The Innocents' Hospital

Chapter 1: Of Demons and Fortuitous Encounters

"Nel mezzo del cammin di nostra vita

mi ritrovai per una selva oscura

che la diritta via era smarrita" –

"Midway upon the journey of our life

I found myself within a forest dark

For the straightforward pathway had been lost."

Dante, Inferno, Canto 1 vv. 1-3

Florence, November 2013

Emma was starting to wonder if her imagination had played a trick on her or if she had indeed caught the shape of something suspicious rustling among the trees surrounding the Florence Institute. She had told Julian she wanted to go for a run before dinner in an attempt to exert herself. She was hoping that physical exercises, accompanied by a late dinner and perhaps some Italian wine might work. Although they had landed a couple of days prior, Emma had still not fully adjusted to the time change.

She had not expected to encounter anything unusual but now her senses were alert and a few moments after the rustling had stopped, she saw something running at great speed among the undergrowth. Emma bolted right after it, chasing it through lines of cypress trees, siding some beautiful private residences and she was about to approach the road that ran by Piazzale Michelangelo, the panoramic viewpoint that overlooked the entire city.

Emma paused for a moment to see in which direction to go; she had not applied any runes, as there was no reason why she would have needed them. She reached into her hoodie pocket for her stele just as she remembered that she had left it back in her room. It was dusk when she had stepped outside of the Institute but in the dim illumination of where she was now standing, Emma ached for a night vision rune. Ahead of her, she could glimpse the plaza with its tourists' souvenir booths that were shut for the evening. Emma started to take a step when she heard the same rustling as before, her hands immediately moved to grab Cortana from her back, just to realize that she was weaponless, after all, she was only supposed to go out for a run. As she turned to face the direction from which the noise came, something stung Emma in between her shoulder blades.

A searing pain started spreading throughout her body and Emma collapsed on the ground almost immediately. A ravener demon was looming over her with its jaw open and its rows of jagged, malodorous teeth in full display. A gurgling hiss came out of the demon's mouth "Nephilim girl, you're not the one I was sent to find, so I can have a little taste... no one would mind..." Just when the ravener reared its head back ready to strike, a Herculean-sized creature bent on all fours and with its claws out ran into the demon with such force that the impact made it slam onto one of the trees near them. As the ravener tried to lift itself up, a petite figure clad in an old-fashioned Shadowhunter traveling cloak slid next to the demon while whispering "Haziel" and plunged the seraph blade into the creature that vanished. Emma was drifting in and out of consciousness already, so she wasn't sure that what she had seen had happened.

A few seconds later, a gentle hand cupped her head while trying to lift her off the ground. A female voice said, "Cerca di non muoverti! Voglio solo aiutarti.' Emma looked at the woman in pure confusion and the only thing she managed to say among ragged breath was, "I'm sorry, I... I don't speak' but she wasn't able to finish her sentence, even speaking was agonizing.

Right away the woman replied, "Alright then, do not move! I just want to help you."

She then proceeded to check Emma's hands, it was clear that whoever she was, she had the Sight. After a moment, the woman produced a stele from under her cloak and very hesitantly tried to draw an iratze on Emma's arm. In a panic, the woman looked at the other creature that had attacked the ravener demon and said, "Jerome, quick help me get her up, S'il vous plaît! We need to go back to the Hospital; I need to contact Lucilla right away. I... my iratze is not working."