Chapter One~

I've been on the run for the majority of my life. I haven't been able to stay in one place for too long-yet.

I have no idea if it was my mother or my father who put me on the steps of the New York Institute when I was barely a month old. There was a handwritten note tucked in the blankets I was wrapped up in. It said that I needed shelter and "direction". Whatever that meant. The letter also said that I was special. Not in the way that I have ADHD and dyslexia, but that I was one of the most unusual people the world has ever known. Yeah, right.

Why am I telling you this? I'm not sure. This is supposed to be a secret, but I was never good at keeping those.

There wasn't a signature on the letter. There was a rune. A bundle of swirls and straight lines that I can't find anywhere in the Grey Book. Somehow, the caretaker of the Institute, Luke, knew who I was, who at least one of my parents was, and where I come from. He raised me as his own daughter. Once I could run, I started Shadowhunter training.

In case you don't know, Shadowhunters are a race of half-angels and half-humans. We hunt down bloodthirsty demons that want to turn our world into a wasteland where we are extinct and there is nothing to stop them from devouring a very juicy human that can't even see what's ripping them to shreds. Thats why we are so important.

You could call us superheroes, but i'd probably gut you like a fish if you called me that.

Anyway, I was one of the most experienced Shadowhunters Luke had ever trained because I started training so young. I kind of hated him for it. I never had time to discover myself, or make friends with the other Shadowhunters my age at the Institute. The one thing that let me feel free was music. The loud guitars and pounding drums are like an escape to a fantasy where I'm a normal person living a normal life where I don't have to worry about anything. Or anyone.

One night when I was thirteen I had a vivid dream that scared me so much that I became afraid of the darkness afterward. I don't remember the dream anymore, but what I do remember are the shadows. There was someone whispering my name, over and over. Asking me questions. Commanding me to leave my home, or I'd die. I thought I was pretty messed up until I could see them every night in the corners of my room, and in between the doors of my closet. Whispering. Always whispering. I knew I needed to leave.

During the next week I gathered materials for my disappearing act. I was going to the nearest big city. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

I remember plugging my ear buds into my phone and climbing out my second story window by using a ladder i made of extra sheets and towels i found in an empty guest bedroom. When i touched the ground, the shadows came to life. They moved towards me with grace and reached for me in the unnoticed darkness. They whispered horrible things I could barely understand.

Charlie, save us. Charlie, avenge us. Kill the master. KILL HIM. I stuffed my ear buds into both my ears and drowned the whispers with the loud music I love. You can imagine how traumatized a thirteen year old would be.

Anyway, I walked to an abandoned inn at the side of a highway and climbed into one of the rooms. Thats where I slept that night. Sometimes it was underneath bridges, or in empty houses. I learned to call places like that home. After who knows how many days of traveling -I lost count - I arrived at the Philadelphia Institute.

When I knocked on the doors, a tall man with tan skin, black hair that had a few streaks of gray, and eyes so blue they seemed to reach into my soul. He wore a gold ring on his right hand.

"Who are you?" The man asked.

"I'm a Shadowhunter and I need somewhere to stay. I don't know for how long, though." I said as I showed him the rune of speed on the inside of my left wrist. He studied it carefully and let me inside. I didn't even know his name.

The man didn't talk much, but when he did he was really nice. I told him about my dream and the reasons why I needed to leave. He kept asking short questions like where I was from, or what my name meant, or why i didn't get attacked by demons on the way here. To be honest, I thought that the shadows protected me from demons. Who knows?

After we wandered (that's what it felt like, at least) throughout the entire place he showed me to a spare bedroom somewhere in the winding hallways. He gave me directions to the kitchen, the meal times, and where to find the bathrooms before he left. I still didn't know what his name was or what to call him.

There wasn't anyone living at the Institute besides the man. The only place I saw him was in the kitchen during mealtimes. I spent most of my time in a training room across the hall to my room. It had high, vaulted ceilings and black walls that had padding. One wall was made up entirely of windows that looked over the city and another had human dummies that I used as targets. The dark hardwood floors looked freshly polished and they smelled like lemons everyday. I practiced using a silver whip and an old bow and arrows I found that kept threatening to fall apart. They felt more natural in my hands, unlike a knife or seraph blades. One day about a month after I arrived, I was having trouble hitting the targets with any of the arrows. I got so frustrated that I fired three arrows at once and hit a dummy in the head, stomach, and heart.

"Wow. I haven't seen someone shoot with that accuracy in years, but why is it that only those last three arrows hit the target? Why are all the others off?" I turn around to see who had spoken. It was the man who had spoken. I had never heard him say that much at one time.

"I dunno. I guess I got lucky" I replied with a shrug.

"There is no such thing as 'luck'. Remember that. Try it again." He said. He stood behind me a few feet and watched me fire three arrows like I did only moments ago. They flew in three different directions and didn't come within three feet of the target i was aiming for.

"UGH! What is wrong with me? Why can't I hit the dummy once?" I grab my whip out of my back pocket and start slashing away the limbs of the human dummy. The man didn't say a word until all that was left of the dummy was a mountain of white stuffing.

"Are you done?" The man asked me calmly.

I turned around. "yes" I felt so ashamed. Luke always scolded me if I got this frustrated. If I destroyed one of his targets, well, let just say i'd be pretty hungry for a week or two. "I'm sorry" I apologised. "I had no reason to do that and I regret it now. Please forgive me." I hung my head. When I looked up at him after a few seconds he was grinning. Almost from ear to ear, I swear. He walked over to me and gave me a hug.

"Obviously, you haven't had much love in your life." he laughed. He walked out the door and added "Follow me." over his shoulder. I obeyed. He walked over to a door at the end of the hallway near the bathrooms, took out a set of keys, and unlocked the door. Once he was inside, he turned on a light and stuck his head out.

"Coming?"

I reluctantly walk towards the door and look in. The bare walls were painted a navy blue and there was a dartboard on the far wall. A long oak table occupied the majority of the room. On top was an endless amount of steles and every weapon known to the Nephilim. Bows and arrows, seraph blades, blessed knives, holy water, and even some that I didn't recognize.

"I can see you aren't comfortable with my bow and arrow. Please," he made a sweeping gesture with his hands, "Pick a new one." Most of the bows on the table look new. I pick up a silver one and pull the string.

Too tight. I set it down and look further down the table. It looks like the newer looking things are closer to the door, and the older ones are closer to the far wall. As I walk along i spot a wooden bow that looks like it was used for a while, but nowhere near the same amount as the one I was using before. I pick it up and pull the string. Perfect. I grab an arrow from the quiver next to it and fire at the dart board. Bulls-eye. I turn around to look at the man. He was standing in the doorway with his arms crossed. "You pick your weapons well. Its yours now. Consider it a welcoming gift." He turns around and leaves.

"Oh. Before I forget, remember to call me Sensei from now on."

For the next few weeks I lived at the Philadelphia Institute. I ate, trained, and for the first time in a while, felt like I was living in a real home. It didn't last for long. One night two months after I arrived, I got a dream. The shadows were warning me.

Leave. Leave now, or all you know will be gone forever. They told me. I woke in a cold sweat. I wrote a note to Sensei:

Sensei,

I need to leave immediately. I had another dream. The first one since I left the NY Institute. They said i needed to leave… or you and everyone i'd ever known would be gone forever. I hope you understand. Thank you for the advice, the weapons, and for the hospitality, but i need to leave

Charlie

So, I moved on. For the next two and a half years I was on the move. I went from Institute to Institute, looking for a home. But I could never stay longer than a month. My shadows always warned me, and I was thankful. But because of them I never had a family, or a home. It was hard, but it was my life. Then, when I was in the Colorado mountains, I found Willow.