Kindred Spirits

40 - It's a trap, Cassie

"Yeah." April started to choke up. "Until two days ago."

Cassidy didn't quite know what to say, so she said nothing. She just took April's hand in hers and gave it a gentle squeeze.

"You know, I will always be one call away, Apricot. You're my little sister."

"Thank you, Cassie." April sniffled. She shifted closer to Cassidy and hugged her tightly, and Cassidy wasted no time in hugging the small girl back, letting the heartbroken orphan cry into her shoulder.

---

Once the service was about to start, April had left to spend a few minutes practicing her speech, so Cassidy went and sat with Caroline and Tyler. Stefan then walked up to the three and turned to Tyler.

"What are you doing here, Tyler?"

"Being sensitive to the community's loss." Tyler responded without looking at him.

"With a hunter out to get you?" Stefan scoffed. Tyler turned to look at him, not that bothered but still on-guard.

"I'm not letting a hunter stop me from where I'm supposed to be."

"Also, if he shows his face, I'm gonna kick his ass." Caroline shrugged with a confident smirk. Stefan sighed in defeat and walked off, moving down a row. Mayor Lockwood was at the podium, preparing to start the memorial.

"Before we begin the Mass, we'd like to open the floor to anyone who would like to share a memory about our late friends on the Town Council. I know that April Young wanted to say a few words about her dad. April? April, are you still here, honey?"

Cassidy looked around in confusion. April must've not gotten far.

"Hey, where's April? You were with her last." Caroline whispered to her sister, also looking around.

"She said she was going to practice her speech, but she should've been back by now." Cassidy replied quietly. She had a bad feeling about the whereabouts of April.

"Is there anyone else who would like to share a recollection or a memory about Pastor Young?" Mayor Lockwood asked. No one got up for a moment, until Elena slowly rose to her feet. "Come on up, Elena."

Elena proceeded to walk up to the podium. Damon then entered the church; Stefan, Cassidy, Tyler, and Caroline all turned to look at him. He sat down next to Stefan and looked at Elena who has made her way to the podium, the two brothers discussing how pale Elena looked. Cassidy had heard from Stefan that Elena had been rejecting all food sources and she was worried about the doppelgänger.

"I, uh..." Elena stammered, wondering where to begin. "The worst day of loving someone is the day that you lose them." But Elena suddenly stopped, her eyes widening and her body stiffening. Cassidy's eyes furrowed in confusion and she turned to Caroline and Tyler.

"What's going on?"

"There's blood nearby. Lots of it." Tyler informed her, remembering that Cassidy wasn't a vampire and couldn't smell it. Elena started to breathe heavily.

"What if it's that hunter that Stefan mentioned?" Cassidy realised, her eyes widening at the discovery. "It's a trap. This guy's using April to get to you." She went to stand up, but Caroline stopped her.

"This guy could be dangerous, Cassie, and you're not a vampire. He could kill you."

"But he's got April. She is dying." Cassidy reminded, mentioning that all of the blood that the others could smell was April's. By that point, Stefan had gone up to the podium and helped a struggling Elena back to her seat.