Simon looked around him. The place seemed familiar, it was Hotel Dumort he recconed after looking around a little. It was dark as usual, but the difference this time was that Simon was in a cage, handcuffed to one of the bars. He looked down at his legs and noticed he wasn't wearing his own clothes. The clothes on him looked like something a rock star would wear – tight leather pants, a white t-shirt and chains around his waist and a spiked collar around his neck.
He took a deep breath, trying to figure out who could have done this to him. He thought of Camille, but it's impossible that she could've done this, since she was dead-dead. Raphael wouldn't have dressed him this way. And none of the other vampires seemed to have any problems with him.
His throat was burning. He was hungry. He had no idea how long he'd been passed out, but it felt like he'd been passed out for days. He looked around, trying to figure out what time of day it was, but it was all dark. The room was completely silent and it felt as if the whole building was empty. He hoped someone would bring him food soon, or that he could get out of there on his own, but he collapsed back against the wall before he could think of any way to get himself out.
With Jace and Clary in Idris, Alec and Isabelle were the only ones left at the Institute that could actually go out and fight. But it was too quiet. Nothing had happened for days, and Isabelle hadn't even heard from Simon the last three days.
"Alec, can we check on Simon? I'm really worried," Isabelle said and brushed some hairs off of Alec's shoulder. "It's so weird. I haven't heard from him in days! Have you seen me? No one ignores me for several days in a row!"
"Yes, Izzy, I know you're pretty and every guy should feel extremely special and lucky to be with you… Anyway, what was the last thing you heard from him?"
"A good morning text, three days ago."
"At least we know where he lives. We can go to Jordan and see if he's there," Alec said and brushed Isabelle's arm. "Shall we go now?" Isabelle nodded and smiled at him. She grabbed her whip and Alec took a few bows and his arrow. Just in case trouble was ahead. Isabelle could feel her stomach knotting up as they walked.
Outside of Jordan's apartment building, they noticed a pool of blood. They hurried to ring the doorbell and Maia let them in. Maia looked like a mess; her hair in a bun on top of her head, her shirt tucked into her sweatpants. "Jordan's not here," she said. "He's with the pack, in case more trouble comes our way." She sat down on the couch and gestured for them to do the same.
"What happened here today? There's a pool of blood outside…" Alec said.
"We got attacked. Someone came looking for something that wasn't here. We tried to follow them, but they were too fast for us. When Jordan and I came back, Simon was gone. There was no track of him and nothing was left for us to find."
"What?! Is Simon gone?" Isabelle screamed.
"Yes, well, we're trying to look for him, we really are. But there's nothing to track – no smells, no trails, no leads – nothing."
"We better check the hotel," Alec said. "They could've captured him there. But we're not strong enough like this. We need help."
"I'm the only one left, and I'm supposed to stay here to give a heads up if something happens here so the pack can stay informed," Maia said. "I'd love to come with you, but I can't."
"We'll just manage on our own," Isabelle said.
"We can't. There can be many of them," Alec said worryingly. "It's at times like this I wish Magnus was still with me, because his support would've helped me no matter what." Alec started thinking of Magnus. But the name Magnus Bane made him think of a towering sort of figure, with huge shoulders and formal purple warlock's robes, calling down fire and lightning. Not Magnus himself, who was more of a cross between a panther and a demented elf. And Alec missed all of it – all of Magnus. "I've tried everything I can to get him back. But he hasn't even called me back."
"Oh, Alec… I know, I know. I'd get him back for you if I could, but he won't listen do a young mortal like me! We need to go now, if we're going to save this stupid idiot of ours." Isabelle closed the door behind them as she waved goodbye to Maia. And then they were on their way.
Simon woke up. He'd heard a loud banging noise in the room, so he didn't have much of a choice but to wake up. He looked around and there she was – Maureen, the girl who had a huge crush on him. She was wearing all black, a sheer dress and a harness. She looked like a rock and roll princess with a stick in her hand, probably what caused the loud noise Simon had heard. She stood there staring at him with a vicious look in her eyes.
"You're finally all mine, Simon," she said. "You're the one that I want, you know that." Simon looked at her. He could feel fear, but since his heart wasn't beating he had no idea if he actually was scared at all. "Maureen," he said. "Finally." He had to play along. He didn't want her to kill him because of something as stupid as a broken heart.
"If I'd known you'd feel this way, I would've done this sooner," she said with a smirk. "I'm glad to see that you feel this way," she tossed him a bag of blood. "Eat up, it's fresh." She turned her back to him and left. "I'll be back," he heard her whisper from across the room. He felt shivers go down his back. He really didn't like this. It scared him not knowing what she wanted from him, or if she had planned out his death. He drank the bag of blood, wondering if Maureen would come back to kill him or to tie him up and have her way with him.
Isabelle dragged Alec with her. When they reached Hotel Dumort, Alec crawled in through a window located on the lower floor of the coven. Isabelle followed, and they were met by a curious member, named Jacob. He flashed his fangs and hurled himself at them, but Isabelle was fast enough to hit him with a silver coated stake before he got close enough to bite. "That's one less problem for now, we got to move," Isabelle said and walked down the hall. Alec followed, opened the doors on the left side of the hall as she opened the ones on the right. The first three rooms they entered were empty.
Alec opened a door a bit further down the hall and found something that looked like a prison cell. There was a dark shadow in the right corner which looked like a person lying on the floor in agony. He walked in and saw that Simon was the dark figure lying on the floor. He was lying with his legs curled up and his arms around his knees. Isabelle ran to the cage that was located in the far end of the room. "Simon, oh my God! What have they done to you?" Isabelle yelled. Simon looked at her with big eyes. He couldn't believe that she'd come to help him – to rescue him.
"Isabelle," he began. "I can't believe you're here. I'm sorry I haven't texted you or called you – they took my phone. Look, I don't know if it's a good idea that you're the ones to rescue me. The person who's behind this will make sure to have you killed." She stared at him, looking at every part of him.
"Simon, what are you wearing?" she said. "Are those leather pants?"
"Yes," he said shortly. "I'm not happy about this either." A loud thumping noise came from above. "I hope you're prepared for battle or you're going to have to leave right now." There was a desperate tone to his voice. He didn't want Izzy to get hurt trying to save him. That's why he'd said all these things, even though it seemed to have hurt her.
But it was too late. Simon saw Zeke jump down from the ceiling, and he wasn't alone. Isabelle tried to whip them off their feet, but they were too quick for her. Alec had found a spot a bit away from them, so that he could hit at them with the silver arrows. He hit one of the vampires in the chest, right above the heart. He fell to his knees and some of the other vampires tried to pull the arrow out of him, but they failed. Alec hit them all with arrows and they fell to the floor. They hissed and tried to pull the arrows out. Isabelle had gotten a vampire tied up in her whip. The vampire was a little girl they'd never seen before.
That's when Maureen entered. She soared down from the other side of the room. Isabelle looked at her. "You," Isabelle said. "I should've known you were the one behind this." Maureen laughed at her. "You don't believe that Simon's truly yours, do you? God, what a fool you are! Simon's destined to be with me." Isabelle felt the rage boil inside her.
"You're such a bitch, Maureen," she snapped.
"At least I can keep an eye on what is truly mine," Maureen said. "If you'd truly cared about him, you'd know better than this." Maureen whistled and suddenly twenty more vampires came crashing down. Isabelle got crammed up against the wall pretty fast. She only had silver coated stakes to defend herself with, but she hit the in the heart and pulled out the stakes to use them again, and the vampires dropped down to their feet.
Alec climbed up on a shelf located in the far left end of the room, where he could shoot arrows at vampires trying to attack.
The doors burst open. A wind went through the room, knocking a few vampires off of their feet. Magnus entered the room, out of nowhere. "Damn, I wanted a subtle entrance!" he complained. Alec's jaw dropped and he lost focus. He couldn't believe Magnus was here. Alec climbed down from where he was standing and headed towards Magnus. Vampires came running towards him as he walked, but he shot them so they fell.
Isabelle worked her way towards Simon, aiming for the lock on the cage he was in. She whipped vampires out of her way and put a stake in the ones who wouldn't move. She reached for the lock and used a rune to open the lock. She grabbed Simon by his arm and dragged him out of there. She got encircled by vampires as soon as she tried to make a move towards the exit.
"You never called me back," Alec said to Magnus when he reached him. "I called you so many times and you never called me back."
Magnus looked at Alec as if he'd lost his mind. "Your sister is trying to save her boyfriend, if that's what he is," he said. "And you want to know why I haven't called you?"
Alec set his jaw in a stubborn line. "I want to know why you haven't called me back."
Magnus threw his hands up in the air in a gesture of utter exasperation. Alec noted with interest that when he did it, a few sparks escaped from his fingertips, like fireflies escaping from a jar. "You're an idiot."
"Is that why you haven't called me? Because I'm an idiot?"
"No." Magnus strode toward him. "I didn't call you because I'm tired of you only wanting me around when you need something. I'm tired of watching you be in love with someone else - someone, incidentally, who will never love you back. Not the way I do."
"You love me?"
"You stupid Nephilim," Magnus said patiently. "Why else am I here? Why else would I have spent the past few weeks patching up all your moronic friends every time they got hurt? And getting you out of every ridiculous situation you found yourself in?"
Alec stared at him, not knowing what to say. He decided to kiss him and leaned towards Magnus to do so, and Magnus didn't turn away from it. "Now, can you please tell me why you're really here?" Alec said.
"Maia called. She didn't know what else to do. She pleaded me to help you. She told me about everything, so I thought I'd better make sure you get out of here alive," Magnus said. "I don't want to lose you just yet." Alec felt his heart melt. He forgot everything and looked at Magnus as if the universe centered around his very existence.
"A little help here!?" Isabelle called out. "Your stupid romance can wait just a few more minutes!"
"She's right," Alec said and shot a few arrows around.
Magnus, seeing that Alec's little rescue plan wasn't enough, threw his arms into the air. Lighting struck all around the room and the vampires fell down one by one, leaving Simon and Isabelle able to escape.
"Come on," Magnus said. "We need to get out of here." He grabbed hold of Alec's hand and they strutted out of the room, forgetting all about Maureen who was stunned by all the action and how helpless she felt.
