"What's your name?" he said; his words came out sharply and coldly.
"Laura," I responded meekly- I hadn't known him long, but already I could sense that if I didn't comply, this man would do terrible things to me. I shuddered at the thought, thoroughly disturbed by it.
"I am Sebastian," he informed me shortly, in a clipped tone "And you're what we've been looking for," a shiver raked its way down my spine at his words, ice now tingling in my veins. The sentence would have sounded ridiculously melodramatic, had it not been for the ice in his tone as he uttered it.
"Though I must say I was expecting someone a bit more...monumental," he continued, drawing out the last word, extenuating each syllable. I gritted my teeth, biting back a retort.
"You'll do though, don't you worry about that," he went on, his gaze completely fixated upon me causing me to shift uncomfortably under his scrutiny. Seemingly amused, Sebastian lazily reached down and yanked me up from the ground. I struggled against the hold, but Sebastian didn't seem to notice my strife for freedom and simply tightened his grip on my arm. However, I had to somewhat support myself using his arm, as much as I hated it- my ankle felt tender and I couldn't put pressure on it.
"What do you mean?" I demanded, the sentence tumbling out of my mouth, still fighting his hold "Why would you be looking for me..." I stopped speaking midriff, the words seeming stupid even as I said them. Sebastian didn't say anything, just gave me a slow, voracious smile that spread across his face, creasing the skin at the corner of his eyes. He was very attractive, for a psychopath. I mentally shook myself, averting my thoughts from that track. Sebastian chuckled softly; the air from his mouth blowing against my skin- it was warm and had an incense of burnt wood to it. I felt a sickening sense of attraction to him that made my stomach to twist. I hated myself for my shallowness, for being attracted to a man that had clearly something wrong with him. Without a sound, or any warning, Sebastian scooped me up into his arms. Before I could fight him off, however, he began scrawling a strange symbol onto my arm with a strange metal rod that had suddenly materialised in his hand. It was oddly similar to the tattoos I had seen lacing Jace and Clary's arms, but instead of an inky black, this tattoo was a blood red. I opened my mouth to say something, but I was robbed of my voice. I tried to move my arms and legs in an attempt to get away but my limbs would not respond. My entire body suddenly relaxed completely, leaving me limp in Sebastian's arms, my head lolling and my eyes unseeing. Damn it, I will not give in so easily I told myself sternly. I would not be some pathetic little girl. I heard a shout from behind me, which distracted Sebastian, who had almost finished scrawling the tattoo onto my skin. I managed to conjure up enough energy to use my fingers, which I wielded to scour my fingernails down Sebastian's arms. Purely out of shock more than anything else and the distraction from the shouting behind, he dropped me. I hit the ground with a thud, the impact with the wet concrete jolting my senses back into action. I scrambled to my feet and moved just in time to avoid the shape that hurtled toward Sebastian, knocking him down. The shape and Sebastian were fighting on the ground now, throwing punches at each other and grappling for each other's throats. Blood was now tingeing the puddles of water on the ground a revolting translucent crimson. I pulled myself up from the floor with shaking hands, pressing my back up against the narrow alleyway wall. Sebastian threw the shape off of him, sending the person shooting through the air. Miraculously, they landed on their feet, only a few metres away from me, within an arm's reach. They twisted to face me and I immediately recognised the face that had been haunting me for week's now- Simon. The look on his face was heart-breaking, a cross-over between scepticism, apprehension and... Relief? Did he care about what happened to me? His mouth bobbed open, as if about to say something but was cut off by Sebastian grabbing him by his hair and slamming his head against the wall. I shrieked out Simons name and before I had time to consciously decide what I was about to do I ran at Sebastian. Once I reached him, I grabbed him by the forearm and watching with satisfaction as his skin sizzled beneath my touch. My fire was back again. This time I felt different, more powerful almost. It was like my instincts took over as I raised my other hand and flicked my wrist to the side. The effect was immediate- Sebastian made a choking noise and toppled backwards, his face very red all of a sudden and his chest heaving as he tried to suck in air. Somehow, I had cut off his oxygen supply. I studied him with a cold, unfeeling look. His eyes no longer looked sadistic, more pleading, when his gaze locked upon mine. I should have stopped, I needed to stop. It wasn't me, no matter how terrible this man was. It was like breaking the surface of water after staying beneath the surface too long when I snapped out of my daze. I suddenly broke free and any connection I had with Sebastian cut off, releasing him. I cringed and flinched away, shocked at myself. Sebastian was panting, heaving out heavy breaths of air, a hand pressed against his chest. His pitch black eyes were observing me, his face a spasm of pain, anger and admiration. I was completely bemused by him. It felt like eternity as we glowered at each other, our eyes locked in an internal battle. Abruptly Sebastian severed the eye contact and then he gave me one last, meaningful sneer. The look was disturbing enough to make me recoil. And then Sebastian dissolved into the night, the shadows folding over him and embracing him into their arms. He was gone.
As soon as Sebastian disappeared, I rushed over to Simon who was slumped against the wall, blood leaking down his forehead. He straightened his back when he saw me and then was standing up beside me in a sudden blur of movement. We studied each other for a moment and then the next Simon had taken me tightly in his arms. I relaxed into the embrace and clasped my hands together tightly behind his back. No warmth radiated from his body and I couldn't feel a heartbeat, but the sound of his soft breathing made me feel strangely tranquil and calm. I knew that all good things must come to an end, though. And yet evil never ceased to exist. Simon gently pulled away from me and I broke off the hold completely, taking a step back. A part of me went hollow and pleaded for more but I ignored it.
"What is going on?" I demanded, this time not bothering this time to conceal my upset and annoyance at being kept in the dark. Simon consulted me carefully for a few seconds, eyes flickering back and forth over my face. And then he explained everything to me.
"There are deeper aspects to our world than you would ever think possible," he began, flourishing his hands as he did so "There are those who live secretly amongst us- Downworlders such as vampires, werewolves and Warlocks- and then there are also Shadowhunters,"
"What are Shadowhunters?" I asked quietly.
"Shadowhunters are half angel, half human and they kill Demons," he said simply, looking at me as if checking if I was coping- I tilted my head forward to encourage him to continue "Demons don't belong in this world, they have no soul- from them Downworlders spawn but... Downworlders do have souls," he trailed off slightly. I waited patiently for him to elaborate- my mind was taking it all in very slowly anyway.
"Sebastian is a Shadowhunter; but he is also part demon. He has a sister, Clary, who is the opposite- she's more angel than most Shadowhunters," he continued; the name rang a bell and I scrunched up my face trying to remember who it was- then it clicked. Clary and Jace from the cafe. No wonder they had been staring at me and Simon.
"Clary is my best friend and that's how I got dragged into this all. I used to be a mundane," he went on and I pulled a puzzled face at the last word. I knew what the definition of mundane was but I didn't quite understand its exact context to this.
"Human," Simon added hastily, after seeing my expression. I didn't say anything for a moment, contemplating if there was anything actually to say.
"What are you then Simon?" I inquired; trying to keep the tremble from my voice- I already knew the answer.
"I'm a vampire," he replied as smoothly as he could, but his voice tightened at the last word, as if it tormented him. I grimaced and moved forward to place a hand on Simon's shoulder- he stiffened when I did.
"It's okay..." I started, but another question was tugging at my mind "So how can you walk in daylight?"
"I drank some of Jace's blood- he's Clary's boyfriend- and he is slightly more angelic than most other Shadowhunters too, so when I drank his blood I became..."
"...The Daylighter," I finished for him- he winced, but didn't say anything more to correct me "I'm sorry that this happened to you," I said and I was. The look on his face ripped at my heart, and I felt tears prickle in my eyes.
"I kind of asked for it though, going into a world I didn't belong to-"
"No you didn't you were just looking out for your friend. That's what friends do,"
"It was more than friendship," Simon said with a slight hesitation before doing so "I loved her," It was like I'd been hit in the stomach by the words, and I almost staggered back as if I had actually received a blow. A heat bloomed in my cheeks and I twisted my head away, not wanting to meet his eyes again.
"I don't anymore, I found someone else but..." He hesitated and my heart was slowly becoming more and more crushed and compressed "A girl called Maureen killed her," he said finally. I snapped my head up sharply at his last words, my emotions a horrifying mixture of disbelief, empathy for Simon and... Relief. I hated myself for it; I couldn't believe the thought that this girl he had loved was dead had lessened the weight on my chest.
"Simon... Do I belong in this world?" I asked quietly, diverting the conversation to something less sickening and painful.
"Obviously, if you almost killed Sebastian and set fire to Raphael," he responded immediately, a hint of half-hearted humour to his tone despite the seriousness of topic we had just discussed- maybe he was trying to derail the conversation as well. The rain started to pummel down on us again and I shivered. Simon, noticing this, took my hand and began to guide me out of the alleyway.
"Where are we going?"
"My apartment, seeing as I think you're Downworlder and they can't enter the Institute," he informed me shortly. My eyebrows shot up on my forehead, utterly sceptical about what he had just stated but Simon didn't even seem to notice this. We carried on walking down the alleyway, still hand in hand- I liked the cold pressure of his fingers wrapped around mine. It made me feel like I had finally found someone who would support me, no matter what. I tightened my grip on his hand, not ever wanting to lose that feeling. But the world was not kind to people like me and I was acutely aware how things had to end. And they always did.