...the Prince of darkness is a gentleman...

-Shakespeare

Prologue

When I smelled the stale rustiness, I knew it was finished. Panting, I grin for a while, then climb off her. I tear off the rest of her clothes, leaving her bare on the cold wooden floor. Fucking shit, so cliché. Kneeling down beside her with one of my hands wiping the blood off my blade, I brush my lips against her ear.

"Melius relinquere," I whisper. Better to leave. "You're lucky."

Then with a wink, I leave the chilly room.

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F.i.f.t.e.e.n.m.i.n.u.t.e.s.a.g.o.

I climb over the fence, acknowledging a certain scent. Roses. Weird. It's winter and everything is covered up with snow. Shaking my head, I climb the girl's dorm building, target a random window and throw myself in without a noise.

There's a sleeping figure on a bed, and I approach it quietly.

"Knock knock," I whisper, and the girl jumps up with a gasp.

When she sees me, she tries to scream, but I quickly push her up against the headboard, clamping my hand down on her mouth.

"Shh," I hiss, studying the new girl. Fair hair-I see through the darkness. "It's okay. It's just that I saw you this afternoon before. And I found you quite... Interesting."

She's still tensed up, her body stiff against me. Still pressing my palm to her mouth, I lower my head down to her collarbone, tracing the lines with my tongue.

The girl struggles against my hold, a noise escaping from her throat.

"It's fine, I won't cause any harm if you don't want it," I whisper, my eyes fixed upon hers. Those eyes study mine, then travel down to my face, to my body. To encourage her, I press myself close to her, letting her feel me getting hard.

As if to test out, I slowly move my hand away from her mouth and lean my head closer to press my lips feverishly against hers. She's unresponsive at first, but soon follows my moves, sucking my bottom lip.

"Can I take that as an yes?" I ask quietly, leaning away from her a bit. She pauses, unmoving. "Can I?"

Her hands reach the back of my neck, pulling me closer. And I decide that's when I should stop being such a gentleman. Shaking my head, I take her wrists in my hand and pin it against the headboard tightly. She shivers in anticipation, and I start with the pulse on her neck, sucking and licking up to her mouth.

...Oh, Jacey... ...You are always such a bad boy...

...Now don't make mommy upset...

I unconsciously dig my nails to the skin of her wrist, pressing my lips harder and harder. As I start kissing her, the girl wraps her legs around my waist, begging for more. I harshly thrust my hips against hers, grinding rapidly. She lets out a breathy moan, and I add pressure to the hold on her wrists to quiet her.

Kiiiiiillllllllllllll heeeeeerrrrrrrrrrrrrrr, a voice whispers from the depth of my head. As if I need to be told. Bloooooooodddddddd.

Almost like a man driven wild, a humming noise starts to increase in my ears. I bite down on her lower lip, tasting blood, but she doesn't seem to mind. She only twists her body for more contact, and I release her wrists to palm her breasts underneath her shirt. With her freed hands, she takes mine off too while I dig my palms into her flesh.

Flesh. Blood.

I moan at the very thought, and the girl responses fervently by clawing down on my bare shoulder.

Pain. ...Jacey!... ...Jacey!... ... ...JACEY!...

Among the voices singing inside my head, a sudden noise rips through my ear, and I realize I had just collided my head with the headboard.

The girl seems to be too busy to notice my distraction, drawing her hand down to the bulge beneath my jeans. She starts palming, and I quickly get rid of her pants and her underwear.

She unbuttons my jeans, taking my erection in her hands to rub harder. Although I should be consumed up in pleasure and anticipation, I can't focus. Not today. I don't even say anything. Just sitting there like an empty man.

So only after she quickly undoes my jeans and boxer, I plunge deep into her, making her moan shakily.

I thoughtlessly thrust myself into her, too distracted to make any dirty comments. Too distracted to acknowledge the adrenaline through my veins as I sink the blade deep inside her heart. Too distracted to stab her more and more. Distracted by the voices in my head. Why today? Why so suddenly? What do you need?!

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P.r.e.s.e.n.t.

I need something new.

"But mommy-"

"Stop it Clarissa, just... Stop it!" The young woman-pretty certain not over thirty five-strains her voice out to the little redhead. "Can't you be like any other daughters?!"

Sighing, I shoot a quick glance over at my watch. Almost seven pm. This is taking longer than I hoped...

"I can't go there! I can't!" The girl screams. "There's a monster! In the Love House! It comes at night, killing off people-"

"No, no, no, Clary..." The woman holds on tight to the little girl's shoulder, her too-young face crunched up with pain and fury. Beautiful... With the makeup on her face smudged with tears, she makes the perfect scenery.

"I'm going to die-" the girl-Clary-wails, letting out a series of panicked hiccups. "I'm going to die if you send me there."

"Stop talking!" The mother lets out a harsh yell, grabbing at her daughter's cheek. "I told you! I don't want anyone to know you're breathing in this house."

Then I hear several crashes from the small house, making me roll my eyes. I look around, wondering if someone would call the police, but then I realize... I'm at 'that part' of the town. Everyone keeps their curtains closed.

I see an old lady passing the house, her face coated with a wall of apathy. She walks through the snow, every footstep leaving it bleed white. Then I feel a deep ache shooting through the center of my brain. Ah, dammit... This again.

The woman takes a swift glance at the girl's house, then quickly looks away, her face as hard as a stone wall again.

...No one's here to help you, you delusional boy... Scream as much as you want to...

Her eyes come into a contact with mine, flinching.

...Indifference, nonchalance, callousness-that's what all people are about. You think anyone gives a fucking shit about you?...

The woman ignores my long stare, then walks into a pale blue house.

"Urgh," I groan out, shaking the pulsing pain out of my head. That's it. I quit. I'm heading back to the Love House. I guess I'll just wait for the girl to come. Tonight, I tell myself.

Looking up at the night sky, I can't help but smirk. The restless souls never bothered me, really. But it feels Romantic for tonight, cold breeze snapping past me.

"Counting the stars?" I'm interrupted by a boy, his eyes hollow and bare. He has sharp cheekbones and skin tone. "This isn't a place for such an ordinary boy like you to be at."

I give him a little smirk, studying him carefully. Surely from the House. "Ordinary, you think I am?"

"Well, compared to the kids in this place," he nods to the House. "You're pretty ordinary, I would say. This is the place for the troubled teens, you know."

"And you're one of those... Troubled teens?" It isn't really a question. Anyone would be able to guess that, judging by his looks.

He laughs bitterly, his eyes turning a shade darker. "Well, I guess so. I feel too much... Pleasure."

"Alright, then." There's a brief pause as if both of us are expecting something. "The mark," I smirk, reading a tattoo placed on his collarbone. "Goodbye to the found souls. I like that."

"It's my life thing," he says swiftly. As if I care.

"Look, you ever heard of a girl named... Clary?"

"Clary? You mean Clarissa Fray? I've heard her alright. She's quite famous here, in the Love House," he answers right away.

"How is she? Like, what's she like?"

"What, you want to know about her sexual fetishes or something? Pretty sure it would be useless, though."

I smile a little for him. "No, not her fetishes, but," then I narrow my eyes a little. "What do you mean, it would be useless?"

"Ah, never mind. It's just... If you mess with her, you wouldn't like it. Like I said, this place is for the troubled folks."

"I don't really care about businesses like that," cause it's going to be over when my blade cuts her bratty dirty life out of her bruised body. So vivid, I think to myself. So vivid when I haven't even yet come close to her in any way.

"Well let me tell you something about her. Too innocent to be here, but... A true troublemaker. You'd understand if you see her. She's fucked up like any one of us."

"Which room does she usually use?" I already feel the excitement burning deep in my heart.

"I'm not sure... Probably room 304... I don't know," he scowls for a second, then. "Why do you ask?"

"Just curious," I say, grinning. I've got what I need now. "What are you doing out here anyways, Troubled Boy? Aren't you supposed to be locked up in a room or something for the sake of the whole humanity?"

"I escaped," he states proudly. "I can use my hands pretty well, you know."

"Oh, I'm pretty sure you do. But that's it? You can just go off like that?"

"Nah. I'm probably going back to the House sooner or later. My dear shitty excuse for a parent brought me here and never came back," he speaks nonchalantly. As hard as he's trying to hide it, I can see the pain peeking out from his eyes. "I've got nowhere to sleep."

I let out a small laughter, maybe on purpose.

"What," the boy's face hardens as he recognizes my laughter as an entertained one. Amused one, to be specific.

"Just funny," I get my face close to his, my voice dropping to a lower tone. "You coward, hunger and cold isn't the reason you go back to the House every time. Got a diamond of yours stuck in that crazy asylum?"

Smirking, I lean back away from his glaring stare.

"I don't know what you're talking about," he shakes his head. "Look-"

"I suspect a girl. Or maybe a dirty little secret?"

"You don't know a fuck about me," he hisses. "So shut your fucking mouth up, and back off."

"Ah, maybe you're the famous killer?" I feel my mouth tilting up into a brilliant, insane smile.

I watch him flinch at the word. His eyes turn into skeptical ice. "How do you know about the deaths? The secret stays strict to the House."

"Honey," I inhale deeply, enjoying every moment of the sharp air and the atmosphere. His expression turns to suspicion, then to deliberate anxiety-maybe fear. "You know I never counted the stars. I don't really go for that kind of things."

Then I finish him up with the blade in my pocket.

Nobody hears him scream.

He gets lost into the night with his final scream.

I leave a tiny love letter on his bleeding chest, watching the note getting soaked by red.

But I wait until the absolute dark. Just to make it eloquent and precise. As the full moon rises upon the House, my patience finally wears up. Hell, this is dramatic enough. I climb up the iron gate easily, the protruding parts never bothering me.

Luckily, 304 is the one with a window. I find my way to that side nonchalantly, then climb the wall that leads to the girl. I'm a predator in the dark here. I know every route leading to every preys. Finally, I reach the window, slide it up easily, met with a set of rusty bars separating me and the girl.

Rolling my eyes, I examine the part hinged to the wall. Oh come on, this easy? Using my cutting disks just a little at the edge of the hinge, I easily lift the bottom of the entire set of bars.

The girl, having awoken by the noise of the metal, makes a weird noise in the back of her throat. I can hear her rapid gasps, and fuck. Are those heartbeats I'm hearing? Just perfect, so fucking perfect.

"Who's... Who's there?" She asks in a tiny staggering voice. Ah, fear. I can already taste the damned thing vibrating in the air seductively. "Shh, don't be scared," I speak in my softest voice. "Shh," because fear is the new sexy.

I know. There was no Clary at all in this chapter except for at the end, but hey- first chapters are always meant to be boring.

Also lemons in first several chapters won't be an actual 'lemony' thing, cuz, well... You just read it. It's more of a... Um, a disturbing period where you get some insight on Jace's condition/thoughts. I mean, Clary's not even in it. YET.

So I just wanted to try this one out. You know, to get to know your thoughts on this plot line. I hope you can give me some feedbacks.

ANY CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM WELCOMED!

Actually, they're more than welcomed, since that's the whole purpose of uploading this before writing more chapters.