Izzy (itsourcalling) wrote in thecityof, @ 2017-09-09 19:59:00 |
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Entry tags: | !plot: the demons, alec lightwood, isabelle lightwood |
WHO Alec & Izzy Lightwood |
The recipe book was wide open on the counter as the pan on the stove preheated. Izzy frowned faintly as she read the words. Okay, one teaspoon of salt. She picked up the tablespoon without looking and added way too much salt to the egg dish she was trying to make. Her fingers shook slightly, but she ignored the tremors as she kept on trying to cook. Next came cheese, crumbled bacon, and...sherry? She pursed her lips together as she looked at the counter top. It was an organized mess, but she did not see any sherry. She could fix this! The raven haired Shadowhunter yanked open the fridge and pulled out a bottle of soy sauce and a container of grape juice. She kind of eyeballed the measurement of the two liquids and added them to her bowl. A quick whisk and she was dumping everything into the hot pan. It was like the universe was rebelling against her dish because as soon as the mixture hit the sizzling surface the room started to rumble. “By the Angel,” she stumbled backward a moment, bracing herself against the counter. She had the smarts to turn off the burner, but she didn’t move fast enough to catch the pan as it sort of shimmied off the stove top. Egg mixture went everywhere as the cupboards began crashing open. A mug fell out of the cupboard behind her and slammed into her demon injury. Izzy gasped in pain, but didn’t cry. No, she jumped into movement. She ran out of the kitchen and threw open Tiberius’ bedroom door. The young Shadowhunter wasn’t even there, a relief and a worry at the same time. “Alec,” she called as she ran towards the apartment door. “We need to go!” In New York they didn’t really deal with earthquakes, but she still knew what they were. She was just about to throw open the apartment door when she realized she didn’t have the snuff box of yin fen on her. Izzy swore faintly before she bolted down the hallway towards her bedroom. She slid into her bedroom and began yanking open her dresser drawers. Where was it? The anxiety of the earthquake mixed with the panic of not finding her snuff box was causing her hands to shake faster. “Where is it,” she muttered as things her room began falling. Alec was in his room asleep when the first shock wave hit the building. Being a man of action it took only Alec a second to jump out of bed, his entire body pumped full of adrenaline, his body and mind in sync. The first thing that came to mind was his sister and the second was Jace. He needed to make sure they were both safe. Alec was glad to hear Izzy calling out to him but no Jace meant that he was probably already out of the building. Alec wasn’t sure if that was a good or bad thing. “Izzy?” Alec called out, not sure where his sister had gone off to when he reached the apartment door. He was ready to leave and another shockwave hit, Alec losing his balance as he reached for the wall to keep him up. “Shit.” Alec moved again, heading back down the hall to his sister’s room. What in the world was she doing? When Alec walked in he was confused, not entirely sure what Isabelle was looking for. “What are you doing?” Alec asked, stepping inside so that he could lath hold of Izzy’s wrist. There was an obvious resistance then and Alec didn’t understand it. Was his sister trying to get herself killed by staying here? What was so important that she was ripping open her dresser drawers? The whole apartment felt like it could collapse at anything second as the room shook and things started to fall over. The dresser that Isabelle had gone through tipped at the whole building seemed to sway all the way to left. They were going to both die here if they didn’t get out now. She had hoped to find the box quickly, but it seemed it didn’t want to be found. Izzy was positive she had put it in the back of her top drawer, under her bras, but it was not there. She was getting frantic in her search when Alec burst into her room. She gave him a look when he grabbed her wrist and she tried to pull herself free. “I have to find it,” she snapped even though she knew he didn’t know what she was talking about. “Alec, let me go. I just need one more second!” The building had other ideas because her dresser was lurching over. She found herself crashing into her brother as she could only stare in horror. Drawers were broken, things were strewn everywhere, but nowhere in that mess did she see the glint of the box. She knew it wasn’t on her body since she was wearing only wearing a sports bra and a pair of yoga pants. No pockets to tuck her medicine into so where in Raziel’s name had it gone? “Fine,” she shoved at her brother to get him moving. “Let’s go. I’ll look later.” Her face was already pale, but it could be easily be blamed on the earthquake. A crack started to run up the wall of her room and she knew she had wasted too much time. If she got Alec injured because she had wasted so much time trying to find the yin fen she was going to hate herself forever. “Go, big brother,” she took off running and tried to yank their apartment door open. It was jammed since the building had just warped enough. She didn’t feel like she had the strength to kick it in, but she didn’t want Alec to realize just how not okay she was. “Alec, my stele...I left it in the kitchen.” Her whip was wrapped around her wrist as always, but there wasn’t really enough room to snap the doorknob off with her whip. She turned to take a step towards the kitchen and the building lurched again. Alec watched her with narrowed eyes. He wasn’t stupid and Isabelle had to know that. Alec knew that something was up but he had no time to question it now. Right now wasn’t the time to show anything but concern over their escape. The building couldn’t hold its own forever. The ground underneath them was shaking every couple of minutes and a few more would send them all down and there was no surviving a fall at this height inside of a building. The shadowhunter moved with his sister, his hand pressed against the small of her back as they moved in union, using each other to keep each other balanced as they headed for the door. Alec hoped that Ty was alright, that Jace had found shelter somewhere if he was out in the city. Alec needed to find him after this. Right now Alec knew that Jace was fine because of their parabatai bond. The door becoming jammed didn’t help them in their matter. Alec couldn’t take anything down with his bow and arrows. The two of them were stuck unless they could somehow yank the door open. When Isabelle said that she had left her stele in the kitchen Alec was already moving in that direction, knowing that her stele could help as Alec’s stele was lost in his own bedroom. “Where is it?” Alec asked, calling out to his sister as he tried his best to look for the writing tool that they needed to activate their runes. Alec felt another rumble as the whole apartment seemed to shift, Alec’s lower back hitting the edge of the kitchen counter, his hands holding his body up to keep himself from slipping and falling. Alec ignored the pain as he moved, his eyes looking down at the table that had flipped over in the initial shock wave that toppled over all of their furniture. Alec was already starting to kick around silverware and broken plates as he searched for Izzy’s stele. Her mind drew a blank for a second when he asked where the stele was. With Alec searching for it she worked on trying to get the door open with just her own strength. Each pull at the door sent a fire like pain through her shoulder. Her muscles were screaming at her, but she didn’t give up. It was surprisingly hard to focus with the way the building pitched like a wild animal. “Cook book,” she suddenly yelled. “It is a bookmark in the cookbook! Should be on the counter, Alec.” Raziel, she was praying the cookbook hadn’t fallen yet, but she had placed it pretty far back on the counter. At the time it had been to protect it from any possible fire and now it seemed like it might be a blessing. Izzy whirled from the door and looked around the living room for something to use. Her eyes fell on a lamp and she snatched it up. The cord ripped from the wall, but she didn’t even check to see the damage as she brought the lamp down hard on the doorknob. The stupid lamp bent and the doorknob stayed pretty much intact. “Stupid inexpensive lamp! Why can’t there be nice things to smash things with?” She dropped the lamp from her hands and nearly fell herself. Izzy managed to steady herself and turned back towards the kitchen. “Did you find it?” She slid awkwardly for a moment on some scattered magazines, but she managed to make it halfway to the kitchen. Suddenly she was falling against the overturned couch as the floor rippled again. She bit her lower lip hard to bite back the scream of pain that wanted to escape her. Why was this earthquake so determined to beat up her injured shoulder? The cook book was obviously the last place Alec would have looked because why? Alec thought that he had forbidden Izzy from standing anywhere near that book but apparently she didn’t listen and Alec wondered what sort of concoction she was trying to whip up to kill them all. This wasn’t really the time to think about that thought as Alec found the stele easily enough although another tremor nearly knocked it out of his hands. Before Alec could leave the kitchen Izzy was there and he was half tempted to ask her what in Raziel she was doing trying to cook but the tremor he just felt was followed by another one and all at once half the side of their apartment broke apart, Alec watching as part of the kitchen literally fell off of the building to reveal the outside. Alec’s eyes widened because the building felt like it shifted and things were falling out of the opening. Their kitchen table went and then went everything else that was in the living room. Alec was holding onto the counter because he was still hanging on to a part of the kitchen that was threatening to fall out at any minute. Izzy was close to the edge but Alec moved to grab her, not wanting her to fall out, his arm wrapping around her waist to keep her close. “You’re going to have to move and fast.” Alec knew that they would have to move together in order to get back to the door but now that they had the stele it would be easier for them to escape. One second there was a wall and the next there just wasn't. Izzy could feel her sneakers sliding on the tile. Oh shit. She tried to grab for something, anything, as she got closer to the edge. She had never been so glad for Alec to grab her. He was her lifeline against the great unknown of the opening in their kitchen. “Let’s go,” she nodded without taking her eyes off the promise of death. If they both had steles and the time to draw runes they both could have just jumped. That wasn't going to be an option in their current situation. Izzy flicked her wrist and let the magic on her bracelet go free. The whip appeared in her hand and she twisted her body in Alec’s arms. She slashed the whip out and with deadly aim hit her mark. The whip wrapped around the doorknob of the door that was trapping them. She gave a tug and was actually glad when the door didn't budge. She twisted her arm around the whip and glanced up at Alec. “This won't hold forever, but this should at least get us back to the door.” The whip was a demon killing device and here she was using it like a guide rope. The building shook again and she grit her teeth as the whip pulled snugger. She started walking, pulling them along the whip, and she prayed her strength didn't give out. Her yin fen was probably lost, but she couldn't worry about that now. She had to make sure they lived through this. The demon injury on her back screamed in agony as she jerked on the whip again. The door was within arms reach and Izzy had the strangest urge to cry. “We got this, Alec!” Alec felt that he could take on demons and dangerous downworlders any day of the week. Natural disasters on the other hand? Alec wasn’t prepared for any of this. He wished that he had been more advisable to the smaller quakes that were now threatening to destroy his temporary home. What was going to happen when this was over? Where were they going to live or were the angels already preparing for a response to this? Right now what mattered most was surviving as Alec struggled to supply his strength as he moved with Izzy, the two of them using her whip as a rope to help them to the door. With each shake of the building he feared their grip failing but Alec’s strength wasn’t wavering and he did his best to make sure that his sister was going to make it to the door first. She was the priority right now and nothing was going to stop him from making sure she was safe. “We’re okay,” he said, his tone breathless as he reached for the doorframe to pull himself through, the hallway feeling as if it was sideways but maybe that was just because the entire building felt like it was standing on the edge of a cliff threatening to fall over. Alec looked back just in time to see their entire kitchen fall, taking with it whoever was next door and then some. Alec hoped that their neighbors had made it to safety. He hoped that everyone who lived in the apartment was safe and had managed to escape. “We have to get downstairs before this whole place falls apart.” Alec didn’t think it was going to last. Everything they managed to buy and claims as theirs was going to be lost to them the moment their apartment came crashing down. They were losing everything. Izzy didn’t know how to react in that exact moment. The second they were both in the hall she let her whip turn back into a bracelet. It coiled around her wrist like a reassuring presence and she could only stare as their temporary home just vanished. She jerked her gaze from the horrible sight so she could look at her brother. Gone. Everything was just gone. “Your stele,” she sounded hopeless. They only had hers now and she didn’t know where they were going to get another one for Alec. There wasn’t an Institute around! She made a face before moving down the hall towards the emergency stairs. This was certainly an emergency and there was no way in Raziel's name she was about to use some elevator. That was just a death trap waiting to happen! She managed to yank the staircase door open and took a step back as a large spark flew the doorway. “Its relatively clear, but there are a few cables. We need to move quick and be careful about what we touch,” she wanted so badly to just sit down and rest, but she knew she couldn’t. They had to get out of the building and then she could worry about losing the last of her strength. “Alec,” she looked over her shoulder at him. “We go together.” She wasn’t going down those stairs without her brother and she would keep her strength for the journey through sheer determination at this point. She and Alec had to make it outside. Alec knew that his stele was gone but so were his weapons. Alec had never been without his bow but that was gone and getting another was going to be impossible. The bow was made as an angelic weapon and there was no recreating it was the Iron Sisters. For a moment Alec felt helpless but his determination to get out and get to safety was more prominent in his mind. Everything else had to be worried about later as he moved with Izzy down the hall towards the elevators. Going down wasn’t going to happen and heading downstairs with loose cabling was an electrocution show waiting to happen. “We go together but we don’t have to do it without some help.” Alec reached for Izzy’s stele so that he could use it to activate his swift rune and also activates Izzy’s so that they could move faster and be more aware of their surroundings. “We have to be fast.” Alec knew it would be no problem now as he handed Izzy back her stele, his mind sharpened just like the rest of his body as he moved with both grace and speed, being able to avoid any sort of danger as he traveled down the first set of stairs, stopping and waiting for his sister before he moved on. The building shook again and Alec had to catch himself, his hand on a railing as he looked up at his sister. Alec could see that the very top of the building was caving in. Any moment it would fall to pieces and who knew what it would do to the stairwell. Izzy flashed her brother a strained smile as he activated both of their runes. She accepted the stele back, tightened her fingers around it painfully, and took off. Her normal grace was slightly shuddering as she raced down the stairs. A paleness had taken up residence on her flesh, but she could easily write that off to what was going on. They were dealing with a collapsing building! There was no reason for Alec to suspect something else was going on. She found herself slamming into the wall as the building shook again. A cry escaped her before she could stop herself. She covered her mouth with a hand as she locked eyes with her older brother. Oh, she was going to have so much explaining to do at some point. She didn’t want to tell him. She was strong and he didn’t need her burden. Alec already had enough to deal with! The excuses bounced around in her head. “We have to jump.” She pushed herself away from the wall and raced down the remaining steps to her brother’s side. They had both jumped off buildings before, they could do this. She raised her chin up in a sign of stubbornness before using the stele to activate an agility rune. She didn’t waste time as she activated one on her brother as well. The stele was jammed into her sports bra before she grabbed one of his hands. “We are going to be fine.” Izzy squeezed his hand before jumping over the railing of the stairs. Her normal grace was back, but she didn’t bother to show off. She literally just allowed herself to fall. The ground rushed up to meet her and she landed as if she had merely jumped a foot. Izzy yanked the door open at the bottom of the stairs and was greeted with a cloud of dust. “Alec,” she called as she turned to look for her brother. Alec noticed it this time, noticed what he had ignored for the last few minutes as he watched his sister suffering. There was something going on here. Alec couldn’t pinpoint it directly but there was pain in his sister’s eyes and the way that she looked, the milky paste to her flesh, Alec could tell that Isabelle was not okay. Alec couldn’t even say anything because the whole building could crush them at any second. Their survival was key and Alec fishing for answers would have to wait. The worry on his face was evident when Izzy said that they had to jump. They couldn’t or maybe Isabelle couldn’t. It was obvious that the other shadowhunter was losing in terms of keeping up that visage of being fine. Alec wanted to throw over that veil to question Isabelle - what exactly was going on here? Was his sister hurt? Why hadn’t she healed? Falling was easy and the rune did its part in making sure that they were fine when they landed. Alec was right behind his sister as he rushed outside, his arm lifting to shield himself from the blast of dust that met them. “Ty and Jace,” Alec said, his eyes looking around to see some of the other residents of the apartments but not all of them. Alec didn’t see his Jace or the newly introduced shadowhunter anywhere. “I’m not worried about Jace but I am about Ty. He’s young.” Alec was trying his best to not revert his thoughts back to Isabelle. There would be a time and place to sit her down and shoot off his questions but first came the others. Izzy scanned the crowd, trying to see the golden hair of her adopted brother or the messy black hair of the youngest Shadowhunter. She didn’t see them. Alec was already voicing her thoughts about worrying about Ty and she couldn’t help looking up at him. She reached into the back waistband of her yoga pants and pulled her cell phone free. It had survived all the madness, somehow. She frowned as she dialed Ty’s number, praying he’d pick up. The call went through and she let out a slow sigh of relief. A few quick words were exchanged and she clicked her phone off. “Ty is fine. He was at the bookstore when this all happened. He is more upset that the books got damaged.” He was a peculiar person. She knew he was one of them, he bore the marks, but he just didn’t seem to have the same will to fight as them. He preferred his books. A thought struck her and she reached out to grab her brother’s arm. “Alec,” she could feel the shock setting in. “We just lost...everything. Our place-” She let go of his arm as she kicked a piece of rubble out of the way. “What are we going to do now?” What was she going to do about her yin fen? No, Raziel, that was not the thing to think about. There was way too much to worry about. They were going to have to find a new place to sleep, but worst of all they were going to have to figure out how to defend themselves now. Alec was down a weapon and a stele. There was no telling what Ty and Jace had on them. This was a horrible mess. Alec was glad that Ty was fine which just left Jace. It was possible that Jace didn’t have his phone when the quake happened although Alec knew just by his parabatai rune that Jace was okay. If anything had happened to Jace then Alec would have felt it. Right now he was sure that Jace had managed to get somewhere safe for the time being which is why he wasn’t extremely concerned. “It’s just a building, Iz.” Alec watched his sister for a moment, his mouth opening to speak because he wanted to know what was wrong with her. Alec was concerned and he had every right to be given what he had seen, what Isabelle was hiding. “Why didn’t you tell me about your wound?” Alec asked, his question coming out softly. Alec wanted to be angry but right now he didn’t have the energy. Whatever excuse she had he was prepared to not buy it. Alec didn’t like being lied to and he wanted to know what was so important back when they were trying to escape. “And what were you looking for? What did you need that you almost risked your life for?” That wasn’t what she was expecting to hear. Izzy stared up at Alec for a moment as she tried to figure out how to answer. She hated lying to her brother, but she also hated feeling weak. Aldertree had given her the yin fen to help with the demon wound and she had just assumed that would be the end of things. Now, here she was, standing in front of her big brother with a sinking feeling in her stomach. “Alec,” she began. “It’s fine, healing.” She could tell from the look on his face that he wasn’t buying it. She crossed her arms over her chest and managed not to wince as the action pulled at her shoulder. “I’m fine. This injury is just taking a little longer to heal.” She really didn’t want to have this conversation. The building they had been living had pretty much just collapsed, the town was falling apart, and Alec was focusing on the fact she was injured. She appreciated his concern, really, but she didn’t want to focus on her shortcomings at the moment. Sadly, it was very clear to her that he wasn’t going to just drop the subject. She let out a few swear words and grabbed his arm to pull him somewhere away from people. It wasn’t hard to do since the whole town seemed to be falling into chaos. “The injury is from the demon attack on the Institute,” she said softly. “It has taken a lot longer to heal and Aldertree gave me some medicine. That was what I was looking for, okay? Without the medicine it is going to be awhile before I am up to my normal fighting speed and I just...I didn’t want to let you know because I feel weak. In a place like this,” she motioned all around them. “I can’t be weak, Alec. I have to be able to fight.” Alec felt that there was more but for the time being he bought it. Isabelle was just so convincing and her words were just genuine sounding. He had no idea that this medicine was making her addicted to it. If Izzy had actually said the name he would have known that yin fin was vampire venom. Vampire venom that could become an addiction. Alec sighed as he brought his hand over his face, half wishing that Isabelle would have said something sooner. “Izzy. You are the strongest person I know.” Alec brought his hands to touch his sister’s, fingers grasping as he held onto them. “But you can’t keep things from me. We’re siblings. You’re all I have here.” While it was true that Alec had Jace...it was different when it came to his sister. Alec remembered wishing for her arrival and when it happened he was relieved. He hated himself for feeling that way because who would want to be trapped here? “When all of this is over we’ll get you more medicine. We’ll figure it out.” Alec smiled and was careful not to touch Isabelle’s shoulder when he leaned in to hug her. Little did Alec know that finding more medicine was probably the last thing that she wanted to do. Until that time came Alec knew they needed to find somewhere else to take cover and rest for a while. The two of them were drenched with dust, their clothes dirty from the fallout of their building. Alec was sure that the two of them needed to make sure there wasn’t any fatal that they could have taken into their lungs, too. Breathing in the air couldn’t have been good for their bodies but it was nothing that their healing runes couldn’t take care of. |