"I see your…shopping trip went well" Isabelle teased, referring to the large box Alec carried that had been filled with some of his favorites from the library such as Wuthering Heights, Pride and Prejudice, Jane Eyre, A Tale of Two Cities, and Dracula that he now held in his hands.

"Honestly, I really need to teach you to shop. I swear you wear the same outfit everyday."

"I have more than one mundane outfit plus my gear, thank you very much." Alec replied curtly, slightly more himself.

Isabelle simply chuckled. "Dinner will be ready in ten minutes. I'm making spaghetti. Did you know that-"

"Izzy, I'm really not that hungry, but thank you" Alec interrupted. Isabelle sighed, and knew that the small glimpse of her former brother that had pulled out of him with her characteristic teasing was gone, replaced by Zombie Alec. It really took everything she had to not violate the Accords by brutally murdering one High Warlock of Brooklyn that had crushed her brother's heart.

"When was the last time you ate?" she asked, almost not wanting to ask in fear of his response.

He pondered this for a moment. When was the last time he had eaten? "Umm…today at breakfast" he quickly fabricated, attempting to appease Izzy and counting back to try to figure out when he had eaten. To mention it, when had he slept for more than two hours? He couldn't bring himself to care about either question.

"And I'm a Drevak demon. Alec, have you looked in a mirror?" Isabelle had immediately seen through him, of course. To her, Alec had always been quietly handsome, never showing off his looks, but they most certainly were there if you looked past the baggy sweaters riddled with holes and faded black or blue jeans. Now, he looked like a man that had been tortured to the brink of death. His skin hung loosely around his face, accentuating the hollowness of his cheeks and the dark shadows his once very beautiful cheekbones made there along with the depthless pools his eyes had sunken into. She wondered what he really did all of those hours locked in his room. Maybe that was why he was so…broken.

"No…you know I don't care what I look like." Alec replied, almost robotically. The only thing he wanted to do was to not think. He wanted to go to the moors of England and play with Heathcliff and Catherine. Anywhere. Somewhere that wasn't here.

"Honestly, I have half a mind to call a Silent Brother to see what they can do for you. This isn't healthy. This…depression…it's killing you. You look like you've lost at least forty pounds in the last few weeks."

"I don't care." She knew that he wasn't just talking about his appearance. No, this went much deeper.

"Alec…are you suicidal?"

"If I could feel, I would be" Alec instantly regretted the words as soon as they came out of his mouth. Shit, shit, shit. This was not something he ever needed to share. Isabelle was going to call upon the Silent Brothers. No, no, no. The endless possibilities were flashing in front of his eyes, each worse than the last, faster and faster and…they stopped. Jace had entered the room, and was now clearing his throat. But it wasn't because Jace had entered that caused his brief moment of panic that was now multiplied a thousand times over. It was two gold cat eyes, which burned into his very soul every time he closed his eyes. But this wasn't a nightmare.

Magnus.