The Aftermath Chronicles: A TMI FanFic

Part 5

"Where's Isabelle?" Alec yelled at no one in particular. 

Jace was seated on the stairs, watching his parabatai pace back and forth.

"You checked her room?" Jace asked.

"Yes, I checked her room," Alec said.

The butler entered the room.

"Is everything okay, sir?" Alec rushed to him.

"Have you seen my sister?"

"I'm afraid I haven't. I did hear the front door open earlier today, however," the butler said.

"What time?"

"Around three o'clock," James said.

"I saw her right before that," Jace said. "She said she was going to look for you."

"I was in the training room," Alec said. "I wouldn't have been hard to find."

"Well, she must have lied to me then," Jace said. 

"Where would she go?" Alec resumed pacing.

"You can't keep us in the Institute forever, Alec," Jace said. "She probably went sightseeing and she's probably fine."

"Mom is going to kill me if something happens to her," Alec moaned.

"I'd actually be more worried about the Clave," Jace laughed. Alec looked at him with murder in his blue eyes. 

............

Isabelle easily found the Cable Car Museum. 

She sauntered up to the admissions desk and leaned on the counter. An acne-scarred teenage boy sat behind the glass window. Isabelle smiled, charmingly.

"Hello," she said, making her voice soft and sweet. She wished she had worn something more revealing than her loose white silk shirt.

"Uh, hi," he said. "How many tickets?"

"I don't need a ticket," Isabelle said. "I was wondering if a boy had come by here. He was wearing a leather jacket. Maybe you saw tattoos on his arms? Brown hair? Brown eyes?"

"Uh, I don't really remember," he said. Isabelle restrained herself from reverting to torture techniques.

"Oh come on," she said. "It would have been a few hours ago."

"Uh--"

His stuttering was stopped by a hand on Izzy's shoulder. She turned around, her whip undoing itself slightly.

It was the Shadowhunter.

"You're looking for me?" he asked.

Isabelle turned back to the ticket boy.

"Never mind," she said, coldly. She looked at the Shadowhunter but he had his back to her and was walking away. She followed him. He turned into an alley and Izzy followed against all of her best judgment. She knew he wasn't a demon impersonating someone-- her Sensor necklace would have pulsed. But he could still be dangerous. Her whip bracelet was in her hand, hanging from her side. 

The Shadowhunter was waiting at the end of the alley. Isabelle took a step into the darkness, evaluating her surroundings. There was a ladder leading to a rooftop if she needed an escape. And she could always run back onto the main street.

"Who are you?" the Shadowhunter boy asked.

"I could ask you the same thing," Isabelle said. "I'm pretty sure the Clave knows I'm here. But you," she made a tisk-tisk noise, "I don't think anyone knows you're here."