It feels like time goes into slow motion as I collapse to the floor. I let out a shriek filled with all of my different emotions. My mother is gone. She's dead. Whoever did this is going to wish they messed with somebody else. I may be tiny, but if you screw with the people I love, I will be your biggest enemy.

I held my mother in my arms and shook back and forth mumbling random words filled with anger. It looks like she put up a fight, that's probably why everything was so wrecked. She has a stab wound in her left side. I guess she bled out. I can't stand the sight of my beautiful mother like this. I close her eyes and walk out of her bathroom.

I find the emergency phone in the kitchen, since there is no technology in Idris they put in emergency phones for situations like this. I dial the only number the phone can dial and wait for someone to answer.

"Hello? Jocelyn?" A man answered. It's oddly familiar.

"This isn't Jocelyn its Clary. My mom is dead."

"I know." How does the clave already know what happened here? I just found out myself.

"Who is this?" This can't be the clave, it doesn't make sense. Someone must have tapped into my signal.

"Oh dear, you don't recognize my voice. It's probably because you haven't spoken to me since I got back." He chuckles as I realize how dumb I am. "I'm disappointed in you. I thought you could search places better than this. You may want to get out of here before I come downstairs and kill you too."

The line went dead and I gasped. How could I have missed him? I need to get out of here. Where do I go? I start heading for the entrance to the institution and hear footsteps above me, so I run.

I run down the streets of New York until I can't breathe anymore. There's really only two options for me. I can go find the nearest warlock and transport to Idris, or I can go find my ex-best friend. Hmmm. I think I'll go hit up Simon. It's probably been long enough.

"TAXI!" It doesn't take long before I'm standing in front of a small house belonging to Simon. I cautiously walk up to the front door and knock. I hope he's home, his mom doesn't know anything about my real life.

The door opens and luckily for me it's Simon. "What are you doing here?" He looks at me in a way that hurts. It's only been a month since our big fight. It was over a guy too which is the stupid part. I don't even know why he cares so much. He should be happy that I actually almost got my first boyfriend.

"Hey…I…can I come in?" I sniff a little so he gets that I'm upset, and he lets me in. We walk awkwardly to his room and sit in our usual spots. He looks the same as he did last time I saw him, except he got contacts! Huh, he always loved his glasses.

"So why are you here Clary? Did you come to apologize?" What the fuck. Why do I need to apologize for having a life?

"Simon that's not why I'm here, and I don't want to get into that topic right now okay?" I looked him dead in the eyes, pleading for him to comply.

"Look, I don't know what's up with you but I'm not talking to you until we get this figured out. So I'll just walk you to the door." Wow. He's holding his ground.

"…Seriously Simon?" He didn't even look at me. He just got up and started walking to the front door, so I followed him. He's so pissed at me.

"Come back when you're ready to fix this." He's way out of his line. I'm not in a good state to deal with this. I looked at him as he was shutting the door on me and I started blurting out words without thinking.

"You know Simon. This is really great. You're the one friend I have in this world, and the only person that I know in New York right now." He looked at me funny. "Yeah that's right. You continue to be pissed at me. I'm leaving. You'll probably never see me again." I start to walk back the way I came down the concrete by his house, and I turn back to see him standing there watching me walk away. "Oh, yeah and the reason I came here is because I just found my mom's lifeless body upstairs. Thanks for being a great friend Simon."

I start running as fast as I can away from everything that just happened. I just want to run away from today. I want to start over. I didn't even see my mother today. I was too busy trying to avoid my father, that I couldn't even tell her that I loved her one more time. I hate that man. I hate him.

I stop running and figure out which way I need to go to find a warlock. I know Magnus Bane lives in New York, but I have never met with him before. I guess there is a first for everything. I just don't know how I'm going to find out where he lives. I could find a faerie and see if they can help me. I just need to find a park. There's usually some hanging out there in the grass.

After about a fifteen minute walk I come across a park. I lay down in the grass waiting for anybody else to show up. As the sunlight starts to leave the sky I see something in the distance. It looks like any regular person to a mundane, but I can see past the glamour. I walk over to the faerie. She has blue skin and green hair hanging just past her butt.

She notices me and smiles. "Well hello shadowhunter. What can I do for you?"

"Do you know a Magnus Bane? He's a warlock."

"Oh you seek Magnus? Well I may know where he is, but why would I tell you?" Ughh. I mean faeries are cool and all but they are so mischievous. At least they can't lie, but they can bend the truth.

"What can I do in exchange for his location?" Faeries always want something, greedy little bastards.

"Well I have been desiring a specific golden necklace from a mundane store downtown. It's large and has a big turquoise rock hanging from the middle of it. If you can get that for me, I will tell you Magnus Bane's location."

"What store?" This shouldn't be too hard. I can put on a glamour and just slip in and out.

"Jamie's Boutique. It's about two miles north of the park. I'll expect my gift in the next half hour or you get no location. Now go."

Well that's a lot of time to steal jewelry from a store, said no one ever. I run two miles north until I find the boutique. There are three women in the shop securing the jewelry for lock up time. I take out my stele and quickly go over my glamour rune and stealth rune. It burns, but it's a satisfying burn.

I cross the street and wait for the ladies to come out of the store. I slip inside when the last one has exited and am alone inside the store. They have so much jewelry, they must be a rich family. I walk around looking at everything. It would be so easy to just take anything from mundanes, but that's not what shadowhunters do. We are here to protect humans.

I skim over everything in the store and find nothing looking like the necklace the faerie described to me. It must be in the back. I walk back behind the counter and find a big safe. Lucky for me I'm skilled with runes, and can open the safe with a few movements from my stele. The safe opens and I see the necklace. I grab it and hang it around my neck, and then go over to the door. Getting in was easy, but getting out might be a little harder. I don't really want to trip the alarm, but I don't want to break a window either. I guess the alarm is better than the window. I unlock the door and start running back towards the park, leaving the sound of sirens behind me.

When I reach the park I look around for the faerie, but she is nowhere in sight. I hope I didn't mess this up. I think I only took about twenty minutes, she should be here. As I'm turning in circles looking for the faerie, I feel a tap on my shoulder. I quickly jump back and start to pull out my seraph blade, but it's just the faerie woman.

"Woah now, calm yourself shadowhunter. I see you have my necklace. Please hand it over." Her eyes lit up when she saw the gold shine from the moonlight. I took a step back.

"Not until you give me my information." I gave her my best fake smile.

"Smart girl. Okay well Magnus Bane's current location is 765 Michaels Street. He is in the fourth booth on the left in the taco shop. Now hand over the necklace."

"No I wanted his location, like his house."

"Oh, well now you have his current location. I guess you should be more specific next time. Now give me my necklace."

I handed her the necklace and she walked into the forest. Sebastian always did the talking when it came to faeries. He always knew what to say to get exactly what he wanted. Me on the other hand, well that's a different story.

Okay so I'm going to the taco shop on Michaels street. I wonder if that's close to where I am now. I guess I should probably go find a taxi to be safe. I walk up the street to a more busy area and wait for a taxi to stop near me. After about ten minutes I finally get one and tell him the right address to go to. It took almost twenty minutes to get to the taco shop.

As I entered the taco shop I skimmed all of the booths. The faerie said he was in the fourth booth on the left. I walked over to it and sat down. It was empty. Maybe he was in the bathroom. A few minutes passed and nobody joined me, so I went and asked a waiter if he had seen him.

"Hey I was supposed to meet a friend here, but I was a little late. Do you remember seeing a guy in that booth over there?" I point to the fourth booth on the left and watch the waiter's face.

"You bet I do! Dark skinned male with black hair? Real stylish? Glitter everywhere?"

"Umm yeah that's him." I've never seen Magnus before so hopefully that describes him.

"Yeah you just missed him! He left just a few minutes before you came and sat down." Well fudge. How am I going to find him now? I guess I'll just have to bullshit some story.

I put on the most devastated face I could. "Did he say where he was going? I need to find him…"

"Ma'am, I'm sorry I really would like to help you, but I can't tell you where he went."

"So you know? He's my step brother! Our mom fell down the stairs and is in the hospital! That's why I was late, but he just changed his number so I can't reach him. Please sir I need to find him." I think about my earlier encounter with my mother's dead body and tears start to stream down my face.

"Oh no, please, no don't cry. Why are girls always crying around me? Okay fine I'll tell you. He went a few blocks up to a club called Pandemonium."

"Thank you! Thank you so much." I turn and start walking.

"Uhh ma'am? You didn't hear it from me. I could get fired."

"Don't worry. Your secret is safe with me." I turn and walk out of the taco shop and up the street. I continue until I see a sign with the word Pandemonium written on it. I guess it's a secret shadowhunter spot, because there is a rune in the bottom corner of the sign.

I show my fake ID to the bouncer and walk into a room with way too many people and music so loud that I can't hear myself think. I look around for a guy that matches the man the taco waiter described to me earlier. Finally life gives me a break, and I see Magnus Bane sitting alone at the bar.

I take the seat next to him and get a water. "Umm you're Magnus Bane right?"

"That depends. Who's asking?" He looks over at me and smiles. "A shadowhunter. For what do I owe the pleasure of your company?" His eyes were lie cat eyes. They were oddly beautiful and unsettling at the same time.

"I need your help."

"Yes. What do you need?"

"My mother was murdered in the New York Institute and I need to get to Idris."

"Oh. I see. I'm feeling pretty nice today, so I'll help you, but you owe me a favor later."

"Okay. I can do that. How are you going to get me to Idris?"

"By portal my dear. I have one back in my loft. Come on we can head over there and you can tell me all about yourself."

"Sounds good. What do you want to know?"

"Well I'm curious as to what killed your mother inside the institute because it clearly wasn't a downworlder."

"I was at school and when I got home, it looked like someone had broken in. So I checked out every room, my mother's was the last. I found her in her bathroom. She bled out from a stab wound. I figured that I should probably notify the clave, so I used the emergency phone. A man picked up and said that he was still in the institute and was coming down to kill me."

"So this guy hacked into the phone and took your call. Who was the guy? We need to notify the clave."

"They don't know and that's why I need your help. The guy…well…my father. Valentine Morgenstern killed her."

Magnus stopped right in his tracks. "Another shadowhunter killed your mom. Valentine. Wow. He was the leader of the circle a couple of years ago right?"

"Yeah he was the leader. Nobody knows why he broke up the circle. It was doing so well at uniting the downworlders with shadowhunters."

"This is some sad news. He was a good man. My house is up here on the left."

I looked over to where he was gesturing and saw a massive three story building taking up a whole lot. "How many people do you live with?" It's almost as big as the institute, and that's saying a lot.

"Just me, oh and my cat. Chairmen Meow. You'll like him."

We headed into his massive house in silence. Once we were inside he brought me to a room that was fairly small. There was nothing in the room except for an antique door on the left wall. We walked over to that door and he opened it. There was nothing behind the door except wall.

"I thought this was a portal?"

"Calm down shadowhunter. I have to make the portal. This door is just here for looks."

"Oh. Okay." I stood and watched as Magnus's eyes glowed different colors and shots of a substance looking like purple fire came out of his hands. Within two minutes he had made a portal and I could finally go to Idris.

"You know how portals work right?"

"Yes, you have to think of the place and visualize it as you go through the portal."

"Good. And you have been there before correct?"

I looked at Magnus debating whether to tell him the truth or not. "Well…"

"You've never been there have you?" I just looked at him with a blank face. "Okay, I guess we will both have to go. I'll go first and you go right after me okay?"

"Sounds good." I was relieved that he could visualize Idris for me, I was afraid I would get lost in there.

"Alright let's not waste time." Magnus put his hand on my shoulder as he walked past me towards the portal, but he stopped mid-step. He looked back at me like something was wrong. "What did you say your name was again?"

"Clary Morgenstern."

"Okay…"

"What's wrong?"

"It's nothing. We can talk about it when we get this situation settled."

"No really, tell me Magnus."

"…You aren't full shadowhunter." He looked at me like someone had shot him.

"I don't understand. What do you mean I'm not full shadowhunter?"

"I don't know. Something is not right though. I don't mean to frighten you, but when I put my hand on your shoulder I got a sense of something different than a shadowhunter."

"Wait…so what am I?"

So what really is Clary? Where did her father go? What is going to happen when Magnus and Clary pop into Idris?

Thank you guys so much for reading! It means a lot to me:) I hope ya'll like how the story is going.