Chapter 1 of City of Bones rewritten where the roles are flipped. Clary is a Shadowhunter and Jace, Isabelle, & Alec are mundanes that finally collide with each other on that one fateful night in Pandemonium. Oneshot. :D

Disclaimer: All quotes from the original City of Bones chapter 1 and characters belong to the amazing Cassandra Clare!

P.S. I know I've got a story currently in the works, but I have major writer's block and I needed to write something not related to my story. :] Also, this is unedited so excuse any typos & mistakes!

Flipped

"You've got to be kidding me," the bouncer raised his eyebrows at the boy in front of him.

Wearing a red zip-up jacket, blue hair, and abnormally green eyes that were probably contact lenses, everything about the kid was normal for a Pandemonium guest- except for the wooden blade he held. The boy flashed an easy grin to the guard and mumbled something about it being part of his costume. "I'm a vampire hunter. It's fake. Foam rubber. See?" Sure enough, the sword bent easily and the bouncer let him pass with a bored wave of the hand.

And, meanwhile, Alec Lightwood, who stood in line to enter Pandemonium, could not understand any of it. By it, he meant the whole night club experience. What was the point? You danced, got drunk, and left the place soaked in sweat and glitter. Not exactly his idea of a good time.

As if reading his mind, Alec's best friend, Jace, gave him a reassuring pat on the back. "Lighten up. It's a nightclub. You're supposed to have fun. How did that Spongebob song go? 'F is for friends who do stuff together, U is for you and me! N is for-'"

"Jace, give it a rest. I'm sure Alec doesn't know what fun is," Isabelle, his sister (unfortunately), interrupted with an eye roll, earning her a scowl from him.

"I do know how to have fun, just not here. I was perfectly fine reading at home. You guys didn't have to drag me with you," Alec muttered in response. This whole partying concept was Jace and Isabelle's scene, not his.

"Putting 'reading' and 'fun' in the same sentence just proves that you're a wallflower, brother, dear. But," Isabelle proclaimed, "I have a big feeling that something crazy's going to happen tonight."

"When we put you near alcohol, something crazy always happens, Izzy," Jace mused as the trio entered Pandemonium.

oooooo

The boy in the red jacket grinned hungrily at the mundie. She was prettier than the average mortal, with waves of red hair cascading over her shoulders and piercing green eyes like his own. Although, hers were probably not a glamour. After a few minutes, he caught her eye across the dance floor and sauntered up to her.

"What's your name?" the boy said by way of greeting in a charming manner.

She tucked a scarlet strand of hair behind her ear and smiled. "Clary."

"That's a nice name. I don't think I've seen you here before."

"Well, I'm not much of a clubber," Clary shrugged ruefully. "But when I do go, I try to have as much fun as possible." A mischievousness glint appeared in her eyes.

The boy cocked his head towards a door with "No admittance- Storage" painted on a sign. "I can show you fun." The mundie picked up his hint and slipped into the room behind him.

Both were unaware that they were being watched.

oooooo

Jace's golden eyes narrowed in skepticism as he watched the blue-haired boy from the entrance and a girl, who looked like nothing more than a shadow from this distance, go into Pandemonium's storage closet. Usually, he'd pay no attention to some couple sneaking off for a make out session. But, for some reason, Jace sensed something different.

A knife, or something like it, sticking out of the girl's boot. He just barely glimpsed it reflecting the club's strobe lights before she went into the room.

Jace nudged Alec and Isabelle, jerking his head in the direction of the closet. "There's a girl-"

"-Yes, I happen to be one," Isabelle interjected while she sipped her drink.

"No, I mean, she's going into the storage room with some guy-"

"-We both know what's going to happen next," she cut in, once again.

"-and she has a knife. Or something pointy. I didn't get a good view," Jace finally finished, shooting an irritated look at Isabelle.

At that, both Isabelle and Alec's ears perked up. "You sure? Should we call the police?" Alec began to reach into his pocket for his phone, before Isabelle swatted at his hands.

"Hey, mom forced us into years and years of self defense training. It's time to put it to the test." Her dark eyes glinted with excitement as she pulled her hair up into a high ponytail.

With a wordless nod, the three of them eased open the closet door, hoping the vibrating dance music would hide its creaking, and listened.

oooooo

The boy groped Clary's skin and it took everything in her to not knee him in the balls; not yet anyways. She always preferred straight-forward methods of demon hunting, and thus hated using seduction.

Suddenly, his hands dropped and he took a step back. "Your hands. They're marked with the symbols of the Nephilim." He gestured to the swirling patterns of ink on her skin.

Clary let out an inaudible sigh of relief. Finally, the charade could end. "Took you long enough, demon." She gave a small flippant smile before taking out her seraph blade with one hand and shoving him against the brick wall with another.

"Shadowhunter," it hissed at her, its eyes quickly scanning the storage room for a route of escape.

"Are there more of you?" she questioned it, pressing the weapon hard enough against its neck that it punctured skin.

"You're a weak-looking thing," the demon avoided the question and smiled coyly. "Is this what the Clave has amounted to? Tiny redheads with knives?"

"Answer the question." She pressed the sharp edge deeper.

Wincing in pain, it choked out, "Valentine's alive!"

Clary shook her head in annoyance. If she had a nickel for how many times she'd heard a demon say that just before she slaughtered them... "Valentine is dead. I'm pretty sure the Clave would know if he was still alive."

"And that is why the Clave is a foolish and arrogant bunch. They refuse to believe what is right in front of them-"

"You're annoying me," Clary cut him off. "I didn't know demons could talk so much. Let's get this over with."

oooooo

Now that he saw the girl up close, Jace thought she was beautiful. She differed from most girls he hooked up with, not an implant or extension in sight. She was ordinary-looking and extraordinary at the same time.

He almost didn't want to believe she was apparently a killer.

"She's insane. I don't know what kind of drug makes you babble about demons, but remind me never to try it," Isabelle whispered.

"I think it's time to intervene," Alec clenched his fist.

So they did.

oooooo

Clary had the demon cornered. But just as she drew her hand back, seraph blade in hand, the storage door swung open and three mundies she didn't recognize burst in.

"Grab her arms!" said one of them, and sure enough, two sets of hands suddenly clawed at her.

'How can they see me?' Clary thought to herself, confused. Aloud, she spoke through gritted teeth. "I don't know what's going on, but I'm kind of in the middle of something." Clary struggled to escape from the mundies' hold. She had to admit, they were strong. And they could also see Clary through her glamour. Huh. Maybe they weren't mundies after all.

"Ever heard of murder?" scoffed the only girl, dragging Clary out of her thoughts. "Or killing? Death by stabbing perhaps? I wouldn't call that just 'something.'" She was gorgeous, with hair as black as midnight and eyes traced in black eyeliner. Her facial features were similar to one of the boys who was holding her back. Probably siblings.

Before Clary could reply, she saw the demon dart for the door through her peripheral vision. In one fluid motion, she jerked free of the two guys' grasp and sent her seraph blade spiraling at the demon's back. Bullseye. It yowled and screeched before hitting the floor. The body of the Eidolon demon began to spasm and jerk violently, folding in on itself like origami. Before she knew it, the body had disappeared entirely, much to the mundies' shock.

Clary turned and fixed them an icy stare. "My job is hard enough as it is, and it's not exactly helpful for you mundanes to get involved," she spat. There was no venom in her voice though. She was too tired for that.

"How could we not?" the black-haired girl spoke up. "You just murdered a- a... a whatever that thing was! Did you expect us to just pretend we didn't see that?"

"Well, you shouldn't have had to pretend because you shouldn't have been able to see that." Clary chewed on her lip. "That is, of course, unless you're not a bunch of mortals. Do you guys come from the Boston Institute?"

"I have no clue what that is. But you, on the other hand, belong in a mental institute."

Clary groaned in frustration. 'They're just a bunch of mundies with the Sight. They don't know any better. Do not punch them, especially the girl,' she mentally restrained herself.

"Listen," Clary finally said. "You're probably creeped out, yeah? That's because you don't belong in my world. So, please, just go home and forget all of this. Me. Everything."

"It's hard to forget you if we don't know who we're forgetting," an unfamiliar voice pointed out. Stepping out of the shadows was one of the boys that had grabbed her arms moments earlier. He was tall with an athletic build, but it wasn't his body that she noticed; it was his face, mostly the eyes.

They were blazing gold and illuminated the dim storage closet, staring at her with interest. And much like his eyes, his hair was tousled bright blond that went a little past his ears. The rest of his face was symmetrical and chiseled. He was what her best friend, Simon, would probably call a golden boy. Literally.

"My name is Clary," she finally managed to say with a calm composure.

"I'm Jace," he grinned, showing off his perfectly straight teeth. Gesturing to the boy and girl Clary assumed were siblings, he introduced them as Alec and Isabelle.

"Okay," Clary nodded slowly. "So, you know me. Now, forget."

"I can't do that," Jace shook his head, crossing his arms. "That's like asking me to see my 64 year old history teacher in a bikini and then pretend that I'm not scarred for life. Which, by the way, I still haven't gotten over yet."

"Well, it's not like I can take you back to the Institute! Hodge and my mom would hack me to pieces and feed me to a Greater Demon."

They stared back at her blankly.

"Fine, then," she sighed. "Don't forget. But keep your mouths shut unless you want crazy looks from other mortals. So, nice meeting you, Alec, Isabelle, and Jace, even though it really wasn't," Clary nodded at them as she reached for the knob.

"Wait a minute," Jace called after her. "What did that demon call you?"

"Shadowhunter," Clary answered a bit hesitantly.

And then she was gone.

oooooo

They stood on the curb of New York's streets, waiting for a taxi. In fact, three cabs had already stopped in front of them, but no one had noticed and they'd driven away impatiently. The three of them were too busy thinking about-

"What the hell just happened?" Alec blinked.

Yeah, that pretty much summed up the whole night.

Jace's mind was reeling. Demons? Seriously? There was no way they could actually exist. But, then again, what had he just witnessed if they weren't real? And as for Clary, was she really a Shadowhunter, or whatever it is she called herself? Her enhanced strength and agility (she'd broken free of his and Alec's grip and threw a knife at a demon accurately) said yes.

"Remember when I said that something crazy was going to happen tonight?" Isabelle broke the confused silence that hung between them. "Well, I don't like saying 'I told you so,' but..." she drawled and dramatically paused.

"I told you so."