"Alec, you need to go…now! I can hold them off!" Clary said pushing Alec towards the portal, keeping an eye out for the others. "Clary, I can't just leave you here! You are going to get killed!" Yelled Alec, but before he could do anything else he found himself being pushed through, turning around just in time to see the portal close. "Clary…" he whispered under his breath before turning towards the institute.
3 weeks earlier
Clary POV
"Come on Clary! We need to go shopping, I mean I have nothing to wear to the Claves' party." Whined Izzy. I happened to be texting my best friend Simon while trying to keep the girl at bay, as you can tell it wasn't working. "Iz, if you want to go shopping then call Maggie and ask him. I am not going and that is final." I stated. "Now, I need to go home. My mom said she needed me for something but said she couldn't talk about it over the phone." Getting up and putting on my jacket, I said bye and then left, heading home.
After arriving home, the first thing I noticed was my mom and Luke sitting on the couch with a few members of the Clave. Walking in ever so slowly, I asked "What's going on? Why is the clave here? I don't think I broke any laws by hanging out at the institute." With a long sigh my mom looked up at me and just pointed to the couch, so I sat. "Clary, we need you to go to California. We have an important mission which is need to know and we need someone who can change their appearance while also follow the mission through. We know that you have anger management issues, but we also know that you can hold off from killing people until you have done what's been asked of you." The Clave explained to me, but before I could say anything they kept talking. "You would be going alone, your appearance changed completely. No one here will know your new name, what you will look like or where exactly you are. It will be as if you just dropped off the face of the earth. You will stay for however long it will take for you to complete the assignment and you will not have any contact with anyone here in New York until the assignment is done. This is important as if you refuse many people will die, we need you to leave within the hour. Will you help us?" That is how I found myself in California, having been Clary Fray only an hour ago.
Walking up to the door of my new home was difficult for me…no I wasn't nervous or anything, it just these damn shoes! Apparently, part of my appearance change was putting me in some stilettos. What else is different? Well, I am in a leather miniskirt and a white button-down shirt. Oh, yeah I missed the biggest thing…my hair is pastel purple! I mean really? You don't want me to be found so you take me hair from bright red (that no one else has) to pastel purple (which no one else has). They want me to get killed, I swear. Anyways, I finally get up to the door and before I can knock the door opens with some guy behind it.
"What the hell do you want? Why the hell are you here?" he said sounding very bored. Breathing in to calm myself I say, "My name is Selena. Selena RavenBrite and I need somewhere to stay. If I am correct, and I believe I am, this is an institute which means I can stay here for as long as I need without having to explain anything to you. So shut up and get the hell out of my way". Pushing him out of the way I go up the stairs and take the first empty room that I can find. 'Well, this is going to be a lot harder than I thought" I think before starting to unpack my shit and putting it all away.
After putting all of my stuff away, I go to find the kitchen and end up bumping into that guy again. "Look, we got off on the wrong foot. My name is Brandon Severs and I live here with my brother Ryan, and my two sisters Valerie and Rebecca. If you would have said you were a shadowhunter in need of housing then I would have been happy to help you." Brandon stated before sitting on my bed and just staring at me. "You know, your hair is a really unusual color. It can't be natural so why did you dye it?" I look at him completely shocked before finally being able to respond. "Well, if you hadn't answered the door like a jackass then I wouldn't have stormed in and away from you. As for my hair, I am naturally a blonde, but growing up I didn't really get to do anything like this. So, the first thing I did after leaving was change up my hair. I just wanted to leave my previous life behind me and start over." I say, feeling better now that I actually know his damn name. "So, what exactly do you do around here for fun?" I ask. With a laugh, Brandon gets up and walks over to me, effectively pinning me against the wall. "Why don't I show you?" He says. Before I could do anything, I feel this pain in my arm. Looking down, I realize that he cut my arm open. 'I am going to die here' I think before blacking out from the chloroform.