Part 1: The Beginning
Clary squealed as a pile of fluorescent fabric fluttered onto her from a shelf above as she pulled a costume from the pile. She groaned at the mess, picking each piece up and folding it carefully; Isabelle, her drama partner, had asked her to pick up a number of costumes from backstage in the auditorium; sure, it meant staying after school to try and navigate the maze that was the drama departments cubbies of old costumes, but Isabelle had volunteered to research Queen Anne in the library after hours, so she wasn't complaining.
Gathering the costumes that she had picked Clary closed the closet door and made her way to the stage, trying to hold the clothes in her arm. Her backpack felt heavy on her back, and she pulled out her phone to text Simon; he was her designated driver, but he was currently having an ongoing argument with his girlfriend, so she knew she would have to hang out for a while.
Soft music began to play, and Clary smiled curiously as she made her way to the front of the stage; she thought she was the only person, but apparently not. Smiling at the lilting tune she walked out from the curtains and was met with the sight of four hundred empty seats, and Jace Herondale at the grand piano.
"Hi." She said quietly, and the boy in front of her looked up and grinned.
"Hey short stuff- what are you doing here?" He asked, and Clary tried not to swoon at the dimple, or the chipped front incisor that showed when he smiled. Jace was the kind of boy you see in movies, cocky and unbelievably good looking. He was Izzy's brother, and in most of Clary's classes, and Clary had been kind of in love with him for three years. But who's counting.
Clary held up the armful of costumes, shrugging.
"Izzy and I are doing our drama assignment Renaissance style." Clary said and Jace laughed.
"God, I hated drama." Jace said, and Clary dropped her bag and the clothes to the floor, pocketing her phone and moving to sit beside him on the piano stool.
"You're so good at this, though." Clary said, tapping a key lightly. She could feel the heat from his body next to her and she tilted her head as he began to play properly. "See!" She laughed as his runs got faster, stretching his arms across hers to reach the higher notes. Clary felt herself laughing- the kind of laugh that comes put when you're trying not to ugly laugh, but you can't help it. Jace grinned at her, and she gripped the stool. His face was too perfect, bright eyes, sculpted jawline, tanned skin. He was so popular but still always talked to her like they were proper friends, always complimenting her and asking her about her life. He was the nicest guy- despite his somewhat arrogant attitude. He stopped playing, turning to her.
"A little birdie told me you got accepted to your first choice college…" Jace said quietly, and Clary blushed.
"They sent me the letter about interviews but,… yeah, I got in! Royal College of Art, England here I come. That is, if I get the full ride."
"That's amazing, and you know you will. I don't think I've ever met anyone so talented." Jace said, running a hand through his hair. Clary's eyes widened, trying not to blush harder.
"Yeah, right." Clary sighed. "I never asked- where did you apply to college? Did you apply…?"
Jace grinned at the subtlety, and Clary could have sworn he blushed.
"Well, you aren't gonna believe this but I applied to a tech college, and I got a scholarship as long as I agree to play in their orchestra." Jace said, and Clary grinned, squeezing his arm.
"Why wouldn't I believe that?!" She asked, surprised, and Jace smiled a blinding grin.
"The college- it's in London." Jace laughed, and Clary blanched.
"No way." She said.
"Way."
"How… how did I not know this? You would think Izzy would have told me her brother was going to end up in the same city as me. This is so crazy." Clary said, and Jace laughed.
"I just didn't want anyone to know until I was sure- the guys on the team would think I was such a pansy if they knew."
"Not that you care or anything…" Clary laughed, and Jace dipped his head.
"Sure." He replied, and Clary felt him shuffle closer. "You know, I'm glad we are gonna be able to see each other. There's… look, there's something I have to tell you. And I know my timing is a bit off considering I've waited three years, but-"
Jace was cut off by a loud bang coming from outside the auditorium; he frowned, along with Clary, who was hoping that Jace was about to ask her to marry him, and looked around; they were still alone in the auditorium, but they could see vaguely out of the front door into the school reception area, where the lady from the office was talking to someone.
"What was that?" Clary asked, turning around. "Sounded like…"
And as they watched, the man that stood before the receptionist shot her twice, blood splattering surreally across the office windows. The sound rang out in an echoing cacophony, and Clary gasped in shock. Before she could react Jace was on his feet, practically carrying her behind him as he sprinted across the stage, ducking them behind the curtain; he was breathing heavily, eyes wide in shock, and it wasn't until Clary recognised his hand over her mouth did she realise she was screaming.
She sucked in a breath through her nose and tried to calm her erratic heartbeat, clutching onto Jace's shirt with one hand. She pulled his hand carefully from her mouth, clutching it. She sucked in a breath softly, trying to listen for footsteps.
"Is this a shooting?" She asked, voice shaking. He shook his head, jaw set.
"It's after hours… and there's four guys, in uniform. I don't… I don't think this is a shooting. I think they're looking for something, or trying to send a message." He whispered.
"By killing a receptionist!" Clary tried not to panic. The auditorium was silent now, and Clary pushed Jace off slightly to step back and look behind the curtain.
"There's no one there." Clary whispered, but immediately pushed herself and Jace further back into the curtain as she spotted someone by the door, their mask clad face not quite as shocking as the large gun he held in his hand.
"Go back. Back!" She hissed at Jace, pushing him behind the curtain and backstage. They found themselves back at the costume closet, and Clary began emptying it out.
"What the hell are you doing?" Jace hissed, keeping watch. Clary huffed.
"There's a door at the back of this- it leads to the north stairway- we can get to the library." Clary said, frantically throwing clothes on the floor as silently as she could.
"Clary just stop- we can… I don't know…"
"Jace, the only back way out of this place from the second floor is the library. And... Simon is in the library. So is Izzy." She said solemnly. Jace's face paled.
"How can I help?"
.….\.../…
"Oh, hey- you dropped this." Alec said quietly, picking up a plastic bottle of… lotion? He laughed, handing it to the only other guy in the locker room. Only, he tried not to drop it when he saw the guy before him; he was tall, insanely hot, and wearing the strangest pair of pants Alec had ever seen.
"Are… those tights?" Alec asked, it slipping out before he could stop himself. "I'm sorry." He said, blushing.
"No- don't be." The guy said. "I'm Magnus, and you are…"
"Alec."
"Huh. Figures you'd have such a hot name." He said, winking, "And no, their leggings- for dance."
"You're a dancer?" Alec said, trying not to blush at the wink. "I've never seen you before- are you new?" Alec asked, and Magnus grinned a cat like grin.
"Yeah- I'm only here to finish off my last semester, then I'm out of this town." Magnus said with flourish, shutting his locker door. He looked Alec in the eye. "I got told to drop out of my last school because they couldn't get on board with my freewheeling bisexuality and Dr Frank-n-Furter wardrobe." He finished.
Alec swallowed at the swell of information.
"That sucks. But you'll like it here." Alec said, looking at his hands. "I mean, I was the first openly gay guy here, but hey, they didn't kick me off the football team." He laughed sheepishly, and Magnus' smile widened.
"Openly gay?" He asked, and Alec shrugged.
"Recently." He said, and Magnus nodded.
"What made you come out… secret boyfriend didn't want to be secret anymore?" He asked coyly, and Alec grinned.
"No, no secret boyfriend. I just… wanted to be me. It was getting too suffocating in the closet- even if mine is clearly less adventurous than yours."
They both laughed, and Magnus found himself watching the light from the dim locker room bulbs flicker in Alec's eyes. He grinned.
And then both of them jumped at the sound of yelling; it was coming from the gym, and the shuffling noises were getting closer.
"What is that?" Magnus asked, turning to the door.
"Probably just some jocks- they get rowdy in the off season." He said, then laughed.
They both stopped at the bang that followed.
"Was that…"
"A gunshot…"
"Shit."
….
"Just tell me when you've finished talking to him." Jordan said to Eric, a nerdy kid on the basketball team that he had recruited to help him make sure that Simon and Maia broke up. It was a sucky thing to do- he knew that, but he and Maia knew that they couldn't be together unless she broke up with Simon. They wouldn't do that to him.
Eric walked out of the gym and Jordan picked up the ball, practicing his lay ups over and over until he could feel the sweat dripping down his neck. He was so frustrated with everyone, with everything at this school; the one good thing in his life was his best friend Maia, and it had taken him so long to figure out that he loved her she already had a boyfriend. Simon was the best guy, and his best friend Clary was the sweetest girl ever, and Jordan felt sick about breaking up the couple. But they were in love. The big kind, the slit your wrists without it kind. Well, not that morbid. But close.
Throwing the ball against the wall Jordan sighed in frustration, turning to go to the sports office to grab the automatic pump- but looking out of the open gymnasium doors, he saw a masked figure.
"What…" He muttered to himself, jogging to the doors. The school had never had people vandalising it, but as a senior Jordan felt obliged to kick the little punk's ass.
"Hey!" He yelled, searching the hallway. "What do you think-"
Fire.
That's what it felt like.
Like a hot knife had suddenly ripped through his chest, a blazing firework freewheeling through his body. Jordan dropped to the floor, gasping at the searing pain that ripped through him.
The son of a botch shot him; whoever it was walked past him, and through his gasps Jordan could make out the sound of him talking through a walkie talkie, the crackling static possibly just the fogginess of his brain.
The pain wasn't subsiding, but the more breaths he took the clearer his head felt. The sound of his attacker was gone, but he didn't dare scream for help. Placing a hand flat against the floor he tried to push up with his right hand, but a pain so shocking shot through him he felt his heart skip a beat.
Deciding getting up wasn't an option he scanned the doors around him- he couldn't just sit in the hallway; whoever had shot him could come back at any point to finish him off. The gym was too open, he wouldn't be safe. But the boy's locker room was right behind him.
Turning as far as he could onto his good side he began to push himself with his feet, an uncomfortable warm and wet feeling clinging to his body. He knew there was a lot of blood, but his brain couldn't process it, and he was almost positive that he had wet himself. There was no relief when he finally reached the door to the locker room, and he couldn't push the door with his left arm. Instead he used his head to push the door, exhaustion setting in.
But he didn't need to push any longer, because before he knew what was happening there was someone grabbing him by the arms and pulling him roughly into the locker room.
"Push that bench against the door." Alec said as he dragged Jordan into the locker room, and Magnus rushed to comply, pushing two benches against the door, stacking them for good measure.
"Kyle… Kyle, can you hear me?" Alec asked, too shocked to panic. He lay Jordan's head on a stack of towels, moving to grab the first aid kit from Magnus. "Jordan! C'mon man." Alec patted his face lightly, then harder.
Jordan coughed, coming around from the brief blackness. There was a hand on his chest, and Alec's face loomed above him.
"Magnus grab my water bottle." Alec said frantically, and Jordan felt the pressure relieve briefly, replaced by Alec's hand. "Jordan- can you hear me?"
"Ugh…" Jordan moaned, trying not to arch his back.
"Come on…"
"Ugh… is… that guy… wearing tights?"
….
Simon was sat on top of a table- there weren't any other people in the corner of the library except from him and Maia, and currently he wished there were a thousand, so he wouldn't have to look into her entirely earnest face.
"I'm really sorry Simon." Maia said slowly. "It's just… I-"
"You love him. I get it- you don't have to go on about it." He said. He knew it was rude, but having your girlfriend tell you she loved another guy wasn't exactly an enjoyable experience.
"Si, please." She said, and he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket.
"Let's put this castration of hold for a hot minute, Clary's calling me." Simon said, bringing the phone to his ear, turning away from Maia. "What's up, ginger." He said sombrely, but he cringed at the noise he was met with. She was hissing down the phone.
"Si," She started, and Simon could hear the urgency in her voice. "Please listen to me, where are you?" She asked him, and Simon stood up.
"I'm in the library- what's wrong… what happened?" He asked, and he heard a muffled voice with Clary.
"There are people in the school- they have guns. They shot the receptionist, Miss Greene. She's dead." Clary whispered.
"That's not funny." Simon said.
"Do I sound like I'm joking, Simon Lewis."
He blanched.
"Look, I'm with Jace- just lock the doors, barricade them. We're on our way to the library, okay. Tell Isabelle that Jace is okay- we'll be there soon. I'll call you when we're close." Clary said. "Look, I know it's a lot to take in. But we're in danger. I love you." Clary said, then hung up.
"What's wrong?" Maia asked, and Simon turned around.
"There's people in the school. Someone's been shot." He said blankly, then immediately ran to the front of the library, slamming the door and pushing the nearest bookshelf in front of it.
"What the hell?" A voice asked, and Simon turned to see Isabelle Lightwood and a cheerleader he didn't know behind him.
"Izzy." He said, walking up to her- she was pretty tall, but not as tall as him, and he tried not to look worried at her amazon stature. "I'm sorry, guys, there's someone in the school." He said quietly, and he saw Maia approach the group.
"What do you mean?" Isabelle spat, clearly annoyed.
"Someone's been shot. Clary and Jace- " He blurted out, and Isabelle immediately went pale. Her small friend took out her phone and dialled the police.
"Are you serious?" The shorter girl said and held the phone to her ear as Simon nodded sombrely. She moved off to talk to the police, and the conversation was short lived.
"Clary and Jace…" Isabelle said quietly, and Simon sighed.
"I think they saw her get shot- it was that receptionist, Miss Greene." He said. "But they were okay- they're on their way here. Simon said, and Isabelle doubled over. Simon rushed to her, placing a hand on her back. Izzy was gripping the front of his shirt, and the two other girls in the library were currently closing the doors of the library, pushing down bookshelves in front.
"What's wrong?" Simon whispered, and Isabelle shook her head.
"I loved Miss Greene. She helped me write my college transcript- she got me into college." Isabelle muttered, and Simon gripped her hand.
"It's going to be okay." He said, and she laughed.
"How the hell is this going to be okay." She stood up straight, still hanging onto his shirt. "What did Jace say?" She asked him, intimidatingly scared. Simon shook his head.
"I only spoke to Clary- but she said that they were both fine. They're coming here." Simon said.
"Because of the back exits?" Isabelle asked, and Simon raised an eyebrow.
"Yeah… yeah, I guess. How-"
"If you ask me how I knew where the exits are in a school I have attended for four years I will smack you, Lewis." She muttered, turning to the windows. "Can I borrow your phone?" She asked, and Simon looked at her curiously. "I left my phone in my brother's car, so can I borrow yours?"
She held out her hand and he placed his phone on her palm, watching her face.
"Are you okay?" Simon asked as she dialled, and she just held up a hand. Turning away to help Maia, Simon ran a hand though his hair. This wasn't the sort of thing he ever expected to have to deal with- yet here he was.
"I'm so sorry, Simon."
Simon was taken aback as his now ex-girlfriend threw herself at him, wrapping her arms around his neck.
"Maia…" He muttered, trying not to smell her vanilla perfume. "We'll be fine… We always are."
She pulled back, her hazel eyes searching his.
"I do love you, you know. Just-"
"Not the way I loved you." Simon said, smiling. "It's cool- when we get out of this, you can buy me an endless supply of cappuccinos to make it up to me. And you know I love Jordan. One day I'll be happy for you."
A loud bang interrupted them, and everyone fell silent.
"What was that?" The shorter girl, said, panic in her tone. Isabelle placed Simon's phone on a table.
"That was a gunshot. I think." Isabelle whispered, and before anyone could move she had run across the room and switched off the lights, bathing them in the dim grey glow of the outside sky.
"I can't do this." The cheerleader said, breathing heavily. "This is not real, this can't be happening… this can't be happening." She yelled, clenching her fists. Maia and Simon shared a look; she needed to be quiet.
"Aline, chill out." Isabelle said, crossing back to the middle of the room; the library wasn't that big, but they had moved all of the shelves to block the doors, so there was a large clear space in the centre of the room. Aline was running her hands through her hair.
"I'm not gonna chill out; we are gonna die here, Izzy. This is like a bad lifetime movie…" She said angrily, Simon watching helplessly.
"Don't freaking shout the place down, Jesus. Just sit down- you called the police, we'll be fine. We just have to wait it out, okay?" Isabelle said calmly, reaching a hand out to Aline. She let out a long, slow breath then took Isabelle's hand.
"Okay. But we need to keep away from the doors." She said.
"I agree." Said Maia, making her way to the back of the room, looking out of the window. There was a fire exit beside the window with stairs that led to the back of the gym and out behind the football field. "Wait… where does this lead?" Maia asked, continuing to look out of the window. "We could get out this way- if they came in through the front-"
"Let's wait for Clary and Jace." Simon said, watching the door. Maia frowned.
"They're coming here together… why do we have to wait?" She said, and Simon raised his eyebrows. But before he could react, Isabelle had risen to his defence.
"Because, Roberts, I for one would like to make sure my brother and my friend actually do get out of here alive, even if it means hanging on for a minute." Isabelle said, sitting down on the floor with her back against the back wall, arms resting on her knees. Maia narrowed her eyes.
"C'mon guys, don't make me out to be the bad guy, I just want to-"
She was cut off by the ringing of a phone, and everyone froze; Isabelle immediately jumped to her feet, running to the table and grabbing Simon's phone, ducking back to the ground and answering it.
"Hello?" She hissed, then breathed out an audible sigh of relief. "Thank god." She looked up and met Simon's gaze. "It's Alec- he's still here, but he's with some other guys in the locker room." She said quietly. She frowned, biting her lip, then Simon watched as her eyes fluttered shut. "Shit…" muttered. "Okay… Yeah, we're in the library. Jace and my friend Clary are coming… okay. We called the cops already- they said they were coming, but Aline had to hang up. We… yeah… okay- love you."
She hung up the call and tossed the phone to Simon, who caught it deftly.
"We just need to wait until Jace and Clary get here. Then we can decide what to do." Isabelle said, looking at her hands. "We just need to wait."
…..
"Stop." Jace whispered, pushing Clary behind him. They were halfway across the school, nearly at the library; getting out of the auditorium was easy, but as they made their way through the school they heard two more gunshots, and the sound put them both on edge.
"What is it?" Clary whispered, and Jace scanned the hallway carefully.
"I thought I saw something."
They held their breath for a second hoping to hear any tell-tale sign of someone approaching; all Clary could hear was her own heartbeat, and after a few seconds Jace decided that it was safe, moving forward toward the double doors first with Clary walking behind him.
It only took a second for Clary to register a noise behind her, and before she could react she felt herself being pulled backward by the neck and flung against the ground; her head connected against the cool tile with a sickening crack, and Clary could hear Jace yelling. He sounded far away, distorted, and her vision was blurry.
She felt someone fall beside her and used all of her strength to roll over; their attacker was masked and on the floor underneath Jace who was struggling to subdue the man. Her vision came into focus, and before either of them could react she picked up the gun that lay on the floor beside her and brought it down hard on the masked figures head. He immediately stopped struggling, and Jace pushed him away from them, moving to crouch next to Clary.
"Jesus Christ; are you okay?" He asked, gently moving her hair away from her face. She nodded slowly, still gripping the gun. Jace watched her carefully, then moved back to the now unconscious masked figure. Jace kicked him gently, making sure he was down, then removed his mask. He pulled his phone from his pocket and took a photo, then proceeded to rummage through the guy's own pockets.
"Jace!" Clary hissed, moving toward him. "What are you doing?" She asked, breathing deeply. Jace pulled a card from the assailant, then a folded piece of paper, and then a small knife. Jace slipped all the items into his own pocket.
"We'll need evidence for the police." Jace said carefully, standing up and reaching for the gun. Clary paled.
"Can't we just leave it here?" She asked, holding onto it.
"What if he wakes up?" Jace said, and Clary sighed.
"Fine, good point. But I'm keeping a hold of it." She said, and Jace raised an eyebrow.
"You know how to use a gun?" He asked, nearly laughing, and Clary frowned.
"My dad made my brother and I learn when we lived in Dale." Clary whispered. "And I'm guessing, considering you live under the same roof as the biggest Democratic councilwoman in the state, that you've never even held one." She muttered, clicking the safety on, and Jace nodded.
"Fair point. We're nearly at the library; I'll call Simon." Jace said, moving forward, and Clary gulped. "You okay?" Jace asked, holding out for her hand, and she nodded.
"Let's go." She whispered, and they set off back down the corridor, Clary learning her lesson and glancing over her shoulder every so often; they only had to go through one more set of doors to get to the library. Jace pulled them into a small alcove next to a set of lockers and dialled Simon's number, and Clary watched the corridor as he spoke.
"We're basically there Lewis; we just need you to open the front door to the library. Yeah, yeah- she's fine. Okay. We'll watch the doors."
Jace hung up and the phone and turned to Clary.
"He's gonna open the door for us; we just need to watch."
They approached the last set of doors blocking them from the library entranced and watched through the windows; the doors weren't open yet. But the second they saw a shift in the door Clary glanced over her shoulder to make sure they weren't being followed, then Jace pushed through the door.
He kept an arm across Clary's head as they ran toward the library, and Clary blindly pushed open the door. They fell into the library and Clary heard someone push the door shut behind them and looking around Clary nearly burst into tears. The gun felt hot in her hand and she placed in on a table, then flung herself at Simon who had just pushed a bookshelf against the door.
"Si." She muttered into his neck, and she felt him gasp.
"Thank god." He sighed, and Clary grinned.
"How do we get ourselves into these situations?" She laughed, then stopped, pulling back. She felt sick, and slightly hazy. "Seriously, Simon. Are you guys okay?"
She scanned the room and took in Aline, a girl in their class that tended to ignore Clary. Isabelle and Jace were hugging, and they pulled apart to look at each other.
"We've been fine. We heard a shot, but…"
"Oh god, Jace, you're hurt!" Isabelle suddenly said, and everyone whipped around to take in the blood on the sleeve of Jace's shirt. Jace looked down, frowning.
"No… it's not-" He looked up to Clary, who realised that her adrenaline was finally running out. Jace stepped towards her.
"Clary?" He asked, coming closer. Clary lifted a hand to her head, the place that felt soft and warm; pulling back her hand she stared at the scarlet mess that was her own blood. She took in a short breath.
"Oh." She muttered. And then the world went black.