Hailie came downstairs, feeling wasted. Last night was awful in all kinds of ways and it gave her a headache and a sensation of losing her balance. She needed a big cup of water and another pill for a migraine. Going through the hall, she checked time on the clock, worried if she could get ready on time.

"Hailie, wait up!" Pride caught her in the hall. She wasn't in this amazing costume anymore but looked like a queen anyway. Hailie wished she could wake up with hair done so perfectly and make-up this beautiful.

"Don't bother, Pride, I already know everything. Shane called me in the morning to keep me informed."

She placed a hand on Hailie's arm. Her eyes seemed distracted and absent. That gave away the fact that Hailie still was living through yesterday's events.

"I figured it out. He really cares about you." She smiled delicately. Shane seemed like a good guy for Hailie. "But honestly, I think that it would be better if he didn't visit you in the house." She had to tell the truth. Lust was too dangerous. He would finally find a way to bring Shane down and Pride didn't want that to happen. "Some of us, not me of course, but some of us don't like him being here. He's a stranger to us. We don't know anything about him and that might get him in trouble. Demonic one."

Hailie put a hand on her forehead. That didn't sound good and it was yet another problem on her list. How can demons don't like Shane? Was it because he ended the party?

"Okay, I'll keep him out of here." She frowned with sudden fear written on her face. "What about Lucien? Is he safe here?"

Pride wanted to laugh it off, but she couldn't let Hailie find out his true identity. Not yet.

"Yes, he's safe. He helped you multiple times and we appreciate this."

She nodded, happy to hear that. It might have been stupid, but she was actually glad to have him here, to have a chance to talk to him.

"And Debra?" If she hasn't liked her then the demons surely haven't liked her either. "Nevermind, I'm planning to kick her out of the house, so she won't be staying here much longer."

Not after what happened yesterday. It was extraordinarily mean to treat her and officer Blackwell like that. She might have been angry about Lucien, but Hailie did nothing wrong.

"Oh. That's a good call." All of them were irritated because of Debra's presence. It was a better idea to get rid of her before one of them decides to take this in their own hands.

"Yeah, at least one good decision of mine." She rolled her eyes.

"Don't worry, everything will turn out to be fine, I'm sure of it."

Hopefully, Jayson will lose his parents. Then, one day, he'll lose his life.

"How can you be sure of it?"

She blinked. Wasn't it obvious?

"We'll protect you."

Hailie smirked. She didn't want to be unkind, but words just came out of her mouth.

"Like you did yesterday?"

Surprise appeared on Pride's face, but then another emotion took over. Her shoulders were slumped. With her head down, she seemed like a little girl, who just lost something important.

"You're right. I'm so sorry for what happened. I should've been with you."

Maybe then it wouldn't happen, but then she wouldn't also convince the student to kill Jayson's parents. Both options sucked.

"It's not your fault." She felt safe in this house, but now even that was taken away from her. There just wasn't a hiding place for her. It was like Jayson said. You'll never be safe. "I've gotta go make myself breakfast and a hot tea. And talk with Debra, of course." She looked at the clock again. "Shane asked me to come to the police station later, to make a statement about what happened."

"Sure, see you later then," she said, but there was no happiness in her voice anymore.

She actually wanted to talk with Hailie about something else, but the timing was poor. That topic must have waited a little longer, but she'll find out soon enough. It was time for Hailie to learn about other demons living in this house. She deserved to know the truth. At least half of it.

"You think that's going to stop me?" Lust appeared behind Pride's back, when Hailie left for the kitchen. "Some poor warning, 'don't bring Shane to the house'? Pathetic. I thought more of you, Pride."

She narrowed her eyes at him.

"You call me pathetic? Better look in the mirror. Playing with Hailie's emotions, going after a guy who should mean nothing to you, hiding from your real feelings... That's what I call pathetic. I care for Hailie, truly, and I'm not ashamed of it."

Lust started laughing like she just said a really good joke.

"Do you think my memory is that bad? Let me quote you, 'I'm gonna wait for the day you finally feel something for someone. It will come. And when it happens, I'm gonna take it away from you and make you watch the only person you ever loved die.' You think I was stupid enough to not see what was going on all along? Maybe now you care for Hailie, but it didn't start that way, did it? Especially when you saw that I've gotten interested in her too. But guess what Pride, I do not love Hailie. I never did and I never will. She's just another girl I might use and leave. You can't take from me something that doesn't exist. That probably will never exist."

He was right, but not exactly. It started the way he described it. She hoped that he may fall in love with Hailie, seeing how resistant she was to his charms. Then she had a chance to know Hailie better, to become friends with her. It changed everything. And it made her feel that living for revenge might not be the best option to live for.

"I'm starting to believe that now. Maybe you just aren't capable of love anymore and maybe that's the biggest revenge I can get. Knowledge that you'll always be alone, locked in your pathetic little world of lust and desire, and nothing more than that. I don't really care, but I do ask you to leave Hailie alone. Don't hurt her. And please, don't hurt Shane only because he does care for her."

Lust shrugged, trying to show that Pride's words meant nothing to him.

"I won't kill Hailie," he said, suddenly getting scared of the thought that she might be dead. He instantly brushed it off. Demons didn't care for human lives. "I might even think about not killing Shane, now that you ask."

She turned around, but then she changed her mind. There was one more thing she wanted to say, even though it couldn't change anything. She had no idea what happened with Lust, but that's how he was since Missy's death. Ruthless and heartless.

"I've been there, Lust. We've all been there." That room. The body in his arms. Sadness and weeping. That was too hard to endure. "But shutting down isn't a way of dealing with this."

Lust looked at the ceiling, getting irritated. Could everybody just stop mentioning Missy all the time? That wasn't helping. Why did they care anyway how he was? Better if they would mind their own business.

"We're demons, Pride. The way I am is the way we all should be," he said, but this time there was a lack of belief in his words. Truth was, they've all acted different and because of all what happened, he was questioning few of his decisions.

"If we were only demons, you wouldn't mourn Missy so much. You wouldn't cry after her. And you surely wouldn't think about her even today, after so many years."

She disappeared, leaving him alone with his thoughts. He tried to move them aside, to ignore images from the past. He didn't want to remember or to feel anything.

He went to the kitchen, knowing he'll find Hailie there. She was making herself a sandwich with cheese, tomato and salad. She wasn't used to eating healthy, but it changed after Gluttony helped her. No more microwaved food for dinner and forgetting about breakfasts. 

They've had a positive impact on her life and Lust couldn't help being actually glad that she was much better since she moved to the Bloody Mansion.

"Good morning, Lucien. Do you want a sandwich?" she asked with a small smile on her face.

That's how he knew that something was wrong. She was nice, but that one was just a poor trick. Hailie really thought that he can be fooled like that? He knew what happened yesterday and he knew that she was afraid, thinking that Jayson might have returned.

"Thanks, I've already eaten."

She sat by the table, looking at the tea and wondering what to say.

Just keep it casual. Don't say anything about yesterday's events.

"Hmm, the house looks so clean!" She got a little bit too excited and her voice raised about a tone or two up. "It couldn't be Debra, so was it you?" Now she tried to sound calmer, so her voice suddenly changed from high to low. And Lust just couldn't help, but smile.

"Yeah, I thought that's the least I can do."

"Thank you, that's so very nice of you." She wanted to face palm. What was wrong with her? It must have been because of that headache, right? "It really is, I don't know when I would find time for cleaning everything up, besides I don't want to think about the party. It was a big mistake."

"I'm sorry that I left you alone on a garden swing. I went for the water, but you were gone, when I returned," he lied.

It's not like he could tell that he went to kill the guy, who tried to kiss and touch her.

"Yeah."

She didn't regret that decision. Staying on the garden swing might have ended the same way or worse. What if she would really meet Jayson? Murdered in her own house, at a party. Police probably wouldn't even find the responsible one. Not with so many suspects around. Besides, everybody had their opinion about The Bloody Mansion. She wouldn't be even surprised if police classified this as another unexplained murder.

"Shouldn't you go to the doctor? Check if everything's fine?" he asked, looking at the bruise on her face. She tried to hide it with a concealer, but he could see the purple color of the bruise anyway.

"Everything's fine. It's just a bruise." It used to be worse than that.

Her eyes were set on the sandwich. She wasn't hungry, but she knew it was important to eat something in the morning, especially after an evening full of alcohol.

"I've heard about that man's death." He wondered if he died fast or not. Was the hit enough to kill him? Or maybe after an accident he was trapped in the car, at the edge of consciousness, thinking about death soon coming after him for all the sins he has committed?

"He was paid, so..." She sighed.

"Whoever paid him, I won't let him hurt you."

Was it just a game to get Hailie fall in love with him or was it the truth? Even Lust didn't know it anymore.

"Thanks, but I don't think there's anything you can do."

He didn't know why, but these words hit him hard. He can do whatever he wants. There isn't a thing he cannot do. He's a demon. An original one. And even if Hailie doesn't know it, how can she give up so easily, thinking she's on her own?

"I can do so much more than you think," he said with his voice so confident and strong that she looked into his dark eyes. She didn't know why, but sometimes she felt scared by him, deep inside, like an intuition trying to tell her to watch out for that one. "And right now, I can at least cheer you up a little. With dinner? Just like we agreed yesterday?"

He remembers.

"Sure. Tomorrow might be? Today I need to visit the police station and make a statement. I probably won't be back for dinner."

In other words, today she was spending time with Shane. And that's how he was a problem, no matter what Pride said. He just kept getting into Lust's way.

"Tomorrow then."

Tomorrow.