It was early spring but Jonathan was still at Clarissa's house. Usually Clarissa would be celebrating. But she knew that she would be forgetting about Jonathan any day now. Her days with him were numbered. Her memory of him was soon to be gone. She could tell that he was pretending to not care but she could tell that he was going to miss her too.

After that day Valentine had told her, he must have told Jonathan too. Because that night Jonathan had snuck into her room, "You are coming back, dad says you will be safe. Its just like a long vacation." To her it sounded like Jonathan was trying to comfort himself more then her.

"You promise not to have any fun with out me?" Clarissa had asked jokingly, trying to lift up the mood.

"I never do," Jonathan's laugh sounded strained.

It was late and Clarissa was almost asleep, when Jonathan spoke again from the side of her bed. "It's weird when I'm with you I feel like a normal kid. But with out you I feel like a moody jerk all the time." He was quiet and Clarissa had forgotten he was still there when he stood up and left.

It was only a week later that all the plans were finally finalized.

"Clarissa," Valentines voice called. Clarissa spent most of her days training with Johnny the last week. They considered they were too old for silly pranks. Only when they thought of a great prank did they go along with it. Like when Clarissa was eight Johnny had found a way to move Clarissa's bed outside, while she was in it, without her waking up. She would have been mad except she was too impressed. She was usually such a light sleeper.

Clarissa and Jonathan shared a look. "Well, goodbye I guess." Jonathan said stiffly. Clarissa would have been hurt but she knew he cared. He just didn't really like showing emotion.

"See yah." She said sadly, deeply wishing she could give Johnny a hug.

She trudged up the stairs, at the top of the stairs Jonathan looked up at her with sad eyes. When he saw her looking he looked away and started punching the punching bag again.

She continued past the kitchen and found her dad with a man she didn't know in the living room.

"Clarissa, this is a friend of mine. He is going to be the one who will alter your memory." Valentine had never been one to put things lightly.

Clarissa nodded her head politely but she felt like barfing.

Valentines 'friend' had short dark purple hair and his goatee made his face look sharp and very serious. He didn't look friendly. What set Clarissa on the edge the most was his eyes. One eye was dark brown and the other was bright yellow, like a cats.

"Lets just do this quickly," Valentine said.

"Are you sure about this Valentine," The warlock asked. "I mean you have everything planned out." It seemed to Clarissa as if the man didn't want to do this.

"The clave will find her after the little scene I told you about earlier, and she will be sent to live with the lightwoods." Valentine said.

"Did the Lightwoods agree to take her in, they are still loyal to you?"

Valentine frowned, "Not exactly, but I will pull a few strings to get her to stay with them at the Institute. At least then she will have a proper Shadow hunter raising where I can keep watch on her until I come back for her."

Valentine and the man continued as if Clarissa wasn't there.

"I also believe she has a talent that I would like you to block until I come back."

"A talent?"

"Yes, for drawing new runes."

The warlock looked at Clarissa now with a new sort of interest. "A useful talent."

"Yes but I don't want her doing anything with it while I am not there to push it in the right direction. You can do this I expect."

"I can easily block the runes in her mind."

"Good," Valentine smiled, "Lets get started then."

From the corner of her eye, Clarissa saw Jonathan stick his head into the living room to watch.

The warlock walked over to Clarissa, "You might want to sit down." He said. Valentine went and got Clarissa a hard chair from the kitchen. Standing above Clarissa the man put his hands on either side of her head.

She trembled. She didn't like this man, she just wanted to go back downstairs. The hands on her head seemed very heavy like they were trying to push her skull inward on its self. Suddenly everything went white. Then it was over.

Clarissa was on the floor. She wondered how she got there. But everything was kind of blurry, her thoughts seemed slippery, slipping out or her mind. She tried to grab hold of a thought but it was yanked away.

Suddenly Jonathan was kneeling above her. "We will come back for you Clarissa." It seemed like a promise. But as Clarissa thought about it, it also sounded like a threat.

She could feel herself slipping into oblivion when the man spoke. "To restore her memories, all you have to do is…" But before she could hear the rest everything went black.

oOo

Clarissa woke up later in her bed, the sun was just setting. Dying light from the window glowed on the walls.

She sat up in bed, confused. She didn't usually take naps, so why was she in bed so late? She sat up trying to recall earlier today in her head. But she was drawing up a blank.

Clarissa was shocked out of her thoughts when a loud crashing noise came from the living room.

"Dad?" She yelled out, worried for her father's safety.

She threw off her sheets and ran into the living room but she froze in the door way. A large man had cornered her father a knife against his throat, his large frame towered over her father. The room looked almost the same except one of the lamps was smashed against the floor. Clarissa thought she should help but she could only stare, stuck to her spot in fear.

Finally terror clawed up her throat and Clarissa let out a scream. The large man looked over at her a a big toothy smile spread across his face. Her dad looked at her and it immediately filled with horror.

In one smooth movement, the large man swiped the knife across her dad's throat and he crumpled to the ground.

Clarissa didn't even have time to scream. The large man drew a rune on himself and disappeared.

She ran over to her father and held his limp hand.

After she had checked for breath and found none she curled into a ball. What was happening? This didn't feel real but her father lay at her feet, dead.

Clarissa sat by her father for a long time, until no more sunlight streamed from the windows and the room was dark.

A whooshing sound filled the room and Clarissa looked up surprised. Men in women dressed in Shadow hunting uniform entered. Somehow Clarissa knew this was the Clave.

She just curled back into her ball of nothingness, gripping her cold fathers hand tighter.

A man came by her and tried to coax her to let go of him. But she didn't listen. Finally he pried her fingers from her fathers hand and scooped her into her arms. Her hand felt cramped and soar from holding on so tight. But she felt like she still needed to hold onto something to keep her here. She needed something to grip, to make sure she didn't drift away.

Her mind felt weird, somehow she kept thinking that this wasn't right. Clarissa was eleven, but she felt younger. She snuggled deeper into the mans arms, hoping to disappear. But her hand gripped his shirt, afraid if she did let go. She wouldn't be found.

The man walked outside with her into the night. They sat down on the front porch. A bunch of people were here now. Each one of them seemed to have a job. No one paid any attention to the scared girl besides the man that held her.

"What's your name?" He asked gently after a while of watching the Clave do their jobs.

She didn't look up at him, "Clarissa," She mumbled.

"And what was your dad's name?"

For some reason she couldn't remember for a second. A name popped into her head but it seemed wrong, "Michael Wayland." She said anyway. It was like when you take a test and you know your answer is wrong but you put it down anyway because you don't know how to get the right answer.

"Can you tell me what happened?" He asked. Clarissa stayed silent. "Did you see all of it?" Clarissa nodded yes.

"Well then Clarissa Wayland. We are trying to find the person who did this. And until then, we will take care of you."

Clarissa didn't answer, she stared at her fist gripping his shirt.

"I got to go help them now, can you let go?"

Clarissa looked up now, terrified that he would leave her. He gently lifted her off of him and sat her down alone on the porch. "I will be back as soon as I can."

Clarissa had to make herself let go of his shirt. He smiled then walked inside. People walked around with purpose, not giving her a second look.

She hugged herself and stared off into the woods, trying not to think. After a little bit she could make out a figure of a little boy watching the commotion from just out of everyone's view. She tried to look closer to make out his features.

"Do you see something?" The man from earlier asked. Clarissa was startled. She looked up at him, he had said he would come back right?

"A boy," She said pointing to the spot she had seen him. The man squinted into the night, looking towards the woods. "I don't see anyone," Clarissa looked back and true enough the boy was gone.

"You must be exhausted after all this. Let's get out of here."

That was the last night Clarissa ever saw her house.

oOo

"Hey Clarissa, how you feeling?" Sara asked. Sara set down some pancakes in front of her. Sara was a sweet lady who had taken her in temporarily until they could find her a more permanent home. Clarissa loved Sara and even though she never knew what a mother was like, she hopped that every child had a mom like Sara.

"Okay," She answered.

"I have good news," Sara said happily. Clarissa looked up from her pancakes, interested. "The Clave has finally found a place for you to stay." Clarissa was kind of hoping Sara would take her in. Even though it had only been two weeks with her she felt unwilling to let anyone in her life disappear again. Just like that man who had talked to her that night. He had been her friend until he found the first doorstep to dump her on and never come back.

"The Lightwoods is a super family for you to stay with."

The Lightwoods? Clarissa thought. For some reason she wasn't surprised about this. Like she knew that's where she was going to end up there.

"So how are you feeling about all this?"

"I feel fine," Clarissa answered automatically. She found that if she expressed her true feeling people feel sorry for her and give her pity for something they really couldn't comprehend. Had they seem their father fall to the ground like a rag doll? Did everyone in their life only stay temporarily.

Clarissa found it easier to lie about feelings then to show them to people who already tried to hard to be her friend.

Sara gave her a look like she didn't believe her. But she dismissed it anyway. "So get ready to go after you're done with your pancakes, alright?" Clarissa looked down and mumbled an agreement.

oOo

"Here we are!" Sara chirped happily. Clarissa looked up, the Institute raised high from the ground, leaning over them like it was daring Clarissa to take another step closer. So Clarissa took that step. She felt little things that intimidating her these days and she wasn't going to let this building scare her either.

They walked up to the big doors, Sara rang the doorbell. It seemed to echo through the house.

A women opened the door, "Hi Clarissa, come in." Clarissa didn't hesitate. She walked in. Three children sat in the room just inside the door. Sara waved bye to Clarissa and left.

Typical, Clarissa thought wondering if she would even see Sara again.

"I'm Maryse Lightwood, and this is Alec, Isabelle, and Max." Alec looked a little older then her while Max looked barely three. Isabelle looked about her same age.

Clarissa mumbled a hello. It was awkwardly quiet for a few seconds. "Well," Maryse broke in, "I'm going to set down Max for a nap. I will leave you guys here to chat."

As soon as Maryse left with Max in her arms, Isabelle stood up and gave Clarissa a hug. "I'm sorry for what happened."

"Isabelle!" Alec broke in, "You can't just bring it up."

"I don't need to be comforted." Clarissa said sharply stepping away from Isabelle. "I'm just as old as you. No need to act like I'm a baby."

Isabelle and Alec looked at her surprised.

"We weren't acting like you were a baby, we just wanted to be kind." Isabelle shot back, immediately defensive.

They glared at each other until they both decided that the other was a worthy opponent. But still unhappy they looked away, crossing there arms over their chests.

Alec shook his head, "Girls." Isabelle and Clarissa turned to him. "What's wrong with girls?" Clarissa asked.

"They are so sensitive."

"Excuse me?" Isabelle asked.

Alec was quick to realize he was out numbered. Clarissa and Isabelle backed him into a corner. "I'm sorry!" Alec pleaded realizing his mistake.

Clarissa just smiled bigger, "Lets get him."

Isabelle and Clarissa were about to jump him when Maryse entered.

"What are you children up to?" She said, eyeing Alec in the corner. Isabelle and Clarissa took a quick step away.

"Nothing," They chimed in unison.

"Well then, I made us some welcome cookies, if you want some follow me to the kitchen."

When Maryse's back was turned Isabelle turned to Clarrissa. "You know, I think we can be friends."

Clarissa decided Isabelle wasn't that bad and maybe she could even be friends with Alec too. She smiled toothy at Isabelle. Isabelle smiled back.

"Clarissa is a mouthful though. Can we call you," She tapped her finger to her chin then her eyes lit up and she snapped her fingers.m

"We can call you Clary."

Yes, I know I'm like the most random updater. Two days in a row then I don't post for like a month. I'm sorry, my main hesitation to post this was because I just have no idea how the next chapter is going to go. It's finally caught up to where the first books starts but I'm not sure I want it to be all cliché where they meet at the club. How do you guys think they should meet? Please tell me or else I will be forced to use my own creativity and the next chapter won't be up until like next year.

I'm sorry. About this chapter in general. I was reading it and it kind of feels rushed, and it kind of was. But just in case you had questions. No, the warlock in the beginning was not Magnus Bane. Just some random Warlock that Valentine will probably kill later on.

Also, Sara is not an important character. I just added that part in so you could get more of Clary's thoughts.

So yup, If you have any other questions about my sloppy writings Just Private Message me and I will try to get back to you fast. Please tell me what to do next chapter too! I have a severe case of writers block.

So that's it. Please excuse all the stupid mistakes.