Kota went out but Lizzy seems to be regretting some things. Poor thing. Did Kota come back?


Ch 70: Lost Soul

(Heart's POV)

This morning started off like any other. It was normal for Elena to wake me up in the morning, almost at the same time. I didn't have work at Giuseppe's today, so I was planning on going to the hotel instead. Plus take Elena with me so that she wouldn't be home alone. Alastor was planning to go to the station today and do one of his special broadcasts so I didn't want to be near.

It was two days after the big question was asked by Kota to Lizzy, I hadn't heard from my sister at all. I was worried about her. I knew she needed her space though, so I didn't want to bug her. Usually Lizzy could be cranky when something made her upset and I didn't want to be on the end of that. I've been on the end of it too many times and I didn't want to deal with it when I had Elena to worry about right now.

As I sat down at the kitchen table, I was busy feeding the baby. I was trying to feed her some oatmeal. She happily was eating it and wasn't giving me problems. Some days she was stubborn and didn't want to eat any of this stuff, but today she was being cooperative and eating it.

When I would give her some, I'd put her bowl down and try to eat myself. Alastor was upstairs getting ready so I was on my own right now. When I had her bowl down though I would place it in front of her, to see if she would grab the spoon. I wanted her to attempt to feed herself if possible. She already was drinking water from a small sippy cup I had sitting on her highchair.

Rufio was busy still eating his food for the morning as well. The hound always would sit beside Elena's highchair when he was done. Sometimes I liked to think it was to watch over her, but part of me was thinking he was waiting to get food that would fall as well.

Soon I heard Alastor walking down the steps and looked over to see him enter the kitchen. He was dressed in his normal red attire today. He had his coat off and it was slung over his arm at the moment.

"Morning my little darlings." Alastor greeted as he walked over to the coffee pot first to get a cup.

"Morning Al." I greeted back with a smile and put another spoonful of cereal in my mouth.

At the sound of Alastor's voice, Elena put her cup down and let out a big 'Da' as she watched him get his coffee.

At that it makes Alastor and I chuckle from her. Alastor walked over and put his coat on the back of the chair. Then he sat down at the other side of the table with his coffee. Elena was just focused on him and held her arms out to him.

"Hey now, daddy can't hold you yet. You have to finish." I told her sternly.

Elena looked at me but then back to Alastor. She just kept whining and reaching for him.

I sighed. "Al, can you see if she'll eat for you since she wants you so bad?" I asked him.

"I most certainly can try my dear." Alastor agreed and I let him take over feeding her.

I watched as Alastor brought the girls highchair closer to him. She still was reaching for him, but the deer demon kept trying to feed her the spoonful he had.

Gently he pushed her arms down with one hand and said to her, "You have to finish this first and then daddy can hold you. I promise."

Elena still tried to fight against Alastor's hand but did take the spoonful in her mouth. When he tried to get her another spoonful, she had calmed down a little but that's because Alastor started to hum something to her. It almost sounded like Mary Had A Little Lamb, but it did seem to calm her as he kept feeding her. When he stopped humming, she wasn't reaching for him anymore and was happily eating for him.

With a smile on my face I started to finish up the cereal I had. Once I was done Alastor had managed to get Elena to almost eat all her oatmeal. She didn't want anymore and had started to reach for him again.

Alastor put the bowl aside and reached to pick the girl up and set her down in his lap. She started to play with the suspenders that Alastor had on. He gave a chuckle as the girl sat in his lap and all he did was hold her and play with her hair a little. Plus he would take a sip of his coffee now and then.

"So have you heard from your sister yet?" Alastor asked as he looked back up to me.

Giving a small sigh I shook my head, "Nothing. She is ignoring my texts. I called her but she wouldn't answer."

"You think she is ok?" Alastor asked with slight worry.

I just shrugged. "At this point I am not sure. Maybe I'll stop by and see her after I'm done at the hotel today."

Alastor nodded. "Probably might be a good idea. See how she is doing." Alastor looked down at Elena as she tried to undo a button of his shirt. "So what are the lonesome sinners in the hotel working on now?" He asked as he took the girls hands away from his shirt.

"Well I didn't want to do anything messy since I have Elena with me and want to hold her if I need to. So I'm having them try to make origami." I told him as I tried not to laugh at the baby trying to unbutton his shirt.

"Sounds interesting. I'm sure you know that I am doing one of my special broadcasts today."

"Yes I remember. So I might tune in later."

"Good. I always need my number one fan listening."

"I'm your number one fan huh?"

"I'd like to think so."

"I feel if I was, I'd listen all the time, even your special broadcasts."

Alastor grinned at me. "Don't matter to me. You're still my number one all the way around."

A blush came onto my face, "Al stop." I whispered as I sat back.

The Radio Demon laughed at my reaction. "You know I like getting a reaction out of you."

All I did was stick my tongue out at him.

Elena laughed at me as I did that. Alastor looked back down at the girl in his lap who was still playing with his buttons. I giggled at her as I stood up and put my bowl in the sink. Then I put the rest of Elena's oatmeal away for later.

Soon it was ready for me to leave so I had to get Elena off Alastor so she could come with me. That was no easy feat because the girl liked to be glued to her daddy.

The girl was busy still playing with his buttons when I walked up to them. "Time to go. We don't want to keep those at the hotel waiting."

Alastor tried to get the girl off him but she was latched onto his one suspender and didn't want to let go. "Elena you have to let go of daddy." He told her.

I went to grab her, but she started to whine as I tried to take her off Alastor's lap. Alastor managed to pry the girl's hand open and get his suspender back. That didn't make things go any easier as Elena started to cry now from being away from her daddy.

"Hey hey now, don't cry my little light. It's ok." Alastor gave his one finger to her to her and she gripped it with force. "You have to go with mommy while I go to work." The girl calmed slightly as he talked to her.

Alastor poked her on the cheek and that made her laugh. Alastor laughed as well and stood up from the chair.

"Al, why don't I drive you to the station today? You can ride in the car with us to calm her down a little." I told him as a suggestion as the baby wiggled in my arms.

The deer demon put his other hand to his chin in thought. "Well I guess it wouldn't hurt. You can drop me off beforehand. I still need to fine a 'special guest' for today's show."

I rolled my eyes. "Fine. That works."

We got ready to leave. Alastor was nice enough to grab Rufio for me and we all got into the car.

Alastor sat in the back with Elena and Rufio on the other side. The hound always sat in the back with her now, watching over her.

As we started to drive and Alastor was keeping the baby distracted. The drive to Alastor's station wasn't far, so the car ride was short. As requested, I stopped about a block away from the road that led to the station so Alastor could find his 'guest.'

I pulled over and parked so he could get out. Alastor leaned over the seat to give me a kiss on the cheek. He then looked down to Elena who was happily holding his finger.

Alastor leaned down to kiss her forehead, "Now you be good for mommy ok. Daddy has to go." He managed to get his finger back as he said that and put her pacifier in her mouth.

Alastor slowly slipped away from the girl and out of the car. Elena didn't like that he left her side because she started to whine.

As Alastor got out, he went up to my window and leaned in to kiss me again. "I'll see you later mon amour. I love you."

"Later my buck. Have fun. I love you too." I responded back and kissed his cheek.

Alastor petted my head once and left the car and walked to the other side of the street. I watched him walk down the street and my eyes just didn't want to leave him as he tucked his mic cane under his arm and whistled as he went.

I was brought out of my thoughts when Elena started to cry more. I gave a small sigh and just started the car. I drove to the hotel. Elena seemed a little calmer when I drove, but she would still let out a cry now and then.

Soon I arrived at the hotel and parked the car. I got out and got the still crying Elena out of her seat. "Baby, please don't cry. I know you miss daddy, but he'll be with us soon ok. You have to wait. You get to spend the day with mommy. You should be a little excited." I told her.

Elena just looked at me with a sniffle. I looked at her and gave a smile then kissed her forehead. I grabbed her bag and grabbed Rufio's leash. We headed inside and when we walked into the lobby it was just a few patrons down in there. Even Husk wasn't at the bar. I did see Nifty as she was cleaning down the steps.

"Hey Nifty." I greeted the small cyclops girl as I walked to the bottom of the steps.

Nifty turned around. "Hey Heart!" She came to the last few steps. "Oh and baby Elena!" She cheered and looked down at the girl.

Elena had luckily stopped her crying and looked up at the cyclops.

"Yea. We had a hard time letting go of daddy this morning, but we are here." I said.

"Aw the poor thing. She seems ok now." She smiled.

"For now." I said with a small giggle.

"Well I'll let you go; I know you have your craft thing to do. So I'll see you later." Nifty said quickly and went back to cleaning.

"Thanks Nifty. I'll see you." I waved to her and walked up the stairs.

With Rufio beside me, we all headed to the room I used for the crafts and walked inside. No one was in there yet, so I had time to set up. I set her bag down beside the main chair I sat at. Rufio sat down as well. I had a playpen already in the corner of the room by my chair set for Elena. I sat her down in there, unwrapping her from the blanket I had around her. She sat there and let out a whine.

"Sorry baby. You stay here while mommy does some work." I told her as I handed her a toy from her bag.

She took the toy and started to jingle them. She gave a small chuckle and was distracted for the time being. I got everything out for everyone. As soon as I got done putting everything around the first patron came in. It was Veronica. Was glad that the arctic fox girl decided to stay in the craft season with me. She gave a good atmosphere to the room.

"Hello Mrs. Heart." The girl greeted as she walked in.

"Hello Veronica. Nice to see you." I greeted her in return with a smile.

"Good to see you as well." She walked up to Elena. "Hello little Elena. Hope you are ok today as well."

Elena babbled to the fox and shook her toy as well.

Veronica giggled and looked up to me. "She is so cute."

"We were cranky this morning but that's because daddy was leaving." I told her.

"Aw the poor thing. She seems ok now." The fox girl said.

"Yea she eventually gets over it. Just be aware I'm going to be looking after her so I might have to stop in the middle if I have to." I explained.

"No worries. I understand. The baby always needs to be looked after." She smiled.

Soon others started to come into the room. They all took their seats and we started.


As we worked on the craft, Elena was very behaved the entire time. I didn't have to stop at all. Besides during the end she wanted my attention. So I put her in my lap as we finished off.

Thankfully, everyone cleaned up after themselves and I didn't have to worry. They all said goodbye to me, as well as Elena, and headed off to their next session.

As I cleaned up my station, my phone started to ring. I put Elena back down into the playpen a moment then picked up my phone. I looked to see who it was. Lizzy.

Quickly I answered the phone, "Lizzy? Hello? How are you? I haven't heard from you the last two days."

The other end was silent for a moment, "Heart, please, I need your help." Lizzy finally said.

Her voice was soft, and I heard the panic in it. Something happened. It probably wasn't anything good either. Thoughts went racing through my head. I got worried more.

"Lizzy? What's up? What's the matter?" I asked her.

Again Lizzy paused, but then I heard her let out a sob. Was she...crying? Lizzy never cried. This was something different. Something had happened and it was most likely dealing with Kota. Anytime Lizzy cried it was over someone or something she cared deeply about.

"It's Kota." I heard her finally cry out. "He hasn't come home." A sob escaped her. "He hasn't been home since we left our date the other day. He won't answer his phone. He hasn't called me. I'm scared something happened to him."

I took a pause. This wasn't good. "Lizzy please take deep breaths. Did he say where he was going?"

Lizzy took a small sniffle. "No. He just said he was going out drinking with the boys. He left me to go with them halfway home. That's the last I saw him."

"Did he say where?" I wondered.

"No, but I want to assume it's his normal spot." She sniffled again. "It's a bar not far from the house. I went there looking for him and he wasn't there." She sighed. "I asked some regulars if they had seen him and they said no."

"Did you look around the area?"

"Of course I did!" Lizzy snapped. "I looked everywhere around the house. I didn't want to go far in case he came home."

My ears went back when she snapped but I understood it was because she was just upset, and Kota was nowhere. Where could he be? This wasn't like Kota. To just up and leave without telling my sister anything. Something must have happened to him. It just didn't add up.

"Lizzy, I'll be over to come help you look. I just need someone to look after Elena for me. I can't be dragging her around with me while we look."

"What about Alastor?"

"Alastor is at work at the station and he is doing his special broadcast today. There is no way he would be able to watch her. Nor would I want him to while he is like that." I looked down at Elena who in the playpen looking over at me. "I have to have someone at the hotel watch her. I just got to see who."

"Heart, you don't have to do that. I can do-"

"No Lizzy!" I interrupted her. "I want to help you. I can find someone. Don't worry. I'll let you know when I'm on my way. Alastor gave me the car today so it might make finding Kota easier."

Lizzy paused on the other side for a moment. "Ok, I'll be waiting at the house for you to arrive. Thank you, Heart."

I smiled, even though she couldn't see it. "Anything for you sis. See you later." I hung up the phone and then looked down at Elena. I gave a small sigh.

Walking up to the playpen, the baby held her arms up to me saying, "Ma" then cheered when I picked her up. I gave her a chuckle from that.

Poking her nose playfully which made her laugh. "What am I going to do with you?" I sighed. "I've never had someone watch you before. This is going to be hard." I picked up her bag and commanded Rufio to follow. "Let's see who we can find."

I walked around the hotel. Asking who I knew I could trust to watch Elena for me so I could go help Lizzy. It ended up being harder than I thought.

Charlie was first on my list. She said she was happy to, which I thought would put my search to an end, but that was not the case. Charlie couldn't unfortunately because she had a meeting with some new patrons to go over applications. She would be too busy.

Vaggie was on lifeguard duty that day at the pool so there was no way she would be able to watch her either.

I even went to Husk, but he just said no and that he doesn't deal with babies. I didn't blame the guy because he was a stubborn drunk, but it made me sigh.

Angel wasn't at the hotel that day; he was with Russ. I even sent him a text message but said that tonight was his and Russ's night to take part in their usual powder, so he didn't want her to be around when they did that. Plus he would feel bad if she got hurt when they got high like that. They lessened that activity to at least once a month and of course today had to be that day of the month for them to do their night of that powder.

Nifty offered to help, but I honestly didn't know if she could do it on her own. She would need assistance.

That is when she gave me a idea and mentioned someone I didn't even think of. "Why not Dr. Talon?"

My ears snapped up and I looked at the cyclops girl. "Marcus? I guess I didn't think of him." I stood up from where I sat on the couch. "Let's go ask him."

With Nifty now in tow, we walked to the elevator and up to the floor the scientist resided on. As we rode in the elevator my worry got the better of me. Not only to Lizzy who was still at home freaking out about Kota but to Elena as well. What if I couldn't find anyone to watch her. If Dr. Talon said no? I'd have to take her, as much as I didn't want to. Not for this situation.

When the elevator stopped, we stepped out and I knocked on the first door.

Soon the door opened to show the red wolf demon on the other side. He was surprised to see me as his ears went up, "Heart? How can I help you?"

"Doc, I have an emergency and I can't take Elena with me. Alastor is at work so he can't watch her. Can you please watch her until I get back?" I then motioned down to the cyclops girl next to me. "Nifty has agreed to help as well."

Dr. Talon's eyes went wide when I was done talking. He was speechless. "Me? Are you sure?" He finally asked.

Nodding I said, "Please, Marcus, you're the last one I can ask." I begged him. "I promise she won't be a hassle. She knows you more than anyone else here at the hotel."

I watched as the wolf demon sighed and cast his eyes down to the baby I was still holding in my arms. She was looking at him as she sucked on her pacifier to keep her calm.

Soon he gave in and held his arms out. "Ok, I'll watch her for you. Only for a little while though."

A big smile came to my face, "Oh thank you Marcus, thank you. It means a lot to me right now."

Then I stopped as I looked down at the girl. I was having a hard time handing her over. Why was it so hard? This was honestly the first time I was handing her to someone else and I wouldn't be getting her back right away. I was leaving her behind. It was...hard. I wouldn't be keeping an eye on her. She was going to be the responsibility of someone else. I trusted Dr. Talon though. He knew what he was doing. At least I hoped.

I took a shaky breath and put my forehead down to hers for a moment. "You be good for Dr. Talon ok? Mommy will be back. She has to go help Aunt Lizzy." I placed a kiss on her forehead.

I looked to Dr. Talon and back down to the baby in my arms then back to the scientist. Slowly I held her out to him, and he gladly took her into his furry arms. I placed her bag down in front of Nifty. The girl was happy to see the scientist. I thought it was cute because she called him "Pa." He just chuckled at that.

Quickly I went over some things that were important for her. Even told her about the stuffed deer that is in her bag that kept her calm, mostly. Some other tips and tricks that I feel are important.

"Ok we have it. Now go on." Nifty said as she shooed me away.

"Don't worry about a thing. She'll be fine." Dr. Talon reassured me with a smile.

With a smile of my own, I nodded. I turned to leave and thankful the two gave the baby something to distract her as I made my way into the elevator with Rufio at my heels. I turned to him and ordered him back to the demons with Elena. I could see the hound was having trouble deciding if he was to go with me or stay with the baby. I'd rather him be with her then me. I knew Alastor wouldn't like me being out without the hound, but I'd prefer him to be with her. She was more important to protect when I wasn't there. Plus she loved the hound so he could probably help with keeping her calm.

As the doors to the elevator closed, I heard her laugh. "She'll be in good hands." I whispered to myself out loud.

As the elevator went down it honestly was getting harder and harder for me to be away. I honestly wanted to turn around and go back. I couldn't though. I had to trust Dr. Talon and Nifty that Elena would be ok with them. It was just hard because I've never been away from the baby before. So me having to do this hurt a little. I just hope she wouldn't be too much of a hassle. Makes me wish Alastor had a better way to communicate with him.

The elevator stopped, I got out and made my way out of the hotel and to the car out front. I sent Lizzy a text to say that I was on my way over. I got in and made my way to Lizzy's house. As I got there, I parked the car and knocked on the door. The door opened quickly, and I was surprised when Lizzy jumped at me and wrapped her arms around me. After I got over my shock, I wrapped my arms around my sister as she cried.

This was a rare thing for me to experience with her. Since she didn't cry often. So I didn't know how to comfort her that well. I pushed her back slightly as she hugged me, and we got back inside, and I closed the door behind us. I let her cry as I held her there behind the door.

Soon I heard her slow down and I decided to speak up, "He is out there Lizzy. We'll find him. Don't worry. I'm here now and I'll do all I can to help you."

"Thank you, Heart." She cried into my shoulder. "I don't know what I would do without you."

I gave her one last tight hug before I pushed her away from me so that I could look at her. "Now, tell me all the places you looked. We can go and look again at those places just in case. Then we can look just a little bit outside where we looked." I told her.

"Ok, that sounds like a good idea. Let's sit down and I'll tell you all the places I looked." Lizzy said as she let go of me.

We sat down on the couch for a few minutes as Lizzy calmed down and told me all the places she has looked the last two days for Kota. Once we figured out a little way to go and maybe look at other places Lizzy wouldn't think to look. We headed out and started our search.

We got in the car to make it faster and just drove the streets. Pulling over when Lizzy wanted to when she saw a familiar face. She asked them if they had seen Kota. They all shook their heads and said no. Lizzy looked all over. She would stick her head out and sniff around. Again we were just empty handed in the area Lizzy had searched. So we decided to look a little further. Driving along the streets of Pentagram City. Even looking in the bad places that I didn't enjoy going to. We slowed down at every alleyway. At every bar front. Even store fronts. Nothing.

We were empty handed. We decided to look one last place. It was a few parks that were nearby. Lizzy was saying that Kota would never go to one, but I told her he could have walked through. So we parked the car and walked into the first small park. No scent and no sign of him.

We went to another park, again we had nothing. There was one last one. It was basically half wooded but we decided to look. I parked a car and we walked along the small dirt trail.

As we walked, I would keep my nose strong to see if I could smell anything. I kept my eyes sharp in case I saw something out of the ordinary. A breeze rustled through the trees. Lizzy stopped.

I looked back to see her with her nose in the air. She was taking in short sniffs. "Did you find something?" Lizzy said nothing as I saw her eyes dilate and she darted from the path and into the cluster of trees. "Lizzy!" I called after her and followed.

She ran. I kept up with her as best I could. Soon I saw her skid to a stop. I tried to catch my breath and walked up next to her as she stood there looking at the ground. As I sniffed the air in this area, I did in fact smell Kota's scent. It was faint but it was there. As I looked to the ground as well, I saw why Lizzy had stopped and was just staring.

It was clothing. It was all ripped up and torn to pieces. It was the same shirt Kota wore during the date proposal. It was one of his nicer polo shirts and I also saw his shoes there as well as his socks, they were torn up. Scraps of his pants laid around too. His phone and house key also lay there in the dirt. As I looked closer, I saw his shoe prints and then as I looked, I saw these giant wolf-like prints walking away further into the woods. There was some dried blood as well on the grass around, but there was nothing else.

My ears went back, I was afraid of what would have happened to the man. I looked at Lizzy and I saw her as she just stared at the ground. She said nothing, but I could see her taking deep breaths to keep herself calm. The wolf girl kneeled and picked up the ripped shirt. She brought it close to her muzzle and held it there for a little while.

"Lizzy, we don't know what happened to him. He could still be out there." I placed my hand on her shoulder. "Let's go home. I'll even make you dinner if you want. We can go into these woods tomorrow to look for him. It's getting dark. I'll even see if Alastor can help with his shadows. Kota might just be lost out here."

Lizzy said nothing but I felt her start to shake and that's when I knew, she was crying again. I heard as a sob escaped her. She was whispering his name. My ears were now tighter against my head as my wings just dropped behind me.

She put her head back and let out a low and sad howl. She was calling out to him, but she also could have been mourning him. Either way she was letting him know that she was here. She stopped her howl and held the scrap to her chest.

I picked up the other scraps of clothing carefully and gave them to her in a small pile. She slowly took them from me as she cried. I picked up his phone and key to put them in my pocket.

"Come on Lizzy. We can look tomorrow. I promise." I whispered to her as I grabbed her shoulders.

Slowly she stood and we made our way back out of the woods and to the car.

I didn't want to have my sister go through this. Not again. Kota had to be alive. He just had to be.


The drive back to Lizzy's house was silent. The whole time I made dinner was silent. Even though I made dinner for her, she didn't want to eat. She was too lost in thought. Mourning. I only made her beef vegetable soup, it was her favorite, but it still didn't seem to work for her.

She sat on the couch; the scraps of clothes lay on her. She held the shirt close to her though. She didn't say a word. This was Victor all over again. Why was it always my sister that had to go through these things? It wasn't fair! It was hard enough for her to let Kota into her heart after what happened to Victor.

He had to be out there. He had to be somewhere. There was nobody. Sure there was blood but that's all. Nothing else. Kota had to be alive. I just knew he had to be.

As Lizzy eventually got up and sat at the kitchen table, she took a spoon full of the soup and ate it. At least I could stop yelling at her to eat. She still had the shirt, it sat in her lap as she ate the soup. I let out a sigh as I leaned against the countertop.

Both our ears perked up when we heard something outside the house. Out by the front door. There was the sound of a loud truck. It stopped and it sounded right in front of the house. Lizzy and I looked at each other before I got off the counter.

I pointed to the front door and she only shrugged. That meant that she didn't know who it could have been. I didn't take it as anything good. I took my rings off to put them on the counter then I took my coat off and put it on the back of one of the chairs.

I walked forward towards the front door. As I did, I saw a dark silhouette of something very big in the window of the door on the other side. I couldn't make out the shape, but I didn't trust it at all. Then there was a knock. I stopped.

Looking back at Lizzy all she did was shake her head. I slanted my eyes in anger as I was ready to transform into my dragon form if I needed to. I growled low in my throat and walked again. Another knock, this time a little louder and with more force.

My hand on the knob I was ready for whatever was on the other side. Slowly I turned the knob and opened the door. As I did, I was greeted by a very muscular chest and lots of black fur. I looked up and saw the big muzzle of a wolf and it had deer antlers on top of its head. He was so tall. Almost as tall as Angel, maybe even taller. He wouldn't even be able to fit through the doorway. As I looked, I noticed it had a flannel shirt that was all ripped up and torn, but it hung loosely around the beast. It also had torn shorts on at the bottom. I sniffed, it smelled like...Kota's.

No...could this have been...his killer? No, that can't be. Kota had to be alive! He had to!

I growled loud and bared my fangs at the stranger.

The beast went to talk but I didn't let it get a word out as I jumped at him and transformed into my dragon form. I was glad I was getting better at controlling my dragon form then I have in the past. It was still out of anger but at least I could control myself a little better than I have.

I pinned down the giant wolf under me as I roared in his face. He was still bigger than me, but I still had to try.

"What did you do to Kota!? Where is he!? I smell his scent on your flannel shirt." I growled at him as I snapped my jaw in front of his face.

"Heart! It is me!" The beast under me said.

"Lier!" I screamed and stopped my foot down on top of him. He let out a breath of air as I did that. "Tell me what you did to him!"

I opened my mouth and was about to let out fire when I heard Lizzy behind me.

"Heart stop!" She screamed.

I held back and let my fire die in my throat as I looked back at her. Smoke now escaped my nostrils from my extinguished flame. "What!? Why!? It's obvious that he is the one who killed Kota or knows where he might be. He is wearing his flannel." I growled as I looked back down at him.

Lizzy ran up next to me and tried to push me off. "It is Kota! It's his demon form!"

My eyes went wide as I eventually moved my feet off the beast's chest and stood beside him. "What? How? I've never seen his demon form before." I told her.

I leaned down and sniffed him again. I could only smell his flannel, but this smell was new. Slowly I transformed back into my normal form and just stood there staring at him.

Lizzy was staring as well. The beast sat up and looked at me and then looked at Lizzy with a shy smile. He stood up fully and looked at her.

"Kota? Is it actually you?" Lizzy whispered.

"Of course it is." He reached into the still attached pocket to the front of his flannel and pulled out a black box to show the same ring inside. "I still have the ring on me. I didn't want to leave it behind." He closed it and put it back in his pocket. He then sighed. "I...I have a lot of explaining to do. Why I've been gone."

Lizzy was crying but she threw herself at him and she wrapped her arms around his shoulders. She dangled a little from there because of how tall he was. Kota was surprised a moment but then wrapped his big, furred arms around her and put his muzzle into her neck.

"I thought I lost you." Lizzy cried out.

"I'm sorry babe. I didn't mean to hurt you." Kota whispered to her.

Lizzy continued to cry into his fur and hold him tightly. "Why didn't you come home? You didn't answer my calls or my texts. I've been so worried." She sobbed. "It's all my fault you ran off."

Kota hushed his girlfriend. "Shh, Lizzy it's ok. It's not your fault. Nothing was your fault. I just needed to clear my head, but stuff happened, and I transformed into my demon form. I couldn't come home. I had to straighten some things out." He explained to her.

I honestly couldn't believe my eyes on what I was seeing. So this was Kota. Man did I feel like an idiot.

"I'm sorry I attacked you. I've never seen your demon form before." I apologized as I walked up to him.

Kota chuckled. "It's ok. I only used it back when I helped Alastor come rescue you from Valentino. I haven't transformed into it since." He then sighed. "Although, you will probably have to get used to it now."

Lizzy pulled away from him with a confused look. "Why? Can't you transform back?"

Kota looked down at her and frowned as he shook his head. "I'm forever stuck in this form now. I can't go back." He told her sadly.

"I...I don't understand." Lizzy said as she put her ears back.

"I will explain. It's another reason I was afraid to come back. I was worried that you-" He took a pause as he put his ears down against his head and looked away from us. "You wouldn't love me anymore if I was like this."

Lizzy smiled sadly at him. She took his muzzle into her clawed hands and made him look at her. "Kota, I will always love you. It doesn't matter what you look like, you will always be mine." She rubbed her nose against his.

That made Kota smile. "I love you so much. I'm sorry I've been gone. I can explain everything but I'm afraid I won't fit in the house anymore." He gave a nervous chuckle.

"No worries, we can sit out here." I told him with a smile.

"Yea, go ahead Kota. Explain what happened." Lizzy said as she sat down on the small front porch.

Kota let out a breath as he sat down on the walkway to the house. He started to explain what happened after he went separate ways with Lizzy two nights ago. He didn't go out drinking with the guys. He abandoned them too. He was frustrated and confused. He got angry.

He started lashing out at demons that walked by him. He got into a fight with a gang. He went through those woods in the park once the gang was getting the better of him. He was still enraged, confused.

Wondering what he did wrong to make Lizzy reject his proposal. Wondering if it was something he did or something he said. That it all was just a stupid idea from the start. As he went through those woods, he just lost it. He lost control of his rage and anger. He transformed into his demon form. After he did so, he realized how much he fucked up.

The last two days he went around trying to fix what he did but with no luck. He was stuck now. So he continued his rage around town. Even won the truck that he had behind him, parked behind my car, from a few unlucky demons in a fight. Luckily, it was big enough for him.

He got a car and he said he even had a surprise for Lizzy. Saying that he had a lot of money saved up and hid away he needed in case of an emergency. Thankfully, this was an emergency and he needed that money.

Kota realized that he couldn't stay away forever. He heard Lizzy's sad howl when he walked by the park. It touched his heart. He needed to come home. He had to come clean.

"I still don't understand how you are stuck like this though." I said confused gesturing to him.

He looked down at his clawed hands in his lap. "It's a curse. I've had it ever since I've been here. Best way for me to explain it is that it's kind of like three strikes and you're out, kind of deal." He shrugged. "I struck out."

"So, you only could transform into your demon form so many times before you are permanently stuck?" Lizzy asked.

Kota nodded. "Yea. My last strike was when I helped Alastor. This time when I transformed, I got out. So now, I'm stuck like this." He put his ears down. "I was scared you wouldn't have accepted me being stuck like this. That's why I had a hard time coming home."

Lizzy smiled at him. "I don't care what you look like Kota, you could even be a fish and I wouldn't care, you're still you. That's all I care about. I still love you no matter what." She wagged her tail.

Kota smiled, showing his sharp teeth. "I love you too Lizzy." He looked up at the house. "It's obvious I can't stay here with you anymore though. I would wreck the place."

"Well...we can find somewhere new. Just me and you so it's big enough." Lizzy suggested.

"Actually...I already did that. That's my surprise." He looked back down to us and smiled. "I bought us a house."

Lizzy gasped, "You what?"

"Yep. Its right outside of town. In the woods. It's in the south part of the pentagram." He looked over to me. "Just outside Alastor's territory."

Lizzy was speechless. She jumped at him to hug him and he fell back with her on his chest. They both laughed and it made me so happy to see that Kota was ok. That he was safe. My sister was happy again. She knew he wasn't' dead. He was different but he was still the same.

"Well if you guys need help moving just let us know." I stood up and looked at the house. "It will be hard letting go of this place. I've been here my whole hell life. Guess it's time to move on." I said.

"Don't worry Heart. We can keep the house still if you want. We just can't live in it with me this way now. Maybe you and Alastor can use it?" Kota said.

"Actually, I heard Angel wanted to move out of the hotel with Russ, but he has no room in his apartment. Maybe you can sell it to them?" I remembered.

"That's a great idea!" Lizzy said. "I'll text Angel tomorrow and ask him to come over with Russ so we can talk to them about it."

I nodded. "I'm happy you're ok Kota. It's good to see you. I knew you were alive out here somewhere. I was happy to be here and help my sister, be here for her. Unfortunately, I must get going. I left my baby in the hands of Dr. Talon and I am really starting to get worried about her. I have to go get her."

Lizzy got off Kota and ran up to me to give me a hug. "Thank you, Heart. I don't know what I would have done without you. Thanks for taking care of me as well."

"You're my little sister, Lizzy. I'm supposed to help and look out for you." I told her with a smile as we separated from the hug. "You call me if you need anything ok?"

She nodded. "I'll keep you updated on stuff ok. You go to Elena. She probably needs you."

Saying our goodbyes, I got back into the car, leaving the two love birds to kiss on the front lawn. It made me so happy to see that things worked out after all and things were going to be ok. I drove back to the hotel and went straight up to Dr. Talon. When I got up there, I saw no chaos. I heard no crying. All was calm and quiet.

When I gently knocked on the door, Nifty answered. She told me to be quiet as she walked out of the room. She then told me how they had no problem at all with Elena. She was fine as could be. Rufio was also a big help for them. She was asleep now and Dr. Talon was rocking her. I was so glad to hear that nothing major happened and that she behaved for them.

With the baby now asleep I managed to leave the hotel, with Rufio in tow. I put her into the car and drove home. When I got there, I put her right into her crib, and she stayed sound asleep.

As I sat in the living room, Alastor finally came home. He apologizes about how late he was and explained he spent too much time doing his special broadcast. His 'guest' was extra fun to play with. Then he asked me how my day went.

Oh boy, was he in for a story today.


Darn it Kota! Why you go running off like that!? At least he is ok, but now he is in his demon form forever. Sucks. Anyway, hope you enjoyed it. Onto the next!