Inside of Me ━ Isabelle Lightwood

XXIV. EVERYTHING IS SHATTERING

    "How's Lydia?" Clary asked, recalling the events of what just happened back to Isaac's mind – not that he could forget them in the first place.

    It had only been a few hours since the wedding, hours spent with Isabelle just talking about themselves and what they were. He knew one thing, he wasn't ready to fully commit himself in a relationship. Isaac liked Isabelle, knew that he wanted to be with her, but first he needed to sort everything out with his family. He needed to wake up Jocelyn to finally have a mother, he needed to become closer with Clary, and finally, he needed to act civil with Jace.

    His family was a mess, and before he could add dating to his life, he needed to sort that out. He didn't want to be the asshole who dates someone and ignores them, he wanted to be able to have those moments with Isabelle and treat her how she deserved to be treated. But at that moment, he couldn't.

    Valentine, his own father, was still on the loose, Jocelyn wasn't awake, and he had been so caught up with Isabelle to even think about Clary.

    (He decided for now not to add Jace into the mix, he needed to work on his anger issues as well, and everything about Jace made him angry.)

    "Better," Alec answered her, "Magnus is doing what he can to help her, but it's bad. And the Cup he definitely missing." He then sucked in, "So is Hodge."

    "Maybe he was attacked, too," Jace suggested. Isaac didn't think that was the case, always thinking it a little sketchy that Hodge was just 'trapped' in the Institute. If that were him, he would do anything to free himself, even if it meant turning on all his friends.

    (Okay, that might have been a little extreme, but Isaac didn't know Hodge, and that could definitely be the case. Only time will tell.)

    "Maybe he's the one who attacked her," Clary said, saying all the things that Isaac thought.

    "Hodge?" Isabelle questioned, "No way. We've known him our entire lives. He would never do that to us."

    "I don't know," Isaac disagreed, "Sometimes the people you trust the most are the ones who stab you in the back."

    "Yeah," Clary nodded, eyes trained on the screen showing the footage of what happened. It was then that Isabelle slowed the footage, showing Lydia being knocked to the ground. Next, Hodge's figure was seen. It was true; he was the one to betray them.

    "I led him right to the Cup," Jace growled, angry at himself for being so foolish and trusting of the man.

    "We treated him like family," Isaac sniffed the air to smell the anger from Alec, "He could he do this to us?"

    Isabelle minimized the screen, getting footage of another time with Hodge as he nervously twisted a ring on his finger and glanced at the sleeping body of Jocelyn. Isaac tensed at the thought of that traitor hovering over his mother, Jocelyn trusting him – everyone trusting him – and Hodge just throwing that all away.

    "That's how," Clary answered, looking at him with disgust, "What's that ring?"

    "Looks like he's talking to someone," Isabelle observed, venom laced slightly in her words. Being the comforting person he was, Isaac placed a hand on her shoulder, the girl immediately relaxing under his touch.

    "And I can bet who it is," Jace continued, beating himself up again and again, just like he did with Valentine. Clary then uttered his name, the name of their father they all hated and wanted dead.

    No, that was a lie. Jace and Clary wanted him dead, Isaac wanted him to suffer. He wanted Valentine to suffer for everything he had done, not only to others, but to him. Because of Valentine, Isaac was sent to Beacon Hills with an abusive man who scarred him for the rest of his life. Because of him, Isaac was locked in a freezer as he screamed and scratched only for his nails to bleed and fingers to throb in pain for hours on end. Because of him, Isaac was robbed on the happy childhood Clary had gotten, and that was something Isaac could never forgive him for.