I'M BAAACK. In other words, November break has started and I have time to stay up until 2 am writing crazy shit! WOOO SLEEP DEPRIVATION!
OH AND my lovely buddy Giantsavour is tryna teach me how to answer my reviews so:
AHEM *fastens newly bought bow tie* Dearest Bumbling Bunnies, I guess you could say Skylar is in charge, I didn't plan for her to be like the head of the group but she just has the right personality for it. I'M SO SORRY I DIDN'T ANSWER SOONER BRO. THNAK YOU SO MUCH FOR READING LOVE YOU.
Last thing: It has occurred to me that there is a fantastic typo in my previous chapter, but it's so freaking hilarious I'm leaving it 'cause damn.
Without further ado, another chapter of my…interesting fanfic.
We got out of the creepy amphitheatre as fast as possible. I was paranoid and felt like something was going to throw a knife at my back, so I walked in front of everyone and couldn't help but run up the stairs. Once I was in the familiar, light space of the library, the fact I might be able to help- to really help the people I'd probably be dead without drove me up the stairs and to my room.
"Tara! Where are you going?" Sylynn yelled after me, though no one else bothered to stop me. I acted so crazy all the time, this really was not an out-of-character action for me. Well, maybe the running part.
I shouldered open my door, and searched through the mess on the floor for my laptop, careful not to step on any hair clips hidden beneath a layer of discarded clothes. I heard feet starting to pound up the wooden stairs, and finally caught sight of a shiny black rectangle sitting on the bathroom counter. I already had google up and running by the time everyone had made it into my room.
"There is so much clutter yet so much space in this room…" Jacques started, basically meaning, this is the most horrendous excuse of a bedroom I've ever seen. His eyes darted frantically over the heaps of unorganized items. He stayed at the door, not a toe over the edge of the door way as if my room was a toxic waste zone.
"OCD," someone scoffed. I guessed it was Seth.
I typed in the address before I could forget it: 87 Desjardins Boulevard, Paris, France, in the search bar. I need to see things to remember them, and had used that visual method to study languages for nearly ten years before Skylar had told me about the possibility of me having a photographic memory. Well, that still didn't help with being a pitiful Shadowhunter, but I'll take whatever I can get.
"What does that help us with-" Vesper said, squinting at the screen. She wore a handkerchief around her neck like a cowboy, though its pattern of skull and crossbones made it fitting. I found it ironic how Skylar and Mae were the two people closest to me on the bed, and the only two who didn't have a completely confused look on their face. Scratch that- they were confused, they just hadn't questioned what I was doing yet.
Results popped up, and I clicked on one that seemed relevant. It was a twitter account for the address, and as I scrolled through I figured out this address seemed to be a party house. There were dates, invitations, and reminders, but nothing that screamed murdering cult that gets bored of their house and breaks into the Institute of Paris' basement. That's when I realized that Gennaia must have let them in. Let cruel, strange people into our home while we were oblivious. It made me uneasy, like when you've been robbed and your home just doesn't feel yours anymore.
Before my mind could jump to too horrible of conclusions, a tweet popped up and brought my cursor back to the top of the page.
Reminder: solstice party for our members on the 21! Dress nice!
The tweet had so many overly-cheery emojis in it, it was like a thick coat icing on a rotten cake. The cover up didn't get rid of that awful taste, I knew this wasn't just a party. For all I knew, that girl's death had been a "party" for them.
"We're going to that," I said, stabbing the screen once m thoughts had processed. I looked up to see people reading the tweet for themselves, then the questions flooded in. I forgot no one else had been in that room with me.
"Seriously? A party? You come out of a secret room with no evidence to who killed Gennaia but a party invitation?" Skylar was laughing with skeptism.
I rushed to explain, soaking up the attention I was getting- I'm a bit of a narcissist. I went through the story and mentioned the ghost, my promise, the clues, and left out the bit about me almost pissing my pants. Not that they'd be all that surprised to be honest.
"That's about one week from now," Daniel put in.
"I'm all for invading some party and whoopin' some guy's ass," Mae said, her eyes shining with excitement. Dressing up and beating up people, two of her favourite things. "But, how does that help us exactly?"
I turned to her, grinning. Her ad I were so close sometimes her mood was contagious. Not that that was always a good thing for everyone else. "If we go to this, we can find out who did the stabby-stabby to Gennaia and creepy chick in the basement. Then, we can stabby-stabby that guy and we will be safe and everything will be butterflies and rainbows."
"Okay woah with the stabby-stabby," Jacques finally came in. "I get we're all pumped about this but I'm just going to say murdering this guy right off the bat might not be the best idea. We could actually get arrested."
Right. Murder was bad. I forgot about that. My plan seemed a lot more gruesome when I thought about it.
"I hate to admit it, but Jacques has a point," Skylar started. "We're going to go," me and Mae exchanged excited glances, "but for intel only. No one is dying," she declared.
Sylynn was in a corner, listening intently and now smiling like a dummy like me and Mae. "Could you say that again? I want to record it. We just sound so badass," she finished with a laugh.
"Ho-ly SHIT. This is happening. Woah." Mae was beside me, wearing shoes that passed for dressy but were easy to fight in. I looked back at her, and didn't even have to say anything. I couldn't believe we were actually doing this either.
Throughout the week, we had realized oh yeah, we're not members, oh yeah, we have no transportation, oh yeah… And a list of problems that went on, and on, and on. So in between forcing Vesper and Skylar into dresses we had to sit down and come up with a way to get in a not draw too much attention to ourselves. The final plan had been all the girls and Jacques would have to find connections to get in. Seth and Daniel would stay back and guard the Institute, and Jacques' powers would probably come in useful throughout the night.
It was the seventeenth, the Saturday before the twenty first. Taxis had dumped us out on the street that lead to a bar that was frequented by members of the shadow world. I had to hold on to Mae's arm, as my heels were essentially stilts and my balance was horrible to begin with. We couldn't draw attention to ourselves at the party, but tonight was all about getting attention.
Essentially, we had decided that on a Friday night one of us girls with the help of a few drinks we could get a guy…or girl…or faerie, werewolf, vampire, warlock, or Shadowhunter or someone to be drunk enough to invite us.
"You look like a hooker," Jacques commented, surveying our group with a smirk on his face.
"Does everything looks like a hooker to you?" I shot back, having heard this insult from Jacques many times before. It didn't help that yeah, I was a little under aged and had put a dash of makeup on here and there. And yeah, my outfit showed off…a lot. But whatever, these guys went pretty and normal, someone had to go slutty. I was going to have to shoot myself because I kind of enjoyed it. I told myself it was confidence I was getting from all the lingering stares.
"He's right you know," Vesper joined in, teasing. Pretty much everyone agreed.
We started walking in, and Skylar went over the plan again. "Okay, so we are socialising, or in Tara's case just straight up stripping," I glared at her, even though I couldn't help but laugh with everyone else, "to try and get someone to get us into that party. And remember, stay close 'cause this place can be dangerous and is probably full of creeps."
"Aw, come on what's a night out in Paris without a little danger?" Vesper said, adrenaline practically leaking into her voice. Her bouncy jittery state spread to Mae and Sylynn and Skylar, and I remembered that for the four of them- Vesper, Sylynn, Skylar, and Mae- this was probably routine after all the little "hunting" trips they were sent out for. I couldn't help but feel a twinge of sadness at knowing what I missed out on. I remembered Jacques was out of his element too, but that didn't help much.
"A night that doesn't exist in our lives," Skylar sighed, but you could tell she wouldn't have it any other way. She stopped us as we rounded a corner and came face-to face with the entrance. I didn't need to put in any effort to peel away the glamour on the place. There were neon signs covering nearly every inch of window space, and black paper covering the windows. You could see flashing lights behind the curling edges of the paper, and could already hear the roar of the place over the street noise. "Also, don't drink ANYTHING."
She pushed the door open, and we were in.
In for my first taste of the real world.
Sorry this chapter is super short, but I swear there's more coming soon! Next one will be longer I promise (: PLEASE REVIEW I LOVE YOU PEOPLE THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR READING!