Prudence was dead. Over the last three days, she was going in and out of this house, travelling with Malice to the places she wanted to see before she died and experiencing all the fun things she still wanted to do. She hadn’t slept until last night when she passed away peacefully. Just as Malice had promised.

There were no tears. Walter, his wife Claudia, Amelia, Lizzy, Kate and Malice stood outside of the guestroom, where Prudence lay peacefully. It took a long time before anyone spoke up.

Walter turned to Malice. “You are whatever Kathrine is, right?”

Malice just nodded.

“I… don’t approve of your kind. I think that’s obvious. But I’m not blind. I saw what you have done for my mother and I am grateful for that.”

“You don’t believe she will be damned because of my interference?”

“She never shared my views, that alone would damn her to hellfire. Since her fate was set in stone, I am glad her last days were joyful.”

“I can’t tell you much, but as a denizen of Hell I can guarantee that her soul did not go to Hell.”

Walter looked around awkwardly. “Uhm.. that’s good then. Thank you anyway.”

Claudia didn’t find that assurance that awkward. “Hold on, are you telling me Walter was right in his wild theories that Kathrine was possessed by some demon?”

Malice raised an eyebrow at Kate, who returned a sheepish smile. “He was close enough. Rest assured that neither of us has any ill will towards you. At least not stemming from what we are and what you believe. If Kate has any past memories that taint things, that has nothing to do with what she is.”

“I see… well, thank you anyway. I suppose we should call in a doctor to confirm her death and all that.” Claudia pulled out her phone and left.

“She has left a letter for everyone here.” Malice spoke again.

“Please, read it to us.” Walter glanced over to Claudia and back to Malice.

Malice unfolded a piece of paper she pulled from thin air and began reading. “My dearest family and Malice, whom I have grown to appreciate as a good friend, if this letter is being read to you, I will have died as predicted. There are many things I should have said in person but I was too cowardly. Firstly, Kathrine, I have written another letter for you, so I will not address you here. Amelia, thank you for allowing me to stay at your home for my last days. I have not always been the aunt to you that I would have wanted to be. I hope you can forgive me. When Leonora died, I did not know how to connect to you and I regret that. I have written in my will that the diaries that Leonora has entrusted to me before her death shall go to you. My own diaries shall be yours too.” Malice paused to look at Kate’s mother.

Amelia was clearly taken aback and simply avoided the demon’s eyes.

Malice continued once Claudia returned from her phone call. “Claudia, I do not regret much about our relationship. I have always appreciated your talent with children. I almost envied you and the ease with which you can speak and play with them. Nurture that talent and pass it on and I will be proud of you. Walter, I am sorry. I was unable to guide you towards a path that would have alienated you less from the rest of our family, even your own children. Most of what I wanted to say to you I have said over the past weeks, but I have a request. Please do not let your faith get in the way of your family. I know you can find forgiveness for the sins of others but I also understand why you often cannot show that. I ask you to try and be more forgiving and give those you would otherwise question as a chance.”

Walter stared at Malice. “GAH!” He slammed his fist against the wall. “She was always… No. No… I was always a disappointment. Even in the end I am a bad son to her.”

“Prudence has reminisced while we travelled. She was not disappointed in you, she was sad you became as bitter and, in her words, unfriendly as you are now. She blamed herself for that. Her words were not meant to chide you but were written in the hope that, like her in her late years, will find growth and maybe be able to enjoy that growth more than she could. I know it’s hard, but I would try to follow her advice.”

Walter frowned. “I will need to think. We were not as close as I would have liked, but maybe I can… I don’t know. Is there more to the letter?”

“The last part is addressed to me. Do you want me to read it?”

“Please.”

“Alright. And lastly, Malice, I have only known you for a short time. Shorter than I would have wished. I have said most of what I wanted to say to you, but I must reiterate how thankful I am for giving me those last days. Please, just remember me. There is a locket among the jewellery in my nightstand, it contains a picture of me with both my sisters. It is yours now. And finally, to everyone with whom I spent time during my last days, including Elizabeth, who knows why she was not addressed in this letter, thank you for making my life worth living. I had forgotten what that was like. I hope to see most of you again in the end. I love you all. Prudence Sharrow.” Malice folded the paper up again and offered it to Walter, who merely shook his head.

“Keep the letter. And come by her house after the funeral, I know what locket she wrote of.”

“I would rather not intrude on the funeral or the grieving afterwards.”

“I insist you attend. Just as I insist you, Kathrine, attend the funeral too. Bring your girlfriend if you must but be there.”

Kate just nodded, she knew that Walter understood how much Prudence’s happiness over the last weeks came from Kate’s suggestion to re-live her favourite stories and how much the old lady regretted not getting involved with the young demon’s life.

Malice hesitated. “I do not think it would be appropriate for me to be there.”

“Nonsense. Skip the church ceremony, just be there for the actual burial.”

“Alright then. I will be there at the graveyard.”

“I will join you there too.” Kate interrupted. “Church is a bit of a thing now.”

“Yes, yes. I will let Amelia know when the funeral is. I have no idea how to summon you demons or how to send a letter to Hell or something.”

“I will make sure Malice knows. Mum knows how to contact me.”

“Good then. Now… I would like some time alone with Claudia and my mother. The doctor should be here soon as well.”

“Of course.”

As everyone started to leave and go back to the living room, Malice turned to Kate. “I need to speak to you. Lizzy, you can join us too, a human perspective might be nice to have now.”

Malice, Lizzy and Kate had moved all the way to the other end of the large garden, sitting down on the metal benches placed out here between the bushes.

“I have to confess something.” Malice began. “Spending time with a human again, it was difficult to let go. I was tempted to turn her. I know her mind wouldn’t have been able to deal with immortality, but it hurt to know that her time here was limited, even knowing what comes next for her. How do you deal with humans passing?”

Kate shrugged and shook her head. “I don’t know. You were around before immortality, right? Even the thing with the humans twelve thousand years ago, many of them died too, didn’t they?”

“I was a child when we gained immortality, too young to understand death. Even with those refugees we took in, I didn’t interact with them. My specialty was demonic physiology, and they had their own healers. I spoke to a few whenever they crossed my path, sure, but I did not get involved with them. Their passing was a side note in my life. But now I actually cared about someone.”

“It just… it sucks. I was too young when my grandparents died, I can’t tell you.”

“My dad died when I was twenty.” Lizzy didn’t even look up, just staring at the mossy stones under the bench. “The pain stays for a long time but for me at least it slowly turned into a fondness of him. It doesn’t hurt anymore, I just remember the good times, the fun we had. I suppose for someone as old as you, that might take an even longer time but one day you will think back and remember how grateful Prudence was and how much fun she had with you instead of your mind focusing on the fact that she is gone. I might be wrong though… I don’t know how demon minds work.”

“I suppose you’re right. It just needs time, and I have more than enough of that. Kate, what about you, are you alright?”

“Yes, I will be. Weird, isn’t it? I’m not overly sad that she is dead now, I am actually quite glad she had a good time near the end, even just getting back to reading her favourite stories. What you did was just the cherry on top.”

“You had time to deal with the inevitability of her death.”

“Yes. I didn’t even expect to see her again at all, just to be notified of the funeral one day.”

Malice forced a smile. “Thank you for calling me here. As much as her death is painful, I have found new memories to keep. Good memories. And some nice humans, it’s great to know more of your family, be it by blood or by choice.” Malice looked at Lizzy.

The human looked up in a mild confusion. “Who, me?”

“Yes. It’s good to have met you.”

“Uh, yea, likewise. I’m not that interesting though.”

“Kate has made some waves among the demons. Even if she wasn’t part of one of the most beloved institutions of Hell, her friendship with highly influential demons caused some rumours. Many of us are eager to meet her friends and family. And you certainly count as family.”

“I’ll take it. Just feels weird to be a point of interest at all with all that has happened and all that Kate has told me about you demons. But I do look forward to meeting more and seeing Hell. I wonder though, why are so open about all this?”

“I fucked this up. I didn’t disguise myself when I came here and it would be more trouble now to make sure you don’t know what’s going on. Walter had some ideas because Kate messed with him to have a little revenge, Amelia knew already, it didn’t matter if Prudence knew. That leaves you and Claudia.”

“And I already intended to tell you when I show my new home to mum and dad.” Kate added.

“And you trust that no one will do anything stupid with that knowledge?”

Malice shrugged. “Religious people like Walter and Claudia will not spread it on their own. It might reaffirm their faith, but they will not treat it as a major revelation to be spread. And Kate trusts you and Amelia to treat all this with proper discretion. There is no reason for me not to trust that assessment.”

“I see. Well, thanks for letting me know all that anyway. Should we go get some tea or something? We all skipped breakfast.”