Ok, I was quite fast with this chapter, but I cannot promise that I will always update this fast. And the chapter is quite short (Isn't "quite" a great word? Almost as good as "could"...) Hope you like it ; )
A big Thank you! to icaughtkira and perfecttailor, my first two reviewers
Isabelle Lightwood was sleeping; even perfection needs some beauty sleep. And while she was sleeping, she dreamt. This night her dream was exceptionally colourful and it was full of extremely handsome, shirtless guys, begging her to be their queen. She found it quite realistic; all boys reacted that way, when she wore her extra short, hot black dress. A bikini would cover more of her body. She had just spotted the hottest guy on earth and was going to kiss him, when he started to ring.
It took her some seconds to realize that the sound did not come from her dream, but from the Institute's door. She sat up in her bed with sudden worry. Visitors in the middle of the night always meant trouble, why did those things always happen when their parents weren't at home. The ringing did not stop, somehow it sounded desperate. Barefoot, Isabelle ran through the dark hallway and let the visitors in, then she lit up the room. While she heard the golden elevator make his way upwards, she took a deep breath and prepared herself for whatever emergency was awaiting her.
When the gates opened, she stared in disbelief at the blonde shadowhunter carrying something limb in his arms. Her mind refused to believe it, but the first tears already rolled down her cheeks, leaving wet marks. She ran towards them, crying. "Alec, oh by the angel, Alec, what have you done?" She looked up into Jace's face, begging him to explain. His expression was a mixture of horror, shock, fear... and guilt.
Without a word he took Alec, who was barely alive, to one of the rooms they used as hospital and put him gently onto one of the clean white beds. Then he ripped off the rest of Alec's fighting gear, exposing the deep wounds in her brother's chest. Izzy draw in a deep breath and had to look away. Jace still avoided her gaze and she got furious. "Damn you, Jace, what have you done? Do you want me to lose my older brother, too? First M... Max and now..." her voice broke and tears clouded her sight. Angrily she wiped them away. "How can you be so calm, he's dying! Don't you care at all? Answer!" He turned to face her. "Isn't he my brother, too? My parabatai, my best friend? Don't you tell me I wouldn't care, because I do! He wanted to save me. What happened is my fault. Only mine." Izzy shook her head, not wanting to feel sorry for Jace. "Of course he wanted to protect you. He loves you, although you don't deserve it." Jace flinched at these words and Izzy went on. "Whatever you did, how often you ignored him, rejected his help, it did not matter. He still loved you. More than his life. Oh, I wish you were the one dying!" With this she spun around and ran out of the room.
Jace sank into an old armchair next to the bed and watched Alec's chest raise slightly, when he took a breath. It was the only sign that his brother was still alive. He hated to sit there and watch him die slowly, but there was nothing he could do, nothing he could fight against to help Alec. In this moment he wished Hodge was here, although he had worked for Valentin, he always knew what to do, how to heal any wound. But he was dead. Just like Max. Should he lose everyone he had cared for? He refused to think about Alec as if he would die, because he would not let him go. He stared at his brother, willing him to breathe. The only thing Jace could do was being there. And he hoped it was enough.
When the first shafts of sunlight brought a new day to the Institute, Alec was still alive. Just then Jace realized that there would never be a new day in his heart if Alec died. It would be dark and cold in there. And lonely.
He was floating in darkness. It was silent and peaceful, like he was wrapped into a thick, protecting blanket, like he sat at a warm fireplace, while there was a storm outside. It was safe here. Some time later, it could have been a second or a millennium, time seemed not to matter here, he saw a light in the distance. It approached slowly –or maybe this place wandered towards the light, Alec couldn't tell – and he saw it was an angel and suddenly he knew, that this angel was the centre of the dark world. It seemed completely natural to him. "Am I dead?", Alec asked. If he was, maybe the angel could help him find Max. "You're not dead, little Shadowhunter, I caught you before you could fall. It has been a while since I saw someone as brave as you here." "I'm not brave, I'm a coward." The angel frowned at him. "But you have enough courage to tell me I was wrong, isn't that funny? I never make mistakes, believe me. Now prepare yourself, I'm going to sent you back. One day you will die for him, but not today." Then the angel touched Alec's heart, letting strength and confidence flow into him, giving him back his life.