Just a small town girl,
Living in a lonely world,
Took the midnight train going anywhere...

L E T A

I woke up in the middle of the night, heart thumping, breath coming in short gasps, convinced I'd seen something- heard something- all I knew was that I was awake, and there was someone in my room.

I shot upright in bed, shaking my hair away from my face, and saw it- a shadow of a person, a slim boy with dark hair.

In an instant I was out of bed, holding a hardback book and wishing I'd taken up karate classes, or at least anything that wasn't cross country. Running was all well and good, except when some stranger was in my room, probably stalking me or trying to kidnap me or something.

The boy straightened up and smiled at me, and I almost dropped my book. Hey, if I have a creepy stalker, at least he's hot. Very.

'Letitia,' he said slowly.

'Leta,' I corrected automatically.

'Leta,' he continued. 'Forget this ever happened. You don't know me. You had a bad dream. Go back to sleep.'

And he was gone. I stared at the space where he had been a second ago in puzzlement, then shook my head. Why was I holding a book and staring at the window?

I'd had a bad dream, I thought. then I blinked, and climbed into bed.

I didn't remember the boy in my room at all.

TWO WEEKS LATER...

'I'm sure she'll do brilliantly, Simon,' I said, for the twentieth time. 'You have nothing to worry about.'

Simon bit his lip and frowned. 'Art school is her dream,' he told me (like I didn't know already). 'What if she doesn't get in?'

'Positive attitude, Simon,' I said, swirling my spoon around in my tea. 'Think positive thoughts. Go to your happy place.'

Simon buried his head in his hands. 'I'm worried for her,' he moaned. 'If she doesn't get in she'll be so upset.'

'Shall we have a chat, Si?' I asked. 'I've been meaning to talk to you.'

Simon looked at me warily.

'Look, Simon,' I said. 'You know I love you.'

Simon nodded awkwardly.

Honestly, boys. Why are they so unwilling to talk about feelings?

'When were you planning on telling me you were in love with Clary?' I asked bluntly.

Simon's coffee overturned on the table and he turned a bright shade of puce. 'What?'

'You heard me,' I said. 'Simon, I'm one of your best friends. I, personally, feel offended that you didn't tell me. I could have helped somehow... I don't know...'

'Clary's coming,' Simon hissed. 'Look, Leta, we'll talk about this later.'

'I know you, Si,' I said softly. 'And I know you'll put this off as long as you can, and you have to let her know-'

Clary weaves her way through the tables towards us, and I shut up instantly.

'Give me the professors' names and I- I will end them,' Simon said, then sighed as I have him an oh, really? look. 'You know, with with a scathing e-mail to the dean,' he added.

'Don't bother.' Clary grinned and showed us her letter, stamped with a bright red CONGRATULATIONS.

'What? Sad face? Really? Well played, well played.' Simon beamed at Clary, and I rolled my eyes.

Oh, the joys of watching your best friend very obviously crush on your other oblivious best friend. Oh, Leta, how did you get yourself in this situation?

****

'Tina,' my mom called. 'Hey, Tina- are you going out with Simon and Clary tonight?'

I poked my head around the door of my room and grinned. 'Yep. You okay with that?'

'Be careful, honey,' Mom warned. 'You know how I worry.'

'I'm always careful,' I lied, pulling on a black boot. 'See you later.'

If I had turned around at that moment, maybe I would have seen the girl with dark skin and blue hair. Maybe, more importantly, I would have seen the slim boy with black hair. Maybe everything would have been different. But I didn't, and it wasn't.

****

Clary sighed, shaking her head. 'My mom is so overprotective lately.'

'So, do you remember in Aliens, when the alien queen was defending her eggs from Ripley?'

I rolled my eyes. 'Guys. Am I the only non geek in this little group?'

Predictably, everyone ignored me.

'In this scenario, is my mom Ripley or the alien queen?' Clary asked.

'I can't listen to this anymore,' I sighed. 'I'm going to go take a walk before my brain dies.'

'Don't get murdered in an alley somewhere!' Maureen called after me.

'Thanks,' I muttered. 'Real sweet.'

I leant against the wall across from my friends and massaged my temples. You're being weird, Leta, I told myself. Stupid stress and hormones.

'Hey, are you okay?' Someone asked, and I whipped around. There was a tall boy with dark hair and dark eyes. Pretty hot, but not my type. Way not my type.
Totally.

'Fine, thanks,' I said. 'Why?'

'Why not?'

'This is Brooklyn,' I said. 'Nobody goes up to people on the street and asks if they're okay if they don't look like they're having a mental breakdown.'

'You don't look like you're having a mental breakdown,' the boy reassured me. 'You looked like you had a headache, though. I just wanted to make sure you were alright.'

'Well, thanks.' I frowned. 'Hey, wait- do I recognise you? You look really familiar-'

'No,' he said instantly. 'No, you don't know me.'

I knew I'd seen him somewhere, but I couldn't put my finger on it- and besides, his voice was so comforting. I wanted to believe him so much-

Wait. He was gone.

I frowned. I could have sworn he was standing right next to me just a few seconds ago- but never mind. I'd probably just blinked funny or something.

I had bigger problems than a boy walking up to me and asking if I was okay, anyway. I had to go and find Clary, Simon and Maureen.

A-N- Bad ending, sorry! Hope you enjoyed the first chapter of Soulless.

Let me know- do you want me to skip over parts of Shadowhunters and make the next chapter the hotel Dumort episode, or to write it all? Writing it all will mean slower updates than if I just go on straight to the Hotel Dumort episode.

If you're confused about Leta forgetting Raphael, it's just that vampires can persuade people to do things (like Simon making his mom forget he was a vampire in the books).

Thanks for reading and thanks for all your lovely comments on the extended summary! Love you!

xxxx

Jade