Chapter 3: Creative Broomstick

Jon's pov

*flashback to 11 year old Jon*

"Jon let me in the bathroom! Unlock the door!" Clary yelled, but I couldn't open the door. Not until I could figure out how to hide my tears.

I'm not one to cry. I'd say I've cried three times in my life. I guess it's just very hard to push me far enough to reach tears. When I was a little bit younger I'd thought there was something wrong with me for not crying. That there was something wrong with my emotions or something. No matter my pain level, I couldn't get the water works rolling.

But now, I can't seem to stop.

Father kept flashing through my mind. I had walked in on him about to punish Clary for something innocent. I always tried to take her punishments if I could. This time I interrupted him, but he acted like I wasn't there. After she'd taken two whips to the back I'd had enough. All I could feel was anger.

I pulled Clary out of his grip and hid her safely behind me. She was trying not to cry, but I could see the fear and pain in her eyes which made me even more angry. Father looked at me with curious eyes, almost like he was happy.

"I knew it," he said, "I knew they'd change if I got you angry."

He was talking nonsense like usual, so I ignored him. "Don't you ever touch her again. I will take all of her punishments from now on."

"No Jon don't do tha-"

Clary tried to stop me, but nothing would change my mind now. "Did you hear me pops? You lay a hand on her again and I'm going to get very upset."

"Are you now, boy? You're just a puny kid. You've got nothing on me." He laughed as he flaunted his power.

"I warned you. Don't forget it." I turned around fast and dragged Clary out of the room. Something felt off. I-I felt off.

"Jon are you okay?" I heard her ask from behind me.

I ran to the bathroom and locked myself in here. My insides felt like they'd been turned upside down and my body felt on fire. Something was definitely wrong with me. I looked at my reflection in the mirror and almost screamed at what was looking back at me. My eyes were no longer their soft green color, but now they were dark black pits of nothing.

I closed them just as soon as I saw their blackness and threw water on my face, blinking hard again before looking in the mirror again. I began to wonder if I was crazy as my eyes were back to their normal color, no black left as evidence of what I'd thought I'd seen before.

The fear of my father being right, must have made me start seeing things. Tears began to fall down as relief spread through my body, mixing with the leftover fear and anger.

Clary's POV

"Joceyln?" He asked.

My mother's name. He just called me my mother's name. She must have known him long before falling into her depression. Back when she would actually leave the house. I stared long and hard at this stranger to make sure I didn't know him before speaking.

"Um no, that was my mother's name. Did you know her?" His eyes widened.

"I see. You have some similar facial features to hers," the man looked down at my hand and scrunched his eyebrows, "She's an old friend of mine. Are you here with her?"

This guy isn't giving me a bad vibe, so I guess that's good. "I came with my brother. We are new to this area in town."

"Well, welcome to my territory. I'm Magnus Bane."

"Clarissa Morgenstern. You can call me Clary if you want." I smiled at Magnus. He seemed like a kind man. "You wouldn't happen to know of any good places to work, would you?"

He hesitated for a second before a large smile spread across his face. "I know of a few."

Jace's POV

"Did I hear that right?" Alec asked. We'd finished our food soon after Red showed up and were keeping an eye on her and her brother now. They were sitting in a table not too far away from us just finishing their food.

"Yeah. Guess I was right about who their father was."

Alec ran his fingers through his hair, something he often did when thinking really hard. "We have to tell the Clave."

"No," I looked hard at Alec, "we can't tell them. Not yet at least. If we tell them, then we will be completely out of the loop."

"This could be really important Jace."

"Exactly. That's why we are going to monitor the situation closely on our own."

I looked back at the table the mundies had been at, but they were no longer there. I took a quick glance around the restaurant to find it empty of their presence.

"Come on they left." We hurried out the building, but they were nowhere to be seen. "Looks like they're gone. Wanna go home and train?"

Alec nodded. "I still think we should hand this over to the Clave."

"If it gets messy then we will."

Clary's POV

1 and a half months later

We have a big crowd at work tonight due to it being a Friday. Magnus had hooked Jon and I up with jobs at his club. Jon was one of the bartenders here most nights and I had been working as server for the VIP rooms. If there wasn't anybody in the VIP rooms than I just helped out at the bar cutting limes or cleaning up the dirty glasses.

It was really fun working here because of the life of the club. It's one of the hot spots in New York for wild crowds and celebrities right now. A lot of the people who rent out the VIP rooms are celebrities or very rich people willing to pay large amounts of money for private parties.

The only downside to my job was the constant attention from sleaze bags. My server uniform was a little revealing, which has been causing a lot of drunk assholes to come onto me. I've had to hold Jon back four times from trying to fight creepy drunk men.

"I need three margs on the rocks, two coronas and one Manhattan for VIP 4."

Jon nodded and began to mix up the margaritas. "Is that the Jones family again?"

"Yes."

"If that guy, what's his name again? Matthew? Nah Ma-Mark, right?"

"Uh yes." I said. Already knowing what Jon was going to say.

"If he gets handsy again I'm kicking him out. I hate that guy."

I couldn't help but roll my eyes at my over protective brother. A giggle escaped as I remembered what happened last time Mark Jones was here. "I'm sure he's too afraid to come onto me after what you did to him last time."

A smile formed on Jon's face. "He deserved it."

"I've never seen a grown man cry like that Jon." I laughed.

"And here's the Manhattan. Good luck sis."

I maneuvered the tray onto my shoulder and began the short walk to VIP room 4. Something felt off about the club. Not in a bad way or anything, but different. I shook off the feeling as I entered the room to meet a bunch of excited eyes ready to get tipsy.

Jace's POV

We had all applied our glamour runes along with silence, strength and agility. The institute had received word from the Clave that there would be several demons here tonight all holding information that we needed. None of us have been on a good hunt in a week or so, so this was definitely needed.

All three of us walked into the club, Pandemonium, eager to find our first victim. We had hunted here a few times before and were always busy rounding up demons. It's my favorite club in the city because it's mainly for the shadow world plus a human here and there. It's a place where shadowhunters, downworlders and mundies can all go to just have a good time.

The club was busy tonight. The dance floor was full of all kinds of people. The lights were flashing from blue to dark white light to neon aqua and the music was loud. I took a glance around the room and found where I'd go wait. Izzy and Alec split up as well so that we were all spread out around the room. We had tried sticking together before but splitting up has proved to be more effective in the long run.

Not much time passed before I saw Izzy moving in towards the middle of the dance floor. She must have her eyes on one of the targets. Alec and I locked eyes and moved into position 2. There was a storage room off to the side down a small hall where we usually lured in demons and finished our mission. Alec and I waited there as Izzy convinced the demon to join her for a fun time alone.

We waited in the closet for around fifteen minutes before a very excited demon walked in with Izzy. As soon as his eyes met mine and Alec's his energy turned from excited to on the edge real quick. The illusion of a boy with blue hair faded away and an ugly demon stood before us ready to pounce.

We got him corned and began the questioning. He wasn't much of a talker until Izzy brought out her whip and I worked on him with a seraph blade. Even then all we got out of him before sending him back to the demon realm was that "We've almost got him back to normal". No clue what that means.

We made it back to our original positions and started over looking for our next demon victim. It wasn't long before I spotted something interesting, but it wasn't a demon.

She was wearing tight black clothes that showed off her figure. Her shorts were way too short to be comfortable but were definitely hot and her top showed a little of her stomach and a good amount of cleavage for a girl with a smaller chest. I knew the mission was important, but I couldn't focus with her walking around looking that good.

I left my post and followed her with my eyes. She had a pattern to her job. Every time she would start at the bar, grab drinks and walk back to the hall into one of the rooms. I guess she must be a VIP server. Interesting.

Clary's POV

So far tonight had been pretty laid back. My VIP customers have all been somewhat respectful and nice so that's good. Mark Jones had left me alone which is a first. He won't even look me in the eyes. Guess Jon really messed him up.

"Hey Jon, could you make me a dirty martini and one old fashioned?"

"Someone reserved a VIP rom for them and just one other person?"

I nodded with my eyes a little wide. "Yeah. They must be high class."

"Golly that's got to cost a fortune. Here's your stuff."

"Thanks. Be back in a jiffy."

I walked the two drinks back to VIP room seven, but I was not prepared for the surprise I had when I met eyes with the person who rented the room out. My mind was racing with questions as I walked to him and set the drinks down on the table.

"Is your date not here yet?" I asked. Even though I've never met this man, it hurt to imagine some chick sitting in here with him.

"It's just me tonight," he paused, smirking at me. "That is unless you want a break from work for a second?"

H-he's inviting me to stay with him? "Oh, thank you, but I don't want to over step." As I was halfway out the door he spoke.

"Please, stay. I got this room hoping you would join me."

"Wait why?" I could feel butterflies form in the pit of my stomach as I looked hard into his golden eyes, wondering what was going on in his head.

He smirked, "Sit down and you might find out."

I could be fired. If I sit down and join him in his VIP room, Magnus will have every right to fire me. But for some reason I found my feet moving towards the golden god of a man and taking me to the seat across from him.

He wasn't dressed in something most men would wear to the club. His pants were black, and he had on a fitted black V-neck t-shirt. His hair was handing effortlessly around his face in very loose curls. He watched my every move as I sat down in the chair opposite him and took a few sips of the dirty martini he had ordered me. I've never drank on the job before. This is new.

My mind was flooded with questions, but my throat felt dry and I seemed to have lost the ability to form words. All I could do was just look at him, speechless.

"You look good in black," he said, breaking the silence. I could feel a small amount of heat rise into my cheeks.

"Thanks..um, so what did you want to talk about?"

He chuckled. "You looked bored, so I thought I'd give you a break from your job."

"Why me? There are a ton of other servers you could have picked." I wonder if he remembers me from the coffee shop back when Jon and I first moved here. I shook the thought away. He couldn't possibly remember me…I'm just ordinary Clary.

He looked back and forth between both of my eyes, building up the suspense for his answer. "I have a feeling you are different than the rest of the servers."

"I-I don't think so…I mean there's nothing really unique about me. I'm just another girl."

The golden man leaned towards me, taking a sip of his alcohol and gracefully setting it back down, keeping eye contact with me the whole time. "Now that right there is where I think you're wrong."

"I'm flattered…but how could you know that about me when you don't even know my first name?" I asked trying to find out was his name was too.

"I'm Jace. Jace Lightwood."

His name sounds familiar. I'm not sure where I've ever heard it before, but I know that I've heard that from someone. It's just such a distinct name I know I couldn't have heard it on accident.

"Nice to meet you Jace. I'm Clarissa Morgenstern, but you can call me Clary if you want." I gave him a smile but could sense something off as he heard my name.

"It's good to finally meet you Clary."

"What do you mean finally?" Could he, the golden god, actually remember me from that day so long ago?

"Well I-" he stopped speaking as a serious look formed on his face.

Goosebumps formed all over my body and all of the hairs on my arms stuck straight up. This always used to happen when dad claimed there were demons in our house. When I was younger I thought I could sense ghosts, but as I grew up I just started thinking it was random. From the look of Jace's face I knew something was wrong. Maybe my senses work a little after all.

"Jace what's wrong?" I asked.

He got up and walked gracefully to the door, listening to the noises coming from the hallway.

"Wait here I'll be right back," he said.

After about five minutes of waiting for him to come back I got bored and went out after him. Whatever it was couldn't be that bad or else there would be screaming coming from all of the people out there.

When I got out into the hallway everything looked and sounded normal. Jace was nowhere to be seen. I looked through the crowd out on the dance floor, but he wasn't out there, so I went back into the hallway. Maybe he went to the bathroom or maybe…wait. Why is the light on in the storage closet? There better not be a couple doing the nasty in there again. I do not wanna deal with that two nights in a row.

I sighed and took a deep breath in as I walked through the door and into the closet, shutting the door behind me. My eyes instantly widened at what I saw before me. I was expecting two drunk strangers, but instead I was left with three people doing what looked like torture to some innocent young girl.

Two of the people looked similar with dark hair and fair skin, and the third…oh god.

"Jace what the hell are you doing?" I grabbed the broom to my right, snapping it over my leg to create a weapon. Jace and the two dark headed people looked at me like I was crazy.

I ran over to the girl and stood in front of her. She was tied up, unable to defend herself. If there's anything I know in this situation, it's that being helpless sucks ass and I won't let that happen to her.

"Clary this is not what it looks like we were just-"

"Shut up Jace. She's a mundane," the other boy spoke, "what are we going to do with her now?"

"She's not a mundane Alec. You and I made sure of that several times."

I'm not sure what either of them are talking about but it sounds cryptic and lowkey crazy. The dark headed girl was looking at me like I was some kind of snack. Gosh this is not how I thought my night was going to pan out.

"Look, I have no clue what you two are talking about and frankly I don't care," I felt like running away and hiding, but I knew I needed to sound strong, "here's what's going to happen. You three are going to walk out that door right there. You are going to leave this club and never come back. Sound good?"

The dark headed boy looked at me like I was nothing and started walking toward me. "Why don't you put down that stick before you hurt yourself."

Just as he got a few feet away from me I struck him hard across the chest. I could tell from the blood on the end of my broom weapon, that I'd gotten him deep. I was just about to warn them all to leave for the second time when I heard whispering in my ear.

"You should have listened to the shadowhunters," the girl said.

Fear consumed my thoughts as I heard one of the words my father used to swear was real come out of a stranger's mouth.

Shadowhunter.

"You see, I'm not some girl that needs protecting…but you are."

I turned toward the girl, ignoring the yelling coming from all three of the other people in the room. It was like my body was shutting their voices out, only focusing on the important thing in the room.

When the girl was fully in view I began to see her hair fade away into nothing. Her skin went from and olive color to a white color with grey splotches covering its body. It looked greasy and slimy in texture and was downright repulsive. I looked into its eyes, fear spreading throughout my veins. I felt the strong urge to freeze up and go into shock right now, but I know from my experience with father that freezing up is how you lose.

I guess my bastard father was right about something and in this moment I'm actually grateful for the training he forced on me and my brother for all of those years. When Jon and I ran away, we managed to pack two of dad's special daggers. He kept calling them some name that I can't remember, but he swore that they were the only way to kill demons.

Due to the hallucinations Jon and I have both experienced because of our father, we decided that one of the daggers would be his and one would be mine. Since we'd moved here we'd both kept our daggers on us at all time. I smiled now, knowing that I'm prepared for something I never imagined to be true.

"And why is that demon?" I asked, my smile turning sinister as surprise washed over the demon's face.

I didn't give it a chance to say anything else in case it tried attacking. With my dagger in my left hand and the makeshift broom stick weapon in my right I moved forward. Quicker than I thought I could, I rammed the broomstick through the things slimy white body, pinning the demon to the wall behind it. Shock filled its eyes.

"Any last words bitch?" I asked, pressing the dagger tightly against its throat.

It smiled, clearly aware of its defeat and said, "he taught you well dear Clarissa. Make sure to tell him I said hello."

With that I yanked the dagger across its throat and watched as it disappeared into nothing. I'm not completely sure what just happened, but I think it's dead. I wiped off my dagger and put it back safely in my boot and turned around to face the two strangers and Jace.

They were all looking at me like I was the crazy one. Jace was saying something to me but I still couldn't hear anything they were saying. The only thing I was positive about was that I needed to get out of this room before I passed out. I needed Jon.

So, I pushed my way through the three people, being small gave me the advantage. I ran down the hallway and straight to the bar.

"Jon, we need to leave right now."

"What's wrong?"

"No time for questions let's go. Magnus will understand." I pulled his hand hard and we ran out of the building. "Start the motorcycle Jon, they are probably close behind me."

"What do you mean? Who is after you?" All three of them burst out the door and started running straight towards us. "Oh shit." Jon hit the gas and we rode off into the night leaving the three shadowhunters behind.

Author note:

All I gotta say is Clary is a badass. Like damn. Love you guys for following this story and hope you all enjoyed this little dose of action! There will be more to come and well I guess the story is just gonna pick up from here lol. This was a little bit longer than I'd planned on making it, but ya know sometimes I just get carried away. Lol but hope you guys come back for chapter 4 because that would mean the world to me. HAPPY LATE SUNDAY TO ALL, AND TO ALL A GOOD NIGHT.