Chapter Two

When Sarah and Jasmine made it inside of the church, they accepted their fate as it was. It was now almost eight o'clock, about two hours later than they should've been home, and they were going to meet company looking terrible.

The stretch from the elevator to the parlor in the Institute seemed to be endless. Sass drug her feet exhaustedly and used the hallways walls and Jaz as crutches. Jasmine could hardly keep her eyes open after having to drag her friend with her back home. Sass noticed that Jaz's eyes were glossy; she had guessed it was from being tired, scared of the raveners or of Hodge, or a combination of all three.

Both Hodge and angry warlocks were frightening. A warlock could even have been paid or forced to summon the creatures by someone else. Sass and Jaz hadn't done anything wrong, that's what was weird. Maybe the theory of them being hunted by angry Downworlders was far fetched. Those raveners could have just been looking for their next meal or a fight. The girls had many questions but only Hodge to ask.

Jaz quietly rushed Sass down the hallway past the parlor to avoid Hodge and whoever might be here. Jasmine pulled her into the armory and sat her down on a stool. Frantically she searched for a stele but was unable to find one in any of the drawers. She examined Sass' eyes and saw that they were becoming bloodshot and the whites of her eyes were tinted with a neon green color. She knew that it would be minutes before she lost consciousness.

"Fuck..." Jasmine whispered as she ran past Sarah and through the hallway.

She ran up the stairs and pulled a box out from under her bed. Her mother's old stele was in it. She pulled it out and threw the box back underneath the bed. Once she was back at the armory, she started to draw the iratze on Sass' arm. Sass began to doze into unconsciousness, and then the healing rune kicked in. Minutes had gone by when she had finally felt better. She could move her arms, and her eyes were back to normal.

"It's a good thing you didn't scare me," Jaz said as she stuffed her mother's rune into her pocket.

Jaz and Sass tried to quietly creep up stairs to avoid the parlor, but Hodge promptly open the door as they were walking by.

"Do you want to explain what happened?" Hodge asked as he sat on the wooden coffee table that was centered in the room. He clasped his hands together and waited patiently for Sarah to talk.

"We heard something in the alley, so naturally we went to check it out. At first there was nothing, and then those fowl creatures attacked us from above. Of course we took care of them, but didn't get away without a few minor injuries," She said slowly.

An image of a person flashed in her mind. A warlock.

"They ruined my shirt," She said with a giggle as she looked at the rip on the side of her shirt when Hodge didn't reply.

One of the boys had sleek, black hair that was perfectly groomed and the brightest blue eyes. From what she could see, he was tall and slim. It didn't seem like he had much of a personality; he was very quiet and reserved. His black t-shirt was ironed and his blue jeans were clean and prim. For a Shadowhunter boy, it didn't look as though he did much fighting.

Another boy sat to his left. Everything about him was somehow golden. His blonde hair seemed to match his eyes, and his tanned skin made his features stand out. Sass wanted to think that he had sunshine running in his veins instead of blood but of course that wasn't true. He was truly a gorgeous boy. He was tall and muscular. He seemed like more of the Shadowhunter type. Hodge began talking, interrupting Sass' examination.

"Sass, Jaz, this is Alec and Jace Lightwood. They will be staying with us for a while," Hodge said.

"Nice to meet you guys," Alec, the dark haired boy said with a smile.

"Nice to meet you too," Sarah and Jasmine replied, almost at the same exact time.

Jace, the golden boy, just smiled sheepishly and said, "Hi, I'm Jace,"

They seem like pretty nice guys, Sass thought as she stood up from the couch. She stretched her sore body and said, "Well, it was nice meeting you guys. I have a date with my video games. See you guys in the morning,"

"Same, later dudes," Jaz said as she followed Sass out of the parlor and up the stairs.

Hodge looked to the boys and said, "I trust that you two can find empty rooms upstairs?"

The boys nodded and both left the parlor. They jogged together up the stairs with their luggage and stopped at the top of the stairs, staring blankly at the empty hallway.

"Don't you dare start without me! I'll shower quick, I swear it," Sass shouted to Jaz as she left her room with a bundle of clothes in her arms. She stopped outside the bathroom door and asked, "Can I help you guys with anything?"

"Depends on what you're willing to do," Jace said with a sly smirk.

Alec elbowed Jace hard in the ribs. Hard enough that Jace shot a venomous glare at him.

"Well for starters I can help you guys get a room. Or two if you like," Sass said, leaning against the wall, smiling.

Alec and Jace looked to each other and then to Sass, "Two,"

Sass began walking down the hallway and stopped at the fifth door on the right. She said as she began walking back to the bathroom, "All these rooms should be empty, pick which one you want,"

Page Break

Sarah awoke to the television in her room playing the Mario Kart theme song. She yawned and looked to the end of the bed to see Jasmine curled in a little ball, fast asleep. A controller was laying beside her as she slept. Sass had guessed that they fell asleep in the middle of playing last night at around two o'clock.

She sat up and glanced to her right to see her alarm clock on her nightstand. It read: 10:30. She sighed and fell back onto her bed and stared up at the ceiling. She lightly closed her eyes and tried to recall her dream. Faint memories of warlocks and raveners popped into her heads. And for some reason Simon appeared in her head.

Simon. Her mind eased at the thought of only other friend. He knew everything there was to know about Shadowhunters and the Downworlders. Simon knew so much about the other world and it's beings that he started working at Taki's Diner, a food joint that is popular with the Shadowhunters and Downworlders.

I'm supposed to see Simon today! Sass' mind jumped and she tossed off the covers. She quietly rushed to her dresser and pulled out some clothes. She grabbed a bra, skinny jeans, and a white t-shirt that said "Vans" on it in a magenta like hue.

She applied her usual face and eye makeup when she made her way into the bathroom. Then she curled her dark brown hair and pinned back the front pieces of her casually curled brown locks. As quietly as she could she slipped from the bathroom and tip-toed down the hallway to the stairs.

"Where are you going?" A deep, groggy voice asked from behind her.

Sass turned around to see Jace standing outside of his bedroom in a plain white t-shirt and navy blue pajama pants. He rubbed his eyes like a tired toddler and yawned.

"I'm going into town to meet up with a friend," She replied, trying to be as quiet as she could.

Jace yawned again and nodded, "Is she cute?"

Sass rolled her eyes and said, "Well if you think boys are cute then yeah, I suppose,"

Jace shrugged and yawned again. Sarah leaned against the staircase railing and she said, "Did you sleep at all last night?" He looked up and smirked, even though she could tell that he really was tired.

"Not as much beauty sleep as I would have liked, but it is what it is. Oh and by the way, I like your hair,"

"Thank you, I didn't think of you as the charming type," She smiled and jammed her hands in her pockets.

He laughed and said, "A lot of people don't think of me as the asshole type either but trust me, I'm both," And with that, he shut himself inside the bathroom.

Sass liked that he was both charming and a bit of a jerk but she didn't really have time for guys. The only boy she had time for was Simon, and she wanted to keep it that way. She returned to the stairs and made her way down them as quiet as a mouse. She headed for the kitchen first, nabbing a juice box from the fridge and storing it in her black backpack for later.

She slipped her backpack on her shoulders and almost left the entryway before stopping by the armory to restock on weapons. She passed through a couple rooms and hallways before finding herself inside the armory. She went through a couple drawers before finding the steles and seraph blades.

Once she had everything that she needed, she leaned against a counter and gazed at the room around her. The walls were dark green and on the dark granite counter tops were many cardboard boxes filled with various items. All the unpacked boxes reminded her of a vague memory.

Sarah and her parents moved to New Jersey when she was about six years old. She didn't remember much of it considering she didn't get to live there for more than a month or so.

Her parents had business in Idris and left a couple weeks after moving in. Hodge volunteered to babysit her while they were away because he was a close family friend. When Hodge told her what happened to her mother and father, he was there to take care of her and comfort her. It was traumatizing for a six year old to have to deal with the death of her only family and to know that they were never coming back.

"You're thinking of them, aren't you?" Hodge asked from the doorway.

Sarah snapped back into reality. She felt a shimmering tear crawling down her cheek. She wiped it away hastily and turned to him, nodding in response to his question.

He closed his eyes and inhaled loudly. When he reopened them, he exhaled and calmly spoke, "They loved you very much kiddo," A smile of compassion and pity stretched across his face. His dark eyes were filled with sorrow.

"I know I just really miss them," She said as she choked on the last few words of her sentence.

Hodge pulled her close to him and hugged her. The warmth from his body and the sound of his heartbeat was comforting to her and she appreciated it greatly. He kissed the top of her head and pushed her back in front of him.

"So what are you doing today?" He said with a smile, his teeth seemed to be the only bright things in the room.

"I was going to go see Simon while he worked," She said as she sniffled.

"Well, we don't want your makeup to be all messed up when you go to see your little friend, now do we?" He said with a smile.

"No," She said with a smile and a happy giggle.

"Alright go get em' tiger," He said and Sass went to leave.

She stopped in the doorway of the armory and turned to look at him. He raised an eyebrow at her waiting for her to speak. She opened her mouth to speak but the words wouldn't come out. She closed it again and thought about what she was going to say.

"Why do you think that someone would send raveners after Jaz and I?"

Her question seemed to have troubled Hodge because he did not answer right away. He stood for a moment and thought to himself. The truth was that he didn't know. Sarah and Jasmine were big-hearted people that wouldn't hurt a fly unless necessary.

"I'm not sure but I wouldn't dwell on it too much. It might ruin your date," He said with a smile.

Sass laughed, shook her head playfully, and walked back down the hallway.

Sarah had intended on going to visit Simon while he was working at Taki's and then they would go back to his house once he got off work at twelve o'clock because he worked a half day. But somehow her plans got all messed up and Jaz, Alec, and Jace decided to tag along.

They all sat on the subway train car that would take them to 3rd Street, which was a block away from Taki's Diner.

"What's the plan for today?" Jaz asked Sass as she nudged her elbow.

"I was going to see Simon today," Sass said with a smug smile.

"Ooo, like a date?" Jaz asked as she wiggled her eyebrows.

Sarah laughed and she rolled her eyes. She didn't think of meeting up with Simon as a date because they didn't think of each other like that. At least she didn't think they did. The thought of Simon and her ever dating just seemed weird. They had always been just friends.

Sarah looked up to see Jace staring at her. She calmly looked away, pretending that she didn't notice but when she looked back, he was still staring. When he knew that he had gotten her attention he winked at her and smirked.

He looked away as he saw a group of teenage girls get on the train to go to school. Jace winked at a short and curvy girl that was wearing a tight, black leather mini skirt and a sparkling crop-top. She fluttered her glued on eyelashes and wiggled her fingertips at him in a flirtatious manner.

Her friends nudged her forward and whispered for her to go sit with him. They urged her once more before she strutted over to him. She stopped right in front of him and slid onto his lap and instantly began playing with his golden curls.

Sass scoffed. He was such an ass. He did tell her that but she didn't expect for him to be that kind of an ass. She whispered to him and they smiled and giggled together. What was really upsetting this girl was that she was wearing such skimpy clothing to school! She understood that being comfortable with your body and such was important but seriously, her skirt didn't come close to reaching her fingertips and her shirt looked like a bando. She rolled her eyes and tried not to dwell on it too much.

The train stopped again at 3rd St. The girl stood up to let him off the train, but not before she gave him a smooch on the cheek and writing her digits on his palm in blue ink.

"Call me sometime so we can kick it," She said with a wink and bit her lip.

"Oh trust me, I will," He said before bidding her goodbye.

"It's a shame you have herpes though," Sass said as she shook her head as though she was sad, but she really was just tormenting him.

Alec and Jasmine about choked on their own saliva. They tried to stifle their laughs but it was so hard to when Sass had just ruined any possible action Jace would've gotten from the girl. The girl looked as if she had just taken a bite of a sour lemon, she was so disgusted with Jace. She said, "AS IF!" She turned from him, scowling angrily.

Before the train doors closed the four teenagers hopped off the subway, almost collapsing with laughter, everyone except for Jace of course. Jace was calm, cool, and collected on the outside but Sass knew that he was fuming on the inside.

"Why on Earth did you do that?" He asked.

"Because! I'm not just going to let you wink at every girl you see and lead them on. You weren't even actually going to call that poor girl, were you?" Sass said as she laughed about him being upset.

"Probably not but I think that you were just jealous," He said with a sneer.

"God, you're such an ass,"

"I'm a charming ass though. And for the record, I may not be a virgin but I do not have any diseases," He said with a laugh.

Everyone laughed at his statement because it was hard to believe that he didn't. He just gave off the "I'm a major player" vibe and not to get too involved with him.

When they arrived at Taki's Diner, Simon was the first person that Sarah saw. He was already on break and sitting at a booth by himself, sipping a cup of black coffee.

"Hey Sassy, I've missed you," Simon said as he sprung from his seat and hugged Sass.

Simon was a head taller than Sass and thin. His dark hair was a mess and his glasses were slightly askew. She laid her head on his chest and listened to his heart beat. He turned his head and laid his cheek on the top of her head and they stood there for a moment.

"I missed you too," She said as she pulled away from him.

"I see that you brought some new friends. Hello Jaz," Simon said as he waved to her.

"Hey there Simon, I see that you've grown and it's only been a week or two," Jaz said with a smile.

"Mundanes," He said with a shrug.

"Simon, this is Alec and this is Jace. They are both staying at the Institute temporarily," Sass said as she gestured to the boys as she said their names.

They all slid into the booth after shaking hands. The five teens ordered breakfast and enjoyed it while Sass and Simon talked about ordinary things like video games, new movies and music, and new gaming consoles. They talked about all sorts of things until they finished eating.

Simon became fidgety and restless. Sass could tell that something was bothering him. Simon looked up from his lap and their eyes met. His were the color of jaded stones. Besides the beautiful color Sass could tell that something was bothering him, something of worth. It wasn't about a girlfriend or about his band not being able to think of a name, it was something big. Sass was about to ask what was wrong when a familiar voice spoke from beside their table.

"Sass, Jaz, Simon, good to see you my old friends,"