I couldn't believe it. How could she do this to me? After all the training I do, she wouldn't let me go out and be a Shadowhunter! It was in my blood, it ran through me, and yet I couldn't go and do it. It made me beyond angry. I may be only 14, and she may think I'm not ready, but I was amazing. She had other Shadowhunters tell me I was the best of my age. And it made me beyond upset that I wasn't allowed out to do what I was born to do, protect the mundanes from the Downworlders. I wasn't allowed to go out and hunt. I could have my knives, my stele, my three trustworthy seraph blades, and a bracelet and anklet. The complimented each other. Both had electrum and iron on them. Any hit or kick with these on would knock down any demon, faerie, or vampire. They had runes drawn onto them as well, so these things had power behind them.
Tonight I was going out to this party with my friends Hannah and Darren. They had no idea about who I really was, and it was hard hiding this from them. I knew how much they believe in the supernatural, and they would have been beyond excited to see what I saw every day. To see the faeries at the park or the vampires out and about at night, Hannah would start trying to take some pictures if she saw them. But the demons… I would never want them to see. It would be beyond scary to have them in so much danger. They would lucky to be mundies, but I still loved who I was. I loved being a Shadowhunter. I loved training, I loved the strength that was in me, I loved it all. I had drawn on my runes, the sting so familiar by now, and was deciding what I should wear. I decided to wear something that was tight, but not slutty. At 14, I would never want to look slutty. I put on some skinny jeans and a tank top. The top didn't cover my runes, so I put up a glamour to hide them from the mundies. I pulled my bright red hair back in a tight bun. This year, my mother told me I could dye my hair any color I wished. I took advantage and became even more different. In the end, I looked like a young Shadowhunter, just like I should. Right on time, there was a knock at the door. I ran downstairs and answered it before my mom could. There stood my mother's best friend Hanon. He was one of the people that helped me in my training, along with my schooling too.
"Well hello Hanon," I said with a grin across my face. "I wasn't expecting you to be here."
"Of course you weren't Wynter. You were expecting your friends for that party. Be safe, okay? We don't need you getting hurt." He always seemed so protective of me. It was strange. I could hear my mom coming down the stairs then.
"Oh Hanon!" she said as she ran to hug him. "It's so nice to see you." I could see the look in his eyes. He loved my mother, he always had. I hated the fact that my mother didn't feel the same for him. Ever since my father left us, she vowed to never love again. I don't remember him, I was only three when he left. But my mother tells me I fight just like he does, with speed, agility, and caution. She would tell me stories of them fighting demons together. He would always be leader, the one to make sure everyone was okay. He always cared about everyone that fought with them, including Hanon. They had a small group. My father, my mother, Hanon, and some woman name Jocelyn. They never really talked about Jocelyn, but then again, they never talked about my father either. I sighed. I pulled out my phone to find three texts from Hannah saying they were on their way. I put my phone back in my pocket and there was another knock. I opened it up to a hyper Hannah and a smiling Darren. It was funny to see such a small girl have so much energy.
"Are you ready to GO!" Hannah yelled. I put my hand over her mouth to shut her up. I laughed at her then.
"Yes, I am. Are you guys ready? And answer without yelling." Hannah looked defeated when I told her not to yell.
"I guess we are. I know I am. I want to find some cute guys." Darren tensed up behind her. He was so protective of his sister. He was 16, two years older than Hannah and I. He always scared away any guy that flirted with his sister. Well, Darren was in great shape, and a lot of guys would be afraid. When he was taller and looked like he could and would over-power you, you learned to step away.
"There will be no cute guys. Dancing and having fun, that is all," he told her, the control in his voice.
"But having fun IS finding cute guys…" she whined to him. I just laughed at her. I never really looked for a guy to date. It would mess up my training.
"Can we just go? I want to go dance." But that was only part of the truth. I was really hoping there would be a demon there. I wanted to kill. I could feel my body tingle as I thought about it.
"Alright, let's head out. See you later Sam and Hanon!" Hannah called while dragging me out the door. I looked back at my mom. She gave me a warning look. She knew I had my weapons on me. And well, she didn't want me blowing our cover. Hannah pulled me down the stairs of my apartment building, and I could see her tripping as she went. She was really excited for this party. She had a vice grip on my arm. I could have gotten out of it, but that would make her ask how I could do that. She whipped me into the back seat and climbed in after. Darren went around to the driver's side. I usually sat up front with him. We would always talk while Hannah texted. He started the engine and waited for the traffic to move so he could pull into the messy and confusing twists and turns of New York City. He pulled out and our normal routine started. Hannah pulled out her phone and me and Darren started to talk.
"So… where is this party again?" Darren asked.
"It's only two streets over, remember? But Hannah insisted we drive so we wouldn't look stupid for walking there." She shot a glare at me. I couldn't help but laugh. I found it funny that she thought she could win in a fight against me. I had the smarts and the strength to win any kind of fight. Darren kept driving then. He turned down the street and there it was. You could tell where the party was by the music being blasted from the inside. Darren pulled into the closest open spot we could get into. Hannah had already jumped out of the car and was waiting for us. I sighed. She was just too excited for this party. We went up to the door and knocked. It was answered by a tall man covered in color. He was covered in sparkles as well. I could tell that he was a warlock.
"Magnus Bane, right? Here." Hannah handed him the flyer she had gotten earlier that week. He took it from her and stared at it. I could tell he had been drinking, but then again, this was a random party we were going to. For all she knew, we were headed into an orgy! He smiled and let us in. He stopped me as we walked through though.
"I know you're a Child of the Nephilim. So you know, you're not the only one here. There are other human here, that's most of the people at the party. But we do have some vampires and faeries here. They already have glamours up, so your friends won't see. Not like they would see them in the first place. But now they look like the rest of the humans. So go and enjoy the party. But one of your friends gets eaten by a vampire, it's not my fault. They are your responsibility, not mine. And don't kill anyone here. I don't need a huge battle starting here." He let go of my arm then. I ran up the stairs, following the music. I found the party then. People were talking, dancing, and drinking… everything imaginable. The dancing wasn't really dancing though. It was mostly people just grinding up on each other. That's when I noticed them, the other Nephilim that were here. I could see the runes drawn on them. This one was tall, golden hair, skin, and eyes. He oozed power and confidence. He seemed like someone I would idolize. In fact, I did idolize him. He was someone that I would want to be like, except as a woman. As if he could read my mind, he looked over at me then. His eyes widened, as if he was shocked to see me. I giggled a little and smiled. I walked over to him, avoiding the vampires that walked by. He kept leaning against the wall, watching the party around him.
"So you're the other Nephilim that Magnus talked about," I stated. He looked down to me. He wasn't much taller than me. I had hit my growth spurt young.
"It's surprising to see you here. I didn't know there were other Nephilim around here. I thought it was only those of us at the Institution. But apparently I was wrong. Your name is?" He asked me.
"My name is Wynter. And yours?"
"My name is Jace." Then he started to point to people behind me. "Over there is Isabelle. And him over there, that's her brother Alec. Her name is Clary. And the vampire beside her is her best friend Simon. He was a mundie, until we brought him to a party like this and we lost him." I sucked in a breathe very quickly. Would my friends be safe? I found them on the dance floor. Hannah was dancing with some vampire and Darren with a mundie. Well, one of them was safe. I sighed in relief as I saw them safe. "Those must be your mundie friends, right?"
"Yeah, they are. It's pretty hard hiding this from them. Training was the most difficult. After school, I would run home to train. They would follow me and ask me to hang out, and I couldn't. I loved training too much. But now that I'm done, I get to spend more time with them." I looked over a Jace to see him holding back his laughing. "What is it?"
"Oh nothing. But your mundie friend is coming over here. And he doesn't look too happy that you're talking to a guy much older then you." I turned around to find Darren snaking through the dancers over to us. I put my hand over my eyes and shook my head. Jace chuckled beside me just as Darren made it over to us.
"Hey Wynter. Who's your friend here?" Darren spat at him. I could see that Darren didn't seem to approve of him.
"Darren, this is my friend Jace. Jace, this is Darren." I was hoping that Darren would be nice, but I could see it wasn't going to happen. Oh, I just hope Darren doesn't try to hit him. He would lose.
"It's very nice to meet you Darren. Enjoying the party?" Jace asked, seeming to be holding something back.
"Same to you." Darren looked over at me. I could tell he didn't trust Jace. "Well… I'm going to go back to dance now. Have fun. Don't get hurt." I wouldn't get hurt. I was pretty safe at the moment. He walked back to the dance floor then, looking back at me once with a look of defeat. I felt horrible for not going with him, I really did. But I finally was meeting other Shadowhunters, people I didn't have to lie to, people that understood me and everything I knew. It was great. I looked back at Jace who was surrounded by the rest of his gang now. They were all staring at me, which was kind of creepy.
"Who are you?" Alec asked. He looked me up and down, with slight disgust in his expression. Like I cared what he thought.
"This who is Wynter, and is there anything else you'd like to ask? Or comment about, since you seem to find me disgusting. I can see it written across your face." Alec just stared at me. Okay, he just seemed… I'm not sure what the right word is.
"How in the world are you a Shadowhunter and we didn't know?" This question came from Isabelle. She was standing there, watching me closely. Did I seem threatening? I shouldn't. They were much more experienced than me, so if anything, I should be scared of them.
"Well, my mother had me here, in America. So the Clave knew I was born, but sadly not in Idris. My mother trained me, along with her friend Hanon. They taught me everything they knew. I really was so much different than the other kids. It's hard knowing you can see things the others can't. I grew up as the weird girl. But I was the girl that was smart, very smart. The one that did great in gym. And it's all to the training I was given. It kept me in the greatest shape. But I never really had friends. I always had to run home for more training, for more lessons. I was always alone in school. Well, not really. The pixies were around me, but they really didn't count since I only saw them." They all seemed to be looking at me in shock. "My mother, Hanon, and many other Shadowhunters have called me the best of my age. They all presume that I will be remembered once I am gone. And they all say I'm just like my father…" I trailed off there. I didn't talk about my father much. I never really liked talking about my past. I hated when someone asked about him.
"Where's your father now?" Clary questioned.
"He… he left me and my mother when I was three. So he never really trained me." All but Jace seemed to be upset with this.
"I lost my father when I was ten. I know how it feels." Jace patted my shoulder then. This is the first time I was comforted by anyone about this. It was nice to know I wasn't alone in this. "But Wynter, I really think you should come with us. You should come to the Institution. Hodge would love to meet you. He would love to hear from someone outside of us." He seemed like he was trying to sell me something. He was using all the charm he had, but it wasn't affecting me. I wasn't going to fall for his trick.
"Oh, are you sure you're just not curious to see what else my sexy self can do?" His eyes grew wide and we all started laughing then. At 14, you weren't sexy. It wasn't possible. But it was always fun to see what men would do when you brought the word sexy into a conversation. "What if I don't want to go to the Institution?" A grin grew on his face.
"Then I guess we'll have to force you." They all seemed to start closing in on me then.
"Alright. I'll go." Jace put a hand at my elbow to lead me out. I moved quickly away from him. "If I wanted a man touching me, I'd go out on the dance floor."