Demoness_Kiss The elves is part of the lore for the story, more will be revealed in the coming releases.
The entire premise of the story is each of the characters we've encountered so far, are dealing with some very serious issues. This is very much a story of redemption, recovery, and healing. This cannot be brought to light unless the initial tone of the story is set so very dark. Each character the readers will have the opportunity to help recover, and not all issues areas plainly visible as Shiela or Ashley. (Did you pick up on Andi's issues? How about the MC's?)
But as the story progresses just as much attention will need to be paid to the overall story arc as each character. Choices in this novel are going to have a very VERY large impact on the story.
The mixing of Fantasy and Reality allows us to interact with these very real issues that people deal with everyday, while allowing for the possibility of some fantastical remedy, allowing them to move on. Something that very few people suffering with these issues today have the possibility to do. All while maintaining the boundary of disbelief, the ability to say "This isn't real."