Clary and Simon slipped out of a taxi that had pulled up outside their school and began walking towards the back of the large building. The sky was black, pinpricked with stars and the air was a gentle breeze. Clary had shed the large leather jacket and swapped it for a red flannel shirt that now hung off her frame, unbuttoned showing her black tank top that she wore underneath. She'd paired it with black ripped jeans and trainers and as per usual her hair was slung up into a bun, a pencil shoved through messily to keep it in place. Simon had always thought this was her best look, she was messy but still managed to retain a certain delicate-ness, loose red curls framing her small freckled face, bright green eyes untouched by make-up. She was natural, and Simon had never wanted her to be anything but.
"Right, so how do we get in then?" Clary said hands tucked into her back pockets. They could hear the distant hum of music spilling out of the school.
Simon sighed reluctantly, "I believe we get in that way." He pointed to a wall at the back of the school that a large group of people were hanging around, some clambering up a ladder that had been put there and others helping each other over the wall. Simon frowned, "Fray this doesn't look as fun anymore, maybe we should just-"
Clary sighed and laughed grabbing his hand to pull him along, "Come on Simon, we are doing this."
They approached a tall boy, brown wavy hair and excruciatingly blue eyes, he was helping people up the ladder and laughing obnoxiously with his friends. Catching sight of Simon he grabbed at his arm.
"You're up next boy," he said, pulling Simon towards the ladder which already had several people on. Apparently, there's just no order to this system, Simon thought. He shot clary an unsure look before slowly crawling up the ladder, clutching tightly at the metal. She laughed watching his unnecessary slow pace and jumped on behind him. As she began to move up the ladder she aided Simon over the wall, balancing him upright before he dropped to the ground with a painfully loud thud. She heard him call, "This is not a fun party." Clary giggled as she moved her foot up one more step. Her trainers lost grip suddenly and she slipped down one step with a slight yelp before feeling an arm around her waist. A boy's arm. He'd caught her with his free arm and repositioned her on the ladder as he balanced himself on it behind her. Clary didn't even have to look behind her as she'd noticed the black ink curling around his wrist. She heard his chuckle in her ear.
"Jace," Clary said, slightly out of breath from the surprise of falling. He hadn't let go of her waist and was supporting her gently against the ladder.
"Am I going to have to keep saving you like this?" he laughed gently from behind her and Clary just playfully nudged him with her elbow. He let go of her then, placing his hands on the ladder, either side of her, practically encasing her. There was no way she would fall now and she wondered if he were doing it for that purpose. Maybe she was just overthinking. She slipped herself onto the wall and swung her legs over, so she was sitting, getting ready to edge off the side. It wasn't a massive jump, but a big enough one to feel a sting in your legs. She caught sight of Simon with a bunch of his friends and band mates, they were all dressed oddly similar, in geeky shirts and ripped baggy jeans, huddled together to the side. A moment later Jace appeared next to her standing on the wall.
"Jace, be careful," Clary warned and with that he was gone. He'd leapt from the wall with no fear, no thinking and landed soundlessly onto the grass below. He straightened himself out and looked up to see the red headed girl's mouth gaping open.
"You going to leave me on my own down here?" Jace smirked at her and Clary recomposed herself. She shifted uncomfortably into a crouching position and closed her eyes. Jumping from the wall, she landed perfectly on her feet, feeling a shard of pain streak up her legs and her eyes began to well.
"Perfect landing," Jace said appearing next to her, "definitely not a mundane."
"What does that even mean?" Clary brushed herself off, confusion sweeping across her face.
"Humans. They're mundanes, people with no magical blood or origin," Jace explained.
"Right, yeah it's going to take me a little time to get used to hearing all this… or believing it," Clary began to walk. She checked to see if Simon was on his own but he remained in a fit of a laughter with his friends.
They made their way through crowds of people and through the entrance into the school gym. The hall was full of people perched on benches, dancing to the loud, thundering music and boys attempting to swing from the ropes that hung from the ceiling.
Clary looked around and then stretched up to shout in Jace's ear, "It's a bit loud in here, don't you think?"
Jace looked ahead, eyeing up his surroundings with a familiar smirk plastered to his face, "What's the matter? Never been to a party before?"
Clary's voice was tainted with a subtle hint of regret and disgust, "Not like this…"
Clary searched around the room and then grabbed Jace's hand and began to haul him through the mass of dancing bodies. As she walked through the darkened room, she could feel the vibrations of the music through the floor and the heat that poured from the people. Clary dragged him, her hand locked in his and he gripped it tightly and she felt slightly less stupid for her bizarre act of confidence. Clary grabbed with her other hand a silver handle and pushed the door open to reveal a dark room lit only by a blue luminescence radiating off some water in the middle of the room. It was a pool.
"Good, quieter," She said as she let go of his hand and let the door swing shut. It turned the thundering music into a more bearable hum and she watched as Jace made his way to the edge of the pool. He didn't respond. Clary stood awkwardly as he just stared into the water, and then she decided to break the silence.
Her voice echoed through the mostly empty room, "So you do own clothes that aren't black?"
He looked at her and laughed, raising one eyebrow, "Is that one of your ever so important questions you wanted to ask me tonight?"
He wore a silk shirt that was the colour of silvery blue, and he'd pushed the sleeves up to his elbows and left the top half of the shirt unbuttoned, revealing a great deal of his scarred and inked chest. His sense of style seemed a bit more freeing now to Clary as she caught sight of the glinting jewellery he wore. A large silver ring on his right hand and a small silver earring in one ear. He sat down and removed his leather clad boots and then socks and then pursued to roll up his jeans slightly. Clary walked over to place herself next to him. She rid herself of her trainers and socks and dipped her feet into the pool as he did so.
"The black clothes are my gear," his voice came gentle but deep through the large room, echoing off the walls. Clary looked peacefully into the water.
"What do you mean gear?" She said.
Jace turned slightly to Clary, her face bathed in the glow of the blue underwater lights.
He began, "Okay, so firstly, I'm a Shadowhunter. We have human blood and angel blood running in our veins and this gives us special abilities. We can take to runes and they give us more abilities. We are able to fight the demons that essentially want to kill and hurt mundanes."
Clary was attempting to understand, "So you protect us?"
Jace smiled, "We protect mundanes. You are not a mundane."
Clary shifted uncomfortably, "What do you mean? If I'm not human, then what am I?"
"Clary you could see me," Jace said, his eyes searching her face, "I used a glamour that night in the alley which basically means I used one of these swirly things," he gestured to the ink on his wrists, "runes, and it made me invisible to humans. You are either a mundane with the Sight or one of us. My money is on the latter."
"What do you mean by the Sight?" Clary looked as though she were searching for answers.
Jace made eye contact with her and she was more aware now of how close they were.
He answered swiftly, "A mundane, a human, who can see all the magical things is known to have it. A lot of people have it and live normal lives, others choose to become apart of our world, working in Institutes all over the world."
Clary's eyes widened, "Institutes? What the hell are they?"
Jace just laughed gently, "Take it this way, there's a lot to cover. But Clary, I don't think you've just got the Sight. You're brave Clary and swift, even without runes and there's just something about you. We have the same blood, Clary," Jace said, "You're part angel, part human."
Clary began to laugh, "Jace, you really are insane. Maybe I can get on board with the whole demons being real and you fight them and all that shit but me? I'm not one of you. All I did was get mixed up in some real crazy shit and that's it. I'm just one of these little mundane people or whatever you call them and that's it. And you said yourself, demons attack humans, and that one attacked me. Why would it do that if I were a Shadowhunter?" Clary seemed almost out of breath as if trying to convince herself Jace was entirely mental, or at least was hoping.
Jace spoke quietly sensing her shaky hands, "Clary, if you're a Shadowhunter, the demon would smell your Nephilim blood. It would be on you in seconds because it would feel threatened."
Clary looked down, her hands still unsteady.
"Or maybe he just found you too hard to stay away from," Jace's eyes were intense for a moment before he jumped up suddenly and began unbuttoning his shirt all the way.
"What the hell are you doing?" Clary said, her body becoming suddenly very nervous and rigid.
Jace slipped himself out of his silk shirt and threw it onto a bench in the corner.
"I'm going for a swim. We came to a party, Fray, I'm determined to have some fun," Jace said, edging towards the pool slowly. Clary would have pulled him on calling her 'Fray' as only Simon did that however she had been slightly distracted. Dropping his shirt from his body had left him bare, and she let her eyes wonder along his skin, tracing the etched black marks and old scars that decorated his pale skin. As he had turned and placed the shirt on the bench she watched the black marks continue all along his back and across his shoulder blade, sweeping all the way down and disappearing under his jeans. Clary's heart was racing and she didn't know what to do with herself as she watched him slip slowly into the water, his jeans still on. She was so glad he'd kept them on but a small part of her was slightly disappointed although she hated to admit it. He moved in the water to hover in front of her at her feet.
"I can't believe you're actually in the pool," Clary smiled down at him in disbelief. Jace lifted his hand and offered it to her. She laughed, "And I also can't believe you think you're getting me in there."
"You'll dry off after, what's the harm?" Jace's eyes twinkled a warm gold in contrast to the cold hues of the water. Clary rolled her eyes but smiled simultaneously and then pulled the pencil from her hair. The red curls rained down her back and shoulders like water rippling down from a waterfall. Jace watched her intensely as she slipped her hand into his. He pulled her gently into the water but Clary damned her shortness in that moment as she slipped fully under the surface. She heard Jace's muffled laugh before feeling his hands pull her upwards gently. She gasped for air as she resurfaced and slapped Jace playfully on the shoulder before gripping onto the side of the pool.
"You're really short," Jace said and Clary widened her eyes.
"Thanks, I hadn't noticed," Clary's voice was dripping with sarcasm as she attempted to move her tangled curls from her face. Jace's hands came to her waist and Clary sucked in a breath. He sensed her surprise and reassured her, "It's fine, I'm just steadying you, so you don't have to keep treading water." Clary relaxed under his touch.
"If I'm supposedly a Shadowhunter, and you are meant to protect mundanes, why do you keep feeling the need to save me?" Clary asked, slight flirtation in her voice.
Jace was standing in the pool, his feet firmly on the floor and he edged closer to her girl. "Why do you feel the need to keep putting yourself in danger?" his lips quirked into a subtle side smile.
Something happened in Clary's stomach, a sort of ache, a want to reach out and touch him. But she wouldn't, not yet. "I don't mean to put myself in those situations," she said as he floated closer to her body. She could have lent in and wrapped her arms around his neck, he was so close.
"You seem to have a way of attracting recklessness," Jace joked and Clary looked him up and down dramatically.
She just whispered as he was so near her, "It seems I do."
Jace raised his eyebrows, "Me? Reckless? Never." His husky voice came out low, in a whisper, and pushed her against the wall of the pool, using his grip around her waist. Clary's hands had unconsciously landed on his forearms and she realised now she was tracing his old scars with her fingertips.
He brought a hand to her cheek, scarred fingers grazing her cold skin as he tucked a wet curl behind her ear.
"If I were one of you," Clary said slowly, almost hesitantly, "what does that even mean?"
Jace spoke softly, "Do you want to find out if you are?" Clary's face snapped upwards to look at his.
"I can do that? How?" she sucked in a breath. Jace slid one of his hands from her waist and Clary immediately felt his absence.
He brought from his jean pocket, what looked like a pencil, bound in a silver metal with decorative swirls and markings.
'This,' Jace twirled it in his fingers and the end began to glow a silvery blue, as though it were responding to his touch, 'is a Stele. This is what we use to rune each other, to put these black swirly marks on our bodies. And only a Shadowhunter can take to them.'
Clary couldn't steal her eyes away from the shining adamas that wrapped around the pencil-like object. She seemed curious, 'And If I'm not a Shadowhunter, and you rune me, what will happen then? It'll just fade?' Jace chuckled nervously then and suddenly she felt uneasy.
'Not exactly, Clary,' Jace said, his eyes becoming more tense, 'If we rune mundanes they turn mad, and eventually die.'
Clary sucked in a sharp breath and her eyes widened. She released her gentle grip on Jace's arms, trying slightly to move away from him and finding her back against the pool's side. 'You really know how to let a girl down gently, don't you?' she slightly laughed but Jace could see the anxiety in her eyes.
'Look Clary,' he placed his fingertips on her arms and she flinched, 'You don't have to do anything you don't want to do.'
Clary looked up at him intensely, 'What makes you so sure that I'm like you? Sure enough to put my life at risk by doing this to me?'
Jace was silent for a moment as his golden eyes remained fixated on hers. She had never seen someone with such beautiful eyes, as though gold were ablaze within them. 'I can feel it, and I know how stupid that sounds, but I'm rarely wrong, Clary. Scratch that, I'm never wrong.' He laughed.
Clary bowed her head, watching the water ripple around her floating top. 'This is so stupid,' she laughed through gritted teeth, 'okay.'
Jace smiled, 'Okay then, you need to trust me okay?'
Clary laughed, 'I just met you, but somehow, don't ask how, I do.'
'I do seem to have that effect on girls,' Jace quirked a smile and earned a playful roll of the eyes from Clary as she lifted out her arm to him. Instead of placing the stele to her skin he tucked it in the pocket of his jeans and gently slid his fingers around her wrists, pulling her towards him in the water.
He sensed her confused face and spoke softly, 'Just hold your breath okay?' Clary didn't nod her head or speak, she just stared at him and simply pursed her lips, drawing in a breath. She watched him slide under the surface of the water and allowed herself to be softly pulled under by his gentle hold.
Jace watched her for a moment as her eyes remained shut, noticing the length of her eyelashes that cast shadows against her cheekbones, her red curls that seemed to float softly around her face. Pulling one of her arms towards him, he could feel the thump of her quickening pulse with his fingertips but still she didn't resist. He then took with his other hand, the stele from his pocket and placed the glowing tip to her bare wrist. As he began to draw, her eyes fluttered open and she caught sight of the glowing lines that began to spiral under his fingertips and the instant burn. It felt as though he were lacing fire into her skin and she began to feel her chest tighten with the lack of oxygen. As he removed the Stele she suddenly gasped, her eyes wide and panic clutching at her heart as if with an iron grip. And then she relaxed. Jace had grabbed both her hands now, clutching them tightly and she looked around the pool, no stress on her lungs. It felt as though she had no need to gasp for air. She was breathing underwater. Glancing down at the burning scar on her wrist and then up at Jace, she felt weak and confused. Her mind began spinning, How was this possible? How had it worked? She couldn't be a Shadowhunter, could she?
She followed Jace as he rose to the surface and pushed his wet, golden locks from his face. He then smiled at her.
'How is this possible?' Clary couldn't keep herself from smiling, 'That was amazing! I could breathe underwater Jace!' She hadn't realised that she'd grabbed onto his shoulders. With all these questions spinning in her head, they suddenly began to fizzle out as darkness began to seep into her vision. She felt her arms become almost empty and Jace realised almost immediately her eyes roll back into her head. He seized her limp body as she folded in on herself.
'Clary!' Jace screamed as he grabbed her face between his calloused palms. There was no response and so Jace pulled her close and cradled her body, swimming over to the edge of the pool. He moved swiftly out, carrying her with him and he gently lay her on the cold tiles. Her hair was splayed around her, turned dark by the water, to the colour of ruby blood. 'Clary, wake up!' Jace heaved as he leant down to hear her breathing. There they were, her slight and fragile breaths, quiet but still there. She was alive, Jace thought. He was about to pick her up when he heard sirens that seemed to be coming from just outside the school and the people in the gym became increasingly loud and chaotic.
Jace heard a voice then, slightly panicked and growing louder, calling for Clary. Must have been that annoying mundane kid, Jace thought. The golden-haired boy looked down at Clary then, and noticed her eyes begin to struggle open, her breathing still slow. He softly moved a curling ringlet from her face with his wet fingertips and smiled at her drowsy eyes, 'You're going to be okay, Clary.'
Simon burst through the doors and caught sight of his best friend, lying soaked at the side of the pool and yelled. He ran, being careful not to slip on the wet tiles and dropped to Clary's side.
'What the hell happened? Are you okay?' Simon's eyes shifted, searching her face anxiously. Clary sat up slowly, wincing.
'I-I,' Clary looked around through half lidden eyes, registering the absence of Jace. She turned her head slowly to the other side of the room to look for his shirt and that was gone too. Suddenly very aware of Simon's presence, her eyes snapped open. 'I'm fine, Simon, I think I must've slipped in the pool or something. But I'm fine now.'
Simon didn't seem convinced, 'How are you lying here now? Did you hit your head? And Woah! When did you get a tattoo?!' He grabbed Clary's wrist and sent a streak of sharp pain cursing through her arm. She sucked in a breath, ignoring Simon's relentless questioning.
'What are those sirens? Clary said, turning her attention to the doors at the end of the room. The noise was becoming louder in her head and felt as though it were piercing her ear drums.
'Right!' Simon jumped up, and began pulling Clary up in a panic, 'the cops are here, party's busted and we have to get out quickly.' Clary struggled to her feet as Simon pulled her arm around his shoulder. They began to walk towards the back end of the pool room where a back entrance set of doors were. They shuffled out the back doors, Simon breathing heavy with panic. 'I did tell you, Fray. 20 minutes we were there and look what happened. Parties are just not our thing.' Clary laughed almost sleepily and focused her energy on trudging through the mud. They neared the end of the alley, the school disappearing behind them and as they turned onto a quiet road, Clary whirled her head round to find a dark figure standing across the street, leaning calmly against the side of a building, almost engulfed by shadow. As Simon muttered away, Clary caught a glimpse of the guy's silvery shirt under the luminescence of the moonlight and memories began to whirl in her head; The golden haired boy steadying her on the ladder, pulling her into the pool, sinking under the water with him, the stinging rune, breathing underwater, his arms around her, the warmth of his body against hers as she felt herself falling aimlessly into darkness. And then nothing. She let out a breath she hadn't realised she was holding and fixed her eyes on the Shadowhunter across the street. She hadn't even known of his existence a day ago and now he had her convinced she was one of them. He was the most unfamiliar and peculiar thing to her in this moment and yet, he was the thing that had made her feel most safe.