Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Summary: Isabelle is being followed by a certain vampire. But when her stalker saves her life will she learn to be grateful, or will the consequences lead her into a world of dark desire?
Set post City of Glass
A/N: This fic is a follow on to my Isabelle/Raphael one-shot Distraction, so if you want to read that please do. Thanks to Taylor Jade and Tbaby13 for convincing me to write this. Aaaand just a warning that this probably won't be as dark as the summary makes it out to be... oh well! Hope you like iiiit! :D
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Haunted
"You and I walk a fragile line,
I have known it all this time,
But I never thought I'd live to see it break..."
- Haunted by Taylor Swift -
Chapter 1 | Fragile Line
Isabelle is greeted that morning by a blinding light peeking through her drawn curtains and a throbbing pain in her head. She groans, sitting up in bed, clutching a slender hand to her forehead.
She can barely remember anything that had happened last night and the realisation makes her uneasy. I am never drinking again.
Getting up, she pads barefoot to the adjoining bathroom, trying in vain to ignore the ringing in her ears.
Isabelle locks the bathroom door behind her – knowing Jace will just barge right in other wise – the clicking sound of metal a lot louder than it should be. She breathes a tortured sigh – she's never had a hangover this bad.
When Isabelle gets to the bathroom and gazes at her sleepy reflection in the mirror she cringes in disgust. Her skin is pale, with dark circles under the eyes, those of which are bloodshot with an unhealthy shine. Her dark hair is wild; the ends so dry that Isabelle hops in the shower without a second thought.
An hour later, when she is showered and changed, her hair is straightened and she has applied enough make up to hide the break out on her forehead, Isabelle is satisfied. Her stomach grumbles in protest and she leaves her room, heading towards the kitchen.
She is greeted by her brothers when she gets there. Jace smiles his mouth full of cereal and Isabelle looks at him, her expression one of exaggerated revulsion; Alec is on the phone, a smile curling the corners of his mouth.
"Who's he talking to?" Isabelle mouths to Jace, even though she is already sure of the answer.
Jace rolls his eyes, mouth still full, clutching a hand to his heart. "Magnus," he whispers dreamily and they watch as Alec turns to glare at them, laughing at his reaction.
She is on her second bowl of cereal – hangover cure – when she decides to text Simon, asking him if me wants to hang out later. There is a niggling feeling at the back of her mind, a feeling which is telling her to talk to Simon – so she does.
Moments later he texts back, and Isabelle sighs in relief – why am I relieved? – when she reads his reply.
Sure. I'm out this morning (with Maia no doubt) but is 7pm ok? Want me 2 pick u up?
No, a voice tells her, you need to go to his house.
She listens to the voice, albeit a little strange that she feels the need to go to Simon's house – a place she's only been to once before – and does as it says willing.
7's g8, she types, checking her watch. 11:15. A long wait it seems.
How about I meet you at your house?
Isabelle bites her lip as she waits for his reply, ignoring the voice in her head which is asking her why she is so anxious.
Her phone beeps and she snatches it up from the counter top.
Sounds gr8, c u l8r.
Isabelle grins from ear to ear.
. . .
Raphael sighs as he waits, impatiently, on Simon's doorstep. If he doesn't answer soon he is going to break in, courtesy be damned. He knows Simon has seen him. He'd poked his head out of a second story window almost ten minutes ago to see who had rung the doorbell.
Coward, Raphael thinks. He never had liked Simon very much.
Rubbing his face tiredly, Raphael raps sharply on the wooden door; still no answer.
He hadn't slept last night. Thoughts of the Lightwood girl had plagued his dreams; he remembers their meeting with a feeling akin to longing.
We parted too soon, he thinks. They had still been dancing in the middle of the floor when that Clary girl had found them, throwing a suspicious glance at Raphael before dragging Isabelle away, towards the exit.
I hadn't even had a chance to say goodbye, he thinks resentfully.
Raphael is so engrossed in his thoughts that he barely registers the scuffle behind the closed door, and he blinks in surprise when it flies open.
"Raphael!" Simon greets him with faux enthusiasm and if he wasn't a vampire, Raphael is sure his cheeks would have been flushed, "did you ring? I- I didn't hear you-"
"Of course you heard me," Raphael cuts in, in his deep monotone, "you're a vampire."
"Well . . . yeah, yes-" Simon stammers before Raphael pushes his way past him impatiently. Simon follows him into the front room, "Is there something you needed?"
Raphael turns to face him, expression one of pure boredom – his tone is blunt, "Yes. I don't know if you happened to see me last night, I was looking for you-"
"Were you?"
"-I needed to check how you were doing. We sires are obliged to do that sort of thing," he finishes, a hint of bitterness lacing his tone.
Simon is staring at him, eyes wide, as if waiting for him to go on. Raphael raises his eyebrows impatiently, confirmation that he is done.
"Oh, okay," Simon says and Raphael rolls his eyes in annoyance.
Silence ensues and Raphael, never one to help an awkward situation, stares at Simon unfathomably, smirking when he squirms under his gaze.
"So . . ." Simon begins, dragging out the word, "are you gonna leave now?"
Raphael rolls his eyes again – he does a lot of that in Simon's presence – before reaching into his coat pocket.
"No," he says, "I came to bring you this," pulling a bag of red liquid from the inside of his coat, he hands it to Simon, "you're looking a bit peaky."
Simon takes the blood bag, his throat tightening as he looks down at it, "Thank you," he says tightly.
"You should refrigerate that unless you want it to get warm," and when Simon continues to stare at him stupidly, "Now!"
"Oh, okay," Simon agrees before hurrying, at vampire speed, up to his room, leaving poor Raphael to revel in his misfortune.
. . .
The click, click of her boots echoes off the pavement as she turns onto Simon's street. It is dark and deserted, save for herself, and the cool winter air makes her teeth chatter – she pulls her thick coat around herself tighter, adjusting the blue beanie covering her head.
When she gets to Simon's she opens the unlocked door and walks straight through – they are good enough friends now that she doesn't feel it obligatory to knock first – and calls to him from the bottom of the stairs.
"Simon, it's Isabelle," she announces. No answer.
With an impatient sigh Isabelle makes her way to the front room. She will wait for him there.
It isn't until she is already in the living room, dumping her coat and hat on the empty couch that she realises she isn't alone. And, noticing the lean figure standing across the room, she stumbles back a step, a breathless gasp escaping her lips.
"Sorry if I startled you," they speak. The voice is smooth, masculine, with a slight undertone to it of an accent she recognises.
The room is dark, the figure partially covered in shadow, but as they step forward and Isabelle takes in the dark, curly hair, olive complexion and sharp, aristocratic features, she immediately recognises who the voice belongs to.
"Raphael?" she acknowledges, tone almost questioning.
"Hello, Isabelle."
. . .
When Raphael sees her he can't quite believe his eyes.
What are the odds? he asks himself, that she would be here at the exact same moment as him? That they would cross paths again so soon?
But then he thinks that this is Simon's house, and they are friends and maybe it isn't that big of a coincidence; he just wants it to be.
"Raphael?" she asks breathlessly, and he notices the look in her eyes, the questions, as if there is something more she wants to ask, she just can't remember what it is.
Raphael steps towards her.
"Hello, Isabelle," he acknowledges, making his voice sound low and seductive – it doesn't take that much effort; he is a vampire after all – even though he knows he shouldn't. He knows it is wrong to try and seduce the girl, but there is just something about her - something which calls to him. And that calling outweighs any moral high ground his thoughts might have taken – the ones which are telling him to stop.
"Erm," Isabelle continues awkwardly, "is Simon here?" she asks, her voice quivering slightly. She's not sure why, but something about Raphael is making her uneasy – she wishes she could remember why that is.
Raphael opens his mouth, intending to reply, but at that moment Simon bounds down the stairs and into the front room, a huge grin on his face. Raphael hadn't heard him approach – he closes his mouth, disappointed.
"Hey," Simon greets Isabelle. She beams at him, somewhat relieved. Something about this situation is just wrong.
"Sorry about that," Simon continues, "I was just . . ." he casts a furtive glance at Raphael, "taking care of something."
Isabelle looks from Simon, to Raphael suspiciously – she notes how the latter is staring at her still – but says nothing on the matter.
"Okay . . ." she says before trailing off, suddenly breathless.
They slip into awkward silence for a moment after that, Isabelle keeps her head down, staring intently at the floor, but she still sees the way Simon is looking at Raphael expectantly.
He is the first to speak.
"Well, I'll take my leave now," he addresses Simon, but Isabelle doesn't fail to notice the way his eyes never leave her form.
"Sure," Simon says, and though he tries to mask the eagerness in his tone Isabelle still hears it.
Raphael ignores him, and with a final, "Goodbye, Isabelle," – the way her name rolls off of his tongue makes her shiver, in what she isn't sure – before he leaves the room, his long coat billowing behind him as he goes.
Isabelle turns to Simon, a questioning look on her face which Simon chooses to overlook, and when he grins sheepishly ("Let's go") she doesn't ask questions.
. . .
Eventually she remembers what happened that night in Pandemonium – the thought of how close they'd been brings an embarrassed, blush to her cheeks – and so, when she sees him three more times that week she knows it isn't a coincidence. Despite how flattered she feels the thought is unsettling – he is a vampire.
She doesn't want to believe it but, deep down, Isabelle knows it is the truth. He is following her.
The next time it happens, she is picking Alec up from Magnus' house in her new car – the advantages of having parents who would rather throw money at you than spend time with you – and when she sees him across the street, leaning against the wall of an abandoned Chinese Takeaway, she knows it is no coincidence. But she chooses to ignore him and when she sees Alec exit Magnus' flat and hop in the passenger seat she smiles like nothing is wrong and drives away without a backwards glance. But she still feels like he is watching her.
The second time is less suspicious. Isabelle's mother, Maryse, is doing business for the Clave – investigating the mysterious disappearance of a vampire and Shadowhunter couple – and Isabelle happens to be lounging in her office, reading her favourite book on constellations, when her mother summons him.
Raphael's all too real looking holographic image appears and though she tries to ignore him Isabelle can feel his eyes on her; more than once does she look up to find him staring at her.
Afterwards Maryse asks her what all that was about ("Why was he looking at you so much?") and Isabelle answers with a joking, "Maybe it's just my incredible good looks" – something she'd be sure to say in any normal circumstances. And though she hates lying to her, Isabelle is satisfied when her mother laughs at her joke; she breathes a quiet sigh of relief.
But, she muses, how can she tell her mother what's going on when she doesn't even know herself?
The last time Isabelle sees him that week is a night she'd rather forget.
There has been a reported sighting of demons in Brooklyn and her, Jace and Alec set out to 'fix' the problem. Simon offers to help, but Jace, being Jace, doesn't like the idea and Isabelle doesn't want Simon getting hurt – he's just new to this after all.
When they get there, there are five of them – ravenor demons – a lot more than they'd anticipated. So, while Jace and Alec take on two each – a fact she is none too happy about – Isabelle is left to tackle a particularly vicious one who chases her down a back alley for a full five minutes before knocking her to the ground.
Isabelle turns, tired from the exertion, intending to raise her whip, but the demon is too fast. Its claw collides with her side and she falls to the cold, hard ground. The demon's claw is sharp, slicing through her Shadowhunter gear and layers of skin. Isabelle lies helplessly on the ground, blood seeping from the wound; she can already feel the poison working its way through her body but she fights against the pain and the darkness threatening to consume her.
Raising her head, vision already blurring, Isabelle faces the demon. She chokes out a weak gasp when she sees it coming toward her, claws raised and teeth clenched. And then, in the blink of an eye, it is gone, knocked to the ground by a force so strong the collision echoes off of the walls of the alley way.
The ravenor demon cries out in pain and, if possible, the sound makes Isabelle even more afraid – what could cause it to scream like that?
Abruptly, the demons cries are cut off and though Isabelle knows she should be relieved she isn't, she's terrified.
There is a lingering silence before the footsteps begin, louder and louder as they approach her, and if she wasn't so scared Isabelle might have realised that the footsteps were human. But she is scared and she clenches her eyes shut, biting into her bottom lip hard enough to draw blood.
Isabelle Lightwood is not one to get scared so easily – and if she could see herself now she would flinch – but she is wounded and the ravenor demons venom is making her feel weak and if that thing, whatever it is, is strong enough to take down a demon imagine what it could do to her. She whimpers as she feels it hovering over her, its warm breath tickles her neck.
"Isabelle," it whispers and Isabelle's eyes pop open in recognition.
She is able to catch a brief glimpse of light brown hair, tan skin and a clearly human face through warped vision before the pain becomes too much. She closes her eyes tightly, slipping further into darkness.
End Chapter
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A/N: DUN DUN DUN! (my attempt at making that lame ending sound more dramatic)
And I just wanted to say that I LOVE Simon and sorry if I was a bit harsh on him, but I get the feeling that Raphael doesn't like him very much, haha.
Anyway, I hope you liked! Have a good day (or rest of day I guess) :D