Chapter 3
In the evening, Clary knocked on Isabelle's door. The meeting had ended with the decision that Simon would be taken captive by Sebastian. Clary had accepted this with a heavy heart, and the conversation had continued; they had completely worked out the logistics of the plan, and all Simon had to do was put himself out there. The meeting adjourned, Simon had gone to visit Rebecca, and the rest of the group had dispersed.
"Come in," Izzy yelled from inside.
Clary sat in front of Isabelle's vanity table and asked awkwardly,
"So…..um… Is it just me, or did Alec seem a little off?"
Isabelle nodded in agreement. "Yeah! I haven't seen him so down in the dumps since…." She trailed off. "Anyway, he left this note on the door of the institute."
Isabelle handed Clary a yellow Post-it note.
Dear Izzy,
Went out. Don't wait up.
A.
Clary eyed the note. "He's probably at Magnus's. He'll sort it out. He's not really an emotional guy."
"But did you see his face at the meeting? He looked kind of depressed."
The door burst open.
"Seriously, if you're going to come in, you should….." Isabelle trailed off when she saw Simon's face.
"What happened?" asked Clary, her voice full of concern.
Sounding distraught, Simon recounted what he'd seen in Rebecca's apartment. The girls listened soundlessly until he was finished.
"So what should we do?" asked Simon.
For a few minutes, they tried coming up with ideas, most of them failing. Clary knew that they couldn't do this by themselves. They needed backup.
"Call Alec." She ordered.
Isabelle looked dejected. "Can't. Alec left his phone here." She held up a black cell phone.
"What about Luke and Jocelyn?" Simon suggested.
"Can't." said Clary. "Mom's picking out a dress and I really don't want to ruin that for her. Also, Luke has a thing."
"A thing?" asked Jocelyn.
"He wouldn't tell me what it is," said Clary.
"So," Simon said. "Let's find Alec."
Alec sat alone at the bar at Taki's, sipping on a large coke. He tried not to notice the faeries sitting next to him, gossiping about him. At first glance, they looked like regular humans, (two teenage blonde girls) but after he stripped the glamour away, he could see their pointed ears and unnerving eyes.
"That's Alec Lightwood." said one of them.
"Where?" asked the other.
"Right next to me. Don't look."
"Wait, isn't he the one that kissed Magnus Bane in front of the entire Clave?"
"Shhhh."
Turning to leave, he paused when he saw a familiar face: Maureen.
Last time they'd spoken, her hands had been caked with Camille Belcourt's blood, and she'd told him, laughing in delight, that she'd killed her.
Alec remembered what Maureen had been like before she'd been Turned. She'd been to all Simon's band concert, and been Simon's one and only fan (besides his mom). The next time he'd seen her, she'd been laughing about how she'd murdered someone.
Alec stared at Maureen in surprise. "You—you did what?"
Maureen rolled her eyes. "I said, I killed her."
Alec stammered, "H—how?"
"You see, I had everyone fooled. Even Camille!" she let out a high-pitched giggle. "Can you believe it? As soon as I was Turned, I became her most trusted servant. I learned all of her secrets, all of her plans of escape. I did everything for her. At first, she fed me little bits of information, just enough to do her dirty work. But the more I stuck around, the sloppier she became with her secrecy. I made her believe that I would never leave her side; I acted timid, scared, and weak. But the whole time, I was becoming stronger. As she taught me what it meant to be a vampire, she also taught me all of her tricks, ones that I would eventually use against her."
Alec was confused. "So, why did you kill her?"
"As time progressed, I realized that she had everything I've always wanted. She was respected, worshipped even. And then she gave me the key to her demise: she told me that in order to be head vampire, you needed to kill the one that was currently in place. When she told me that she was planning to head to back to London, I knew that I was running out of time.
"So, when she was about to leave to meet you," she pointed to Alec. "I asked her a stupid question. 'Do vampires have a heart?' she laughed, condescending and cruel. 'Of course we do, but they don't beat. Feel for yourself' I placed my hand over her heart and ripped it out. She screamed, and doubled over. While she was disoriented, I grabbed the sword I had hidden near the table, and cut off her head in a single blow. Then I threw it in the fire place."
Alec unconsciously took a step backward. Despite the fact that he had come with the intent to kill, he couldn't imagine a worse fate for Camille.
Now, Maureen sat at a table with boys, physically a few years older than her, who he assumed were vampires. They seemed to be in deep conversation, probably about her head vampire position. Her blonde ringlets bounced as she nodded several times. The bubbly fourteen year old was gone, replaced by a ruthless, cold-blooded killer.
Alec left his drink on the table, pushed passed the irfits guarding the diner, and exited to the streets of Manhattan. He didn't know how long he'd been walking, but as the sun began to set, he guessed that it had been a while.
Before he knew it, he'd come to a familiar place. Magnus's apartment building glistened in the moonlight. The cool breeze chilled his skin, and he wished he'd worn more than a black T-shirt and beet up jeans. As he neared it, the residence faded from view. Cursing under his breath, he turned around and ran right into a pale, blonde figure.
Maureen.
She giggled. "Oh hey, Alec. What are you doing out so late?"
"I—um…"
"Wait—don't tell me…" she pretended to think. "Stalking Magnus, right?"
Alec tried not to let her bother him. "What do you want?"
"Nothing…just to chat."
Maureen sat on a nearby bench and patted the space beside her. Alec hesitantly lowered himself next to her.
"What were you talking about with those other vampires?"
"Wow…. Camille said that you were straightforward. Not that it's any of your business, but we were just…. Tying up loose ends."
"Tying up loose ends?" Alec was puzzled. "What's that supposed to mean?"
Maureen giggled. "Follow me and I'll be more specific."
Clary crept silently to Jace's room and knocked on the door. He opened it, wearing nothing but boxers and house shoes. Clary sucked in a breath and tried to focus on his face.
"Isabelle and I need you. Come with me."
"Why?" Jace asked.
Clary sighed. "We need to find Alec."
Jace blinked. "Why?" he asked again.
"We'll tell you once we get there."
"Okay. Wait just a second."
Jace shut the door as Clary leaned against the wall. He reappeared moments later, wearing blue jeans a white T-shirt that was tight against his skin. He smiled at her and reached for her hand. Clary knew that she was blushing, and turned her face so Jace couldn't see. When they came in contact, it was like touching a stove top.
"Oww!" she cursed under her breath.
Jace looked apologetic. "I'm sorry, I've been trying to keep it under control."
He reached for her, thought better of it, and withdrew his hand.
"It's okay," Clary gushed. "Just follow me."
She led him down the hallway to Isabelle's room.
The door was already ajar, and they entered to a worried looking Isabelle and a frantic looking Simon. Jace seemed to be taking it all in.
"So what's up?" he asked.
When Simon didn't speak, Isabelle filled the silence. "Rebecca's missing."
Jace nodded thoughtfully. "I'm sorry to hear that."
"I found this note." said Simon.
He handed Jace a white piece of paper. Jace read it twice before looking up.
"What does this have to do with Alec?"
"We need everyone here to figure out what to do about this." said Isabelle.
"So you and Simon are going to look for him." Clary added.
"Why do I have to go with Simon?" Jace asked.
Isabelle rolled her eyes. "Because, you're his parabatai." she said. "You might be able to sense when you're near him or something."
"No, why do I have to go with him?" Jace jerked his head toward Simon (who was wearing a worded tee that said, "I'M WITH STUPID").
"Because with Simon's enhanced senses, maybe he can….." Clary searched for the right word. "Smell him…..or something."
Jace gave Clary a withering look. At this point, she knew that he would give in.
"Well," he said to Simon. "Lead the way, bloodhound."
Simon looked back at the institute as they exited. He remembered when it was invisible to him, as it was to all mundanes. Now it towered over him in the form of a giant gothic cathedral. The change in the institute's appearance reflected the change in his life.
"Where are we going?" he asked Jace.
"To Magnus's place." Jace answered.
"Isn't that a long way from here?"
"That's why we're taking a taxi."
Simon sighed. The sun had completely set, and stars dotted the sky. The streets of Manhattan were busy as always, and Simon strained his eyes in hopes of seeing a yellow car. Soon, one appeared, and Jace waved it down. He muttered something to the taxi driver before climbing in the back. Simon followed and shut the door behind him.
As the car rolled forward, Simon caught the look on Jace's face. It only stayed for a brief moment before he replaced it with a blank mask.
"Hey, Jace, is something bothering you?" Simon knew it sounded lame as soon as he said it.
Jace looked at him and raised an eyebrow.
"Come on, you can tell me."
Jace sighed. "I like to keep my problems to myself."
"And you can't even tell me?"
"I definitely can't tell you. I don't even like you. And besides, I usually don't confide in vampires."
The rode in silence while Simon stared out the window. After a few minutes, Jace opened up.
"Something tells me that Alec isn't at Magnus's place."
"How do you know that?" Simon inquired
"I can just feel it. Something's not right with him." said Jace.
Simon sighed and awkwardly put a hand on Jace's shoulder. "It's okay. We'll just go to Magnus's place, and Magnus might have some idea of what happened to Alec."
Jace stared at Simon's hand that still rested on his shoulder. Simon withdrew it and put it by his side. The fact that he would never grow to be as tall as Jace still bothered him. Jace radiated superiority, even as he sulked about Alec.
"Let me get this straight." Jace crossed his arms. "You think that while there is definitely something wrong with Alec, who is probably far away from the institute, we can find him in time to come up with a plan of saving your sister, who was probably kidnapped by Clary's evil brother Sebastian?"
Simon blinked. The way Jace put it, things seemed pretty bleak. Regardless, he tried to remain optimistic. "Yeah, man. We can do it." He held out his fist for a knuckle punch.
Jace's arms remained crossed; Simon's hand hovered for a minute before falling into his lap. The taxi eased to a stop in front of Magnus's apartment.
"Give this to the cab driver." Jace handed Simon a wad of fifty dollar bills. He got out and started towards Magnus's place.
Simon stepped out of the car and handed the taxi driver the money through the passenger window. As their hands touched, Simon felt a disturbing warm sensation trickle up his arm.
The taxi driver was a werewolf.
The lupine driver winked and sped off.
