Hello everyone :)
The ending of Chapter 3 did just what I had planned to - it was so cool to see that it worked! :D

gurl-with-a-love-of-literature - Aww thank you! I'm glad you fell for it because you were supposed to :)
AlejandraMartinez - Well, that's for him (and me) to know and you do find out^^
CamilleLightwood - Things will get clearer in the following chapters :)
ValentinaWayland - Thank you so much :)
ICraveYou - Thank you! Although, in case you were right, I hope you wouldn't kill me xD

Anyhow. Chapter 4 does not start where the 3rd Chapter has left you all wondering. But read for youselfes!

CITY OF CRYING ANGELS
chapter four: Weird Behavior

The fire had destroyed almost the entire institute, you didn't need to be able to go inside to see that... Which was so weird. He remembered the institute being ridiculously big and all of it seemed ruined. How was that possible?

He stood outside, like he had for the past two hours or so, and watched the others do the work. He felt all dressed up and with nowhere to go. He wasn't able (or allowed) to help the fire department, he couldn't try to play hero and run inside, trying to safe someone... but luckily there was no need for that. Everyone seemed to have made it out alright, even Church.

When Alec and Magnus came back to him he asked: "Aren't you worried that the fire department might look for what caused the fire? Someone setting a fire, even to an old church, might attract attention."

"They're not going to find anything. Even if Sebastian left tracks"

"Which is doubtable", Magnus weighed in.

Alec nodded and continued: "They wouldn't be in the illusion of the church they see but in the institute."

"My guess is they are going to blame the fire on bored and, or drunken teenagers. Like they always do when they need an explanation but can't find any." Magnus said and put his arm around his boyfriend to comfort him. After all he did lose his home tonight.

After a while Simon asked: "Where are you going to live now?"

Alec exhaled. "My mother is going back to Idris until she thinks of something else. She wanted Izzy and me to come with her but I'm not leaving until we haven't found Jace and I'm guessing Iz won't either."

Simon nodded. Alec didn't say it but he figured they would both stay and Magnus' place, which was probably also the safest place for Isabelle, she'd even said that herself.

When the fire was put out they stayed for a while, Alec mainly talking to his mother, leaving him and Magnus in an awkward silence. As soon as he was back they left and to their surprise Magnus called for a taxi.

"Why don't we use a portal?" Simon asked but at Magnus' annoyed look soon wished he had kept his mouth shut.

"In case you haven't noticed this place is filled with mundanes, including - reporters. We have enough problems to solve already, do you really wish we'd get us another one? Because if you're bored, you can always bite one of the reporters."

Simon didn't respond and just got into the cab without so much as breathing. Literally. It wasn't like he needed to anyway. Inside he tried to reach Isabelle again. He had tried to call her before but hadn't got an answer – this time wasn't any diffent. He hung up and looked out the window, but Magnus seemed to notice his frustration.

"Trouble in paradise?"

He sighted. "I think she's mad at me. Still I would have thought she'd pick up the phone at least to hear if everyone was alright." That was weird, right? Simon was worried (again – or still, whatever).

"Oh, when Izzy's mad - she's mad. Besides I think she expects me to call if anyone was hurt." Alec said.

"Would you?" Simon asked. "Call her I mean." For some reason he was getting nervous.

Alec, who had probably noticed that, sighted and pulled out his phone to call his sister. After a while he frowned and hung up. "No answer..."

The both of them shared a worried look and Magnus turned to the driver. "You know, if you happened to forget about the speed limit, that wouldn't be the worst thing in the world." Simon saw him slipping a banknote to the driver, who grinned and drove faster.

: : : : :

As they hurried up the stairs to Magnus' apartment Simon was pretty sure he was going to find out very soon if Vampires were able to throw up. He felt so sick and all he could think about was Isabelle. If that sadistic bastard had done something to her...

The door to the apartment was untouched. Magnus opened it and Alec nearly tackled his boyfriend as he ran past him into the apartment shouting "ISABELLE? IZ!"

Simon's throat felt cut as they didn't get any reply. He couldn't even yell for her himself it was as if his whole speech center was paralyzed by fear.

"ISABELLE SOPHIA LIGHTWOOD", Magnus didn't yell but he spoke in a loud demanding voice.

Finally. They heard a noise and Isabelle came out of the spare room, she had been staying in. "Oh, you're back." She was wearing her own pants but the top wasn't her's. At first Simon didn't see what it was though.

Alec looked at Magnus as if he had made Izzy magically appear out of nowhere. The warlock simply shrugged his shoulders. "Middle-naming someone works more often than you would think." Even though Magnus didn't show it much, Simon thought he seemed relieved that Isabelle was alright, too.

As far as Simon was concerned he felt the urge to run over to her, take her into his arms and never letting her go again. But he had a feeling that would be the classic definition of an overreaction and – especially with her brother in the same room – completely inappropriate.

And he was right to hold back, because Alec shot forward, hugging his sister.

"Okay... trying to breath here..." she said and Alec, reluctantly, pulled away from her. "I'm fine. Really." It wasn't until then Simon realized what shirt she was wearing... it was his. The one she had brought with her from Jordan's apartment.

"You don't look fine." Alec observed and Simon agreed in silence.

She looked like she had cried but he trusted his instinct and didn't say that out loud. Knowing Isabelle (who never cried, never was afraid of anything and most importantly never ever would admit any of that may not always be true) wouldn't like him pointing that out. Alec must have thought the same, Simon figured, that was why he had gone with 'not looking fine'. On the other hand, maybe she hadn't cried, maybe she had just been sleeping. Because, besides looking tired she seemed fine.

"What happened here? The wards I put up are gone." Magnus pointed out and Alec looked at him in astonishment.

"What? Why didn't you say so before?"

"I'm telling you now." he said briefly and turned to Alec's sister, demanding an answer to his previous question. "Isabelle?"

"Well... as it turned out, you were right." Isabelle answered and looked at her brother. "Sebastian set the fire in the institute and he did it to get to me. And we were playing right into his hands. Oh no, wait... you were. I wanted to go with you from the beginning."

The revelation stroke Simon like a lightning. Except that a lightning might have hurt less. "I should have stayed..."

Isabelle looked at him for a moment but then slowly shook her head. "It wouldn't have mattered. He would have gotten you out of his way... after all it is Sebastian." Technically – no. But Simon felt like it was the wrong time to point out that technically he was Jonathan Morgenstern. Clary's brother. Which was still and would always be a very disturbing fact.

"What did he do? Are you hurt?" Alec asked and suddenly started to observe his sister.

"I'm alive."

"Why did you change your shirt?" Simon asked and tried very hard to stay away from any word that would imply that she was actually wearing HIS shirt. He didn't think Alec would like that very much.

Izzy looked down at the shirt for a moment before she looked up again. "He slashed mine when he attacked me. But all he got was the shirt. Which was expensive, by the way, and I have a feeling that he's not going to pay for that." Saying that she sounded like good-old-Izzy, but Simon had a feeling himself and it told him that she was just getting better at putting together an act.

"So... you fought him off?" Alec tried to sum up what had happened.

Isabelle looked at him as if he couldn't have asked a more dumb question, which was why she ended up snapping at him: "No, he killed me. Isn't that obvious?"

Yes. It is. Simon immediately thought and wondered if Alec and Magnus saw it, too.

She sighted. "He's gone, isn't he? And I'm not. Just be thankful for that."

Magnus had been silent for a while now and Simon noticed that he was busy observing, mostly Isabelle. He wished he knew what the warlock was thinking... to Simon he was like Yoda. Always knowing more than everyone else and kind of weird looking – but you didn't dare to make fun of it.

"Why didn't you pick up your phone?" Alec wanted to know.

"Oh, you mean that phone?" she held up something that might have used to be her phone... but could also have easily once been a part of 3CPO. Izzy wrinkled her nose as she looked at it. "It still rings, but it sounds like a dying cat. And I wouldn't know how to answer a call."

Magnus picked up on the dying cat: "If you stepped on Chairman Meow at one point you're in trouble. - Oh, and... everyone at the institution is fine, by the way. I thought you ought to know." It wasn't until Magnus said that, when Simon realized that Izzy hadn't asked about that at all.

But she had an explanation for that as well. "I figured. If all you're doing is worrying that I lost my phone you couldn't have any other problems."

"We do, actually." Alec added. "No one got hurt but the whole building is ruined. We can't train or live their anymore."

Isabelle was silent for a moment and when she said: "Mom and Dad are out of their jobs..." she sounded like she was in trance. As if she was remembering, repeating something someone had said.

"Well... yeah. But that's really not the main issue here. Everything's gone... all the books, the weapons..."

"Your clothes..." Magnus added and Alec shot him a look as if his boyfriend had gone crazy. But not because he didn't think clothes didn't matter when it came to Izzy, Simon figured it was because all of them knew she would go all Hulk on them if she knew her clothes were gone.

To everyone's surprise Isabelle didn't freak out. She stayed calm. "I can buy new ones. And now if you don't mind I would really like to go to bed now." She started walking back into her room without waiting for any of them to reply.

Without even thinking about it Simon followed her. They had spend the last two nights together, because she had wanted him there, he figured she'd need him even more when she'd had an encounter with Sebastian.

But when he reached the door she turned around and asked: "What are you doing?"

"Uh... coming with you?" Now he felt stupid.

For a moment she simply looked at him and when she did he froze. She suddenly looked different than before. When he had thought she had put up an act to make them believe she was alright, he now knew it for sure. He had seen her like this only once before – in Alicante, when Max had died. Back then she had been broken, just like she seemed to be now and that was what scared him more than anything. It wasn't easy to break Isabelle Lightwood. What could have possibly had happened that would've done this to her again?

"Iz... what happened?" he asked again, very quiet, hoping Alec and Magnus wouldn't hear him and also hoping Izzy would recognize how very much scared he was for her right now. Maybe she would give him an answer then.

But when she finally did it wasn't what he had been hoping for: "I just really want to be alone right now. Okay?"

No it was not okay... but he had to accept that. "Sure. Good night."

With a sad smile she replied "Good night" and closed the door, leaving a horrified Simon behind.

Behind him, Magnus said: "Well. Looks like you just got turned down, Scott."

So. Did this clear things up or are you even more confused? ;)
There will be answers, I promise. Stay tuned to find out what they are!