this is where things begin to get interesting, for me at least, my sister said that it was pretty good but sometimes i wonder if she just tells me that to make me feel better, and my brother forget it he says is sucks either way, anyways, i'm thinking of posting this one and chapter 5 and after that i really need someone to let me know their reading and enjoying before i'll contiune, i really enjoy writing this and i have some good ideas for how it's going to go, but i'm not going to post if nobody is reading. sooo if you're out there and enjoy this story, please let me know. Thanks!

As stated in last chapter, everything TMI and characters belong to Cassandra Clare and the poem in the beginning belongs to the writer, his or her name is right after the end of the poem, thanks for reading. :)

Hold fast to dreams

For if dreams die

Life is a broken-winged bird

That cannot fly.

Hold fast to dreams

For when dreams go

Life is a barren field

Frozen with snow.

'Dreams'

by

Langston Hughes

The sky was dark, but the stairs before him were golden and silver, and stepped up into the stars. The silver and white lighted stars glowed around him.

Simon looked around himself, wondering where he could possibly be. When he heard a familiar voice.

"Simon!"

He gazed up the stairway and squinted realizing he was once again wearing his glasses, which he found to be odd, why would he wear his glasses again?

"Simon!"

The voice called again, as he looked around, and stood up straight his ears sharpening on a familiar sound of a heartbeat he had heard before, sleeping next to him.

"Isabelle?" he said frantically, as he began to rush up the golden and silver steps, but as he ran up golden and silver spiral stairs, she finally came into view at the top setting on a dark gray and purple cloud, it looked like a storm cloud, she wore a dark blue dress that covered her, it was flecked with silver sequins that glittered like the stars around him in the night sky, he saw lightning flash in the distance once, green, blue and yellow.

Simon rushed up the stairs, not taking his eyes off Isabelle, the dark dress hugged her form as she laid draped over the storm cloud, the black flats on her feet shone with a golden shine, and her hair was black and wavy almost as black as the night itself, her eyes appeared incredibly dark but had a spark Simon had never seen before, the darkness of her hair and eyes made her skin appear more pale and ghostly, but Simon didn't care, it was Isabelle.

She grinned at him and sat up egging him forward as he rushed up the never ending stairs that seemed to go on forever, nothing mattered to him but getting to her, but the stairs seemed to go on forever, it didn't matter how close he seemed, how able he was sure he could reach out and touch her he was always too far away.

"Isabelle!" he called, his voice lost in an echo as he reached out.

"Simon." She called, as she smiled softly, something about her smile seemed sad.

Simon raced faster, as he realized he was losing breath and paused, a familiar beating was banging in his chest.

Simon looked down, and realized his heart was the cause, how was it possible? How could his heart once again beat? When he knew, it would never, ever beat again.

Confused Simon looked up to realize he was on a now golden plate form, a large rune carved in the middle that he instantly recognized as the rune that Clary drew on Isabelle's shoulder while she was dying, the one she said was a more powerful healing rune, a rune that Simon now gasped at as he gazed on it.

The points looked like a star, but the inner lapping loops around the edges created spirals and crisscrossed lines, and in the middle of the star was a eye, not stylized specifically but it stared at him, creepy and unblinking and Simon found it difficult to look away until he heard the sound of his name again.

"Simon!"

He snapped his head up, away from the strange rune which had begun to appear fuzzy to his vision, as he looked up through his glasses he saw Isabelle, she didn't smile or grin at him as she had before but stood as still as a pale statue, her eyes set and narrowed at him, like piercing black daggers.

He stumbled back almost falling over, the expression Isabelle wore terrified him and he was unsure of why, she still wore the midnight blue dress the one that sparkled like the night sky complete with silver stars.

"Isabelle?" he asked, confused as to what was going on, as she walked forward a few steps toward him, her expression blank as if she wasn't seeing him.

She stopped in the middle of the plate form the rune she stood over began to glow faintly blue and a pale sea green, Simon lifted his arm to shield his eyes as he still gazed at Isabelle who looked all around her and then up at him, her eyes were too dark, too black, they were almost the color of coal, and the only one he knew that had eyes like that, that held a cold edge was he dare not think the name,

Sebastian.

"What's wrong Simon?"

Simon swallowed as he looked at Isabelle, it was Isabelle just not his Isabelle, and his mind reeled back to when Clary had told him about when Jace was possessed taken over by Sebastian, how he was Jace just not her Jace, and he wondered if this could be the same now.

"You're not Isabelle…" Simon whispered as he backed up a few more steps until he was close to the edge, he gazed down into the black hole, and the spiraling stairway he had bounded up.

He looked back at her as she giggled covering her mouth, but the voice no longer belonged to Isabelle, it was too high pitched to girlish, to familiar but yet foreign to Simon's ears.

"Maureen?" he gasped, as she stepped closer,

"Who else silly?" she giggled and turned her head to one side to eye him, he swallowed hard, as he looked at her,

"What have you done with Isabelle?" he demanded, angry and annoyed.

Maureen didn't answer but just looked to her right, Simon followed her gaze and saw another form setting on the plate form, pen in hand with a sheet of paper, Simon gasped, as he recognized familiar red hair and freckled face, with the deep green eyes.

"Clary?"

But even as he called her name she couldn't see him to hear him, Maureen looked at him, her cold black-Sebastian eyes bored into him,

"I have done nothing with Isabelle…" she answered, waving her hand wildly in the air as if it didn't matter either way, "If you wish to know ask her."

She motioned to Clary as Simon looked from Clary to the Isabelle-Maureen-Sebastian person and back to Clary, he stepped forward as Isabelle's form went silent and still once more, Simon gazed over Clary's shoulder and saw the same run from the middle and the one she drew on Isabelle on the paper, and under it the words were scrawled in such an untidy hand it took Simon a moment to realize what it said.

Rune of Devine Amaranthine.

He stepped back from Clary and looked at Isabelle,

"Amaranthine? What does that mean?"

He was unsure, but it gave him an uneasy feeling in his gut, as he walked back to the edge of the plat form, and stood in front of Isabelle who appeared to not see him again.

He waved a hand in front of her, as he looked back over to where Clary had been, but she was now gone.

Simon swallowed hard, what was going on?

He didn't get much time to think, for someone grabbed his wrist, tightly, he spun his head around to see Isabelle gazing at him, her eyes once again dark brown flecked with gold.

"Simon…" she breathed her voice normal but held a hint of regret, and a hint of sadness.

"Isabelle?" he spoke, a sense of relief in his voice,

"Yes." She answered.

Joy exploded his body, it was her, it truly was her.

He hugged her, wrapping his arms around she returned the hug slowly, and Simon got the sense that something was wrong.

"Isabelle?" he pulled away and looked at her, as she gazed at him her face in a composed mask, as she furrowed her elegant dark brows, and reached up to touch his glasses.

"Simon?" she asked, confused.

"I know." He sighed and looked down at himself, and back to her, she wore an expression of puzzlement. "I appear to be human again."

Isabelle backed away from him slowly as she took in his sight, Simon hurt and slightly confused spoke again.

"Izzy what's wrong?"

"Something is wrong, Simon…look at your arms."

Simon looked down at his arms to find they were flecked with great black overlapping lines he squeaked out in surprise as he looked back up at Isabelle's grim expression.

"Iz…" he began but couldn't find words, as her eyes locked with his, and for the first time he noticed exactly how pale she was, and how he wasn't anymore.

"But, don't runes kill humans? And Downworlders?"

"Yes." She breathed, but sounded as if she were in pain, Simon watched as she turned from him and clutched her hands to her chest.

"Isabelle, are you alright -"

For several moments, Simon had forgotten that Isabelle was gone, she was dead, something was wrong.

He stepped back wondering what could be going on, how did he have runes, why was he appearing human? Why was she so pale?

When Isabelle turned around, the blank mask was in place again, and it sent shivers up Simon's spine as she neared.

"Izzy…" he asked quietly as she was close enough to touch him,

"Simon…" her voice was fading, being replaced with someone else's, "Whatever Clary did, it messed something up, it's switched us…"

"Switched us?!" Simon was dumbstruck,

"Yes." She hissed, "You are Shadowhunter now…"

"Does that mean…" he could bear to ask, and when he looked up, his blood ran cold, and he got his answer.

"Yes." She whispered and he knew now why her voice was distorted, in place poking right from her upper lip were two perfectly white fangs.

Simon stepped back in horror of seeing Isabelle as a vampire, he would've never thought it to happen, never had wanted to think of it happening.

"Izzy I'm so sorry, what can I do?"

"Find out what rune Clary used!"

Simon paused, and blinked, "How is this possible? How am I talking to you?"

Isabelle didn't answer, but turned from him,

"Izzy! You're DEAD! How am I talking to you?! What is going on?" he rushed toward her and touched her shoulder.

"Find out what the Rune of Divine Amaranthine is, and quick…" was all that was said,

"No! I want to know what you know, what is going on? Is this real?!" Simon demanded as he pushed his glasses up on his nose.

"Izzy!"

But as he touched her shoulder and her hand came up to touch his hand that rested on her pale shoulder, that stood out in the dark dress, she turned toward him, sharp teeth glowing white in the two white face, and Simon gasped and staggered backwards back to the edge of the plate form.

"Izzy is no longer with us, Simon….silly, Daylighter you held her as she died, are you fool enough to think she can live again?"

It was a cold, voice a voice that Simon had heard only a few times before, a voice that made his now pumping blood run cold.

"Sebastian." Simon whispered, as he chuckled and moved forward the black eyes like shinning tunnels of night, without the stars,

Simon tried to hold his ground but Sebastian moved forward and pushed Simon from the plate form with two strong arms, arms that held the blood of the demon Lilith within.

Simon lost balance and fell as he reached to grab it, but lost his grip on the slick surface and began to fall, he fell and fell through the blackness seeing Isabelle's blood stained body all around as he fell, and hearing Sebastian's cold voice chuckle, his black eyes haunting Simon as he shut his own eyes and saw nothing but the strange rune Clary drew embedded behind his eyelids, as he fell Simon felt it was the end, and he knew it was quite possible he may be joining the real Isabelle very soon, as he was swallowed into the black night, with the golden staircase and the softness of Isabelle's true eyes, as his guides into the void.

Simon shot up into setting position and looked around his room, it was dark as shadows of cars passing outside the window casted eerie shapes on his wall, he looked around his breathing erratic which in itself was odd, considering he didn't breath anymore, he touched his own forehead to find it was coated with sweat.

What was that? That was such an odd dream.

Simon swung his legs over the edge of the bed and rested them on the floor, what did all that mean? He wondered, as he rubbed sleep from his eyes with his hands and placed them back on either side of him on his bed, as his hand ran over something silky smooth and familiar, he froze as he looked down at the nightgown he held, as he quickly tossed it away, unsure if it was the cause of shut a strange dream nightmare whatever it was, Simon stood up, trying to piece together what it could mean, but not remembering all that was sad or all that was in his dream/nightmare.

Confused and still yawning Simon stood up and made his way to the bathroom, ignoring the now dried red streaks on the floor from earlier, something he knew he'd be forced to clean up before Jordon returned home, but he had days before that happened, maybe even more than that knowing how he and Maia were now the happy couple.

Simon mumbled irritably at himself as he slashed his face with cool water, and dried it quickly with a towel, trying to clear his head of the thick fog that seemed to in case his mind, he knew he had to find out about a rune, but what rune? And what did it mean?

Unsure he stepped out of the bathroom with a rag towel and began to clear away the dried blood on the floor that left faint red stains that Simon knew he'd get hell for later.

He had just gotten to the kitchen and the large puddle of red, that was halfway between dry and wet and he knew would begin leaving a terrible odor if it wasn't cleared away but as he flipped on the lights in the now darkened apartment, his eyes set upon his cell setting on the island bar in the middle of the kitchen, and Simon remembered Clary was to call him that afternoon, quickly dropping the rag towel and scooping up his phone he turned it on and looked at his voice mail.

Zero messages.

Simon looked at the screen in disbelief, never had Clary forgotten to call when she promised, and never had she not at least sent a text saying why she may not have called, but there was even zero new ones of those as well.

Simon slipped his phone in his pocket and looked down at the pool of blood that spilled from earlier as he remembered all of the past events since he returned home and sighed rubbing his face, as he remembered a key point in that awful odd dream.

He and Isabelle had switched, he was a Shadowhunter, she a vampire.

Seemingly wide eyed, Simon lowered his hands and inspected them, then he touched his chest, there was no sound, indicating his heart still was unbeating, he took a deep breath of relief, but just to be doubly sure, Simon closed his eyed and concentrated until his fangs sliced into his bottom lip, he winced but the pain wasn't too hard to pain, not that pain anyways.

The blood from his lip tasted warm and salty on his tongue as he forced his fangs back where they were stored in his gums.

He stood then, contemplating on what he should do next, and wondering what more could happen to him before he finally got a break, but decided there was no answer to that question, as he concentrated on his dream, there was a rune he needed to find out about, a strange rune, the same one that Clary drew on Isabelle as she was dying, the word and thought still sent a pang of sadness and guilt through Simon as he thought of the past events, and that's when it hit him.

The Rune of Divine Amaranthine.

He snapped his fingers that was it! Now how to find out about it was another story entirely. Simon crossed his arms as he thought, he thought more on what his dream meant, to everything that had happened to why Clary had yet to call and it was already nearly six at night.

He could've help but to feel a nagging feeling that something was wrong, terribly wrong and without further thought on the blood or anything else, Simon grabbed his jacket and quickly went out the door not evening bothering to turn out the lights, but making careful consideration to lock the door, last thing he needed was a nosy neighbor to find his blood mess.

And as soon as the tumblers turned the lock into place, Simon turned with a quick swiftness that would put most vampires in those old movies to shame, and was off toward the Institute, phone in hand he tried to call Clary but her phone was off, which was unusual, and upon hearing the voice message play it left Simon with even more of a nagging feeling that something was terribly wrong, and it had something to do with that rune she had drawn on Isabelle.