River of the Dead: A Shadowhunter Fanfic

Chapter 2

It was pitch black. Autumn stood in this darkness. She could barely see the outline of her hand, but she knew she wasn't alone.

A rush of fear ran down her spine as she heard the faint sound of laughter. It was female, and it was not at all very pleasant. It gave her chills, for it was not geniune, but the kind of laughter that a psycopath would laugh as he killed his victim.

The laughter eventually grew louder as if the person were drawing near. Autumn knew she should run, look for a weapon, but you couldn't see anything in the darkness and her feet were glued to the ground.

Then she saw. The figure was the only thing fully visible in the room she was in. It was almost as if someone has shined a light directly at her, except there was no light source anywhere around. The young lady looked rather familiar, with a long black dress that blended in with the darkness. Her hair was the color of tree bark, and her lips were red like blood.

Autumn was unable to move or speak. She wanted to ask who she is and where they are, or better yet, run away, but her mouth would not move and neither did her feet. It was as if her brain wasn't functioning properly.

The girl cast her a dark smile, her white teeth contrasting with her bold blood-red lips. Only then did Autumn realize that there was a river behind her, raging behind her, although it made no sound as it should have.

And lying on the edge of the river with the bottom half of his body still submerged underwater, was her father, lying in a pool of blood.

"Autumn," he croaked, his voice small and cracking. "Auttie, darling, help me."

But Autumn was unable to move. She wanted to run, to help her father and give him iratzes and save him. But it was too late. His eyes rolled back into his head, and he was still.

Only then Autumn could hear herself scream. It was a loud, ear-piercing shriek that echoed through the darkness like she was in a cave. The tears did not come, but stung at her eyes.

"You demon girl," the lady said, still smiling. "You evil, demon girl. It's all your fault."

And the sound of Autumn's screaming rang in her ears like a memory, although he mouth was shut. The screaming grew louder and louder until it hurt her ears, agonizing her to the point where she couldn't even hear herself think, and she collapased to the ground.

----

Autumn awoke abruptly, sitting up in bed and panting hard. What a dream, she thought. She felt her wrist to feel that she was sweating.

On the stool beside her bed sat Jake, and River was looking through her bookshelf.

"Thank the angel, you're awake," Jake sighed. "Are you okay?" When Autumn nodded, he pressed his hand to Autumn's forehead. "Hey, River, I'm going to get Brother Enoch. She's scorching hot."

"Don't hit on my sister," River joked, and Jake laughed and left the room. Autumn admired how they could joke around, even in the most serious situations.

River reached for the thermometer and stuck it in her mouth. It read, 115°F. His eyes widened. "Jake was right. You're burning up."

"How long was I asleep?" she asked.

"About four days," he replied, and tossed himself onto the bed beside her, causing it to shake violently. Brother Enoch arrived through the open door with Jake, Drew, and Chris trailing behind him.

The Silent Brother's eyes were hollow and had been dug out, and his lips sewn shut. Most Silent Brothers looked like this, and spoke directly into one's mind. They often acted as doctors to the Shadowhunters, although they otherwise had no connection to the outside world.

Brother Enoch glided gracefully to where Autumn lay, and pressed the back of his hand to her forehead. Autumn remembered when she was a girl and felt quite intimidated by Silent Brothers. When she was nine and Jake had been losing a lot of blood, Brother Enoch had came.

Jake had looked uncomfortable with Brother Enoch touching him, and so Autumn had shot a punch to Brother Enoch's temple for the sake of Jake, who almost like a second brother. Also Drew and was like a brother, as well, and Chris was like a father after hers had passed away, even though he was only twenty-four. And then there was River, who was her blood brother. Of course, her father had pulled her out of the room to have a pep-talk.

And suddenly the thought of her father reminded her of her dream. She shivered.

Her demon fever will wear off. I have already gotten rid of the demon blood she was injected with, but I have found the blood of demons in her body, as well, that I can not remove, Brother Enoch's voice said in their mind.

"What do you mean you can't remove it?" Chris asked. "What makes it different from the blood you already removed? Will it harm her in any way?" He sounded frantic and concerned, like a father would be. Autumn loved him for that very reason.

The blood I removed was excess, and it was recent. The demon blood in Autumn Lightwood's body seems to have been there since she was born, and therefore, too old for the medicines to remove, Brother Enoch said.

"Demon blood?" Drew echoed. "But she's a Shadowhunter, she's Nephilim. Nephilim are half angel and half human. How is that possible?"

"Do you even pay attention during Shadowhunter History class, Drew?" Chris asked with his eyebrow raised. "What about Tessa Gray? Jonathan Morgenstern? They both possessed angel, human, and demon blood because Tessa's mother was never given a rune, and Jonathan had demon blood because his mother was given demon blood by her husband while the child was already in her womb." He paused. "We learned about them in history class, Drew. Start paying attention."

Before Drew could reply with a smart remark, River interuppted. "My grandfather was involved with the situation of Jonathan Morgenstern. My grandfather was a hero and his name is written in the textbooks!"

"Our grandfather, River. Plus, he's not our blood grandfather," Autumn reminded him.

"So Auttie was infected with demon blood before she was born? Because her mother obviously had runes," Jake said.

Yes. It does appear so. Although, I do not believe it will harm her in any way. I cannot yet identify what species of demon blood she holds, but both Tessa Gray and Jonathan Morgenstern possessed some kind of demonic power. Tessa, with the power to shape-shift. And Jonathan, with the power to rip the wings off of angels. When or if I find out what type demon blood so holds, I will be able to determine her power. But this will not be my first priority, Brother Enoch said.

The whole room went quiet. Autumn was gripping the sheets nervously. She felt as if she was going to pass out. Her, with a supernatural demonic power? It seemed unbelievable. And suddenly, interuppting her thoughts, the door swung open to reveal a pale girl, who seemed the same age as Autumn. She spoke shyly, "Hi, my name is Irene Hunter."

Her hair was a neutral shade of brown, and her lips were a bold red. She looked awfully familiar.

Her hair was the color of tree bark, and her lips were red like blood.

Autumn screamed.