amazing. Hey, Val would've wanted the both of you to go on living. For now, I won't try setting you up with the eligible bachelors of Madison."
"Good because no one can replace Val." She assures him.
Magnus stands up and helps her put things up. "I'm not saying to replace him. Just . . . someone to take care of you and Clary. I'm always here for you, Jocelyn."
"Thanks." Jocelyn didn't want to hear it anymore. It breaks her heart hearing her husband's name every time. She then changed the subject. "So you trying to get with my neighbor?"
Her friend grins. "Certainly yes. I have a thing for tall, mysterious men who take care of their families and makes me laugh. I'm so gonna climb that giraffe."
"Well, good luck with that." Jocelyn giggles
Soon after Magnus left, Clary sat in her new room, settling in. She picked up a box that was full of her dad's stuff. Most of them were pictures of him on family vacations, holidays, or simple memories. The one thing that broke her heart the most was an old drawing she did at the age of six. It was a crayon of her, Valentine, and Jocelyn.
A tear falls down Clary's cheek. Then, a sound startles her. "Honey? You okay?" Her mother called her from the outside of her room.
"Um, yeah." Clary convincingly lies to her mother. "Just found some old baby pictures. I really did look like Chucky."
"Alright, sweetie."
Luckily, her moment didn't walk in. Clary grabs a Sharpie and marks the box as Dad's Stuff. "I love you, Dad." She whispers at the box and places it under her bed.
Suddenly, a slight breeze came from her window. Clary Fray stood up to close her window, but gazes at Jace's house for a moment.
Something about the house was bothering her. She couldn't tell if it was a good or bad feeling. Clary felt that they were hiding something from everyone.
Unknown to Clary, who was still at the window, a women quietly snuck up behind her. The woman was tall and curvy. Her dark brown hair was long and straight, split down the middle. She had on a black casual dress that stopped at her knees completed with black boots and black leggings. She had a Gothic look since she had on a lot of rings and thick eyeliner.
The woman holds up her fingers inches away from Clary's temple. All of a sudden, a glow runs from her brilliant red eyes through her veins. Once they reach her fingers, they escape her skin as a red smoke that heads to Clary and absorbs into the red head's eyes.
At that moment, Clary had no control of herself. She felt like she was dreaming almost, except it was like she was really awake. Clary keeps her eyes on the house and asks, "Who are you?"
"I am no one," the woman whispers. "That house is not safe."
"How come?" Clary asked.
"The people who live there are not who they seemed to be. They hold a secret inside of that house. A secret that will change your life."
"Why are you telling me this?"
Clary stayed frozen under the trance and the woman leans into her ear. "To save you from them." She whispers.