Jace's POV
I leaned back in my seat in Luke's pickup truck as he drove the three of us to the park. Simon and I had been jabbing at each other, as always, but Luke quickly put an end to it. In reality, they were just harmless arguments; I wasn't saying anything I actually meant this time, but it was insults just the same. I almost didn't listen to Luke and was about to continue to bait Simon until he started his threats. That shut me up pretty quickly.
After Luke had told us to shut it and separate, I had slid as far away from the mundane as I possibly could. Now, I turned my head to look at him and couldn't help the concern that washed over me.
Simon looked extremely pale and there was sweat dripping down his forehead. It wasn't hot out so it was probably a cold sweat, and that's definitely not normal.
"Psst. Mundane." I hissed and nudged him with my foot. Simon turned his head to look at me but then he turned away again without a word. "Dude!" I whispered and kicked him with only a little force. I knew he barely even felt it but he cried out anyways.
"Ow! Luke, tell Jace to stop kicking me!" He screeched suddenly causing Clary to flinch in the front seat.
Luke peered at me through the rearview mirror. "Jace! Quit kicking Simon and behave yourself." He turned back to the road and continued to drive as I huffed angrily in my seat. Guess that's what I get for actually being worried about the stupid human.
"Luke, let's just go home. It seems like nobody is in a good mood for the park, so just turn the car around. It's fine." said Clary, sounding dejected which was unlike her. It looks like all the drama between Simon and I was really starting to get to her. I decided I would try my hardest to not dampen her spirits anymore.
"No! Luke keep driving, I'm sorry I'll behave. We're gonna have loads of fun at the park, Clary don't worry." I practically begged and assured my… sister.
Luke smiled and continued driving. Clary turned back to look at me and smiled at me with emotions playing in her eyes. Gratitude, surprise, and love. God, I loved her so much and I only wanted her to be happy.
I turned to see the geek staring at me and I mouthed "What?" at him.
"Sorry." I heard him mutter before turning back to his window.
I was confused but simply nodded my head before turning back to my own window. I watched the trees and houses zooming by as we continued on to our destination.
000
Shortly after, Simon and I began having another argument. I wanted the AC on, he wanted it off. I threw a shoe at him, he tried to bite me, I shoved him against the car door.
"Jace and Simon! Quit this insolent behavior right now or I will pull this car over and wallop you both right here on the side of the road.
My eyes widened in embarrassment. I was the world's best Shadowhunter for goodness sakes and I was getting threatened to get whipped. When did my world suddenly turn so inside out upside down?
Luke pulled the car into a parking slot as we arrived at the commons. As soon as Luke parked his pickup truck, Clary jumped out squealing in joy.
I gave a little laugh and exited from my side of the truck. As I was going to walk over to the table that Simon and Clary were headed to, I was intercepted by Luke.
Uh oh…
I stopped and waited for the scolding to start. I only hoped Luke wouldn't decide to pop me one while we were in plain view of everyone in the parking lot. And everyone in the park for that matter.
I was surprised when all Luke did was shake his head, sigh, and put his arm around my shoulders as we walked to the table together. I was relieved that he wasn't angry with me for my foolish behavior when we were in the car. I hated when Luke was angry or disappointed in me.
Damn, when did that happen? I love this werewolf more than Robert or Valentine…
I sat down on the bench next to Simon and Clary and we all just stared at each other. Not literally though.
"Well?" Luke asked. The three of us looked at each other in puzzlement before turning back to Luke. "We're here at the park and you three are just sitting there! Clary, this was your idea; go do something!"
The three of us broke into a fit of laughter causing Luke to roll his eyes at us. He hauled us up off the bench and gently shoved us away from it.
"Go. Do. Something!" He said again, punctuating his words with a light smack to each of our rears. Clary squealed and began running into one of the fields. She looked like a child; but half of that was because she was so small.
Simon and I walked side by side towards where Clary was. He was still looking unusually pale and being uncharacteristically quiet. I bumped him with my shoulder and spoke quickly before he could turn away from me again.
"Simon, are you alright man?" I asked him seriously, putting all disagreements aside.
He gazed at me unsteadily. "Yeah. I'm fine, thanks." He answered. I didn't quite believe him but I didn't push the matter any farther. There was definitely something wrong with this kid but I just haven't figured it out yet.
As we approached Clarissa, she smiled brightly up at us. "Okay, Jace. Teach me how to do a back flip."
I smiled and asked Simon if he wanted to learn too, though I secretly wished he would say no, which he did. As Clary and I moved more towards the middle of the field, Simon sat on the ground and alternated between watching us and plucking the grass from the ground.
"Okay, first things first: put your feet apart a little bit. Yes, just like that. Okay, bend your knees slightly, and crouch the tiniest bit. Like this." I demonstrated the first part of what she would need to do in order to successfully complete her back flip. She copied my moves and I smiled appraisingly at her. "Good job. Now, you're going to need to clear your mind and will all the tension out of your body. Relax all your muscles… When you're going to do the flip, you spring up as high as you can and let yourself feel lightweight. Pretend you are a feather in the wind, you weigh nothing at all, and push back with your body. Go ahead and try it. I'll catch you if it doesn't work…"
000
Simon's POV
I sat down on the grass and switched back and forth between watching Jace show Clary how to do her flip and baring the ground from its beautiful, green grass.
I looked up as I heard the last part of Jace's instructions to Clary so I could see her do her flip. I had confidence in her that she would do it right on her first try and I trusted that Jace would catch her if she didn't.
I trusted Jace with Clary. When did this happen?
I watched mesmerized as Jace performed his back flip first, landing flawlessly back on his feet and then encouraging Clary to try it.
"No, I'm too scared! What if I hit my head?" I heard her ask him. My poor Clary. I felt like going over there and beating the crap out of Jace, just in case he was pressuring her too much, but I restrained myself. Partly because I knew he'd kick my ass before I could even get anywhere near him.
I saw Clary finally give in to his persuasion and watched on edge as she tried to do the flip. I watched apprehensively and jumped up in joy when she nailed it on her first try.
"Yeah! WOO Clary!" I hollered and saw both of them turn to smile and me, Clary blushing slightly.
I sat back down feeling a whole lot better than I had before.
Suddenly though, my throat constricted and started feeling like it was burning. My mouth went dry and I had a sudden urge to drink something. But I didn't want water or soda. I wanted blood.
I froze in horror of what I just had the urge to drink and I refused to let myself move from my spot. What was happening to me?
My sensation burning my throat with thirst got stronger as I tried to remember how I could possibly be feeling this way.
Then, I suddenly remembered something. Back when I had been turned into a rat at Magnus Bane's party, I had been kidnapped by vampires and taken to Hotel Dumort. Jace and Clary had come to rescue me, almost getting themselves killed in the process.
In order to save Clary in one of those moments, I bit one of the vampires. I tasted their blood. They had tasted mine as well.
For several nights after that, I've realized that I've been sleepwalking, and every time I woke up I was in front of that hotel. And every night I was missing some of my blood but not missing blood in general.
Was I letting vamps feed off me and then feeding off them myself?
From what I've heard from Alec, Isabelle, and Jace that's part of the way. The other part to become a vampire...
Had already happened.
I had woken up underground. I drank a bag of blood that Raphael had supplied me. I had ran away for a whole day, sneaking back into Luke's house the night after that.
I had thought it was just all a dream.
000
Jace's POV
I cheered along with Simon after Clary perfected her back flip and we continued on flipping until she toppled over and we both landed on the ground. She was half-draped over me and we were both laughing. This was how it should always be.
As I let myself get lost in the enjoyment I was having with Clary, I barely noticed the sun shining a little stronger. The heat wasn't too bad but you could almost even see the rays of the sun.
I heard Simon cry out and Clary and I both turned at super speed to see what was wrong with him.
There was nothing there with him but still he yelled in pain for a moment before running towards the shade.
Clary hissed a bit as the sun burned even stronger so I didn't think much of Simon's behavior. But a wind blew by and I got a whiff of the scent in the air.
At lightning speed, I shot off the ground and ran over to where Simon was at. We were almost to a shaded area when I tackled him. We both rolled around on the ground before I pinned him down.
I could hear Clary yelling at us before she ran to get Luke to separate us. Simon looked up at me with wide, scared eyes. I snarled into his face.
"Vampire."
