Hope you guys like it! Just so you know my updating's gonna be irregular cuz I got school and sports and life problems XD YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED

PS I don't own the Mortal Instruments. If I did I would cry.

Blood. Blood on the floors, blood on the walls, blood on the ceilings. My blood. Valentine laughed delightedly as he stabbed yet another knife into my body. Even if I wanted to I couldn't do anything. Valentine had tied me spread eagle in the air, rendering me helpless as he carved at me like a butcher did a pig. I smelled the alcohol on his breath as he whispered into my ear. "I've been waiting for this day, daughter." Stab. "The anniversary of your dear mother's death. My lovely beloved wife." Slice. "The day you killed her." I flinched.

For the past seven years, Valentine had reminded me of how I murdered my mother. I was a killer. I was less than nothing. Every day my father hit me, kicked me, even whipped me. But when the anniversary of Mom's death came he brought out the knives. They had filled my every nightmare; the pain was unbearable.

Later, after I crawled back to my room and treated my wounds as best as I could, I wrote another letter to Mom. Even though she would never receive them, I wrote them anyway. It was the only way I could stay sane. To stay alive. In every single one of them, I started off with an apology. I'm sorry I killed you.

I finished the letter and hid it under the floorboards. I couldn't let my father see them. He would kill me. I clenched my fists. I hated feeling scared. I was sick and tired of being afraid of my father, of what he would do to me, if whether I would be alive the next day. I was extremely dizzy from the loss of blood and I doubted I would last another month if this went on. Why don't you just run away? I stiffened. I shook my head. No. No way. No freaking way. He would find me, he would kill me, he would- If you keep living here, you're not going to survive for much longer anyway. I trembled. Free from the torture? The suffering? The pain? I lifted my shirt and looked at the bandages wrapped around my waist, already soaked with red. I made my decision.

XXX

The house was quiet. I silently opened the door and slipped out. I almost had a heart attach when my footsteps made the floorboards creak, but nothing stirred. I unlatched the front door and stepped outside. The cool night air took my breath away and I wanted to dance around with happiness. I was finally free! But I had to put as much distance between myself and Valentine as much as possible. We lived just on the outskirts of New York City, so if I could just make it to the downtown area, Valentine would never be able to find me.

I don't know how long I ran. The gashes on my body started to bleed again but I couldn't stop. As soon as it was daylight Valentine would discover I was missing and he would be furious. Just as the sun peeked over the horizon I made it. Even at three o'clock in the morning the streets hummed with activity. I leaned against a lamppost for a while to catch my breath. I had started to get dizzy again, most likely due to my wounds and the fact I hadn't eaten in two days. If I didn't get something to eat soon, I would pass out and that would not be good. I looked around. I was surprised to see a soup kitchen not even two feet away from me. That was lucky. I was about to enter the building when all of a sudden a cold chill washed over me. The hair on the back of my neck stood up and I became instantly nauseous, though I didn't know why. I turned around to see a... dog. I blinked. I must be hungrier than I thought. The dog was a Rottweiler, and from the looks of it a stray. He bared his teeth at me, dripping with saliva. I backed away slowly. "Good dog," I murmured, trying not to be scared. The dog was as tall as my waist. He inched forward and suddenly I smelled rotten meat. I shook my head and when I looked again the dog was turning into an octopus.

Well, not exactly. His head was still intact. But his body had melted into slimy tentacles and instead of two eyes there were eight all clustered together above his snout. I must be hallucinating, I thought frantically. Then the dog roared and I knew this was no joke. I turned and ran, which was the stupidest mistake I ever made. I was still really weak from running away and with each step my vision seemed to go more out of control. I slammed face first into a brick wall and I gasped from the impact. I frantically looked around for an escape route but I had run into a dead end. Damn New York and its alleys. I whirled around to see the monster bearing down on me. I grabbed the nearest thing I could find: a crowbar of some sort.

The dog thing leaped on top of me, his snapping jaws inches from my face. A drop of saliva fell onto my collarbone and I screamed; it burned like acid. The dog's claws sparked against the metal, but I managed to keep them away from my body. My arms shook from the weight. I couldn't hold out much longer and the dog knew it to. Its red eyes gleamed with hunger. Suddenly it froze. A shimmering blade grew from its stomach and the dog disintegrated into black smoke with a yelp.

Right where the dog had been stood a boy around my age dressed in black leather and a hood that shrouded his face. We stared at each other. "You can see demons," he wondered. His voice had a really aggravating drawl to it that urged me to slap him. "And dog octopus monsters too, apparently," I said. He pulled back his hood. Eyes as tawny gold as a lion's studied me curiously. "And Shadowhunters as well," he mumbled quietly, or at least that's what I thought he said. He held out his hand. I didn't let go of the crowbar.

"I'm Jace," he smiled, most likely the charming smile that won all the ladies. I was not impressed. "So this is how you pick up chicks? Saving them from demons dressed in emo clothes?" Jace looked taken aback for a second then burst into laughter. I glared at him, crossing my arms. I was about to retort when a searing pain burst through my shoulder. I let out a sharp hiss of breath which caught Jace's attention. He looked at me sharply. "What happened to your shoulder?" I shoved him away, suddenly angry. "I'm fine. Leave me alone and go grab a date somewhere else." I kept on walking, ignoring the pain in my shoulder and the fact that I was about to lose consciousness. I was NOT going to faint in front of that pompous jerk, who probably enjoyed that kind of thing. Unfortunately my body had other plans. I stumbled and leaned against a wall. The edges of my vision started to darken. Jace picked me up bridal style and started running. I didn't even had the strength to protest. I tried to stay awake but then everything spun out of control and even his arms couldn't keep me from falling.

Thanks for reading! X3