A/N: Thank you all for showing your support for TDP. I can't reply to every review but I read each one and they make my day! I cannot express how much you all mean to me.

Hugs and kisses to my amazing team, Sazzledazzled and Edwardsfirstkiss. Without them, this would one giant mess!

Disclaimer: SM owns Twilight and Originalward. Devilward is mine.

The Devil's Plan

Chapter 25

The Devil You Know

"I wish to speak to Isabella."

"Do you know what time it is?" Charlie asked, wondering of the boy before him was drunk, high or just stupid.

"The time is of little concern to me. I wish to speak to Isabella. If you cannot manage that request, remove yourself and I'll find her myself."

"'Remove myself'?" Charlie repeated disbelievingly.

Devilward leaned closer to the bathrobe wearing man, looking deep into his dark eyes and repeated his demand in a cadence that defied the recipient to disregard the demand

Charlie leaned back from Devilward's encroachment into his personal space. "Son, I'm going to give you a second to think about what you said, and then I'm going to kick your ass off my front porch and counsel my daughter on her choice of a boyfriend!"

Devilward was forced to take a step back when the bathrobe wearing man slammed the door in his face.

Devilward angrily marched back to the ridiculous car that he was being forced to drive. He was beyond furious. How dare that mustached man keep him from his swan he huffed, kicking gravel out of his way like a child having a tantrum. Devilward slammed the door of Edward's car, tightly gripping the steering wheel.

"Goddammit!" Devilward screamed, unconcerned that Charlie's neighbors might hear him. He'd come to realize just how limited he was in his present form. While Lucifer was a supreme being who could flay the skin of a grown man with a flick of his finger, Edward Cullen was a mere mortal boy with neither power nor high self-esteem, if the boy's leftover feelings were to be believed. Lucifer was slowly coming to the vexing conclusion that he would be forced to alter his attitude in an attempt to fit in, to his never ending frustration, because he had no other choice. Edward Cullen was a mortal boy, bound by Earthly rules and rituals. Evidently one of those rituals was not going to the home of the female you intend to copulate with and demand her father bring her to you. Especially at a late hour on Christmas. As the elderly man informed him before rudely slamming the door in his face. Devilward's fists clenched in anger. He so wanted to teach that mortal some respect! He was the goddamn Devil! Why did these mortals not understand that he is to be obeyed?

Breathing as deeply as Edward's frail human lungs would allow, the Devil tried to calm himself. He would have to adapt if he wanted to attain his goal. He looked around the black as pitch neighborhood. There was a light snow falling to the ground creating an idyllic storybook appearance that was wholly lost on him. He glanced at the dashboard clock. It was two in the morning. The morning of the day Christ was supposedly born. Lucifer's lips curled into a sinister grin. If he were to have one ounce of satisfaction tonight it would be that Christians were celebrating on the wrong day. It was a wonderful piece of irony that they would choose to celebrate their savior's birth on the same calendar days a pagan holiday. Jesus's birth was of no consequence to him it was the very real death of the Lord that was crucial to his plans. Jesus's death was depicted correctly in the Bible and the date of that event is the one that he must be conscience of.

Sitting in a silver colored box on wheels, the Lord of Hell realized that he had no options open to him. He would have to retire to the boy's home, he could already feel the weariness of the day's events impact the child's body, and he needed to rest and maybe have a snack. Edward's stomach growled in agreement.

Tuning into Edward's memories and sense of direction, Lucifer maneuvered the car out of the Swan's driveway and towards the Cullen home.

~~~~TDP~~~~

"I don't care what they'll think, if he's not home in ten minutes I'm calling the police!" Esme promised, clutching the half-full wine glass to her chest while shooting her husband a glare, daring him to contradict her. "We should never have allowed him to leave." She added in an accusatory tone.

Carlisle rubbed a hands over his eyes before setting his own drink on the low table that sat in front of him. "You saw me trying to stop him." He shot back.

Esme's eyes softened as she took in her husband's haggard appearance. "I know, I'm sorry. It's too much. He's had to deal with so much and now this?" She swept her hand up towards the staircase where Alec and Emmett were resting in Emmett's room. Carlisle stood up from the couch and walked over to his wife. He took the wine glass from her hand, setting it down next his drink and gently pulled here into his arms.

"I know. But Es, we can't suffer this for him. He has to come to terms with everything and work through it himself."

Esme pulled away and looked up into the blue eyes she had fallen in love with the first time she'd seen him walk into the campus library. She'd never seen a more handsome boy. They'd shared a study table that afternoon and a pizza that night. By the end of the day, she knew he was the man she'd share a life with. Esme had come from money. Carlisle had not. His fierce work ethic and determination to make something of himself was one of the most attractive things about him. Although his chiseled jaw, wide shoulders and lean build didn't hurt, his immense sympathy for the people he helped in the school clinic and his desire to make healing his life's work were the things that pushed her forever into his arms. Their marriage a scant year later had caused a bit of a rift between them. Her mother insisted on a big wedding befitting a 'Chicago Platt'. But Carlisle balked at every turn; wanting a small wedding that his lower middle-class parents would feel comfortable attending. Esme had been torn between her mother and Carlisle but had ultimately sided with him. Together they'd compromised on everything from where the ceremony would take place, what food was served to the size of the bridal party. The give and take they easily engaged in was commented on with admiration by everyone who saw it in action. They'd been able to keep that teamwork going as they had moved on. Fights happened of course, as they do with all couples, but with Esme and Carlisle, those rare occasions barely caused raised voices and they were resolved quickly. At least that's the way it had been before Tanya swooped in and destroyed their lives. Now, the rarity was if they weren't fighting and no longer were those occasions marked with barely raised voices. One of the reasons they purchased this particular house when they moved was its lack of close neighbors. There had been many embarrassing looks from the neighbors in Seattle. Not that Esme cared. She was past caring about what others thought and was instead more concerned about her family, specifically her baby. It had been Carlisle who had begun to channel her mother. So worried about what others thought and concerned about making a scene.

The man in front of her now, still bore the same blue eyes and the physique she remembered from college, but the lines around his eyes and face were new. She bore them as well. The stress this past year had put on them both was evident in their faces as well as their attitudes.

"Carlisle, he's just a-"

"Don't! Don't say he's just a kid. He made adult decisions and now he has to deal with the adult consequences." Esme angrily pulled completely out his arms and stood back against the window, facing him.

"Really? You think that adding a suicide to losing a child and being sexually used are consequences that a seventeen-year-old boy should be able to bear? What's wrong with you? Where's your compassion? Where's your parental concern?" She tried to keep her voice down, not wanting to the boys to hear her.

Carlisle's eyes narrowed and his jaw began to clench as he absorbed what she'd said. "I quit my job,we moved the whole family to make things easier for him. Don't you dare accuse me of not having parental concern." He didn't yell but the tenor of his voice conveyed his anger.

"Yes, you sacrificed. We all sacrificed, but don't you see? This is our fault."

"What are you talking about? How is Edward fucking your married best friend, our fault?" Esme pursed her lips together and narrowed her eyes at her husband.

"Because we weren't there for him! You were too busy with the hospital and I was so wound up in my work and friends that we were never there for him."

"That's a crock of shit!" Carlisle countered, shaking his head angrily.

"Is it? Did you attend any of his golf matches last year? Were you sitting in the front row when he took first place in the All-State piano competition last January? No. You weren't there and neither was I. We didn't even notice that our sixteen year-old son was sneaking off to have sex with Tanya when we were all sharing the same beach house," she said, her voice dropping at the end. She turned her eyes to the father of her children, with tears in her eyes she asked, "How can you not feel responsible?"

"Es, I-"

What Carlisle was going to say was abruptly cut off when their front door opened and then slammed shut so forcibly, the windows shook.

"Edward?!" Esme called out, hurrying towards the hallway, where she threw her arms around her returning son. She was so relieved to see him that she didn't notice he wasn't returning her hug.

"Thank God you're alright." She breathed into the collar of his cold coat.

"I assure you, God had nothing to do with it." Devilward huffed, pulling away from the irritating woman that was in his personal space.

"Young man, where have you been? Your mother has been worried sick about you!" Carlisle demanded, walking quickly towards his wife and son. "Hand me your car keys you're ground-"Carlisle stopped mid-sentence when his son turned his face towards him. He'd never seen such malice in a human's eyes.

"-Grounded? You're going to ground me? Do you think a threat like that would affect me?" Devilward reared his head back laughing loudly.

Angered at the outburst, Carlisle moved forward to grab his son's arm, "Do not mock me. I'm your father. You will respect me in my house!" Devilward easily threw off Carlisle's restraining arm.

Ignoring the shocked and bewildered looks of both parents, Devilward moved past them to walk up the stairs towards the child's room, stopping midway to turn and address the still speechless Esme and Carlisle. "I will require much sustenance in the morning, until then I do not wish to be disturbed."

With mouths agape, Esme and Carlisle silently watched their son walk into the darkness of the hallway.

~~~~TDP~~~~

Most people can imagine how it would feel to wake up in a strange room. It's disorientating and evokes moments of awkwardness as one tries to regain their bearings. Most however, cannot include the disorientation and terror of understanding that you're physically present but not able to communicate to anyone around you as your body moves around familiar settings and interacts with family and friends. Edward Cullen was one of the few who knew how it felt to be present but not known.

His body and mind were sharing space with another entity. That much he knew. He also knew that he was home in his bedroom. A fact made known to him as his head moved from side to side and his eyes took in his surroundings. He could feel the pressure of his hands as they rubbed at his eyes, but he hadn't been the one to direct their actions. Edward was in a darkened room with nothing but space around him. He thought that if he were to yell out, his voice would return to him as an echo. He couldn't see any part of his body.

He was a spectator to his life and he was terrified.

He felt his body lift up from his bed and watched as it walked towards the adjoining bathroom. He tried in vain to stop his movement but his body disobeyed him and continued towards the toilet. A sigh of relief followed by a loud declaration of disappointment echoed in his dark prison. Why was he angry that he had to pee? And why was the size of his penis disappointing? Edward could began to sway, his head felt as if it were in a vice with someone constantly turning the screw. He tried to force his hands to his head to no avail. They continued to scratch his scrotum.

"HELP!" Edward screamed into the darkness.

"Oh, you're up." A voice he vaguely remembered echoed in his ears. "I'm impressed. Most vessels sleep for several days. Still, as long as you're awake, what the hell is up with your dick?" Edward felt his head move downwards until his flaccid penis came into view. "Why is it so soft? I thought human males your age were in a constant state of arousal." The voice commented while poking at the limp member with a finger Edward recognized as his own.

"What is happening?!" Edward screamed, he felt his sanity begin to slip.

Once again he felt his body move. Suddenly he was standing in front of the mirror, it was his face staring back at him and he recognized the green plaid pajama pants and white tee-shirt he was wearing but the malicious grin was foreign.

Edward gasped as the full realization of what was happening hit him.

"Ahhh, now you're up to speed." The face in the mirror said in a mocking tone. "Again, Edward, I'm impressed. From what I've heard around the office, Vessels usually fight the truth a lot longer than you." Devilward said, washing his hands and wiping them quickly on his pants. "So far, you've blown the learning curve. Smart boy." He added with a wink.

"What is going on? How can I hear you?!" Edward asked alarmingly.

"Because I'm you." The Devil said, leaving the bathroom and reentering Edward's room.

"How can you hear me?"

"Because you're me. Really Edward, you're already making me regret that compliment." Edward felt as if he were going to vomit, though he suspected that was impossible since he didn't have an actual body.

"Seriously? You still have a body although I'm in control of it. Does that clear things up?"

"NO!" Edward screamed as loudly as he could manage, causing a sharp stab of pain in his right temple. Lucifer clutched the right side of his borrowed head.

"Whoa. Settle down." Lucifer demanded, not happy about how the boy was able to affect him. He didn't have time to coddle his vessel. "You're a passenger on this ride. I can and will permanently harm you, your family and friends if you don't calm the fuck down!"

His threat hit home. Edward immediately stopped screaming.

"Good," Lucifer said with an appreciative head nod as Edward's stomach grumbled loudly. "Fuck, that's annoying." He complained, rubbing Edward's grumbling stomach. Edward remained silent as they moved out of his room down the stairs and into the kitchen where his parents were seated around the island sipping coffee. Edward wanted to weep at the expressions on their faces. Their red rimmed eyes, dark circles and sallow complexions bespoke the fact that neither had gotten much sleep the night before. He understood that their pained appearance was his fault and as that realization weighed on him, he felt himself drifting into blackness, pulling into a sleep like stasis.

"Where's the food?" Devilward demanded, sounding every inch the teenaged-boy he was pretending to be. "I'm hungry. I must eat." He added with noted disdain.

Esme immediately moved to get up from her chair when Carlisle's hand darted out to grab her wrist and pull her back down.

"Your mother had a rough night, no thanks to you. If you're hungry fix yourself some cereal," he said, nodding towards the refrigerator.

"You expect me to serve myself?" Devilward asked, taken aback by Carlisle's order. "That's ridiculous!"

"You listen here, I've had just about enough of your new attitude!" Carlisle said, pointing a finger in his youngest child's direction before moving to get up from his chair, it was Esme's soft hand on his arm that redirected his anger from his son to her tired face.

"Carlisle, please. Let's not fight. It's Christmas and I could really use a quiet morning."

Carlisle let out a deep breath and say back down. "Fine," he said looking at his son with hard eyes. "But you and I will be discussing your attitude later." He promised.

"Edward, can I make you oatmeal or scrambled eggs? I'm not really up to the task of our traditional breakfast." Esme got up from the table and moved towards the refrigerator. Her slow and painful gait looked like that of a woman twenty years her senior.

"I will eat your offering of eggs." Devilward stated, causing another hard look from Carlisle and a indifferent nod from Esme.

Devilward took Esme's abandoned seat. He picked up her coffee cup, sniffing the contents. "I will also need a cup of this," he said, holding up the coffee cup.

"You know where the pot is." Carlisle snorted, returning to his attention to the morning paper.

Devilward waited for Esme to bring him a cup of the potent elixir but her attention was focused solely on putting together a meal for her family. With a huff, he got up and retrieved a cup of coffee. Although he was not a human, he had spent enough time with humans to know what coffee was. He was not completely ignorant of regular human life. He returned to the table just as Esme placed a plate of scrambled eggs and bacon in front of both him and Carlisle.

"Thank you, "Carlisle said to his wife. His thanks was returned with a small smile before she returned to the stove. "What do you say?" He asked his son, who was shoveling the food into his mouth as if he'd not eaten in weeks. Devilward looked up at Carlisle quizzically before dismissing him and returning to his food.

"Edward, thank your mother!"

"Carlisle, please let it go." Esme pleaded. She didn't know what to make of her son this morning. But she knew that Edward not thanking her for breakfast was the least of her problems. There were two boys upstairs that would be waking up any moment and their presence had the potential to make things a lot worse. No sooner had the thought left her head when the footsteps of Emmett and Alec could be heard on the stairs. Kodi, who had slept in Emmett's room last night also bounded into the room, excited to see that his boy was back.

"Mom, what's for breakfast?" Emmett asked as the boys rounded the corner. "Oh look, the prodigal son has returned." Emmett sneered in Devilward's direction.

"Emmett, don't start!" Carlisle warned, shooting both boys a quick look. Emmett nodded reluctantly, sneering in his brother's direction before taking his his seat in a huff as Alex sat beside him.

Carlisle's voice softened as he looked at the dark haired boy. "Alec, your Uncle Caius called after you went to bed last night. He should be here in an hour or so to pick you up." Alec nodded silently, staring at the table top. "I also spoke to your father. He's, um, he's going to see you after New Years as planned. You'll stay with Caius until then." Carlisle was furious that his old friend and mentor refused to cut his vacation short and attend to his grieving son. Marcus had expressed almost no grief over hearing of Tanya's death. His callousness made Carlisle think that perhaps his admiration for the man had been sorely misplaced. He laid a comforting hand on the boy's shoulder. "If you need anything, you call us. We'll always be here for you." He promised, as Esme echoed his sentiments with a hug and kiss to the boy's head.

"So, what was it like to watch the life drain from your mother's body?" Devilward asked with a malicious grin.

"You bastard!" Alec screamed before launching himself towards the smirking boy. Emmett and Carlisle jumped up to restrain him while Esme moved quickly to stand defensively next to her son.

"I'm the bastard?" Devilward asked pointing a finger at Esme. "I think we're all in agreement that Esme is my mother but you my friend, well, do you really think Tanya only cheated just the one time?"

Alec emitted an animalistic howl but Carlisle and Emmett had a tight hold on the emotional boy.

"Edward!" Esme gasped, putting her hand over her mouth in shock at the horrible words he'd said.

"What the hell has gotten into you?" Carlisle asked as he stared in disbelief at his son. Edward had never acted this way before.

"Me?! What's gotten into me? I'm sorry was I supposed to break bread with the boy that was allowed to pummel me a few scant hours ago? I had no idea that my role in this whole act was to continue as the punching bag. Here let me get into position." Devilward got up from the table, standing at Edward's full six foot-two height. He was slightly amused the others all had to look up at him. Edward hadn't been using his height to his advantage. That was something the Devil planned to change. "There," He said, as he moved within arm's reach of Alec. "Take your best shot, just beware that I will fight back." He promised with a hateful grin. Everyone but Devilward took a step back. None of them had ever seen Edward act in such an aggressive manner. To say they were taken aback by his actions was an understatement.

The atmosphere in the usually bright and cheerful room seemed to turn dark and oppressive, as if someone had thrown a dank, heavy quilt over the occupants. All but Devilward felt the change as he continued to glare in Alec's direction.

"Edward, please go sit in the other room," Carlisle said. "Alec's uncle will be here soon and then we can get things settled and back to normal. Whatever normal is anymore." Carlisle's muscles were tense as he pleaded with his son. The last thing anyone needed was another fight. While he understood Edward's animosity towards Alec. His first concern was the boy who had watched his mother die.

"Edward, let's do as your father is asking. Come into the living room. I'll bring you some hot chocolate." Esme moved quickly to the refrigerator, getting the milk and chocolate syrup out. "I've turned the tree lights on and there are some treats laid out." She continued as she prepared his drink.

Devilward, moved so swiftly everyone at the table jumped back, startled by his movement. He didn't bother to hide his smirk of satisfaction as he left the room. He'd visited Earth a million times, but never once had he been there on the day they celebrated the birth of their savior. Looking around the decorated home, he decided he quite liked the colorful lights and shiny trinkets strewn around. Devilward settled himself into the couch, sinking into the plushness of the high end leather. He looked out onto the Cullen's living room, his eyes silently approving of the richness of the room. The Devil enjoyed being surrounded by expensive and pretty things. Given that his dark kingdom was the opposite of what one would consider remotely comfortable, he was pleased that his borrowed home would afford to house him in the luxurious style he deserved.

Carlisle watched in relief as his son left the room. He noticed Emmett and Alec's shoulder's relax as well with Edward's departure. Something was going on. The Edward that had just left the room wasn't someone he recognized.

A low whimpering caught his attention. He looked under the table to find a very confused looking Kodi laying at his feet. The poor animal looked confused and a bit scared.

"What's wrong buddy?" Carlisle asked the whimpering animal, as he leaned down to pat his silky head. Kodi accepted the affection but his eyes darted back and forth from Carlisle to the doorway that Edward had recently gone through. "You don't want to go with Edward?" He asked, curiously. Edward was rarely seen without the pup in tow. Edward's disappearance the night before had sent the little guy into a depression that only lifted when Emmett scooped him up, and took him to his room for the night. This morning, Kodi had made a concentrated effort to avoid Edward, Carlisle realized. Even now he was choosing not to follow his favorite person.

"Something's not right about him." Carlisle confided to the still cowering pup. "I sense it too."

So, what did you think about Devilward?

Until next time,

ruinedbyrob

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