DISCLAIMER - The characters, the Shadowhunter world, and some elements of this plot belong to Cassandra Clare. This story is written purely for my own entertainment. If readers are also entertained, so much better. Hope you enjoy!
PROLOGUE
CLARY POV-
You know what they said. All the stories were true. All the legends, myths and lies, they were born from a truth. I had spent my whole life escaping in a world of stories and colors, so much so that I forgot that my life was a story too. This all changed though. I found out the truth. The veil in front of my eyes lifted. So, this is a story. My story. My Truth.
CHAPTER 1
Simon glared at me through his glasses "Come on Clary! Get your nose out of the book. Today is supposed to be fun."
I ignored him "This is fun."
"You can't spend your birthday studying!"
I looked up and groaned "I am the birthday girl. I literally can."
He snatched the book from me "Look, you just turned sixteen. Your mom isn't home. Let's go out."
"Simon…"
He gave me the puppy dog eyes "Please…"
I sighed and stood up "Fine. Where are we going?"
He grinned "The Pandemonium."
I stiffened. My mom had forbidden me from going there. But the more I thought about it, the more I was tempted.
"Come on. What could go wrong? Everyone goes there."
Oh... A lot could go wrong. But... I knew all the answers were there. Mom wasn't home.
"Ok." I had an idea.
Simon's jaw dropped "Ok? Just like that?"
I rolled my eyes "I'm feeling rebellious today. Now come before I change my mind."
I was regretting this already. This wasn't a good idea but I will get some answers.
It was a Friday night so this place was crowded, although, I guess that was the point of it.
"Relax." Simon whispered.
"Yep."
The ambience here was familiar. Quite gothic actually. I'd fit in if I didn't look like a kid.
Simon took my hand and dragged me further "Let's dance."
I started swaying to the music. This was fun. More fun than studying.
"So, how has the band practice been?"
"Not good. Eric isn't writing any songs and all our previous ones are…"
"Not popular…" I chimed in.
"If you want to put it kindly, yeah. We were teasing him about his writing and he just took it personally. Anyways, we don't know what to do or sing."
An uneasy feeling crept up my spine. I was getting bad vibes.
"You know, you can attend one of his poetry slams and apologize."
I started looking around.
He sighed "I don't know. Anyways, I'll go grab you a drink."
I didn't want to be alone. Maybe I was being paranoid. Maybe I was giving the visions too much attention. It couldn't be true. I tried to convince myself.
"Sure." I replied hesitantly. I shivered.
He was just a few steps away when I coughed and my breathing started to get heavy. No! Not right now! My body started to grow numb and it felt like I was dying. Black spots danced in my vision and soon enough, all I could see was the dark.
Soon the images started to become clear in my mind's eye.
A well-built boy with blonde hair pointed to the middle of the room "There! Look! Right there!"
The blue-eyed boy said "Izzy, you know what to do."
The girl, Izzy I think, smirked and glided towards a green-eyed boy. A whip slithered down her arm, "You will answer me!"
Her black eyes lifted and met mine. "Make them pay…"
I gasped. My vision returned to me and I calmed the wheezing. "Not again..." I whispered to no one. I had been having such flashes all my life. It was part of the reason I didn't complain when Mom forbade it.
The heaviness in my body ebbed away. It took me a few moments but I stopped the trembling and wheezing. I looked around, searching for Simon.
My face paled. How?
In front of my eyes was the green-eyed boy. He was beautiful, in a strange way. His eyes were unnaturally green and his face was all angles.
'Make them pay..'
There was a girl holding his arm. The one I saw in those… flashes? She wore a white gown that covered her completely. My eyes went straight to her wrist as if expecting her whip to just pop out of nowhere. I rolled my eyes and concentrated on my breathing. This wasn't right. I saw her leading the boy to, to a separate room. I looked around searching for any signs of the other two boys. And I found them. They wore all black clothes and had a dagger in each hand. My eyes nearly popped out of their sockets. How did they get past the security? Tell me I wasn't going insane. I snorted. I knew I was going insane.
I exhaled and tried to diminish the panic I was feeling and squeezed my eyes shut. Breathe Clary! Breathe! I had to do something and like the genius I am, I followed them. The rational part of my brain was telling me to not get myself into unnecessary trouble but I knew I would find answers in that room. Answers my mom refused to give me. Keeping an indifferent look on my face, I followed them. Slowly I opened the door and crept in, the wood slightly creaking under my feet.
"Tell me! Who sent you?" I flinched but managed to remain silent.
"Valentine."
"Valentine is dead! You fool!" A male voice growled.
"Now, tell me! Who sent you?"
"You don't choose to believe me but that doesn't change the truth. Valentine is alive and has been for quite some time. He is the one who sent me."
"You!"
"Jace! That's enough! I think he is telling the truth."
"Really Izzy?"
"The demon we hunted before said the same thing. In fact, this has been going around for quite some time."
"How do you know that?"
"I have connections in the shadow market."
"Fine, then kill him."
My heart skipped a beat. Demons? They were insane. This wasn't real. I was loosing my mind. There was no such thing as demons. I released a shaking breathe. This was bad. I looked around the room. There were shelves stacked up all around me. There had to be something. A metal rod caught my eye. Yes! This will do. I mustered up all the courage I could and held it up with trembling hands all the while contemplating how to escape if things got bad. I'll get the answers. Let's just hope this works.
Creepy psycho murderers, you're going down.
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