Sunday Part 2

A while later Liz, Domino, and he were gathered in the new spacious upstairs study he had manifested that morning. Elise had taken it upon herself to alternate between the study and keeping an eye on the children downstairs. They had divided the first few steps between them and were now deep in their work. Until Liz said:

"I thought the house was huge, but the surrounding area is really huge. The realtor is Mrs. Dekker. The price is huge, Jon, even by Louisiana standards, at the moment the asking price is ten million and there is quite a bit of renovation work on it, so the price is not quite astronomical. In good condition, I think it would be another ten or so. In mint condition, only your grandfather might know."

"I know Mrs. Dekker; she sold me this house. Do you know anything about the original asking price?"

"Yes, nineteen and a half million."

"Okay, call her, but tell her that I will agree to the original price, not the current price. That I will pay as I did with the last two purchases, immediately and a few minutes later on her account. Just for fun, to give those nasty estate developers, those hyenas, a run for their money. We want immediate access to the estate in return. As said no time to waist."

Jon pulled out his laptop and started looking again. He searched for cases at home and abroad that had a supernatural scent to try to gauge what was going on. It didn't take him long to see a pattern emerging. There was a clear increase in cases involving black magic, whether that magic was real or not. Devil worship also seemed to be on the rise. But the cases that appeared in the news from around the world were more likely to be cases of idiots who thought they knew something about such things. Between the lines, he could tell that it was really nothing but sex, drugs, and violence. He also came across things he liked even less than those that had to do with black magic or worshiping his father. White witches increasingly found themselves between a rock and a hard place. There were too many for it to be a coincidence. After a few minutes, Liz came back and said:

"Strange, the current owner is an elderly lady in a retirement home. She will only sell if she has talked to the potential buyer first."

"Will Mrs. Dekker make an appointment as soon as possible? I am afraid we have to get everything ready as soon as possible. The way I see things, the white witches are going to have a harder and harder time, and I don't know if the Deflin house will be enough. Probably not, but if we have to expand into secondary places like Deflin House and we don't have a working original safe house, that's going to create trust issues with those we want to use in those other places."

Liz nodded yes:

"Yes she does, she'll call right back."

Next to speak was Domino:

"Jon, just across the border from Texas there is a very large manufacturer of the luxury trailers you are looking for. According to their website, they should have a little over a hundred of them in stock. Two bedrooms, bathroom, kitchenette, living room. Basically little houses on wheels. I'll send you a link so you can see pictures of them."

He clicked on the link and liked what he saw. As a temporary emergency shelter, they were more than adequate. Even he, with his taste for luxury, had to admit that they were perfectly suitable.

"Domino, call them. We want them all, right now. To show that we are serious, you will make a down payment of twenty-five percent. In your laptop is a shortcut to my bank. Use my play account. That goes for everything in the coming days. Just raid it completely if you need to, I can always replenish it in a minute or so. I want to see a representative at Deflin House on Tuesday afternoon at 2 PM. That will give me enough time to manifest the infrastructure, and then they'll just have to put the trailers there and hook them up. Starting Wednesday, if they can deliver all the trailers convoy style, I'll pay the other seventy-five percent immediately and a fat bonus if they can deliver and make them habitable on or before the deadline. Can you also find a specialty store? Physical here in Baton Rouge otherwise on-line. We need a shipment of seven hundred and fifty plates, glasses, cups, cutlery, etc... for the kitchens. Also sheets, pillows, towels, bathrobes, anything you can think of."

Liz's cell phone started making noise and she picked it up.

"This is Liz Mr. Drago's PA."

Liz liked the sound of that and was happy to use the phrase as a smile appeared around her mouth. After two minutes she turned back to Jon:

"Even stranger. The lady wants to see you at five. But only if Elise comes. I hope you don't mind my engagement. Mrs. Dekker will send me the exact address."

Jon sat thinking, letting his eyes glow golden for a moment before nodding and saying:

"Well, let's see what that means."

For the next few hours, Jon walked back and forth between the office and the girls in the house. One by one the rooms were getting a fresh coat of paint, some with new flooring and some even with furniture already installed. The girls had done a good job of imagining the things they wanted. All the bathrooms had been remodeled at Elise's request, and he had to admit that her taste was truly outstanding. Walking through the house again shortly before five, he estimated that his work on the house would be finished the next day and the rest would be up to Elise and the girls themselves. A little later it was time for their appointment. Meanwhile, the five children were playing in the pool under the watchful eyes of Liz and Domino.

A few minutes before five, Jon knocked on the door of a suite in an upscale retirement home. A girl of about sixteen came to open it, he said:

"Hi, we have an appointment with Mrs. Deflin."

"Oh, yes, Grandma was expecting you, come in."

They were led into the living room where a woman of about seventy was waiting for them. She stood up to shake hands with Jon and Elise.

"Mr. Drago and Miss Paschal welcome, I am Jennifer Deflin and this is my precious granddaughter Pamela."

"Nice to meet you ladies."

Jon said and Elise said with a frown on her forehead.

"Nice to meet you, Jennifer."

She asked:

"You are a white witch?"

"True, but I distanced myself of my own free will so as not to endanger the coven and Maggie and her mother. In fact, my husband was descended from a black warlock. He wanted nothing to do with it, and he was the sweetest man I could have ever asked for. He hated his family's black magic so much that he insisted that I continue to use my maiden name so that the estate could never be associated with them. His family, however, was and still is up to their necks in it. I retired to keep them away from the coven."

"I am sorry for you, Jennifer, that you have been cut off from the coven."

"I did what I had to do out of love, my dear child. There is no sacrifice too great for true love."

A broad, warm smile appeared on the older woman's face:

"I never expected to be in the presence of a sister who was a direct descendant of the Paschal line, and certainly not in the presence of the Prince of Light. Let alone that the Prince would claim a Paschal as his own and make her the High Priestess of Light."

Elise looked at her in shock:

"How do you know; this has not been discussed except with a small circle of intimates?"

"Dear child, witches gossip as much as anyone else, white or black. And some events are simply inescapable once the ball gets rolling."

Jennifer addressed him:

"My Lord..."

But she was cut off by Jon, who said:

"My name is Jonathan Drago and I prefer Jon."

She studied him for two seconds and spoke:

"Okay Jon, what do you want to do with my house?"

"I need space to house a whole bunch of white witches. Sisters in serious trouble who desperately need shelter and help to get back on their feet. Deflin House is perfect for that."

She asked with a mischievous smile:

"Is that the only reason?"

With an equally mischievous smile, he replied:

"Absolutely not, consider it a middle finger to my father and his dark minions. Deflin? A little too close to Devil, don't you think? And what could be better than setting up a beacon of light from the Devil's house?"

She had a pleasant smile on her face and Pam and Elise couldn't help but laugh. She said:

"Jon, sometimes you really are twelve."

"You're insulting me Red, I'm at least thirteen."

And he stuck his tongue out at her. Jennifer shook her head; this Antichrist was a strange cat.

"All right Jon, I'll call Mrs. Dekker, the property is yours. But I think she made a mistake. After all, she told me you wanted to pay the original price, not the current price."

"No mistake, Jennifer. I hate it when good people are exploited by the economy or by developers waiting like hyenas to pounce. And in this case, it is certainly the case, because there is a developer waiting for the price to drop even further. So yes, the original price."

"I don't need that much anymore. I'm old and I'm comfortable here, I can easily pay for this place until the end of my life and there's still a lot left. Jon, you can save a lot of money."

"I don't want to save money, Jennifer. I'm as rich as the sea is deep. Don't you need it? Then set up a trust fund for Pam but leave out her parents."

This made her laugh again and she said:

"You are well informed that I do not get along with my son and his wife, and that I have cut them out of my will."

"I never go to a meeting without knowing exactly who will be there and their motives for wanting to see me. If someone also insists that I bring my Elise, that sets off alarms. Your son has unfortunately inherited some of the black in your husband's blood, and his wife is not much better. Light attracts light, but darkness attracts darkness. Both of them have black in their blood, something that only increased after they met. Your husband was the absolute exception, which is why you were so happy together."

Pam sat there looking deathly pale and only now seemed to come out of her trance:

"Grandma, you can't do this! This is so much money, I can't accept it."

Instead of Jennifer, it was Jon who said:

"Really, I don't understand why you people are so fascinated with money. It's just green paper. Pamela, invest it wisely and you can easily live the rest of your life, enjoy life, and even support charities. You are up to your eyeballs in financial trouble because those idiots who call themselves your parents won't spend a dime more than the bare minimum on you. They have forbidden you to accept help from your grandmother. They even went so far as to enforce this through the courts. Why this extreme measure? Because they noticed that you are already as white as your grandmother! Something you can't argue with until you're legally an adult and can hire your own lawyer who you can't pay. You drive a rusty old junkyard car that could die on you at any moment. You have almost no clothes, you struggle to buy new ones, and in two years you want to go to college but you can never afford to get into LSU. Because of this, you will remain condemned to jobs like Burger King, or worse if you are unlucky. Because of your parents, you will not have a real degree. They just don't give a shit. They can forget about what they had set their sights on, the Deflin estate and its financial value. The blackness in their blood makes their greed grow. Put an obstacle in the way of that greed, and then that in turn causes their negative emotions like hatred and envy to be fed. And these, in turn, are directed toward all that is good. In this case, you. The fact that you have your grandmother's white in your blood and that sooner or later you will get what they crave ensures that they cannot stand you. That they will only do the bare minimum for you because they are legally obligated to."

The girl had begun to cry quietly at Jon's words. Elise had sat down with her to comfort her, and Pam had laid her head on her shoulders. Jon continued:

"Like I said, I hate it when good people have to suffer because of the misbehavior of others who have black souls. Your parents are not quite black souls yet, Pam, but that will not take long and they will undoubtedly be my father's guests in the future. However, it will take some time for your grandmother to settle the trust fund and for you to enjoy it. So here is my suggestion; we could very well use a live-in babysitter, an au pair if you will. You will have more than enough free time to do your own thing, just spend an evening with our two little Hellions from time to time. We will pay you well, so all those worries about clothes, school, and whatever else will be off the books. The only condition I have is this: you're going to transfer to the Campus immediately and you're going to do your best to get your grades back up and keep them there."

Not knowing what to say, her grandmother smiled encouragingly at her:

"Child, if you are not safe and well taken care of by the Prince and his High Priestess, then you are nowhere.

Pam wiped away her tears and blew her nose:

"Yes, Grandma, you are right, and they would rather lose me than have around anyway."

She looked at Jon and Elise and said:

"Yes, I would like that."

"Okay, perfect"

Jon said with a smile:

"Welcome to the loony bin, because it's about to get fucking crazy."

Elise said:

"If it's so bad at home and you need some rest, you're welcome to come with us. We are just furnishing a new house and have a very spacious room available for you."

She looked at the ground and said:

"I think I would like to do that, but I don't want to go home first, but I still need it for clean clothes. But also for some personal things. I don't have that many, but they're important to me."

Jon laughed:

"Girl, clothes are the last thing you need. A whole new wardrobe starting tomorrow. Well, after we get to campus to enroll you. And I'll take care of your stuff once your room is set up. Your parents are more or less fond of my father, so they might as well talk to the Crown Prince of Hell. I promise your problems with them will be over from now on."

After the grandmother reassured her once more, the girl followed the demon to the house. Once there, she was introduced to everyone. When Elise told the girls that Pam was coming to live with them and would be babysitting Sam and Jules because Fay and Hope already had jobs. Pamela was practically dragged into the house by an overly enthusiastic Samantha and Jules to pick out her own room. Elise walked laughing behind them.

Left alone on the patio with Liz, he took out his cell phone and called Emma:

"Hey Emma, it's Jon Drago."

"Oh Jon, how nice. What can I do for you?"

"Is your husband with you Maggie?"

"Just a minute, he's in the kitchen, I'll walk over."

After a minute he heard:

"You're on speaker, Jon."

"Wonderful, Jacques, do you have another 325 convertible in your showroom or in your stock?"

He heard a male voice:

"Yes, we have those in stock Jon."

"Do you happen to have a blue one?"

"Yellow, red, and blue in stock."

"I'll take the blue one. Is it a full option like the others?"

"Absolutely."

"It's a surprise. Would you get everything in order tonight and put it in front of the house with a big red ribbon on it? About nine o'clock and take an old thing and destroy it. You can't look past it; you'll get heartburn by just looking at it."

He heard laughter from both Emma and her husband who said to him with obvious pleasure in his voice:

"No problem Jon, you can count on me. I'm going to the showroom now. Emma had a big smile on her face since yesterday. Now that you're here, she can forget all her worries about the coven. Thank you."

"No thanks necessary, Emma, you can just send the bank account number and the total price to this cell phone and the money will be in your account in a few minutes."

"Euch, no negotiating the price."

"No, if you still think I pay too much then give some to charity. I always pay full price. Have a good evening you two."

Liz stood there looking at him amused and asked playfully:

"Sure, you're not Oprah in disguise? You get a car, you get a car, you get a car, everybody gets a car."

He laughed out loud and made a glass of his mix appear.

"Would you like a glass of wine, or have you reached your limit?"

No, I haven't had anything since the first glass this afternoon, so I can have another glass. Especially that Chardonnay of yours, it's in a class of its own."

"I know Liz because I'm in a class of my own."

He said with a wink as he manifested the glass. She laughed out loud, knowing at the same time that what he said was absolutely true.

"Your mood seems to be a little better already Liz, nice to see and hear."

She blushed a little:

"Jon, you can't imagine what you did for Brandon and me. Being stuck in the deepest part of the night, thinking it's never going to end, and then all of a sudden there's the most beautiful sunrise a person can ever see."

"That's what it's all about, darling, light. My father can't use it anymore, but it's in my blood. He wants me to be as dark as Hell is, and I have decided to illuminate the Earth with the light he can no longer manage, to rival the sun. The ultimate middle finger, so to speak."

"Whatever you plan, Jon, count on me to stand by your side. More and more of our sisters will do so and be grateful to you."

"They shouldn't be grateful to me; I don't want blind devotion. I hate blind devotion, blind worship, blind docility. And much less do I want people to throw themselves on their knees before me. I want them to see me for who I am, not for what I am."

From behind him, Elise wrapped her arms around his waist and said softly:

"We are going to make sure that people see you, Jon, not the title."

He placed a hand on her hands:

"I'm going to need your help, honey. I'm thirty and for thirty years alone, lonely, for thirty years people have only seen my title. It's hard to believe that people can see me, my true self. Most people, if they saw me and knew I was the Antichrist, would go into a blind panic and run away or do something stupid like try to kill me."

"We will help you dear Jon, not just me, we your family, Liz, the whole coven is behind you for what you have done. And now you have taken it into your good heart to start something that can help all our sisters in need."

She came to stand before him next to Liz. She walked up to him and gave him a soft kiss on the lips:

"You are a good man, Jonathan Drago. Keep it up and you'll have an army telling you the same thing I'm telling you. In time, you will begin to believe it."