A Drink From The Cup *REVAMP*

Chapter 1

Ara Jean 

    I've always had a different way of looking at the world. In fact, ever since I was a little girl, I've been told I have an overactive imagination. I played princesses with my mom just like everyone else did, and sometimes I pretended I was a spy, hired by secret agents to gather intel on people with secrets. The only difference between me and everyone else is that I always believed it was all real. I didn't think those games were just a figment of my imagination. So when two months ago my best friend Zahra and I went to Central Park, and a strange teenager with tattoos covering his arms appeared out of nowhere, no one believed me. He was holding a thick blade in his right hand and was grinning smugly.  He called out "Raziel!" and the blade started to glow, almost like magic. 

   "Zahra, do you see this?" I asked my best friend, and pointed to the suspicious teenager in the park.   

   "See what?" Zahra responded obviously confused.

   "That guy!" I yelled, starting to panic. He was clearly in front us. How could she not see him?

   "A.J. I'm being completely honest. I don't see anyone. You're probably just tired."

   I was definitely tired, but there was no way the guy in front of us was just a mirage. He was extremely tall and his corded muscles rippled as he moved. His long blonde hair was almost gold and matched the tint in his beautiful green eyes. I couldn't deny that he was attractive but he was at least 4 years older than me. 

   "Are you sure you can't—"

   "A.J. there is no one there," Zahra said exasperated.

   I turned my head, but suddenly the stranger was gone as quickly as he had appeared. I couldn't help but wonder if he was ever there in the first place. I looked back at Zahra and even though she was trying to hide it, her face was twisted with concern.

   "You're probably right," I had told her. 

   Two months later, I still believe that she is right. Until now. As the sun dips below the horizon, I catch a glimpse of a shadow etched across my backyard. I hop out of my bed and carefully run outside like I am spy in one of those games I played as a kid. Except this is real life and that shadow is slowly becoming a real person. I try to get a better look at who it is but I stumble to the ground. Damn it. I say a silent prayer to whatever gods are willing to hear me out and hope that whoever is in my backyard didn't hear me fall. 

   I slowly turn my body around when suddenly I find myself face to face with the stranger from the park. His golden locks are tied back in a ponytail and he is covered in a blackish ooze. Next to him is the crumpled body of my golden retriever with a blade almost identical to the one I saw before, sticking out of his back. 

   "What the hell? Did you- Did you kill my dog?" I scream, barely getting the words out.

   The stranger looks at me with an amused look on his face.

   "That isn't a dog, mundie," he replies.

   "What do you mean that isn't a dog?! Marvin has been in our family for eight years! And you- you just killed him!" I say glaring at him. 

   "No. Marvin isn't a dog. Marvin is an Eidolon demon. A shape shifter," the strange guys says. I'm about to tell him how ridiculous he sounds when suddenly my dog disappears leaving only a puddle of black ooze behind.

   "Wait, what just happened?" I ask.

   "The Eidolon was sent back to his home world." 

   "That makes no sense! This is all too much," I say and begin to pace back and forth. My mind is a tornado of swirling thoughts and this stranger is the center of it all. Is it possible that Zahra was wrong? Is this maybe not all in my head?

   Well whoever he is, he's not welcome here. Caught up in the moment, I stride up to him and slap him across the cheek. He looks at me, more entertained then hurt.

   "What was that for?" he asks me grinning that insufferable smug grin.

   "For killing my dog. And also for making my best friend think I am crazy and delusional."

   "I told you that's not a dog. You saw it disappear and bleed ichor. Normal dogs don't do those things." he says. "And if you saw the Eidolon die that means you saw me too. You can see me, right?"

   "Yes. I can see you. But my best friend Zahra couldn't. Why is that?" I ask quizically.

   He is suddenly at a loss for words. "I um actually don't know. It makes sense that your friend couldn't see me but you shouldn't be able to see me either. I'm not like you. In fact, I'm not even fully human. That part should be obvious though. Humans don't normally kill demons, and they're also not normally this hot."

   He'd be a lot more hot if he didn't have such a big ego. 

   "Ok fine. I'll play this game. Let's say my dog really was an Eidolon demon or whatever you called him. What does that make you?" I ask.

   "Jace Herondale. A shadowhunter."