For as long as she could remember the black stone had always been with her, its presence around her neck was almost comforting. She had been told it had belonged to her father, Jonathan Clark, before his death, and her mother had given it to her so that she would have something that had been his. Though Lucy wasn't particularly sentimental about the man who had died before she could remember, it seemed to provide comfort to her mother so she obliged in wearing it. Jocelyn hated it whenever she removed it, which both Lucy and Clary thought was quite excessive, but to avoid arguments she kept it on continuously, even when sleeping.

Growing up Lucy wished that she was artistic, like both her mother and sister, however unfortunately she lacked their talents. Anything she attempted to paint ended up a swirling dark mess that was practically an insult to the craft, as Luke would joke. Luke had been a part of their family for years, Lucy could remember being introduced to him as a small child. Looking back she thinks she must have been a strange child, in particular she recalled having severe anger issues. Though she couldn't remember most of it she knew that she had caused everyone a lot of stress, though luckily it hadn't affected her familial relationships.

Her relationship with her mother would never be perfect, she knew that, but Lucy knew that she would do anything to protect her, the same with Clary. Clary was the light in Lucy's life, she always comforted her when Lucy felt like she was going crazy, and in return she had developed an intense protectiveness towards her younger sister. Even though she didn't tell Clary everything, she knew more than their mother, who Lucy felt wouldn't truly understand her problems.

The nightmares had begun a few years ago, around the time Lucy believes she managed to limit her bursts of anger. Clary even suggested that the nightmares were a result of her repressed emotions, believing that in order to prevent them Lucy must embrace her emotions. To this she was highly opposed, she had spent so long perfecting this mask of normality that she refused to let it slip. To be honest, she wasn't sure what her mask was anymore, whether or not it had become a part of her, but she wasn't willing to risk breaking the facade just to rid her of nightmares.

Despite that, Lucy had to admit that her nightmares weren't normal. She doubted that other 18 year olds dreamed of hellish landscapes, populated buy demonic figures and tortured souls. The images would probably have terrified other 11 years old, but not Lucy, the dreams didn't frighten her but instead intrigue her, and this is was scared her. The screams and darkness beckoned her in a way that she didn't understand and wasn't willing to share with anyone else.

It was after a particularly vivid nightmare that Lucy woke up suddenly, her heart racing and head pounding. It felt as if there was something inside her begging to be let out; she tried to ignore it, focusing on her breathing in an attempt to calm herself. It was a Saturday and she doubted that anyone else would be awake at this time: 8 am.

Throwing on a cardigan and slippers Lucy crept out of her room and towards the kitchen for a glass of water, careful not to wake anyone up. Her shoulder-length white-blonde hair had tangled in her sleep and her chest still ached from the nightmare. She was surprised to hear a sound coming from the kitchen but rather than making her presence known she stayed back and listened.

"I don't know what to do, Luke, they're both becoming more aware."

Lucy recognised her mother's voice and from the subsequent silence she realised that Jocelyn was on the phone.

"Clary needs to go to Magnus again soon, and I might beg for something stronger for Lucy."

A creaking floorboard revealed Lucy's presence and Jocelyn hung up the phone immediately. Realising that she had been caught Lucy stepped into the kitchen, confused as to what the call had been talking about.

"What was that about?" She asked, sitting at the table opposite her mother. Even sitting Lucy was taller, both Jocelyn and Clary were shorter than average.

Jocelyn was obviously flustered, and stumbled for the right words. "Nothing really, darling, nothing to worry about."

Lucy was still slightly suspicious but decided not to voice them, thinking of other ways to find out the truth behind her mother's strange words.

Changing the subject of conversation, unsubtly, Jocelyn added "are you doing anything interesting today?"

Considering her options she shrugged, unlike Clary she didn't have a best friend, only people who would consider at the most, decent friends. The biggest reasons was simply because she had never met someone she had truly connected with, she found everyone at school to act so obviously fake that it hadn't been a main priority. However, she knew that there were those who considered her a friend, but Lucy was reluctant to hang out with them, they didn't really know her. They believed her to be a naturally optimistic, regular girl, not privy to Lucy's distain for them. The distain wasn't intentional, Lucy genuinely wanted to have someone she could be close to, aside from Clary, Jocelyn and Luke she didn't care whether they were in her life or not.

"I might go swimming for a bit, I haven't gone to the pool this week." Lucy suggested.

Clary had her art, but Lucy had her swimming. She found the repetitive motion comforting and kept her mind from wondering. Sitting around at home would only lead to her mind wandering and it was whilst procrastinating that her darkest thoughts often emerged.

During her earlier teen years she had competed at a state level, and had the potential to go even further. The physical activity came naturally to her and she found that it require very little effort to win, her abilities far surpassed theirs. For a few years the competition fed her ego, however as she kept winning, the thrill of the challenge disappeared and the enjoyment was lost.

"You should start competing again, you were so gifted." Jocelyn sighed, placing a glass of water in front of her daughter.

"It's not much fun when your enemies can't even attempt to fight back." Lucy explained, not initially registering the sad look on her mother's face. When she saw the worried look she expected to reprimanding she speaking so callously but she didn't even comment.

Leaving the kitchen, Lucy returned to her room where she proceeded to get changed, ready for the day. Like her sister, Lucy wasn't overly fashionable, preferring simple jeans and a sweater. Clary was still asleep so she didn't bother saying goodbye before leaving the house.

Next chapter will be in the City Of Bones timeline and will move the plot on more. In terms of Lucy's personality, I'm intending it to be inconsistent. She might seem relatively normal here but I'm intending on having her personality differ from Sebastian/Jonathan's, as whilst they both have demon blood, he was raised by Valentine as a sociopath whilst Lucy was raised by Jocelyn to at least act normal. Therefore whilst her emotions may not always be genuine, to some extent Lucy believes they are.