6Disclaimer:The characters and some ideas belong to Cassandra Clare's book The Infernal Devices (which is sadly don't own). Also is the writing style a little bit inspired by the one from the FF-user Jewels5 so shutout to her, too.
Sometimes good things happen to bad people.
Sometimes bad things happen to good people.
One isn't simply bad or good. We make right and wrong decisions.
Some make more wrong than right ones.
But you know, your decisions don't make out your you have a reason to act the way you do, and others don't know the reason. So for them the way you act seems mad to them.
For you, it's maybe your only way.
Gabriel Lightwood rubbed his forehead. The day was just half over and already strange. First, he got in a fight with William bloody Herondale (which wasn't strange) and then Will's little sister showed up (which was). The strange thing was, nearly half a year had passed and he hadn't noticed Will's sister at all. He hadn't seen her with her brother and he was pretty sure that he hadn't seen her on the floors- at least not really. Gabriel was sure because he wouldn't have just walked past a girl like Cecily, She was stunningly beautiful.
Sure, there were a lot of pretty girls on the campus, but not one had caught his eyes like she did. Cecily Herondale didn't seem like the other girls for Gabriel. Cecily had her own mind and didn't let other people affect her. Yes, she truly wasn't like the other girls who only cared about boys, clothes, bands and Starbucks.
Gabriel was still lost in his thoughts about girls with these amazing blue eyes (which he would dispute if someone would guess that he was thinking about his enemy's sister; of course not) as his best friend Tom Verlace caught up with him.
"Hey, buddy, what's going on?" he greeted Gabriel.
Sometimes Gabriel didn't know why they both were friends. Tom was a player and flirted with every girl. Sure, Gabriel enjoyed a flirt from time to time, but he wasn't really a player. His friend was lazy and crazy (yes that rhymed), carried his heart on his tongue and easily got new girls with his handsome face. Tom Verlace had silky black hair and dark eyes and the girls seemed to like this. But Gabriel also knew other sides of Tom. He could be funny and intelligent, he loved the same sports as Gabriel and they just got around well with each other.
And with time they became best friends even if they were not exactly the same; but they helped each other in different situations. They fitted each other and they shared all their secrets together. No other person could trust Gabriel one hundred percent.
Even though there is another person… Gabriel thought, but cut it off before he could finish his own thought. He didn't want to think about this special person at the moment. If he would let himself, there would be pain, pain, pain.
He smirked at Tom. "Today is a strange day, isn't it?" Gabriel asked.
The other boy raised an eyebrow and looked at his friend. Since he didn't answer, Tom Verlace quickly began to talk about another topic. He knew his friend well enough to know when he didn't want to talk
about something.
"So, where did you get your bruise, eh?"
"Two words: bloody Herondale."
Later on this day, Gabriel Lightwood, Tom Verlace and George Morgenstern were on their ways home.
"Dude, this Herondale chick is hot as hell. Go out with her and have fun, then you can break her heart and you will have revenged your sister." Tom Verlace grinned at his best friend. Of course Gabriel told the whole story to Tom and George; and while Tom found it pretty amusing, George felt the same way as Gabriel. This was always how their friendship worked. Tom was the player with a stupid- and to tell the truth, sometimes also a dirty- mind while George was a lot calmer, had good grades and gave good advice. For Gabriel, he was somewhere in between.
Tom Verlace laughed while Gabriel blushed. "You know exactly that I won't do this. I don't break girls' hearts for fun… I'm not like you, mate."
Tom looked at his friend with puppy eyes. "I'm a bad person?"
"You exactly know what I mean!"
"Ok…well maybe I'm not God itself, but you really should do this. This Herondale ass deserve this."
Gabriel rolled his eyes. "Yes, I totally should break a girl's heart just to have revenge on her brother!" he said ironically. The boys laughed and continued their way. They had forgotten their talk only moments after it happened.
After a few hundred meters, the three boys said goodbye to each other and everyone continued on their own way.
Maybe if Gabriel had gone with Tom on this day the whole story would be different.
Maybe if he had gone a little bit earlier or later, things wouldn't be like this.
But who knows? 'Maybe' never happened. It only exists in our minds.
Gabriel continued on his way. He would have walked past this small, dark street if he hadn't heard a strange noise. Immediately he stopped. He couldn't see anything because of the darkness and he held his breath to hear if there was a noise again, and there was.
Slowly he put out his phone and turned the flashlight on. "Is someone there?" he asked as he looked in the alley.
He wished he had never stopped as the flashlight caught two people.
Cecily slowly took another foot after another. She felt upset after the day at College and she wished just to get home and lay in bed. With a sigh she looked up and immediately spotted a familiar person.
It was the Lightwood-boy who fought with Will earlier. For a moment Cecily considered to cross the street and act like she hadn't seen him. But then she spotted his face expression, and immediately began to run toward him.
His face was pale, his eyes wide open and a silent scream on his lips. He looked like he just saw something tragic happen. As he had seen a dead body, Cecily thought.
And she didn't know how accurate she was.
Her footsteps were loud on the asphalt and a few meters before she approached him, Gabriel turned around. He looked shocked and didn't seem to see her at first. After he blinked he seemed suddenly aware of her appearance.
Instantly Gabriel turned paler, if that was even possible, and he woke up from his stiffness. This only took place a few seconds and before Cecily could open her mouth to ask what was wrong, he shouted "Run!" and grabbed her on her arm to pull her with her.
As Gabriel moved she could finally look at what scared Gabriel so much. There, on the dirty ground lied a body. A dead body.
Cecily never got the picture of the dead mean out of her head. Years after this all happened she still sometimes dreamt of the corpse. The pale face of the man in a lake of blood. His expensive clothes sucked with the red liquid and his mouth open in a scream, and she will never forget the man who knelt over the corpse, the knife in his hand, the face covered with a black mask. She had only looked for seconds at the man and his face was still burned in her mind.
Back to the faithful day, Cecily and Gabriel ran as quickly as possible. The man with the mask was only a few meters behind and Cecily imagined that she could already feel his breathing on her neck. They ran around the corner to another empty street. The adrenaline pulsed through Cecily's body and she felt more alive than ever.
Maybe this always happens when you are near the death. You feel more alive. More awake. Like you could make everything. Like you could beat everyone. In fact, it's just a reaction of your body to keep you alive.
Next to her, Cecily could feel Gabriel breathing loud. As she looked at him quickly she could see the glance in his eyes and she knew he felt the same. But her body also reminded her about the seriousness of the situation.
"We…need to hide," Cecily managed to say. The boy nodded as if he already had the thought and suddenly ran around the corner into another street. A moment later Cecily managed her feet to run in this direction, too.
The street was dark and empty. Thick fog hung in the sky and a light post flickered.
"Cecily, come here, and be quiet!" a voice whispered beside her.
Cecily nearly jumped but recognised it soon enough as the Lightwood-boy's voice.
The boy stood beside a big door and opened it. "Quick!" he whispered as he let Cecily enter. On the other side of the door were a patio and two staircases. Gabriel went to one of the staircases and went up. After a few steps, he turned around and looked at Cecily who still stood at the door. "Come on, or do you want to get killed?" he whispered and nodded at the stairs. Cecily sighed and then followed him. She didn't really have a choice. Get killed, or follow an unknown boy who your brother hates and maybe stay alive.
The Herondale could feel the fear slowly coming back. The adrenaline was out of her blood and she felt exhausted. She could barely see the steps in the darkness. Slowly she put one foot after another, when suddenly a harsh light blinded her.
Cecily screamed and tried to take a step backwards but, her foot missed the stair and she slipped. The next thing she could remember was opening her eyes and looking into the worried boy's face. She groaned as she sat up.
"You scared me to death, Lightwood!"
"I'm sorry I just wanted to h-…" The boy stopped mid-sentence. He stared at her with a shocked expression. "What's the matter? Please don't say this bloody freaking murderer is standing right behind me…"
Instead of an answer the boy took Cecily's face and turned it around. "Damn it, Herondale, you're bleeding! Shit, this is much blood…" He touched her forehead and as he put down his fingers they were red.
Immediately Cecily touched her face too. "But… But I don't feel it…" She said and hoped that the boy didn't hear her voice shaking at the end.
"We need to call the ambulance!"
"No, it's not that bad, I mean it doesn't hurt right now."
The boy looked her straight in the eyes. "You need to take this seriously. I've seen wounds like this and if you don't treat them they can be dangerous!"
Cecily, who wanted to dispute, shut he mouth. The boy looked so worriedly at her that she did believe that the wound was worse than she thought. "But is it safe to go outside?" she asked.
The Lightwood considered the answer in his head. "I think so, yes. If the murderer is clever, he would be far away right now and oh, we need to call the police! Shit, why haven't I thought about it earlier?!" He pulled his cell phone out and started to type a number in.
Cecily just wanted to go to sleep. She didn't have her daily coffee yet and with all the things that had happened in the last half an hour… She felt like she was on her limit. Slowly her eyes began to close and her head sank to the cold floor.
"Open your eyes, don't fall asleep right now! Please!" a voice cried.
Cecily laid an arm over her eyes and groaned. "Don't worry Lightwood, a Herondale doesn't die that easily!"
"Gabriel."
"What?" She turned her head to look at the boy.
"My name is Gabriel", he explained.
"Gabriel, then."
The next hour was a blur for Cecily. She remembered when the ambulance came and drove her to the hospital (she still thought the injury wasn't that bad) and a nurse gave her a jab and did something on her head. When the woman said she could get some rest, Cecily nearly kissed the nurse of happiness. She rested her head on the light pillow and was asleep in a few seconds.
Cecily blinked once. Twice. The light was way too bright for her eyes and for a moment she didn't know where she was. But then all the memories came back, and Cecily wished she didn't wake up.
The man had been dead. Dead, dead, dead. She turned the word in her mind and thought about it. How will it change her life? Will it make a difference that she had seen a dead body?
Oh, Cecily really didn't know anything at this part of the story. She didn't know that her life would be turned upside down. She didn't know that the next words from Gabriel would change her life.
Cecily didn't know that she would fight with people she loved and lie to them. She didn't know of the adventures in front of her and didn't know about the danger. Right now her brain just thought about the little changes this event could make.
Not that she was stupid- in fact, Cecily Herondale was a very bright and clever girl- she just simply didn't know how important that event had been. The girl will learn all these things in a long, painful way.
She would need to decide between what is easy and what is right.
God bless the one who doesn't know the truth and life with the lie. It makes things easier for a while. But maybe not less painful.
As Cecily finally managed to open her eyes, she stared at the white ceiling. For a moment she could just lay in peace. This would be the last time for a long while.
Her blue eyes wandered around the little room and stopped when two green ones stared at her. Their eyes locked and for a moment Cecily and Gabriel just looked at each other.
In Gabriel's green eyes there were so many different emotions- upset, surprise, helplessness, and most of all, fear. Cecily had the feeling that she drowned in his emotions.
Then the boy closed his eyes and cut off the emotions. While he couldn't see her, Cecily quickly drove her eyes over the boy.
He sat with his back to the wall, his eyes shut and his shoulders tensed. On his faces was dirt and he looked tired in two ways. Tired because of the lack of sleep and tired of life. As if he suddenly carried the weight of the world on his shoulders. Before Cecily could ask what happened, the boy opened the mouth.
"The police didn't find the dead man."
A/N: Well, so here I am again! I hope you liked the chapter and everything was clear, but if you still have questions, just ask me! :) I don't like this chapter very much, because a lot of stuff happened which will be important for the story line (as you see). Laura xx
Thanks to my awesome betas, Monica (llghtwood_tumblr_com) and Louise (everddale_tumblr_com) (yes i make enough mistakes for two people haha) for reading through my text and correcting it! ily
Reviews are Gabriel Lightwood's!