Where love hides

Alec's POV

"Simon's a rat" Isabelle slurred infront of me, her out-of-breath mouth telling me a totally different story than her eyes, which were full of shock, well I think they were.

"Tell me if he hurt you, and I swear to raziel.." I started, but was cut off by Isabelle, who's breath had managed to resurface.

"No" she muttered again, "it's Simon. He's a rat! He drank his drink and then 'poof' a rat. It was spiked, but I don't know how!" Her voice still in shock. I can't blame her, she failed her duty to protect all mundane. I'd be shocked too.

"Where is he now?" My mind racing to all sorts of conclusions. Imagine all the paperwork I'd have to fill out for the clave if this gets back to them. I might have to stand in front of everyone in Alicante. What if Isabelle got stripped of her runes? What if I did?! This isn't going to end well.

"He's here" she started pulling her hand in front of her but she stopped, her face turning a sickly white.

"What?" I mumbled, examining her face.

"He was just here" she stuttered, clearly just as confused as me. "I don't understand! He was literally just in my hand, but..." She started again, but her gaze fell upon a vampire. A tall one with dark messy hair. A vampire with a rat in his pocket. "By the Angel, he's there" she pointed her finger obviously, showcasing our faces to the vampire, who scowled evidently, and began walking faster.

"Way to go, Isabelle, now we have some rabid vamps on our case" my voice raising, which I really didn't mean for but it just happened. "And for the love of Raziel, will someone get Clary and find out where Jace is! We have to go if we want to get him back. It's almost dark- you know what that means!"  My head spins in different directions as I spot red curls bouncing above the crowd, the light gleaming off them as I see her head coming closer and closer. Not long behind her I spot the unmistakable gold related to the golden boy. His head actually visible about the crowd as he smirks, his head looking Clary up and down. What a rat. He doesn't deserve it, but he'll get it. He always does. The girl. The virtue. The pride. He always does. My growl turning into an almost smile as I see her angelic features, something I know I'll never tire of. Watching her in awe at the beautiful surroundings. Magical. She's so gullible to how people see her, naive to the fact that she, is the beautiful one. Her voice breaks me out of my stance as I realise she's standing right infront of me.

"Well, I think it's clear to say he's creepy" she laughed lightly, and looked around to see if anyone was joining in, but saw the faces of worry. "What's wrong guys?" Her face now in doubt.

"Well" I start, but Izzy butts in

"Simons a rat" she blurts out, and immediately regrets it. "Okay, sorry, I shouldn't have said it like that. We fell into a teeny tiny bit of trouble, and well, Simon's now a rat"

"What!" Clary screeched, which followed with eyes staring at us in every direction. I duck my head to get out of their view, and together we attempt to heard Clary into a quieter corner, but she wasn't having any of it. "He's a what?! Where is he? What have you done? I swear to god, if you've done anything to him it'll be the last thing you do" she cried, and began to lunge towards Izzy, who was quite shocked, to say the least. With one arm, I grab a hold of Clary's waist and stop her from moving any further. Her full wait focused of getting towards Isabelle, yet only one arm stopped her. This girl needed way more training if she was going to be a shadow hunter, or a successful one anyway. Calming down a little, she pulls herself free from my grip and throws me a dirty look, telling me to back off, then stands in front of Isabelle, staring at her. Her eyes bore deep inside of her, and that's when I saw it. I wasn't sure what exactly I saw, but it was somethings different. Clary was different. Something in her eyes shone bright, almost angelic. Almost like her blood ran differently to mine, and her mind worked differently to everyone's. Isabelle told Clary everything after that; what happened to Simon, what she thought of her, almost like clary was hypnotising her.
------
We pulled ourselves thought the darkness, which clawed at our ankles and attempted to find our way through the graveyard. Crumbling gravestones lay at my feet, and dared me to fall among them. To be lost forever into the darkness, yet I kept on waking. A dim light shone in front of us, candle light lighting up the inside of the church, our destination. I glanced back at the ghostly faces, all stricken with different emotions. Izzy's wore pride as her head was held high and she stirred among the dead as though it was normal, Jace's expressions was also very similar as he attempted to overtake Izzy and become the leader. My position. And Clary. Her head hung low as she stumbled her way at the back of the line. How could Jace just leave her? I paused at the side of the gravestones and let both Izzy and Jace to go before me. Their expressions not changing a bit as they strutted towards the entrance of the church. I pulled up beside clary and began walking with her.

"Don't worry" my voice low so only she could here. "Well find him"

"How can you be so sure, though" her voice cracking ever so slightly as her head was still facing her feet, which were now bare as she carried the ridiculous boots along side her. Without a second thought, I lightly put my arm around her shoulders. She gasped a little, which made me feel wary, but she suddenly leans towards me. My heart fluttered as I gasped myself, hopefully not obvious to her.

"I promise, we'll find him" I whisper, and although her face was still planted towards her bare feet, I could feel a small smile across her face. Together we walk towards the church, following Jace an Izzy in pursuit as they enter the magnificent building.

Churches have always mesmerised me, and I'm not even sure why. The complex structures filling history, and a lot taking after our very own institute, and the structures of shadow hunter institutes throughout the years. In fact, most churches were built as the beginning of new institutes, but things such as sightings with mundanes paused construction, and they had to be handed over. That was the law. The structure may be a big part of it, but the mundanes idea of god always surprised me. Millions of people prayed to a mysterious man who lived among clouds, although no one knew he was real. They put so much faith into a man who no one has ever seen before. At Least Raziel was seen. At Least we know he was real, no false prayers could ever tell me otherwise.

"Should we really be here" a small voice squeaked and forced me to look behind. Clary stood, face as white as a sheet, and stared at what we were doing, almost in horror as we moved the alter. "This is a place of worship! I know I said I wanted Simon back but this is uncalled for!"

"Clary, Demons exist all across the world in their varying different forms.
Shadow Hunters cling to no particular religion. And, in turn, all religions assist us in our battle. We could have as easily gone to a Jewish synagogue or a Shinto Temple. Here it is. Beneath every altar in every church... you'll find this" My words drew to a halt as I watched Clary's face light up in awe. The rows of 19th century weapons all detailed to perfection sat side by side, waiting to be used. Waiting to be picked up after many a hundreds of years. The blades were made of exactly the same stuff our, more modern, blades were, however the designs entwining the sides and down the handles were fairly different. Much more time was spent into weapon perfection back then, and they were magnificent.

"Wow" clary stuttered as me and Jace lifted the top row of weapons off, to reveal yet more objects full of patterns, all highlighting themselves and trying to get picked first. I reached down and picked up a sereph blade. The choice was hard, they all seemed to scream my name, begging me to choose them. Eventually, I settle on a large patterned one which lights up as I place my hand around it. My smile widens as I feel the hilt weld to fit my hand perfectly. The room illuminates as both Izzy and Jace grab blades of there own, but clary sits by herself in the corner. Before I could do something about it, Jace is there. Where I should be. He picks up a vampire gun, a classic point 200, full with revolving blades and all. My heart pangs in my chest as I watch in distaste. He moves himself behind her and pulls the trigger back, showing her how to use it. I can tell they are deep in conversation, but it just feels wrong. It should be me. Turning away, Izzy looks towards me in an apologetic glance. She always feels like she has to apologise for Jace. She feels like she has to apologise for everyone, when it's never her fault.

"Alright everyone" she shouted, slipping a few knives into the top of her boots and adjusting her whip across her forearm, the snake glistening in the sereph blade light, " let's go kill some vampires". Her smile grew as she strutted out of the church, everyone hurrying to catch her up in the dead of night. This isn't going to go well, I know it isn't, but we've got to get Simon back. Protect mundanes. That's our cause.