Alec glanced around his school hallway and identified people with imperfections, or uglies, as he called them. None of them dared to look Alec in the eye. They knew better. When Alec walked by, the uglies would put their heads down in shame and shove their hands into their pockets.
He was an obvious beauty. He had chocolate hair that made girls swoon, a perfect body, and those blue eyes that would make everyone melt. All of these features made Alec perfect, but there was more to it. He was raised by the richest family in town and was dating the hottest girl at his school. He was the stereotypical perfect shadow hunter.
He knew he was attractive, and boy did he flaunt it. He relied on his looks for everything. He was raised solely by his mother, who taught him that a person's appearance was more important than what was on the inside.
Alec's mother was a model, a very well known model, at that. She was pretty young, only in her mid-thirties, but appeared to be much younger. It seemed like Maryse could be Alec's sister rather than his mother.
So Alec learned from his mother. He became a copy of her personality. He never met his father- not that he wanted to. His father walked out on them when he realized that Maryse was "a selfish bitch". Alec was only two at the time, and had no memories of his father. He was raised by his mother to believe that being pretty was the only thing that mattered.
He walked into the school cafeteria where he saw his friends, or as he called him, the pretties. They all greeted him, echoing hello's. He looked around the flawless group of people and instantly smiled, showing off his beautiful jawline. Alec was about to sit down when a clumsy blonde boy tripped over his own feet and dumped his lunch tray onto Alec's chest, smearing nachos onto his brand new shirt.
Alec cursed under his breath when he realized what had happened and heard a round of gasps around the lunch room. How dare an ugly dump his lunch on Alec Lightwood? This sort of thing was unheard of. Alec looked at the klutz of a boy that dumped his lunch on him and fumed. The yellow, pasty cheese dripped down Alec's over shirt.
"What the hell is your problem?" Alec shouted, even though he already knew the answer. This boy was an ugly and they weren't good for anything. They were worthless. He noticed the boy's braces and bleached hair. This boy tried to cover it up, but he couldn't.
The boy stuttered. "I'm s-sorry—"
"You're sorry? You're going to pay to have this dry cleaned!" Alec shouted, drawing a scene. Eyes glued to them. "What's your name?" he asked when the blonde boy didn't reply.
"Jace," he said. His cheeks flushed pink; he didn't like attention. He preferred being shy and relished having the role of an outcast. It was better than being the center of attention. Besides, nobody understood him because they could never fathom his unique gift.
"Jace. Do you know who I am?" Alec snapped.
"Yes," Jace muttered. Of course he did.
"You listen to me right now, blondie. I don't know who you think you are. You're just a short, ugly, pig," he said. He paused and swiftly ran his fingers through the boy's hair, grimmacing. "Your hair is bleached . . . you must be pretty insecure about that. I don't blame you for hating yourself," Alec growled. He loved the feeling that he got when teasing uglies. It was a rush, and it made him feel superior and in control.
"Keep going," Jace encouraged, a smirk across his face. He might have been shy, but he wanted to know what this prick had to say about him. He knew how to stand up for himself.
Alec was a bit taken back, but he kept going.
"And your braces. Your teeth are crooked, that's disgusting. Your skin, too. It's pasty. You're just one giant flaw." Alec's words didn't hurt Jace the slightest. He was strong.
"You're ugly, too," he replied.
Everybody gasped and a few people hooted. How dare an unpopular call Alec Lightwood that? It was unheard of.
"Excuse me?" Alec laughed.
"You're ugly, too. On the inside. I can see it, you're hideous on the inside." Jace paused. "No, hideous doesn't even describe it. You're a beast, and soon everyone will know it," he said mysteriously. His bright golden eyes stared into Alec's blue ones.
"I don't know what game you're playing, blondie, but you will pay for this," Simon snarled. He pointed his index finger into Jace's chest, but he showed no fear. He wasn't afraid of Alec. Jace knew he was stronger than him— maybe not physically, but mentally.
Without saying anything else, Alec sat down next to his friends. The staring abruptly stopped, and the kids in the cafeteria started going back to their normal lives. This was a common event for the school. It seemed every day Alec taunted an ugly.
Alec unbuttoned his over shirt, which was covered in nachos, and threw it back at Jace. Underneath Alec's over shirt, he had a plain white t-shirt, which he was thankful for. He ordered Jace to have the over shirt dry cleaned. Jace nodded, saying that he would. Alec turned back to his friends and started talking with them, acting as if nothing had happened.
What Alec didn't know was that Jace wasn't an ordinary student. No, he was much more than that. Jace just stared at the back of Alec's head, knowing that he'd get his revenge.
The next morning, Alec realized that he made a mistake. He woke up and brushed his teeth, going through his normal daily routine, but he didn't recognize the thing that he saw in the mirror, and it disgusted him. When Alec looked into his bathroom mirror, he nearly had a heart attack.
Alec didn't know how or why it happened. It just happened. He stared into the mirror in awe. His face had scars spread along his skin, and a large, black tattoo across his left cheek. His eyes had even changed color from their normal cerulean to bright red. He looked at himself in the mirror, taking in the reality of his own destruction.
Purple veins ran across his body like spiderwebs, connecting at points and twisting across his skin. A black tattoo spread across his left cheek, right below his eye that stretched down to the corner of his lip. Another tattoo lied across his collarbones, another on his right bicep.
He saw a line of bright blue peek out from his shoulder. He proceeded to take off his shirt, then gasped when he saw the blue veins spread across his chest, like lightning bolts. They protruded from his skin and were the brightest shade of blue he had every seen— perhaps even neon. They almost looked like they were glowing.
Burns and gashes spread his chest, back and face. Blemishes and imperfections coated his body. His hands were covered in what seemed to be black lines like branches expanding from his wrist. Alec turned over his palm and grimaced at the sight of the word beast spelled out with bright, blue veins.
A pink burn ran across his neck and he raised his hand to touch it. As he applied pressure, he realized the burn didn't physically hurt, but the very sight of it on his once beautiful body made him frown in disappointment. What happened to his perfect skin?
He then noticed the black tattoos across his arms and chest. They weren't of anything particularly and they just resembled black vines printed across his skin. He hoped they would wash off. One of the markings, however, was identifiable. On his wrist was a small, black rose.
He didn't know how it happened. Who could have caused this?
Alec suddenly noticed the figure of a short, blond boy standing behind him. Alec's eyes widened and he turned around to see Jace standing at the other side of his bedroom, with his arms across his chest and a smirk on his lips.
"What the Hell is going on!?" Alec demanded. He wondered if this was all a dream— a sick twisted dream.
Jace just chuckled. "I tried warning you—"
"Did you do this? How?" Alec cut in, a bit louder. He stepped closer and raised his fist, preparing to punch Jace. Was this some sort of prank?
Jace just stepped back. "Violence won't fix anything, Lightwood. The damage is already done. I can't reverse the curse," he said.
Alec shook his head in utter confusion. "What do you mean?" he asked slowly.
Jace smiled weakly. "You have 365 days to get some one to love you for who you really are inside, not just your appearance, or you'll stay like this forever. When all of the petals fall off of the rose," Jace started. He pointed to the black rose tattoo on Alec's wrist. "The curse will stay permanent."
With that, he quickly headed towards Alec's bedroom window. He jumped out and started descending down the fire escape. With each step, metal clattered under him.
"Wait!" Alec called desperately after him. He poked his head out of the window, but Jace was no where to be found. Only a dark alley way lied beneath his window. Alec just gulped, suddenly feeling uneasy.
What had he become? A beast?