Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters from Shadowhunters or Twilight. Those rights belong to Stephanie Myer and Cassandra Clare. I do own the original characters made up for the purpose of this story. Please support the original release.
Writer's notes: Welcome to Into the Night
There are so many things that should matter. Matter more than an aching heart. Though sometimes, heart ache is all you can think about. The feeling of utter dread and humility. It's hard to escape and sometimes, you might not want to. You might want to wallow in despair and pity yourself for the things that you wish you could take back, only you can't take them back. The world isn't full of magic, though if it was, it's certain that life would be different. So, what are you supposed to do when you've been shattered into a million pieces? The answer to that question is definitely not, go into a catatonic state, shut everyone out and nearly starve yourself because you've been deserted by the one person you thought was forever. As if true love existed outside of a fairytale. As if, forever was even possible.
[Brooklyn, New York]
New York, a place of busy people, Wall Street, tall buildings, taxis, and so much more. The city was alive, in one way or another. Either the day stayed busy with people wandering to and from jobs, homes, shopping, etc. Or the night was busy in different ways. Crime, club goers, parties, you name it, it happened in the night in New York. Brooklyn was only part of that equation.
Bella Swan, 22 years old. How had she come so far in the five years since her distraught break-up with what she thought was her one true love, Edward Cullen. She spent the first year, shell shocked. Becoming a hermit, closing herself off from her friends and her family. She spent the second year in a mental institution because her father feared that he would lose her and he wasn't wrong, after the first time she tried to kill herself. When she finally broke through the fog, she spent the third year with regret. She made amends with the people in her life, or at least the ones that would talk to her now. Jessica had moved on, so had Angela, Eric and Mike. Jake hung around, so that was a plus. Though, they weren't close anymore and how could they be? She wasn't the same person anymore. Her mother was in Europe, somewhere and that didn't surprise Bella in the least. Her mother was free-spirited, living in the moment and never planning ahead.
Her father, Chief Charles Swan, welcomed her back easy enough. He was wary of anything that could set her back and he was afraid to leave her alone, but her therapy had worked, she was at least, functioning, but she wouldn't say she was normal. She spent the fourth year, taking care of her father. He fell ill, battling pancreatic cancer. Something that snuck up on both of them and took Charlie from this Earth in his short-lived battle.
Now, she was alone, utterly alone and instead of falling back into her old hermit ways, she decided to get a fresh start, somewhere new and away from everything in Forks that reminded her of her father, her tragic love story and any possibility of ever falling back down into a dark abyss she wouldn't be able to climb back out of.
So now, year five, spending time in New York. Brooklyn to be exact and the bartender at an exclusive night club, Pandemonium. She started off just serving drinks, but then Magnus Bane, the club owner, liked her enough to move her to the bartending position when his last bartender decided to take his life journey elsewhere. She was gracious to Magnus, for being there for her. One of her first friends when she came to the city and was glad to have met him. He was eccentric and everything opposite of what Bella was. Though, she was happier now in New York. She felt fresh and alive, something that she clearly lacked before moving here. It was therapeutic to say the least.
It's also where she met Clary Fray and Simon Lewis for the first time. Simon wandered in, guitar strapped to his back and begged to gig there. Magnus, soft-hearted as he is, allowed him to perform on Thursday nights, before the club got super packed with patrons that just wanted to bump and grind.
Clary was the bubbly red head that was so fun and reminded Bella of her mom. Clary was always pushing the limits and challenging Bella to step outside of her shell more. She was a friend that Bella could count on if she needed her and so far, Bella enjoyed their coffee dates and shopping, despite Bella's past allergy to shopping malls and department stores.
Life was settling in for Bella in the Big Apple state. What could possibly go wrong at this stage?
"Bella, biscuit, can you work extra this weekend. The part time bartender I hired, flaked." Magnus asked Bella, his face pouting. Magnus could pout so well too. His exotic Asian features were accentuated with dark liner and his hair was spiked and styled perfectly on his head. His exquisite taste in clothing was also extravagant. The dark clothing was accented or adorned with swirling mystical fabric, that made him look magical, but clean. His nails were painted dark and his flamboyancy with his flare and dramatics, always drew people in and Bella was not immune to these charms.
Bella smiled at Magnus as she cleaned glasses and set them up for the night before opening. "Hmm. Well, I have no other plans, I will cover again. Though, I would like to have Monday off, so I can go to that Art Museum and see the new exhibit." She said, batting her eyes at Magnus.
Magnus grinned, a catlike grin. "Perfect and of course." He said, leaning over and kissing her cheek before sauntering off in style.
Bella shook her head, still smiling as she finished up with the glasses. She was wearing dark clothing, and she wore a lot more of that since coming to work for Magnus. Her dark wash jeans were tight, making her ass look bigger than it was and she wore a black leather looking tunic tank-top that was tightfitting and made her boobs look great. She was used to dressing up. She made better tips this way and she was proud of her body now. Though she wore a dark bandana wrapped around her wrists to hide her scars.
She glanced up when Hector walked up. He was the bouncer and he was scary enough to fit the part. He was part Samoan, his tats on his arms spiraled, telling a story almost and were tribal in nature. His bearded face was neatly groomed and his dark hair was tousled in curls that waved to his shoulders. He was six foot something and Bella appreciated his stature because, he warded off anyone that Bella didn't really want to interact with. He treated her like a little sister and she liked that.
"It's a full moon out chica." Hector said, leaning on the bar.
Bella poured Hector a pre-shift drink and slid it to him. "Yes, I know. All the crazies will be in here tonight. Monty and Danny working tonight too?"
"Yeah, called them in to help monitor the psychos for the night." Hector said and downed his drink fast. "Stay alert." He said, winking at her before going to the door to open the doors. There was already a line down the sidewalk of patrons, waiting to come inside.
DJ Tax was setting up in the booth, and testing sounds, getting the club ready for the night.
A few moments later the music was bumping, and patrons filtered into the club, ordering drinks, and getting ready to party into the night.
"Bells, can I get one of those purple swirly drinks you make?" Clary asked as she plopped down at the bar.
Bella smiled at her red-headed friend. "Absolutely. Where's Simon?"
"He is going to be late tonight, him and Maia had an argument earlier and he wanted to go by and try to talk to her, and reason."
"Mmm. So, she's still being…"
"Yup." Clary said and took the drink that Bella made. "I wish he would just move on from her. She doesn't deserve someone like Simon and I hate seeing him this way." She said, whining about her best friend since the fourth grade.
Bella poured a few more drinks and passed them to one of the waitresses that was working tonight, that was shuffling drinks to tables. "Well, Simon is an adult. He can make his own mistakes. The more we try to pressure him into something he's not ready for, the worse it'll be."
"Yeah, but… I don't want him to hurt."
"He's your best friend." Bella said gently. "Of course, you don't, but we all have to experience they heart aches at our own pace. Just… be there for him when there's a fallout." She said and moved down the bar to fix a few more drinks.
Magnus made his gallant appearance, floating behind the bar to help Bella, as patrons continued to pile into the club. They worked together really well, moving around each other fluidly without any collisions or loss of drinks.
Simon finally showed up, looking sullen and Bella knew instantly, that the talk he had with Maia, hadn't panned out the way he wanted. "I just want scotch." He muttered as he sat down. Clary was dancing on the dance floor at the moment and hadn't seen him come in. Which was fine, he wanted to get a couple drinks in before he had to admit to his best friend that she was right and he failed at his first ever relationship.
Bella smiled at him. "Hey, don't worry about Maia. She doesn't know what she's losing. You're great Simon, don't let her get you down too much." She said as she poured him the scotch and set it in front of him.
Simon smiled at Bella. "Thanks. You always know how to cheer me up it seems."
"Well, I'm basically a psychologist you know." Bella said and flipped a towel over her shoulder, before pouring more drinks to fill a tray going out to a table.
The night was coming to an even pace, so Magnus set a hand on Bella's shoulder. "Go, take a break, go outside and get a breath of polluted air and relax a moment. I'll manage for a bit without you." He said and kissed her cheek.
"Hmm. I'll do just that." Bella said and then patted Simon's hand before she left the bar and went outside. She walked around to the side of the alley, where no one could see her and she pulled out a pack of cigarettes. A terrible habit, one that she occupied herself with so she wouldn't fall into her own thoughts too much. You could hear the music from the club even out here in the alley, which was just a thumping now. The squeals and honks of the city were still there, as people traveled over the city for whatever shenanigans they got themselves into for the night. She heard a noise and she looked around, not seeing what or who made the sound, but she was alert. She was always on alert when she was alone, at night, in a city as big as this one.
She heard something else and she frowned, putting her cigarette out and walking down the alley a little more. She saw four figures, and that made her curious. She moved closer, careful not to make any sound of her own.
"You thought you could hide away and blend in with the patrons of this club?" The cool voice of a woman sounded. It was dark, so Bella couldn't see clearly, but she could hear okay.
"Just kill me already, I know nothing anyways." One voice spoke, that of a man, but his voice hissed, almost inhuman like.
"No, I think you do know something and you're going to tell me about what you know." Another voice, belonging to a man, but she still couldn't figure out what was going on.
There was brief silence. "He's looking for the cup. He'll stop at nothing until he finds it."
"We already know that." The impatient voice of another man but his voice was lilted with an accent, like he was from England.
Before she knew it, the woman moved a shining blade through the man that sounded inhuman and he burst into dust, flying away in the night.
Bella covered her mouth with a hand, trying not to make a sound, but it was too late, they saw her and before she could turn and run away, she was trapped.
"Who are you?" The woman hissed at her.
Bella could see her face better now, being this close. Her eyes were dark, matching her own and it appeared her hair was dark as well. "Um… Bella, I'm a bartender here at Pandemonium." She explained quickly.
"Iz, she can see us." The man with the accent said quietly.
The woman, now named Iz, narrowed her eyes at Bella, looking her over. "What are you?"
"Just a bartender. Listen, I didn't really see anything, I'm-"
"Bring her back to the institute." The other man said, his grey-blue eyes were brighter in the night than Iz's. He had dark hair from what Bella could tell, but the foreign one, Bella only saw a hood and golden eyes.
"W-what?" Bella squeaked, then Iz did something and Bella saw darkness.