As Black As Hell

CHAPTER 7: Wild Left Turns

"THE GOOD PLOT TWISTS AREN'T THE ONES THAT ARE WILD LEFT TURNS OUT OF NOWHERE, THEY'RE THE ONES THAT MAKE ALL THE OTHER LITTLE THINGS THAT DIDN'T QUITE ADD UP BEFORE SUDDENLY CLICK."

- m-l-rio, ON TUMBLR (IT MAY HAVE BEEN SAID BY SOMEONE ELSE, BUT THIS IS WHERE I FOUND IT, SO THEY GET THE CREDIT)

Alec and Jonathan had made up. Isabelle didn't really mind, but it did mean that she was now side-lined in this mission. She was no longer important; the two boys were too wrapped up in each other to notice her. On the bright side, this at least meant that Alec didn't insist she stayed behind at the institute. 

On the way to Magnus's apartment, they brought Alec up to speed on everything he'd missed. They told him about their most recent visit to Magnus, during which they'd found out that Clarissa and Jonathan had been seen in Brocelind forest, looking for a warlock that would be willing to help them open a portal. As far as they knew, there'd been no luck, but according to Magnus there were several warlocks who'd be willing to help. It was only a matter of time before they found one. 

That had been a week ago. Chances were, they'd probably found one by now. They could have already portaled to wherever they wanted to go. And Isabelle had a bad feeling they were going to come after Jonathan. 

That was, she thought they would come for Jonathan. Then they reached Magnus's apartment and stopped dead, all concern for Jonathan's safety flying out the window. The door had been blown off the hinges. And inside was absolute chaos.

Jonathan was first to duck through the doorway, before Alec and Izzy could even register the carnage that lay before them. Alec swore and darted after him. Izzy brought up the rear. She cursed at herself for not bringing more weapons. Her and Jonathan had grown comfortable around Magnus, and rarely brought more than one weapon when visiting him. Now she only had a whip when facing God knew what.

The acrid smell was the first thing to hit her. It clung to her nostrils, making it almost impossible to breathe. It was like all the deadly sins boiled into one offensive smell. That meant one thing: demons. And yet, as they crept through the apartment, keeping an eye out for anything that might jump out and attack them, they couldn't see a single demon. Just infinite wreckage that seemed to spread endlessly into every corner of each room. And in the bedroom...

Isabelle chocked back a sob. Jonathan was kneeling by the side of a body. Isabelle didn't want to look, but she couldn't tear her eyes away. Magnus lay sprawled on the floor, a pool of blood drying to a crust around him. Jonathan was kneeling directly in it, but he didn't seem to notice. 

Isabelle had seen death before. They had all seen death. they were shadowhunters; they killed demons all the time. They'd even seen downworlders die. But this was different. Isabelle had never seen the death of someone she knew, someone she was close to. Because, loathe as she was to admit it, she'd grown to like Magnus over the short time she known him. She even cared about him. But now he was dead. 

She knelt beside Jonathan. Alec knelt on the other side. Jonathan looked like he was shutting down. Isabelle couldn't blame him. The whole situation was awful. She could feel the trauma sinking deep into her bones.

"Something wrong brother?"

They whirled around in unison. Standing by the doorway to the bedroom was a girl. Isabelle had never seen her before, but she recognised her well enough from Jonathan's descriptions. 

It was Clarissa.

Jonathan's face drained of colour. "Clarissa."

Clarissa smiled. "Jonathan."

Jonathan's hand drifted towards his belt, no doubt to grab a weapon, but he had none. Isabelle sympathised. Standing before this devil-girl with only a whip made her feel virtually naked. "You did this?" He snarled at her. "You killed Magnus? Why?! He had nothing to do with you! He wasn't a threat to you!"

"That's where you're wrong brother." As she spoke, two shapes appeared in the doorway behind her. "He may not have been a threat, exactly. But downworlders are filthy beasts that deserve to die. Just like Father taught us." Her smile widened on the word 'Father'.

"Don't you dare say his name!" Jonathan screamed at her. Alec and Izzy grabbed his arms to stop him launching himself at her. No doubt she would rip him apart as mercilessly as she had their parents. "Don't you dare talk about him, you killed him, you killed them both-"

Clarissa inspected her cuticles. "Temper." She glanced up at him, her face unimpressed. "They had it coming. Had they chosen their actions more wisely, they would both still be alive today. We'd all be living together still at the Manor. We'd be a happy family."

Jonathan spat at her. Her expression darkened. "Of course, you have always been a problem. Too weak. Too emotional. A waste of an experiment, if you ask me."

"Experiment?" It was Alec who'd spoken. "Jonathan, what does she-"

Clarissa smiled again. "Oh, but don't you know? Didn't Jonathan tell you?" Jonathan simply looked at her, his expression as confused as Alec's. "But of course. He never knew himself. You don't know, do you brother? Father never told you what he did to us, before we were even born?" She looked at him with mock sympathy. "Don't worry. He never told me either. I found out myself."

"What are you talking about? Jonathan demanded. "What experiment? What don't I know?"

Clarissa simply smiled, and turned to the boy behind her. He wasn't anybody Isabelle had ever met before. He wasn't even someone she'd heard of. But she stopped dead when she saw him. 

He was almost identical to Jonathan.

He was tall, with blond hair and a muscular physique. However, while Jonathan hair pale hair that framed his face in straight locks, this boy's hair was golden blonde, like the sun itself. It fell about the boy's head in luxurious curls that somehow managed to look masculine. And his skin was more tanned than Jonathan's. Jonathan tended to have naturally pale skin, whereas this boy was all golden. And his eyes...

His eyes were pitch black, the colour of nightmares. They were the same colour as Clarissa's. 

"Jonathan," She said. Jonathan - their Jonathan - started at the sound of his name, but she wasn't talking to him. She was looking straight at the other boy. "Is the portal ready?" The other Jonathan nodded. "Excellent. With any luck, I won't be seeing you again." She said, turning back towards her brother. "But I'll leave you with a little parting gift." She nodded at the boy behind her. He released the leash he'd been holding - Isabelle hadn't even realised he was holding it. A shape rose up behind Clarissa. She stepped aside. It was a ravener. And it was much larger than the average ravener.

"Seeing as you're so upset over you half-breed's death," Clarissa said. "Perhaps you'd like to meet his killer." She stepped out of the room and disappeared towards a glow that Isabelle assumed was the portal. 

And the ravener lunged towards them.