Isabelle was going absolutely insane, tearing through her closet like her life depended on it. Halloween was tomorrow and she hadn't selected an outfit yet.
"It's official! I have nothing to wear." She announced.
I looked at the clothes littering the entire room. Somehow I sincerely doubted that.
What I thought didn't matter, obviously. What Isabelle had meant by 'nothing' was nothing brand new. Which was Izzy-talk for 'I need you to take me shopping'.
"You want me to drive you to the Mall?" I asked, although I knew the answer already.
"That's a great idea!" Izzy grinned. "I'll grab my purse."
My sister wasn't looking for a full-fledged costume to wear; that was a plus. This close to Halloween most things were sold out or at least low on stock. We would have had no chance to find something which met Izzy's standards.
Unfortunately, nothing in an ordinary clothes shop seemed to be doing it for her either.
Isabelle was in a changing cubical trying on what was probably the tenth outfit we'd found. I could hear her snapping pictures of herself to send to Clary because she didn't trust my opinion on fashion. Every now and then she'd come twirl for me, but no matter what I said she ultimately stalked back behind the curtain.
Eventually I got bored and called Magnus.
"I'm starting to think your idea to 'prepare early' for Halloween wasn't so crazy." I sighed, keeping an eye on Izzy's cubical.
Izzy poked her head out then changed her mind about showing me and retreated.
"Wonderful!" Said Magnus happily. Magnus loved to be agreed with. "What changed your mind?"
I waited a moment or two when I saw the curtain move, but Izzy didn't make an appearance. I lowered my voice so that she wouldn't hear me talk about her.
"My sister left it late and now she's losing her mind about not having a costume." I muttered.
The curtain shot open and Izzy stood in yet another dress. Long and black with a slit in the leg which went the tiniest bit too high. I put my hand over the receiver.
"I'm not so sure, Iz." I told her.
Isabelle glanced back at herself in the mirror.
"Because everybody will be wearing black, right?" She asked, doing another turn.
Yup. The slit was too high. But I knew I was better off agreeing with whatever reason Izzy had thought up herself.
"Yeah, you don't want to look the same as everybody else." I said. Izzy nodded and went back to dressing.
I put the phone back to my ear and apologised for the interruption.
"Any chance you can drag her to Brooklyn?" Magnus asked.
I knew exactly what he had in mind after having him go all tailor on me the night before. He had a whole hoard of once-worn creations on racks in his spare room.
Looking through Magnus' collection seemed like a great idea on the surface; until you took into account that he would inevitably want to put some effort into refitting the clothes, which might not hold up so well at a Pandemonium party.
"Magnus, you don't have to-"
My boyfriend made a point of cutting me off.
"Just bring her." He said, then abruptly hung up on me.
"Isabelle!" I called towards the curtain. "New plan!"
My sister looked thoroughly disgusted with Magnus' building. You had to go there a couple times before you were used to the utter grime which caked the corridors. I seriously couldn't tell you how Magnus convinced Camille to walk up there. The two possibilities I usually went with were that he carried her, or that he rolled out a red carpet.
Izzy was giving a dialogue about how she couldn't believe I went fussing with paint jobs at our Mother's place when this building was in such a state. My counter was that I wasn't going near the cobwebs here in a million years. Then she started walking her fingers up my back as if there was a spider there. I shuddered and told her to quit it.
I knocked on the door and entered the apartment at the same time - as Magnus in his laziness had permitted me to do.
"Magnus? We're here!" I called, holding the door open for Izzy to walk in.
She seemed absolutely awed by the interior; clearly she'd been expecting a dump. Chairman Meow padded over to sniff at her and she bent down to scratch him behind the ears. So the kitten had made a new friend.
That was when Magnus came along to scoop the animal up.
"Hey you little fuzzball, don't distract her." He smiled as he mock-scolded the Chairman. "Isabelle here is very busy."
"She is?" My sister asked, giving me a confused look. I'd told her Magnus might have something for her to wear but I hadn't mentioned the spare room - which was otherwise known as the 'wardrobe room'.
I think she thought we were just grabbing a dress for her to try on. She certainly hadn't expected Magnus to lead her to the fashion equivalent of the Cave of Wonders. She stood in the doorway with her mouth hanging open a little.
"They're all second hand." Magnus sounded like he was apologising for some reason. "But I can guarantee you nobody will show up in the same thing."
Izzy looked at him disbelievingly. "I can just go in and pick one?"
"Go right ahead. I'm not going to wear them." He shrugged.
My sister honestly squealed in delight before she dashed in. I couldn't keep myself from grinning, it was so good to see. I also got the feeling Izzy was going to warm up to Magnus a great deal more after this incident.
If the way to a man's heart is through his stomach, the way into Isabelle's was through couture.
Magnus stood on the threshold looking in, calling in the occasional advise about where Izzy could find a certain size or anything she might like. I looked in from the other side of the door.
"Thank you for this." I told him sincerely. I knew that I'd been an absolute pain in the ass for Magnus lately. Sooner or later something would have to give, and I'd need to find a way to show I was grateful.
For now all I could do was get up on my toes to kiss him.
"Oh my goodness!" Isabelle gasped behind us. Magnus glanced up and smiled knowingly.
"I knew it would be that one." He said, striding in to stand beside Izzy. Magnus took the white dress from the rack, looked it over and sent Isabelle to the bathroom to change into it. I didn't get a good look because my sister zipped past me too fast.
Magnus kept looking around the room, gathered a few items and walked right past me too.
"Excuse me, Sweetheart, but we have a girl in need." He smiled back at me over his shoulder. Then he knocked on the bathroom door. "Isabelle, I have some more things for you."
The door opened the tiniest amount for Izzy to thank Magnus and pull the extra items inside. After a couple more minutes she called out for his help and I was left to entertain myself.
I was just trying to teach a completely disinterested kitten to play fetch when the two of them emerged. Isabelle looked great.
The dress she wore was asymmetric at the hem, showing more of her legs from the front than the back, but covered most of her upper body in a vintage-look lace; so not too much skin was on show.
The add-ons Magnus had offered consisted of a black underbust corset - later, when I told him Izzy already had one of those, Magnus would go on a quality-rant and bash all which was off-the-rack - and a pendant with a red jewel.
"Isn't it great?" Izzy was very happy and kept swishing the skirt around. I noticed that they'd re-done her hair into a braided arrangement while they were in the bathroom. "I'll need to wear my black boots."
"Why do you have the dress from that daemon-hunter movie?" I asked Magnus curiously. Izzy was paying more attention to herself than us and wouldn't notice that I hadn't replied.
"I don't. This is the dress from the premiere." Magnus explained. "It's just based on that dress."
"It's better!" Izzy grinned.
"Well I'm glad you think so." Said Magnus.
He then took my arm and steered me to stand beside my sister. He gave both of us a stern look and folded his arms over his chest.
"Okay Lightwoods, listen up." He said. "Next year you will inform me of your Halloween plans on the FIRST of October. Is that clear?"
I had to upload this chapter using my phone again, so sorry if there are spelling or formating problems. i'll try to fix any when i get home.
Anyway, i hope you liked the chapter. Thanks for reading, I'll be uploading the next one 'A City of Bones' soon.