As always, he was up before dawn and had made coffee and tea for the ladies of the house. This morning, however, he was in no mood to enjoy the silence. His search for grounding and connection to his grandmother, Mother Nature, was also at an all-time low. The longer the Mexican standoff with Casiel in the middle continued, the worse his mood became. It took all he had not to go into a rage. All he had to do was close his eyes and think of Elise and their girls to lower his temperature considerably. But his anger did not disappear completely. Beneath the surface, under a very, very thin layer, the Crown Prince of Hell was shaking at the bars of his cage. He was impatient to be released, to get his pound of flesh.
He had retreated to the pool and sat on a barstool at the pool bar with the rest of the files Morax had brought the night before. It took him barely ten minutes to find an undeniably established pattern. Almost all of the files were about people who had come into contact with black magic at a young or even very young age. They had done something stupid, not to get in his father's so-called good graces, but because it seemed cool. Kids challenging each other or egging each other on to do something in a group. Stupid things they had seen in a movie or read about in a book. Stupid things they didn't really believe in anyway. Silly things like a Ouija board, which was supposed to summon spirits. Basically, a harmless little game controlled by the participants' own subconscious. No ghosts or demons are involved. Some people may think there is something supernatural about it, but it is simply a game marketed by the American company Parker Brothers. The same company that markets Monopoly, and no one has ever suddenly become the owner of a real-life hotel chain with Monopoly. The problem is that this one innocent game sometimes leads to the first real step towards real black magic. This was the point where things usually went wrong. As a result, the person unexpectedly encountered a black witch or warlock, and the mark was placed on them. When he realized when this misery had begun, it hit him like a sledgehammer. He felt both sadness, guilt, and anger in his body, but quickly suppressed them. He knew he had to keep his cool from now on. He had noticed that the first victims, like Tess and Franklin, had received the marker shortly after his own birth. He lit a cigarette and looked ahead with a sullen expression. He was so lost in thought that he hadn't heard or felt Elise coming. She noticed immediately that he was not in the best of moods. She gave him a gentle kiss on the cheek and sat down on a barstool next to him. Trying to cheer him up a bit, she said:
"From the look on your face, you've found something you don't like. That even made you forget our little bedroom exercise, Love."
He got a gentle smile, kissed her gently, and said sincerely:
"I'm sorry babe and believe me I didn't forget anything and I'm more than ready and eager for a repeat tonight my wicked little witch."
He pointed to the files in front of him:
"But this is total crap."
"What do you mean?"
"Remember what Tess and Franklin said about coming into contact with black magic?"
She thought for a moment:
"About thirty years ago," she said.
"Indeed. You can take three guesses as to when that misery started and why I suspect all those innocents got marked."
"Thirty years, shortly after you were born?"
He nodded:
"In Louisiana, our two new friends were among the first victims. Something that continues to this day and still claims victims. If it had been a warlock or a black witch, I would have had them neutralized today and all the markings removed, but..."
"These are not isolated cases."
"No. There are several witches and warlocks active, and they are very active in looking for innocent victims."
"Do you have any idea how to solve this?"
"Yes, but I don't like it. I only have a certain number of demons that I can trust. I can't use them all, because then I'd be spreading my people too thin. With everything coming at us, I would rather have them concentrate on tasks related to our purpose. And if I were to use only my people, it would take less than two hours for whoever is responsible to realize that I am aware of this whole stinking mess. And I'm pretty sure it's going to be that bitch Gabriel again. She's really playing the long game and I just don't see the point. I'm going to keep my little group away from this as a sort of deception. If my people are out of it it is going to seem to whomever is following the developments that it is my father who is calling the shots. I guess I'll have to make up a story, have a chat with Dad to make it an official strategic objective, and send some hunters."
"What are hunters?"
"Compare them to bounty hunters who seek out criminals and bring them in. In this case, they are demons who go out and find certain people, witches, and warlocks, and take them to hell. The most famous example appears in so many movies and books that it makes Dad sick to his stomach whenever another one comes out. The sacrifice of a young virgin or, even more gruesome, a baby. These practices have been banned by Pap like since forever, but from time to time there are those who think they can ignore his ban or that he doesn't really mean it. They get a hunter sent to them and believe me, they regret their mistake very quickly. After that, Dad will make sure they regret their mistake for all eternity. Or, in exceptional cases, to retrieve souls that are destined for Hell but are so trapped that even Angels of Death like Rae Rae can't free them. And, yes, these are not exactly sweethearts, think Rasputin and others like him. The big problem is that these are just the first files and so we have absolutely no idea how deep this goes and who came up with this off-the-books plan and what the damn purpose is. Like I said, I suspect Gabriel, but there is no real proof yet."
"And what about Liz's little brother?"
He got his smirk back on his face:
"He's first on my program in Hell this morning. Of course, I have to arrange his protection along with Belios and Morax. Then I'll give him brown pants by preaching to him. That's all the boy needs, Babe. I have no doubt that the second part of his punishment, penance, will be resolved in no time. With a little help, maybe a few days. Usually, souls are left alone in their cells with the images of what they have done wrong. They have to figure it out for themselves. I'll make sure Tim gets a mentor. Bearus will be available, so he will be in good hands. Underneath that tough look in the tight leather with a linebacker's body is often enough a teddy bear, especially when it comes to kids and teens. Tim is a good kid, Red, he just did some stupid things. I'll leave him under the wings of Uncle B and he will be fine in no time. From now on, he'll be more or less free in hell until I can get him to heaven."
He saw life beginning to appear in the garden. He gave Elise a passionate kiss and said:
"Come my hot goddess, let us join the rest of the gang. I want to have some fun with Domino."
The smirk on his face told her exactly what he had in mind. After all, she had also been stealthily watching Domino and Argo and saw that something beautiful could probably be blooming there. She knew him well enough to know that he would not be able to withstand poking some innocent fun.
After the girls and Brandon left for their day on campus, Elise, Liz, and Domino sat with Alex on the patio for a while. He said:
"Are we ready ladies? Starting today we are going to kick ass."
Domino asked:
"What do you want from me today, Alex?"
"I'm going to hell in a minute. Then I need a few minutes with Pam's former parents to put the fear of hell in their bones so they will leave our girl alone once and for all. I don't think I'll be gone for more than an hour. If you three ladies want to go to the Deflin house first, I will meet you there. Just call our new friends in Texas and ask them if they already have a rough outline for the convoy and a rough outline for producing the remaining one hundred and fifty units. If production takes too long, we will need to find one or more additional smaller manufacturers. As soon as your office is ready, Domino, I want you to start working on the documents for Fay, Hope, and Sam so that we can become their legal guardians. Would you also please look into what would be needed for us to actually adopt the girls and if you can find names that would make everything go quickly and smoothly? AND no word to the girls themselves ok? Elise and Jules no longer need an extra layer of protection since the whole damn circle has been eliminated, but a real legal ID for Elise might come in handy."
Domino nodded:
"Will do. By the end of the day, the Baton Rouge court records will have a clean court order proving that you have been appointed the girls' legal guardian. I will also find a good Family Court judge to expedite the adoptions."
"Liz and Elise, if you could just put your heads together for both the Seven/Eleven and the mini-Walmart. Try to find wholesalers who can deliver things by the truckload if necessary. Like you said, towels, baby stuff, and I don't know what else. I can certainly manifest some of this, but I won't have the time to do it all the time. I would suggest, for example, that you pick out the basic stuff someone needs from Amazon's catalog or something like that and print it out. I seem to remember you said something like a thousand bath towels, well then, I can manifest five times two hundred towels so there are five different colors. After that, however, it will have to come through a wholesaler."
Elise said:
"You mean something like having the warehouse itself completely full the first time but replenishing the stock and/or new stuff through wholesalers."
"Absolutely right, but also staff to man both places. Maybe Tess and Franklin know people, otherwise you need to call Frank and use his network for staffing. Frank just received a young monk to make contacts for the campus project. We can also use these contacts to find staff for our village. For example, think of single mothers who are financially strapped and could really use a job. I am thinking of two buildings above ground. Let's call the seven/eleven the Kwik-E-Mart and the larger one the H&H. I will provide a dock for trucks and vans to make deliveries and one or more underground floors for storage. The third building is simple, just a laundromat."
Elise laughed heartily and the other two sat there giggling too. She said:
"Kwik-E-Mart, I know where that came from. Then again, what is H&H?"
"But honey, of course, it stands for Heaven and Hell..."
Alex stood up, gave Elise a rather catchy kiss on the mouth, and they heard Liz say laughing:
"Get a room..."
With his familiar grin, he said:
"Why don't you and Rae Rae get a room, but one big enough for B to fit in..."
This caused poor Liz to blush as Alexander, grinning, disappeared into hell.