Chapter one

"Aw, come on," I told him. "It's part of my costume." I waved the beam around, hoping my struggling to lift it wouldn't give away the fact that it was anything but foam.

"Which is what?" asked the bouncer skeptically.

I grinned plastically and sighed. Mundies like him were so infuriating.

I was waiting outside that club thing, trying to get in. I just needed to get what I wanted and leave. Was that so hard? Apparently, it was. Silly, little, mundane security was in the way.

"I'm a Vampire slayer," I lied to him. I wouldn't seem much like a freak though. I had seen plenty of people in this place with costumes that made mine look like off the rack stuff. I pretended to bend the sword, hoping he saw me bending foam. "It's fake. Foam rubber. See?"

The bouncer shrugged, letting me in.

I slid past him, into the flashing lights. There was dry ice smoke, colored lights and deafening loud music. I hated it. Rosa sometimes said I was 16 going on 60.

I zipped my red jacket down slightly to cool me down. The flashing lights and people dancing around made me feel slightly feverish.

It had been so easy to get in, I thought smiling. It was amazing what you could do with glamour. I could have just teleported in, but I really can't be bothered to do the entire ritual.

I scanned the dance floor for him. All I could see were people practically doing it on the dance floor. This is why I liked my hardcover books rather than hardcore music. I thought I was going to burst my eardrums just walking outside the Panda Moaning or whatever it's called.

The deafening sound of music, the crowdedness, the closeness, the sweatiness; I just felt sick. Like someone who had been running miles and was so exhausted, they could have fallen asleep on a bed of nails

But they were so lucky. Living in their little, oblivious world, with Mundie problems. It was stuff like 'is he gonna call me back?' or 'She's spreading rumors about me!' you know. Not 'The prophecy predicts blah blah blah!' or 'My evil stepfather is planning to yadda yadda yadda!' They were so damn lucky.

As my hand clenched the sword, someone came walking towards me.

A girl. She was more than okay looking, for a Mundane. Black hair, the color of the night sky, white dress that looked like it belonged in a spacey high-tech future, but at the same time, it looked like it was so old and precious, like an artifact. She had a blood red pendant round her neck, which looked very real. She grinned at me, winking flirtatiously as she glided towards the store room.

She was so stupid. Acting as if this was the last day on earth. Risking everything for a night. For all she knew, I could have been a murderer or a psychopath. But she was willing to risk that for what would happen if I wasn't.

I didn't notice much as she lifted up her skirt, revealing thigh high boots. Okay, so she was a Mundie, but I was only human, metaphorically. I drooled slightly.

I sauntered up to her; my stomach flipped slightly. She was sweaty and wearing her makeup badly. She smiled at me as she opened the door and went into the storeroom. I followed her.

I tried to tell myself I'm on a mission. But thigh high boots and black hair was too much for me.

"What's your name?" I asked her, once I was inside.

She told me Isabelle as she took a step towards me.

"That's a nice name," I said, stepping over wires towards her. She looked angelic, despite her complete Mundieness. "I haven't seen you here before."

"You're asking me if I come here often?" she giggled. Oh, he was going to be furious later. But what he didn't know wouldn't hurt him…

I tried to avoid her eyes, nervous. I saw she had a bracelet. Wait, it was–

"You–" I barely said a word before Isabelle moved like lightening and punched me back. That was not human. I gasped, trying not to show my pain. I felt wires and trash digging into my back as her spiked heel pushed me to the ground.

I should have known, I thought, as she laughed at me. She wore the dress to cover all of her skin.

I heard her say something. I wasn't sure what as I was almost unconscious. I felt even more ill. I heard someone laugh behind me, hands grasping me roughly.

Isabelle picked me up and locked my arms back as two boys stepped in front of me. One of them was blond, the other dark haired.

"Are there any more with you?" asked Blondie.

I felt my face flush nervously. "Any more what?" I asked, playing dumb.

"Come on now," said Blondie cockily. He showed me the runes on his wrists. "You know what I am."

My teeth began to grind together in fake anger; I might as well give them what they want. So I decided to put my acting skills to good use.

"Nephilim," I spat.

"Got you," said the other boy.

Before either of them could do anything to me, a fiery ginger haired girl stepped in, and looked around, dazed. She stepped forward and looked directly at me, but I had a feeling she saw right through me, like a real Mundie. I prayed to whoever that she would distract them, so I could get away.

"So," said Blondie, "you still haven't told me if there are any others of your kind with you."

"I don't know what you're talking about," I replied curtly, tried to sound as arrogant and confident as him. I don't think it worked well.

"He means other demons," said the boy with black hair. "You do know what a demon is, don't you?"

I turned away, trying to do some quick thinking. What I wouldn't give to be Xavier right now, who could handle a situation like this ten times better than me.

I barely heard the blond and dark-haired quarrelling.

"Isabelle and Alec think I talk too much," asked the blond to me eventually. "Do you think I talk too much?"

Why, yes. Yes I do. I also think you should jump headfirst down a cliff. But out loud, I lied, trying to distract them.

"I could give you information," I lied. "I know where Valentine is.

"Valentine's in the ground," said Blondie to Dark-Haired Boy. "Thing's just toying with us." Smart. If you were smarter you'd realize I wasn't a frickin' Downworlder.

"Kill it Jace," said Isabelle to Blondie. "It's not going to tell us anything."

Crap.

Blondie, or "Jace", raised his hand and poised the knife threateningly.

"Valentine is back!" I yelled, only prolonging the inevitable. "All the Infernal Worlds know it! I know it! I can tell you where he is!"

Jace looked furious, like a murderer who kept stabbing and stabbing the victim, but they just wouldn't die. "By the Angel, every time we capture one of you bastards, you claim to know where Valentine is. Well, we know where he is too. He's in the ground. And you, you can join him there."

The ginger, forgotten 'til now, stepped forward.

"Stop!" she cried. "You can't do this!" Hallelujah for meddling Mundies!

The three Nephilim turned to face her, Jace accidently dropping the dagger in shock.

"What's this," asked Alec, I think. He looked to Jace and Isabelle, who still looked smokin' hot to me, despite my situation and long term girlfriend back at home.

I didn't listen to the Nephilim-Mundie conversation, as I tried to undo the rune that was locking my wrists together. One of the few things that was positive about being a Hidden Worlder.

Eventually, I managed to do it, finally getting the fingering right. Halfway through Alec's sentence, I leaped, yelling, and flung myself on Blondie. We fell to the ground and wrestled. I could hear screaming behind me.

Finally, I managed to sit on Jace's chest (which, as Xavier would say, looked very "dodgy", but then again, he has a dodgy mind) and I slashed at Jace with my uncut nails. Jace tried to protect himself, but just got his arm bloodied. I barely felt a slight pang of guilt before I was whipped in the back.

I think I screamed slightly them, but I was in too much pain to notice whether or not.

I hardly saw the blade before Blondie stabbed it into my chest.

"So be it," I said, thanking my amazing acting skills. "The Forsaken will take you all."

I twitched and jerked slightly, feeling myself disintegrate.

Chapter two

Raphael's glaring eyes made me feel fifty times guiltier.

"Where is he?" he demanded, with silent anger.

I hung my head in shame, my mop of electric blue hair getting into my eyes.

"I remember," continued Raphael, strutting around me in a circle, "asking you to do one simple task. I remember Fernando telling me that he could do the job ten times better. I remember telling him that you were more than adequate enough for the task. And I remember Fernando and I having a bet whether you would succeed. And in the future, I will remember losing fifty dollars in a failed bet. And I hope that you will remember that you will never set foot outside the House until you make each and every cent of that fifty, plus interest, back. ¿Me entiendes?"

I nodded, shameful. I could see Fernando a couple of meters behind Raphael, grinning smugly. I hate that a-hole.

"Don't." I glared at him.

Xavier said nothing, but continued to flick through a magazine brusquely.

"I wasn't going to," he replied casually.

I sat down on my bed, opposite his and sighed. I just lay there for a while. Thinking about what the hell I was going to do next.

"Nothing."

I looked up to see Rosa peering over me. I jumped slightly, startled at how silently she came in.

"Did I say that out loud?" I asked her, confused.

"Yes," said Xavier. "You mutter in your sleep and consciousness. You wouldn't believe what graphic images came into my head of Renée while I listened to you sleeping."

I blushed, just as Renée strutted in, her golden blonde hair waving around and her amber eyes looking as if they were mocking me. Usually, I would have found all that cute, but now it just reminded me of Blondie and the Pandemonium.

"I just saw Raphael," she announced majestically, sitting on the foot of my bed, and casually wiping Rosa off. "He looks pissed."

My eyebrows furrowed. "Thanks, I almost got over it."

"You know what your problem is?" she asked me, sliding closer. "It's that you take things to heart. Raphael's just doing business. Raph–"

"Well. You know what?" I told my girlfriend. "If Raphael is so perfect, then maybe you can go f-!"

Rosa stood up quickly, her auburn, gingery curls bouncing. "Does anyone else feel like a cheeseburger? Maybe we should all go to McDonalds. Or maybe it's not open. Who wants to order pizza?" she asked. Always the peacemaker.

My girlfriend and I stared at her. Eventually, Renée looked back at me, her hazel eyes burning.

"You know what?" she told me. "Maybe I will." She always had the lousiest comebacks. And with that, Renée paraded away regally, her skirt being a bit too revealing.

There was a long pause, then Xavier:

"Do you think she will?"