"Ezra, you idiot," Althea said, bursting into tears at the sight of her beloved Angel and brother. Melissa had done a good number on him; scars covered his face and Althea wanted to help him. "Ezra?!"

"Ugh!" Ezra groaned and opened his eyes. He looked over at Althea before getting up and running to her. "Okay, remind me to make sure I do something to Melissa."

"Are you okay?" Althea asked, as Ezra undid the ropes. "What did they do to you?"

"I'll be fine. They gave me a few beatings, but I'll heal in time," Ezra said. "Right now, we need to find Peter and Abigail to stop Melissa and the other Servants."

Even though Althea wanted to leave Peter alone, she figured maybe it would be best to give him another chance. Althea stood freed from her bonds and the two snuck over to the door. She looked out the window and saw that Alex was in the middle of sharpening her religious dagger. Althea ducked out of sight and turned toward her angel.

"So, I think we have a problem," Althea said.

"What?" Ezra asked.

"It looks like Alex is sharpening something." Ezra peeked and saw that it was a sacrificial dagger. Sharpened to a point with a handle made of leather, a rhinestone snake wrapped around the handle glimmering in the early evening. "What is it?"

"It's a ritual dagger," Ezra said. "We need to move fast. If we don't get out of here, he's going to come in and grab you. Then the next thing we'll know is he's going to cut you and drain your blood."

"How the hell are we going to get around them without even realizing it?" Althea asked.

"Leave that to me," Ezra said, despite Althea's protests.

Ezra stepped out of the cabin, allowing Althea hide from view.

*~*~*

Ezra didn't have much of a plan. He only had one thought process: to keep his charge safe and avoid any sort of demon summoning before it was too late. Of course, he worried that there might still be some way for the Servants to take advantage, but that was something he needed to avoid as much as he could. He walked out of the cabin and snuck up behind Alex. Ezra glanced back at Althea, who made hand gestures like she was asking him what he was doing. Ezra replied by holding up his hands, and walked toward Alex.

Before he could react, the angel grabbed Alex by the neck, wrapping his arms around his throat. Alex gasped and struggled to breathe, but he couldn't move. Alex fell limp, the ceremonial dagger falling onto the ground with a soft thud.

"What the hell did you do?!" Althea exclaimed, stepping out of the cabin. She stared at the limp body of Alex, who didn't seem like he was going to move soon. "Ezra?! That was so risk!"

"Oh relax," Ezra said. "He's unconscious. I did that so he wouldn't sound the alarm."

"Yeah, well, what if he wakes up? Then where will we be?" Althea asked, trying to find the words to explain.

"Why do you have to act like you're the oldest in our sibling relationship?" Ezra asked.

"Um, because I am?" Althea responded.

"We were born at the same time," Ezra argued. "Stop acting like the older sibling. I should be the older one."

"Just because you're my spiritual sibling doesn't mean you're the oldest."

"Okay, how about we stop acting like this and start searching for Peter and Abigail?" Ezra asked. "Or am I going to drag you?"

Althea frowned but obliged and walked away from the cabin. The two searched the entire forest for their friends, but it was hard to find them in the thick grove of trees. Ezra worried he might have failed in protecting Althea and her friends.

*~*~*

Peter groaned and opened his eyes to find that he was in total darkness. For a split second, he thought he was imagining things, but in the darkness, he could make out an outline of a college girl. She wasn't moving and at first Peter worried maybe he was dead. Thankfully, she moved, proving that she was still alive and breathing. Peter's eyes adjusted and he saw every little thing in the darkness. They were in a basement—no, a cellar, since there wasn't much light coming in.

"Abigail?" Peter whispered-screamed. "Are you there? Are you awake?"

Abigail groaned as she moved, nearly kicking a bucket—which Peter could see even though it looked smoky due to the darkened room.

"Ugh, where are we?" Abigail asked.

"I believe that we're in a cellar," Peter responded. "Tied to some sort of pipe. Can you move? Are you hurt?"

"Since when do you care if I was hurt?" Abigail demanded. "Last I checked, we never got along with each other."

"That was before I found out what my ex-friends were planning to do," Peter explained, but before Abigail could say anything, he continued. "Before you say anything, I want to give you a heads up that I knew about one summons. I never pictured that they would kill Althea. I thought they wanted to cut her and drain her blood a little."

While Peter was talking with Abigail, he moved his bound hands in an up and down motion, using the friction on the pipe to help free him. "If you're tied with a rope, use friction to help."

"Already on it," Abigail said. "I hope Althea is alright, and by the way, Peter, if we get out of this alive, I'm going to kill you."

At least five more minutes, and the two got free. Peter pulled out his phone and turned on the flashlight, shining it in Abigail's face. Abigail flinched, but once she was reassured they were safe, she pulled out her own phone and called Althea, hoping that she was okay.