Stay with me

Chapter 4: Flannels and demons

The next morning, Simon woke up with a warm feeling in his chest. Izzy was still asleep beside him. So close.
He stroked her hair absently, still groggy. It was the softest thing Simon had ever felt. After a few minutes, her eyes fluttered open.

"Morning," Simon said.

Isabelle rolled out of bed and trudged across the room in the semi-darkness. The deep velvet curtains weren't covering the window completely and a few rays of light peeked through.

"I have an idea," she mumbled. "Give me a minute to change."

She grabbed some clothes and went into the bathroom. Simon wondered what she was planning.
Isabelle emerged a few minutes later, fully dressed. Black skinny jeans, burgundy top, and her ruby necklace dangling around her neck.
Simon could smell her perfume from across the room; it smelled amazing. That was the smell he wanted to wake up to every morning.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" she asked, faking confusion.

"Like you don't know," he replied.

"How about you tell me?" She took a step closer.

"Because you're beautiful. Absolutely drop dead gorgeous."

Izzy smiled. Her whole face seemed to glow when she smiled.
Isabelle's stern features melted away. A light filled her eyes.
She looked younger.
Vulnerable.

"People call me hot all the time. But never 'beautiful'," she told him.

"Well they should," said Simon. "Because you are."

Izzy came to sit next to him on the bed. He wrapped an arm around her waist and tugged her against him. Simon didn't know how he was behaving so boldly. It must have been because he was tired. Or because of the intoxicating scent of Izzy.

"The word 'hot' doesn't do you justice. You are much more than 'hot', Isabelle Lightwood," he assured her.

She laughed lightly and rested her head on his shoulder, which made Simon's insides feel all tingly.

"Thank you, Simon. You're the best."

"Tell me something I don't already know."

Isabelle stood up, still beaming. Simon was scared her cheeks would peel off.

"C'mon," she said. "We're going shopping."

*****

"I don't see why we have to go shopping," Simon complained once they stepped through the front doors.

"Just look in a mirror," she replied, guiding him along.

Simon groaned; he hated shopping.

"Rude," he muttered.

They went to various stores, Izzy taking the lead. It was a huge mall, Simon had to admit. The stores here were packed with stylish garments that were probably so out of his price range he wanted to cower in fear.

Izzy held up a red flannel to his body. Simon held his breath as she examined him, scrunching up her nose in an adorable way that reminded him of a rabbit.

"That would look hot," she said at last, and ushered him into the changing room.

Simon grudgingly agreed to buy it after trying it on. He also got some new jeans and a couple t-shirts. He felt bad making Isabelle pay, but this was her idea after all. Plus, he couldn't afford anything, he had used all of his allowance on video games.

When they were done, Izzy had triple the amount of bags as him. Simon tried to help carry some of them for her, but she stubbornly refused. Typical.

"When will you even have time to wear all these?" he asked incredulously as they walked outside.

"I don't know. The fun is in the shopping, not the actual wearing," she explained.

"My mom would whip me if I spent as much money on clothes as you," said Simon.

"You aren't a girl."

"That has nothing to do with it. She would whip my sister too."

Izzy laughed. "Are you serious?"

"Deadly."

"Well, I'll let her borrow my whip. They can be expensive these days."

She smiled mischievously.

Simon thought of his mother. He would be in so much trouble when he finally returned home. But what if he never went back? Either way, it was worth it if he got to spend time with Izzy.

*****

They were in the parking lot when Izzy spotted it. A demon.
It was sticking to shadows, trying to go unnoticed. But Isabelle was good.
She stopped in front of Simon, almost tripping him. She turned to him with a finger pressed to her lips, and beckoned him forward.
Simon tried to be as quiet as possible as he followed Isabelle and the demon, twisting through alleys.
The demon looked human enough but there was definitely something about him that screamed "Hey, I'm not from this world." Some sort of aura. It was hard to explain, but Simon just knew.
The demon curved down a narrow street that ended in a dead end. Or so it seemed. Dumpsters lined the graffitied walls and it smelled so disgusting that Simon had the urge to plug his nose.
Isabelle was right in front of him, ready to pounce. The demon turned and smiled at them, then walked right through the brick wall.

"What the hell?" Simon sighed.

"Well this is just perfect," Isabelle's voice seeping with so much sarcasm that you could almost touch it.

She felt the wall, now completely solid. Simon stepped forward to see for himself, not like it would help or anything.
He ran his fingers along it and suddenly the wall started to dissolve. His fingertips vanished; it felt like Simon was reaching through water.
He felt himself being pulled into it so he grabbed Isabelle's hand and dragged her along. He heard her gasp but all sound was quickly swept away.

*****

It felt like they were being towed behind a speedboat in deep water. It stung like hell.
After what seemed like minutes, the torturous transition was over and they were standing on the other side.
Isabelle was clutching his hand so tight it started to feel numb. When she saw him staring, she quickly released his hand.

Simon felt a little queasy and his brain was a little fuzzy after the whole going through this random portal thing.

"Hey. How was I able to get through and not you?"

"Probably some sort of portal that only lets demons and such enter," Izzy remarked.

"But I'm not a demon," Simon said.

"You used to be. You were a vampire. It's the same thing to the portal: monsters," she explained, her voice indifferent.

Simon stayed quiet. He might have been a monster once, but he was never evil. They were two different things.

On the other hand, Isabelle looked like she was about to puke.

"Okay?" he asked.

Izzy nodded slowly and took a wobbly step forward. Apparently Simon wasn't the only one feeling out of it.

"I feel funny," she said.

"That makes two of us."

Simon looked around, trying to process where they were. It was much darker. Too dark. They just left the sunny skies of New York and this new lighting was taking a little while to get used to. He blinked several times until he adjusted to the darkness.

The first thing Simon noticed were the walls. They weren't the same. Instead of red brick, they were gray steel. Green goo dripped down in tiny waterfalls, creating puddles on the uneven ground.

Dark, smoky clouds hung low in the sky and they were surrounded by steel buildings, all oozing goo.

"This is obviously some monster infested zone," Isabelle noted.

"You don't say?"

"Enough with the attitude," she said. "Where did this thing go?"

That was a good question.