Sheriff William Becket shot down any kid who turned into a chaos demon with his shiny 44 magnum revolver that he always carried on his belt.

Outside of the orphanage was a mess, a bloodbath, and all this was still the good part of the problem.

William was worried about how many young C.D.s managed to escape before he got here.

“This is a real shitshow,” Ava said as she arrived with Mia beside him.

“Yep,” the sheriff said, spitting on the ground.

“Never thought humans would find this place, let alone blow it up like this, is just the next level of cruelty,” Mia said.

“Ava, check, go check the east, Mia. You go check north and shoot the goddamn demon you see without hesitation. These are fresh and weren’t yet ready to be released on Heaven’s Peak. They’ll be unpredictable, so be careful, and if you see any P.D. kids, bring them back here.”

“Alright, boss, what are you going to do? Will you be here when we get back?” Ava asked as she moved.

“I already called Lame Joe to come and take these terrified P.D. kids to the station, then I’ll decide what to do with them. I’m going to wait till he gets here, then have to check on the heart.” William looked worried—a rare thing to see so much that he forgot what he was talking about for a few seconds.

“Are you OK, William?” Mia wondered.

“Yeah, yeah, I’m fine. You just go and come back safe, alright?” William shook off his worries and started walking away from the sergeants.

He told the kids to stay near the playground and scream if they saw any C.D. wandering around. He cautiously stepped into the half-burnt, half-exploded orphanage.

He squeezed himself through the rubble and fallen wood planks, put aside the burnt wood blocking his way to the basement, then took out his flashlight and turned it on to see clearly. The deep darkness somehow bowed before the light of William’s flashlight and faded away with each step he took down to the basement.

The sound of blood pumping into the pipes was a relief for William.

“It’s still alive,” he whispered to himself.

He took the last steps, and he reached the wet ground of the basement. The mechanical heart was beating properly.

“This time I’m going to put a real guardian for you; don’t you worry.” The sheriff said that and patted the beating heart gently.

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“Go on now. Feed on the fallen ones’ blood and rebuild this place once again.” He said it like a prayer and felt a warm rush in his veins, a familiar warmth, something he missed dearly.

“I love you; I’ve missed you.” William swallowed his sorrow before the past drowned him. The sound of a car engine snapped him out of his dream.

He knew it was Lame Joe, but just in case he hustled upstairs deep down, he was making an excuse to leave the heart before his feelings got to him.

* * *

Ava was searching for any newborn chaos demons to shoot and thinking about whether she’d make it for tonight’s Anna and Paul’s marriage.

She radioed Kate through her walkie-talkie. “Hey Kate? Can you hear me?”

“Yeah, Ava I hear you. Please tell me you are OK.”

“Yeah, no, don’t worry, I’m alright.” Ava’s heart pumped fast, and she tried to control her excitement and sense of fear in her voice.

“Look, I’m going to Anna’s marriage party tonight, and I was wondering if you would like to come with me. And yes, I know it’s unprofessional of me to ask you for a date on the radio,” Ava said, crossing her fingers.

“Ahh… So is it like a date, date? Ava, you know my condition, and I’m sure you know it probably won’t be fixed. Are you sure you want to date me?”

Kate said doubtfully.

“Yeah Kate I’m sure, and yeah, I know all about you; trust me. So you’d come?” Ava said, her voice shaking with excitement.

“Yeah, I’ll come. You just have to come pick me up, and I’m going to get ready. Don’t keep me waiting, and let’s buy them a gift together, alright?”

Kate answered.

“Don’t worry about the gift; you have to go now. See you tonight.” Ava was deeply happy.

The sound of cracking sticks came from behind the trees. “Who is it? Come out before I shoot the shit out of you,” Ava shouted as she aimed her pistol at the source of the sound.

“OK, please don’t shoot.” A weak, innocent voice said so, and two kids came out of their cover.

Ahura and Hanna were holding each other’s hands tightly, as if their lives depended on it.

“Thank God you are alive. Look, go back to the orphanage the sheriff is in.”

Ahura’s free hand produced an overwhelmingly wild flame: “We are not going back there, and I hate to hurt you, but I will if you separate us again.” Ahura pointed his flaming hand at Ava, and Ava pointed her gun at him.

“What the fuck are you?” Ava said.

“Please, officer, let us go, please,” Hanna begged.

“I’m not a chaos demon, as Mrs. T always said I was, and I was never a bad kid,” Ahura answered bravely.

“Listen, kid, you have to come with me. You are right, you are not a bad kid nor a chaos demon. That’s why you have to come with me. Trust me, we won’t hurt you. You have my word.”

“I heard your conversation with your girlfriend,” Ahura said.

“So what?” Ava said it with anger.

“Love is always welcomed, right? I love Hanna, and I won’t let you take her away from me,” Ahura said.

“This is a different kid; it’s just a childhood love.”

“But love is love, so I’ll leave with her, and you’ll get to see your girlfriend because I know what I can do, and believe me, you have no chance against me,” Ahura said, sounding like an adult.

Ava knew what she was dealing with abnormally, and he was right; she had no chance against him, not now, not like this. She needed backup, and she had a date with Kate.

Ava flipped her aim and signed them to leave.

“Thank you, Officer. Hanna said as she was fleeing into the depths of the forest, still holding Ahura’s hand.

Ava took a deep breath out of confusion and fear, but somehow she was happy that she was still alive. She hustled back to the orphanage. William had to know about this before it was too late.