Although she had initially been unsure about where Ellie's dollhouse had come from, it hadn't taken long for her to figure it out.
"The bad man gave you the pretty dollhous, didn't he?" She asked Ellie one night after she made the decision to confront Lucifer. "Did he come into your room and give to you?"
"Yes," Ellie nodded. "He gave me a toy!"
"Why did he give you the toy?" Sarah questioned.
"So she'll know where she'll be living when she's older," said a voice that made a chill go down Sarah's spine.
"She is not coming to live with you," Sarah told him. "You're sick if you think you can just take a little child like that!"
"Didn't you hear me say she wouldn't come until she was older?" Lucifer sighed. "You know, people are so quick to vilify me and call me monstrous and unfair that they don't listen to what I actually have to say. Now, I was going to wait until Ellie was actually grown up to take her. You would have had years and years left. But now you pissed me off and I'm very close to changing my mind."
"No!" Sarah cried and grabbed for Ellie. "Don't you dare!"
"Oh, come now," Lucifer told her. "With that baby in your belly, you'll be so busy that you'll hardly notice she's gone!"
"I will," Sarah said firmly. "Every single day of my life."
Since he wasn't getting anywhere with Sarah, he caught Ellie's eye. "Sweetheart, your mommy says that she doesn't want you to come to the big house with me, even though it'll let her see your daddy again. Isn't she silly?"
"I get to see Daddy?" Ellie smiled. "Yay!"
"No," Lucifer shook his head. "You don't get to see your father because you'll be coming with me. But your mother will get to see him when you do."
"I want to see my daddy!" Ellie frowned. "Let me see my daddy!"
"Well, look at that," Sarah smirked. "Seems like you've lost whatever hold you had on her."
"Eleanor, dear," he tried to reason with her as Sarah put her down and then sat back, looking amused. "Eleanor, why would you want to see your father when you can have a big house and chocolate cake instead?"
"Cause I love Daddy," Ellie said and bit Lucifer. "I don't like you. Go away!"
"You little brat!" Lucifer sneered. "Oh, all right. I suppose I know when I'm beat. At least for now. But I'll be back. And I'll make sure that when she comes with me, she's not a little girl, if that's what you're so concerned about!"
"Bye-bye," Ellie said and waved at him before she and Sarah pushed the dollhouse over, and he scowled at them and disappeared from the room.
"Are you okay?" Sarah asked as she hugged Ellie tight. "Are you scared? You don't have to be scared. The bad man is gone now."
"Don't make me go!" Ellie cried.
"Don't worry, sweetheart," Sarah assured her and held her as close as she could. "I won't."
"What's going on in here?" Junior poked his head in. "What was with all the banging and crashing? Is everything okay?"
"No," Sarah shook her head. "No, Sean. Everything is not okay. The bad man just showed up and made an even more brazen attempt to grab Ellie!"
Junior's eyes widened. "Oh, my god! If he can get into the house, we can't stay here! We should go!"
"No, we shouldn't," Sarah shook her head. "It wouldn't do any good. He got in by magic, which means he could do it wherever we go. So let's just all huddle together in the same bed, or at least the same bedroom." She eyed Ellie. "Would it make you feel better to be sleeping in the same room as Sean and me?"
"Yes, please," Ellie nodded and cuddled against her mother. So they all made their way to Sarah's bedroom and she and Junior settled into bed with Ellie fitting snugly between them.
"Better?" Junior asked the little girl as he stroked her dark hair.
"Yes," Ellie nodded and closed her eyes.
"Good," Junior said. "But if you get scared, don't hesitate to wake your mommy or me, all right?"
"Yes," Ellie nodded. "Night-night." Then she fell asleep, but both Sarah and Sean were too riled up by Lucifer's appearance and threat to do the same, so they just stayed up all night and didn't take their eyes off of Ellie for a minute.
"All right, all you scum!" Lucifer called as he strode into the demon living quarters. "Get your asses out here, chop-chop! We need to have a talk! And you, Dorian! Make sure Jeffrey hears this! I know he's been avoiding me!"
Cursing under their breaths, the demons all dragged themselves to where Lucifer stood so they could hear whatever horrible thing he had in store for them next.
"What?" AnnaLynne asked. "What are you going to do with us now? Nothing bad, I hope!"
"What could be worse than this?" Josh asked.
"I actually want to tell you all that you'll soon be going home to your families to live out your cozy, boring little lives," Lucifer smiled. "You can thank me at any time."
"Not to sound ungrateful," Josh said. "But why are you giving us this? You never do anything for nothing!"
"And I didn't!" Lucifer told him. "Thanks to your daughter, you'll be set free! You'll be going out...and she'll be coming in!"
"But she's just a baby!" Josh cried. "How could you?"
"She won't be a baby," Lucifer shook her head. "Not when she gets here, I promise you."
"What does that mean?" Josh asked, feeling his whole body tense again. Then he felt someone grab his arm.
"Be careful, son," Rodan whispered. "Don't do anything foolish. Remember what happened last time."
"Yes," Lucifer nodded. "Listen to your father, Josh. He's very wise."
"Just tell me," Josh got out. "Are you going to kill her? I think I deserve to know that much."
"No," Lucifer shook his head. "I will not. I'll just change her a little. It won't harm her, I promise. And it'll get you home. It's a good thing!"
"Thank you," Rodan said as Josh opened his mouth, undoubtedly to say something else that would just make Lucifer angry. "Thank you so much."
"You're welcome," Lucifer nodded. "I don't know when exactly it is that you'll be leaving because some people in Josh's household are proving resistant to reason. But it'll happen at some point. I'm sure of that." He then turned on his heel, leaving the demons to whisper among themselves about the possibility of getting out of hell.
He'd learned his lesson, he told himself as he stood under Ellie's window and prepared to visit her for the last time. He was going to change her. To make her grow. He was tired of waiting. He'd have to be careful though. He didn't want that fool of a mother of hers waking up and then coming in to ruin everything.
He zapped himself into her room and stood over her crib (which Sean and Sarah had finally felt comfortable enough letting her sleep in alone because Lucifer hadn't shown up in a while), not touching her or trying make any noise. Just watching her sleep and trying not to think about how she presently had her thumb in her mouth and was sucking away.
That's a good thing to know about your future partner-in-crime, he thought to himself. Good thing I won't have to look at it for very long, though.
Then, he brought his finger down on her forehead and she was suddenly bathed in light and then, when the room had darkened again, the dim moonlight struck a young woman much too big for her crib, with long, dark, curly hair covering her face. She let out a snort and her eyes popped open as she covered herself with a blanket. "What?" She asked, looking at him. "What the hell is going on? What have you done?"
"Well, first, why don't I make you more comfortable," he suggested, zapping her into a big brass bed and making sure she was now clothed in a silky, peach-colored night gown. "There," he smiled. "Much better. You won't miss being a toddler, I promise you."
"How did you make me older?" Ellie questioned. "Give me a mirror. I want to look at myself!"
"Well, you don't need a mirror for me to tell you you're very beautiful," he told her. He then put his hand on her bare thigh and she slapped him.
"Am I supposed to find that charming?" She questioned. "Cause I don't. And I'm not just coming with you now that you've made me grow, either."
"And why not?" Lucifer questioned. "Why would you possibly want to stay in this house when you know where you could be living instead?"
"I will stay here because you know what's here?" Ellie asked. "People who love me and care about me. People who don't just see me as a tool to be used for their own gain, which I know you do, even though I know you're trying to hide it."
"Oh come now!" Lucifer protested. "How do you know that? You've only been able to begin having conversations with me just recently. Let me explain what I want you for."
"All right," Ellie stood up and walked right up next to him. She was still tinier than he was, but at least being on her feet made her feel not so disadvantaged against him. "But it's not going to change my mind, whatever you tell me."
"Do you remember me telling you that your father will be free to come home to your mother if you do what I ask?" He questioned. "Isn't that something to think about?"
"You're trying to blackmail me!" Ellie cried. "You're not allowing me to make my own choice! You're just putting me in a position where if I don't do what you want, I'll be made to feel horribly guilty!"
"Well, if I gave you a choice to come with me would you take it?" Lucifer questioned.
"No!" Ellie scowled. "Not when bossing me around and expecting me to do things your own way is how you do things. Not when I know coming with you means I'll be separated from my family and never see them again."
"What if I gave you time to say your goodbyes?" Lucifer offered, a major concession for him. "Then would you come with me?"
"No," Ellie shook her head. "At least not now. Expecting me to come with you now, or tomorrow, or even next week is an expectation that will not be met. Accept that."
Lucifer tried to hold onto his temper because as much as he hated to admit it, he realized that frightening her would probably not be the best way to get her on his side, at least not when he wanted her to think of him as friendly and non-threatening. "I have been kinder to you than I am to practically anyone," he told her. "Do you realize that, Eleanor? Do you really and truly realize that?"
"Yes," Ellie nodded. "I know you've been, by your own standards, kind to me. I suppose that in a way, I'm grateful. I'll probably even give into you at some point and do what you want. But that time isn't now. I will not be black-mailed. I will not be coerced. I will come with you because I decided, on my own, to do so. Do you understand?"
"Yes," Lucifer heaved a long sigh. "I understand, but I still don't like it." He paused. "Are you saying that you will, one day, come to me of your own volition? Will you actually do it, or are you just saying that because you want me to go away?"
"No, I mean it," Ellie assured him. "And now that you know that...leave. Please."
Lucifer sighed and then zapped the dollhouse back into one piece and a whole new wardrobe into the closet for her. "Just a little something for you to remember me by until we meet again," he whispered in her ear, his hand sliding over her curves. "Goodbye, Eleanor."
Once he was gone, there was a knock on the door and both Junior and Sarah made their way into the room.
"Did he come again?" Sarah asked. "Ellie, are you okay?"
"Yes," Ellie nodded and came into the light as her mother's jaw dropped. "I know it might not look like it because I've changed, but...I'm fine."
"What happened to you?" Junior questioned. "Was it something he did?"
"Yes," Ellie nodded. "But the good news is that I think I got him off our backs for a while. I have enough time to head straight to Grandpa Matthew's house and have him teach me how to use a gun, because I think we're gonna need it."
"I could teach you," Sarah offered. "We don't need to go all the way to his house. And I think the less he knows about the Devil having his lusty gaze on you, the better."
