Jace sighed as he packed up his school supplies. Another year of school was starting. Jace wasn't convinced there was any point to school anymore. Did they really need Shakespeare or advanced math? He grabbed his necklace off his dresser and looked at it. Not that long ago he would have never been caught dead wearing a cross. Jace slipped it over his head and shouldered his backpack. Looking longingly at his colorful letterman jacket, he headed downstairs. On the way downstairs, he pointedly avoided looking at any of the family pictures hanging on the wall. The smiling faces were too painful. Remembering when his mom used to see him off to school, Jace grabbed a protein shake from the fridge and headed for school after making sure the sun was good and truly up. He didn't meet up with any friends on the way to school, they were all gone. On his way, he thought about which girl he wanted to ask to the Winter Brunch. He had thought that he would ask Amber but that was before she was caught outside after dark. He wonders if Mimi would say "yes". It might be worth a try. Arriving at school, he tries not to look at the memorial wall. He doesn't want to know who else was lost. He knew that John Lee was going to ask Cordelia. Jace wished him luck with that; he wasn't sure that Cordelia sees John that way.

Jace entered Homeroom and tried not to notice all the seats that were filled last week at orientation. His eyes couldn't help but wander to Roy's desk. Jace had seen him at the market just a few days ago. Mr. Tennyson didn't even bother to call the roll; he marked off the names of the missing without any ceremony. Jace found it hard to pay attention to the material, focusing on the sign out the window proclaiming the upcoming memorial. Jace wasn't sure he wanted to go. It was too depressing. He was already reminded of all those lost every time he walked past the memorial plaques.

Next was English class, Titus Andronicus was not a good distraction from the bloodiness that had become their every day. Jace heard the argument that they needed to keep a sense of normalcy but he disagreed. Most of the class wouldn't live to see graduation, so preparing them for college or the workplace or adult life or whatever seemed a waste. They should be learning to hunt the things that hunt them but, no, PE class continues to be useless instruction in sports that they will never be able to play in the time between the end of school and the beginning of curfew.

Math class was even more empty than the other classes. Jace started to wonder if smarter kids had better-tasting blood or if it was just a coincidence. The numbers blurred together as the teacher droned on about sines and cosines. He took notes on autopilot just like he had for the past couple of years.

They got an entire period off for lunch now. Because they couldn't go out after dark, the school allowed them to go out and enjoy the fresh air in the sunlight. Just be back for your next class or everyone will start worrying about you. And stay away from anywhere that is in shadow! You never know what could be lurking in the dark places. It's worse than a swarm of Vashta Nerada could ever be and they had given Jace nightmares for years after watching that episode.

Science class was at least a bit interesting. The teacher went out of her way to do as many hands-on experiments as possible and did cover the physics of how to properly stab a stake through a person to make sure you hit the heart. Not that it would be much help; if you tangled with one of those monsters, you weren't walking away. Everyone knew it, especially the monsters.

At the last bell, Jace packed up his stuff and started walking home slowly. He still had plenty of time before the sun went down and he wanted to spend as much time outside as he could. He waved across the street at Mrs. Newman who must be on her way home from shopping as she was struggling with several bags. Once he would have stopped to help but now he had to get home before dark. Mrs. Newman understood. She wouldn't expect anything different. The town had changed a lot in the past couple of years. He sat down at the kitchen table after grabbing himself a snack. He's gotta go shopping during his lunch period tomorrow, he was running out of food. Sighing he stared at his homework, the town was overrun with monsters and they still expected you to complete your homework or get detention. Detention meant you had to come in over the weekend or during a school holiday. But then again, what else was there to do? The Bronze was closed to all those not wishing to die a very painful death. There were no movies playing during the school year as they would get out long after sunset. He had already read all the books in his house several times over. So, it was homework then.

A few hours later, Jace looked out the window. What was Caroline Newman doing out after dark? The eight-year-old should have been home by now. Her parents would be worried sick. Before he knew what he was doing, Jace had stepped out his front door and spirited towards her. The time he spent on the track team before this never-ending nightmare started paying off. He didn't realize he had forgotten to grab his backpack with the holy water and wooden stakes in it. He scooped her up into his arms just as a figure appeared coming towards them from a shadow. Making sure he wouldn't drop her, he took off as fast as he could towards Caroline's house, it wasn't that far. They had just gotten to the porch when Jace felt a hand close around the back of his collar. He let go of Caroline's hand and watched her slip inside before he was yanked back into the group. A gloved hand ripped the chain from his neck and threw it aside. Guess it was just security theater, after all. Before Amber drained the last of his blood, Jace thought at least Caroline might live to see nine. That was worth it, wasn't it?

Prompt: It's that time of year again! Schools are back, uniforms are on, new stationary is in, time to drool over the pretty files and shiny new notebooks… or is that just me? Either way, this seems an appropriate prompt for the autumn season! Whether your character is going to school in canon or an AU, or just getting schooled by someone, let's see what they end up learning this month! (From Reddit [ r/FanFiction/comments/pjjdq2/prompt_challenge_round_27_september_2021])