Chapter 9

As Alec and Jace sat fidgeting uncomfortably in the awkward silence, Allie jotted down a few more notes on the paper in front of her, wanting to have a rough outline of their trading agreement written down. Her cheeks were colored a soft pink, and her hand was shaking a little as she tried to write. Beside her, Will had gone quiet, staring back at the men between narrowed eyes.

Grizz was shocked too. After Alec had admitted that he knew the teens couldn't help them out with much, Grizz had expected that they wouldn't be offering much in return. His puzzlement had only grown as the pair had continued to list out what they had to give to help them. It hadn't made sense why they would be so kind for so little in return.

But . . . blood? No wonder they were being so generous.

"Will?" Allie turned to look at him as she completed her notes, finally breaking the silence. "Can you send out a message notifying everyone to meet at the church tomorrow? We'll have to go over all this with everyone."

"If you want, Magnus and I could come back tomorrow and help you address everyone about this," Alec offered. "I know what we are asking for is . . . well, not normal. Not under these circumstances-"

"No," Allie interrupted him, her voice much softer than before. She kept her eyes glued towards the desktop, avoiding making eye contact with their guests. "I get it. Your people need help. With everything you are doing for us, it's the least we can do. But, yeah, if you guys wouldn't mind coming to talk to them yourselves . . . I have no idea how this will go over with everyone and having you explain the reasoning behind your request . . . It might help things go over a little smoother."

"We should probably head back home with the Guard," Will advised Allie. "We still need to figure out what we are going to do about Campbell and Harry."

Shuffling the papers around in her hands, Allie nodded before standing up. Only then did she raise her eyes towards Alec again. "I'll schedule the meeting for ten o'clock tomorrow morning. Can you and Magnus be here by then?"

Alec nodded and stood up himself, Jace following suit. "Sure. We'll meet you right outside the church."

"Great. We'll see you tomorrow then." Pushing in her desk chair, Allie headed for the door with Will close on her heels. "You guys are welcome to stay in West Ham for lunch if you want," she called over her shoulder before disappearing down the hallway, leaving the door open behind her.

"Think we freaked her out with the blood bank request?" Jace asked, slanting his head in Alec's direction.

"What did you expect?" Grizz spoke up before Alec could answer his brother. "You asked us to pay you in blood for clothes, crops, and medical help. You couldn't have thought that was going to go over well."

"Of course not," Alec said in a firm voice as he eyed Jace who was opening his mouth to probably prepare another rash response. Once he was sure the blonde wasn't about to put his foot in his mouth, Alec turned to Grizz. "I understand how big of a request this is, but our people need help. Blood is what we need the most right now. I wouldn't have asked otherwise."

Grizz stared at them for a moment, deep in thought, before he sighed and got to his feet. "Do you guys want to join Sam and me for lunch?"

A relieved smile crossed Alec's face. "Sure, that would be great."

Letting the eerie feeling over the men's strange request disappear from his thoughts for the time being, Grizz listened to the soft sounds of Alec and Jace's footsteps as they followed him back out into the hallway and down the stairs.

Pushing their way through the doors of the church, Grizz quickly spied Sam, and his mouth grew into a goofy grin at the sight of the teenager that he had crushed on for so long.

"So, is your boyfriend here?" Jace asked, scanning the empty green landscape in front of them.

Grizz nodded and pointed in the direction of the roofed structure that was built in the middle of the grassy field. "You see the redhead sitting in the gazebo?" he asked, glancing back over his shoulder to see the men's reactions. "That's Sam."

Sam chose that moment to glance up from the book he was reading, and a huge smile spread across the boy's face when he saw Grizz.

As Sam turned back to get his stuff together, a thought occurred to Grizz and he slowly turned around to look at Alec and Jace. "Um, you guys don't perhaps know sign language by chance, do you?"

"Uh, no?" The men shared a look. "Why?"

"Sam is deaf," Grizz explained, using the sign that he had recently learned for 'deaf'.

"So, you know sign language?" Alec guessed.

"I'm learning."

By now, Sam had thrown the strap of his gray satchel bag over one shoulder and was heading their way.

"Look, Sam can read lips and he speaks fairly well. Just make sure you are looking at him when you talk and don't speak too fast. He'll pick up on what you're saying," Grizz explained quickly before turning back in time to embrace the boy that had been charging towards him.

Grizz chuckled softly at Sam's enthusiasm, relieved to see no signs of the depressed teen that Becca had described, and gently pushed the boy far enough away that he could read his lips.

"I missed you too," Grizz joked, which led to Sam giving his shoulder a playful shove.

Then Sam caught sight of the two men standing behind his boyfriend.

"Sam, this is Alec and Jace," Grizz explained, slowly fingerspelling the names for him. "They-"

"I know," the redhead interrupted in his monotone voice. "Becca filled me in."

Alec gently waved a hand to get Sam's attention. "It's nice to finally meet you. Grizz has mentioned you quite a bit. Sounds like you have been helping him become more comfortable with his sexuality."

Sam narrowed his eyes at Grizz. "You told them?" He didn't sound angry. Just surprised.

"Just Alec and Jace. Alec is gay too. He and his husband are co-leaders in Brooklyn."

"We're not going to tell anyone," Jace promised the redhead. "Grizz has made it clear that he is not ready for anyone else to know yet."

"Especially Campbell," Grizz mumbled to himself. Sam's eyes were still trained on Jace, but Alec and Jace heard him. Grizz touched Sam's arm to get his attention again. "Have you had lunch yet?"

Sam shook his head, smirking at him.

"Come on." Grizz waved for Alec and Jace to follow him. "We'll get something at my house."

Ever since the Guard had been assigned to watch over Allie, Grizz and his friends had agreed to take turns staying overnight at her house. The last couple of days before Grizz was scheduled to leave on his trip, he had agreed to take on a few extra shifts at their Mayor's house. It had been almost two weeks since he had been back inside his own residence, but walking up the front walkway towards his door, it felt like so much longer.

Retrieving the keys to his front door from under the mat, Grizz let Alec, Jace, and Sam into the unusually quiet house in West Ham. Ever since Cassandra had ordered that the teenagers start bunking together in other people's houses, it was rare to find someone that still lived in their own home without several roommates hanging around. It was one of the few perks of being a member of the Guard. If he wanted to, he was allowed to still spend his free nights alone in his own house.

"You can leave your coats in the dining room," Grizz said, nodding in the direction of the room as he closed and locked the door behind him. Sam had already disappeared behind the wall, already accustomed to the instructions from the few times he had come over in the past.

By the time Grizz had followed the three boys into the room, he was just able to catch the back of Sam as he continued through the archway on the other side of the room that led into the kitchen. Jace had draped his heavy winter coat over one of the chairs and started to follow Sam farther into the house before Grizz stopped him.

"Could you and Alec take your shoes off here?" he asked, bending down to untie his own hiking boots.

Jace frowned at him. "What about Sam?"

"Sam hasn't been tracking through the woods all day," Grizz reminded him with a scowl, and Alec started to take his off without complaint. "I don't want the mud and dirt all over the house."

Kicking off his own footwear, he went after his boyfriend into the kitchen and began to pull out ingredients from the fridge to prepare their lunch. Fifteen minutes later, Grizz was dishing out the instant potatoes from the pot onto four plates, accompanied with a slice or two of the frozen breaded chicken tenders that he had heated up. With Sam's help filling glasses with water, they were soon all gathered around the kitchen table eating their meal.

As they ate, Sam asked Grizz about his trip, with Alec and Jace piping up here and there with their own commentary when they wished.

Their plates were almost clear when Grizz turned to address Alec. "Do you want to just stay here tonight instead of returning in the morning for the meeting?"

Alec took a sip of his water. "Maybe. I would need to let Magnus know about the meeting though and update him on what happened with Allie. Let me give him a call."

Leaving the table, Alec pulled out his phone as he stepped into the other room for some privacy to make his phone call.

They sat in awkward silence around the table for a moment. Jace was just about to break the quiet when Alec suddenly reappeared.

"That's weird," Alec said staring down at his phone.

"What happened?" his brother asked.

"The call wouldn't go through."

Grizz's fork pinged softly as he set it down on his plate. "We have been having some problems getting into contact with people outside of town," he explained.

"What do you mean?" Alec stepped closer to the table.

"The Junior and Senior students from our school were scheduled to go away for a two-week camping trip. The roads were blocked, so the buses had to turn around and they dropped us back off in town. When we got back, everyone was just . . . gone," Grizz explained. "We tried calling our parents and other family members, but no one would pick up. None of our calls would go through. Ever since, we have only been able to make contact with people here in town."

"We've been having a similar problem in Brooklyn," Alec admitted. "My dad was living in Idr- . . . uh, out of the country with our little brother, Max. And my mom, she was one of the people to disappear from New York, we haven't been able to make contact with any of them, but . . ."

Grizz's face scrunched up in confusion at Alec's stumble in his explanation, but let it go as Jace spoke up.

The blonde nodded slowly, understanding to his brother's puzzlement. "It is kind of strange that we can't call each other from here to Brooklyn when we are all trapped in the same place."

Sliding his phone back into his pocket, Alec took his seat again at the table. "We'll have to head home after lunch then so I can talk to Magnus. Maybe he'll have a theory as to why our phones aren't working too."

"So, how did it happen for you guys?"

Jace frowned at Grizz. "What?"

"The disappearances," Grizz expressed. "Did anything strange happen during the weeks leading up to it?"

Alec and Jace shared a look before turning back to him. "Nothing more strange than usual."

Grizz narrowed his eyes at the phrasing, and Sam raised an eyebrow.

"We live in New York," Alec quickly amended Jace's statement. "Any weird activities or people acting strange on the streets are typically ignored among passerbys. Why? Did something happen here?"

"The smell," Sam said, making a gesture under his nose in his language.

Grizz nodded. "For a couple weeks leading up to the field trip, there was this bad smell that drifted into our town. Sam found some letters and other paperwork in his dad's office that Campbell convinced him to destroy, but they said that his dad and uncle had agreed to pay someone to get rid of the smell and once it was gone, they refused to pay up. The smell returned soon after and the next day we were supposed to leave for our camping trip."

"And then you ended up stuck here?" Jace finished.

"Yeah," Grizz agreed, and Sam nodded next to him.

"We didn't experience any kind of smell in New York," Alec explained. "Everything seemed pretty normal up until the day it happened."

"What happened?" Sam asked.

The two men shared another look out of the corner of their eyes before Jace hesitantly said, "We don't know what exactly it was. Just . . . one day there was this sort of explosion in New York, and this bright light pulsed down the streets and throughout the city. Afterwards . . . when the light died down . . ."

"People just disappeared right in front of us," Alec picked up the story. "It wasn't until later that we learned that most of New York had vanished along with everyone else."

"Do you have any idea why the people that didn't disappear are still in Brooklyn?" Grizz questioned, leaning over the table.

"What do you mean?" Alec asked, tilting his head slightly to one side.

"Well . . . So many people just vanished from your home. Why did you, and the few that are still in Brooklyn, not disappear when this explosion happened? Does everyone who stayed have anything in common?"

"Umm," Alec hummed as he shared yet another look with Jace, this one much more obvious than the last. Grizz was starting to get the feeling that they were hiding something.

"Not that we know of," Jace answered eventually.

"Why were you alone with Campbell in your dad's office?" Alec asked Sam before Grizz could question them further, seemingly trying to find a way to change the subject. "According to Grizz, Campbell is a psychopath. You probably shouldn't be alone with him at any point."

Sam shook his head. "I'm used to it."

Alec gave him a puzzled look. "What do you mean?"

Sam bit his lip softly in hesitation before glancing at Grizz who gave him a small nod in reassurance.

"Campbell is my brother."