Vampires Will Never Hurt You

Clary

"One second!" Clary replied to the unaccepted knock on the door of her room at the Institute.

She quickly made her way across the room to the door, opening it just a crack. When she saw who it was standing there, she swung the door all the way open, opening her arms and embracing Isabelle.

"Oh, Izzy, it's so good to see you," Clary said.

Isabelle wrapped her arms around Clary, squeezing her as if she could slip away if she didn't.

"I️ can't believe you're really here. Thank the angel you're alive," Isabelle said, a tear running down her cheek.

When the two finally let go of each other, they took a moment to just look at each other. Izzy tried to offer a half hearted smile, allowing Clary to immediately detect that something was off. 

Clary raised an eyebrow, wondering exactly what was wrong.

"What is it?" Clary asked reluctantly, not sure if she was prepared to hear whatever the bad news was. She was sure that Jace had told her that she was no longer in trouble with the Clave, but perhaps Isabelle knew something that he didn't.

The dark haired Shadowhunter looked down at the floor before looking back up and gesturing toward the interior of the room.

"Can I️ come in?" She asked.

Clary nodded, stepping to the side to grant the other entry. She closed the door behind her and gave Isabelle a worried look.

"You...you should have a seat," Isabelle said solemnly.

Slowly, Clary sat on the edge of the bed, her figure leaning forward with tense anticipation.

Isabelle opened her mouth to speak before simply taking a deep breath and deciding that she herself needed to take a seat as well. She sat down next to Clary and tenderly placed a hand on her knee, causing Clary to make direct eye contact with her.

"Izzy, what's going on? You're really starting to scare me," she admitted.

Izzy pressed her lips together tightly, exhaling through her nose. No more tears, she told herself, feeling the mist in her own eyes.

"Simon was convinced that he was dangerous because of his Mark of Cain, so I️ went with him to the Seelie Court to get it removed. The ritual was really hard on him, and he needed blood to survive, so I️ offered to let him drink from me and..." she trailed off, the image back in her head. She was back there, trying to convince Simon that it was okay, that she would recover from this and him refusing. He'd rather die than hurt someone. He'd rather die than hurt her.

Clary shook her head.

"Oh my god, Izzy, I'm so sorry. Are you gonna be okay?" She asked.

Izzy shook her head and wiped a tear away, collecting herself.

"No, no, it's not that. He knew what I'd been through and he was so happy for me when he got clean. He was so supportive of me...and he just couldn't do it," she said.

Clary could feel her own heart rate increase as she shook her head in utter disbelief. Her jaw dropped open slightly.

"Where is he? Where's Simon?" Clary asked in alarm.

"Clary, I️ am so so sorry," Izzy said.

Clary gasped.

"No. No. Don't say it. Whatever you do, please don't say it," she begged, tears forming in her eyes.

Simon was her oldest friend. Even when her entire world turned upside down and she went from being a regular girl to a Shadowhunter, Simon never once left her side. Even after she forced him to live as a vampire and he viewed himself as monster because of it, he still loved her unconditionally. After all, she did it because she couldn't imagine a world without him in it. It was as simple as that; she loved him and she could never live without him.

"Simon's dead," Izzy whispered, shattering Clary's heart into countless pieces.It was the first time that she had actually said it out loud, the first time that she had truly let it be real. Simon was gone.

At that point, Clary's entire body was trembling, tears beginning their stream down her face. All Izzy could do at that point was take her in her arms and be a literal shoulder to cry on.

In reality, Clary just needed her best friend in that moment.

"It's gonna be okay," Izzy said, but the words left a bitter taste in her mouth. She wasn't certain, but those may have been the last words that she spoke to Simon.