Much love to all of you that have hung in there waiting for an update. Sickness and work issues have kept this chapter on the back burner. Hopefully it's clear sailing from here on out.

Hugs and kisses to Sazzledazzled for keeping me on track and Edwardsfirstkiss for her willingness to correct my mistakes.

S/M owns the Twilight universe but I own this little slice of the Devil's kingdom.


The Devil's Plan

Chapter 19

Discoveries

Charlie parked the car and followed his daughter into their dark house. He stopped to turn on lights as she hurried into the kitchen with her pie plates. He watched her retreating figure with trepidation. They needed to have a conversation and he wasn't sure how to go about it. If she were a random juvenile delinquent, sitting in his station awaiting questioning over any number of misdemeanor offenses, his path would have been clear. But this was his daughter, and the truths she needed to spill weren't her own. Truthfully, he had no right to ask any questions. The Cullen's' hadn't broken any laws, but they were definitely broken and if the one person in the world that mattered the most to him was going to be spending time over there, he needed a few answers.

Bella could hear her father's movements throughout the house as he flipped the light switches. He was slowly making his way to the kitchen, slower than necessary she thought. Bella kept to her task, hoping beyond hope that she would complete it before he entered it. Charlie rarely invaded her bedroom. She'd long ago declared it off limits to her father. Not that he'd put up any kind of a fight. He had no wish to see her haphazardly discarded bra or panties lying around. The fear of blundering onto such things had prompted him to build another bathroom just off the kitchen. It was cramped and had only a toilet and small shower but it suited Charlie just fine.

Bella shut the refrigerator door and turned to bolt up the stairs only to find her father leaning against the doorway, blocking her path.

"Um, the pies are in the fridge if you want a piece. Look at the time. I think I'll just get to bed." Bella stifled a yawn while looking at the invisible watch not sitting on her wrist.

"Sit." Charlie ordered, pointing to the kitchen table.

"Dad." She whined.

"Sit." He ordered again with a raised eyebrow. Bella knew better than to attempt any more teen tricks. She pulled out a chair and laid her head down onto the table top and waited for him to start.

"What the hell was that?" No further explanation was needed. She knew exactly what he was referring to.

"Um, regular brotherly antics?"

"No. That big kid was spoiling to hurt Edward. It took all I had to hold him back. There was nothing regular about that. Do they do that often?" Charlie asked, worried that Bella might find herself in the middle of the two boys.

"Not all the time." She admitted, her voice muffled into her crossed arms. Charlie eyed her warily, her explanation didn't fill him with the warm fuzzies.

"Has it ever turned physical before?"

"No. Just verbal."

"Bella, what would make Emmett go after Edward like that? Did you see Esme? The poor woman was in tears and Carlisle, well he looked defeated. Brothers fight, but this is something more. Now, tell me what you can." Charlie ordered with a stern look. While he wouldn't demand she spill all of their secrets, he would get some answers.

"Emmett blames Edward for them having to leave Seattle." Bella spilled before flopping dramatically into her chair.

"Is he to blame?" Bella nodded quickly at his question, looking anywhere but at her father.

Charlie's investigatory instincts twitched as the possibilities of what would cause a whole family to uproot their lives ran through his mind. Drug abuse was the most logical explanation. A family would logically move to avoid scandal or to give their son a chance to start over. While Forks wasn't immune to the dark underbelly of drug use, there was a better chance of being dispatched for the random bag of dog shit finding its way onto the front porch of a teacher than having to deal with a serious drug issue.

"Drugs?" He asked but was quickly relieved to see Bella shake her head no. "If I run him through the system, what am I going to find?"

"Nothing." His eyes narrowed at her firm declaration.

"Bella, a family doesn't uproot like that and move unless there was something to run from. If it wasn't drugs or anything criminal-"

"Dad, let it go." Bella pleaded.

"Baby, I have to protect you. I need to know-"

"What happened is over and they're just trying to deal with it, but I promise that Emmett won't hurt me and what happened in Seattleis over and can't hurt me. Please, trust me." Charlie's heart broke a little at her plea.

"Okay." He whispered. Bella moved quickly to throw her arms around him.

"Thank you, dad."

"You're welcome, but I would feel better if you guys spent more of your time here when Emmett is around and Bella, what's up with Rosalie? Did you spit in her cornflakes or something?" Charlie was surprised at how much the blond girl's attitude disturbed him. Lord knows, Bella and Alice had had their drama queen moments throughout the years, but what he'd seen on Rosalie's face was more than that. He couldn't explain it but her expression when the boys had been fighting was almost gleeful. And her attitude towards Bella was an extra level of snotty.

"Um, I honestly don't know what her problem is. She seems to enjoy it when they fight but I don't know why. I mean, it's awful."

"Well, let's steer clear of her too," Charlie said with fatherly concern.

"Not a problem." Bella promised.

~~TDP~~

"After yesterday, I'm surprised your dad will let me anywhere near you," Edward said solemnly while taking in all of the sights in Bella's bedroom. "much less allowing me into your bedroom." Bella watched as he trailed his long fingers over the photos of Alice and her that were pinned to the cork board over her desk. She inwardly cringed when he found the series of photos from her thirteenth summer. Braces on her teeth and a bad perm on her head had made that summer especially heinous. He'd just chuckled quietly and moved on.

"Well, you are my boyfriend," she said, loving the way it sounded to her ears.

"Yeah, but that's usually the word that makes bedrooms off limits. Not the opposite." He laughed, shaking his head and walking over to join her on the bed. Bella tried not to allow her brain to make her think of the other bedrooms Edward may have been invited into. While he'd told her about his relationship with Tanya, she wasn't aware of the particulars. Had he been in Tanya's bedroom, her bed?

"Why do you think he let me up here?" Edward asked, tracing the vine design on her comforter with his finger.

Bell smiled, taking in the vision of this beautiful boy sitting on her bed. "He trusts me."

Edward looked at her and nodded. "That must be nice." He commented quietly, casting his eyes back down to her deep purple comforter. "I wish I could erase my history and get my parent's trust back.

"They'll come around." Bella assured him. Her heart went out to him. She hated to see his countenance fall at the thought of how his family feels about hm. Noticing her family bible sitting on her dresser; she jumped up to get it. "Do you want to learn about my history, well my mother's family history?"

Edward nodded, appreciating that she was trying to take his mind of everything and that she wanted to share something so personal with him.

"Okay, I haven't really looked at this closely," she said sighing loudly, not sure how much to reveal about her own history because she didn't want to add more weight to his shoulders, "so I should probably tell you, um about my family." The tone of her voice caused Edward some concern. He hadn't wanted to push her to tell me about her mother though he was curious.

Bella took a deep breath, deciding to let it all come out. "My mom, disappeared when I was a toddler." Edward moved to grab her hand in support. "It's been really difficult thinking all these years that I was so unwanted that she had to run away from me." She smiled as Edward squeezed her hand, encouraging her to go on. "You remember everything that happened at Halloween?" Edward nodded, while rubbing his thumb across the top of her hand on soothing circles. She couldn't help but smile at his sweet gesture.

"Yeah, that was crazy and I still don't understand exactly what happened. But whatever it was brought up a bunch of questions about my mom. And when I spoke to Charlie about it all, he um, said some things that made me think there might be more to her leaving us then we know."

"And you think the answers are in this book?" Edward asked, running his hand over the worn leather cover.

"I'm not sure. There might be something in here or not, but at least I'll learn a bit more about my Mother's side of the family."

"Okay, how can I help?" Edward was eager to give back some of the support that she'd shown him.

"Just keep an open mind." Edward nodded affirmatively at her request. "Okay, well, I told you that I'd always thought my mom ran off because she didn't want to be a mom or a wife anymore. After the party Charlie said a few things that made me think maybe that's not exactly true."

"What do you think happened?" Edward asked, his eyes wide with interest.

"I don't know for sure, but he said that at the time my mom left, she felt that there was some kind of force affecting the family and she was trying to figure it out."

"You mean, a curse?"

Bella shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know, but she and my dad fought about it the day she disappeared. He said that it had something to do with her parent's death. Actually, the deaths of a lot of my ancestors."

"What's so odd about their deaths?" Edward huddled a little closer to her. Bella inwardly shivered in delight at his closeness.

"They all died young and only had one child per family."

Edward leaned back to look at her face. "How young and why only one child?"

"I don't know. I'm hoping that this will give me some answers," she said, holding up the book.

"Let's get started."

~~TDP~~

The sun had begun to wane, casting its long shadow onto the floor of Bella's bedroom window. Discarded lunch plates and cans of soda littered the floor where Edward and Bella sat unaffected by the mess; their heads together as they read through Bella's family bible. As of yet they'd found nothing that told them why Renee Swan had abandoned her family, but they had discovered that the die young with one child curse had affected Bella's ancestors going back to at least the early 1800's, which was as far back as the entries went. Just as Charlie had told her, none of her ancestors had lived to be much older than thirty-five years old and other than a few divorces, where there was a step child or a half sibling to her ancestor, there was one child per family. With both sides of her mother's family afflicted, what seemed to be just a coincidence when they started their research was now looking more and more like the curse that Edward had mentioned earlier.

"So your mom's maiden name means Swan in Italian and your dad's last name is Swan too? You're a double Swan?" Edward rubbed his eyes, his contact lenses were dry from the excessive reading.

"Weird, right?

"I'll say. I wonder if your families are related."

"Maybe, although it would be distantly. My paternal grandfather's family is from Ireland and my mom's dad was Italian." Bella sighed as she traced yet another branch off her family tree that ended in the death of both parents and the child becoming orphaned.

Edward sat up and stretched his neck, grimacing slightly at the popping and grinding sounds that were produced as he moved his stiff muscles.

"You know what's even weirder? My paternal grandmother's and grandfather's names are White and Swan. My maternal grandparent's names are Black and Swan. I'm half White Swan and half Black Swan."

"I think that makes you one hundred percent pure Swan." Edward exclaimed, leaning in to tickle her side. Bella giggled and rolled onto her back. Edward moved his fingers to her warm stomach and then down to her other side where he placed his hand firmly on her hip. Bella's giggles ceased as she looked up into his eyes. They'd sat side by side all afternoon pouring over her book, with nary a heated glance or suggestive word between them, but now, as she watched Edward's eyes darken and his toned chest move with his deep breaths, she forgot about a possible family curse and thought about nothing but how much she wanted to kiss him.

"Bella. I, um, I want-" Bella smiled at his inability to speak coherently and brought her fingers up to his neck, delighting in the shudder that rushed through his body.

"Edward, kiss me," She whispered, pulling him down on top of her. There was no resistance on Edward's part as he gladly acquiesced to her breathy demand. Their lips instantly met in soft and tentative touches that quickly turned more insistent. They made out on her bedroom floor like any horny teens would when left alone. Their kisses and touches became more intimate. When Bella's legs came up to cradle him between her thighs, Edward pushed further into her and moved his right hand up to cup her left breast. She quickly took his hand and pushed it under her shirt, wanting to feel his fingers on her flesh. To her delight, he understood what she wanted and began to rhythmically squeeze the firm flesh. The sounds of their mingled moans filled the room as their exploration of each other continued.

"Bella, I think we should stop."

"No!" She whimpered as Edward pulled away, her fingers grasped his shirt and tried to keep her hold on him.

Edward gently loosened her hands from around his waist where they had been making their way towards his swollen crotch. She reluctantly released him, allowing her arms to fall heavily to the floor with a resounding thump.

"Um, that's a bit dramatic don't you think?" He questioned with a raised eyebrow and quirky grin. Edward was intent on not making the same mistake twice. Even though he knew the relationship he had with Bella was absolutely nothing like the one he'd had with Tanya, there were moments when he realized that if he'd slowed Tanya down maybe he would have seen that she was using him. Sex had happened immediately in their unhealthy relationship and he was determined to make sure what he had with Bella was healthy for both of them.

"Why did you stop?" Bella questioned from underneath him. He could tell from her expression and exasperated tone of voice, that he was frustrated with his actions. The throbbing going on his lower regions was echoing her displeasure.

"I just want to take it slowly."

"How slowly?" Bella asked with narrowed eyes. If he weren't trying to be serious, he'd laugh at her frustrated expression. She clearly wanted to move a little faster.

"Just slower. I want that with you, really," he said, hoping to reassure her. "but it's important to me that I do it right this time." Bella's eyes softened. She knew what he was trying to say and as much as she longed to have him back between her legs, she knew he was right.

"I'm sorry," she said, pushing her shirt back down to cover her bra and removing her legs from his torso. "It's the virgin hormones."

If she hadn't been staring at his flushed face, she would have missed the guilt that flashed in his eyes. Losing his virginity to an older woman had, at the time, seemed like a sixteen-year old boy's fantasy come true. But now he wished more than anything that he could experience it with Bella.

"Hey," Bella whispered, taking his chin in her hand, forcing him to look at her. "it's okay. I'm not the least bit upset that I'm the only virgin in this equation. In a way it's kind of reassuring that one of us knows what we're doing and I'll trust you to set the speed." When he'd arrived this morning, he hadn't anticipated having this conversation, but he'd be lying if he wasn't a bit relieved to get it out of the way.

"Thank you," he whispered, leaning in to give her a light kiss. "When the time is right for both of us, I promise to make it good for you." He smiled as Bella's face heated with a blush. If there was one good thing that had come out of his disastrous relationship with Tanya, it was that he'd been shown how to make sex a good experience for his partner.

"You're welcome. Now, should we get back to figuring out my family curse?" Edward nodded and they moved to once again huddle around the giant book.

For the next hour they traced family trees only to find that they all ended in the same tragic way.

"Hey, did you see this entry?" Edward asked excitedly, pointing to a handwritten note on the side of the page next to her great-great grandparent's entry.

"What is it?" She asked.

"It says that your great-great grandmother was pregnant at the time of her death and that she'd been to the local priest several times complaining, whoa, that's weird." Edward's face scrunched up as he read the last passage.

"What?" Bella demanded, pushing him out of the way to read the entry herself. "Are you kidding me? She thought a demon was following her? Not only are we cursed but crazy runs in our family too?"

"I have a great aunt that's sure her dead husband was reincarnated as her pet pug, Harry. Your family doesn't own all of the crazy." Edward grinned as Bella laughed.

"Really? Harry the pug?"

"Yep, he eats at the dinner table and sleeps in her bed. It drives my grandmother crazy to have to set an extra plate for the little bugger."

"Okay, that's nuts." She agreed. "Are there any more notes that we missed?" The two teens began backtracking through the book, scouring the pages for any tidbit they may have overlooked.

Within an hour they had found several more notes written in corners and other hard to notice areas. As they read through the notes they discovered that many of Bella's ancestors in one way or the other had also thought something dark and sinister was following them. The notes appeared to have been added by random family members, friends and every once in a while, they would find what looked like a priest or other religious figure mentioned. One of Bella's ancestors had a brother that had entered into the life of a Benedictine Monk. He had written that his sister had broken the rules of his order, coming to his monastery, demanding that he perform a cleansing ritual in her house as she was convinced that the Devil was watching her from the shadows of her home. He'd gone on to write that she was hysterical and feared for the life of her young daughter. He had tried to assuage her fears, gaining permission from the Abbot, to go to her home and pray with her. He went on to say that despite their prayers, his sister and her husband were killed a scant weeks later when their home caught fire. His niece was the lone survivor and went to live with another family in the same village. That survivor had been Bella's great-great-great grandmother.

Bella sat back on her heels and rubbed her eyes. Charlie had told her about her mother's sudden interest in religion, more specifically, The Devil. What did it all mean and how did it have any relevance to Renee's disappearance? Bella's head began to pound painfully as she tried absorb what they'd found.

"Are you okay?" Edward asked softly.

"I don't know," Bella said honestly. "Edward, my dad told me that my mom was researching Satan and had suddenly become more religious. She'd wanted me to be baptized and everything. He said that they'd been arguing about her obsession right before she left."

"Wow. Um, wow," Edward uttered with a shake of his head.

"This means either I have some serious insanity running through my veins or The Devil has been bumping off my family for centuries. Both sides of my family have been affected by the same curse. My dad's family is the same. Early deaths and one child. I'm the last of both lines!" She said frantically. Edward moved quickly to take her into his arms.

"Shhhh, it's okay. We'll figure it out." Edward spoke softly, hoping to calm the girl in his arms.

"Don't you understand?" Bella exclaimed, pulling slightly away from him. "Either insanity and terrible luck runs in my blood or my grandmother Swan was really there in your basement, trying to warn me about something coming for me!" Edward's heart broke as her tears began to flow. He was at a loss for how to soothe her other than offering the comfort of his embrace.

~~TDP~~

"As you can see, Sire, the prophecy leaves no room for debate. For you to fulfill your wish, the Swan must freely lay with you." Aro took one step back as he delivered his message. Satan was too angry with the man's words to notice that he'd moved out of arm's reach.

"You dare to come to me with nothing?" Satan's deep baritone voice filled the chamber. Astarte began to back up but Ba'al grabbed her arm, stopping her movement. He shook his head and pulled her back to stand beside him at their master's side. He could tell she was frightened. Hell, he was terrified but knew that it would be unwise to show their fear. Besides, he had good news. Or at least better news than poor Aro. Ba'al looked over to the shaking man. Such a waste, he thought. Satan should be using the prophet's God given talent to furthering their cause instead of punishing him when he couldn't find the impossible. No one would be able to find anything in the prophecy that Ba'al hadn't already discovered.

"Sire, forgive the interruption," Ba'al said, humbly as Satan turned his fiery gaze from Aro to him and the quivering Astarte. "I have good news that will make that part of the prophecy a moot point."

"You dare to interrupt?!" Ba'al bowed his head as Satan roared with anger.

"Sire, you will not need to worry about that clause." When Satan didn't order his head to be removed or his bones ground to dust, Ba'al dared to lift his head and faced his angry lord. "The Swan is enamored with your vessel. From what I have learned from being amongst Earth children, the desire to mate with their partners is very strong. You will only need to ask and the Swan will be yours." Ba'al smiled smugly at Aro, who looked as if he were ready to run or vomit, or possibly both.

They all stood in silence as Satan processed the information. He wasn't yelling or demanding anyone's skin to be flayed from their bodies, which to Ba'al meant he was pleased. Ba'al was just about to congratulate himself when Satan appeared directly in front of him. Ba'al was taken off guard and stumbled back before quickly regaining his footing.

"Have you forgotten that I must be IN my vessel BEFORE I CAN TAKE THE SWAN? And right now my vessel is in a good fucking mood! Making the opportunity to take possession a lot less likely!" His foul breath washed over the two demigods. To their credit they were able to maintain their upright positions, but not without great effort.

"Please, sire, we have a plan." Ba'al pleaded, looking at the silent Astarte for confirmation. She remained silent, much to his dismay. Satan, perhaps sensing easy prey, turned his anger to her.

"A plan?" he asked, sarcastically. "You two always have a plan. And I have yet to see one end in an achievement! I'm becoming tired of your plans!"

"Yes, I will freely admit that things have not progressed as much as we would have liked but Astarte has been working on the brother to put pressure on the vessel and-"

"And what? You turn brother against brother in the hopes that my vessel will grow despondent. Does he appear despondent?!" Satan snapped his fingers and a vision of Edward and Bella kissing in her bedroom appeared before them. "Tell me Astarte, does he look hopeless?" Astarte quickly shook her head.

"Ba'al, does he look depressed? Downhearted?" Ba'al opened his mouth to offer an explanation but was cut off by his master.

"Enough!" Satan yelled. "I will take care of this myself. If I wasn't going to need you two worthless pieces of refuse when I'm down there, I would end you both now!" His threat caused them both to gulp loudly.

"You two will return and maintain your personas. I will handle my vessel." Satan turned his back, summarily dismissing them. Astarte wasted no time and rushed from the room, Ba'al followed at a reasonable pace, passing Aro's still bowed form with his head held high. He refused to show how much Satan's words had shaken him. Satan's threat had hit him hard. He wouldn't allow himself to think about what would happen to him if Satan had no use for his services. Ba'al picked up his pace and rushed to join Astarte. They needed to return to Earth immediately and despite Satan's announcement that he would take care of Edward, Ba'al vowed to keep working towards his original goal. He would continue to strengthen his connection with Alice and try to become Edward's ally. Ba'al would make sure that when the time came for rewards, he would not be left out.


Wow, Satan sure is in a mood! Any guesses to why he's throwing such a hissy fit? What do you think of Bella and Edward's discoveries? Did they clear anything up for you or just muddy the waters a bit more?

Please consider leaving a review and giving me your thoughts.

Until next time,

ruinedbyrob