I told you I'd update soon. And, I also told you this chapter would be longer. Well, as promised: the longest chapter yet. I tried to make this one super-light hearted, so ENJOY!
As always, please review. Even if it's hate. I really just want to hear what people think. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR READING, LOVE YOU, AND WITHOUT FURTHER ADO, ZE NEXT CHAPTAR!
June 17, 2016.
The bar was loud. Like, rock-concert loud. There were tables where people sat with their drinks to one side, and to the other a dance floor and a live DJ. At the back of the room there were bathrooms and a counter where two or three bartenders were moving so fast it seemed as if they had four arms. One of them did have four arms, but minor details.
After entering, I looked at the group and broke off to sit at a table with Mae. We went for one right in the middle of the setup, and squeezed into one side of the booth. This way, it seemed more likely people would sit down with us. It took a total of five seconds before Mae seemed bored.
"We should call someone over," I suggested, yelling at her even though she was right beside me.
It took her a minute, which meant I probably wasn't loud enough. It would take a while for our ears to adjust to the skull-throbbing bass. Luckily, her lip-reading talents came in useful, and she scoured our surroundings, and pointed at a guy on the dance floor.
"He's hot. I wouldn't mind if he came over."
I couldn't argue. Dark spiked up air, thick black frames, tall, lean, sharp-ass jawline, Jesus: what more could you ask for? He reminded me of the American Spiderman in the movies Vesper had forced me to watch. She was obsessed with the heroes from companies like Marvel. I suddenly liked those heroes a little more.
A girl slid into the booth across from us. She had flowers in her hair, which was elegantly braided off to the side. A faerie, I guessed. I wondered how she was allowed in here after the mass betrayal they pulled a few years ago. They were still unforgiven, it was one of the most despicable events in the history of the Shadow World.
"Look at the little Shadowhunters. All dressed up to actually seem intimidating," she taunted. "I can't tell, did someone punch you in the face or is that just really bad makeup?"
Mae opened her mouth to say something, but I beat her to it.
"How did you even get in here?" I asked, calmer than I should be.
"What? You mean how hard was it to sweet-talk the owner? In that case, not very."
"No, I was just very concerned the iron doorknob may have burned your hand," I said, and slammed my hand down on fragile twig like fingers. There was a burning sound, followed by a scream. She jerked her hand back, caressing it close to her chest. She looked at me like she couldn't believe what just happened.
"You bitch," she snarled. "You will fucking pay," she warned, before getting up and disappearing towards the back of the room.
"Tara!" Mae exclaimed. I was afraid I'd get in trouble, I'd never been so mean to anyone before.
"I'm sorry- she's a traitor, and she was insulting us-"
"That was awesome! How did you-" Mae started, beaming with pride. It wasn't the reaction I'd expected, but it was definitely a favourable one.
I smiled, her cheerfulness contagious. I held up my hand: "Family ring," I explained. "Iron."
Skylar came over, slid into the booth, and everyone else followed suit. "What the heck happened over here?
"Tara just burned some faerie bitch," Mae explained, an evil smile on her face. We shared the same overly-excited expression.
"No," Skylar started mock-scolding us, her voice serious but her eyes light. "No burning people on your first night out as a part of the team." She smiled, and I could tell she actually didn't mind us getting a little sidetracked for a bit.
"Ten bucks says Tara's the only one who can't complete the mission," Vesper put in, keeping the conversation going.
"Hey! I am fucking irresistible. I can totally get some guy to give me a stupid ticket…" I started to defend myself, still smiling and joking.
"Your voice goes up three octaves when you're talking to Daniel, and it's probably worse when it's a guy you don't even know. I don't think guys find voice cracks all that attractive." Skylar observed.
"Maybe one day she'll find a guy who has more voice cracks than she does," Sylynn speculated, using her hands as if she could see the future between them.
"That'll probably be when she's forty, being a cougar and raping twelve year olds," Jacques said. A little dark but even I laughed at that.
"If she lives 'til forty," Sylynn said, causing the group to smile. The joke flew over my head, and I was so confused.
"What's that supposed to mean?" I asked, wanting to enjoy the joke too.
"Nothing, just that you have no muscle, and can't even use a dagger properly," Vesper explained teasingly.
"Yeah, well I don't need a dagger or muscle to complete this mission," I started getting defensive. I don't know why, I knew they were just messing around. Maybe it was because it was my first time out in the field with them, and that made it seem like I was just dead weight. I didn't want to be a burden. I wanted to prove I was actually a Shadowhunter, one that could complete missions like they did. "Watch and learn," I said, and sauntered off to the bar.
I sat at the bar alone, trying to look as lonely as possible. Some poor guy had offered to buy me a drink already, but I had got rid of him. He seemed sketchy, like homeless-guy-who-snuck-in kind of sketchy, and he had no idea what I was talking about when I brought up the twenty-first. I started stirring the ice in a used glass idly, getting hopeless with my mission.
"You look like you could use a hug!" I heard some guy with a squeaky voice call. Oh lord. I turned around, praying he wasn't talking to me. Thankfully, he was so drunk he was talking to the bleach blonde bartender, and was nearly toppling over as he came off the dance floor.
"For the twentieth time Haiden, take your drink and go." She said dismissively, though the smile that showed off her needle-like incisors said she didn't mind the attention. She slid the drink down the counter, past me. Haiden took the drink winked at the bartender, then at me, and went back out to dance. As he went back out, another guy clapped him on the back, beaming. I recognized him as the one Mae had pointed out earlier: dark hair, glasses. Do NOT fuck this up, I ordered myself, noticing he was coming in my direction.
He came up and ordered, flashing a grin at the vampire bartender.
"Thanks love," He got his drink then turned around. You've got to be kidding me. An accent? Are you trying to make this as difficult as possible?
Instead of leaving, he leaned back against the bar and sipped at the cyan concoction in his hand. He waved to a group of people, which I identified as a pack of werewolves who had welcomed Haiden into their circle. He didn't seem like a werewolf, but they were cheering him on as he attempted to slowly descend into the splits.
"Hey," I called, looking up from my glass. To my surprise, he actually heard me. He looked up, the glint of neon lights off his glasses nearly blinding me. Now was my chance. "You going to the party on the twenty-firstt?" I asked, gesturing towards him with the glass I was holding, trying to imitate the easy confidence I saw coming off the girls he had been standing with.
"The solstice? Don't your type think that's some sort of doomsday?" I could tell he was joking, but still my type? What was that supposed to mean? That's when I noticed the lack of runes on his arms, which seemed bare compared to the dark symbols that covered me from head to toe. He didn't have a family ring either, and I couldn't help but feel a little disappointed. Not a Shadowhunter.
"Ha-ha. Hilarious." I said smiling, trying to play off the insult. "Seriously," I hit him on the shoulder. "Are you going? I need help finding a date." By the Angel, Jacques was right. I even sounded like a goddamn hooker.
"I know she's going." He pointed to a girl in his group. "But, if you're into guys… how 'bout Haiden? He's going, and look at those moves." I laughed as we both took a moment to watch Haiden try to do the worm, but he ended up looking like he was going into convulsions instead. "All the ladies," the guy beside me said, grinning as his friend was pulled out of the circle by one of the girls. "We are talking 'bout the one at the Day-garday place right?"
I couldn't help but laugh at the way he butchered the name. Obviously he was a tourist, if he couldn't even say one of the city's addresses properly. "Yes, the party at 87 Desjardins Boulevard." I corrected, smiling more than I should have. I took a moment to look out across the bar, and spotted my group. Mae was making her way over, while the twins and Skylar were dying of laughter and pointing at me. I wasn't that horrible of a flirt was I? Who was I kidding, I could hear my own voice creeping up octave by octave when I talked to this guy.
"You sure my date isn't gonna be hungover come the twenty-first?" I said, trying not to get side tracked. I needed to get invited to this thing, I couldn't let tonight be a complete failure. I had to prove I was useful for something, otherwise I'd be stuck in that library forever. The guy laughed.
"Hey, if he is, I'll carry 'im in. I think he likes you." We watched as Haiden ran over to Mae. Her red dress sure got her a lot of attention. "Or maybe not." He offered Mae his drink, and she looked equal parts disgusted and on the verge of dying of laughter as he made her hold it, got on the ground and gave her a show of his break dancing. "Oh my fucking god, he is SO wasted," Spiderman said, laughing and shielding eyes with one hand. I was too busy laughing at Mae and her weirded out look as she left Haiden, who was too wrapped up in his dance to notice her departure.
After I recovered from laughing so hard, I tried to bring up the party again. "So you are going right? My date looks like he needs someone to hold his leash at a fancy place like that," I said, remembering the pictures of the high-end house on the twitter account.
Without a moment's notice, Spiderman reached by me, and I flinched. I guess it's an instinct you get after being someone like me in a world like this. I noticed after the fact he was going for my phone. He stopped after he grabbed it: "I'm not going to hurt you," he said, noticing my reaction. "Password?" he continued, holding up a keypad on my phone's screen, shrugging off the serious moment with the smile of a thief.
"Look who you found," Mae came up, looking between me and… I realized I didn't even know this guy's name. I took the phone from him as she introduced herself, taking the moment of distraction to type in my extensively long password.
"One of those people, huh?" He said, noticing how long it took. I didn't realize the two of them had been watching. Hey, I've got a memory, why not put it to use?
"Yeah," I smiled, about to give him my phone. "Wait, why should I give you my phone again?" I asked, playfully holding the device away.
"Do you want my number or not?" He said, holding out his palm, grinning tauntingly.
I looked at Mae.
Mae looked at me.
Without words we both said, HOLY SHIT.
It worked. By the Angel, it worked.
"Fine," I said, recovering from my moment of shock, but acting like it was no big deal. He took the phone, leaned against the bar, and started typing.
"Did that just happen?" Mae asked. "Do you SEE how hot he is? Did you HEAR that accent?"
"I know, I know, I know," I said excitedly, ready to bounce off walls, unsuccessfully trying to fangirl with Mae without him noticing.
He handed back my phone, and Mae and I pulled our act together. I looked at the contact, then up at him.
"Corn?" I repeated what I read in the first name slot. Mae snorted, extremely ladylike, behind me.
"Coen." He corrected, taking the phone and changing the letter. "Stupid autocorrect. I'll see you at the party…"
"Tara," I supplied. "Tara Nightwalker." I held up my family ring, which showed no trace of having being used as a weapon. I showed the pattern of moon phases around the ancient band.
"Tuesday! See you then!" He called as way of greeting as he finally disappeared back into the group I suspected was his pack, given he wasn't a Shadowhunter. I suddenly had a new appreciation for the new lack of bad blood between Shadowhunters and Downworlders.
"Did you just get into the party?" Mae asked, still dazed.
"I think so… Looks like you did too," I said as Haiden came back over to get another glass after he lost the one he gave to Mae.
He came up beside us, and sat down on a barstool beside Mae. He ordered, then turned to Mae, and didn't blink. He put his hand next to Mae's.
"You dropped this."
I started laughing and looked away as Haiden continued to stare at Mae. It was so scary and weird, I found it hilarious for some reason.
"Excuse me?" She asked, in an I-dare-you-to-keep-going tone.
"You dropped it. Now you have to pick it up." He said, moving her hand with his free one so that they were holding hands. "Was that so hard?"
I wish you could have seen the look on her face, dear God, I was laughing so hard I was sure I'd been drugged.
"Do it for the party, Mae," I reminded her while gasping for air. As funny as this was, this was her chance to get in.
She looked at me, blew out an exasperated breath, and turned to Haiden, whose eyes were still as wide as saucers. "I'm Mae." She said, completely unimpressed.
"No." He started, and Mae gave him a questioning look. "You're google, because I've finally found what I've been searching for."
She looked back at me, a pleading look in her eyes: Do I have to?
I nodded and continued giggling in my place.
"Since I'm the best thing that's ever happened to you, you'd better bring me to the party on the twenty-first, right?"
Haiden looked so happy and shocked that his little pick-up lines had "worked". He beamed: "I better give you my number for insurance purposes, since I fell for you."
Rolling her eyes, Mae handed over her phone. "Does he practice these in the mirror or something?"
"You should ask him. I'm guessing he does."
"I can't wait for Seth to hear about this." We both looked at Haiden, then each other, and started laughing. His scrawny pale arms wouldn't stand a chance against Seth. There wasn't one rune on him, and I couldn't pick out what he was, which was strange. Haiden handed back Mae's phone.
"Text me babe," he said, purposefully lowering his voice so that he sounded like Elvis. Then he staggered back off into the crowd, already having forgotten about his new drink. "I HAVE A DATE FOR TUESDAY!" He screamed, raising his hands in the air as a sign of victory. His group cheered, and me Mae descended into hysterical laughter, again.
"TARA!" Someone grabbed me by the shoulders. I jumped, and my hand went to a Seraph blade hidden under my clothes as I spun around. The weapon wouldn't have done me much good anyway, it had been years since I had last used one. I didn't need to unsheathe the runed blade though- I simply came face to face with Jacques, who was standing a little to close in an attempt to scare me. Well, should have seen that coming.
"Someone's jumpy," Skylar noticed. Vesper snickered at how sloppily I had went for my only weapon.
"Okay my bestest friends," Sylynn said, her words slurred. She hooked her arms around me and Mae. "Time to journey back to our residence." I looked at Skylar, Vesper, and Jacques for an explanation as to why Sylynn was talking like an uneducated person from the Victorian Era.
"She had to chug a whole glass of a vampire drink to get her ticket!" Skylar shouted over the change in music, which I had thought my ears had gotten used to. "It was a bet with some werewolf!"
"She's waaaaaasted," Vesper mouthed, to clarify. I nodded and laughed, as we started towards the door.
"MAE!" Our whole group spun around. It was Haiden, full-on sprinting with open arms towards the little Brazilian girl on the other side of Sylynn. He wrapped his arms around her, nearly spilling another drink on her dress.
"By the Angel, what do you want?!" She grunted, struggling to get out of his surprisingly tight embrace.
"My mum told me to chase my dreams," Haiden said, looking at the roof as if it were a sky full of stars, and he was at the end of a dramatic movie.
"Cool. Let go, now." Her tone was threatening.
Haiden let go, a little taken aback by her seriousness. "Feisty. I like that. And I forgot your tickets. One for you," he said, his voice cracking on you. He handed one ticket to Mae, another to me. Starting to giggle, he finished, "And one for you. That's from Coen by the way. See you later my SEXY SHADOWHUNTER SUGAR!"
"Um…" Jacques looked genuinely terrified as Haiden melted back into the crowd. I was proud I hadn't needed his magic to get invited.
"Sexy Shadowhunter Sugar? How many drinks has that guy had?" Vesper asked, sharing the same what-did-I-just-witness look as Jacques.
Mae couldn't answer. "What the fuck..." She managed to get out, crying she was laughing so hard.
Skylar hailed a cab, keeping on task as everyone told stories about their experiences. Later, I trudged in through the door of the Institute (which I had to get Sylynn and Vesper to open for me, it was so heavy in my tired state) around three in the morning. I looked at the stairs, where Mae had one foot on a step, her head resting on her arm on the rail, and was complaining about the effort it would take to walk all the way up to her room. I decided to shuffle straight into the dining room, where there was an overstuffed couch pushed up against one wall for decoration.
I laid down, pulling a mat off the floor and using it as a blanket. I fell asleep before I saw everyone else settle. Listening to the hushed voices, I smiled. After worrying so much about our situation, I looked at the people I had to help me through this, and realized something.
It's going to be okay.
I could not have been more wrong.