"i am ember
burning down your empire
glowing brighter than the darkness inside of you."
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Clary Saltzman thought living in a strange town with her estranged biological father and half-sister would be all she had to worry about...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
CLARY'SEYESFLUTTER open, sunlight hitting them and making her groan. She goes to close them again when three figures loom over her, blocking the light.
It takes a moment for her eyes to adjust to the change in lighting, but once they do, she screams in joy and excitement.
Charlie, who is downstairs, is about to tell Bella about the people he invited over when they both freeze at the sound of Clary's scream.
Quickly, they stumble past each other and rush all the way up the stairs, stopping at Clary's open door.
The two freeze once more as they see Clary smiling and exuding happiness, something they've never seen before. She's hugging three girls.
One girl is tall with blonde hair and bright blue eyes, one is a shorter brunette with cute brown eyes, and the last one is an auburn-haired girl with the biggest, sweetest smile on her face.
"I can't believe you're here!" Clary yells, her smile the brightest in the room, lighting it up.
Bella and Charlie glance at each other with soft smiles before silently leaving the girls in the room.
For once, Clary is happy and they don't want to ruin it. Those girls, whoever they are, are a good thing.
"Bitch, you best believe it!" Lizzie tugs Clary into another hug, not wanting to let go of her best friend. Clary is the only person in the entire school—other than her twin sister—to love her for who she is. "I missed you so much." She pulls back, her eyes watery.
"I missed you too, jerk," Clary replies, trying to bring a smile to Lizzie's face, which she does.
"You better have." Lizzie smirks before wiping away a fallen tear, glancing around the room with a grimace. "Your room is ugly. You really need to decorate." A thought dawns on her. "Never mind—you'll be leaving here soon."
She smiles at Clary, knowing there's no way she's ever going to like this rainy town. Mystic Falls is her home, and always will be.
Clary sits on her bed, smiling at her best girls. God, she's missed them so much, and it's only been two weeks. "I love you guys so much."
"Awe, babe," Josie coos, leaning into her side as Hope sits on the end of the bed, looking at the pictures Clary has hanging on the walls.
There are many photos of all four of them. Actually, about eighty percent of the photos are of them. One of the photos makes Hope stiffen.
It's of the Mikaelsons before they fell, with Hope and Clary in it too. They're smiling, dressed up in ball gowns and suits for a ball Rebekah had thrown when they were about eight years old.
