"How does he expect me to stay here while they're out killing demons all night!?" Camille paced the kitchen thinking to herself while nibbling on a carrot stick. She hardly breathed as she went. Isabelle left some kind of unidentified goop looking substance on the stove. Isabelle may have gotten her mothers beauty, but she definitely did not inherit her cooking skills. Maryse made the most amazing food Camille had ever tasted, whereas Isabelle could hardly boil water.
The same thought kept going through her head: Follow them!
After several paces, she began to narrow her mind on it. "Hodge would never let me out," She said aloud to no one. "He would know I would follow them," She pounded softly on her forehead with her fist. "I must be out of my mind." She muttered. Hugo had flew into the kitchen and landed on the bar stool. Wherever Hugo was, Hodge wasn't far behind (Jace Herondale, City of Bones). "What are you staring at, stupid bird?" She snapped at it.
Obviously, they were not very fond of each other. They were, until he launched himself at her a couple days after she had just moved in. After that, they never saw eye to.... Beak. Hugo sounded his master with a loud caw. Camille scoffed and rolled her eyes as hatred shown through. A moment later, Hodge entered the room. His hands were rubbing together as he looked into the pot of gruesome food on the stove. His expression drained as he caught a whiff of it.
"I do believe I will be ordering out tonight," He said to no one in particular. "I don't believe we can even get Church to eat this." He turned to Camille with a slightly disgusted look. Camille let out a forced laugh.
"I don't think so, either." She laughed harder as a plan formed in her head. "You know, Hodge," She began as she made her way over to the refrigerator and scanned through to find something they were out of. When it seemed everything they needed was there, she glanced over her shoulder. Hodge was hunched over the pot of food, examining a spoonful to see if it were edible. Camille grabbed the carton of the practically full, and nearly new, milk and threw it into the garbage can. The thud it made when it hit the bottom captured Hodge's attention. "We seem to be out of milk." She said casually closing the refrigerator door. He looked at her suspiciously. He walked over to the fridge and opened the door. He looked back at Camille with an eyebrow raised.
"I thought I asked Jace to pick some up just yesterday..." He tapped his chin as he wondered if he had gone mad.
"I guess it just slipped his mind..." Camille smirked to herself as her plan was going precisely as she had hoped. "You know what," She turned to face Hodge with a bright expression. "We have cereal in the cupboards and without milk, Alec will go crazy! Why don't I just slip out for a couple of minutes to go pick some up?" Suspicion was replaced with worry. Hodge shook his head.
"I can't let you do that! The sun is almost setting and it's much too dangerous for you to go alone!" He continued to shake his head. Hugo seemed to laugh at her as her plan fell to pieces.
"But Hodge," She reached out and grabbed his forearm tightly but reassuringly. "I'm practically an adult! I can take some weapons and be back before you know it." She looked at him with glassy, assuring eyes. This seemed to win him over a bit, though he was still hesitant.
"Jace wouldn't like it," He began to pace just as she did before he came in.
"Jace isn't in charge!" She pointed out. His eyes flicked her way.
"Do you promise to come back as soon as you've got the milk, and only the milk! I don't want you running off with any demon boys-"
"Hodge! I promise! You can trust me not to pick up any demon boys." She placed her hand on her heart. "I swear by the Angel that I will not mess around after I have retrieved the milk." There was a hint of amusement as she swore. Hodge nodded and let her go. Making her way out of the kitchen, she stuck her tongue out at Hugo. She ran into the weapons room and tucked a dagger and her stele inside her black boot. She armed herself with a sword and two more daggers in her belt. She went into her room. Her bed lay cady-cornered on the back wall. She had a vanity table that Isabelle had given to her for her first birthday she had spent with them. It was covered with makeup that she never used. It was all still in it's package seal except for some eyeliner and mascara that she frequently used. Everything else was just a waste of money that Isabelle tried to spend on her. She pulled a short purple party dress and a pair of silver pumps from her closet. She remembered Jace always explaining how ridiculous everyone dressed at Pandemonium, so she got creative. She painted on some eyeliner just under her bottom eyelid and scraped the mascara brush over her eyelashes. She decided that for this time (and this time only), that she would open the eye shadow that was handed down from Mrs. Lightwood. When her eyes were done, she slid a thin layer of nude pink lipstick over her lips. She ran her fingers through her hair and twisted it up, leaving a couple stands loose from it.
She knew Hodge would want to see her out, so she packed her dress and shoes in her back that hung around her shoulders and laid at her hip.
Downstairs, Hodge met Camille at the door with his hand outstretched with money in it. She kindly accepted it without looking at him. If he saw the makeup, he would know something was going on. Once she was out of the door and away from the Institute, she slid into a port-a-potty next to an abandoned construction site and changed. She then proceeded to the subway and took it downtown.
Pandemonium was freaky! There were so many couples finding corners and privet places to sit and make out. This was strange. With her silver high heels and her short deep purple dress, she felt like she owned this place. A man bumped into her. He had blue spiky hair and bright blue eyes. Camille recognized at once that he was a demon. She looked around and saw a young girl, about her age, eyeing the boy. She obviously thought he was cute. He is so not her type! She laughed at her own thoughts. The girl was beautiful. She had pretty auburn hair that bounced lightly as she moved with the music.
Camille's attention was pulled in the direction that the red-head was looking. It was Isabelle. Except, her hair wasn't in the tight topknot as it was at the Institute. It was down and flowed over her shoulders like a mudslide down a mountain. Her lips were a bright hue of red and her eyeliner spiked up on her top eyelid. She was stunning. A pang of pride spiked inside Camille. Yep, that's my sister and no, blue-haired, you cannot get her. Now stoop staring at her before I demonstrate how to properly slit a throat. She thought. As she looked around, she saw Jace and Alec lurking in the shadows. This was obviously the plan. Isabelle was going to lure the blue-haired boy to her, then, when he is at his most vulnerable, Jace and Alec will kill him. Simple. Sometimes Camille and Isabelle took turns being the temptress. Camille enjoyed it the most, because she felt prettier than Isabelle. That never happens. Isabelle is always the prettiest and most fashion forward. No one ever noticed Camille when she and Isabelle stood side-by-side.
The boy was following Isabelle into a storage room. The red-head followed them.
"What the hell?! Is she trying to get herself killed!" She said aloud, although no one could hear her over the pounding music. She tried to walk forward, but a hand on her shoulder stopped her. She whirled around to face an enraged Jace. Her lips parted in surprise. Alec shared Jace's face of fury. Jace opened his mouth several times before and words came out. He was honestly furious at me.
"What are you doing here!!" He demanded feverishly trying to keep his wavering voice steady. Pure annoyance formed in his eyes. Before Camille could reply, Alec pulled at his shirt sleeve. The blue-haired boy was following Isabelle into a storage closet. Jace looked flustered, them turned back to face her. "Stay. HERE." He gave her a death stare before turning towards the storage room with Alec right behind him.
"To hell I will!" She shouted over the music. Although Jace couldn't hear nor see her, she followed at a respective distance behind Alec. She was surprised when she saw the red-headed mundane dart for the door. Is she honestly wanting to get herself killed? Camille thought.
Once inside the storage room, Jace had a long, boring conversation with the blue-haired demon. Torturing and playing with his emotions. Finally, when Jace decided to shut up, he reared his dagger back and the-
"STOP!" The voice of a terrified girl came from behind Camille. Everyone looked in her direction to see the same mundane that followed them was the one who shouted. Jace's eyes filled with confusion and irritation. His hand was itching to end this demon's life, but held his patience to hear the girl out. "You can't kill him?" She uttered through the shaking of her voice. The corner of Jace's mouth twitched. He took enjoyment in watching other people trying to sound smarter than him.
"And why not, little girl?" He asked coolly. Her eyes hardened on his soft features. She struggled to keep her ground, but her knees were to give out at any second.
"Because the police are on their way!" Jace smiled again. The moment Jace took his eyes off of the demon to reply to the girl, the boy launched himself out of Alec and Isabelle's hold and tackled Jace from behind. Isabelle sprang to his rescue with her gold whip in hand, she lashed it once at the demon. This was enough to scare the him off of Jace. When Jace got to his feet, he sank his dagger into the chest of the boy. His body jerked as if something was trying to escape out of it. Black goo spewed out of the fresh, open wound. Camille couldn't help herself. She ran to Jace's side and checked to see if he were all right.
"I thought I told you to stay out there!" He said rejecting her helping hand.
"I couldn't help it, you were in trouble." She said quietly. Jace barely heard her, his eyes locked on the mundane.
"The cops will be here and they're going to arrest you!" She squealed. Her voice was weak and wavered as she spoke.
"The police aren't usually interested unless you can produce a body." He said. The girl looked down at spot were the body had once lain. Nothing was there. Then the door busted open, revealing two club bouncers and a small, mundane boy.
"Clary! Are you alright?" The boy asked.
"I'm fine, Simon." She ran and hugged him. The bouncers looked through the room with confusion.
"I don't see anything?" One of them said. Simon looked at Clary oddly.
"I don't either." The girl apologized and said that it was just a mistake. Simon went pink in the cheeks as Clary followed them out of the storage room.
Camille turned around to face her angry adoptive siblings. Jace still wore is furious expression he had when he first found out she was here.
"We're leaving." His lips thinned and he pointed a firm finger at the door. Camille obeyed just like Jace had raised her to be.
They followed her all the way back to ensure that they could see her the whole way until they reached the front steps of the Institute.