Pamela's parents sat at the breakfast table. Jonathan appeared in the room in his black outfit and balaclava with the skull in front of his mouth. They were startled by his sudden appearance. He had no desire to waste much time on them. He ignited hellfire in his eyes and said angrily:
"I am Jonathan, the Crown Prince of Hell. You are my father's followers, so listen carefully, for I will say this only once. If you want to remain in the king's good graces, what I am about to say is of vital importance to you. If not, your stay in his kingdom will not be as faithful servants, but as prisoners in the ninth circle!"
He wisely did not add that his father did not have loyal servants who practiced black magic, for the simple reason that he hated such characters like the plague and preferred to see their afterlife as miserable as possible. Technically he did not lie either he just twisted their own beliefs a bit for the good cause.
"If it becomes necessary for me to return, I will break every bone in your body before I rip your heart from your chest and feed it to the hellhounds! You had a daughter. Now you no longer have a daughter! Pamela is my daughter now, and that makes her a legitimate Princess of Hell. Try to contact her, try to get in her way, and the next thing you know, you will be lying before my father's throne. You will never take her name in your mouth again, for she is royalty now and you are servants. Tomorrow or the day after, someone will come by with papers. You will not ask what kind of papers those are; you will just sign them and keep your mouth shut. Do you understand, or do I have to take you to hell right now?"
The two did not know how fast to nod.
"Well, I'm going to take her personal belongings now and if you know what's good for you, just keep quiet and keep your damn trap shut!"
After adjusting things in Hell based on the new information and giving Pamela's parents the scare of their existence, he appeared at the front entrance of the Deflin house. He saw Elise's gray X5 parked nearby and knew he could now get down to the more mundane business of their plan. He quickly walked inside to the study in the library annex where they had agreed to meet. Besides Elise, Liz, and Domino, Tess and Franklin were waiting for him. Tess shot up to hug him. He allowed it with a warm smile.
"My Lord, when we got up this morning it was as if we felt so much lighter. As if a great weight had been lifted from our shoulders. How can we ever thank you?"
"You don't need to thank me, Tess. Franklin and you are innocent, you should never have gotten that marker. Instead of Hell, you are now on the VVIP list for Heaven. But let us say that this reception is for the distant future because I would very much like to work closely with you for a long time to come."
He walked to stand behind the large desk that would become his new desk. He stroked the top of the magnificent antique desk for a moment. He addressed Liz first:
"Darling, your little brother is in good hands now. He has some work to do, but Bearus is going to help him, so he will be fine in no time. He is safe and free from the negative influence of Hell, so you can rest easy as far as Tim is concerned."
She flew around his neck and buried him with kisses. Sneakily he said:
"Dear Liz, Elise has nothing against you claiming Rae Rae and B, but I don't think she wants to share me with you."
This made the emotional Liz laugh and allowed Jon to get down to business. He snapped his fingers and the plans he had brought with him appeared on the large table. A second snap made a new set of plans appear:
"Okay, this is what the house and its surroundings look like now. And this is what I want to do with it. We'll go over it a little. Please point out things that are wrong, that need to be changed, or that could be better."
For the next hour, the six of them went over the plans until they were satisfied that everything made as much sense as possible. Elise pointed to something on the plan for the gardens and asked:
"What is that over there in the corner?"
He said with a smirk:
"Those are the old stables and outbuildings for what used to be farm tools. I am going to restore and modernize the stables. I'm going to turn this whole corner into a petting zoo. Horses, ponies, goats, sheep, lamas, alpacas, and in the outbuildings smaller animals like rabbits, guinea pigs, and so on. Animals that have been rescued from the animal shelters and we will offer them a sanctuary where they can live peacefully and no doubt be showered with love by the children that will come to live here. There will be a big sign over the front gate that says, "Sorry, unicorns are no longer available.".
Just a little bit of his revenge on the youngest twins for ambushing him with their request for unicorns. This made Liz, Domino, and Elise laugh because they had seen his face when Sam and Jules had asked for the unicorns with some mischief in their eyes.
"Just to make sure the kids have something to do and to make them feel worthwhile by being partly responsible for taking care of their animals. An innocent way to see if there are any future farmers or veterinarians among them who would be very useful in Eden."
He looked at Franklin and said:
"Sorry friend, sometimes my brain works too fast to be good. We're going to need more people. The same conditions as the rest of the people we are going to hire. People who have experience with animals large and small, and who we can trust to treat our four-legged and probably bipedal friends with love and respect. If they also have an affinity for children, that would be a huge plus".
The man said:
"No problem, My Lord..."
But was cut off by Jon:
"Okay, first can we agree to put the whole My Lord thing behind us? Official meetings and ceremonies, that's something else, but around here like now, just Jon, please."
They nodded and Franklin continued:
"I have a weakness for animals myself and through Facebook, I am in contact with a lady who has an animal sanctuary. As you can imagine, Covid has caused misery there as well, and the lady is also getting a little older. She has been looking for people to take over and continue her little paradise for some time now but with little success. If you like, I would like to suggest that we simply take over everything and move the whole circus here. There are some animals among them that are real characters. It could be a good start for our petting zoo."
"Franklin, you are a genius. Call the lady and tell her if she wants, she can have an apartment here at Deflin House if she wants to stay close to her animals. Any ideas on staff?"
He thought for a moment and then said:
"I think I have an idea. There is a church not far from here that does a lot of outreach to the poor and works closely with them. Since you said that we should get our staff from the socially disadvantaged, I think it would be good if I talked to the pastor. Who knows, we might get lucky. Otherwise, we should cast our net wider."
"Okay, perfect. I'll leave it up to you, Franklin."
When everyone agreed, he closed his eyes for a few seconds. When he opened them again, they glowed bright gold and the others felt that his immense powers were at work. They literally felt the inside of the building change and saw and smelled the entire house being modernized. After fifteen minutes he said:
"Okay, I think it should be ready. Let's go through the house and then the garden and take a look. If there are small things that need to be changed, I can do that on the spot."
It was almost two o'clock when they returned to his office. The representative from the company that would deliver the trailers and manufacture a whole bunch more was due to arrive any minute. He said:
"Okay, I think everything looks good. At least the infrastructure for the trailers is in place and they will deliver the first twelve tomorrow. In the house itself, twelve units had been completed. The basement has been turned into a very elaborate luxury spa. In the garden, there is a large swimming pool, a children's pool, a wading pool, and a playground. The left suite under the roof is also finished, so Tezzie and Franklin can start moving into their new accommodations. If you find any other little things, please write them down so I can address them when I arrive in the morning."
He looked at Else:
"Babe, were you and Liz able to put together a catalog?"
"Yes, it is quite extensive and we will continue with it in a moment when you take the rep for a walk."
"Perfect, remember there is no shortage of space. Under the H&H building, there are three full floors set up in a warehouse style. It's better to have too much than too little. What you have collected I will manifest tonight at home and place in the warehouse. Tomorrow we will do the same with the Kwik-E-Mart. First the interior, like shelves and refrigerators and freezers, and then the contents and the stock in the warehouse."
Everyone got a happy smile and Elise asked:
"Does that mean we can start soon, love?"
He nodded:
"Yep. Liz and Domino can move into their new trailer tomorrow or the day after if they want. Project Eden can start as early as Thursday or Friday as far as I'm concerned. Slowly at first to get our feet wet and after a few days, we can pick up the pace as far as I'm concerned. We will be using Rae Rae for the first few pick-ups. Her wings and Angel status will bring peace of mind to the people we want to transfer. At least a lot more peace than seeing the Antichrist. Oh, Liz, before I forget. Call Maggie and tell her to meet here at eight on Wednesday. The ceremony room will be set up so we can get this over with at the same time. All the sisters and all the children from the children's circle, no exceptions, Liz. I want them all under my personal protection as soon as possible."
He looked at Domino with a grin:
"One Prada with holes in it is enough, I think. Right, little Prada assassin?"
She turned as red as a tomato and he had to laugh.
"After that, we can use Argo. He doesn't need wings to translocate, and his gentle nature is perfect for calming people who are already in crisis."
He looked at Domino again with his grin:
"You're going to see your little demon more often, you little Prada killer."
Now it was absolutely impossible for her to get any redder, much to the pleasure of the others in the room. She asked a bit shyly:
"I'm not going to lose that nickname anytime soon, am I?"
He replied with more than clear mischief:
"Nope, not in the next few centuries..."