APRIL WAS ALL CRIED OUT by the time the knock on the door reached her ears. She was still in the exact spot that she was, staring at the phone a couple yards away from her and thinking about what it meant. Her aunt, her guardian, the only family that she had left had been taken to be used as a freaking human sacrifice by the sister of one of her friends. At least, she thought she and Elijah were friends.

It was clear that there was a struggle by the mess left in the house unless Jennifer just did that for fun. She could picture her aunt fighting for her life before she was taken, and she could not help but think that it was all her fault. She should not have left her alone at the house. She should have just come straight home. It could have happened any time from when she went over to Allison's house to when she came home. Was the woman not answering because of the storm or because she had been taken?

There was another knock, and the Sharpe girl processed that one, not even looking up as she called, "Come in! It's open."

"What's wrong? I came as soon as I could," Isaac stammered out as he entered the house. His voice held worry that soon turned to shock as he took in the state of the house. "Oh, my God. What happened? Are you okay?"

"She's gone," the blonde girl muttered, her eyes blank as she stared at whatever was in front of her. She was still kind of spaced out since she was never really looking at something and just thinking.

Isaac rushed over and crouched down in front of her, shaking her shoulders gently so that she snapped out of her trance that she was in. She was now looking him in the eye as he asked, "Who's gone? April, what happened?"

"Ashley's gone. I think she's one of the sacrifices like Melissa and Stiles's dad," she informed him, her breathing getting fast the more she thought about her aunt looking like that boy that was dead against the tree that she found.

"Come on," he said gently, grabbing her arms and pulling her to her feet. She helped a little bit but not much. He looked down when he smelt blood, and his eyes widened when he saw the crimson running all down her leg. Her knees and shins were all cut off. "You're bleeding."

She tried to break free from his grasp, but he held her firmly in place, preventing her from going anywhere or doing anything rash in her weakened state. She sighed, "I don't care. We have to find her."

"We can't find her if you bleed out. Come on. Let's get you cleaned up," he told her, and she finally gave in, allowing him to lead her into the bathroom. He helped her sit on the counter and move her legs under the faucet. He turned it on and allowed the cold water to wash over her legs. "Can you tell me what happened?"

"I came home, and the place looked like that. I tried to call her, but her phone was on the ground by the couch. That's when I called you," she explained, her anxiety being the only thing distracting her from his hands moving up and down her legs. He looked up at her with a slightly pitying look, his hands gently rubbing circles on her injured knees.

He grabbed a towel from the rack beside them and turned off the faucet so that he could dry her legs. He looked through the cabinet before pulling out a first aid kit that they always kept in there. He ripped open a package that had an alcohol wipe and hesitated as his hand hovered over her cuts. "This is gonna sting a little bit."

"Just do it," she told him, taking a deep breath as he lowered the wipe onto her leg. She winced and leaned her head against the wall because it burned like crazy. She smacked him sharply on the hand out of reflex. "Ow, ow, ow, ow."

"Did you just hit me?" he asked with raised eyebrows, looking up at her with a playfully offended look as he massaged his hand even though they both knew that it did not hurt him.

She groaned, "It hurt!"

"That didn't mean that you had to hit me," he replied, and she smiled a little bit at how ridiculous they were being. Her smile fell when she remembered her situation. How could she sit there and laugh when Ashley was missing? Isaac noticed her expression, and he sighed, "Hey, we're gonna find her. I promise."

《❀》

ISAAC DROVE HER TO THE ARGENTS' the next morning after a night of hardly any sleep for the blonde girl.  When they walked in, Stiles, Allison, and Chris were talking about Scott and how he thinks that he's doing the right thing.

"I can't shoot a gun or use a crossbow, but, well..." Isaac trailed off after announcing their presence. All of the heads turned toward them as his claws shot out. "I'm getting pretty good with these."

After explaining everything that happened to the rest of the group, the two teenagers went with Allison and her father to the bank to see if they could find any clues about where the adults were. They were hoping that they might be being kept in the vault or something.

"It's empty," Allison pointed out as the four stepped into the vault. There was nothing in it other than the bank's symbol and some bars that probably used to serve a purpose

The man looked around cautiously and informed them, "Be careful anyways." They never knew what could be lurking in the shadows all around them. They needed to be prepared.

"I thought you only used those on Werewolves," Isaac said with furrowed eyebrows as he stared at the crackling electric baton that was in the Argent man's hand, ready to be used.

Chris looked conflicted when he responded, "I do."

Then, he whipped around with the baton and jabbed Isaac hard in the stomach with it. The Lahey boy groaned as he fell to the floor because of the electricity.

"What the hell are you doing?" his daughter exclaimed as he handcuffed her to one of the bars. He did the same with April who was still in shock and was trying to check on Isaac.

"I'm sorry, but you're just gonna have to trust me on this," Argent explained, even though it was not very informative. He stepped away from the girls with his gun in his hand now. "I knew for a long time she didn't just operate on the currents — she was in sync with them."

There was a faint whirring, and he through his weapon on the ground, making it obvious to all of them what was happening. The blonde girl stared up at him with a confused expression. "What are you doing? She has her three sacrifices!"

"I'm a lot less innocent than the other guardians are. Maybe if I offer myself up as a sacrifice, she'll let someone go," he told her, but it was still a little worried.

All of a sudden, a shadow was cast on them, and all of them looked up to see Jennifer stepping into the vault. Her face held an evil smile. "Now, this is a sacrifice!"

Then, they were gone.

"Why did he do that?" the brunette girl asked once Isaac was able to get up and break the handcuffs, releasing each of them. April rubbed her hand slightly because of how tight he tied it.

"I don't know. We need to go. Okay? We need help," the curly-haired boy urged them, and he and Allison made their way to the door quickly. They paused when they realized that the blonde girl was not following them. While the Argent girl waited by the door, the boy walked over to the frozen girl and lifted her head up so that she was looking right at him. "April. We have to go."

April was trying to fight the tears and she gazed into his eyes. "They're all gonna die, aren't they?"