tw! talk about death, death
Tristen ended the long race, with a pant, receiving an approving smile from her coach.
After Tristen was dismissed, she scurried to her best friend, Tyler Mayen. "That was great, Tris!" He complimented.
She smiled at him. "Of course it was."
"Hey, do you have any plans for tonight?" Tyler asked, resting his elbows on his knees.
"Yeah, I'm going out to celebrate Clary's birthday," she replied, making Tyler groan. "You could join us if you want, Ty."
"Fine," he sighed. "I'm headed for university. Are you joining me?"
"No, I'm going to wander around for a bit," Tris responded. Tyler nodded, before taking off, outside the race track.
Tris looked upwards and sighed. She had been missing classes, and it was only her first year. But could you blame her? She woke up in a perspiration every night, because of bizarre dreams that she would get. She saw things lurking in the corners of alleys on the streets of New York. Things she shouldn't be seeing at all.
Different creatures, that were out of this world. She couldn't tell anyone, either. Her brother, who barely ever spent time with her anymore, he was just in love with his red headed best friend. Tyler had college and Tris was just depressed. She couldn't tell her mom, or sister. They would think she was crazy.
Tris sighed, standing up and picking up her bag, slinging it over her shoulder before going towards the showers. These were private showers, only ones for the people in the team, and were clean. So, she used them after practice.
Dropping her bag on the stool in front of the lined up showers, she fished out her towel and hair tie, with which she made a top knot on her hair. She stepped in the showers and stripped her clothes away, turning on the shower, letting the warm water hit her.
After taking a shower, Tris stepped out, hugging her towel to herself, when suddenly, it thundered outside. The sound of rain filled her ears and she grinned to herself. The rain always made her happy, no matter what. After what happened last year, she found comfort in it.
She changed into a red sweatshirt that belongs to her brother, and some black jeans. She threw her dirty clothes in a plastic bag she brought and tied it shut, shoving it in her bag. She slinged the bag across her shoulder and exited the building.
Tris stepped onto the streets of New York, watching the dull sky, as the rain hit the ground in rapid speed. She covered her head with the hoodie of the sweatshirt and placed her earphones in her ears, playing shuffle on her mobile and placed it in her back pocket.
Quietly, she walked down the streets, watching all the people scurry for covering from the rain, while some opened up their umbrellas. Tris never understood why people hated the rain so much. Sure, it could ruin your hair, your clothes, but isn't it the best when it comes to the feeling of it dropping on your skin?
Across the street, a couple walk together, under the same umbrella, holding hands. Tris huffed. She absolutely hated dating after she had fallen in love with her ex, but then he cheated on her with a girl who was 'innocent.' In front of the couple, was a tall boy, in a black leather jacket, tattoos of some sort decorating his skin.
Tris shivered. She had seen the same marks on people on the street. Surely, she thought, not all these people had the same tattoos?
Turning a corner, she was met with her house. She smiled mindlessly as she didn't realize that she was close enough to home.
Tris opened the door, walking in, knowing that Simon would be the only one at home. She dropped her bag on the couch.
"Simon, I'm back!"
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"Give me the professors' names and I-I will end them," Simon stammered, as Clary walked in the coffee shop, a sad look on her face.
Tris looked at her brother with a raised brow. "You know, with with a scathing e-mail to the death," Simon shrugged.
"Don't bother," Clary said, passing a folded piece of paper to Simon. Tris heard the door to the coffee shop open, the bell going off for a second. She smiled as she spotted Tyler and motioned him to come over to where she was.
Simon opened the folded piece of paper, revealing the truth, that is, Clary got in the art academy.
"Sad face? Really?" Simon scoffed. The pair fist bumped, making Tris roll her eyes. "Well played, well played."
"Congratulations, Clary," Tris said.
"Thank you," Clary smiled.
As Tyler also congratulated her, Simon pulled her in a conversation. Tyler turned to his best friend, a cheeky smile gracing his features. Tris groaned in frustration. She knew this look all too well. It meant he had done something that would have gotten him in trouble.
"What did you do?" Tris asked, arching a brow.
"Me? I did nothing, Tristen," he smiled. "Why would you say that?"
"Because you have that look on your face." Tristen took a sip of her warm coffee, returning her eyes to Tyler's.
"What look?"
"The look that makes me want to punch you in the face."
Upon hearing this from his sister's mouth, Simon abruptly stopped all conversation with Clary. "Do not condone violence, little one," Simon siled at his sister.
She rolled her eyes. "Wouldn't you hit him if he made this face?" She pointed to Tyler's face, who still had the same smile on his face.
"I would be more irritated than angry," Clary commented, making Tris glare at her.
"Wouldn't that be the same?" Tris asked.
"No—" Clary stopped talking as she looked down at her plate of food in confusion, as if it were something unusual, or foul.
"That's a latte," Simon pointed out.
"But I could have sworn I had a biscotti," Clary frowned, her eyes stuck on her plate. Tris snaps her fingers in front of Clary's eyes, making Clary look at her, before staring at Simon.
"Maybe you ate it really fast and didn't even notice," Simon shrugged.
"Happens to him all the time," Tris said, pointing to her brother.
"When I'm happy...when I'm sad..." Simon trailed off, as Clary laughs, but he picked up his own biscotti and placed it on Clary's empty plate. "But I will replace your mythical biscotti with an actual one."
"Thank you."
"You know what? Here's to you." Simon raised his cup of coffee. The four of us clinked our glasses.
"L'chaim."
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Tris looked at herself through the mirror, at what she was wearing. She was forced by Rebecca to wear something stylish, which was only part of her style. Tris was more of a casual chic, which she chose as her go-to style. Right now, she wore a black tube top, black plazeau type pants, with a white stripe on either outer side of her leg. She paired it with her black strapped heels and she let her hair down, naturally.
Tris wasn't that big on makeup, but she did put on some now and then. She applied eyeliner and some rose pink shade on her lips. She decorated her the water line of her eye with a gold pencil and was proud of how she looked.
She heard a knock on her door and muttered a 'Come in.' The door opened slightly, Simon's eye visible through the gape. He opened the door completely, his mouth hanging low. "Wow, which genes did I get?" Simon joked, making Tris laugh at her brother.
"Please, I don't look that great," she scoffed, picking up her phone.
Simon rolled his eyes. "Don't down grade yourself. Now c'mon." He extended his hand for his sister to take, which she did, an impressed look on her face. "Your ride is downstairs."
"Oh, Ty's here already?" She asked, raising a brow.
"Yeah, he always arrives early," Simon scoffed. "Mainly 'cause of you, but, hey, I'm not complaining." He sent his sister a look briefly. "He's a...nice guy."
"Okay, Si," Tris sighed, stepping down the stairs. "I'm not going to date him, ever."
"Oh, why not?" Simon asked.
"Maybe because I don't like him." Simon stared at her in disbelief. "As more than a friend, I mean."
Stepping out in the cold weather, Simon moved over to his van, while Tris walked over to Tyler, who was leaning against his black car, arms crossed. His eyes snapped up as she approached him. Tyler grinned at the sight of her. "Look at you," he exclaimed. "You went all out."
"Yeah," Tris smiled, her eyes catching Simon's, who made kissing faces from inside his van. Tris rolled her eyes, before looking at Tyler. "Let's get going, Ty."
So, the pair sat in his car, and drove to the club, Pandemonium.
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"My mom is so overprotective lately," Clary complained to the rest of the group.
"So, do you remember in Aliens, when the alien queen was defending her eggs from Ripley?" Simon asked.
"In this scenario, is my mom Ripley or the alien queen?"
"Both."
"What?"
"A mother defending her young," Simon answered.
"Defending me from what?" Clary scoffed. "I spend all day in an art studio. My life couldn't be more...mundane. Besides, I really don't know much about when she was young."
"Oh, just do what I do and get all the dirt from your relatives," Maureen piped up.
"She doesn't have any," Tris responded, as Tyler looked at her, before looking at the club.
"And my dad died before I was born," Clary sighed.
"So, you have no one? No uncles, no aunts, no third cousins, twice removed?" Maureen asked in shocked.
"No, just me and my mom."
"It's why the Lewis clan has added three chairs to every seder since pre-school," Tris explained. "One for Clary, one for Jocelyn, and one for Elijah."
"Of course."
"Obviously."
"You guys don't think that's a little bit suspicious?" Maureen asked. "You not knowing anything about your family? Your mom could be hiding some deep, dark secret."
"Maureen, it's not possible," Clary denied it right away.
"No, no, think about it--"
"No, seriously. My mother is incapable of concealing anything from me."
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"Thanks for being our roadie," Maureen smiled at Clary, Tyler and Tris. After the gig, they stood behind Simon's van, where he changed his shirt.
"Yeah, and thank you for being our artist in residence," Simon added.
"Of course. So, you went on stage tonight as Champagne Enema."
Simon and Maureen laugh. "What were we thinking, right?"
"I, surprisingly, don't think you guys were thinking at all..." Tris trailed off, noticing the glare on Simon and Maureen's face and Clary's failed attempt of smothering a laugh.
"But now we're Rock Solid Panda," Simon states.
"Yeah, we are," Maureen agrees.
"You think they were high?" Tyler asked, bending a little to whisper to Tris, who grinned.
"Rock Solid Panda, coming up," Clary said, shaking a bottle of spray paint. "I'm feeling inspired."
She walks over to the side of the van, before calling out, "Paint!"
"Paint," Simon repeated, grabbing the box of paint and following his best friend, Maureen following.
Tyler and Tris stand around in the middle of the streets, since they are filled with people. Suddenly, a blonde man bumps into her, but walks a step ahead, like nothing ever happened.
"Hey, dude, can you watch where you're going?" Tris asked the guy.
The guy turned around to see Tyler and Tris, of course, he didn't know them. He was shocked. How could they have seen him? "You can see me?" He asked in disbelief.
"Yeah, but you didn't see her," Clary said, walking to them. Tris cursed silently, as she saw the same marks she had been seeing on the man.
"You guys have the sight," the blonde stated.
"Well, we do have a sight, we have eyes," Tris said, shrugging.
"How can I not know who you are?" The guy breathed out.
"Has that line seriously ever worked for you? Even once?" Clary asked, protectively stepping in front of Tris, although Tris was a couple inches taller than her.
"Jace!" A man called out from inside the club, making the blonde spare a glance at them before running inside the club.
"Can you guys believe that blonde dude?" Tris asked, as she approached her brother and Maureen.
"You mean the imaginary dude you were talking to?" Simon asked, scoffing.
"No, the guy right there, running into the club," Tyler pointed to the blonde running into the club.
"Tyler, there's nobody there."
"The guy covered in tats, like—"
"What guy are you talking about?"
"You guys seriously don't see him?"
"No."
"Okay, could you stop making us feel insane?" Clary asked, shifting in her place.
"Could you stop acting that way?" Simon asked.
"Eh, I'm already insane, not that big of a deal," Tris shrugged, earning a look of approval from Tyler.
"Guys, what was in your latte?" Simon asked, looking a bit concerned.
Clary zipped open her jacket and threw it at Simon, who caught it messily. "Where you going?"
"To get some answers," she replied, walking into the club, Tris and Tyler following.
Inside, the club was filled with dry-ice smoke. Coloured lights played over the dance floor, turning it into a multicoloured fairyland of blues and acid greens, hot pinks and golds.
Tyler looked around. The boy's eyes scanned the dance floor, where slender limbs clad in scraps of silk and black leather appeared and disappeared inside the revolvingcolumns of smoke as the mundies danced. Girls tossed their long hair, boys swung their leather-clad hips, and bare skin glittered with sweat. Vitality just poured off them, waves of energy that filled him with a drunken dizziness.
Tris looked at Clary and Tyler before wriggling through the crowd of sweaty dancers, most of who had their breath smell unpleasant. She saw the curtains of backstage close, but she slipped in quickly through them. However, she cracked a smile as she heard Tyler flirt with a guard, along side Clary, to get in.
Once they did, the blonde had a sword extended at a woman, who was wearing a short purple dress. Clary shouted, "Watch out!"
She pushed the woman on a nearby couch. The woman whipped her head at the trio and bared out fangs, that looked like an octopus's tentacles with razors on them, and only four of them, stretched across like a square.
After that, all was madness. The blonde peshed Clary away and the girl wearing the white dress removed her wig, revealing beautiful, long black hair. A boy from the shadows stepped out, with a bow and arrow, killing something behind Tris.
When she turned around, she saw a man on the ground, dead, before bursting into flames and disappearing. The blonde looked at her for a brief second, before getting caught by a man. Tris picked up a sword, which did not light up, so she threw it back down.
She grabbed Tyler's hand and they ran out of the club, as fast as they could, before piling into Tyler's car.
"Drive!"
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Two nights following after Clary's birthday, Simon tracked his red headed best friend using an app, which seemed stalker-ish, but he thought it would be fine if he could find his friend. Right now, Tyler, Simon and Tris stood outside of a ruined church. Something so intruiged Tris, the way it was built, the window frames, the structure, the different heights of the towers that reach up skywards.
Suddenly, Tyler and Tris watched the blonde guy and Clary walk out, and they stiffened, while Simon could only see Clary.
"What do you have on, Clary?" Simon asked, giving her his coat. "Let me take you home."
"I don't think I have one anymore."
"Why? What do you mean?" Tris asked.
"Well--"
"Clary Fairchild!" A man yelled from a few feet behind of Tris. The blonde immediately grabbed Tris, pulling her behind him, and she gasped.
"Clary, what's going on?" Simon asked, confused. "What are you looking at?"
"If you give us the girl, I'll let you live," the man threatened, looking at Clary.
"You're in no position to be making rules," the blonde glared, before putting the man in a headlock and slashing his throat. Tyler grabbed Tris's arm quickly.
"Jace!" Clary yelled.
"Excuse me?" Simon questioned.
"Is he dead?" Clary asked, pointing to the man on the ground.
"Yes, Clary," Tris gestured at the man's wound. "I think that the cutting off of oxygen does count as dead."
"Is who dead?" Simon yelled.
"Could you deglamourize, or whatever, so my best friend doesn't think I'm losing my mind?" Clary asked the blonde, as he huffed, running a stick topped with a crystal along a mark on his body, now revealing himself to Simon.
"Um, what is happening?" Simon looked confused.
"Yeah, we don't have the luxury right now, kid," the blonde--Jace--said. "Everyone back inside."
"Clary, who is this? Your meth dealer?"
"I've seen him before. At the police station," Tris said, looking at the dead man.
"He's a member of the Circle. Clary, he's here for you. He's with the people who took my mother. Your best friends here led him right to you. He's here to capture or kill you."
"Okay, don't blame us," Tyler huffed, as Tris scooted closer to him, suddenly uncomfortable under Jace's hard gaze.
"There's a dead body there, we have to call Luke," Simon exclaimed. Luke, Jocelyn's friend, who helped her raise Clary, he's a cop.
"We can't trust Luke, Simon. We can't."
"Clary, I need to keep you safe," Jace said. "I I promise I am gonna help you find your mother. But you're one of us. You're a Shadowhunter."
"What are you talking about?" Tyler asked loudly, more interested than confused.
"Clary you don't know this guy, all right?" Simon extended his hand to her. "Come with me. I can get us help. Clary, please."
"Clary, come on."
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