Author's note: This chapter is short, but it's really the turning point where I focus more on my story and stop parodying so much of the original book. So, that's why it gets its own chapter. Really my next few chapters are probably going to be shorter, but more happens, so...

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Laura looked over to where her fiancée was sitting. How do I feel about him leaking info to the press? Cooper will probably be gone. Deanna wanted to keep Cooper so the case could go south and her husband will be forced to move them to keep the family together. Do I want the case to go south? What about Jeanne's daughter? Jeanne wants to move back to Japan, if she does… Then her daughter won't be under my teaching, regardless of anything else. No, I want both of them to stay here where I can teach their children. That's what my father would want. So, how do I feel about what Terry did? I don't know. …No. Even if the outcome is favorable, I don't like his motives for what he did. I don't like how he's so insecure or how he doesn't talk to me about big things like this. Why am I still with him? If he's willing to, for all he knows, sabotage the lives of four innocent children, then he disgusts me. Maybe that's not demonic of me, but… I don't care! How dare he disregard the lives of children like this? "Terry, did you leak this information to the press?" She asked, keeping her voice calm.

"Yeah. Why?" He answered, not looking up from the TV.

Laura sighed, "Do you think Cooper's a competent lawyer?" I keep giving you chances. Please show me they weren't all in vain. Please say no…

"I have no reason to think he isn't." He said, looking at her. Laura's heart plummeted. "I don't like how you keep using his first name."

"Terry, what about the children?" One more chance…

"What about them?"

"If they have a bad lawyer then they're more likely to be separated from their parents. Are you really so callous?"

Terry caressed her shoulder. "Laura, Laura! Love of my life! As long as you're not separated from me, who cares?"

It was the worst thing he could have said. A wave of lucidity came over her. She sat straight and told him, "I'm leaving you."

"What?" He moved his hand off her like he had been electrocuted. "Please say you're joking?" He pleaded.

"I'm not. You can't stop me, Terry." She got up and walked towards the door.

"Oh, can't I?" The door slammed shut in front of her. Terry hadn't even moved.

"What is this? Some new technology?" Laura tried the door, but it wouldn't budge. She used her demon mojo and felt a power pushing back against her own. It was sickeningly familiar. Her hands were trembling as she turned around to face the man she thought she knew. "P-p-!" But she couldn't get the name out.

"What's that my dear? Oh! Are you trying to say my name? Spit it out, dear! I know you can do it! You used to say my name with such rapture!" Terry, no, Possidebit had a terrifying expression on his face. He pounced at her and his arms engulfed her. Laura tried screaming, but no sound would come out. She tried moving, but it was like pushing back against a boulder while going uphill; he always came back to the same spots. Possidebit grabbed her arm, then pushed her face toward his. He kissed her. Laura's wings shot out of her back. It disoriented him enough for Laura to attack back. She scratched three deep, red gashes across his left cheek. He screamed in pain. Then the scream split into two distinct voices – one human, the other decidedly not. He held his hand up to his cheek. Laura dove for the opening this provided. Not caring who would see she crashed through the window and flew away into the night.

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Laura spent the night sobbing in the middle of a forest in the mountains. How could I be so stupid? Was the only thought that kept her company. In the morning, she departed for hell. Despite her emotions, she was a dutiful demoness, and she needed to tell everyone that she had found Possidebit. She snuck back home without being detected and walked through her mirror. In the throne room she heard her father yelling. "I ordered you to stay far away from Laura! How dare you disobey me! Give me one good reason to not send you straight to the hottest pits of hell!"

Then the voice that haunted her nightmares answered back. "I did it all for you, oh great Father, Prince of my heart! You know my powers lie in possession. I stayed far away from Laura, as you commanded, for what felt like eons. But don't you see she was the perfect person to challenge me? If I could possess someone close to her – she who once knew me as I knew myself – and remain undetected, what challenge would be too great for me? And I did it, father, for seven years. Only when I knew I could no longer keep her close did I reveal myself. Now, I humbly beg you to let me be your servant once again. My one desire is to do your bidding."

Satan's voice was no longer angry. Instead, it sounded thoughtful. "Hmm. It is true that your powers would be of great use to me. But, the fact remains that you disobeyed me, and traumatized one of my most faithful children. I can't trust that you won't disobey me in the future." A heavy silence descended. When he spoke again, it was in a voice with the power to curse. "…Those gashes Laura gave you were well executed. I decree that whenever you stray from the commands I have given you, they will bleed anew, with the pain you felt when she first raked her claws across your skin multiplied tenfold. Is this acceptable? I wouldn't want to leave you without a choice in the matter. You know I'm a strong believer in choices."

"What's my other choice if I don't agree to your terms?"

"Oh, there are many! The hottest pits of hell, alligator-infested swamps, having to watch My Little Pony G3.5 on repeat… The list is endless, really."

"Yes! I consider your terms acceptable." Possidebit said hurriedly.

"Then, we have a deal." Laura didn't stay to listen to anymore. iMy own father-!/i but she had to stop herself. She knew, ultimately, that Satan had no greater aim than power. So him teaming up with Possidebit for Possidebit's power was only natural, wasn't it? iHe's only being a demon… Is that all demons have to offer? Pain? Torment? The fear Laura felt when Possidebit was crushing her to himself rushed back to her. The hopelessness, the terror. That's only being a demon. Deanna's loneliness, Cooper's incompetence, the light draining from Layton and Emily's eyes as they were taught that God's heart was too small to hold everyone. Only being a demon. But… I'm hurting so much because of a demon. Is that just what we do to others? 'Steal, kill, and destroy.' Bring pain and misery. That's all I do as a demon. The times when I'm happiest is when I'm being the least demonic. When Jeanne is grateful towards me, or getting brunch with everyone. Didn't I become a demon so that I could do what I want? …What if I want to make others happy and show them how to be better people? But then I wouldn't be useful anymore! My father would disown me. How could I? I'd be giving up everything: My family, my oldest friends, the resources at my disposal, the only place that feels like home, all to make the lives of lowly mortals better? That's… insane. But… How can I continue being a demon, now that I've felt the pain we cause? What should I do?