Night fell.
A black coffin rested quietly on the Viewing Platform. Inside lay Miss Elisa, her face composed, her hands folded over her lower abdomen with an exquisite red jewelry box beneath them.
In the Mourning Hall, all the bulbs had been replaced with warm-toned ones. Now they were all lit, casting a soft glow.
The limited space made grandeur impossible, but refinement showed in every detail.
Kallen sat in a chair in the corner. Behind him were several rows of chairs prepared for the mourners. On the table in front were alcoholic drinks, soft drinks, and snacks-not expensive, but with plenty of variety.
It was time.
Pike took a pen outside and wrote on the sign: Miss Elisa's Mourning Hall.
Dinkum carried a jar of clean water and began sprinkling it along the path from outside to the Viewing Platform.
Alfred went over to the sound system. After making a couple of adjustments, he played a song called "My Count."
It was the theme song of a vampire film released two years earlier. Its protagonist was a vampire count, and the film told not of his experiences in war, but of his loves and hatreds.
It told the tragic story of how he sold his soul to the devil for the person he loved.
But Kallen knew that, in reality, the inspiration for this character... or, more precisely, for the sort of people he represented, had actually been ordinary humans, not Bloodthirsty Otherworldly Demons.
None of that mattered, though. The song had been chosen to suit the occasion.
Kallen turned slightly and looked outside, waiting for tonight's guests.
Would Captain Neo come?
The blue car appeared and stopped on the side of the road nearest the Funeral Society. The man who had wept that night got out. Today, he