Mmkay, here it is: the famed Alternate Ending I've been promising. It takes place from when Jace and Isabelle make their appearances. I hope you enjoy it. If you don't want to read it, by all means you don't have to. I repeat: YOU DON'T HAVE TO. You won't be confused, I promise. But, I do recommend reading it, because I really like it. But, really, you don't have to.

ALSO: I don't know if any of you noticed, but I changed my pen name. I was formerly Peoplelikeus13, but now, I am the angelic devil. If you don't like it, too bad. If you do like it, thank you, I do too. I feel this is...more me. But...on with the story. Well, alternate ending, anyway.

Disclaimer: You know da drill. Don't own them.

"That must be a catch phrase of yours," said a snarky voice from behind the witch. There was a bang, and the witch fell to the ground. Behind it stood Isabelle, frying pan in hand, and Jace right beside her.

"What are you doing here?" Magnus yelled, but before he could ask more questions the witch was back up and advancing towards them.

Ragnor ran from the room, and was back before anyone could ask where he'd gone. In his hands was a chair from the kitchen table, and he flung it at the witch, blindsiding it for a moment. "Get some rope and a pillow case from the back of the car!" Magnus yelled at Ragnor, and he and Jace went out the door together.

The witch turned to Magnus and cocked its head, regarding him with cool interest. "Careful," it said.

It sprang towards him. Magnus was able to get mostly out of the way, but it caught his wrist and dragged him down to the floor. It was a battle for dominance, Magnus finally getting an advantage and pinning the witch to the ground. "What do you mean 'careful'?" Magnus demanded.

The witch laughed in its throat. "Anything you do to me could hurt your precious Alec." It smirked, and Magnus was taken aback for a moment. He hadn't really thought about that fact. The witch used his hesitation to fling him off and against the wall, scrambling up and over to the fireplace.

Ragnor and Jace finally returned with the rope and pillowcase. Ragnor set up the chair, and Magnus tackled the witch once again, taking it to the ground. Once he got a good hold, he forced it down into the chair, tying the rope around its wrists and ankles. "Where is Max?" Magnus asked Jace while he tied. When he was done he gestured for Ragnor to pull the pillowcase over its head.

"He's in the car," Jace answered.

"What?" Magnus, Ragnor, and Catarina chorused. The witch cackled. "Why the hell is he here?" Magnus demanded.

"Ragnor texted us and we had to hurry, so we didn't have time to call Clary and Simon or have them get there fast enough, so we just brought him," Isabelle explained rapidly.

"As long as he stays in the car, he should be fine," Catarina said, and she and Isabelle continued their search for…whatever they were looking for; Magnus wasn't sure.

He turned back to the witch who had taken over Alec's body. The witch's black eyes looked back at him steadily. Catarina came up behind him and pressed a cross and a vial of holy water in his hands. He looked back at her. "I can't – "

"Yes you can," Catarina said supportively.

Magnus looked back at the witch, who was testing him with its eyes. He held up the cross, licked his lips, and began speaking the Latin words.

Alec's whole body started vibrating, and he started screaming, and for a moment it sounded like the real Alec. Magnus's voice shook for a moment, but he continued. He paused for a moment and flung out his other wrist, splashing Alec with drops of holy water. Alec's hands balled up into fists, and he screamed even louder. Out of the corner of his eye, Magnus saw Jace and Isabelle. Jace's arms were wrapped around his sister, and her head was buried in his shoulder, her shoulders shaking as she sobbed. Magnus kept going.

Suddenly, Alec stopped his movement, and his head slumped to the side. Magnus paused for a fraction of a second. He stuttered with his words, only getting a few out before something strange happened. Of course, Magnus was used to strange, have dealt with strange on a daily basis. He himself was strange in his own way. But this…was downright terrifying.

Alec's chair rose into the air, levitation above everyone's heads. Everything was deathly quiet, only the sound of breathing could be perceived. It seemed like hours instead of seconds that Alec hung there, before his chair was flung against the wall. The chair broke into pieces with the force of the blow, and Alec's body dropped to the ground with a thud. A second, maybe two, passed until Alec's head came into view, followed by the rest of him as he got up off the floor. Black eyes stared straight at Magnus with a sickening smile.

Magnus gripped the cross tighter and blinked, a mistake he would regret, because in that second Jace was thrown back, and Isabelle went into Alec's arms. They went to the fireplace on the other side of the room, Alec with a knife held to Isabelle's throat. Tears ran down Isabelle's cheeks as Jace got up with a groan. Magnus held out a hand and guided Jace behind him, giving him the cross and holy water. "There is absolutely no need for this," said Magnus.

The witch considered his words for a moment. "Why," it said at last, "I suppose you are right, Magnus. There isn't a need for this." It pushed Isabelle away from it. She fell to her knees, and the witch sneered. "Get up," it said. "You are weak, just like the girl."

Magnus knew it was referring to her own daughter, and he felt pity deep inside him for the poor girl having a mother like this. Isabelle whimpered as she got to her feet and Magnus guided her behind him as well. He watched the witch as it examined the knife, and then Alec's hands. It looked back up to Magnus with a daring glint in its eyes. It raised the knife and held it against Alec's throat, pressing in a little. A trickle of blood dribbled down his neck.

Magnus almost couldn't breath. "N-no," he choked out. "You d-don't want to do that." He held his hands on in surrender, taking slow steps forward while at the same time the witch was taking backward steps.

"Now now, Magnus," said the witch in a teasing voice. "I wouldn't do that if I were you. It might cause my hand to slip." It moved its hand a fraction, and more blood began to flow from Alec's throat. Magnus immediately stopped his movement, barely even breathing.

"Why are you doing this?" he whispered, his voice so low even he could barely hear it.

"You were wrong before," the witch said. "I did not choose him because he was weak, no. I chose him because he was the strongest. Elijah was very strong, yes, but not enough, and that is why he died. You see, I only need their soul, Magnus, not their life. But if you do not let me go through with this, I will take his life, and countless others after him until I get what I want. Do you want that?" Magnus closed his eyes and looked away. The witch smiled sympathetically. "For your sake, I am hoping he lives. Because you are a weak person, Magnus."

"So you're saying if this works, he will live?" Jace said.

"Jace," Magnus said warningly.

"Do something, Magnus!" Jace yelled. "Don't just stand there and do nothing! That's my brother!" Jace advanced toward the witch.

"Jace no!" Magnus put out a hand to stop him.

But it was too late. The witch ran the knife all the way across Alec's throat. Black mist came flowing out of his throat, and Magnus watched the black in his eyes drain away, revealing his crystal blue ones. And then Alec collapsed on the floor.

Magnus didn't hear himself cry out, but he knew he did as he ran over to where his Alec had collapsed on the floor. He pulled Alec's head into his lap and sobbed uncontrollably, tears dropping onto Alec's face. There was blood on his clothes, and on Magnus's hands, but Magnus didn't care. He just wanted Alec back.

But he knew that was now impossible.

So instead he settled for this, holding Alec's body in his arms and bawling over it, oblivious of the people around him. He then felt strong hands wrap around his arms, and he felt himself being hauled up and away from Alec. "No!" he cried. "No! No, get off me! NO! ALEC!" The strangers carried Magnus out, kicking and screaming and calling Alec's name over and over.

"Alright." Ragnor's voice was like a stake going through his brain. "Who called 911?"

Magnus sat there, on the back of the ambulance with a blanket around his shoulders, staring off at the ground. The red and blue lights were flashing simultaneously, and it made Magnus's head hurt. The others were standing around him: Catarina sat next to him, running a soothing hand up and down his back while her head rested on his shoulder; Ragnor was standing right next to the truck, leaning against it; Jace, Isabelle, and Max were in a tight little huddle a few feet away, all red-faced and trembling from crying. Magnus had only quit himself maybe an hour ago, after they had brought Alec's body out of the house…

"I did," a small voice said, and it took Magnus a few moments to realize it was Max. "I got scared, and I didn't know what was going on in there, and I heard a bunch of loud noises, and… I'm really sorry -"

"No," said Catarina in her soothing tone. "You did fantastic. Thank you so much for doing that. I don't know what we would have done if you hadn't." She swallowed. Her hand found its way to Magnus's hair and ran through it a couple of times. He took a deep breath and looked up at the young Lightwoods.

They looked back at him with big sad eyes, even Jace. "I-I'm so sorry," Magnus said, the first words he'd spoken in hours.

"No," said Jace, "it was my fault. I should've known what would happen if I attacked her. But…you weren't doing anything –"

"He wasn't doing anything because he knew what would happen if he did," Isabelle said.

"No, Jace is right. I…I should have done something, even if it meant being in the same boat we are now, it – it would mean I actually tried…instead of just standing there and letting her kill him." Tears started to roll down Magnus's face again, and he looked back down to the ground.

"Excuse me," said a very masculine voice, but it wasn't enough to bring Magnus's head back up.

"Yeah?" said Ragnor.

"If you all could give me some answers on what the hell happened, that would be great. Preferably you." Magnus looked up to find a very large dark-skinned police officer looking at him pointedly.

"Bite me," Magnus said, slowly so the stupid police officer could understand that he did not want to be bothered at the moment.

"Magnus," Catarina scolded. "Don't be rude. Yes, we will answer any and all questions you have."

Magnus tuned out the rest of what the policeman had to say.

A week later, they all found themselves back at the house. Magnus stood there, looking at it, not entirely wanting to go in. Flashbacks from the night before started to flood his mind.

"To your best ability, can you tell me who was living here? And why you all were here in the first place?" The policeman kept looking at Magnus, but Magnus didn't look back at him.

"We were living here," Jace answered. "Us three, and our brother."

"What were the events that led to him dying?"

"We were…at a study group," Isabelle lied, and Magnus had to admit she was really good. "And Max was over at a friends'."

"It was just us four in the house," Catarina said.

"Why were you there in the first place?"

"Alec had called Magnus, drunk off his mind," said Ragnor, and Magnus wanted to punch him. "He said he was going to do something crazy, like jump off the roof or something. Magnus said he would come over, and ended up dragging us with him."

"What was your relationship to the victim, Mr. Bane?"

"He was Alec's boyfriend," Catarina said, and Magnus felt his heart clench.

"Anyway, that's when Catarina called us, and we came home to find Alec standing with a knife to his throat, yelling things like no one loved him and he was better off dead." Isabelle's voice started getting thicker, and Magnus knew she was almost in tears. Damn, that girl could act. "Magnus kept saying that wasn't true, but he wouldn't listen. And then…he slit his own throat…."

Magnus shook his head, hoping to clear away those memories.

They were back at the house once again to collect their things. Magnus and Catarina had used some of their money they had saved to buy a low-rent apartment close to their own for Jace, Isabelle, and Max to live in until they completed college and got their own jobs and made a living on their own.

Max was standing next to him, looking at his tire swing on the old gnarled tree with his mouth hanging open. Magnus didn't know whether to inquire about it, or ignore it. Eventually, Max looked up at the house, and then at Magnus. "Why did they lie? Alec didn't kill himself."

"Well," Magnus said gently, "they…couldn't really tell the policeman that there was a ghost that k-killed your brother, could they?" His voice broke on the word killed. "He wouldn't believe them."

"But…you're a famous ghost hunter," Max argued. "Didn't they know who you were?"

"Apparently not." Magnus shrugged. "But, it'll be okay. Come on, let's go inside and get your things."

Slowly, they walked toward the old ramshackle house. Magnus thought he saw something out of the corner of his eye, and found himself looking at the old oak tree. He shook his head and continued to walk inside.

Alec's siblings had taken the death of their brother pretty well compared to Magnus. Sure, Isabelle locked herself inside Magnus's apartment, but it was only for three days. This was actually the first time Magnus had been out. Sure, Jace cried his eyes out all week, but only when people weren't looking. Magnus cried nonstop and didn't care who saw him. And sure, Max had stopped reading his manga and had taken to staring out the window all day… Okay, Magnus didn't really have anything to top that; that was just sad.

When Magnus got into the house, the walls were bare, and everything was packed away in boxes. He heard rummaging from upstairs, and concluded it was Ragnor when he noticed Ragnor was the only one not in the living room. He watched for a while as Jace and Isabelle packed everything away. Catarina was in and out of the kitchen, bringing full boxes and taking away empty ones.

Magnus was startled when he felt a tug at his t-shirt. He looked down at a wide-eyed and out-of-breath Max. "What is it?"

"He wants to talk to you." Max smiled.

Magnus's eyes shifted around, looking for any eavesdroppers. Luckily, no one seemed to hear. "Who, Max?"

"Just come on!" Max grabbed his hand and led him onto the porch. Magnus noted that for the first time since ever stepping foot onto the property, the sun was shining, although it did nothing for the temperature.

"Okay, Max, enough games," Magnus warned. "Tell me what's going on."

"It's Alec," said Max. "Alec's here!"

Magnus froze at Alec's name. That…that's not…it can't be… "What? W-where?"

Max pointed to right in front of Magnus. "He wants me to tell you something. He says…" He paused, looking at the empty space in front of Magnus. "He wants you to know it wasn't your fault, his death. He says it wasn't Jace's fault either."

"Max, p-please don't be making this up," Magnus whispered.

"I'm not!" Max protested. "I can prove it. He says that she was wrong; you are not the weak one. You are very strong, what with all you had to go through in your childhood." He looked confused. "I have no idea what he is talking about."

Magnus gave a laugh, and noticed the fresh tears threatening to spill. "I do," he said. "I know what he's talking about."

Something cold pressed against the side of his face, and it made a tear escape his eye. The cold started…shifting, as if it were trying to wipe something away from his face. "He's getting frustrated now because he can't wipe your tears away," said Max softly. He laughed, which made Magnus laugh as well.

"Tell him it's okay," Magnus said.

"He said he can hear you," said Max.

Magnus smiled. "It's okay," he whispered. "I'll be okay." He closed his eyes and swallowed. "I love you."

He felt the same cold feeling against his lips, and he froze, knowing it was Alec. He moved his lips, just a little, and then the cold feeling against them was gone, as was the one against his cheek. He opened his eyes and looked at Max, who was looking up at something right in front of him. "Okay," he said. "I will." He nodded. "I'll make sure they do too." He moved his head to the side slowly, as if he were watching someone walk away. He raised his eyebrows. "Okay, I'll tell him." He looked back at Magnus, and he could see Max was almost in tears himself. "He says he loves you too, and wants you to have a good life."

"I will," Magnus promised, "but it won't be as good as the one I could've had with you."

Max looked back into the yard and whimpered after a moment. "He's gone, Magnus." He went to Magnus's outstretched arms and threw his own around Magnus's waist, burying his face in Magnus's stomach.

Magnus looked back into the yard where Max was looking, but saw nothing. He sighed and closed his eyes. He knew, that without Alec he wouldn't be the same. He was going to miss Alec terribly. But after what had just happened, Magnus knew that Alec would always be with him. And he wouldn't change a thing.

I LOVE YOU ALL THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR STICKING WITH THIS SUCKY STORY. this, though, has gotten more reviews than my other story. Thank you so much for giving me hope that I can actually do something, because I can't play sports, I can't really play instruments very well, I do karate, but I'm not that great. So, really, thank you.

*bites lip* Okay, I'm done.

With life.

See ya later.