I do not, still own these characters; they still belong to the tremendous Cassandra Clare.

[Author's note: If you see any mistakes, feel free (it would actually be much appreciated) to point them out when you comment.]

Like every morning, before I did anything else, I got up and looked in the mirror. What I saw there was something I'd been seeing ever since I'd started this ritual last year. My hair was light gold, curly and just past my ears. My face was easy on the eyes to say the least, my skin a pale golden color. But, I didn't care about that. I didn't need to see that, I knew what it looked like. No, I looked in the mirror every morning to examine my eyes.

The first morning I'd done this was purely by accident: I had walked past the mirror and noticed something about my eyes I had been sure was different. My eyes had seemed to be darker then they had been the day before. I had wondered if it had something to do with what had happened last week, with Isabelle, and I had shuddered. I had then kept it up throughout the next eleven months, looking every day, until I couldn't deny it any longer; my eyes, which had once been amber flecked brown, were now almost black. At the end of the year, they were as black as the night, as black as the gapping maw of a ravenger demon, and just as dead looking. They held no reflection of the light, no sparkle of life. They were just flat black disks at had become so unfamiliar.

Along with my eyes, I had noticed other things, too. My longing for destruction had become worse now, to the point where I almost couldn't stand in the same room as Isabelle. I felt nothing for Mayrse or Robert, when they were here, but Alec, too, brought up some disturbing destroy to hurt, to ruin, to wreck. As if the thoughts weighed me down, I fell back on to my bed and held my eyes shut. My head was once again swirling with renegade desires that I couldn't control. They were the only thing I felt now. I didn't feel happiness at killing a demon, like I had before, or the pleasure of fighting with Alec and Isabelle. No, now it was more like I got my pleasure from watching Isabelle get hurt, or exploiting Alec's weakness that he displayed so obviously. I didn't feel sadness or excitement anymore; I felt anger and pleasure, but almost nothing else.

I wasn't sure if Alec and the others had noticed, but they seemed to regard me now with a certain weariness; Alec, because I so readily made fun of him, Isabelle because of what I did to her last year. I pulled off my PJ shirt and put on a light grey long-sleeved. Hodge had said he wanted us to do something today, but I wasn't really feeling up to it. I hadn't had a lot of sleep last night as I'd been trying to find a way to change my eye color back to what it had been, with Runes and potions. And, when I had fallen asleep, I'd dreamed that I was back in Idiris, standing on top of the towers of Alicante. It was breathtakingly beautiful, but everywhere I looked, demons would pop up out of the ground and ruin everything. I tried looking away from the houses and people, but demons would come out there, too. I'd panicked, until I had shut my eyes. As soon as I did that, the demons stopped coming. As soon as I shut my eyes, I realized the demons were being summoned from me. I was the one bring them to the perfect city of my childhood.

Alec's knocking on the door interrupted my dream analyzation. 'Jace, are you coming?' He sounded really hesitant, but it was probably because he didn't want to make me angry. 'Hodge wants to see us downstairs.'

'Sure, come in will you? You know I hate talking though doors.' I called back, while taking off my pajama bottoms and grabbed my jeans. Alec walked in the door just as I was going to do them up, and he stopped and gaped. I frowned, but looked down, and guessed what he was thinking; he though I was undoing my pants, not doing them up. I chuckled, and looked up at Alec slyly, jokingly. His face was pretty comical; his faced was pained, but also surprised. Alec slowly reached behind him and shut the door. His face was now cautious and almost as sly as mine had been. What was he doing? He never had done something like this before, and this wasn't him at all. We had been in the same room lots of times with me only half dressed. Alec took a step closer to me and seemed to appraise me with his eyes. I did the same, cocked my head, and looked at him down the length of my nose, which was hard, as he was taller than me. I was doing this all knowingly; nothing was controlling me, there wasn't voice in my head telling me with was wrong. In fact, my mind was telling me this was all right, that I should keep going. I took a step closer to him and rested my arm of his shoulder, my fingers brushing his exposed collarbone. There was the electric static from where my bare hand touched the bare neck the collar of his shirt exposed. I shut my eyes for a moment, taking my arm off of Alec's lean body to collect my thoughts; what was I doing? I opened my eyes, looking to the floor, but when I looked back up, Alec was standing in the door way again, like none of that had happened. It must have, though, as Alec looked really flushed, and nervous. He opened his mouth, like he was going to say something, but snapped it shut and walked off.

I got to the library after digging through the fridge in the kitchen; if I had already eaten, I wouldn't have to deal with Isabelle's cooking. So when I arrived with my hands full of last night's Chinese, I found Isabelle glaring at me. Apparently, by the look on Hodge's face, Isabelle had tried to make -I sniffed the air -scrambled eggs. Hodge's plate was almost clean; I cannot imagine why he would go through the torture of eating a full plate of Isabelle's cooking. I sat down in my favorite chair and started to eat, knowing the whole time Isabelle was giving me murderous looks. I glanced over at her, and found her look was much more vicious then it was most of the time I didn't eat her cooking, which was often. What had I done now? Alec wasn't to be found, so had Alec told his sister what I had almost done to him, the same thing I had almost done to her? She had been more scared than mad when I'd kissed her, but Alec had been really angry then. Was it a sibling thing, to be angry from someone who was too scared to be mad? I shrugged it off, put my plate aside and leaned in to listen to Hodge.

'Who- I mean, what do you want me to kill this time?' I corrected myself as I accidently, again, gave the demons a personality and a name. 'Where is it, and when?'

Hodge shook his head. 'Always so eager, Jace. You'll have to wait this for a bit, though. The THREE of you, wherever Alec went, will be going to Pandemonium and you'll be taking a care of a demon that's been posing as a human for a while, and it's killed two people. You'll find him in the club around ten thirty, so go around nine to get look around.' He held up his hand, as I went to interrupt. 'I know, you've been there before, but the mundanes like to change their buildings ever so often, so you don't know if it's still the same.'

I held back a sigh. I hated 'casing the joint'. I just wanted to go there, kill the bastard that was making trouble, and go. No need to spend more time in the mundane would then I needed. I grimaced as I though of how long this might really take. Their world brought out something in me, a feral emotion that I hated. The mundies' ease with emotion was too much for me to handle, I guess. I'd held it back until now, but I don't know when, not if, I'd snap; each time I went out there, it got a little harder. 'I'll…go look for Alec, then I guess.'

Isabelle gave a little scream and struggled to stand. 'No! I-I'll find him! He might have gone outside.'

Then she ran off, with me standing here with nothing to do. I looked at Hodge, who shrugged. I growled and made to leave the room, but Hodge scrambled around his desk and handed me a full teacup. 'Finish this, and put it in the sink, will you?' He insisted forcibly 'Don't make a cup of tea you can't finish, how many times have I told you?'

I paused, not remembering bring a cup of tea into the room. Hodge though, was nothing if not clean, and fair, so he wouldn't make me finish a cup of tea that wasn't mine, let alone put it away. I sighed and finished it, thinking maybe my memory was slipping. I had been thinking about many things this morning, maybe it had just slipped my mind. I know I had been in the kitchen, maybe I had made the tea and brought it to the library and not touched. I finished it and put it in the sink, like I had been told, wishing for more of what ever tea that was. It had been delicious and a calm I hadn't felt since I was young was settling over me.

I was making my way up to me room again, when Church appeared in front of me. I hated that cat. He was always running from me, and the one time I had picked him up, he'd bitten me. Although, karma must love me, 'cause the cat got sick for a week after that. I had tried to befriend him once, by feeding him, but he wouldn't touch the food I had put out, so I just stopped feeding him for a week. To get back at me, he had ripped up and peed on my favorite shirt. He's stayed away from me after that, but every time I saw him sleeping, I move him out side and give him a little kick, just enough to wake him up. He hated being outside, and often I'd leave him out in the rain for hours. I think the cat still hasn't forgiven me for the last time; it had been almost a whole twelve hours before anyone had noticed his absence.

This time, though, he must have sensed my bad mood, that had turned suddenly as I though of Church and all the things we had done to each other, as he slinked off before I could even insult him, his stupid bell dinging as he went. I scowled and continued on my way.

I hadn't a clue what I was going to do when I got to my room, but after yawning wide enough to swallow an apple whole, I decided to get some more sleep. I wasn't one to take naps, because I usually got nightmares, but I was suddenly too tired to do much else. I didn't bother to change again; I just threw myself on top of my covers and shut my eyes. Sleep hit me as soon as I relaxed, for so I'd though.

I felt like I'd fallen asleep, but I was suddenly wide-awake. I could feel the presence of someone else in my room. I tensed unnoticeably, my muscles getting ready to react at the slightest of movements towards my bed. I listened for a second longer, then relaxed; the person in my room was no threat to me. The soft, but nervous footsteps, the ragged breathing that got steadily more uneven the closer towards me it got; those little observations all pointed to Alec. I let him get to the head of my bed, just to let him think he snuck up on me. He paused in front of me, and I could feel his wildly beating heart through vibrations coming from his wrist that was resting lightly against the sheets. He reached out, maybe to shake me awake or maybe he was going to cut off all my hair; I couldn't tell as my head was faced away from him, and my eyes were still closed. I knew my room was pitch black when my room light and the hall light were off; there weren't any windows to bring other light into the room, but that wouldn't have been a problem for my eyes. I have been able to see in the dark for years. Most Shadowhunters can, a little, but my night vision was almost as good as my regular vision. I waited until Alec's hand was right above my head…that's when I struck, grabbing his wrist. I pulled him closer, and spun him around, so he was on the bed next to me. Using his weight, I pushed myself up, and, in less then three seconds, we had switched places.

I smiled wickedly at him in the dark, though I knew he couldn't really see it. 'What's with the sneaking, Alec?' I asked, smirking.

'Ah, well..I- I though, um, well.' He sputtered. 'Actually, you, well, um WE, uh.'

'ALEC!' I hissed, 'Spit it out!'

'It's time to go,' he got out miserably, after a few more seconds of stuttering. 'Isabelle told me to get you. We still have about an hour until we have to leave, but we should start getting ready.'

I frowned. Had I been sleeping, then? What had stopped the nightmares, the bad dreams that always plagued my sleep? I helped Alec up, and stretched. 'Let's go, then. Do we have a plan?'

He shook his head, let me pass though the door first, then walked out, shutting the door as he went. We went through a possible strategy that involved lots of yelling and black eye liner, but figured Isabelle wouldn't want to dress up like a hobo. When we got the weapons room, Isabelle was already there, marking herself and gathering up weapons. Her whip was curled around her forearm and bracelets jangled on her wrists. Alec went to work right away, getting his stele and marking the places on Isabelle's back she couldn't reach.

'Alec, will you do the honors?' I asked after he had finished Isabelle.

He frowned. 'Aren't you already good enough to mark yourself?' He asked.

That puzzled me. Usually he asked if he could mark me; I never had to ask. 'Well, yes, but as perfect as I am, I can't reach my back, you know that Alec.'

He sighed and gestured for me to take off my shirt. 'Damn.' I muttered, and Alec looked up, 'I shoulda figured you would get something out of this.' Alec looked very alarmed with that comment, but I smirked to let him know that I was kidding. He didn't say anything after that; just went straight to work marking my shoulder blades and lower back. When he had finished I thanked him, but didn't say anything back. I gave up on getting any more words out of him and went back to my room to put on my armor. I didn't have much time, but it didn't take any time at all to put on. I ran back to my room, just in case; I hated being late for anything.

My shirt was already off, and I stripped off my jeans before I was even in my room. I pulled out my black leather Shadowhunter armor from the closet and started to put it on. Midway through putting on the pants, I frowned. It was a little tight; I mean it was suppose to be, but not this tight. I managed to get myself in my now too small armor, and grabbed any knives that I could see laying around my room. I jogged back down the weapons room; putting on my armor had taken more time that I'd thought. I was tarrying more than I should have been, though; I didn't want to be in a room with just Isabelle and Alec. The savage feeling inside was a little much, almost too much, when I was in the same room as them. I hadn't felt it 5 minuets ago, when I had been discussing strategies with Alec, but maybe it was something I noticed, only when I wasn't distracted. Maybe it was the dregs of sleep that stayed the feelings. I don't know, and don't care if it's only a temporary solution.

'So what's the plan?' I asked as I walked in. 'Are we taking a cab or riding the subway?'

'No,' Isabelle shook her head. 'We'll just take the subway, it gets us right there and it's a lot cheaper.'

I nodded; it made sense. I picked a stele to mark myself to mark myself to hide myself from the mundies; Alec wouldn't have done it, as we didn't know what the plan was. I drew on the mark, flinching a bit at the pain.

Others say that the stele burns a little, stings. They must have a higher pain threshold than me, then, as the stele burned when I used it like I was holding a hot brand to my arm. I like to think of my pain threshold as less of a threshold and more of a tastefully decorated foyer, but everyone else's threshold must be more a grand and elegant entrance with a spiral staircase. Even holding a stele bothered me, which is why I usually left Alec do it; it hurts a lot more if I was holding the stele when I was getting marked. I finished the mark, clenching my fists, as the burn slowly dissipated. Alec and Isabelle had been putting things away and finishing up with their weapons, so I didn't have to clean up much. The plan had been discussed, and Isabelle had everything she needed; she was the key to our plan, knowing that the demon was taking the shape of a guy. We were finally all ready to go.

Alec and I were standing in the subway, looking in different direction, both with looks of concentrated puzzlement on our faces.

'Which way is it?' Alec asked to no-one.' East or West on the blue Line?'

'Is it even the blue line?' I asked back.

We turned both to Isabelle at the same time, hoping she would know.

'Honestly,' she muttered, 'don't you remember the last time we look this route?'

She shook her head again and took off to the train that was just pulling up. We followed her, making sure not to jostle too many people. We were invisible to them, we had even jumped over the barrier so that we didn't have to pay, but we didn't want to cause a scene with someone yelling ghosts. We got on the train with no trouble, and Alec and I took the first open seats together. Isabelle had to sit behind us, but she wasn't close enough she could hear us.

'How much you wanna bet Isabelle us on the wrong train?' I whispered to Alec, trying to cheer him up, for once.

He smiled but didn't say anything.

It turns out that Isabelle did know where she was taking us, as we got off right beside the club. We only had to walk for a block or so, and we were at the front door. It wasn't open yet, so I started to bang on the door. A tall, wide and bald guy with a neck tattoo and a shirt with the Pandemonium logo on it opened it almost right away.

'We're not open yet. Leave.' He growled

I sighed. Frank, who had worked here before, had known us on sight, so we didn't have to worry. This was a new guy, and I almost didn't remember the entry phrase.

'Just let us in. I think you can guess who were are and what we want.' Alec came to my rescue, which was surprising; he usually didn't say anything.

The bouncer scowled and stepped back to let us in. 'I still want the password.' He muttered.

Alec sighed, exasperated. 'Fine! "By the Clave who governs us, they demand our entry!"' He quoted angrily. 'Happy now?'

The bouncer backed off. Alec was muttering to himself and stalked off to check out the perimeter. I looked at Isabelle, who shrugged, and followed Alec. I went in the opposite direction and looked in all the rooms; the bathrooms, the "Staff Only" room and the broom closet. I was nothing if not thorough.

We hung around for a while, making sure there wasn't anything suspicious. When the club started to open, Isabelle when to put on her dress: it was white, long lacey and covered all her skin just enough that her marks wouldn't be seen until she wanted them to be. Her demon-sensing pendant was around her neck and glowing faintly, even now. Alec was going over everything again with the Sensor, just to make sure there even was a demon romping around here. And, by the time Isabelle, Alec and I were in place, the club was already in full swing. The club looked like a dream, with the multicolored lights shining against the curtain of fog. People were thrashing around of the floor, their faces transformed into monsters with shadows thrown into wide relief. Their sweat got me drunk and the feeling was dizzying. I had to hold on to the wall so that I wouldn't fall over from the sheer amount of people in the room, from the savage feeling. If I though being in a room with just Isabelle, even Isabelle and Alec was bad, I was stupid. This was insane. I had to squeeze my wrist to keep myself from screaming out. Something in arm cracked and gave way. The pain didn't help for once. Luckily, Alec shook me on the shoulder and pointed out at Isabelle who had a boy falling off of her. I smiled, and gestured with my head for Alec and I to follow them. I un-sheathed one of my knives, the kindjal, and followed them into the 'Staff Only" room I had check out earlier. Not much in there besides wires and cords. Isabelle was smiling, whispering 'Got you.' when we entered. We helped her tie him up to a conveniently placed pole with piano wire and were interrogating him, when I felt a small presence seem to entre the room. It didn't feel human, but it wasn't demon either. It might have been a fly, so I ignored it.

'So are there more of you? You haven't told us.' I demanded.

'I don't know what you're talking about.' The boy, now that I could see him in the light, had blue hair and too green eyes. Shape shifter, no doubt.

'He means other demons.' Alec shot in, still annoyed. 'You do know what a demons is, don't you?' He asked bitterly sarcastic.

The boy tried to look away, but his face was too tight again the pillar.

'Ah, demons.' I drawled, trying to annoy him in spilling something. 'You disgusting worms that come crawling out of other worlds to-'

'Jace! We don't need a lesson in demonology. ' Isabelle interrupted

I nodded, but felt glad she had interrupted me. I felt like I had been insulting myself. 'So are you going to start talking? Or should I do something to entice you?'

'I could give you information,' He whispered. 'I know where Valentine is.'

Alec glanced at me. 'Kill it, he's lying.'

Isabelle nodded' He's just toying with us to be let go.'

I raised my blade right above where his heart should have been. This was usually when they started to talk.

He didn't disappoint. 'Valentine is back!' He gasped. 'I can tell you, all the Infernal Worlds know it! They- I- can tell you where he-'

That drove me mad when they claimed to know where Valentine was. 'By the Angle, every time one of you bastards are caught, you claim to know where he is. Valentine is dead!' I shouted, enraged. I could feel Alec and Isabelle willing me to calm down. 'Valentine is in Hell. And you can join him there!' I plunged my knife down, aiming right into the boy chest, when a voice came out of nowhere.

'Stop!' It shouted, coming from a small, red haired girl, with wide green eyes and a wild expression. Her presence must have been the one I had felt earlier, and it surprised me so much, I missed and hit the pole, and my knife flew out of my hand.

'Stop!' She shouted again, her voice smooth and scared, but very loud for her size. 'You can't do this.'

It wasn't her sudden appearance that got me, nor her beautiful face or the way she was so brave to yell at someone with a knife.

It was the fact she could see us.

And even more so the fact that she seemed to look right through me.