Alec was the first to wake, and found himself in a very straining position, hanging from the ceiling by chains with cuffs digging into his wrists, his body weighing down on the restraints heavily. His neck hurt from his head lolling to the side while he was unconscious. He also noticed how cold the room was, shivering.

He let out a low groan, and immediately someone was slapping him awake.

"Come on, Lightwood, time to wake up." He didn't recognize the voice, but he could guess who it was.

He opened his eyes and took the weight off his wrists by standing on his feet, helping with the pain in his shoulders as well.

"Valentine," he said. It wasn't a question.

The man smiled and grabbed Alec's neck, squeezing, but not hard enough to take away his breath.

"If you tell me where Jace and Clary are right now, I'll let all three of you go."

Alec barely hesitated before spitting in Valentine's face. Valentine wasn't amused.

"I'm not going to help you get to Jace. Or Clary."

Valentine wiped the spit off his face with a handkerchief he pulled from his pocket. "Really?" he said. "Not even to save your sister? Or this... Downworlder?"

Alec looked beyond the evil man, seeing his sister and Magnus behind him. Isabelle was hanging from the ceiling much like Alec, but Magnus was still undressed, laying on the floor, chained to it with a collar around his neck, as if he were a dog. The sight made Alec angry.

"Hmm?" Valentine said. "Maybe we should wake them up, too?"

"Leave. Them. Alone."

Valentine laughed. "My boy, that's the last thing I'm going to do. Or, at least, to one of them."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, you get to pick one. One can go home, the other stays. It's really a question of who means more to you."

No. No, he couldn't choose. How was he supposed to make such a decision?

His thoughts must have shown on his face because Valentine laughed again. "Let's wake them up. Patrick!"

The tall man from back at the Institute stalked into the room with a bucket of water and a smile. He tossed the contents of the bucket right on Magnus, who jolted awake with a gasp. Alec could tell the water was cold because Magnus shivered violently in the already freezing room.

"Nice of you to join us, Warlock," Valentine snarled. He made his way across the room to Isabelle and shook her awake as well. She groaned as she woke, just as Alec had as she stood up.

"Where are we?" Isabelle demanded, eyeing Valentine with a hard stare. Clearly she knew who he was.

"Your new home," he replied. "Well, it could be your new home. It depends on who little Alexander chooses to stay."

"Alec, what is he talking about?"

Alec swallowed before answering. "He wants me to choose one of you to stay. The other can go home."

Isabelle and Magnus both looked defeated.

"Of course, if you don't pick one, they both will stay and go under extreme amounts of pain and torture. Unless, of course, you tell us where Jace and Clary are. Then no one has to get hurt."

"Alec, you can't let them find Jace or Clary. You have to pick me to stay," Izzy said. "I'm a Shadowhunter, I can endure pain. Magnus doesn't have his magic, he won't be able to take it like I can. Are you listening, Alec? You have to pick me."

But Alec wasn't looking at his sister. He already knew what his answer had to be, he only hoped they would be able to forgive him for his choices. Magnus would understand. He had to protect Isabelle. She was his baby sister.

He looked at Magnus. Magnus nodded his head, giving Alec the ok to do what he had to.

"Let Izzy go."

"No! Alec, no! You don't have to do this! I can take it, I can take it!"

Valentine pulled a syringe from his pocket and drove it in Isabelle's neck. She passed out for the second time that day.

Izzy was unchained by Patrick and carried from the room as if she weighed nothing. She would be sent back to the Institute, Alec thought, though he wondered how safe it was there. After all, Circle members were able to enter, and the wards were apparently down. Who knew what was going on there right then?

Alec was pulled from his thoughts when Valentine stepped in front of him again. "I'll ask you one more time, Lightwood. Where are Jace and Clary? Think about it. They are the only ones who can come rescue you. Isabelle won't be able to find her way back, but Jace can track you and get to you."

"Only if I let him."

"You will let him. Eventually. Unless, of course, this Downworlder means nothing to you. Which I doubt, as you are sleeping together."

Valentine turned to Magnus and grabbed a fistful of his hair and pulled.

"Tell me, Lightwood. What does he mean to you? It's okay, I won't judge, I'm just curious."

Alec gave him a cold stare but stayed silent.

"Answer me!"

"Nothing. He means nothing to me. Why do you think I chose Izzy?"

Valentine let out his loudest laugh yet. "Do you really expect me to believe that?"

No, he didn't.

"You know, I don't like getting my hands dirty. I think I'll have Patrick come in here to play for a while. How does that sound? I know how much you like Patrick." Just before he left the room, he said, "Remember, you can stop this at any time. All you have to do is tell me what I want to know."

He was gone.

` Alec noticed Magnus shivering again.

"I'm so sorry, Magnus."

"I understand. You have to protect Izzy."

"I won't let them hurt you."

Magnus chuckled, humorlessly. "The only way you can protect me is by giving up Jace and Clary. They're going to hurt me to hurt you to hurt Jace and you can't really stop that. So don't make promises you can't keep, Alexander."

Alec didn't know what to say. Before he could think of something, the door opened and Patrick stepped into the room. He was holding a sharp whip. Alec felt his stomach drop.

"Boys," Patrick greeted. "Let's play, shall we?"

The man walked up to Alec and ripped his shirt open with his bare hands, then without further warning, pulled back the whip and brought it forward again, lashing it across Alec's chest.

Alec screamed, blood dripping down his chest from the new wound. He vaguely heard Magnus calling out but couldn't decipher what he was saying.

Patrick grabbed Alec by the neck and whispered into his ear.

"That's what's going to happen to your boyfriend, over and over. Still don't want to talk?"

Alec glared.

"Okay. Your choice."

He stepped away and went to Magnus, whip ready.

Before he did anything, Patrick turned back to Alec.

"Actually," he said. "Let's have some fun. I'm going to whip your boy toy ten times, Lightwood. Unless you yourself whip him five. Choose."

It wasn't a hard choice, really. Alec would save Magnus as much pain as he could. If that meant inflicting the pain himself, so be it.

"Unchain me and I'll do it."

"If you try anything, I swear I'll rape him in front of you. Got it?"

That made Alec pause. Of course he planned on trying something. Anything to get out of there, but if they got caught….

"I won't do anything."

Patrick lazily uncuffed him and put the keys back in his pocket. Alec rubbed his wrists where they had started to bleed. Patrick handed him the whip and watched Alec closely as he turned to Magnus.

Alec wiped his smile right off his face when he brought the whip down on Patrick himself. The speed and strength of it ripped right through Patrick's shirt, and he yelled out in pain. Alec whipped him again. Again. Again. Again.

Finally Patrick was brought to his knees and Alec kicked his head, bringing the man down to the floor in unconsciousness.

"Get the keys," Magnus said, nodding to Patrick.

Alec quickly patted down the man for the keys, finding them in his left pocket. His hands shook as he opened Magnus's cuffs. He couldn't find the right key to undo the collar, which was now suppressing his magic, so he left it there for now. All that mattered was getting out of there.

"Come on," he grabbed Magnus by the arm, supporting him as he stood on shaky legs.

They went to the window, not wanting to go to the door where Valentine could be, and looked out. They were on the ground floor of the house. Good.

Alec opened the window, and climbed out, helping Magnus through after him.

Then they ran. There were no other houses for miles, but they eventually came to a small town, if one could call it that. There were only a few buildings. The two men stumbled into the closest one and called for help.

"Help him," Magnus said. "Help him, he's bleeding."

Everyone moved at once, coming to Alec's aid one small woman brought him to the back room where she had a first aid kit. She laid him down on a cot and hovered over him, cleaning his wound. She was just finishing wrapping it up when she asked, "What happened?"

""It's a long story," Alec said.

There were loud sounds from outside the door. Alec didn't like it.

The door to the back room burst open. Patrick stood there. Before Alec could even process this, he brought out a seraph blade and slashed it across the nice woman's neck, killing her instantly.

Patrick, bleeding in his ripped open shirt, grabbed Magnus, who was closer to him than Alec. The bloody blade was held up to his throat.

"So you weren't going to try anything, huh?" Patrick was beyond angry, his face turning red.

"Come on now," he said, motioning to the door. Alec got up and left the room, having no other choice but to do so.

There was a massacre in the front room. Not one person was left alive. Alec couldn't help but feel responsible. If they had never came, none of this would have happened.

There was a car waiting outside with the girl, Ella, in the driver's seat. Patrick's blade never left Magnus's throat as they piled into the car.

Within minutes, they were back where they started at the old house. Alec was put back in his cuffs, as was Magnus. They were left alone for only minutes before Patrick came back wearing a new shirt, no longer covered in blood.

He picked up the whip where it had been discarded on the ground.

"Now, where were we? Oh, yes." He lashed out at Magnus in the whip's first sweep. Magnus cried. Another. Another. Another. Tears were freely falling down Magnus's face as he sobbed in pain. He called out to Alec in agony multiple times, and Alec's heart broke. He couldn't do anything, except… but that wasn't an option.

Patrick lashed him twelve times. More than he originally planned to. It was all Alec's fault that Magnus was in this amount of pain. If he hadn't tried to get away….

Alec didn't realize he'd been crying until Patrick was licking his tears off his face, finished with Magnus for the time being.

"Do you remember what I said would happen if you tried to get away, Lightwood?"

He did.

"Let me help him," Alec begged.

"No."

Patrick went back to Magnus and knelt next to his so they were at eye level. He grabbed Magnus by the hair and pressed their lips together, not before warning Magnus that if he bit him, he would cut off his tongue.

Magnus was frozen in place.

"Kiss me back," Patrick demanded, pushing at the wounds on his back to cause him more pain. Hesitantly, Magnus did as he was told. Alec saw red.

When Patrick was done with Magnus, he looked to Alec.

"You know what's next."

Alec's heart stopped.