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I dragged myself into the silent house The third floor was dark; I assumed Lara and Jeannie had hit the sheets But this wasn&039;t the week to make assumptions, so I tiptoed up to the third floor and found them in the second bedroo I shut the door and snuck back downstairs

I kicked off eneral direction of the foyer table, then went into the library and sat down across froany book stand by the fireplace, open to God knehat page I stared at it and tried to ht as well," a horrifyingly familiar voice said from across the room "You can&039;t screw this up any worse"

I looked over, and there she was: Laura&039;s mother, the devil, seated behind the desk "Fabulous," I muttered

"So nice to see you, too, dear" Satan looked a lot like Lena Olin: long brown hair streaked with silver Cals (in the shape of angel wings!), black stockings, andI peeked under the desk And groaned silently She earing fourteen-thousand-dollar Manolo Blahnik black alligator boots "Like them?" She rotated her left foot around her ankle "I&039; out"

"Get lost"

"Now, Betsy You needthat teeny, tiny brain of yours In fact, you haven&039;t been since this whole thing started"

"And what do you know about it? Scratch that: go away" I wasn&039;t the brightest bulb in the chandelier, but I knew that the devil never gave up anything for free I was crazy even to be talking to her

"Oh, Betsy Don&039;t you know? I can help you I want to help you Hi "Not so much You think He cares about you now that you&039;re a vampire?"

"I think you lie like old people fart"

"I&039;ve never lied to you, dear"

I had to ad to say so out loud

"It distresses hter&039;s sister so upset So alone in the world Beset from all sides"