Like I said, I'm full of story line ideas right now, so I'm just spitting out chapters beyond belief! Thank everybody that's reviewed, favorited, and followed, I'm so happy my story is already this popular!
Clary, Jace, Isabelle, and Alec all decided to dope up on lots of caffeine and sit at one of the tables and wait until my shift was over. I glanced at the clock and smiled. I walked around the counter and pulled a chair up to the table the four were sitting at, sitting in the chair backwards, leaning my chest against the back of the chair.
"Thank God, I need a break." I muttered as I chugged the coffee I made for myself before walking over. "How long do you have?" Clary asked. "Ten minutes, which is better than nothing." I replied, reaching and setting my cup on the table. "Nice tattoo." Jace commented, pointing a finger at my left wrist I had stretched out. "Thanks." I replied.
"When did you get it?" Alec asked, leaning forward, I saw they had all pulled there jackets off and I saw Isabelle, Jace, and Alec all had black ink tattoos scattered around their arms. Cool.
"That's what everyone, including me, has been wondering every time I get into another adoption. The only thing I have to go on is before I left the orphanage I was at in close to Boston, the woman who ran it took pictures all the time and if a child left, she would send some with us. In all the pictures, five, three, all the way up until the time I was dropped on the doorstep, it's been on my wrist." I explained as I held my wrist in my right hand, rubbing the tattoo with my thumb.
"I've tried finding it, but not even a hint as to what it is or means." I continued with a sigh. "Do you think if you ever did find out what it means that it could lead you to who your parents are?" Clary asked, sounding sad. "I don't know what to think. I guess, but at the same time I can't help but think, why drop me at an orphanage?" I reached for my necklace and rubbed into between my fingers.
"Where did you get that?" Alec asked me, almost making it sound like I stole the necklace. "Same as the tattoo, had it." I answer as I dropped it back against my collar. I glanced up at the clock and groaned. "I gotta get back to work." I muttered as I stood up, moved the chair back and went to back to stand behind the register for the last two hours of my shift.
~TMI~
Once Leo walked away, Alec leaned in and whispered to the rest of the tables occupants. "Did you see what was around her neck?" He asked. "No, what was it?" Clary asked. "It looked like a piece of a seraph blade, only it hasn't been sharpened, so to mundanes it just looks like a crystal. Jace, you were right. She is a Nephilim, the problem is how do we tell her without making her run out of the Institute screaming?"
Jace chuckled. "That would be where we are stuck." He said, sipping his second coffee, Isabelle and Alec on their third and Clary on her fourth, being a caffeine addict even before her entrance into the Shadowhunter world.
The last two hours of Leo's shift, the four discussed how to inform Leo of here heritage and where she came from without scaring her.
They were cut off when they saw Leo walk over with another coffee in hand, her visor missing from her head and her button up pulled off to reveal a black tank top underneath. Jace couldn't help but think that with her clothes and boots and what seemed to be a tough personality, that Leo could easily fall into being a Shadowhunter with training and schooling on some things.
"Let's blow this joint." Leo said before stepping backwards towards the door and pushing it open. The group quickly followed behind her and once they caught up, they heard music playing form the headphones not plugged into Leo's ear and her lightly singing the song that was playing.
"And I am, I am star struck, with every part of this whole story. So if it's just tonight, the animal inside…"
The four Shadowhunters decided to let Leo have some time to herself before she was thrown into the insanity that was their daily lives. They led Leo to the Instituted and she stopped her music and whistled. "Nice." She muttered before following the other four inside and to the elevator. Once they were in the living area of the Institute, Jace whispered to Clary to keep Leo there while they went to talk to Maryse and Robert.
"They have to go do something. I'm not sure what for." Clary told Leo, receiving a hesitant nod from her.
Clary led Leo to the kitchen and offered her anything to eat. "What do you have?" Leo asked as she walked around the counter to look over Clary's shoulder into the fridge. "Hmm. Pizza sounds good." Leo replied before Clary reached and pulled the box out, setting it on the counter behind her.
"Hay, where's the bathroom? I think I drank too much coffee." Leo asked, chuckling with Clary. "Turn left and it's the third door on the right." Clary answered. "Thanks." Leo replied before walking out of the kitchen and down the hall.
~TMI~
I followed what Clary told me and was looking for the third door, when I heard talking behind a closed door a couple down from the kitchen. I stopped and quietly listened after I heard my name.
"Are you sure this girl is Nephilim?" "We're sure of it! The necklace around her neck is a piece of a seraph blade and the Mark on her wrist is an Enkeli." Leo heard Alec tell the woman. "Where is she?" A man asked. "In the kitchen with Clary. They're probably getting something to eat." Isabelle answered. "Good. Back to the girl. Why does she think she is a mundane?" The man asked.
"She says that she was left at an orphanage, probably right after she was born. Her parents only put the Mark to probably identify her in the future." Jace answered this time. "I think her body may recognize her instincts of hunting demons. She's better than I am with a bow and when you mention her family or her past, she turns as cold as Jace when you bring up Valentine." Alec said.
"You could be right. But just because you think that, doesn't make it true. Clary was living with her mother who had weapons, this girl-" The woman was cut off by Isabelle. "Her name is Leo, Mom." "Leo, is living with mundanes from what you have told me. Which means she is, in every way possible, completely defenseless against any demons that come after her ."
I stepped away from the door and quietly walked back down the hall and slipped past the door to the kitchen, I pushed the button for the elevator and swore when it lurched and made a noise as it rose to this floor. I tapped my foot until the door opened. I jumped inside and jabbed the down button and the doors closed right as I saw Clary round the doorway and see a glimpse of me in the elevator.
Once I was on the ground floor, I ran through the lower level of the church, out onto the street, and back to the apartment that was between the coffee shop and where I was now. I passed people on the sidewalks in a blur and slammed into the door to the apartment building, slowing only slightly as I ran up the stairs to my floor, unlocking my door quickly and closing it behind me, locking it back.
I walked into my room, closing the door, breathing slightly heavier. I pulled the necklace off my neck and held it out in front of me. A seraph? Was that what they called it? More importantly why were they talking about demons? Not only demons, but demons hunting me? What the hell is wrong with them?
This is just perfect. The friends I make just happen to all be psychotic. I thought as I pulled my boots off and fell onto my bed. Then I realized, like an idiot, I left my backpack at their…..lair. Ya, lair is a good word.
I grabbed a pillow and buried my face in it, calming down and quickly falling asleep.
A man with brown hair was running, both his arms holding a sack against his chest. He glanced back every few seconds and heard noises behind him, noises that frightened him. He was relieved when he saw the building ahead, just across the street. He ran as fast as he could, trying not to let the things behind him catch him. He couldn't bear the thought of what would happen.
He walked up the steps of the building and set the sack in his arms down, folding the material away to show a baby, barely a week old, hidden in the blanket. He kissed the baby on the forehead, not waking the baby, and slid a small envelope in the fabric to make sure it was found with his child. The baby shifted in the blanket and its hand moved to its mouth, its thumb popping in it mouth and the child sucking on it like a pacifier. Before the man turned away to run and keep the things behind him away from his child, he brushed the child's wrist, thanking himself for wanting to Mark her, knowing things would end this way.
He stood, turned, and ran down the steps, away from the building and his child. Before he could get himself safely away, one of the creatures appeared from a small alley between two buildings and attacked him, his scream echoing between the close buildings, waking the child on the steps of the orphanage.
I bolted up, breathing deeply.