Chatper 23

B: Jess was startled by Isaac's appearance and his actions. She bent down to him and hugged him tightly. "Isaac are you okay? Come on baby, let's go inside and talk." She said trying to lift him up. He was skinnier and he was unkept. She was broken-hearted to see him like this. When she finally got him up and inside, she rushed to the kitchen and made tea for them both.

"Isaac, have you not been taking care of yourself?" She asked as she sipped her tea and sat very close to him. She put her hand on his thigh and waited for him to talk. By the looks of his state of health and his house he was going insane here. Jess had talked to Alexander and stormed out of his office and rushed her as soon as she could. Was she too late to save him? Or was he too far gone?

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I: Zack felt weak as he tried to hug her back. When they finally went back inside, he was sitting on the sofa watching her closely. When she came to sit beside him again, he tried to smile. "I was worried about you Jess." He coughed a little and pat his chest hard. He was sick, very unwell from neglecting himself, but at least he took showers on a daily basis or else he would have smelled like a homeless person.

Zack felt her touch him and he looked up at her and gently took her hand. "I messed up Jess. Pretty badly." He confessed and took a slow painful breath. "I messed up really, really bad." He sat back on the couch and his eyes somewhat drifted away for a moment before he began to speak again, his voice dark and pained.

"Her name was Elle. Sweetest, Kindest, Loving girl you could ever meet. We were both young when we trained together. We always traveled in the same circles, we even hunted together. Until..." He slowly shook his head. "The Mundane world with all of their technology, all of their wayward stupidity. All of their goddamn morals that make no sense!" He stood up angrily and clenched his fists as if he wanted to punch a wall. "First it was small, minor, I just want to deactivate them for a little while and see what I'm missing. Then it went on for hours, then days! She would not come home to train! she wouldn't come back after her hunts! She would be out there with these idiot mundane friends of hers, filing her body with this ridiculous crap that drove her mind completely insane! I would tell her Jess! Over and Over! Everyone has a limit! Everyone has a goddamn limit!"

He turned and grabbed one of his swords he had been working on and gripped the handle tightly. "She promised me she was done with that life. I believed her. I took her by every single word she said to me. I thought I could trust her. I loved her Jess! I was supposed to trust her. She lied to me. She said she was on her way to a mission. It happened to be the same mission as my brother and I so I decided we would all go together. She was already supposed to be there, so I..." He covered his face in shame. "I sent my brother ahead so she wouldn't be alone." He wiped the tears from his eyes and fell to the ground on his knees. "When I got there...he was covered in blood. He was alone! Covered in blood! We couldn't find her anywhere and I swear to God she was dead! It was the worst demon attack I had ever seen, and my brother barely lived. I brought him back to the Institute to the Infirmary, and I left to search for her. Her body, her clothes, something! Anything! I had to be sure! I never should have let them go without me Jess! I was an idiot! I was supposed to train them, to protect them." He held his face again. "They told me they saw her. I didn't believe them. Because it wasn't true. She would not have let my brother fight the demon alone. She would not have left his body there to die. Not for the mundane world and its drugs and money and fame and men who care nothing for anyone else but themselves! They told me she left my brother to die so I went to see for myself." He sucked in a breath.

"She was there. Right in front of me. Dancing, high, kissing men I had never seen before. I was so angry I only saw red. I couldn't believe she did that to me! My brother! The only family I have left almost died because of her! They told me to leave her alone, to just let her stay with the Mundanes but I couldn't! I was so angry! I was so goddamn angry!! I fought my way to her..." He wiped his eyes again. "It didn't matter. She didn't care. She turned her back on me and I never saw her again." He sat on the floor and took a deep breath. "I punched one of the hunters when they refused to let me give you adrenaline without Seth's permission. Alexander thought I had lost my mind again, and he banished me from the Institute until he is convinced, I'm not a threat."

Zack put his head in his knees. "They wouldn't let me see you. I tried, I really did Jess. You were the only thing keeping me together because I was able to save you from the mundane world. And they took you away from me. I fell in love with you, and they took you away." He began to shake and tremble with so much pain and anger. He was so hurt that his life had somehow gone so terribly wrong. Jess was the only thing in it that made him happy. Losing family, friends, and partners to the constant battle with demons was killing Zack from the inside out. "I don't want to hunt anymore." He spoke quietly. "I just want to stay in the mundane world. Maybe not fighting the war is better. I can't take it anymore."

B: "Isaac, there was no need to worry." She said softly to him. "My shoulder is better. There will be a very ugly scar, but it is better." She said softly, hating the fact she was going to have a horrible scar. "We will fix you up, my love. I will nurse you back to yourself." She kissed his head. She watched him as he leaned back, and his eyes looked pained. She took a deep breath as he began to talk.

She rose up and she wanted to hug him, but she saw the anger. She stepped back and sat down. She did not want him to be angry, but she knew there was nothing she could do to help him. She sat there and listened to him.

She rushed to him as he cried. She pulled him close and hugged him. She hushed him as she held him close to her. Tears filled her eyes as she listened to him. The tears fell as she listened to him. "Baby, it was not your fault. How could you have known she would turn on her own kind to be with them. She was corrupt. She wanted a life that was not hers." As she said the words, she realized she had been the same, only she would never harm one of her fellow Shadowhunters.

She kissed him over and over again on his face and neck. "I know you would have been there every moment Isaac. I know you love me, and I can promise you that I will never turn my back on you, and I will always be there to help you." She held him close and closed her eyes. "I promise you I will always be here for you. Even if I die, I will still be by your side." She whispered to him. "Honey no one can take me away from you. I am yours. No one can have me. No one can take me away from you. Not Alexander. Not Seth. Not Blane. Not the mundane world. Not ANYTHING. We have to fight. If we don't the world will go down in flames. They need us to fight. And I want you to be by my side forever. Fighting for a better world." She whispered.

"I will help you with everything. We can fix this. You helped fix the broken part of me, now it is my turn for me to fix you. Please let me?" She asked knowing he would say yes. "Come on. Sit on the couch. I'll make you some food and we will get your health back up and I will cut that mess of a hair you have. Also, you need to shave, babe, you look like a shaggy dog." She smiled softly at him and kissed his nose.