Hi. This is my first fanfiction. I hope you like it. Please review. :D

Chapter 1

Pain shot through Clary's back, as she slammed into the wall. Through her tears she could see, the man who she had once called her father, stalking towards her. Clary cowered back into the wall, preparing herself of what was about to happen. Now that she was 17, Clary had got used to how she was treated every night after Valentine had staggered home from the pub. Ever since her mother had died when she was 8, Valentine had become more abusive and violent. He had never liked Clary because of she never did what she was told and when Jocelyn died, he was reminded of her every day when Clary came home from school.

Valentines' foot swung back and hit Clary hard in the ribs.

"That's for being lazy and not getting my dinner on the table in time." He snarled. Clary whimpered in pain and scurried out the room, limping down the stairs to make her father dinner.

The next morning, Clary's alarm woke her up at 6am. She groggily switched it off and walked slowly to the bathroom. Standing in front of the mirror, Clary winced as she prodded the black bruises on her ribs. She looked at her reflection and saw a short girl, only just 5 foot 4, with flaming red hair and deep green eyes, which have seen things no 17 year old should have ever seen. Clary jumped in and out the shower and got dressed. She grabbed her school bag and was out the door by 7am. It took her 3/4 of an hour to get to school.

She saw her best friend Simon standing with the new girl, Mia. She walked over to them, tying to cover up her limp.

"Are you alright?" Simon asked. Nothing got past him very easily.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just fell awkwardly last night." Clary grimaced. Simon gave her a knowing look. He was the only person who knew about Valentine and the only person in the world she could trust.

The day went by as a blur. Clary found herself on at lunch on a table with Simon and Mia. Mia was talking about the new movie that was coming out on Saturday.

"Hey Clary, do you think you will be able to come tomorrow?" Mia asked Clary.

"Sorry, what? I wasn't listening."

"Will you be able to come to the cinema with me and Simon tomorrow?" Clary shook her head. Her father would never let her out the house at the weekends. In fact, he would never let her out the house, ever.

"No, sorry I've got lots of homework and I've got a big project coming up for art." Clary lied. She felt a bit guilty as she watched Mia's face fall. "Maybe next weekend. We can go shopping or something." She saw Simon roll his eyes. He knew she hated shopping.

Mia grinned. "Yes, that'll be great."

At the end of the day Clary said goodbye to Simon and Mia. As soon as she walked through the front door, Valentine pounced on her.

"I want this house spotless by the time I get back. I have an important guest and I don't want to see any dust or grime anywhere. You got that." He shook her shoulders roughly.

"Who is it?" Clary dared to ask.

"None of your bloody business. I just want this house clean from top to bottom by the time I get back at 7pm." Valentine stomped towards the door. He grabbed hold of the handle and turned to her.

"Also, I want you to cook something nice, not like the usual shit you make." With that he was gone with a slam of the door.

Clary sighed. 'This must be some important person coming for him to get so worked up about' she thought. Clary could see that she had her work cut out, but got started straight away because she knew that Valentine had gone to the pub to meet this person and will probably come back even more drunk as he usually is.

By the time she had made the food and cleaned the house, Clary could see that the counter tops were shining and there wasn't a spec of dust anywhere. There was still a strong stench of alcohol, but other than that, the house was spotless. She was exhausted. Suddenly, the door was flung open and she could hear her father's drunken singing. He staggered into the hallway with a man who was trying desperately to keep him upright.

"Aah, Clarissa, meet Steve Roberts." Valentine slurred. "He is a… umm… he's a… What are you again?"

"I'm a dealer." Steve said. Clary noticed her didn't actually say what type of dealer he was.

"Oh, yes. I remember now. Come in to the lounge and we can have a whisky. You… hic… you said you had something you wanted to show me." Valentine lurched into the lounge. Steve smirked and followed him in, carrying in a black briefcase, shutting the door softly behind him.

Clary wearily walked into the kitchen. She sat down and slumped onto the stable. Through the window, a team of special agents from the CID could see that the girl practically run off her feet from cleaning the house, which had started as a pig sty to a house that was presentable. Though another window they could see a drunken man with blond hair and another man with charcoal black hair. They were there because the man with the black hair was Steve Roberts. The infamous drug dealer that had slipped from their fingers on numerous occasions and they were sure they had got him now.