Elaine went out with Adam to the park to feed the crows together. She and Adam were getting along extremely well, she even thought about dating him, but there was still something inside her that longed for Hex. She decided that she would get nowhere pining over someone who would never love her, and decided to move on.

“So Adam, how are you liking Macabre Hearse?” she asked.

“It’s great, I finally feel like I’m a part of something that wants me to be myself, instead of what it was like in the Demon Hunters. I was just a cog in the machine there, they didn’t really care about me, not like you do.” He looked at her. His black suit made him look very handsome in the moonlight.

“I care for all my people… Do you… Feel as if I’ve been treating you differently though? Like I’m favoring you over others?” she questioned further.

“A little, but you want me to feel at home here, and you don’t want me going back to the Demon Hunters, so of course you’d try to keep me satisfied,” he said.

“I’ve been… Thinking. There’s someone I like, but they will definitely never like me back, not after what I did. Do you think I should try to… Suppress such feelings? Try to move on? It’s not beneficial for me at all to feel such things, it’s unrequited love, it only causes me pain,” she asked.

“I think it’s fine to move on, especially if the guy you like doesn’t like you back.” he said.

“I wish love wasn’t so complicated sometimes. I made a huge mistake, but I apologized, but he still hates me. I’ve felt intense guilt ever since. I didn’t know he had a girlfriend, and I didn’t know he depended on her so heavily, my ignorance ruined everything for me. I had no chance before, but I somehow have much less of a chance now.” She tossed another handful of seed onto the ground, where the crows had gathered.

“That’s terrible, I wouldn’t be able to handle those kinds of emotions.” he shook his head.

“It’s hard for me, so hard. I don’t know how I function with such intense emotions plaguing me,” she said.

“You can’t change how you feel, which hurts even more, right?” he asked.

“It’s hard to forget about him, I wish it wasn’t so difficult.” She sighed.

“By the way, you run that club, right? The Porcelain Shade?” he asked.

“Yeah, it’s run by me, and I always end up playing his songs, and then I get all sentimental,” she said.

“His songs? Is he a musician?” he asked.

“Yes, he is. He makes such good music, I can’t stop listening. His band has this… Distinct sound, one I haven’t found anywhere else. The lyrics he uses makes me feel less alone, like he understands what I’m going through, that I’m not crazy, and other people feel like I do, that I’m not alone anymore,” she said.

“I wanted to go there sometime, is it all just Industrial music?” he asked.

“No, there’s some goth bands too that I play, and some techno and psytrance.” She shook her head.

“Oh, that’s cool. I should visit sometime,” he said.

Kalan dropped down from the back fence in his crow form, and picked up some fallen seeds.

“What’s with that big one over there?” he pointed at Kalan.

“That’s Kalan, my familiar, say hi Kalan,” she said.

“Hello human,” Kalan said.

“It talks?” he asked.

“He has a human form too, you saw him earlier. The big muscular guy in the suit was him, the one with the long wavy hair,” she said.

“Do you not recognize my voice?” Kalan asked, Kalan’s voice was low, like a radio voice.

“Actually, now that I think about it, I do. I’m sorry, I didn’t think it was you at first,” he said.

“It’s alright, I forgive you, you are a human after all, humans usually aren’t that smart,” Kalan said

“Isn’t that a bit racist?” he asked.

“He doesn’t have a very good view on humans after all the stories I told him about my parents,” she said.

“What about your parents?” he questioned further.

“They weren’t…. The nicest people, to say the least. But they’re dead now, so you don’t need to worry about it. Besides, they were adoptive parents, and not my real mother and father. My mother was the Lavender Angel.” She smiled.

“Really? I’ve only heard stories about her, all the Demon Hunters were scared she would come back and kill them all,” he said.

“She retired from fighting after she was redeemed and the curse was removed from her body. Her bloodline is cursed, so I and my sister were destined to become demons. My nephew is half-demon but he’s having trouble controlling his demonic side,” she said.

“That sucks, you told me about your nephew, how his mind split in two, and how he was possessed by his other side once he came back to life, I can’t imagine what that was like for his father, reviving his son only to find that it wasn’t his son that came back,” he said.

“A father shouldn’t have to kill his own son to keep people safe, but he was indiscriminately killing people, him killing Marissa was the last straw for his father.” She shook her head again.

“So what about your sister? Is she doing okay?” he asked.

“I’m not sure if she’s alive or dead, I haven’t seen her in the longest time.” She shook her head another time, but slower.

“That’s sad, you told me you were the younger sister by a few years. Not being able to see her must be rough,” he said.

“She’s barely human anymore, she had an even worse time than me. At least I have my body intact, and I don’t need to wear bandages to keep from scaring people. Under those bandages… She’s unfortunately not doing so good.” She frowned.

“Yikes, you’ve told me you’ve seen some grisly stuff, if it’s as bad as you say, it’s probably worse in real life,” he said.

“Well to be fair the grisly stuff that I’ve seen have all been caused by yours truly, so they have less impact to me. I’m trying to cause fear amongst the corrupt and the criminal, making it as grisly as possible is what I’m vying for.” She smiled.

“Those people deserve your ruthlessness, they are the scum of this society,” he said.

“I’m glad you think the same, it’s high time Lyserge was cleaned of its filth, and I plan on doing so, one piece of shit at a time.” She smiled even wider.

“Don’t you think there are enough seeds for them?” he pointed to the immense number of seeds on the ground.

“Yes, that should be enough, let’s go home.” She turned and started to walk away.

She was excited about Adam, he shared her views, if only he was interested in her, she thought, then everything would be perfect. She was afraid to ask him, though, because she didn’t want another instance of unrequited love. She decided that she would rather wait for him to make a move than her.