Mortal Instruments 1. Chapter 1

Lucy twisted her arm behind her back, rummaging around in her backpack for her keys. Mumbling to herself about never being ready when she got to the door, her fingers finally rested on the cool metal, and she pulled them free with a small sound of victory.

She quickly let herself into the apartment and threw her hefty bag on the chair beside the door, rolling her stiff shoulders to ease the tension. The walk home from school always took forever, and left her with a sore back from the heavy weight of her textbooks. Honestly, why was it important for every subject to have its own book?

She ran her hand through her chocolate-colored hair as she walked into the kitchen for a snack. A lone piece of paper on the fridge door caught her attention. Mom's latest list of chores.

_Lucy,_

_Here are the things that need to be done while Steve and I are away. We're spending the week in Washington. Have fun._

_-Mom_

Signed just Mom. Typical. Not like she would ever say 'I love you' to Lucy; so why would she sign it?

So she was taking a trip with Steve. Again. This had to be the third one in just that month. Lucy hated Steve. He was nothing but a drunk that charmed her mother into thinking that he loved her so he could continue to get free booze and a house.

Lucy took a deep breath before even glancing at the list. Her jaw nearly met the floor. The list was massive. It would surely take her all week without break to finish everything. The fleeting thought of just not doing it crossed her mind, but she quickly cast it away.

Punishment was always worse than spending a whole week cleaning. She wouldn't go back to sitting in her room for days on end without anything to while the hours away. She needed freedom like she needed air.

Tugging her scarf and jacket off, she started on the list of Death.

Three hours into cleaning and Lucy was truly exhausted. She had dusted every inch of the apartment and vacuumed until she was sure she was going to suck up the carpet, and still she had so much left to do.

But despite how tired she was, she couldn't regret staying up all night studying for her math test. Math was her weak point, and she needed a good grade to keep HOPE. She couldn't afford to lose it. She didn't have the money to pay out of pocket.

She was abruptly thrust from her thoughts when something loudly beat on the window, causing her to almost jump out of her skin.

Lucy cautiously crept to the window to see what hit it. Lying at the base along the narrow fire escape was a small Robin.

"Oh no!" Lucy cried, covering her mouth with her shaking hand, opening the window and crawling out so she could crouch beside the bird.

The robin looked up at her, clearly in pain. It tried to get up but quickly found itself back on the ground when it put weight on its leg.

Lucy bit her lip and glanced around. She hadn't done this in a long time, but it was like riding a bike: you never forget how to do it. Deeming that the coast was clear, Lucy laid her hands on the bird and closed her eyes with a deep breath.

A second later her eyes shot open, revealing the glowing white orbs instead of her usual emerald green. The warmth spread from her chest down her arms to her hands and into the bird. In her mind she saw everything.

She knew that its leg was broken, given that she could see the jagged dark line in the white bone and the torn tissue around it. Concentrating the energy there, she slid the bone back into place and mended it together.

The bird shot out from under her hands chirping as it flew away. Lucy smiled a little to herself despite the bone-deep exhaustion she was now feeling. Healing others was always worth it.

Suddenly a dark hood was thrust over her face, sending everything into darkness. Arms grabbed her from behind and pinned her hands behind her back while she instinctively flailed.

"Let go of me!" She screamed but to no avail. The arms held tight. She kicked and twisted wildly. This was a rough part of town, and all kinds of thoughts were firing through her head.

"Careful. We need her alive," A male voice said form somewhere to her left. The person holding her arms loosened their grip slightly, giving her her opportunity. With all her strength she shoved herself backwards into the person who, taken by surprise, stumbled backwards.

They hit the flimsy railing of the fire escape and broke through it, sending them both over the edge. The feeling of falling was interrupted by an agonizing force slamming into her, then there was nothing.

Oo-_-oO

I know what y'all are thinking. Why is she starting a new story when she should be updating her other one. For one, I'm sorry for the delay. Two words: college and writers-block. They don't mix together well. I'll try to update my other one soon, but for now I would love to hear your feedback on this story. Good, bad, changes? Hate it so much you broke your computer? Any feedback at all would be really helpful to me. Feedback helps keep me motivated. Thanks for reading!


	2. Chapter 2

Lucy tore her way back to consciousness. She could hear voices talking in the background. A few voices actually. Where was she? What happened? She seemed to be lying on the ground. It was frigid and hard against her back.

Finally her eyes opened, but she immediately squinted them against the harsh light and jagged pain slicing through her skull. Without thinking she shakily brought her hand up to her head in an attempt to quell the nauseating throb. It was met with the warm wetness of blood.

She must have made a noise because the voices speaking came to an abrupt halt. The only sound was her own ragged breathing.

"Good," a voice said suddenly from right above her. When had they come closer? She hadn't heard their footsteps. "I thought you never were going to wake up. Pathetic half-breed," he spat.

Lucy could feel herself frown. Half-breed? What did he mean half-breed? She wanted to ask a million questions, but all that came out was, "Wha…?" The voice, male, above her scoffed.

"Surely you are still not abstracted from your fall. You have been out for over fourteen hours." Fourteen hours? The thought swam around her head, making her even dizzier than she was. Suddenly, cold water was thrust onto her face.

She sat upright with a strangled cry of surprise, her eyes shooting open and taking in her first look at her surroundings.

The walls and ceiling were made up of serrated rock, and so was the floor that she was currently sitting on. There was no furniture other than a bucket in a corner that Lucy didn't want to think about what it was used for, and a door seated on one side of the room. She turned her head around and saw a boy holding a now-empty bucket in his hands wearing a mask of coldness.

Lucy held her breath as she looked at him. He seemed to be around eighteen, her age. His eyes were dark as night, seeming to pierce through her very soul, and held no warmth. His silver hair contrasted greatly with the eyes, but seemed to fit with his pale skin.

His lips were rosy but turned up in a cruel scowl. He wore plain black clothing and some kind of weird blade in a sheath hanging at his hip, and a bracelet with something written in another language. She wondered what the words meant. The boy dropped the bucket, the loud crashing sound breaking Lucy from her trance and causing her to flinch.

"What do you want with me?" She asked, finally finding her voice, and proud when it only shook a little.

"I require something from you," he drawled lazily.

"What? I don't have any money," she hastily explained, trying to inconspicuously close her legs together. His sharp eyes seemed to pick up the subtle movement because his face suddenly twisted in disgust.

"Oh please. Like I would ever willing touch a filthy half-breed such as yourself. I would rather throw myself to the Clave and let them strip me of my powers." Clave? Why was he throwing around such strange words? Lucy began to get an inkling that he was psychotic. And why was she slightly offended by what he said?

"I don't under-" she began but he cut her off.

"Just shut up and do as I tell you!" He screamed. Lucy stared back at him warily. He took a deep breath.

"You have what I need to bring down the heavens."


	3. Chapter 3

Lucy felt her eyes widen comically. Now she knew for sure he was crazy.

"No," she stated with confidence. She could almost feel the anger rolling off of him in waves.

"It is not up to you rather you want to do it or not. You will, or I will kill all those you love." She didn't believe him for a second. She doubted he even knew her name. He probably just saw her climb out her window, and decided to kidnap her so she could play in his sick game.

"You don't believe me?" He suddenly said, picking up on her body language. She stared back at him for a few, long moments before decidedly answering.

"No. I don't." The slow smile that crept to his face and replaced the scowl set Lucy's teeth on edge. This smile had pure evil written all over it. He abruptly turned on his heel and stalked out of the room. Before Lucy could process another though he was back, hiding something behind his back. Terror spiked through Lucy, making her heart beat rapidly inside her chest.

"You listen close, Lucy," he said, bending down so that his face was inches from hers, eyes searing into her, "If you do not do what I want you to, exactly how I want you to do it, I will not hesitate to extinguish your mom and her repulsive boyfriend. And then I will kill everyone you have ever come in contact with until I get what I want."

He pulled his hidden hand around to her face so she could see what she was holding. It was a little Robin, the same one she had healed mere hours earlier. It strained wildly in his grasp, trying in vain to escape him.

The little bird was yanked from her sight when the boy drew his hand up and slammed the bird onto the ground between them. Lucy could only watch in horror as he brought his foot up and let it plummet down on the bird as it was trying to get up. There was the sound of a single chirp, and of little bones snapping and that was it. The boy turned on his heel and stalked off. Lucy wanted to scream, but found she had no air in her lungs to do so.

"W-who are you?" she stammered, as he was at the door. He stopped, and paused before turning around to look at her.

"I am Sebastian Morgenstern," he said, and then turned and slammed the door behind him. Lucy slowly looked down at the little bird, tears welling up in her eyes. A small sob escaped her as she slid her fingers underneath its body and cradled it to her chest. The fact that she was holding a dead, bloody bird should probably repulse her, but all she could feel was sadness.

This little bird didn't have to die. There was no reason for it to die. Lucy cried for the bird. She cried for the hopelessness of her situation. And she cried because she would do anything to protect her mom, even doing what he said.

Oo-_-oO

Sorry guys! I know this is a really short chapter, but I wanted it to end here. Please review it. I want to know how it's going so far. Thanks to everyone who already reviewed. More to come later.


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