A Life Unknown

The New Girl

Alec watched over the bed where the girl laid. She was small, pale, and frail; it was obvious it'd been awhile since she'd eaten anything. Poor thing. He though. If only I had gotten there sooner.

He played though the events of that night in his mind: He stood on the roof top of a local restaurant, His boyfriend, Magnus, stood by his side. Since Alec had moved into Magnus' apartment, it was normal for them to go on patrol together. The only difference this time was that they weren't talking. They had had an argument earlier and both were caught in their own thoughts about what happened, neither too focused on their mission. They had received reports of demon gatherings near the Brooklyn Bridge and were on the look out for anything unusual. While it had been an unusually quiet night, they were about ready to move to their next post when high pitched screams could be heard from a few streets away.

Alec jumped from the roof and ran towards the distress call before Magnus had even heard anything. Magnus followed, trusting his mates training and natural shadowhunter instincts.

They followed the screams to the alleyway where demons gathered. Alec took out his sereph blade and both men did what they knew to do. Ichor sprayed with each slash of the blade and flick of the wrist. When all the demons were dead, the source of the screaming was found. A blond, pale girl laid in the corner, motionless, barely breathing; only a faint pulse could be felt. The girl laid in a pool of her own blood, but Alec had a hard time to find the source. Alec called for Magnus to come help the girl, but they both knew there wasn't much to be done until they could get her back to the institute.

"She's in so much pain." Magnus spoke for the first time that night. He did what he could to take her pain away. "We need to get her to the institute."

"Can you create a portal?" Alec asked, but Magnus was already making one.

Alec picked up the girl and a small backpack laying near her before he followed Magnus through the portal. He replayed the looks on everyone's faces, their gasps, as he stepped through the portal with a limp, bloody body in his arms.

"She was attacked by ravener demons." Alec spoke of he rushed to the infirmary. Magnus was already there, mixing potions that would save the girl.

"Give her here." Magnus kept his composure and spoke softly, as if trying not to scare a young child. He carried her to a bed where he carefully fed her the potion and spread it over her wounds. "My magic is low, but this should do the trick."

That had been three days ago. They were hopeful that she would wake up soon as her chest visibly rose and fell with each breath; she was getting stronger, even as she laid in bed. Alec looked over the bandages that covered her body: one on each wrist that wrapped up to the elbow, one on her left bicep, and plenty more that were covered by her bed clothes. Alec thought back to when Jace had brought Clary in some years ago. She had been in almost the same state and Jace had sat in the same position that Alec was in now. Alec cursed at himself for the way he had treated Jace back then for he now knew what his parabatai had been thinking.

Alec startled when the infirmary doors opened, though it was only Jace, who had been in and out many times over the last few days. "Alec." He said. "You need to eat." Jace shoved some food towards him on a tray.

"Who made it?" Alec asked.

"Clary. Don't worry, Izzy isn't allowed in the kitchen now that Clary and I run the institute."

"Good. I'm starving." He shoveled the food in to his mouth. He had refused to leave the side of the girl in case she woke up. He felt a responsibility for this girl, he felt that if anything were to happen to her that it would be his fault.

"You've been locked in here for days. Are you going to take care of yourself?"

"I am taking care of myself." Alec protested. " I need to be here when she wakes up. I'm sure she'll be terrified and even more so if no one is here."

"You need to go home." Jace starred at his parabatai, but got no response. "Magnus called me. Said you weren't answering you phone. He's worried about you." Still no response. "What's going on?"

"Nothing." Alec tried to shrug him off. "My phone must have died." He starred back at Jace.

"Stop lying."

"I'm not." Alec pushed back at Jace, but knew he wouldn't win this argument. He had wanted to tell Jace what had been happening since he moved out, but knew it was none of Jace's business.. "Fine. Magnus and I got into.. an argument before we went on patrol last night."

"What about?"

He would have continued the conversation, but his attention was side tracked by the girl who was no longer motionless in the bed. Alec quietly thanked the angle as he moved to be beside the bed as the girl pushed herself in to a sitting position.

"Careful." Jace warned. "Your going to be a little weak for while."

"Wh-who are you?" The girl asked, her body visibly shaking.

"I'm Jace and this is my friend Alec. We're shadowhunters. I promise we'll explain everything, but first, can we know your name?"

The girl sat in silence for a moment. "I don't know it. I-I don't know my own name."

"That's okay." Alec spoke. "Do you know where you live?" She thought for a moment before shaking her head. "Thanks okay. We found you in an alleyway being attacked by demons. Do you remember that?"

"Demons? Demons aren't real. Have I been kidnapped?"

"No." Jace stepped in. "We're not kidnappers. We're shadowhunters, its our job to protect mundanes from demons. Do you remember anything from before your attack? We're trying to piece together what happened so we can figure out who you are."

"I don't remember anything. It's all dark." She pointed to her head. "What are shadowhunters? What are mundanes? Where am I?"

"It's going to take time to explain everything. For now, you need to know that you don't need to be scared. We're here to keep you safe. Alec, can you go get Magnus and let him know that she woke up? He's in the library."