Just One Night (Lily)

[JACE TAYLOR]

Honk! Honk! Honk! Oh the sounds of New York. They were all to familiar on a Friday night downtown near the clubs. Cars were trying to get around the party goers as they made their way across the streets to a different night club. The smell of hot pavement after showers had pelted down all afternoon, and the hot dog stands selling cold drinks and warm food. All of this combined reminded Jace of home in London. They were so similar, perhaps this is why he spent so much time down here.

It had been a slow night at the institute, with little to do. For hours, he had been in the library looking up different demons and studying their weaknesses. Needless to say, it had been outlandishly boring. Finally, he had had enough and had set out to find something better to do with his time. A familiar scratch had began to form in him, and he knew it was only a matter of time before he gave into it again. He hadn’t been to a part or night club for that matter in nearly a month, and the strain was beginning to get to him. For a while he was able to ignore it by wandering around the institute, and even training for nearly two hours. However, the nagging stuck with him. Just one night of backsliding wouldn’t hurt.

Giving into his urge, he had ran upstairs to change his clothes and run a comb through his tangled hair. It felt nice to have something planned for that night he could hardly contain his excitement. However, a thought had crossed his mind. He didn’t want to go alone. He would normally go with someone else in the institute, but he had been unable to find her that day. Biting his lower lip, he knew of someone else he could talk into going, but he knew it wouldn’t be easy. Thankfully, she had agreed after several minutes of pleading.

So here they were, wandering the streets of New York on a particularly warm night. Stopping in front of a dark building, Jace could hear the pounding music coming from inside. Each time the door was opened, flashed of green and red lights along with white smoke, spilled out onto the streets. Smirking, Jace knew it was going to be a fun night. Glancing over his should he saw she was lagging behind, there was an awful big crowd that night. “Oi Lily! Come on!,” he yelled back at her. Stepping back, he let some people pass him so that she could catch up.

[LILY NIGHTINGALE]

The click of the heels was unusual to Lily’s ears, blinking softly she examined her expression in the mirror. Her makeup although mostly flawless felt completely foreign to the young shadow hunter, as her eyes trailed down her reflection she ran a hand down the dress she’d borrowed off of one of the other girls that resided in the institute. If she was going out to party, she was going to do it properly and that did include making herself look at least presentable. It still felt weird though, the dress was a lot lighter and tighter than the usual baggy red sweater she adorned, not that she completely minded it was just strange. It was a pretty outfit black in colour with long sleeves and a skirt that ended at a fashionable enough length, it hid her rune marks pretty well too and partnered with the thick cotton tights she wore most of the marks were completely hidden. But if anyone did spot one of the runes Lily could always argue it was an odd tattoo she’d gotten in a fit of rebellion against her parents. The club they were going to was apparently full of teen miscreants and since it served cheap beer to underage kids Lily could see why it was a haven for such troubled adolescents.

Though with that came other problems, Demons which prayed on the young and vulnerable often stalked sites like these for easy prey, it wasn’t hard to come by a drunken girl or boy and all a Demon would have to do would be charm them with sweet words, or promises of sanctuary. It was one of the reasons Lily had come prepared. Though she didn’t have her bow and arrow she’d made sure to carefully stash a dagger in her black shiny ankle boots. She hurried along the pavement as her hands hugged her body as she nervously swapped glances with the rest of New York. It was so weird, normally on a night like this she’d be tucked up in bed with a thick book to read or she’d be in the library studying. In fact one of the only reasons she’d agreed to go out tonight was Jace, he was like a little brother to her, though there wasn’t a great deal of age difference she still treated him like he was her brother. After all how could she not? They’d practically grown up together at the London institute. She smiled softly as she remembered the days of long classes and lessons on how to fight and kill a demon. She’d never been very good at close combat but her friend had excelled, she used to so jealous but that jealously slowly faded to pity when he began his downward spiral.

She blinked and broke out of her thoughts when the familiar tone called her from her thoughts. Her blue eyes darted up as she grinned at her friend who seemed miles ahead.
“Okay, keep your knickers on.” Lily joked, her thick cockney accent lacing her words as she caught up with her friend. Her eyes turned anxiously to the large building that stood in front of them, she twiddled her thumbs together before finally she took the first step forward, her stomach felt knotted but as they pushed the door open the feeling seemed to disappear as bright disco lights and smoke hit them. Her blue eyes darted everywhere and her cheeks flushed as they landed on some of the other guys that sat in the clubs. Breaking away her gaze she turned to Jace with a grin.

“So we should get some d-drinks then.” Said Lily as she pushed through the crowd of mundanes “This nightclub better be as good as you’ve said so too.” She teased. She studied the bar for moment before she quickly decided on her drink.
“I’ll have a rum and coke please.” She said wrapping an apprehensive finger around the strap of her handbag “And whatever he’s having.” She said pointing to Jace.

[JACE TAYLOR]

Jace had to admit Lily had changed completely from the girl he grew up with. He had been so use to seeing her in her normal hoodies, that he had actually done a double take when she had stepped out of her room that night. It was like he was looking at a completely different girl all together. 

 As they entered the club however, The loud thump thump of the bass took over Jace's thoughts and he was forced to glance around at the people. The place was packed to say the least. People were so crammed on the dance floor that there was hardly any room between each person, as if these group of teens would have it any other way. Even if there had been a minimum number of people there that night, they would have still been pressed skin to skin. Jace hated to admit it, but this was just the way he liked it. 

The smell of alcohol drifted across the room, and the boy turned his thoughts away from the dance floor. This was many of the clubs around this part of town who sold alcohol to minors. It was a horrible fact, and he often wondered how they were still in business at all. Thankfully they still were though. Yet, Jace knew that this was a breeding ground for trouble. Underage kids drinking, dancing, and who knew what else made this a perfect target for demons. They loved to  prey on the intoxicated mind of young people, not to mention the fact that most of these kids were looking to hook up with someone tonight. Even the thought of it made Jace's leg twitch against the cold blade of the dagger hidden deep in his boot. If there was one thing he had learned, you could never be to cautious. 

The familiar sound of Lily's voice brought him back to reality. He could tell by the way she stuttered that this place was making her nervous. Since they were little she had always been scolding Jace about his partying ways. In a way she was like his sister, always nagging, always protective. It had been a relief when he had heard that she was moving to the institute there in New York. He had actually began to miss her after he had left out on his own. At least now he had someone to keep an eye on him so that he wouldn't get into to much trouble. '

Returning the grin he looked around "Oh believe me it is," he said with a cocky wink. "I'll take a vodka.. on the rocks," he added to the bartender who seemed a bit impatient tonight. The young shadowhunter figured it was stress of having to serve so many people, but still there was no need for the attitude. 

Turning his attention back to his surroundings, Jace observed the room and all of the interesting people. Between the flashed of green and red strobe lights, he caught glimpses of all kinds of people in the club that night. Some where normal as normal gets, but there were also the few that seemed to belong at Pandemonium more than here. A group of girl however, quickly caught his eye. They were staring at him and whispering to each other with the occasional giggle. Flashing them a small smirk, Jace turned around and grabbed his drink from the bar. Jace loved getting the attention, which was half the reason he ventured out to the clubs at night. 

Taking a swig, he let out a long "Ahh" before returning it half empty to the bar top. Glancing over at Lily, he wondered how she was taking this. He knew one way to lighten the mood, and perhaps make her more comfortable. Downing the rest of his drink, he wrinkled his nose before turning to her. Grabbing her by the hand, he started to haul her towards the misty dance floor. "Come on Lily. Lets dance."   

[LILY NIGHTINGALE]

Once they’d collected their drinks Lily took a long sip from hers as she soaked up the euphoric atmosphere of the party. The rum and coke wasn’t a foreign drink to her, there had been times when her mum had allowed her a few drinks like at Christmas and rum was something she’d just got a taste for. Another thing she absolutely adored was Rose Wine, but she doubted they sold that in such a hormonal charged club. Wine seemed like a so much more formal drink. Not that she cared however, her rum and coke was suiting her just perfectly. She took a long gulp and her taste buds relished in the mix of bitter and tang from the coke and rum.

She took a nervous step back, one drink was fine but it wasn’t enough to give her a sudden bout of dutch courage. She did however feel slightly more confident with the drink in hand like having something to divert her attention to, and for that Lily was grateful. She didn’t really know where to put herself, Jace was checking out a group of girls and she really didn’t want to look like the third wheel. She bit her bottom lip gently and nibbled on the lipgloss coated flesh. She felt awkward, which wasn’t an incredibly new feeling but it was probably made worse considering she was somewhere so out of her comfort zone. Lily took another gulp of her drink, she was being ridiculous she needed to buck up it wouldn’t be fair on Jace if she acted like a wallflower and ruined his night.

Placing the now empty glass on the edge of the bar, she accepted Jace’s offer for a dance and followed him onto the dance floor.
“O-oh okay.” She said with a grin and followed him out onto the dance floor. The awkward feeling of displacement soon melted away as the fast beat of the song kicked in she was enjoying herself, but she did feel slightly self conscious as she threw her arms up in the air and let the beat of the music lead her. Though some of the ways the other girls were dancing, it was almost shocking too shocking for the bookish shadow hunter to see.
“this place is brilliant.” Said Lily with a grin. She was truly happy Jace had let her tag along, it wasn’t every Saturday she got the chance to go out and party, in fact this would have been the first.

“Those girls are definitely after you.” She teased as she indicated over to the group of girls who Lily inspected with a thoughtful gaze “The brunettes really looking confident, I think she might come over soon.” She said “You gonna work some of that Jace Taylor charm?” Asked Lily with a playful smirk.

[JACE TAYLOR]

“I told you!” he said trying to speak over the crowd. He had promised her that they were going to have fun tonight no matter what. So far this place hadn’t disappointed him, even after the fight he had gotten into a few months ago. They had given him a warning, and told said if it happened again he would be banned indefinitely. Thankfully he had had no more incidents.

Glancing over his should her caught site of the girls Lily was pointing out, and flashed them a smile. However, he turned back around and shook his head, “I’m not here for that,” he yelled over the noise. Dancing was about the only thing he was looking for that night, and of course spending some time with Lily since this were their first real outing together. Normally she would have scolded him for going to a place like this, but he was happy to see she was having some fun. “Besides we’re having too much fun,” he added swirling her around as a new song came on.

The music took control immediately, as Jace steered her father into the middle of the dance floor. His body swayed as the bass hit harder, and the rhythm of the new song picked up. A man walked passed with a tray of shots, and the boy quickly snatched a couple, tossing a few dollars in the cup they were using to collect money. Handing one to Lily, he gave her an evil grin before tossing back the bitter liquid; it burned from the moment it entered his mouth until it reached the bottom of his stomach. At first he had planned not to do anything he would regret in the morning, but the atmosphere of the club was beginning to take over. He hadn’t been out to a party like this in quite a while, and he couldn’t resist the temptation any longer.

It became more crowded as people piled in to dance to P!nk’s new song “Raise Your Glass” which was blaring over the speakers. The fog machines kicked in and blue and pink strobe lights began to flash throughout the building creating a hazy atmosphere. Adrenaline pumped through his veins and he could no longer tell the difference between the beat of the music and the quick beat of his own heart inside his chest. People were jumping all around, and sweat was beginning to appear on Jace’s forehead and neck. However, the heat didn’t stop him from continuing to dance. Grabbing another shot, he raised it in the air like the rest of the crowd and began to jump in place.