City of Heavenly Fire Fan Fiction
Prologue
Alec stood in front of Magnus's apartment, staring at sadly. Magnus's words from earlier today repeated in his mind. It's over. I don't want to see you again, Alec. Or any of your friends.
Alec used his apartment key for what he knew would be the last time. After entering, he set it onto the dining room table, along with a note that he hoped Magnus would read. Then, taking his time, he visited every room in Magnus's vast apartment. The whole place smelled like sandalwood, and was filled with items form hundreds of years ago.
His cat, Chairman Meow, was asleep on Magnus's bed, one that Alec and Magnus had once shared. Upon Alec's arrival into the bedroom, The Chairman awoke and hissed in his direction. He swept up the last of his belongings, and left.
Chapter One
Simon pressed the button and waited for the elevator door to open. Isabelle was holding his hand, but he still felt nervous. He checked the note that his sister had given him earlier. Sure that he had the right floor, he stuffed it back into his pocket. The elevator opened.
Isabelle squeezed his hand. "Are you ready?"
Simon nodded. "Yeah,"
When they made it to the third floor, Simon knocked on the door of apartment 32C. The door opened, revealing a dark haired girl with wide brown eyes.
"Hey," Rebecca said.
"So who's this?" Rebecca jerked her head towards Isabelle.
They were standing in the kitchen of Rebecca's small apartment. Rebecca was dressed brightly as usual, wearing a bright red T-shirt and a pair of denim boot cut jeans. She wore no makeup, but still looked pretty. Looking between the two girls, they seemed like complete opposites—considering the fact that Isabelle wore her black gear today, along with bright red lipstick and black liner around her eyes. She towered over Rebecca, who stood at five feet, four inches.
Simon was more confused than ever about his relationship with Isabelle. Although she had broken up with him and declared that they were never getting back together, he could see her hints of affection. He was still mostly sure that Isabelle was out of his league, so he tried to play it safe.
Simon cleared his throat. "This is my….." he glanced at Isabelle. "friend, Isabelle."
Rebecca looked at both of them and nodded. "Uhuh."
Simon knew that if he could have, he would have blushed. Isabelle's face was a bright red.
"Well," Isabelle said. "Come on then. Let's go."
They arrived at Elaine Lewis's house a half hour later. The religious signs were still painted on her door, but they had started to fade. The grass on the lawn was overgrown, making the house look completely different from the home Simon had grown up in.
"I don't think this is going to work," Simon said nervously.
"Don't worry, it will," said Rebecca.
"Yeah, and if she tries to hurt you, I'll kick her butt," said Isabelle.
Rebecca knocked on the door. A haggard, thin woman answered. Her hair was grey and knotted and she had dark circles under her eyes. Simon recognized her with a pang of guilt.
"Mom," he said.
Simon's mom's eyes widened as soon as she saw him.
"I thought I told you to get away from here!" Her voice was shaking.
"Mom, you don't understand, just let him explain," coaxed Rebecca.
"No, you don't understand!" His mother's voice had risen to hysteria. She pointed to Simon. "That's not Simon! That's a monster."
Isabelle rolled her eyes. "This is worse than I thought" she muttered. Talking louder, she said, "Look, we can do this the easy way or the hard way. If I were you, I'd just let us inside so we could talk this over."
"You." Simon's mother narrowed her eyes at Isabelle. Isabelle stared back, her beautiful face unfazed. "Did you do this to Simon? Did you kill my boy?" Elaine Lewis's eyes looked back and forth frantically.
Simon, Isabelle and Rebecca exchanged glances.
"Just let me explain," said Simon.
"I can't believe that you had the nerve to come here after corrupting your sister," Simon's mom spat at his feet. Her voice raised an octave as she began to pray.
Simon remembered that day a couple of weeks ago when his mother had found the bottles of blood in his mini-fridge. How he'd walked in, his jacket stained red, and she'd looked at him with cold, hateful eyes. Without realizing it, he let a single, crimson tear run down his cheek.
Rebecca's face was a mixture of horror and sadness. She put a hand on his shoulder.
Simon tried again, this time using a voice that wasn't his own.
"Let us inside and we can talk," he said, this time sounding smoother and more melodic. "There's no need to be scared."
"There's no need to be scared," Simon's mother echoed, eyes glazed over. She smiled warmly. "Well, come on in." For a moment, she sounded like the mother from his childhood.
As they followed her down the hall, Rebecca elbowed Simon. "What was that?"
"Glamour," Isabelle said.
Before Rebecca could say anything else, they made it into the living room.
They all sat down around the old, familiar coffee table. Taking turns, Isabelle, Rebecca and Simon explained everything about Shadow hunters and downworlders. Simon's mom listened silently, never interrupting with a question.
"I just wanted to say, it's me, Simon. If you still don't want me around, that's okay. I just wanted you to know the truth."
The sun was starting to set, and Simon could see the glamour starting to wear off. His mom glanced nervously at all of them, but she no longer looked crazed. When her eyes fell upon Simon, they widened—not in fear—in surprise. She walked towards him and cupped his face in her hands.
"It really is you," she said, wrapping her arms around him. "I'm so sorry, so sorry…."
As he hugged her bony frame, he only felt numbness. He waited for that feeling of warmth and belonging he longed for, but nothing came. He still loved his mother, but he didn't feel any urge to move back in with her.
He pulled back, careful not to hurt her. His mother looked so fragile; he didn't want to break her.
Isabelle cleared her throat. "Let's get to the Institute; we've got a meeting to plan."
"Almost, try again," said Jace.
Clary sighed. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't master the double flip. She had watched Jace do it flawlessly many times before, but it was impossible for her to emulate it. She wiped her brow with the back of her hand and looked at him with sad eyes.
"Are we done yet?" she asked, batting her eye lashes.
Jace didn't waver. "No. If you want to win the war against your brother, you'll have to master these basic moves before we can move onto weapon training."
Clary groaned and positioned herself the way Jace had shown her. Mentally bracing herself, she jumped to the next beam. Swinging off it, she used the momentum to turn her body. Although the harness prevented her from falling, her stomach dropped when she neared the ground. She tried to flip a second time, but she faltered half way around. Jace shook his head, clicking his tongue as she landed.
"Okay, remember what we talked about. When you try to flip a second time—"
Just then, Isabelle burst into the room. "Come to my room as soon as you can. We're going to discuss a battle plan."
"Right now?" Jace sounded annoyed. "We're in the middle of training."
"Well, your training can wait." Isabelle said. "Besides, I already called Alec. He's on his way."
"Fine, give us five minutes." Jace said.
Isabelle sighed and closed the doors of the training room.
"So," Clary said, the vast room echoing. "Should I try that one more—"
Jace interrupted her with a gentle kiss. At first, Clary's lips were frozen in surprise, but soon they began to move perfectly with his. His kiss began hesitant and restrained, but deepened into something strong and possessive. She had no idea how much time had passed before she pulled away.
"What was that for?" she asked.
Jace took a deep breath. "I want to remember this moment, just the way we are."
"Why?"
He stared deep into her eyes. "There might not be another one like it."
Isabelle waited in her room with Simon. It had been fifteen minutes since she'd talked to Clary and Jace, contacted Luke and Jocelyn, and she'd texted Jordan and Maia over a half hour ago. She'd tried to reach Magnus, but after four tries she'd given up. No one had arrived.
After their conversation with Mrs. Lewis, Rebecca had retreated to her apartment. Although she never would have admitted it, Isabelle had begun to like Rebecca. She reminded Isabelle so much of Simon. Not only did they look alike, but they were similar in the way they held themselves and the inflections of their voices.
Simon faced opposite of her, probably lost in thought. Isabelle had really believed that seeing his mother would have made him feel better, but his mood seemed to have stayed the same.
Despite his presence, she felt lonely. She longed to reach out to touch his shoulder, to position herself so that she was facing him. But she knew that she'd have to settle for the back of his head.
A moment later, there was a knock on the door. Isabelle called, "Come in," and it opened, revealing a lanky, dark haired person.
"Hey," Alec said. "Where is everyone?"
As he spoke, Isabelle looked at him closely. Now, there seemed to be a heaviness in the way he held himself, and his eyes looked weary and sad. When he ceased talking, he slumped into a chair and stared at the wall. Although he was tall, he looked smaller than Isabelle had ever seen him. The key that he'd always fingered so fondly was gone.
"Alec, where's your key?" she asked.
Alec looked disoriented. "What?"
Isabelle shook her head. "Never mind."
They'd talk about this later. As Clary and Jace entered the room, Isabelle knew they had bigger problems to deal with.
Chapter Two
When Maia and Jordan arrived at Isabelle's unofficial meeting, almost everyone was there. After looking around, a question popped into Maia's head. Where was the shiny guy?
" Okay, now that everyone's here—except for Magnus—we can get going. Where is Magnus anyway?" Isabelle said.
Everyone looked and Alec expectantly. After a few moments, he shrugged half-heartedly.
"Why should I know?" he snapped. "I don't always have to know where he is."
Maia was taken aback. Alec was never this grumpy, and where ever Magnus was, Alec stood by his side.
Isabelle blinked. "Okay then,"
An awkward silence followed. After a couple of minutes, Luke spoke up.
"Sebastian could be anywhere by now." he said. "Knowing him, he probably has demons flanking him everywhere, so we must always be on the lookout. Beware of the Agramon—you may need to ask Clary to draw you a fearless rune before any encounters with Sebastian. I'll ask Magnus—if we ever find him—to use a tracking spell to find Sebastian's general location."
"What should we do with him once we find him?" asked Isabelle. "Should we give him to the Clave, or should we kill him ourselves?"
"That's a good question," Jocelyn said.
"We should kill him ourselves," said Jace. "I want to do it,"
"Why?" Simon asked.
All eyes were on Jace now. Jace's bloodlust reminded Maia of her first encounter with him, at a lycanthrope bar. Of course, he had started a fight, and she had decided then that she hated him. Looking back on it, that day, Jace reminded her so much of her abusive brother, it was impossible not to dislike him. He was obviously violent, and very beautiful. But the more time she spent with him, the more her feelings of hate lessened.
That being said, Jace was still a jerk. But he cared for Clary more than her brother could have cared about anyone, and Maia suspected that his love for Clary was his reason for wanting to slaughter Sebastian himself.
"Sebastian hurt me more than he hurt anyone else." Jace said. " He murdered Max and hurt Isabelle. He tried to kill me, and then he brainwashed me. He murdered a member of his family, and hurt Clary. No one with that much blood on his hands should live, and I should be the one to give him what he deserves."
"We have to be careful about how we carry this out," Jocelyn remarked. "We can't be too rash."
"Yeah, and you're not the only one who got hurt here, Jace," said Isabelle. "He killed my brother."
"He was my brother too!" Maia wondered if Jace knew how childish he sounded.
Clary put a hand on Jace's shoulder. "The point is, we've all lost something to him. We need to come up with a substantial plan before we start beheading people left and right."
Jace sighed in resignation.
"So what is the plan?" asked Simon.
"I don't think a flat out ambush would work out very well." said Alec.
"So what do you think we should do?" asked Jocelyn.
"We shouldn't just barge in and try to kill him." remarked Alec. "He'll be ready for that. What we need to do is infiltrate from the inside. We need to either convince him that we're on his side, or let him take one of us as prisoner. That way we'll know exactly where he staying, and all of the holes in his plan."
Everyone nodded in agreement.
"I'll go," Jace said.
"I don't think you should," said Alec. "He'd expect something like this from you or Clary. We should probably use someone who's not really on his radar."
"What about me?" Simon asked.
The whole room stared at him in disbelief.
"What?" said Simon, incredulous. "He'll never suspect me. Usually he's got his eye on Clary and Jace, but he probably doesn't think I'm smart enough to thwart him."
"That's because you not," said Jace.
Clary shot Jace a death glare. "Sorry," he muttered.
"Simon's right about Sebastian not suspecting him," said Luke.
"Everyone in favor of Simon being taken as prisoner say Aye," Jocelyn said.
"Aye!" most everyone said.
"Well, that's settled," said Clary.
"Speaking of that tracking spell we were talking about, does anyone have any idea where Magnus is?" Isabelle sounded annoyed. " I've called him four times, and no one answered."
"That's strange of Magnus," Luke remarked. "Usually he's really prompt."
Alec's expression was one that Maia could not recognize right away. He fixed his face immediately, and Maia began to think about his earlier crabbiness. Something had definitely happened between him and Magnus; it was obvious that the invisible ties that had held them together were severed. Maia suddenly felt a stab of sympathy for Alec. Magnus had broken up with him, and it was killing Alec to hide it.
Magnus lay on the couch in his apartment; chines take out boxes strewn across the floor. His phone buzzed again, and he fished it out of his deep pocket. He waited until the vibrating subsided.
Five missed calls from Isabelle.
Oops.
Looking around his living space, Magnus noticed a change in the atmosphere. It looked tired, dirty, and empty—apart from the fast food bags and boxes that were creating a stench in the living room. It took him a moment to remember what was missing.
Alec.
Magnus's heart sank as he went to retrieve Alec's key from the dining room. When he neared the table, he noticed a piece of lined paper underneath the key. Picking it up, Magnus immediately recognized Alec's neat but masculine handwriting.
Dear Magnus,
Earlier today I cleared all of my stuff out of your apartment, and I hope that I didn't leave anything behind.
I'm not going to make excuses; I'm just going to say I'm sorry. I never should have considered shortening your life, even if I wasn't going to go through with it.
All that I can say is that I had never been in love before, and I guess I found out that my love can cloud my judgment.
I still can't stand the thought of losing you, and I hope you didn't mean it when you said that you never wanted to see me again. Hopefully in the future, we can still be friends.
Love,
Alec.
Magnus reread the note twice before a tear slid down his cheek. He picked up the note and concentrated.
A small flame appeared at the top of the piece of paper. It grew and moved town, engulfing the note in fire. Soon, the flame disappeared, leaving no ashes in its wake.
Just then, Magnus's phone vibrated. He recognized the phone number immediately: Alec. Hesitantly, he answered.
"Hello?"
He heard someone sharply inhale. Then there was nothing.
Magnus sighed. Staying away from Alec would take some effort.
Simon left the institute and made his way over to Rebecca's place. When he neared the door, a familiar scent wafted from the apartment: blood.
He knocked on the door and yelled, "Rebecca!". No one answered. He tried the door,, and it was locked. Simon kicked it open easily, and gasped at what he saw.
The apartment looked as if it had been ransacked. A lamp lay broken on the floor. Pieces of furniture looked as if they'd been thrown across the room. Two red handprints were smeared across the wall.
Simon stepped forward to examine the markings. The hands were obviously feminine, delicate and small. Their crimson hue suggested that they'd been bleeding.
Among the wreckage was a note.
She isn't the last one.