"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."

"My name is Charles Fairchild," he said, "the third."

"I'm Isabelle Li--"

"I know who you are," he said, slightly impatient. Isabelle took a step back and straightened up.

"So what do you want from me?" Isabelle asked.

"You were the one looking for me," he said.

"You were the one who spoke to me first," she said. "What's so interesting here in San Francisco?"

"The Cable Car Museum was very interesting," he said. 

"Tell me," Isabelle said. She didn't sound as threatening as she had intended to. 

"There's something going on here. The Clave's ignoring it. I doubt your brother knows what's happening," Charles said.

"Then tell me," Isabelle said. "What do you think is happening?"

"Don't be so condescending," he said.

Isabelle didn't move or say anything.

"I think the warlocks of the city are up to something," he said.

"Up to something? Like?"

"Summoning a Greater demon," he said. "I'm not sure which one but there's been a rise in mundane murders."

"Sounds like something," Isabelle said. 

"So are you going to tell your brother?"

"Tell my brother? No! I have no evidence. He'll just think I'm crazy. Besides, he's going to kill me when he discovers me missing," Isabelle reasoned. 

The boy looked offended.

"And what about you?" Isabelle said. "Who are you really? What Institute do you belong to?"

He bit his lip before he spoke.

"Los Angeles," he said. "But they don't believe me."

"I didn't think there were any of the Fairchilds at Los Angeles," Isabelle said. "I thought the Longfords were running it."

"They are," Charles said. 

"They just lost their son, Edward," Isabelle said quietly. "Did you know him?"

The boy's brown eyes were sad now. Isabelle wanted to reach out and comfort him but-

"Yeah," he said. "He lost his parabatai. He went crazy with grief."

"I heard."

There was a moment of silence.

"Why don't you come stay at our Institute, Charles," Isabelle offered. "I'm sure Alec wouldn't mind and that way you don't have to rush back to Los Angeles tonight."

"No," he said, shaking his head. With a big inhale, he seemed to gather himself. "I'll let you get back home to your brother."

"You're welcome anytime," Isabelle said. The boy slipped past her, walking backwards out of the alley.

"Alright, Isabelle Lightwood," he said. 

"Okay, Charles Fairchild," she said. 

"It's Charlie," he said.

"It's Izzy."

..........

Clary sat on the roof of the Institute on the phone with her mother.

"So you're all settled in?" Jocelyn asked.

"Uh, yeah," Clary said. "It's a nice place."

"I visited once," Jocelyn said. "Shortly after you were born."

"I can't wait to get to the art museums and stuff."

"How's Alec doing?" There was a crashing noise in the background then Luke's voice yelling "sorry."

"I haven't really seen much of him," Clary said.

"Spending all of your time with Jace?" There was some bitterness behind her voice. Jocelyn approved of Jace but was still a little resentful towards him.

"Actually no," Clary said. "I don't know where he is right now. I'm on the roof. Alec has us on house arrest until he can 'properly evaluate the safety of the city.'"

"Well at least he's taking his position seriously," Jocelyn said. 

"What are you guys up to?" Clary asked.

"Uh, Luke is trying to put together a dining room table," Jocelyn said, slowly, as if she was preoccupied with watching Luke. 

Clary smiled. 

There was another crash.

"Clary, I have to go," Jocelyn said, suddenly. 

"Is everything okay?" She could hear Luke cursing in the background.

"He drilled the table on upside down," her mom said. She holding back laughter.

"Alright, bye," Clary said.

"Yeah, bye."

The line went dead. Clary set the phone down beside her on the rooftop, watching the sun set over the Pacific.

..........

Alec wanted to go out and search for Izzy but he didn't know the city. They'd get lost. 

The door to the library opened as if on cue.

"Isabelle!" Alec said, jumping up and running to her. He hugged her but she pushed away. "I told you not to leave!"

"Well, you should know by now, Alexander, that you can't just keep us all on house arrest," she said. 

"Where'd you go? Why didn't you leave a note?"

"I went to the park. And then to Sienna's dance studio. Then to the Cable Car Museum. Then an abandoned alley."

Alec's relief was overcome with frustration.

Why did everyone have to be so damn sarcastic?

"Talk," Alec said. The two sat in arm chairs across from one another.

Isabelle told him almost everything about Charlie, with the exception of the boy's theory about the warlocks summoning a Greater demon.

"Charlie Fairchild?" Alec asked. "I met him in Alicante once. He didn't talk much. He seemed very quiet. I'm pretty sure Jace made him cry when he visited the New York Institute."

"I'll be sure to remind him of that when I see him next."

"You're going to see him again?" Alec asked.

"Why not? He seemed nice enough."

"Because he really just sounds creepy. Like an emo Shadowhunter," Alec said.

"What makes you say that?" Isabelle asked. She sounded offended. She just met the guy? How could she get so attached to people so fast? It seemed like there was a new guy every other day. And they were always the freaks: vampires, faeire nights, and now outcast Shadowhunters.

"He doesn't have any friends," Alec said.

"Tell me how many Shadowhunters you're friends with," Isabelle said.

"Um, like more than us three," Alec said. "He doesn't have a parabatai."

"Oh my gosh, did you really just say that?" Isabelle said. "I don't have a parabatai! Is that supposed to say something about me? Am I a freak too? And tell me, Alec. How is your relationship with your parabatai? When was the last time you two spent more than five minutes together voluntarily. When's the last time you two actually fought side-by-side? Don't talk to me about being a freak, Alec."

Alec jumped up at the end of Isabelle's rant.

"Do whatever you want," Alec said. He walked as quickly as he could out of the library. His head began spinning.

He needed someone-- he needed Magnus. Or maybe Jace.

Alec hurried to the stairs and began climbing them. He stumbled on the top one, falling to his knees. He quickly picked himself. He didn't want anyone finding him like this.

He rushed down the hallway to his room.

It looked pristine and that pissed him off. 

His room was neater than his life.

He locked the door and fell back against it, sliding down. 

He wanted to scream. 

Isabelle had never, ever said anything like that to him. She had rarely raised her voice to him.

Why did it bother him so much? Siblings usually fought. . .

But this seemed different. 

Everything just felt so damn different.