Chapter Three

A/N: I am very happy with the way I see this story going, and I have to say that I jumped up and down excitedly when i got an email while writing that said someone is already following my story. Also, I'm sorry if the chapters are short. I don't actually have a computer, so all of this is done on GoogleDocs from my phone. It makes it kind of hard to write at length, but I'll try harder. Ex oh heart!

-Thisbe

Clary woke up with a start and barely processed her surroundings before jumping to her desk and grabbing her pencil. The picture practically drew itself with her hand, and the image of a blonde haired angel came out smoothly, and without flaw. She wasn't thinking as she drew-she never did- so she was almost surprised when she dropped the black colored pencil back into the mug and sat back to see what was on the page.

His hair was golden blonde and his skin was tan, covered in sharp symbols tattooed on his skin. As she looked at them she thought that 'tattoo' wasn't the right word for what she was seeing, but her mind couldn't supply the word for them. His wings were almost gold, folded behind his muscular form, peeking out behind his shoulders and legs. They were nearly as tall as he was. In his hand was some sort of pen, made to look as though it was glowing and made of metal and glass. He wore a ring, but the design wasn't visable.

She started to reach for her outlining pen, but stopped as her fingers touched it. Unsure of why exactly, she dropped her hand with the feeling that the picture wasn't complete yet.

Jocelyn was fidgeting around the kitchen making breakfast when Clary left her room. The apartment smelled like bacon and pancakes.

"Morning, Mom," she smiled, grabbing the carton of orange juice from the fridge.

She jumped, and pressed a hand to her chest. "Clary! God, you scared me. I didn't hear you come out." She smiled. "Hungry?"

The two of them sat at the counter to eat and Clary frowned at her mom. "Are you okay?"

"Of course," Jocelyn said, a little too quickly.

Her red hair, deeper than Clarys, was up in a messy bun, and Jocelyn brushed a few strands behind her ear. "Why wouldn't I be?"

Clary shrugged. "Pancakes are your comfort food, mom. I know that. Did Luke stand you up or something? You feel asleep on the couch with your phone."

Her mom sighed. "Ever observant, as always. He, um...no, he didnt. He texted to say he got caught up in something."

"Forget him," Clary said around a big bite of pancake. "Any guy who stands up a babe like you isn't worth your time, Mom."

She laughed. "You're probably right, hun. Anyway, how was it with Simon? Was it a date or not?"

"It was," she grinned. "And it was fun. He showed me around Midtown Comics and the Record Store. He bought me a comic and then we went to this coffee place called Java Jones. He's in a band, right? Well one of his band mates was in the poetry reading. But it was funny because he was so bad at poetry. But Java Jones has some great java, Mom, like you wouldn't believe."

She gave her daughter a look. "Did you kiss? Cuz if you didn't it's not a real date." It earned her a swat on the arm, which they both laughed off.

"Yes," Clary said after a moment. "We did kiss. He walked me home and we said it was fun, and then we kissed." She didn't mention that they also stayed up late texting about it and making new plans.

"Good for you, Clar-bear."

"Yeah. And we're going out again tonight!"

Jocelyn's eyes widened. "Oh. So soon?"

"He's my only friend here, Mom," she shrugged. "Who else am I gonna hang out with?"

Before she could answer, Jocelyns phone rang in her pocket. She held up a finger to Clary and stood up to answer it. "Hello?" she hurried to her room, closing the door behind her.

Shrugging, Clary pulled out her own phone.

Angel wings, sharp symbols, golden hair. Black hair, silver dagger, glowing sword. Glowing blue water, golden goblet, more symbols. Hooded figures, the smell of burning, the crack of fire. White hair, piercing eyes, more symbols. Cat eyes, a flying arrow, more symbols. The flash of a knife, more symbols. Symbols, symbols, more black symbols.

Clary jerked into a sitting position at her desk and reached for her pencil again. Her hand seemed to blur as it raced across the paper, and she watched almost from outside herself as a figure drew itself beside the golden haired angel.

Dark messy hair, dark eyes, black clothes, a bow strapped to his back, and those same sharp tattoos.

When Clary snapped back into herself, she leaned forward automatically to fill in a blank spot on his shoulder, but stopped herself. It wasn't done yet, and something was meant to go there. But what? She started at the picture for a long time before giving up and going to shower.

What was up with those weird dreams? She didn't normally have weird dreams, honestly. Her dreams were usually the funny sort that most people have-talking cats and oceans made of sprite, or whatever. At least those dreams made no sense for a reason.

Dressed in a grey tea shirt, black converse, and a skirt that looked like a wrapped army - green button down, Clary went to the kitchen hoping for leftover pancakes. She'd fallen asleep at her desk (which happened a lot) and was now starving. A note on the counter said her mom had left, so she turned on her music as background noise.

There were leftover pancakes in the fridge, so she put them on a plate in the microwave.

Simon: looking forward to seeing you tonight

Clary smiled at her phone and texted back.

Clary: what are we doing?

Simon: I know a place. Be hungry!

Clary: don't underestimate my stomach

Simon: I like a girl who can eat

Clary: how much? Lol

Simon: your weight in borscht?

Clary: that's a lot of borscht

Simon: weight in 1 sitting?

Clary: that i could do lol as long as there's no poetry

Simon: I know a better place lol

Clary: haha :) aw maybe next time when my ears aren't bleeding

Simon: can't hear you

Clary laughed aloud. She set her plate of pancakes on the counter and started to drown them in syrup.

Clary: I'm eating pancakes!

Simon: funny cuz I'm eating grapes and wishing they were pancakes

Clary: the could be. Press hard and smother in syrup of your choice!

Simon: grape juice in my eye!

The easy conversation continued until Clary decide it was probably a good idea to get ready.

Clary: dress code?

Simon: jeans or whatever. Chill place.

Shrugging, she stayed in the close she was in, but headed to the bathroom to straighten her hair out.

An hour later she was lounging on the couch playing a game on her phone, listening to Simple Plan. The sing went quiet as a text came in

Mother ship: I'll be home late.

Clary: where are you?

Mother ship: with luke. Tell you later. K?

Clary: stay strong!

Mother ship: trying

Clary: I might be late too. Simon?

Mother ship: right! Totally didn't forget :) have fun. Lock doors. Blah blah..

Clary: use protection ;)

Mother ship: CLARY

Simon texted that he was five minutes away in a cab, that she should meet him outside so they didn't have to flag another

Grinning, she grabbed her bag and headed out, locking the door behind her.

The place Simon had chose for date #2 was a diner downtown that claimed to have the best borscht in town. According to Simon, they really did.

They sat in a little booth by the window and people - watched while they waited for their food, sipping their coffees.

There was a group of teenagers standing across the street wearing all black, talking amongst themselves. One was a girl, athletic and curvy with legs for miles, and long black hair. The other two were guys, a blonde and a black haired guy that was taller than the blonde. They looked familiar, though Clary was sure she had never seen them before. They were all attractive, the kind of people she would have liked to draw in scenes. Suddenly, they all took off running down the street, and Clary thought she saw a glimpse of a tattoo on the girls neck.

She forgot about the trio a moment later when they're food came. Simon had, of course, gotten the borscht (that almost rhymed), and Clary got a huge burger with an enormous amount of fries, which she drenched in truffle oil and ketchup.

Halfway through their meal, Simon asked about her graphic novel.

"What's it about again?" he asked.

It was a project she'd been working on for the last year, and had shown exclusive to Simon in snippets. "It's about people who kill demons."

"Like in Supernatural?"

"Sort of. These guys are human, but they have magic that helps them sense demons."

"Pretty cool. How far have you gotten?"

Clary shrugged. "I'm still working on the story line, so everything so far is filler."

Just then, from her back pocket, her phone started singing a parody of Justin Timberlake. Mom.

"Sorry," she said, pulling out her phone and sliding out of the booth. "I gotta take this."

"No problem."

Down a hallway of the diner was the restrooms and a back entrance. Clary leaned against the wall as she pressed the phone to her ear.

"Hey, mom. Need a bail-out?" she grinned.

"Clary, listen to me. I need you to listen very carefully." Her voice was tight, heavy, and there was noise in the background like construction or something.

"What's wrong?"

"Do you remember when I put a number in your phone for emergencies? I need you to call that number right now. Do you understand? Call Tessa and tell her I told you to call. Tell her that they are here. Okay?" The noise in the background got louder, and there was and brief screeching sound, like metal against tiles.

"Mom? Mom, what's going on? Who's there? What's all that noise?" Clary felt her heart beating faster in her chest, and tried not to panic.

"Just do as I say! Call Tessa! Tell her that they're here! Please, Clary, do it. Now!"

There was a crashing sound and the line disconnected.

"Mom? Mom!" Clary shoved the phone in her pocket and ran back out to the diner, where Simon was getting up.

"Clary, what's wrong?"

"I don't know. I have to go, I'm so sorry!" she grabbed her bag, and gave Simon and quick kiss before running out the door.

Everything seemed to blur as she ran down the street, slipping in between people and around signs. She stopped around the corner from the brownstone and dropped to her knees.

Shit, if there was something wrong, someone there, she probably shouldn't just run in.

The mysterious Tessa, her mom's oldest friend apparently, didn't answer. Practically growling with frustration, Clary left a message.

"Tessa, I'm Clary Fairchild. My mom told me to call you because someone is there? I don't know! She isn't answering her phone and something is wrong. Please call-" the phone was suddenly ripped from her hand, and there was and crunching sound.

Clary spun around and jumped to her feet. Before her was a tall guy with almost white hair, holding a mass of rose-colored metal in his hand. When he dropped it, Clary realized it was her phone. He reached for her so fast that his hands seemed to blur, and then there was a streak of black as someone just as fast rushed him and threw him into the iron fence, which dented around him.

Strong hands were suddenly grabbing Clarys shoulders and shoving her down to the pavement, blurring over her before becoming a dark haired man with a bow strapped to his back. Then there was a girl there with long dark hair, twisting a silver beam around the white haired guy, who howled with pain and struck out at the first guy, the blonde. There was a slash of red on his cheek, which he mirrored on the white haired guy with a growl. The girl dipped to the ground and kicked the guys legs out from under him, and the dark haired guy grabbed at his arms, trying to pin them behind his back.

White hair threw himself backward, slamming Dark hair into the iron fence and knocking him out. The blonde punched him in the jaw, sending him to the ground, where the girl grabbed his arms and tried to pin his chest under her knees. With incredible strength, White hair ripped his arms from her grasp, placed his hands on her waist, and threw her away. She slammed into the iron fence, landing on top of Dark hair, who was trying to stand.

Blonde made a gesture to Dark hair before running at White hair and tackling him to the ground again.

Suddenly, Dark hair was standing over Clary, grabbing her arm and ripping her to her feet. Keeping his hold, he started pulling her across the street, but she was locked in place, staring at the two guys grappling on the pavement of the sidewalk. She was vaguely aware that he was shouting at her-come on, run, run, we gotta go-but she couldn't hear him. Her gaze was fixed on the fight.

Their movements were so fast they blurred together, and it almost hurt her eyes to watch.

One of them swung their arm, and there was blood on the pavement. There was a glow in the shape of a knife, slicing through the air but making no purchase.

The dark haired girl dragged herself up, and made her way over to Clary and Dark hair, saying something that she couldn't make out.

Her ears were ringing.

What the hell was happening?

The blonde guy was thrown against the fence, making another big dent in it, and then White hair was standing beside Clary, seeming to suddenly appear there. He grabbed Dark hair by the wrist, there was a cracking sound, and he flung him around and threw him into the blonde guy.

He grabbed Clary and started to lift her over his shoulder, but the girl delivered and kick to the middle of his back. He flew forward, Clary flying over him and did landing on the pavement. There was a crack as her head hit the pavement.

Dark splotches covered her eyes, and then she was in darkness.