She was the mistake of Valentine. The Clave didn't want to admit she existed, which was why she was raised by the Iron Sisters until she was fifteen.

Ashley Grayrose's life had taken a turn for the worst when she was four in 1990. She'd been a Mundane, someone with their whole life ahead of her. Until she'd been kidnapped by the Circle. She'd been forced to drink from the Mortal Cup with no warning, no preparation.

She almost wished she had died when she was just a child. The pain would have been over, at least.

Ashley wasn't that lucky. She had screamed for hours, sobbing and wailing for her parents. She had been just a kid. She'd been shot up with more angel blood after the initial drink than she should have been exposed to.

Her dark eyes, dark skin, dark hair, had all turned to a silky snow white. She remembered her last memory of being able to see before that was stolen from her.

She remembered cursing God and all the Angel's and Nephilim. How dare they let this torture continue? The angel blood made her stronger, gave her more insight, which made the hatred in her heart grow.

She was six when the torture finally stopped, later learning that the Uprising had failed and Jocelyn had fled the Shadowhunter world.

That was when she'd been discovered. After the house had burnt down, she'd been found stumbling blindly around the surrounding area, puncture wounds from the surenges clear as day against her skin.

She'd been whisked away and taken to the Council for her testimony. The Mortal Sword was just as bad, if not worse, than the two years of torture she'd somehow lived through.

With her having so much extra Angel blood in her, they had wanted to eliminate her and whatever threat may arise with her. It was the clearest memory of hear early childhood that she clearly recalled.

They would have killed her, too, if both the Silent Brothers and Iron Sisters hadn't pointed out that she was just a kid and didn't have a choice in anything that happened to her, you shouldn't punish an innocent for something they couldn't prevent.

Even with the small act of kindness, her hatred for the world she'd been forced into felt uncontrollable.

"I realise, Ashley, that the world must seem like a dark place right now. You have to have faith that this happened to you for a reason. How else could the cruelties of the world make any sense?" It was a calming voice, she realised, almost as if whoever had spoke knew the pain she was going through.

Even at six, she scoffed at such nicities. She'd been exposed to to much, at to young of an age.

"She cannot keep Rose as her last name." someone said softly. She could feel the eyes being taken off of her and to the person who had spoken. There was a murmur throughout the crowd.

Ashley's heart pounded in her chest Rose was the last thing connecting her to her family. They couldn't take it away from her, not when they'd taken so much already.

"Grayrose." They finally decided and her pulse slowed. They hadn't taken the name fully away from her, but it felt like they where dehumanizing her the more they spoke.

"life does get better, it may seem dark and cold and lonely now but it will get better. If you don't believe anything else about the world, believe that."

2001

The bitterness in Ashley seemed to grow more and more each day. Her time with the Sisters had taught her how to squander the hatred and attempt at playing nice with others. Not that she'd had a chance to make any friends here own age.

She'd slowly learned to trust the sisters as she learned from them. She'd learned how to be a damn good fighter. She'd learned how to see without seeing. She'd learned how to be a Shadowhunter, to write runes on herself (and on others, though admittedly the dummy she'd practiced on hadn't didn't squirm away or turn into Forsaken when she did some squiggly line wrong).

Reading came naturally to her. And even though she refused to admit it, so did being a Shadowhunter. But almost a decade of training did that to people.

She hadn't uttered a word, she numbly realised, since she'd been forced to by the Mortal Sword. No one pushed her, and for that she was greatful.

"The Clave has decided that you're old enough to rejoin society. A portal will be shortly opened to take you to Los Angeles, California."

So the state. That's where she'd be going. She'd be a Ward of the Institute there instead of a Ward of the Sisters. She'd been miserable here, but she didn't know how to act around people. No one ever visited them, except for the Brothers. They hardly counted.

"Go gather your belongings, Ashley." numbly, she nodded. She didn't care for the emotion she felt, or for the emotion she heard from the ones who basically raised her.

You can't cry Ashley. You haven't cried since you were eight. You didn't cry with the Silent Brothers giving you your first Rune at ten. You can't cry now. You can't show emotion. You shouldn't feel anything. You are a weapon and they don't know how to use you after a decade of studying you. That's why they've finally decided to send you away.

Taking a deep sigh, she pushed open her door. A suitcase was on her bed. She picked up her whip, sliding it onto her wrist. As she packed, she locked away the turmoil she was feeling.

A few short minutes later, she was sure she'd gotten all of her belongings. Not like she had much to start with, but it was a decent amount.

She carried it back to the Caditel where a portal was humming. She cringed at the sound. She'd never been to LA and even if she had, her using portals was a risk she didn't want to take. One had to picture where they were going.

It was the crippling thing about being blind. Being familiar with an area didn't mean she was actually going to get to the right place.

She turned to the Sisters and suddenly wanted to give them a hug, which was unusual. But her situation was anything but normal.

She felt someone, probably a Warlock, offer her his had. It was the only way to almost guarantee she got to the right place, if she could bring herself to hold someone's hand. Human contact didn't fly well with her, but she pushed past her irrational fear and took him hand.

"I'm Malcolm, by the way. Malcolm Fade. I'm the High Warlock of Los Angeles." she didn't like his tone, it seemed to innocent, but she hardly cared. Warlocks deceived by nature. It was the demonic blood in them. Probably.

When she didn't say anything, she felt his gaze turn to the sisters, confusion radiating off him.

"Can she not talk? I didn't know a mute Shadowhunter even existed." his gaze turned back to her. "in fact, I don't think I've seen anyone quite like her." she forced her eyes not to roll.

"Valentine Morgenstern experimented on her when she was a kid." Magdalena said coldly. The name sent chills down her spine and she struggled to not have a panic attack at the name of her tormenter.

Malcolm's eyes widened in realization, Ashley was sure he felt stupid for not realizing who she was earlier. There wasn't anyone else who'd be raised by the Iron Sisters. Nobody who wasn't one of them had ever lived on Wrangel Island. Unless they planned on becoming one of the sisters.

"There has been many rumors about her." Malcolm commented. "The children don't believe she exists," he said slowly. "They don't want to believe she exists."

"We are aware, Warlock. Enough chit-chat. Take her to the Los Angeles Institute."

The clipped tone made Ashley feel like they hadn't wanted her here any longer. Had it been their idea to send her away when she was just starting to learn to trust again?

She pushed her hair out her eyes before glancing at Malcolm, silently asking him if they could go now. The conversation had distracted her and she realised that the Warlock was still holding her hand. She squeeze it, demanding his attention.

He tutted. "Impatient, are we now?" he said teasingly. "Can't wait to get away?"

She growled at the comments. Teasing wasn't something she was familiar with. Neither was joking, for that matter.

Hesitantly she took a step forward, towards the portal sound, her suitcase firmly held in the hand that wasn't being held by Malcolm.

Before she could comprehend what was happening, he had pulled her into the portal and out the other side. She gaped at the sudden heat the greated her. She felt sweaty and she hadn't even gone for a run or stabbed some punching bags.

It was to hot and she wanted to go home, to go back to the island.

"you'll get used to the heat, Grayrose." Malcolm told her, as if he could read her mind. Maybe he could. Warlock magic was unknown to her. She unclapsed her hand from his and pulled in back, letting it hang limply by her side.

He looked injured, but it didn't matter to her. The place felt familiar, like she'd been here before. Her eyes widened at she got a flash of colour.

Suddenly, she wasn't aware of her body. She wasn't aware of her surroundings. She felt as if she were being sucked back in time, when she knew she wasn't.

She saw color. She saw the city lights. She glanced around, wary of the vision. What was the point of seeing something she'd never see?

"Mama! Papa!" a voice called. She realised, dimly, that it was hers from before she was taken.

"Mommy? Daddy? Where is you?" Little-Ashley called again. "There are some mean looking boys!" she was hysterical at this point, she ran around the house screaming for her mother and father when she slipped in something. Looking down, the children was confused. It was red goo? Where had the red goo come from?

"Daddy!" She screamed, trying to stand up in the puddle but kept slipping.

"Daddy! Wake up!" She started crying. She finally decided on crawling her father's sleeping form, the goo coming out from a cut in his neck.

"wake up, Daddy!" She screamed as she was picked up by strong arms.

She thrashed. "NO!" She screamed for the hundredth time that hour. "Wake up Daddy! Wake up!"

"He isn't going to wake up, sweetheart. He's never going to wake up."

Something was forced between her teeth and she had to take a drink of it. Pain seared through her. She started thrashing harder until-

"You alright, Ashley?" a voice pulled her back to the present. She was shaking and she could feel tears form in her eyes. Her throat felt raw from screaming she'd done a lifetime ago.

Her heart pounded in her chest. They'd wondered what all the extra angel blood in her body would do, but she didn't think memories of the past (and maybe the future, later), was what they where expecting.

She tried to shrug it off, the memory still haunting her. She gave Malcolm a small nod after her breathing evened out. She pulled her hair back and allowed Malcolm to lead the way to the Institute, which was, ironically, right down the street.

The walk seemed like ages and if she couldn't feel the glamour hiding her from people without the Sight, she was sure she'd be stared at.

Once they got to the front steps she turned to Malcolm, in the short time she'd known him, he'd somehow earned a little of her trust. Or maybe that was just the after shock of the vision. She knocked loudly on the door and she could hear people scrambling inside. She was mildly amused by it.

"Yes? How may we help y-" the woman who had answered cut herself off. "You're Ashley Grayrose, correct?"

After a small, uncertain, nod she was quickly ushered into the Institute she glanced back at the High Warlock but realised he was already gone.

"Everybody, this is Ashley Grayrose." The woman said to the room of children. One was around her age, another a few years younger than the girl around her age. Soon she learned their names.

Helena Blackthorn was 14, her full brother, Mark Blackthorn, was 11.

Then there was Julian Blackthorn and Emma Carstairs who both where six.

Ty and Livi where four.

Dru was two.

After that she couldn't keep track.

"Imma call her Ash!" Emma announced after introductions where done. Ashley sucked in a breath. What good where Nicknames if nobody knew where they came from? What good where they when a name was already short? Or the first nickname anyone got was when they'd turned 15 a few long days ago?

A.N:

I don't own TMI or the characters well, I own Ashley Grayrose, and maybe the idea of this story. Miss Ashley does not have the Voyager Rune one her right hand, instead she has a Soundless one (since it kind of looks like the Voyager).