Avenge the Shadows (I)

:: 1.3 ::

CATHERINE'S POV

Books have always been my weakness. I read London's library in a week, because I got obsessed with our unknown world. "Pretty awesome, right?" The girl that was guiding us scared me, bringing me back to reality. "Sorry." She apologized immediately. "Don't worry, I was totally out of it." I added with an easy smile. "Wanna see something ever cooler?" Her question made me smile and I nodded like a child. "Hold on, what about the rest?" I pointed at the rest with my thumb. "Clary and Jace took over as you stayed behind." Her explanation was all it took for me to smile and walk beside her. "How old are you?" She asked and I realized she was politely asking my name also. "I'm seventeen and I'm Catherine, by the way." She chuckled and bumped her arm with mine. "I'm Charlie and I just turned eighteen." We kept talking and she suddenly stopped and took her stele and drew the opening rune.

The door opened and a spiral staircase appeared in front of us. She smiled at me and pulled me inside, almost like what we were doing was not the thing we were supposed to do and maybe we did not, but all those thoughts were discarded when I saw the Greenhouse. The greenhouse was at the top of the Institute. The ceiling looked like an inverted lake. There was this bench in the center, next to a very edgy pool with trees surrounding it. The view was breathtaking and Charlotte noticed it. "Pretty cool, isn't?" I just managed to nod. "I think I've never seen anything prettier than this." My words gave away how amazed I was by New York. "Our Institute is not even close to this view." I kept talking and she just listened to my rant. "Sorry, I like to talk a lot when I'm surprised." She chucked again and bumped her shoulder with mine. "Same." That word pretty much described a lot of things.

"We should head back; I have to show your rooms." She spoke after a while of just looking at the sight the New York's Institute offered. We walked down and we bumped with another group of Nephilims arriving, which meant we needed to be fast. We joined my group and she waltzed next to Clary and Jace. "Now, I'll hand back the power to your guide, Charlie." Jace said looking at Charlotte, who just made faces to him. "Charlie is just for friends." He just tried to hide his amused face from all of us. She bowed to us and that made me laugh, again. There was something special about her and I liked that. She would be a really nice asset on our institute back home. "Okay, guys. The group from Italy just arrived, which means I have to get you all to your rooms, so please, follow me. I will be calling your names and show you your rooms. Each one of you is going to share a room with a local and a few others from the world."

What? No. I'm not good with people. "So, you can hang out and learn a bit from each other, those same groups are going to be the same at dinner, so remember the faces." She laughed at her own joke, but suddenly I was not very thrilled. As I fought my desperation, I tuned out whatever she was saying. I have never been good managing meeting new people, but being surrounded by Nephilims sure made things easier, or so I hoped. After a while, Charlotte and I were the only ones there and I must have looked petrified as Charlotte just hugged me. "Relax, whatever you're feeling, it's not going to hurt you." The effect that hug had on me was immediate and I wondered how she did it. I was well known in my own institute for breaking the record on panic attacks and it usually took more time to be myself again, but she just hugged me and somehow took the frightened thoughts away.

"I'm very good handling crisis, just so you know." Her explanation came as soon as she let me go. I smiled and sighed. "Did I miss my room?" I asked already ashamed of not paying attention. Charlotte just chuckled once again and shook her head. "You're actually with me." Somehow, those words made me feel at ease.

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