No, your eyes are not deceiving you. This is an actual update with real words and everything. Things have slowed down for a moment, so I wanted to get this out to you before the roof falls in again.
To all of you that took a moment to leave me a review, thank you. Thank you for caring enough about the story to reach out and thank you for the encouragement, right now I have a ton of reasons to put this on hiatus but every review gives me a reason to keep going. So, THANK YOU!

Big hugs and sloppy smooches to my pre-reader Sarasazzle and my beta Edwardsfirstkiss. They got this back to me in one day. Love you guys!

Disclaimer: SM owns Twilight and I own a slightly overweight (according to her vet.) almost 3 year old chow chow that tries to die every time I give her green beans for her snack. *eye-roll*


The Devil's Plan

Chapter 30

Ba'al drove from the Cullen house to his borrowed home at a speed that would have scared most humans and surely would have gotten him pulled over to receive a stern warning if not a pricey ticket for his violation. But Ba'al didn't have time to worry about humans and their traffic laws, he had much more pressing matters. One, he had to find his good-for-nothing partner in crime. She had scurried away like a cockroach caught in the light almost as soon as their Master had arrived. He hadn't seen or heard from her for longer than a few minutes since. Thankfully, Satan hadn't taken much notice of her absence apart from a few well-placed comments. However, that was no longer the case. After today's debacle with the Swan girl, Satan had dug himself a hole that Ba'al was at a loss as to how to get him out of and would need a woman's point of view if they were to soothe the beast.

Secondly, Satan's disclosure regarding the effect that Edward had over his actions, had turned to talk of being double –crossed and had earned Ba'al a ticket back to the underworld for a few words with Aro.

Ba'al wasn't sure which task was worse, traveling back to the bowels of hell in order to ferret out a possible saboteur or attempting to once again teach the Devil how to treat a lady.

Each task brought a degree of danger for him. If he were unsuccessful with Aro, Satan would surely take it out on him. If he were successful, well, that meant that Aro had found a back door in which they could attempt to manipulate this whole scheme to their desired outcome. But once Satan discovered it, he was sure to close the door tightly and bring revenge down on all of their heads.

Ba'al breathed a small sigh of relief when he saw Astarte's red BMW parked in the driveway. He hurried into the home, ignoring the sounds of their aunt in the kitchen preparing another meal that they wouldn't eat. He supposed he should feel a tad but guilty for the unnatural hold he and Astarte had on the Hale's but they were a necessary means to an end. If he and Astarte, and now possibly Aro, were able to thwart the Devil, the Hales would return to their previous lives unscathed. If not, well, in all honesty, they would most likely wish to live out the rest of their existence in their current zombie like state.

Ba'al bounded up the stairs and headed straight towards Astarte's room. In his haste he paid no mind to the sounds that were coming from behind the closed door.

"What the hell?" Emmett screamed at him from beneath a naked and writhing Astarte. Ba'al took in the sight before him with surprising indifference. Astarte's full breasts heaved and swayed with her movements. Ba'al appreciated the flush to her face and chest, the tautness of her belly and thighs as she controlled her movements. In this moment she was every inch the goddess of sex she'd been in their previous life. Yes, he thought, she was glorious. However, when his eyes made it to her face, he was reminded of her temper.

"What do you want? I'm busy." Astarte asked as she continued to move suggestively on top of a wide-eyed Emmett. She made no attempt to hide her nakedness from his eyes. In fact she appeared to put more effort into her movements and was all but ignoring the confused boy beneath her. Ba'al had a moment of empathy for the boy. He was obviously trying very hard to refrain from coming, as he tried to wrap his head around what was going on. Ba'al knew that Emmett would lose his battle with trying to make sense of the situation and would soon succumb to her careful ministrations. Astarte was after all the Goddess of sex.

Resistance was futile.

"I have received urgent word from home." Ba'al answered calmly as he met her eyes and was delighted when she appeared to lose a bit of her bravado. In a rare moment of compassion He turned his back to the copulating couple.

"I will need to return there immediately and you must take over my chores while I'm gone." He continued calmly.

From behind him, he could hear the rustle of sheets and a male grunt as Astarte hastily removed herself from atop the boy.

"Rose, what the hell is goin-"

"You need to leave, now." Astarte ordered Emmett as she picked up the bed sheet and moved towards Ba'al.

"How bad is it?" She asked. Ba'al turned and saw the fear in her eyes. It was quite a change from the dark and lustful look she wore only a moment ago.

"It was an urgent request," he replied. They shared a glance as his meaning sunk in.

The now haphazardly dressed Emmett appeared at her side. "Rose, just what the fuck is this? Your brother just barged in on us having sex and you don't care? That's totally fucked up!" Astarte ignored him, her mind was filled with horrible scenarios that would necessitate Ba'al's return to Hell.

Ba'al glanced at the boy. Emmett's face was red with anger, embarrassment and disgust as he tried to piece together what had just happened. Ba'al couldn't blame the boy. A supposed brother and sister watching each other in the throes of passion was taboo in his world. If Ba'al was a better person, he might try to concoct a story that would alleviate Emmett's disgust, but he wasn't and he didn't have the time even if he had wanted to help.

"When do you go?" Astarte asked.

"Immediately." He replied as she nodded in understanding. "You must take over while I'm gone."

"Rose, answer me!" Emmett interjected, trying to gain her attention.

"Yes. I understand." Astarte answered Ba'al before turning to her visibly upset boyfriend.

"Emmett, go home. I'll meet you there."

"What? No. Tell me what the hell just happened. This isn't right. It's sick and-"

"Emmett!" She commanded in the same tone she'd long ago used on her subjects. Emmett stopped talking, his eyes vacant as he focused on her voice. "I will explain later. Go. Home. Now." Emmett nodded and wordlessly left the two Demi-god's presence.

"Impressive, goddess. But that party trick will wear off soon and you'll have to deal with him. Both of them." Inferring that Satan was going to be a handful.

Astarte sighed, "I know. I don't want to hurt him, Ba'al. I've grown quite fond of him and others." She confessed.

"I too have grown to enjoy our time here. But we must maintain the illusion we are still completely loyal to our master. He mustn't know that we've had a change of heart." Astarte nodded in understanding.

"I've tried to guide him in his dealings with the girl, but he doesn't listen and things are not going well."

"I take it that Satan isn't the ladies man he thinks he is?"

"That would be an understatement. He's hopeless." Ba'al admitted. Satan was proving to be more difficult than a spoiled child. Actually, he mused, referring to Lucifer as a spoiled child was quite accurate. He'd been the favored son until he dared to question his father's wisdom. Being thrown to the bowels of eternity in order to teach him a lesson was his punishment. A time out of sorts. However, like any spoiled brat, instead of realizing and admitting to his mistakes, he grew surer that his path was the correct one and was only more determined to prove it to his father.

"What will you be doing down there?"

Ba'al took a deep breath, turning to look right into her eyes. "I've been tasked with finding a traitor."

"He thinks-"

"Not us." Ba'al assured her quickly watching relief wash over her features. "The spell for the possession has yielded unexpected results. Edward is capable of affecting Satan's actions."

Astarte's eyes grew wide in astonishment. "How?"

"Apparently, there are moments when the boy's soul is lucid. He's able to cause Satan immense pain to the point where he veers from his course in order to stop it. I will endeavor to do Satan's bidding while finding a way to use this development to our benefit. You must work with him. You must help him woo the girl but keep your eyes open for cracks we can use to our advantage." Ba'al turned away from her, preparing to go to his room. Astarte stopped him with a hand on his arm.

"Be careful." She said with sincere concern.

"You too." He echoed, leaning over to place an unexpected kiss on her cheek before walking away. He didn't know what he'd find when he returned to Hell, nor did he know what he would do with any information he might find. Therefore, he felt the need to make a phone call to a certain raven haired human before he left.

~~~TDP~~~

The taillights of Edward's Volvo hadn't been visible for over 30 minutes, yet Bella was still fuming over his behavior.

"How dare he!" She asked the empty room, as she threw herself onto the couch.

"Aarrgghh!" She screamed, into the closest throw pillow. Edward's constant chan

ge in direction was driving her crazy. One moment he was a kind, sweet and supportive boyfriend, encouraging her to continue searching her history for answers, and the next moment he was an overbearing, rude and stifling person she didn't recognize or like. The fact that she'd succumbed to a moment of weakness and made out with him was not lost on her. Regardless of his crappy attitude, she was still attracted to him and he was still the boy she'd fallen in love with.

But his beautiful face was becoming less of a shield for his frustrating assaholic behavior, she internally noted.

Bella laid on the couch for a few more minutes, replaying her last encounter with Edward before she decided the best course of action was to ignore his edict and get back to her research. She felt there was an answer to her questions just hovering out of her reach. With a sense of renewed purpose, Bella jumped off the plaid couch and bounded up the stairs to her father's room. She set the large family bible down onto his unmade bed and opened the closet door. Wading through numerous pairs of work boots, horribly outdated Nikes and a couple of pairs of water waders, she found what she was looking for. Bella crept out of the office with a sense of sadness. The shoebox depicted a brand that has long ago gone out of style and there was a thick layer of dust coating the lid. Carefully, to not disturb the dust, she opened the box to reveal its meager contents. Charlie had never kept the box a secret from his daughter. In fact she'd looked at the contents many times as a child, but for whatever reason, today she felt that she might find a new answer scattered amongst Renee's long discarded personal effects.

Bella wiped tears from her eyes as she traced her mother's face. The picture depicted a very pregnant Renee glowing with love as she lovingly patted her large baby bump. The date on the back of the picture stated that it had been taken mere days before Bella had been born. Bella put that picture aside to look at the two dozen or so more that littered the bottom of the box. There were a couple of faded Polaroid's taken at her parent's hasty wedding. She chuckled at Charlie's clean shaven face and long hair. He looked overjoyed and immensely happy as he looked into his bride's eyes. It had been a small wedding with only a few friends and Renee's cousin Theresa and her partner sitting on the bride's side of the aisle. Charlie's side wasn't overflowing with guests either, but his parents had been pillars of the small community and they had turned out for their son's wedding. Bella recognized the white bower her parent's stood under. She'd played there many times when she'd stayed at her grandparent's home. The lattice was freshly painted in the picture with lovely light purple, and blue wild Douglas Asters' filled her mother's small bouquet.

They looked so much in love. It clearly showed on both of their faces and that knowledge was reflected in the faces of their guests as well. Bella had no doubt that everyone in attendance would have bet everything they owned that Renee and Charlie Swan would grow old together.

With a sigh, Bella laid those pictures aside and picked up the rest of the photos. She flipped through each one noting how happy her mom had looked. There were pictures of her as an infant cradled closely to her mother's chest, being bounced on her mother's hip, baby Bella in a high chair with her mother wiping her face after what looked like her first taste of chocolate- there were numerous shots liked that. Bella had seen them before. She knew the answers she wanted weren't contained in them. Finally she found what she was looking for. Bella had always concentrated on the pictures that contained baby Bella, but she'd known there were a few others.

Bella leafed through the dozen or so snapshots, noting that in each one her mother had a notebook. Maybe more like a journal. In each shot Renee was either reading the journal, or writing in it. These pictures had been in the small collection of items that her mother's cousin Theresa had left her. They'd been taken at various ages, and from what Bella could tell her mother had started keeping a journal at around age twelve and had continued to do so pretty much until Bella had been born.

Bella's eyes widened, why had she never seen this before? Charlie had never mentioned that her mother had kept a journal? Surely he had read them hoping to find a clue as to why she had left?

Bella tossed the pictures back into the shoe box and hustled back into the closet. Charlie's clothes and shoes were tossed haphazardly out into the bedroom as she rummaged around.

"Bella, what are you doing?" Charlie asked as one of his old boots flew out of the closet, narrowly missing his head.

"Looking for something." Came her muffled reply.

With a shake of his head, Charlie waded through his things, reached into the closet and pulled his daughter out of the little room. Her hair was in a mass of tangles and despite the chill in the December air, there were tiny beads of sweat dotting her flushed forehead.

"What are you looking for and for god sakes, why are you looking in my closet?"

"The journals. I'm looking for the journals. They have to be in here." Charlie stepped back at her frazzled almost crazed tone.

"What journals?" He asked.

"Mom's!"

Charlie shook his head at her. "What are you talking about? Bella, what has gotten in to you? You're acting like a crazy person."

Bella rolled her eyes and pulled her arm out of his grasp. The last thing she needed was another person to tell her to stop her search. Charlie watched as she stomped over to his bed and rummaged around in an old shoe box. "A ha!" She exclaimed excitedly, as she shoved the pictures into his face.

Charlie eyed his frazzled looking child before focusing on the pictures she'd shoved into his hands. One by one he flipped through them, ignoring the way his heart clenched each time Renee's face appeared before him.

"Bella-" He started before she cut him off.

"Dad, look. In each picture she has a journal. Where are they?"

"Bella, she was a kid-"

"-It doesn't matter. Once you start and consistently keep it up, you don't just stop." She punctuated her point by pointing to the evidence of her words.

"I don't know what to tell you. I remember that she kept them when we first met but once you were born, I can't think of a single time I saw her writing in one." Bella's face fell at his words. She was sure the missing journals would hold her answers.

Charlie put the photos back in the box and pulled his baby in for a hug.

"I was sure Dad. I was sure I'd find my answers there. And then I could tell him to stuff it!" Bella half-sobbed into this chest.

"Honey, I don't think we'll ever have the answer as to why she left. We just have to keep moving forward."

"Not just that answer. I want to know what she thought she'd figured out about our family history." Charlie's eyes darkened. He'd been afraid of this. Bella was acting strangely just like Renee had done right before she had taken off.

Bella saw the worry in her dad's eyes. "Dad, wait. I'm not, um, it's not like that." She stuttered, trying to reassure him. The last thing she needed was for Charlie to go all Edward on her and demand she stop searching. "Really it's not." She wiped the remnants of her tears of frustration from her face.

"It's just, well, Edward forbade me to search more, and I wanted to find something that I could use to show him up."

"He what? He forbade you?" Charlie didn't like that one bit. No one told his little girl what to do but her father. That Cullen kid was seriously earning an invitation to a Charlie Swan Sit Down.

"Yeah. He got all upset and told me that I had to stop searching my past."

"Why?" Charlie had his own reasons for not wanting his daughter to get caught up in whatever had consumed her mother. But why would it bother Edward?

"I don't know." Bella shrugged. "He's being a serious jerk lately. One moment he's good Edward, and the next he's bad Edward. It's very frustrating." Charlie noted the concern in her voice. As a police officer he'd seen how a bad family dynamic could alter a person's personality. He hadn't seen a family as broken as the Cullen's in a long time. There was little doubt in his mind that Edward would eventually be affected by whatever the hell was going on with the Cullen's.

"Maybe you and Edward need to take a step back?" He suggested, hopefully. "And maybe you should give your searching a rest? Honey, as much as I want to find the answers, I don't like the way this stuff is affecting you." He motioned to the chaos she'd wreaked on his room.

Bella chewed on her bottom lip, a nervous habit she'd had since childhood, and thought about what her father had suggested. She decided to step around his Edward suggestion. "Dad, what I need right now is support," she said, looking her father straight in the eye. "I need to do this. I'm tired of not knowing what really happened…You keep saying that mom was acting crazy when she started looking into the past. Have you ever asked yourself why she was acting like that?" Charlie's moustache twitched at her question. "I mean, it's like she was taking a drug or something, there has to be a connection to what she was finding that caused her to react that way. Honestly, there are a lot of weird coincidences in this thing. Some of them are really hard to explain." Charlie looked towards the book. Truthfully, he'd never really studied it. After he'd exhausted all the normal avenues of investigating Renee's disappearance and finding nothing that would lead him to believe her departure from their lives had been anything other than her choice, he'd been content to continue placing the blame on her fragile mental state rather than believing Renee's rantings and seriously looking into what she'd said she found. Now, recognizing the same haunted and confused look in his daughter's eyes, Charlie was rethinking his options.

"Please dad, I need to do this."

Seeing the earnestness of her words reflected in her eyes, Charlie nodded with a tight smile. He didn't believe in the supernatural, not even a little bit, but he loved his daughter, and for her he'd do just about anything.

With a heavy sigh, Charlie put his arm around his baby, giving her a reassuring hug. "Let's start in the attic. Maybe there's something up there I've missed."


Just a quickie to move things forward. Next up we take a trip to Hell and Satan gets dating advice from Rose. Gee, it almost sounds like an after school special. LOL!

Remember, to leave me your thoughts.

Until next time,

~ruinedbyrob