Chapter Seventeen

That class normally never made noise and Isabell didn't complaint about it ever but right at this moment, the hush was causing problems because this was the time when she needed them the most.

The silence made it more terrible. Ashley seemed to be busy with her mythology journal and it was making Isabell feel invisible right beside her. She was silent when the vigorous beats of her heart were already reaching her throat. No matter how many times she looked at him, Steve never appeared like Lethal to her. In her imagination, Lethal was some deadly inhuman creature, some hefty monster digging his blades inside of innocent people, roaring from pleasure from their heart-wrenching cries. Isabell couldn't imagine his sweet and caring friend doing something like that.

Even now when the awkwardness roamed around them and they don't talk much. Steve still come really early to the university and secure the center first seat for her and he may not knew this but Isabell was aware of how he leaves boxes of cranberry juice inside of her desk every day. She always smiled at it but nothing like that happened today, all she felt was suspicion and anger

Maybe this was the reason why Isabell was obsessed with going to Cursed Abyss. Emily had told her exactly what they do in it, the unlimited amount of addictive poison in the air along with bloodshed and other more freaked-up things. But neither of them was scarier to her than Steve being Lethal and she was going to confirm it tomorrow night

Here comes Sebastian "Going Morning" with his boring greetings,

"Good Morning, Mr. Lightwood" The students replied, their faces showered some emotions

"It's been a while since you all started to work on your case studies and I would have to say that you have been very serious with them" He unusually praised them walking to his place "Credit goes to you, Mr. Lightwood. If you hadn't blessed us with those suicidal thoughts in your first week then we wouldn't have be doing it like this" They were getting courageous with Sebastian but he didn't appear to mind it "I guess they didn't get their work completed" He mocked harshly and the class shrugged it off with a laugh mixed with surprise

"Since it's been weeks, I need you to give me a guide about how you all are doing," He said dragging his chair to the center and their smile started to shed with the sound of the chair

"Come to me one by one, As we did in the first week" The boldness and the laughter had disappeared with the memory of that day. This was a deja vu and this all began with

"Steve, start the party"

Isabell stared at Sebastian in shock but Steve didn't react much. He stood up from his seat crossing Isabell he took his position in front of Sebastian and put his research on the handle of his chair

"Legal Implications of Martial Arts in Self-Defense Cases" He read it out loud similar to the last time and then Sebastian started to read his report

"Why does your self-defense only involve daggers?" Sebastian crossed one leg over the other, he glanced at Steve from his upper eyelashes

"WHat do you mean by it, Sir?" He asked back as he didn't seem to understand the question

"There are a lot of tools used for self-defense. Why did you specifically add Knives?" Coincidence, Isabell. It's just a coincidence and nothing else, coincidence.

Isabell kept repeating the same words "No, Mr. Lightwood. I got some bullets in there too" Maybe Steve was too irritated so he chose to use a threat to stop the conversation

"You better know how to use them" He flashed a sneer at him and Steve appeared to be offended "What are you trying to say?" Steve asked seeking clarification "Never mind" he closed the report "You are doing pretty well, if you need any help, I am available anytime" Steve nodded in reply and went back to his place.

For some reason Sebastian started to change his behavior in class, he was getting friendlier. He complimented some students and guided those who made mistakes. They were pleased as Sebastian finally accepted their topics but a girl in the center front wasn't happy. She was staring at him, annoyed with a sulking face the entire time and when Sebastian was done he connected his eyes to her and she rolled her eyes at him in absolute annoyance

"I have some work. I'll leave early"

It had become a permanent solution for Isabell to avoid Steve, every day and every moment when there was a possibility of making plans she threw this excuse at them and ran away.

She tugged her bag at the shoulder and was gone already

----

Xavier has been begging for her to remove Blockers from his windows but Isabell made him feel like his words are inaudible. One of the reasons for ignoring every word coming from his mouth was that she was going to sneak out tonight herself

The night fell around the house. Isabell stood in front of her cupboard, dressed in a long red dress with a halter neck attached to the top and it elegantly reached her toes. A pair of sparkling earrings dangling gracefully down her ears, a silver bracelet adorning her small wrist. She covered her Hazel hair with a black wig as Sebastian ordered as a precaution because the chances of her getting caught by those hazel waves were quite high.

Isabell opened the window of her bedroom after locking the door. She held her silver high heels in hand, careful not to make any noise she grabbed the window frame above her head

She moved a leg down checking the surface beneath her feet.

How the hell does Zavy do it every other day without a problem?

Was the only thing she yelled to herself during her journey down and other than that she didn't even let the air in. Isabell descended herself down with swift steps, the hiking with Sebastian may have assisted her with a graceful descending.

Isabell got to the door where Sebastian was waiting with his car as decided. She carefully unlocked the gate with one single soundless click.

The moment Isabell stepped outside of her house both of them froze in their places. The noises of wandering animals faded in the background as time took a pause. The wind danced at the edges of Isabell's dress making it float all around her body, her hair settled in rhythm along with air. Sebastian appeared helpless and couldn't seem to do aanything but look at Isabell, his eyes fixed on her breath-taking beauty but he wasn't the only one with immovable breaths, the case was identical with Isabell. Even though he was still wearing black as always but the way his Black leather jacket draped over his shoulder, a chain hung over his neck, his hair black and messy, ruffled in corners at his forehead, his dark eyes covered with adorable round glasses, casual black jeans, and shirt of the same color was making Isabell's jaw to drop

"Let's go," Sebastian breathed out.

"Let's go" Isabell never breathed

Without wasting another moment Sebastian ran to get the car door, he held it for her and Isabell moved to the front seat and thanked him with a movement of her head.

The moment she stepped into his car, her eyes glanced at it, and her mind spoke to her

Okay, so I know and you are definitely aware of it too that you look flawless in black, Of course, of course, you look perfect at the moment too but this car! Like I don't even know they make cars like this too, like no color, nothing but shadows. Oh, Bastarian like why is your life so dusky? I'm going to buy a box of Sharpies on our way back to Cursed Abyss- of course, if we survive, and gonna paint everything like a rainbow in this car including your deadly dark eyes.

Yeah exactly those

Wait! Wait! Wait! They are looking at you right now

"What?" Sebastian asked, staring at him and zoned out Isabell "What what?" She panicked and looked away

"Why are you looking at me with that type of face?" Interested to be exact- I mean what? no no no "No, I wasn't actually" speak speak speak something to avoid this discussion

"How much time do we have?" exactly this one

Sebastian blinked his eyes and then replied "Almost two hours in total and It'll take us twenty minutes to get to point one" He started the engine of the car and started to drive, no talking, no music only silence stayed between them for moments

"Maybe you should drive faster and make it fifteen. You're literally driving at 40mph" Isabell said disturbing the stillness. Sebastian spared her a glance

"I can not drive faster than this"

"Come on, There is no traffic and you don't have to follow the rules right now" She tried to convince "Rules are rules," He rejected

"You can just stare at the officer and he will never impose a fine on you I swear," She said with a wink and Isabell was serious "What do you mean by that?"

"I mean like like your stare" she paused 'Your stare is pretty scary" Sebastian gave Isabell a scary stare and she appeared to be terrified

"Exactly!" She yelled pointing a finger at his eyes "This one, we can use it as a weapon" She cracked up at her words

"Or maybe we can show him your dark circles?" He backfired leaving Isabell dumbfounded

"What the fu–" she stopped, cleared her throat loudly "Wha- what do you mean by that, Bastarian" She said, her mouth still surprised and she dropped the only respectful thing in consideration "Hey, hey, hey. You are literally dropping every formality" He peeked at Isabell through his glasses

"Never mind, I won't take offense right now, you look too cute for me to do that" Isabell never realized when her hand got that high and patted Sebastian's hair.

A bolt of electricity passed through his body. Sebastian stopped the car, absolutely stunned

"What happened?" Isabell yelled at the sudden stop, Sebastian stayed silent, he stayed silent for a lot moments

"Isabell" He said in a bottomless voice "Don't do that" he inhaled deeply "Please, don't do that ever again" Sebastian sounded serious, Isabell's smile disappeared, her face fell for a second, and in a flash, her smile reappeared, stronger

"Do what?" and she ran a hand through his already ruffled hair and then never stopped until her hand was captured by his at the wrist, "Stop" He said, his grip was so gentle and Isabell could have slipped her wrist right off of his hand but she never did, her fingers stopped and froze, hung in the air only supported by his soft hold

After a moment of staring, Sebastian let her hand go, softly

He started the car again, his expression still stiff, eyes seemed to grow darker. Isabell could sense the tension in the car, but she already had so much of it inside her and Isabell could not let it grow. So she herself decided to lighten the mood a little

"Do you think we could place someone like Jeol in here?" She asked out of the blue, his expression complicated by her questions "Place what? Where?" He stayed puzzled

"Jeol, oh- of course, of course, how would you know" She slapped a hand on her forehead "So Jeol is basically my favorite stuffed toy and he is so cute- a bear basically, so maybe your car won't look like a ride to the afterlife," She didn't realize but she said it out loud, knowing he was listening

"A what?" His mouth fell open in surprise "Never mind" She laughed anxiously, you weren't supposed to say that out loud

"You are not an okay person, Isabell. Maybe you should have something like respect while talking to elders" Should I? "Definitely! I should but I know you won't take offense" Haha just kidding, Sebastian moved his head side to side, shocked and never disappointed by her

"Do you think there will ever be a day when we talk in peace?" He asked, moving the steering wheel "Aww, Sebastian" He didn't care about rules and forgot to keep his eyes on the road when she called him, his eyes moved at her "Our ever is two months later," She said making Sebastian follow the rules again

"Well, yes" He hushed his tone "What do you want to do after this?" She asked, "After the three months are over?" Isabell nodded yes "I've sent my documents to Harvard. I'm considering pursuing further studies, specifically S.J.D." The temperature of the car decreased further down

"So you are going back to Massachusetts?" Her voice dropped in pitch, He nodded silently

They stayed silent the remaining way, Isabell seemed to be very interested in the dashboard of his car and Sebastian found interest in the road. As soon as they reached their destination, Sebastian parked the car in a hidden spot in the woods and they got out of the car

Sebastian walked to the back and opened the trunk of his car. He took a couple of boxes out

"What's this," she asked pointing at a box "Nails" he closed the trunk and stepped toward her "You look evil" Isabell complimented, her voice showing a little surprise "Like a murderer who is going to stab nails in the victims?" He walked towards the road "You are giving me goosebumps" She said running her hands over her naked arms "Should I start with you?" He proposed "You're making me scared" Sebastian tossed one box in her direction "I'm kidding," he said and Isabell caught the box "You don't kid" Sebastian stopped, spun around, bent his face concealing it with malevolence, he stared at Isabell from top to the corner of his eyes "Maybe I'm not" a moment of hush passed between them as the leaves stopped rustling in the black night, Isabell swallow the air down "You are giving a cold-crazy-wrecked-mysterious-serial-killer type of vibe" Sebastian's leg twisted at her words "Woah, Woah, Woah! That was a detailed description of mine" Isabell blinked both of her eyes at him

"Get to work, Smartie" Sebastian said, Isabell paused and her mind just repeated his word a hundred time

My ears ringing, and my ears are definitely ringing to hear him calling me like that- like with a nickname

"Let's go, Isabell," definitely

"Let's go, let's go," She said, taking the lead now.

They stopped in the center of the road and sat on their legs surrounded by silence and solitude. The road was barren, with no living presence in sight. Opening the box Isabell took the first nail out and marked the starting, after the marking they started to place all of them on the road

"Not there!" Isabell yelled at Sebastian, making his body jerk "What? What? What?" He asked, staring at her startled "You're disturbing the pattern" Sebastian never heard of following one

"What pattern?"

"The pattern of placing nails" she explained "Did we make one?" He asked genuinely, puzzled. "See I placed the first nail here" She pointed at a nail sitting upwards on the road "And you placed the second one here" She moved her finger foot away "Then I placed another here" and she pointed three feet away "And now you are supposed to place one here" She said moving farther away to forth "not here" two meters away was where her finger was now

"Oh!" He said after a minute "Oh," He said again, moving back, and then his teeth peaked sending his glasses above from a smile. Sebastian would naturally feel annoyed but it was Isabell in front of her and the same Isabell wasn't acting as her dress. The red color was meant to make you look confident and elegant but for Isabell, it made her act like a three-year-old child. For the entire time they placed nails, Sebastian kept on looking at Isabell, his lips stayed stretched softly over her words and how she was making an effort to measure exactly one foot of difference the entire time.

"One hour was left for the party," Sebastian said starting at his black watch "Let's go, let's go hide in the bushes" h

He followed her to the large thick bushes enough to cover both of them.

The first car passed without any damage and Isabell frowned, looked at Sebastian, anticipating the same reaction but he was calm, she shifted her gazes again. Her eyes were glued to the road, streched wide as if she would miss a car if she didn't open them large enough. The same thing happened to the second car and she frowned and then another one "Ah! Will we even get one" She yelled at the fourth one "Be patient" He said in a calm voice, Isabell looked at Sebastian, her head tilted a little, closer to him

"By the way" Her head tilted further down "You always teach us to respect the law but why are you the one to break it now?" Isabell said, distracting herself from the constant disappointment "If it's to break the law breakers then lawyers can break the law too" Se answered and she was left amazed

"You are" She cleared her throat "You are good with words" She complimented and Sebastian nodded in agreement.

When her eyes were back on the road they stretched out wide, wider than before "We caught some—" Isabell almost yelled, but before she could enjoy herself further, she felt a hand cupping her mouth, stopping her from speaking.

Isabell looked at the owner of the hand in confusion, Sebastian pointed at the car with his eyes telling her to look again.

The moment her eyes moved she squeezed them in an instant

"A patrol car" He whispered and she froze

"WHO THE HELL DID THIS?" The officer shouted

"We are done," Sebastian whispered again in her ear and his hand slipped from her lips slowly. The officer was now collecting nails out of the road while they stared at their plane somehow going in vain.

But the amount of nails they put was equivalent to ten meters of road and the possibility of the officer ditching it was way higher them him collecting all of them

"That's what happens when you make an unstable plan" Isabell frowned, but before he could reply anything

"Wait!" she yelled in a whisper

"What? What happened?"

"Look at the car in the back of the patrol car" she whispered pointing in the direction

"We got one" His face turned to Isabell's surprised face

"They are wearing masks," She said

"that means they are going to Cursed Abyss" He completed

"Four number of people are enough number of people for us" Isabell nodded with her words "Go, go," He said, holding her hand, both of them ran slowly towards their parked car, not making a sound.

Sebastian stopped at the car door hearing Isabell "They will come" She wasn't walking anymore "They will come, even if it takes them to crawl to Throne Of Demon" Terror spread on her face

"Yes but the road is half-hour long" He glanced seemed his watch "and we exactly have that much time left' Isabell nodded "And I've checked, there is no mechanic in this area, and even if they arrange one it will at least take then a couple of hours to reach there, and that's exactly how much we need" Her face relieved,

I'm impressed

but she never told that to him instead she moved and took her seat in the car