Prologue

Marissa

They were in the middle of Long Island, stuck in traffic that hadn't moved in the last fort-five minutes. Luke called some colorful words over the loud honking, slamming his fist against the dashboard, which made Marissa jump. Simon was in the front, tapping a drumbeat on the window, while Jace, Clary and Isabelle were whispering in a corner, obviously trying to avoid Marissa's attention. Whatever they were talking about wasn't supposed to be heard by her, but she pretended not to notice, and listened in. Marissa noticed the dark red pendant gleaming on Isabelle's neck. There was demon activity, Marissa knew, and that's what they were hiding. They didn't want her to come.

"Luke?" Clary called, moving up the front seat. He didn't seem to notice, and kept honking the horn. Clary rolled her eyes and tapped him. Luke turned around, wide eyed, and then sighed.

"What?" he asked, looking frantically from Clary to the road, hoping the traffic would clear.

"There are some…issues that need to be taken care of," said Clary, turning her back and motioning to the other two in the back. "We'll be back as soon as possible. Just…don't go anywhere, okay?"

"I have no where to go," Luke grumbled, and honked the horn again.

The three slipped out of the car, closing the door slowly, not acknowledging Marissa at all, who glumly sat against the window, watching as Isabelle, Jace and Clary disappeared through the thick trees.

In a swift movement, Marissa decided to try and get out the door –hopefully not being noticed by Luke's keen hearing or Simon's vampiric eyesight. She leaned against the door, opening the lock, trying not to make any sounds, and slipped outside, almost getting pulled into the dirt. She screeched, but covered her mouth, closing the door lightly before brushing herself off and rushing towards the woods, hoping to spot Clary's brilliant red hair.

She pulled the stele out of her boot, looking around frantically for any signs of life- Shadowhunter or demon. She breathed when she heard the voices of Clary and Jace. Marissa skipped over, leaning against the tree, trying to hear as much as she could muster without being caught.

"Izzy, maybe there's something wrong with the pendant," said Clary, fiddling with her black tank-top. "There's nothing here. Just…trees. Maybe they ran off." Clary suggested, shrugging.

"Obviously not," Isabelle said, looking down, and picking up her glowing pendant. "Look. It stills says there's some activity. It was like this with Lilith, Clary. I'm telling you," she looked around, narrowing her eyes and sniffling, "there is definitely something here."

"Whatever you say," Clary said.

Marissa watched as they swept into the trees, and she let out a sigh. But before she could lean against the tree, she heard the hissing. That terrible noise that sounds like two large bells banging together. Marissa cringed, before realizing it was a demon. A big one, of a sort, creeping near her. She gulped, pushing the stele out as a form of defense, but she knew she couldn't take this one down, especially without anyone to help her. And there was no way she was going to call for help. Marissa needed to prove herself; they needed to know she wasn't a baby anymore, and she could protect herself, and everyone around her.

"Stay back," hissed Marissa, narrowing her eyes slightly. You can't hurt me, Marissa thought. I can hurt you, but you can't hurt me. Marissa knew that wasn't true: If she got demon poison on her, she'd have to go back to the institute to get medicine, otherwise she would die in a matter of hours.

The demon pounced, hissing between it's long teeth. It dragged its tail along with it, making its spiked dig into the trees. "Stay. Back," said Marissa, banging into the tree, hard. The demon sounded like it laughed, and Marissa's heartbeat sped up. Her blood ran cold as the demon came closer, murmuring under its breath, coming closer with every step-

She killed it.

Out of instinct, she killed it. It turned moist and slipped away, turning into a thick ash. She coughed, turning away. Marissa took a deep breath. She couldn't believe it happened; she killed one. But it was one demon, after all, there had to be a ton more if Isabelle's pendant was literally shaking and jumping.

"Nothing," she heard Clary say, and Marissa jumped, hurrying back to the trees, hiding between the branches, hoping no one would notice. "There's nothing here, Isabelle."

There was silence, until she heard the footsteps come closer, and someone gasped, ceasing. "Look," Isabelle said, with shock, "someone was here. They killed a demon. It turned the grass brown. It's like acid."

"You're trying to tell me its another Shadowhunter?" It was Jace.

"There could be," whispered Clary.

"I doubt it," said Jace, shaking his head. "If they were here, they're gone."
"Not all the demons are, though," whimpered Clary, who just spotted the demon who was crawling towards her. It was different then before: It was black, no tail, but spikes all over, large one's. Marissa stepped back at the sight, hoping the noise of the demon masked out her stepping on branches.

"See, my pendant is trustworthy," Isabelle said proudly.

"I don't think that's a good thing all the time, Izzy."

Jace lunged at the demon, but it scurried away, hiding amongst the bushes. Jace furrowed his brow, but attacked again, but the demon scampered away, teasing them. "That thing won't come out." But then, the demon attacked, shooting poison over Jace's shoulder, who instantly ducked. It hit the tree, and there was a hissing noise as the acid dug into the tree, biting it away.

"Okay, it seems to want to kill us." Clary said.

"Then we'll kill it first."

They all attacked at once, but the demon had tricked them, thinking there was only one. One came out of the trees. All of them were different. But they all seemed to spray poison, that's what they had in common. Marissa couldn't stand it any longer, she couldn't watch people she loved die because of these things.

She jumped out of the trees, spreading leaves and branches around her. They all turned, exasperated and surprised. But they all seemed angered. "What're you doing here?" Jace called over his shoulder, turning back towards the demon. "You're supposed to be in the car!"

Marissa ran over, picking up her stele and reaching for the demon, hoping to make another kill. "And watch you die? No way! There's more then one demon here, Jace. There's three. And I'm kind of thinking that they're in the killing mood today," whimpered Marissa, who was slashing at the demon, who just wouldn't die. Finally, the sword smashed into the demon, who cringed and spat acid, flying into the air before it disappeared completely.

"One more," she breathed, almost out of breath. She was alone of course, the others were taming the other. Whatever it was, it certainly wouldn't die. These demons sure had a high willpower. The next demon came at her, and she backed up, holding her stele in front like before. She crinkled her eyes, watching as the demon came slowly, its nails making punctures in the ground.

"I'm going to kill you," it hissed.

Marissa jumped, startled. It talked? She just shook her head. "No, I'm going to kill you," Marissa clarified, but her voice didn't sound confident, and she sure was lying. Would she be able to kill it? This one seemed stronger then the others, and she could barley take them on.

In a moment, she stopped, gasping, groping for breath. The demon was still coming, almost near her, hissing, "Kill. Kill. Kill," it said, baring its teeth and slipping its tongue in and out of its mouth. "Kill."

Marissa smirked, "I don't think so," but before she could continue her actions, she slipped, slamming to the ground. She could feel herself fly through something, like glass. She shuddered, vibrations rocketing through her, before her head finally hit something hard- the ground, she was guessing- and her eyelids folded together before another word could escape her lips.