Hello everyone! Selina is back and... Well... you'll see right away! 😊 The warning from the previous chapters is still on. I promise you, Selina's sufferings are almost done with this smaller chapter. So please, enjoy!

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Kuroshitsuji or its characters. I entirely own only my OCs, arcs and ideas/themes not mentioned in any form of the franchise (manga, anime, games, movies or musicals).

Chapter 39: The Tutor, Shattered

When Selina finally came about, she was in a hospital bed with cables and tubes attached to her body as a beeping sound followed the beating of her heart. Her body felt so heavy like never before, it was like she could not control or make it move. Nurses and doctors entered the room and with a tight smile reassured her she was fine now, out of danger and after some time she would be back on her feet, now she needed to rest.

"My-My baby… what happened to him?" She asked and the beeping became more intense as her heartbeat was getting faster.

The doctor hesitated. "All will be fine; we will discuss everything when you get better." He looked at the other side of the bed where a nurse was injecting one more tranquillizer in her IV.

"Paul…" Selina whispered right away.

"He is fine. He was lucky, I must say. He got away with some cracked ribs that can heal quite fast. Sleep now, rest and I will make sure next time you wake up he will be beside you." The doctor gifted her a smile and was the last thing Selina saw before the black veil covered her eyes once again.

She lost track of time with waking up for just a few minutes and then falling into a deep healing sleep. She had no idea how many days had gone by when she finally woke up and could feel her body much lighter than before, although totally numb and unable to move. She managed to lift her head from the pillow and saw her right leg in plaster that reached up to her thigh. The feeling of being shot came back to her as she was looking at her leg and sighed really annoyed.

"Hey, welcome back to the land of the living!" Paul's cracked voice was heard at her side.

She turned and there he was, sitting in a wheelchair. His face was still bloated and bruised and it was obvious smiling was painful to him. One hand in plaster and the other in bandages; his body looked very stiff. Selina smiled back although tears blurred her vision of him; she could not hold the sob that escaped her, when he rolled closer, took her hand in his and leaned to kiss her forehead.

"I'm sorry…" Selina mumbled but Paul stopped her.

"Sorry for what? It was not your fault. I'll be fine in a jiffy and everything will be over before you know it. You are the strongest woman I know… you gave them quite awesome kicks!" He rolled his eyes in a funny way that made Selina smile through her tears.

"Our baby… our son." She said with agony in her voice.

Paul's smile withered away and turned his eyes away avoiding hers. Selina did not need anything more to understand what he meant and a new pain stabbed her heart. She hoped so hard that her vision was just a trick of her mind. She tried to stifle her cries, but failed and her shoulders started shaking uncontrollably as new rivers of tears flowed from her eyes. Paul squeezed her hand and brought her fingers to his lips as he leaned even closer, his forehead touching hers.

"It doesn't matter, my love. We are still young, we can try again once we get well and back on our feet, please don't cry." He said trying to hold back his own tears.

They heard someone clearing his throat and saw the doctor that had previously talked to Selina standing at the feet of her bed and beside him a younger, black haired one.

"I apologize for intruding in this moment and for… the news I bring you but… my colleague insisted that you need to know as soon as possible." He said pointing to the younger man who bowed his head politely. "I am deeply sorry to announce that… indeed we could not save the baby. The knife pierced the amniotic sack and the embryo was already dead when you were brought here… Unfortunately… that is not all." He hesitated again. "The… the knife… tore open your womb in such a way that… it is unable to hold another baby. We managed to save your womb, but you cannot have children anymore… I am so sorry." He cast his eyes on the floor. He always felt uncomfortable giving bad news to young people.

The couple looked so shocked. The man's hand slipped from the woman's and covered his mouth obviously not able to believe the sudden news. The woman had a similar look, but then the younger doctor saw her lips twitching to a quite twisted smile; she suddenly threw her head back on the pillow and covered her eyes with one arm as an almost hysteric laughter escaped her throat. Paul and the older doctor looked at her worried that she lost her mind... They did not see the younger one staring intensely with interest, although that changed to a dark scowl when he heard the words that followed.

"Of course! How could I ever believe I could create life, give life instead of take as always? I grew arrogant and that is the result… I am Death after all." She croaked before biting hard on her lips as new tears ran down her cheeks.

"Selina, please stop it! I know you are in pain, I am too, but stop this nonsense your aunt said!" Paul yelled at her and regretted it right away. "I called your uncle; he will come as soon as he can and Mark with the kids too-"

"No! Call back and tell them not to come, neither of them!" She said determined.

Paul was ready to respond something, but a nurse came in and told him it was time for his X-rays and with no further delay rolled him away, followed by the doctor. Selina was lost in her thoughts for a while, and did not notice the black haired doctor still standing there.

"Can I help you?" She asked rudely, annoyed by the man's strange eyes pinned on her.

He smirked. "No, not yet at least. I apologize for my indiscretion." He bowed deeper. "Is there anything I can do for you?"

Selina shook her head, but then called him back as he had started to turn away. "The gang that attacked us… Have they been arrested?"

"I am afraid no. I think the police said they cannot do anything; they have not enough evidence and your fiancé's testimony and description was very generic since they wore masks." Selina nodded and thanked him; he seemed to want to say something more. "Miss, you might feel now that your life is full of death - I am sure you have your reasons to believe it - and that everything is over since death is a final state – that is what I also thought some… years ago – but my experience proved life can be found even in the most unlikeable places, even when surrounded by death. It might not be the life you dreamed of but still… it is a life and it might prove to be what you actually needed." He smiled at the ironic look Selina gave him while nodding and left the room.

The following days were filled with numerous tests, X-rays and light rehabilitation exercises. Paul was much better and soon was discharged from the hospital but kept coming every day and spend most of the day by her side. That comforted Selina, but there were moments where Paul looked he was far away, thinking something of grave importance. Selina understood; she too was in a similar situation trying to force her mind accept that her belly was empty and would forever remain like that, no new life would grow in there ever again. She was also trying to remember anything she could to assist the police in the investigation, but once again they disappointed her with their incompetence; therefore, she soon started thinking how she would find the perpetrators and make them pay. Needless to say, she knew exactly who she had to torment a little to make him work for her again and could not wait for that.

Once the cast was removed from Selina's leg – the bullet had gone through her thigh, stuck to the bone with great force and cracked it reaching the foot – she started taking a few slow steps; that annoyed her but the doctors said it was absolutely normal. She spoke with Mark and the kids reassuring them they did not need to come, since there would be no wedding and she was fine. Her uncle visited her once or twice and seemed so sorry he could not do anything more; his wife's mental state had gotten worse in the years after Miranda's death and most of his income and time were spent for her medication, Selina did not mind and hugged him to make him feel better.

Her mood was never good, she was only pretending she felt better as the days went by, and truth is that Paul's presence there helped her majorly. However, the day their wedding would be held, Paul decided to reveal what troubled him so much.

"Selina… you know my feelings for you, right? They have not changed no matter what; I still love you very much, but…" That small word immediately wiped the shy smile from Selina's lips. "You… you know how much I love kids. I really want to have some."

"I know, love, I want that too. I was thinking we might try to adopt after our wedding. What do you think?" Selina asked and tried to smile, although something was telling her this was not going well.

"Yes, yes, I guess we could, but…" Tears appeared in his eyes. "It won't be the same. It won't be our continuation, a part of us. I think that no matter how hard I would try, I would never be able to love a stranger's child like my own. I-I know that what I say is cruel, but… I don't think I could ever spend an entire life hiding my true feelings and pretend I love that child as my own, when the image you described me from your dream will constantly invade my mind, making me wonder how our child would grow, and you would also remind me of him, constantly." He took a deep breath. "Therefore… I think it would be better for both of us to… break up now before we begin to be false to each other." He finally said and was obvious that a big weight was lifted from his shoulders.

Selina did not respond, but remained silent, not batting an eye, staring at him for some time, so that Paul thought she did not understand what he said and started talking again trying to explain how he felt. In the end he was stuttering and mumbling until he said it would be better to leave now, but he would definitely come tomorrow again; he would help her until she was healthy again.

"Please, leave… and never… come back!" Selina finally whispered. Paul was ready to say something but she cut him off. "You have one week to take your things out of my house… that's it!"

She kept staring at him and her unblinking eyes had an icy look that gave Paul a chill, he felt like a total stranger looked at him at the moment. Thankfully, he was wise enough not to say a word, as he was not sure how Selina would react; instead he chose to just leave.

Selina was left alone, staring at the empty space in front of her, until involuntary tears started trickling down her face and uncontrollable sobs shook her body, as she lied down and wrapped her hands around her empty belly, just like when she was hugging her baby.

"But I was ready to live a life of pretending for your sake…" She whispered between sobs and sniffs.

She never sensed the black haired doctor's eyes watching her from outside the room, and never saw the mixture of happiness and hate they had as they followed Paul leaving the room once and for all.

After completing four weeks of treatment Selina was ready to go home. It was the last night she would spend at the hospital and was lying in bed, doing nothing in particular, even though her mind was trying to figure out how to ask Claude look for the gang, what clues could they follow. However, the answer came to her on its own.

She had asked the nurses to leave the door of her room open, as she did not like absolute silence, and preferred to observe the people coming and going as her room had view of the ward's reception. Suddenly, she heard someone talking and his voice was so cheerful and friendly, as he was greeting the staff that would share the night shift with him.

Selina's eyes had opened wide looking at the bold smiling man, and her fingers had turned white holding on tightly to the bed's iron side rails, she would have broken them if she could. She knew that voice. She would never forget the voice that told her not to threat the gang leader, while the fingers of the voice's owner were pushing in her wound. The man left her line of sight the moment a nurse entered the room. She saw Selina pale and sweating, and instantly started her thorough check if her patient was all right; Selina, having regained her composure, reassured the worried woman she had just a nightmare and nothing more.

"If you say so." The nurse said completing her duty. "Now, since tomorrow you're leaving, I thought we could do something to celebrate it. I brought all my nail polishes, choose what color you want and I will do your nails, they will look perfect, I promise." She said wanting to cheer up the blond woman.

Selina smiled. The nurse was a cute young woman, a little younger than her, and had liked Selina right from the start; she was so friendly and easy to talk to. Selina chose the black nail polish, the nurse tried to persuade her for a lighter, happier colour but she insisted, obviously not in the mood.

"When I woke up from the nightmare, I heard someone talking outside and saw a doctor I have not seen again. A bold guy. Who is he?" Selina asked the nurse as she painted her nails.

"Hmm? Oh, you mean Doctor Smith? He is an orthopedic and a very nice guy, always with a smile. He was away for two months on a seminar and now he is back. Why do you ask?" The nurse asked casually.

"His voice reminded me an old acquaintance, who is also a doctor, and for a moment I got confused… but the name is different." Selina lied and forced a smile on her lips.

That night, when everything was dead quiet, Selina got up from bed, took a pair of elastic gloves out of the box sitting on a table and carefully, stealthily left the room. Using the cover of the shadows and an easy spell to create an unchangeable illusion for the cameras, she reached the door of a small changing room from where she took a doctor's robe to put on. On her way to the orthopaedic department, she found a small cart with sharp scalpels left in the corridor and could not believe her luck. Without second thought she took one and continued, until she reached Smith's office. She knocked and entered when he answered.

"Hello! How may I help you?" Dr. Smith said as he was looking at Selina with interest and question in his eyes. "Are you new to the hospital? I don't remember to have seen you around although you look familiar… somehow."

Selina smirked. "I look familiar, huh? Allow me to refresh your memory then, doctor." She said approaching him behind his office and with a flash of movement turned his chair, grabbed his throat from behind and stabbed him with the scalpel at the exact same spot she had been shot on her thigh. "It is not wise to go against or threaten our leader, you know." She whispered in his ear mimicking his voice. "Do you remember that, one month ago?"

The man was screaming, but the hand squeezing his throat was drowning the sound. He did not answer as he was trying to catch a breath, and his whole body was trembling while the pain was tearing his leg apart. He finally nodded.

"Good! Well then, you will take a nice piece of paper and write the names of the rest of your… friends that enjoy the thrill of blood." She demanded.

"I-I don-" He tried to say, but ended up crying in pain as she twisted the scalpel. The man understood the crazy woman threatening to kill him would not accept anything except of what she asked; therefore, he did as told and wrote the names of his seven accomplices with a shaky hand. He breathed relieved when she seemed satisfied.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Do you think you'll survive this? That you'll get away with just a stab wound?" Selina asked with a mockingly apologetic look in her eyes. "You, along with the others killed my son. He was worth ten times your twisted lives, but you took away all his chances to live his own. I am sorry, but you will die tonight." She said coldly.

"Bu-But… it was Vera, she stabbed you and killed your son!" He cried totally scared and desperate.

"And you helped her by immobilizing me and fingering my wound, by keeping me up straight so that she could find her aim!" Selina was furious and had to try hard not to scream in the man's face; a hot wave of anger flooded inside her and with no further delay she slit his throat from ear to ear.

Blood spayed the room and her clothes, as a sudden momentary pain in her belly prevented her from moving fast enough out of the blood's way. She started swearing angry at herself, and thinking of a way to get rid of the patient's clothes under the blood-soaked doctor's robe, when the sound of claps drew her attention at the office's door.

She immediately forgot the man in front of her, experiencing the last spasms of life, as she focused on the raven haired doctor applauding and smiling at her. Selina had never heard the door opening or closing and that along with the eerie reddish glow his eyes had, made her powers jump start after a long sleep. She gasped.

"Bravo, my dear! You executed your little plan with great success, although you should be careful of not damaging or soiling your outfit, it can be very dangerous and troubling, I assure you." He said and sounded quite excited.

"What do you want, demon? Have you come to make a contract with me? Well, I have no intention of letting you eat my soul, not yet at least!" She said with the scalpel still in hand, her eyes narrowed.

"Oh goodness no; I would never struck a contract with you, my dear, as you could easily burn me up, kill me and get away with your precious soul. Let alone that I much more prefer your soul exactly where it is, in your delicious body." He smiled charmingly.

"Then cut the crap and sweet talk and tell me what you want. You seem like a smart guy and you know what I am."

"I just want to help you, nothing less nothing more." He shrugged his shoulders innocently.

"And why is that?"

He chuckled. "I most definitely have my reasons, but I am afraid I cannot share them with you right now. Do not worry; in your future you will learn why I do all this… for the sake of some of the sweetest moments in our lives." He kept staring at her quite happily and dreamy.

"Is it something of your demonic nature? Do you go mental after some time, and think you know everything about others, and have knowledge of the future?" Selina asked obviously annoyed with the smart-ass demon.

He chose only to smile again. "Now, come along, please. I have a change of clothes in my office and will take care of the bloodied ones."

"And why should I trust you? You are a demon!" Selina said but then remained speechless, as she saw the man walking close to the dead body – it was like he danced around avoiding touching or stepping on the blood that was everywhere – and in a matter of seconds consuming the dead man's soul.

"Not the best meal, pretty ordinary I must say, but… two birds, one stone. I satisfied my need for the time being and the reapers will not find you out yet. As for your question… you have no other choice… my beautiful witch. Now, shall we?" He smiled again and offered his hand to her.

Indeed, she had no other choice and thus followed him at his office. There she took everything off and changed into a new, clean robe he offered her. Selina was impressed by his discreet, gentlemanly ways while she was dressing and when he accompanied her back to her room, where he kissed her hand bidding her goodnight. He seemed very amused when he looked and then kissed her black painted nails, saying she would make a perfect demon, but he still preferred her just as she was at the moment. Before he left her, Selina asked him if he had let that trolley full of scalpels in the hallway; of course, he did not answer, just smiled.

That night Selina did not manage to sleep at all – something that was becoming a habit – as she was focused on learning the seven names by heart, and trying to figure out what was that made these people hunt their fellow humans, for no reason other than just killing. The demon playing the doctor occupied her thoughts for a while, but her hate for the humans soon made her forget him.

The next day, she was released from hospital and while taking care of paperwork, she was very 'shocked' and 'saddened' to hear that a doctor had been slaughtered in the hospital in the middle of the night. For a moment, she felt the need to find that demon from the previous night, in an effort to find out why he helped her without asking for return, but it seemed nobody had memory of the handsome young doctor and Selina sighed, letting the matter go as she had no clue to search for him. Either way, soon she forgot him too.

{~}

Selina was left astounded by one more realisation. Just like the astonishingly handsome man in the zoo, she still remembered the demon doctor, but it seemed the details of his appearance had slipped away from her memory, until just now, keeping her from making the connection between them and the demon standing across her.

However, she could recognize her kind's magic and it was obvious that... If what the Sebastian in her past had said was true and never consumed her soul, then there was only one option; her future self had cast a Lethe spell on her past one that would dissolve itself only after meeting Sebastian in the Victorian era and thus guaranteeing everything would happen as they should.

The demon's chuckle and the Earl's sigh took her out of her thoughts.

"Well, Miss Selina, it seems we share more than I could imagine… even relying on the same demon…" The boy said.

"I am only happy to serve my master, my lord, and assist my precious partner… and indeed, my dear Selina; it seems we are partners… even in crime." Sebastian said with a happy irony in his voice, and the woman could feel his eyes on her, burning brighter and hotter than ever.

Selina swallowed as she felt both her mouth and throat dry, but forced herself to continue her narration.

{~}

The golden knives flew in the air, before hitting the wooden table that was suddenly upturned and shielded the witch behind it. The demon's eyes turned red and he was seething obviously enraged.

"Your butler obsession took a level up, I must say… Now you're using silverware for weapons! Only that… they call them silverware for a reason, because they are silver, not gold. That is so kitsch!" Selina said as her head appeared behind the table and her eyes were laughing at the demon and his gold weapons.

"What the hell do you want from me now? Give me back my food!" The demon demanded with a roar.

"Wow, that was a strong déjà vu… Oh no, wait… it's not a déjà vu. It's just the second time I play the same trick on you and you fell for it, Claude." Selina smiled obviously enjoying the demon's fury.

"I am not Claude anymore… Your tricks work, because you know very well the moment we feed is our most vulnerable. Now tell me what you want and give me what is mine!"

"To me you are Claude; it is a nice name, easy to remember. As for what I want, pretty much the same as last time." Selina said, pulling the knives out of the wood with one hand as the other never left the green jar in her arms with Claude's victim's soul inside.

Claude chuckled and crossed his arms over his chest. "All right… who killed one of your people this time?"

Selina took a crumpled piece of paper out of her pocket. "These seven people… I want to know everything about them; whether they are in collaboration with demons, or any mafia boss, how do they know each other, when did they meet… even their fetishes in bed… Everything."

"Pff… That is too much for just one soul. I must have more gains than just that; I can easily find another soul…" Claude shrugged his shoulders.

Selina allowed her one hand to be wrapped in blue flames. "You gain your life, is there anything more important than that?" Her dangerous look and voice made the demon feel a chill running down his spine.

He took the paper and their new deal was struck, because the demon under the past name of Claude was smart enough to not play games with the Blue Flame, putting his life and his meal in danger.

Just like the other time, Claude found these people had no connection to the supernatural; for once more it seemed humans could be more perfect monsters than demons. However, he found so many other information about them that Selina decided not to torture him more and gave him back the soul he desired, as soon as he told her everything.

At first these seven people – eight with the already dead doctor – seemed to have nothing in common as their backgrounds and current lives had no connection; one was a teacher while the other one a hairdresser or a salesman or even an employee in public services. However, they all lived in the same neighbourhood and attended the same school, even for one year. Claude's investigation revealed they became good friends that one year, their last one, and had already formed a kind of gang, bullying their classmates; it seemed that even if life led them to different paths, they continued and evolved from bullying to killing people, under the pretence of robbing them and thus slipping away from police quite successfully.

"And how did that woman look like?" Selina asked almost gluing her face to Claude's when he told her the leader, the woman called Vera, hated pregnant women since her lover left her in order to marry a man and have children.

Claude swallowed feeling a little unnerved by the look the witch was giving him. "H-Here, I took a photo of her from an album." He said pulling the photo from his pocket.

Selina grabbed it impatiently and pulled away, sitting cross legged at the other side of the sofa they shared in her living room. In a minute she chuckled and her eyes were on fire behind black straight locks; Claude was watching her speechless thinking how demonic she looked at the moment. She indeed looked a perfect match for that demon… it was no surprise he would do anything for her; any demon would do the same for such a mate, so similar yet so different from them.

"Good job, Claude!" She now smiled innocently to him. "Let's agree I will never hunt you down, or allow anyone else to do so, as long as you feed from contracted souls only, without overdoing it of course."

"Hmm… how merciful is this little witch. How come? Don't tell me you took a liking of me?" Claude said removing his glasses, seductively running a hand through his hair, before leaning close to Selina's face making her look at his golden eyes, by gently placing a finger under her chin.

"I am not ungrateful, you know. You have helped me twice; sure, I forced you but still… I appreciate it and want to return the favor. Are you trying to seduce me?" She asked seeing his lips inches from hers.

"Well… despite being quite infuriating when you steal from me, you are really fun and intriguing, so I would be a fool not to try and steal you from him."

Selina laughed loudly pushing him away with one hand on his face. "You are funny, Claude, really. I honestly don't know why you have the idea that I belong to someone else, but you are gravely mistaken because I belong only to myself. Also, I am not Alois or any of the other victims of yours, believing a demon; I'm not a fool." She said getting up.

"Well… at least I had to try." Claude sighed putting his glasses back on; he seemed a little disappointed but it would pass in a while.

The following months the police was really confused as six very targeted murders took place all over the city. The victims seemed to be randomly chosen as they had nothing in common, but at the same time carefully selected and masterfully executed; when it was found they shared the same school and what they did as a school gang, the police thought they had solved the case. However, investigating the victims of their bullying was another dead end, as they quickly concluded that none of them had what it takes to do something like that. These seemingly random murders troubled the Grim Reapers too, since the souls were already devoured when they got there to collect them, leaving no trace of who was murdering them… not until the leader met the same fate.

Selina was downing her third drink while scanning the dark club and absentmindedly twirling her fingers in her blue and purple flashes, when she saw the second woman from the photo, Vera herself, pinning her with her eyes. She slowly approached Selina and soon they began talking, drinking, flirting. Before long, they were on their way to Vera's apartment. As soon as the door closed behind them, Vera hungrily claimed Selina's lips, but Selina gently pushed her away and asked for one more drink.

Vera was obviously really aroused, but that woman reminded her so much of the one she truly desired and did not want to scare her away; therefore she would take it as slow as needed. Vera turned her back to Selina while preparing a drink and did not see her hateful look, as she was rubbing the kiss from her lips.

With a swift movement, Selina took out her daggers hidden under her clothes, and as Vera was turning to her, felt a sharp pain penetrating her shoulder. She lost her hold on the glasses letting out a cry. Her eyes found the beautiful woman with flaming hair, blue and purple flashes and dressed in black leather – just like her one and only love, who abandoned her for the sake of a man and a damned baby – and could not understand how her sweet face suddenly turned to that of a monster filled with hate.

"Wh-Why? I thought you wanted me, just as I wanted you! What did I do wrong? Tell me and I'll make it right." Vera started crying from pain kneeling on the floor.

"Oh, I wish it was that simple, but what you did, what you took away from me cannot be brought back… ever!" Selina yelled as she brushed away the colours of hair making her look like Vera's lost lover, revealing her natural blond curls; it was only for a few moments until she saw the light of recognition in Vera's eyes, and then brushed again allowing the illusion return on her head.

"It's you! Six months ago…" Vera gasped. "You are the one killing my friends, you bitch!" She screamed and attempted to stand, but Selina made her trip and lie on her back with sprawled arms and legs, instantly nailed on the floor by more daggers flying from Selina's hands.

Selina straddled the screaming woman, and made her shut up by circling her throat with her fingers, starting to strangle her. "I am the bitch? You know, I don't go around stabbing innocent women in their belly, making them lose their babies, because my lover was obviously not so into me and chose to marry a man and have children!" She growled leaning over the struggling woman; her tricoloured hair raining over the woman's face.

"She-She… said she… loved me!" Vera gasped as Selina's hands were crushing her throat with so much strength she would never imagine another woman could have… unless pure hate and fury fuelled her.

"Yes... they do that... Paul said it too, but left me when you made me unable to bear children! Should I start killing all men or just him, if I was that obsessed with him? Your woman was obviously not that much in love with you, or else she would have chosen you and would have found another way to get pregnant! Two women can be together and create a family if they want to... We are not in the Middle Ages, thankfully! You thoughtlessly decided to freeze your life in that moment and cut short that of people who never harmed you! You took away the man that loved me at the time and my son! You killed my baby!" Selina ended screaming through her tears in Vera's face, tightening her fingers until she heard a deeply pleasing sound of bones breaking.

She kept squeezing for a few more moments while her tears of fury were dripping on Vera's lifeless face until she forced herself to let go, as she knew the Grim Reapers would soon appear to reap Vera's cinematic records and soul… Selina did not feel in the mood to face them right now. Panting, with still shaking hands and a heart beating loudly she got up from the woman's dead body, wiped the tears from her victim in case they could be used to trace her, and left the apartment… Looking for a woman with so peculiar hair colour would be quite a puzzle for the police and, honestly, Selina did not care if they suspected Vera's ex-lover.

She returned home, turned her hair to the raven black colour she had for some months now - perfectly fitting with her mood - and literally collapsed in the room meant for the baby. Six months ago it was filled with everything a baby would need and a colourful wallpaper; now it stood empty, cold and pieces of that wallpaper were hanging from the wall, victim of Selina's uncontrollable fury and despair. It was empty just like the woman lying on its floor.

Selina felt nothing at the moment; not good for finally completing her revenge and not bad for taking human lives away. However, she knew she was tired… so tired. Tired of constantly struggling for a happiness she could only taste for a minute before being taken away again, tired of crying and hating, of killing and finally of living.

Her past words of how she would choose who would be the lucky demon to consume her soul rang in her ears, and realised it did not matter in whose belly she would end up, since everything would be over for her. She whispered something and with a pulse the protective spells always surrounding her family's house were brought down, making the demons lurking around for some time now, to laugh loudly with joy as they would finally feast on the so tasty pain and desperation of the witch.

Black clouds and fogs entered her house swirling over her, screaming and screeching as they fought over her soul. Her eyes were seeing bird-like talons, hoofs, tentacles and spider legs peeking out of the black mass these creatures were surrounded with, but could not care less, it was like her brain refused to cooperate with her eyes, everything seemed so blurry. She did not care even when a voice resembling Claude's was heard, declaring she had made a fool and used him as her doggy twice, plus she rejected him, so he had every right to gobble her.

A sudden deep roar and a new black cloud barged in hissing at all the other demons, ordering them to leave what was his, if they wanted to keep living. Claude tried to object, but the newcomer had none of that. Selina had closed her eyes allowing numbness to spread to her body and senses; she did not know what happened, only that a few minutes after, she heard the demons hastily retreating, Claude still cursing. The newcomer stayed behind; Selina heard the clacking of high heels approaching and sensed the demon kneeling and leaning over her.

She opened her eyes and saw two flaming red ones staring at her; she found them beautiful despite the malice always reflected in them, and without much thought she grabbed the face, whose shape was barely visible behind all this shadow, and lifting her head kissed the demon's lips leaving him surprised for a moment, before he gently wrapped his arms around her and kept her in his embrace as he responded.

"Are you trying to seduce me, little witch, so that I would spare your life? Did you regret your decision already?" The demon chuckled after they broke the kiss.

"No… I just did not want my last kiss to be of that twisted woman… her lips tasted badly. I never expected a demon's to be so nice…" She whispered obviously exhausted as she willingly fell deeper in the demon's dark embrace that felt strangely familiar and comforting.

"And who said that would be your last kiss, my dear?"

"You won over the others… you have obviously staked a claim on my soul years ago… you just waited to have the right taste; that is why you embraced me so much every time I lost someone, you helped me go on until I reach my limit."

The demon chuckled again as his fingers were playing with her raven died locks. "If it was for any other soul I would say you read me like an open book, but… since we talk about yours, I am afraid you are greatly mistaken." They remained like that for a while and Selina had almost fallen asleep, when the demon growled a little disappointed and softly laid her down to the floor. "I am afraid I have to leave you for now, since your beloved cherub is coming to retrieve you, but do not doubt that you will get your answers… in a few years, my lovely witch."

With that he flew away and Selina remained motionless on the floor for a moment, when the sound of heels running towards her and a voice she thought she would never hear again invaded her ears. A sweet scent of flowers flooded her senses and a soft, warm as the sun embrace lifted and squeezed her on a female bosom. When she opened her eyes, a pair of emerald ones were crying over her and a flaming torrent was caressing her face.

"A warm-hearted demon, creating an illusion of someone his victim loves as a final kind gesture…" Selina managed to chuckle.

"Selina, you are not dead, do you hear? You might feel like that but you are not, the demon is gone. You're safe, don't give up!" Miranda said and embraced her once more.

"If I'm alive… then why are you here?" Selina asked now a little more awakened.

Miranda brought her hand within Selina's line of sight. "Look, look at my nails, they are white and it is not nail polish. I am an angel! My worry and love for you did not let me go on, but it's okay. I'm here now, I'm back for you!" New tears started running from the young angel's eyes as Selina was watching her, fully awake and her numbness gone for good.

As the meaning of Miranda's words dawned on her mind, a storm of emotions started raging in her, tears flooded her eyes and with a desperate cry of pain fell in her cousin's arms again and returned the embrace with so much strength, that Miranda would have been crashed if she was a human.

"I'm sorry… I'm sorry for being late! I'm sorry I couldn't protect you! Forgive me!" Miranda said through her own tears and squeezed Selina again.

Selina's pain pierced Miranda's heart and the angel turned her face to the ceiling; the pupils of her eyes turned slits, as she clenched her elongated, pointy teeth and hid her dusty grey nails between the folds of Selina's clothes. It was only for a split of a second, and she was back in her pure white self; a normal angel filled with light.

Aaand Miranda has been finally allowed to reveal herself to Selina! Yaay! Also, I did create Paul but I hate his guts... immensely! 😡

Vera: Normally, I should not have to explain my every choice in my stories, but things have changed, so... The only reason Vera is a lesbian and a killer is because I wanted variety in my villains. I harbor no hate towards homosexual people and I'm not practicing queer baiting or whatever it is called. I simply did not want to follow the stereotype of all villains being men, but if I made Vera a straight woman hating pregnant women because she can't get pregnant, for example... Well, it would give off serious Madam Red vibes and I didn't want that, I wanted something different. Were there more options? I'm sure there were, but this one fitted my story. Selina is not disgusted because a woman kissed her, but because the murderer of her son kissed her.

Plus, personally, I believe that there are kind, good and bad, twisted people in all social groups, regardless religion, race, sexuality... disability (I myself belong in this last group and have experience of both good and bad in it)! So to me, Vera was an already twisted individual and rejection (that just happens to be from a woman) just intensified her madness. I hope I'm not insulting anyone, not my intention, but storytelling should be free to create whatever it's necessary for the story... even if it looks offensive sometimes. There might be a reason.

Selina's change of hair color: If the way I present the changes was confusing, please let me know. I'll explain.

Okay, that's all from me! Till next time! Bye! 😁