Hi guys! So happy to see you all for this installation of TDP. I had intended to have TDP finished before I head off to St. Louis for my very first Twific Meetup. RL is not interested in helping me reach that goal but I'm going to keep working towards that finish line while flipping RL the finger.

Hugs and kisses to my amazing team. Sazzledazzle reads my stuff and makes sure it makes sense. Edwardsfirstkiss goes through and corrects my numerous mistakes. They ROCK!

Disclaimer: SM still owns Twilight but Devilward is mine.

The Devil's Plan

Chapter 36

Bella hadn't been in a church since her grandmother Swan died nearly a decade ago. The Methodist church she'd attended in her youth had beautiful stained-glass windows depicting stories of the Bible and various religious symbols carved in dark and polished wood scattered around the alter. Upon entering the Catholic church Port Angeles, she was in awe of the majesty. The stained-glass windows completely covered the right and left sides of the building. They rose just inches from the ground nearly reaching the vaulted ceiling. Standing behind the ornately carved altar, was a large statue depicting the crucifixion of Christ. Bella walked slowly towards the statue, feeling the pull of the solemn and pained face of the Messiah, she sat down on one of the front row pews facing the statue. As she gazed into the unseeing yet, soulful eyes of the Son of God, she couldn't help but to utter a small prayer.

"Um, I know that you and I don't talk a lot, but I was hoping that you might consider giving me a little luck here or a lot of luck? I just want to know what happened to my mom. Why did she leave us? "The deafening silence of the church filled her ears.

"Was it my fault?" Bella's unspoken fear overcame her as a lone tear rolled down her cheek.

"I have found that most who ask for his counsel find the answers they seek." Bella startled at the sound of the soft voice coming from behind her.

"I'm sorry for surprising you, I'm Father Accardi." The soft-spoken man smiled and motioned to the empty seat next to her. "May I join you?"

"Yes, of course. Oh, I'm Bella Swan."

"Ah, my new pen pal. Please to meet you Bella Swan." Father Accardi genuflected before entering the pew. He smoothed invisible wrinkles from the legs of his black pants as he situated himself onto the bench seat.

Bella hastily wiped her cheeks dry. She was slightly embarrassed to have been caught crying by the handsome man. He looked to be in his early forties with just a touch of gray beginning to show in his dark brown hair at the temples.

They sat silently for a moment. Bella wasn't sure if she should interrupt what she guessed was a private prayer. After several minutes the priest spoke. "I would like to think that you're here for the solace that prayer offers. However, I have a feeling that what interests you resides in a box in my office." Bella looked up and nodded.

"Well, Bella Swan, would you care to follow me?" She watched as the priest bent down on his right knee and made the sign of the cross across his chest as he then stood up and motioned up the aisle with his hand. Bella stood and made her way out of the pew. She briefly wondered if she was supposed to genuflect as well. Not knowing the correct etiquette, she bowed quickly before turning to follow Father Accardi.

"You have a beautiful church." Bella remarked as they walked up the aisle and out of the sanctuary.

"Thank you. Our Lord has been very good to us." He smiled warmly as they walked down a sunlit hallway. "Ahhh, the sun is brilliant today isn't it?" He remarked as the light shone on his face. Rays of bright light cast rainbows of colors onto the cream colored walls.

"Yes. It is." Bella agreed.

"Here we are." Father Accardi opened a dark wood paneled door and ushered her into the small, sparsely decorated office. Bella walked in and sat down in the chair directly in front of his desk.

Father Accardi walked in after her and set a box down on the desk. Bella had to grab the railings of her chair to keep from jumping up to get the box.

Father Accardi sat down in the dark wooden chair next to her. "Bella, as I stated in my letter, against my better judgement I told you about what I found. I still have mixed feelings. I was wondering if you would give me a bit more information. I don't mean to pry but when I read your letter, I sensed a young woman in pain, "he paused to look at the sad faced girl sitting beside him. Bella ducked her head, causing her hair to hide her face from his view. "I wish to do whatever I can to alleviate that pain and I do not believe that the answers are in this box." Bella's eyes widened in fear. Was he not going to give her the box?

"Relax, my child. I will let you read what you've come for, but I'm hoping you will allow me to help as well. I promise I'm a very good listener." The priest smiled warmly at her and she couldn't help but to return it. Bella could feel the sincerity of his statement and she was suddenly overcome with the need to relieve herself of the burdens her quest had heaped upon her young shoulders.

Bella found that by focusing on the square of white that sat at the base of the father's collar, she could concentrate on telling him some of the events that had led her to his door. Bella decided to leave out the still unexplained Halloween night events, but included her nightmare.

"Do you think I'm crazy?" She asked letting her head lay heavily onto the back of her chair.

Father Accardi, chuckled at her statement. "People thought Mary Magdalene was the same when she told them she'd found Jesus's tomb empty. But was not our Lord waiting for his brothers in Galilee?" Bella understood what he was saying but hardly thought that her dilemma was on the same level as the resurrection of Christ.

"You hope to find answers to your mother's disappearance and the admittedly unsettling events transcribed in your family's history." He said, getting up from his chair and going over to where the plain and weathered box sat on his desk. "Here is what you've come for." He handed Bella a large notebook. Her eyes grew wide as he placed it in her outstretched hands.

"Please, take what you find in here with a grain of salt," he said with a grim smile. "I fear that the dear man's mind was going. I have leafed through a few sections and what I've read is what I would describe as the ramblings of a disturbed man. I wish he would have looked to his faith for help, as there is a darkness in what I read that concerns me, Bella," Bella looked up into the father's kind blue eyes. "I hope that you will consult me after you've read these words. The kinds of delusions I read can envelop a person if they let them." His eyes searched hers for understanding.

"I will father," she promised with a solemn head nod.

"Well then, I have things to attend to in preparations for tonight's mass. I will just be down the hall if you need anything."

"Thank you." Father Accardi smiled warmly and patted her shoulder as he walked past her to the door.

As the door closed with a metallic click, Bella ran her hand over the plain covering of the journal she hoped held the answers she was looking for. "Here goes nothing," she muttered, opening the notebook.

~~~TDP~~~

Edward heard his brother and Rose fighting down the hallway. Emmett was angry at the attention Rose had been paying to him-the Devil. Through their angry words, Edward understood that Emmett had no idea who Rose really was or that he was sharing a house with Satan. He'd also discerned that Emmett had begun to realize that Edward's demeanor had changed for the worse. Ever since his affair had come to light, Emmett had lashed out at him and Edward had taken his abuse, rarely fighting back. But Satan stood up to Emmett. Using Edward's body, Satan was the one lashing out and it was clear to Edward that those actions had installed a little fear in his big brother. Emmett was confused and scared.

Edward took no pleasure in his brother's fear. All had ever wanted was to return to the close sibling relationship he'd once had with him. His mother had told him more than once that Emmett would get over what had happened: they all would. But it would take time. Edward now realized that he no longer had the luxury to wait. He needed to find a way to get through to his brother and he needed to do it now.

As Satan sat at Edward's desk, using his computer to jump from one pornographic website to the next, Edward worked through ways he could gain his brother's help. The options were few and the odds weren't favorable, but he knew that he had to attempt it, anyway.

Over the last couple of days, Edward had worked out the ways in which he was able to regain control over his own body and mind. With Rose still handing out baby aspirin, Edward was able to avoid the thick fog that had silenced and blinded him from the outside world since he made the disastrous mistake of answering the Devil's call. If he stayed silent, The Devil had no knowledge of his wakefulness. But now it was time to awaken and take his life back.

As images of naked thrusting bodies flashed before his eyes, he could feel Satan become restless. It was clear that Satan needed a release. Edward was both puzzled and grateful that his unholy guest had not used his body to satisfy his growing lust. But Edward did not delude himself into thinking that this was a permanent situation. He knew that Satan wanted his Bella and that there was a finite amount of time left before he took her. Edward had still not learned exactly why Satan zeroed in on Bella, but he knew it had something to do with her lineage. And after reading her family bible he was afraid at just how deep the Devil was involved with that tragic history.

He knew the time had come to get Rose to tell him everything.

First, he needed to get control. Edward forced his mind to calm. Slowly his senses became more tangible. Instead of watching his hands move across the keyboard as Satan rapidly searched for more explicit sex sites, Edward felt the spring in the keyboard beneath his fingertips. As Satan's breathing increased with sexual excitement, Edward could feel his lungs fill with air and the tightening of excitement in his groin. He pushed down the feeling of sickness that accompanied the sexual pleasure The Devil was feeling and pushed forward.

After several minutes, Edward attempted to move his right hand. He watched it tremble as he and Satan battled for control. Edward remained calm and soon he was able to control the appendage without Satan noticing. Within minutes, Edward had gained control of both of his hands and soon Satan was watching a YouTube video of kittens playing in a sunlit field instead of gyrating hips and thrusting tongues. Emboldened by his success, Edward told his legs to push away from the desk and stand up.

Edward moved around the room, picking up his hastily thrown clothing and putting it into the dirty clothes hamper and stripped his bedsheets. After each completed task, he held his breath waiting for Satan to laugh and push him back. But with each task, he felt the Dark Lord's resistance to his actions waning. Soon Edward had his room picked up and had begun tidying his bathroom. He'd always been a clean child. His mother never had to ask him to clean his room or pick up his laundry from the floor. While Edward knew he had much bigger tasks than picking up wet towels from the floor, having his room tidied helped him to remain calm.

When he'd completed the mundane tasks that Satan had gleefully pushed aside since arriving, Edward felt it was time to push himself. Not knowing how far he could push his new advantage Edward was fearful of over playing his hand. He had no way of knowing when Satan would regain control or what might trigger that action. However, he knew the stakes were too high to quit.

He walked out of his room into the hallway; he could no longer hear Rose and Emmett yelling. He hoped that meant that she was still in the house.

Edward was overcome with sadness as he walked the short distance from his room to his brother's bedroom. The familiar smells, sights and sounds of his home had been lost to him since he'd allowed his desperation to spur him to the action he was now working to void. He missed his mom; her smell, smile, her laughter. He'd once again let her down.

Edward knocked hesitantly on his brother's closed door. He could hear murmurs from within. He waited a minute or so and knocked again. This time with more force.

"Go away!" Emmett barked.

"Please," Edward spoke to the solid oak door. "I really need to speak to Rose … and you." The murmurs grew louder as Emmett forbade Rose from coming to him.

"Please." Edward pleaded. He would force his way through if he had to, but losing the calmness he was desperately holding onto would lose him everything he'd just gained.

Edward took a step back as Emmett's door was wrenched open. He looked into the angry eyes of his brother; anger, hate, loathing … were all shining in the blue eyes of Emmett Cullen.

"What the fuck do you want?" Emmett spat.

"Please, may I come in and speak to you and Rose?" Edward's voice was even and his words deliberate.

"And just why in the flying fuck would I want to speak to you?" Emmett had always had a colorful vocabulary but ever since the affair, his use of the word fuck, had become all too common. Edward knew that his brother's use of expletives upset their mother and it was yet another crime laid at his feet.

"Emmett-"Rose began.

"Please! I need your help. You're my only hope." Emmett's eyes narrowed slightly and his frown tightened at Edward's voiced plea.

Surprisingly, Emmett stepped aside, allowing Edward to enter his room for the first time since they'd moved to Forks.

Edward wasted no time. He walked right over to Rose. She had to recognize that it was him and not Satan speaking.

"Rose, we have to reach Bella. I know she's the center point of his plan. I don't know why he needs her but I know he does and if we don't stop whatever it is that he's doing, we all lose." Rose regarded him for a minute before nodding in understanding.

"And I think it's time we tell Emmett what's going on." Rose's eyes flitted quickly from Edward's face to Emmett's and then back to Edward.

"I agree." Emmett watched his girlfriend interact with Edward and rushed over to the bed where she was sitting.

"Jesus! Are you screwing him?" Emmett accused as his body began to shake with white-hot anger and a bit of fear.

"No!" Edward and Rose both exclaimed. Their denial did little to calm him.

"Just what in the hell is going on between you two?" His demand echoed off the taupe walls of the room.

"I think you would feel better if you sat down." Rose sighed, patting the space next to her on the bed.

"I'm not a fucking child! Just tell me!"

Rose opened her mouth to speak and then looked to Edward as if asking him how she should start. Edward quickly stepped forward and removed her dilemma.

"I'm possessed by the Devil."

~~~TDP~~~

Warm tears slid down Bella's face, falling unhindered to polka-dot her jean clad legs. The sun's cheerful rays that had accompanied her on her journey to Port Angeles had since abandoned her. A cold mist was falling onto the windshield of her car as she stared back at the church she'd walked out of nearly fifteen-minutes ago. The keys on her ring jingled and jangled as she shakily started her car. Bella briefly considered calling Charlie to come and get her, not trusting herself to safely make the drive back to Forks.

Then she remembered that she'd lied to her father about the reason for her trip.

Bella gathered her wits, wiped her tears and set off toward Forks.

As she followed the twists and turns out of Port Angeles, Bella replayed the last two hours of her life. What she'd read had hit her deeply. The words that Father Accardi considered the ravings of a "troubled man," Bella considered to be pieces of the same puzzle that her mother had spilled out in her own journal.

Many of the dates in Father Ignatius's journal had matched up to the same time period in her mother's journal. Initially, he spoke of meeting Renee and thinking that she was merely a depressed and disturbed woman, but soon his thoughts turned darker.

July 26th - I have seen him. His dark presence hovered across the street like a heavy cloak as Renee walked to her car. He was not clothed in red robes nor were his feet cloven or his head horned, yet I know it was Lucifer's eyes that followed the dear woman closely and possessively. I held my breath when his eyes fell on me from his sentry point. His feral sneer chilled me to the bone. Unconsciously, I stepped backward further onto consecrated ground, knowing that the good Lord's presence would be the only thing to save me if the dark prince chose to move forward. I could hear his chuckle. He was taunting me for being my weakness.

July 28th- I haven't been able to rest since that horror appeared. I have tossed and turned for two nights wrestling with my thoughts. After much prayer, I have decided to take my concerns to Father Agustus.

July 29th- Father Agustus has called my concerns "ridiculous". I know that my lord is pointing me toward the path to help this dear woman and her child. I will follow that path.

July 3oth- I have contacted my cousin in Rome. I will await his findings before alerting Mrs. Swan. I will once again consult with my Lord in prayer.

August 3rd- Marcus's position in the Polizia di Stato, has opened a few doors. He's found a dark history of death in Renee's family. She had mentioned both her parents and grandparent's deaths. I was not surprised to learn of them. But I was surprised that both of her grandmothers' and mother were pregnant at the time of their deaths. I wonder if she knows? Marcus is intrigued and will look further into the archives. I have also consulted with Father Demicci at the Vatican archives. A jump in protocol for sure, but one I felt was necessary. Father Agastus would never have passed on my concerns. My seminary connection to Cauis Demicci will assist in finding out if the church is aware of the darkness following these families. Satan's appearance must be related to Renee.

August 4th- I have heard from Marcus. In all but one of the cases, husband and wife died together. Renee's grandparents on her father's side, Theresa and Mattia Cygnus were separated by her grandfather's post in Mousselini's air force. Marcus has further uncovered that the family had fled Rome when the dictator demanded more children from his subjects. Theresa had suffered miscarriages before and after their son, Giordano had been born. Fearing for his wife, Mattias moved both his wife and son to a small village south of Capua. They lived in peace for a year before Mattias was called to fight alongside Hitler's Luftwaffe in the Battle of Britain, where he perished. Neither Theresa nor Mattias were aware of her pregnancy when he left. Grief over her husband's death was pushed back when she discovered that she carried his child. Marcus noted that the village doctor had made careful notes regarding Theresa's pregnancy. It seems the whole village was involved in making sure that Theresa and Mattias' child survived.

Unlike her other ancestors, Renee's grandmother didn't perish in a fiery crash or unexplained accident, Theresa was six months along when she was bitten by an aspic viper as she walked home from the market. Her four year old son, Giordano was spared the monster's poison, but not his aftermath. Like so many of Italy's children during that evil time, Giordano was sent to live in an orphanage. Marcus lost track of the boy during his teen years but found him again when he married Isabella Artalous, Renee's mother in 1974.

Unfortunately, Renee's mother's parents suffered a fate similar to the rest of their ancestors. It appears, as far back as Marcus can access the records, Renee's line has been dying off in odd and in some cases unexplained ways. There were descriptions of fires going back to the mid 1800's with train derailments and car crashes becoming the main mode of death in the 1900's until Mattias and Theresa's deaths. I can only guess they didn't own an automobile.

I know most would put these deaths down to extreme bad luck. But I cannot believe that our dear Lord would cause this family to suffer such hardship. There has to be another explanation. I will wait for word from Caius, but I believe the Devil is working against this family.

August 9th- I have heard from Caius. What he has told me- I don't know how to process the information. I have little knowledge of what is contained in the church archives. But what has been divulged by my dear friend has my heart racing. He has uncovered an ancient writing. He estimates it is over 900 years old. The language is ancient as well, Caius and I have studied ancient languages, but this one has us both baffled. Together, we were able to decipher a few words-words that dropped me to my knees.

Cygnus = Swan - Renee's maiden name was Cygnus; the same as her married last name. Renee's children would be a Swan from two blood lines.

skoteinós ángelos = Dark Angel – Satan

katharó poulí = Pure Bird – I can only assume that this refers to a child from the Swan lines.

análipsi = Ascension = Of course this must reference our Lord's holy ascension to Heaven.

Skoteinó paidí = Dark Child- The Antichrist

My hands shake as the enormity of what we have uncovered. Though most of the prophecy is beyond our ability to decipher, it is clear that what Caius has uncovered is referring to the unholiest of apocalypses. I feel his fetid breath on my neck as surely as if he were standing behind me on consecrated ground. I cannot go to Father Augustus with this; I have put in a request for an audience with His Holiness. Armed with Renee's family bible, the prophecy that resides within the Vatican itself, I must make this abomination known. Renee and her children must be hidden within the holy city where they will be beyond his putrid grasp.

I will save them; I will save us all!

The last entry in Father Ignatius's journal had been dated the day that he disappeared. Father Accardi had tried to soothe Bella by claiming that Father Ignatius had been disturbed and to not take his words to heart. He'd tried to get her to set aside the knowledge she'd already gained from her mother's journal. "My dear Isabella, the Devil is evil and we must guard against his wiles and influence daily. But to think that the Dark One has targeted your family in such a manner, for the purpose of dwindling your family line until you are the only one left, well, it's simply unimaginable." He neglected to verbalize what her purpose was in Satan's plan. Bella wanted to believe him. She wanted to believe that all of her fears were easily explained but then Father Accardi, didn't have his dead grandmother contact him through an Ouija board on All Hallows Eve to tell him that his mother was dead.

With tears in her eyes, a stutter to her breath and a shaking in her hands, Bella somehow found the strength to continue her drive home. Once there she would try to come to terms with the fact that the Devil had been killing off her family for hundreds of years in order to get to her.

Waddaya think?

See ya next time!

-Ruinedbyrob