His Big Secret

Chapter 9

Raphael carried Simon's body through the graveyard with Jace, Clary and Alec following behind him. He could tell there was some tension between Alec and Jace, but he didn't care about that right now. They needed to focus on Simon and whether they would turn him today. When they reached an un-dug spot, Raphael carefully rested Simon's body on the ground and turned to Clary. It was time for her to tell them her decision.

"Clary... it's time. Which will it be?" Raphael asked, holding up a shovel and a sharp piece of wood. He was agitated, scared that Clary might make the wrong decision. He shared a look with Alec, who stood prepared to attack Clary and Jace if she made the wrong decision. Raphael can outrun the shadowhunters, but Alec could create a portal and get them to another graveyard to complete the transformation process quicker.

Clary stood there staring at her two options before reaching out, taking the shovel, and starting to dig. Raphael felt his body relax. Simon was going to be fine; he would get Simon back. Alec grabbed another shovel they had brought and helped dig Simon's grave until the hole was big enough to lay Simon to rest. Alec climbed out of the grave whilst Jace helped Clary up, and Raphael gently placed Simon into the grave before Alec and Jace covered Simon's body with dirt.

The wait was the worse part. Waiting for the process to start and for Simon to crawl out of his grave, Raphael had disappeared, probably to get some blood Simon could feed on. Alec knew that the first few moments after becoming a vampire were crucial in preventing the newborn vampire from going on a hunting spree. You needed to give him blood straight away. To satisfy the vampire's hunger before you could even attempt to teach them how to control their urges. Raphael soon returned with a black bag that Alec could only assume was full of blood. He stood up and opened his mouth just as Simon's grave started rumbling.

"It's happening," Raphael said just before Simon's hand emerged from the ground, then another before Simon pulled himself out of the earth, hissing.

"Simon. Simon, it's me. It's... it's Clary," Clary said, trying to calm her friend down, but Simon hissed at her, and Clary stumbles backwards to put as much distance between them as possible.

"Once reborn, you emerge hungrily," Raphael said, throwing a bag of blood on the ground, then another. Simon grabs each bag, ripping the top open and downing it in one go before moving to another. Clary just watched, horrified, as her friend drank bag after bag full of human blood. With each drop of blood, Simon slowly regained awareness of his senses, and his hunger died.

"Clary... what's happening?" Simon asked, confused. The last thing he remembered was going to the Hotel Dumort to see Raphael, and now he was waking up in a graveyard of all places with his shirt stained with some red substance and dirt.

"You, um, you died," Clary said.

"I what? What's this" Simon said, picking up one of the blood bags from the ground. Then he felt his fangs sticking into his bottom lip, "Oh, my- Oh my- Why can't I say".

"God. It'll take time to regain the ability. There's still a lot you need to learn about our kind, Si," Raphael said. Simon felt himself relax. If Raphael was here, everything would be alright, "Am I a vampire,".

"Yes," this time, Alec spoke whilst Raphael helped Simon to his feet.

"I need... I need time to process this," Simon said, ignoring Clary as she protested. Yes, he wanted to become a vampire, but this wasn't how he imagined this would happen. He wanted to talk with Raphael about turning and what he needed to mentally prepare himself for. He was not mentally prepared to drink blood; he hadn't had the chance to say his goodbyes to his family yet, who would now believe that Simon vanished off the face of the earth. Simon needed time to process this, so instead of hanging around in the graveyard any longer, Simon ran off.