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Chapter 1 – Truth from a Downworlder
Clarissa Morgenstern
'Okay Mom, I'm going. Simon's meeting me at Pandemonium,' I called through the apartment I shared with my mother.
My father had bought this place for my mother before leaving her before he even knew I had existed. However, my mother had tried her best to make it into a home, despite the fact that you couldn't sit in the sitting room without feeling that my father was leering down at you from his portrait that was permanently stuck to the wall above the fireplace. Everywhere you looked though, you could see touches of my mother's artistic tendencies. Mine too, though my mother was more creative than I was. I preferred to sketch.
'Alright. Do you have everything you need?' Mom asked me, coming out the studio and wiping paint off her hands and into her already paint encrusted overalls. My mother was young, slim and unpredictable. Her red hair was only a few shades darker than mine, though it was tamer. Today, she had it tied up with a spare piece of scrap fabric. She wasn't as slim as me, though she was an inch or two taller. I fixed this by wearing heels.
A shadowhunter in heels. Original. Your father would approve. He was an original man. Then she'd laugh and stick her finger up at the portrait of my father, Valentine Morgenstern. The immovable portrait stared blackly at us now.
'Cell, money … and a few extras,' I said, smiling as I showed her my hidden weapons.
'Are you going on a hunt or having fun?' she smiled as she shook her head at my two concealed seraph blades. 'How you can hide them is a mystery to me?' she gestured to my outfit. I was wearing a velvet mini-dress. It went to mid-thigh, was backless and there was a bow that went across the top of my shoulder blades. It had sleeves to my shoulders. My boots were lace up and went three-quarter ways up my calf muscle. They were my favourite.
'You know me. Trouble follows me around.'
'Do you have a witchlight?' Mom asked me.
'No, I lost mine on the hunt last week,' I told her yet again.
'Here,' she dug into her pockets and handed me hers. It was beautiful and artistic. Completely symmetrical.
'Thanks Mom,' I said, sliding it into my bag.
'Don't forget to Glamour your Marks,' Mom warned me. 'We don't want the Institute Shadowhunters to find us. Hodge Starkweather is there, and he was Valentine's accomplice. Maryse and Robert Lightwood are completely under his spell. You should look out. I'm sure they have children. They had one before we left Idris, What was his name? … Alexander. That's it.'
'Mom, I'll be careful,' I said, leaning in and giving her cheek a kiss. 'Don't worry.'
'I'm your mother, Clary. It's my job to worry.'
Bye Mom,' I headed for the door. I looked behind me. Mom was already heading for the studio.
I opened the door and started down the small and narrow stairs to the street. I wasn't paying attention to where I was going and I bumped into someone. A very familiar someone.
'Luke!' I exclaimed, jumping back and stretching up to straighten his glasses for him.
'Clary, headed for Pandemonium, I see,' he said, appraising my outfit.
'Gotta do what you gotta do,' I smiled.
'Is Jocelyn upstairs? 'he asked a cute little half-smile on his face. He looked guilty.
'Of course,' I winked at him. 'No full moon tonight?'
'You know the answer to that Clary,' he scowled down at me.
'Just checking that you weren't going to wolf out on my mom. Cause I'd kinda have to kick your ass, Lucien Graymark.'
'It's Luke Garroway.'
'I know, I know, I just think that Lucien Graymark sound better, you know?'
'Hmph.'
'Same with mom's name. Jocelyn Fray sounds do boring. Jocelyn Fairchild has more oomph.'
'Right Clary, whatever,' he mumbled sidling past me and heading up to the loft.
'Have a nice night,' I called over my shoulder, heading out of the foyer and onto the streets of New York.
My whole life I had trained. My father left before I was born, but I knew who he was and that he was the mastermind behind the Uprising. My mother trained me, giving me all possible means of self-defence. She said that Valentine would come back for me, for my blood.
Valentine had liked to experiment, my mother explained to me once. According to my mother, he was the closest a shadowhunter had ever been to becoming a warlock. He gave my mother the blood of the angel Ithuriel when she was pregnant with me. Because of that, I took the permanent Marks very easily. My stomach and back were covered in permanent Marks. I was also very gifted with a stele. I could cover up my permanent Marks, preventing me from having to use a Glamour. It kept us hidden from the Institute shadowhunters.
There's another child like you, mum had reassured me. The two of you are probably the best shadowhunters to walk the planet. He was Stephen and Cecile Herondale's son. His father was killed and his mother had killed herself when she was eight month pregnant. They never found the body of her son.
He's out there somewhere, Mum was adamant. I'd once asked, how will we know if it's him? The Herondale mark was the answer. The Herondale star would be somewhere on his body.
So, I had three basic tasks, all of which I felt inclined to do, not ordered. In fact, my mother would have me wrapped up in bubble wrap somewhere if she had her way.
One, I must do what all Nephilim do, kill demons and save the world.
Two, find the lost Herondale son.
Three, find Valentine and kill him before he finds me and my mother. And I have to do this without attracting the attention of the Clave. In fact, the Clave doesn't even know I exist.
Clarissa Morgenstern
'Enjoy your evening Miss Fray,' the bouncer smiled at me.
'It is freaky that even the bouncer knows your name,' Simon muttered under his breath as we walked in the door. People were dancing, or what passed for dancing, in the middle of the dance floor. I headed over to the bar, Simon following me.
'The usual, Jay,' I told the barman as I sat on a bar stool, leaning with my back against the bar, surveying the crowd in front of me.
'Simon, what can I do for you,' Jay asked Simon as he sat beside me.
'Something strong, I've a feeling it's going to be a long night.'
I scanned the crowd, looking for demons.
'How come the bouncer knows your name?' Simon asked.
'Who? Ian?' I questioned as I turned to look over my shoulder. 'I come here most weekends, you do know that?'
'Yeah, I do.' He sounded resigned.
'Your drink, Miss Fray,' Jay said, placing my drink at my elbow.
I turned to thank him when a truly unusual sight caught my eyes. Standing at the edge of the dance floor were three beautiful teenagers. One girl and two boys. The girl had black hair that swept down her back. The boy who was obviously her brother had the same hair and piercing blue eyes that flashed at me even from across the dance floor. The other boy had a golden complexion. They were Shadowhunters. I gasped.
Simon saw me gasp and waved Jay away. He then started to peer through the crowd.
'Who? What?' he asked.
'Simon,' I said turning towards him, 'Can you see my Marks?'
'No,' Simon said, carefully looking at my exposed back and arms.
'Good,' I glanced over my shoulder at him. He looked confused.
'Simon,' I smiled as I turned back to the crowd. 'The Institutes are here.'
'Ah, how do you know?' he asked. I turned around to face him fully.
'You probably can't see them, they are wearing a Glamour, but I can and they have Marks.'
'How many?'
'Three teenagers. A little older than me.' I sighed.
'What's wrong?' Simon asked me.
'I can't kill anything tonight. They will notice and I can't have the Institutes knowing about me.'
'Bummer.'
'Tell me about it.'
'Ah, Clary's depressed. Drink up. You might as well enjoy your evening off.' Simon pushed my drink towards me.
I groaned and downed it in one.
Isabelle Lightwood
'Jace, for once in your life could you get your head outta the gutter and actually pay attention to the job at hand,' I near growled at him, putting my hands on my hips. Jace was staring at a tall and curvy blond who was dancing at the other side of the floor.
'Jace!' I whacked him across the head.
'Ow, woman what is your problem?' Jace turned to me, smirking.
'Having you for a brother.'
'Ouch, Izzy, that really hurt.' Jace mocked me with his eyes, placing one hand on his heart.
'Shut up, you ass. We have a job to do you know.'
'I know, and tell me Izzy, how many demons are here at the moment?' Jace smirked.
'I have no idea. I was busy trying to keep you here and not over there doing Angel knows what with that bimbo.' I jerked my thumb over my shoulder to indicate which bimbo I was on about.
Jace's eyes sparked furiously at me.
'Demon, ten o'clock,' Alec interjected suddenly.
'Fantastic,' Jace rubbed his hands together in anticipation, looking over my shoulder.
I glanced over my shoulder at it. It had electric blue hair, sticking up in every direction. It had multiple piercings and a wooden stake in its hand. It too was scanning the crowd.
My necklace pulsed, letting me know that there were demons present. I glanced at it. The boys were arguing about the best approach. I looked back at the demon. I looked past the demon and caught the eye of a small red-haired girl about my age. She was wearing a gorgeous black dress, something that I would've worn if I wasn't so tall. She winked at me. I glanced at the demon and saw her do the same. I gasped. The girl was obviously a mundane; she shouldn't be able to see myself or the demon. I turned towards the boys quickly.
'Izzy, what are you wearing?' Jace asked suddenly. I looked down at my short black skirt, black halter neck and silver heels combination. I saw nothing wrong with it.
'Clothes, why?' Jace looked me up and down slowly.
'Cut it out Jace.' I punched his arm.
'Go seduce the demon!' Jace ordered, already turning back to watch the dancers. I looked at Alec. He shrugged at me helplessly. I scowled and turned toward the blue-haired demon. My silver-gold whip was curled around my wrist like a bracelet and I had two seraph blades in a thigh sheath under my skirt. There was also a small dagger in my hair.
As I made my way across the dance floor, I noticed the red-haired mundane watching me with precision. She was rather strange for a mundane. When I finish with this demon I will go over there and talk to her, I decided.
The demon saw me coming and smiled at me. I smiled back. He winked and gestured to the storage room behind him. I nodded and followed him.
Clarissa Morgenstern
I watched as the tall black-haired Institute walked towards the demon. He was watching her, captivated. I would look at her like that, if I were a guy. She was without a shadow of a doubt the most attractive girl in the club.
She noticed me watching her and looked at me, puzzled. That was probably a mistake. She would now come over and talk to me when she took care of the demon. She followed the demon into the storage room where I had killed countless demons. The girl had style, I admitted to myself grudgingly.
I glanced over where the two other Institutes stood, watching the sluts dancing. It was typical that they expected the girl to do the dirty work.
Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed three more demons enter the storage room where the girl had walked in. I wondered why. I glanced back at the boys. The golden boy was staring out into the crowd, a Mark on the back of his neck visible from even here. The girl hadn't hidden her Marks. The demon knew she was a shadowhunter. It was an ambush.
'I'll be right back,' I told Simon as I got up.
'Right,' he said before turning back to his on-off girlfriend, Maia. Maia was a werewolf, one of the one's in Luke's pack.
I made my way over to the storage room, hoping that I wasn't too late.
Isabelle Lightwood
I walked into the dark room, the demon a few steps ahead of me. My necklace pulsed again. I groped around looking for the light. I found it and switched it on. The demon stood in front of me.
'What were you planning to do once you got me here, little Nephilim,' it hissed. I stepped closer into the room, suddenly feeling very claustrophobic. I unravelled my whip, letting it coil loosely to the ground.
'It's too late for that,' it hissed as I sensed movement behind me. 'You're surrounded.' He laughed, the sound echoed around the room. I peeked over my shoulder. There were four in total, each one at a different point of the compass.
'Four against one, not really fair guys,' I said as I flexed my arm. I was starting to panic. How come Jace and Alec hadn't noticed this? There was a crack behind me, the sound of someone's neck being broken. I whirled around in time to see the demon disappear. Standing in its place was the red-headed girl. She looked different than before. Her arms were covered in permanent Marks. She was a Shadowhunter.
'Clary,' she said as she extended her arm. I shook it.
'Isabelle,' I said shakily. Mentally I chided myself. How come I was frightened?
Clary came to stand beside me and together we faced the remaining three demons.
'I would think that it is very flattering, that they thought it would take four demons to take you down,' Clary smiled as she spared off with the demon closest to her. I faced the other. The blue-haired demon just stood watching, astounded.
'Well, at the moment I was just thinking where the hell were Jace and Alec. They were supposed to have my back.' My whip flicked out and wrapped around its ankle.
'Were they the other two?' Clary neatly beheaded the demon she was fighting.
'Yeah. The two biggest, most useless asses in the whole world.' I yanked the whip and the demon fell. I pulled out a seraph blade and stuck it on its heart.
'I must say, I found it funny that they stayed out there and sent you in by yourself.' Clary straightened up. I rolled my eyes at her.
'Boys,' we said in unison as we turned to the remaining demon. He started to back up.
'Wait,' he said flinging his hands up. He was staring at Clary intently.
'What?' she snapped.
'Jocelyn?' he asked. I looked at Clary in confusion. She flinched.
'How do you know my mother?' she whispered.
'She tried to kill me once.' The demon smirked.
'Don't worry,' Clary raised her seraph blade, 'I won't fail.'
'As Jocelyn is your mother, you'd probably want to know that Valentine is back.' I flinched at that. Valentine had been dead for sixteen years. There was no way he could come back. Clary laughed.
'Valentine was never gone,' she snorted. The demon and I looked at her in surprise. 'Do you know where he is?'
Now the demon laughed. 'He won't be found unless he wants to be found. Or if you have something he wants.' The demon stared intently at Clary again. Clary didn't seem worried about it. She had something he wanted.
'What do you have that Valentine could want?' I asked her. She looked me right in the eye.
'Can I trust you Isabelle…?'
'Lightwood.' A burst of recognition passed over her face.
'Maryse and Robert's daughter,' she whispered. It wasn't a question. The demon started to sidle past us. I flicked out my whip and knocked him to the ground.
'You should know better that to annoy me, demon.' Clary turned her attention back to him.
'Why? Your mother couldn't kill me. What makes you think that you can?' he smirked.
'Because I am Valentine's daughter.' And with that, she stuck her seraph blade into his heart.
A/N
This is my first fanfic so please be brutal (yes i mean that)... I prefer that people review honestly, not just a load of crap they made up to make you feel better. If I don't get good reviews, I won't continue the story... So please, please please review truthfully
Yours:
Is
