Thank you to all of you that took the time to shoot me a review. I've been a bit of a fail with the replies, but know that I read each one and appreciate them very much!
I've had a few complaints about the pacing. I'm hoping to fix that. Writing this type of story is completely foreign to me and I'm trying to learn as I go.
Much love to my pre-reader, Sazzledazzled and beta,Edwardsfirstkiss. I couldn't do this without them. They're the best!
Disclaimer: SM owns Twilight. Devilward is mine.
The Devil's Plan
Chapter 31
Puzzle Pieces Discovered
Ba'al hurried down the seemingly endless dark and dank hallway trying to avoid the hands of the tormented as they reached out from their trapped positions on the walls and ceilings. He rounded a corner, narrowly missing the shaking hand of what appeared to be a female. Her skin was gone, leaving muscles, ligaments and in some places, bone visible to his naked eye. She'd been nailed to the wall, spread eagle. Her eyes were vacantly staring into space as her hands grasped at air. Her torture probably so traumatic that her brain had disengaged, leaving only autonomous reactions to what had to be immeasurable pain.
Ba'al's body involuntary shuddered at the sight. He quickened his pace to get away from the monstrous form. His short respite from Hell hadn't purged his memory of this dark and loathsome place. Or the threat of his punishment if he was unable to fulfill his task.
"Aro!" Ba'al called as he entered the man's meager chamber.
Startled, Aro jumped from the stone bench he'd been sitting on, scattering parchments in his haste and quickly bending his head in submission thinking that the Dark Lord had entered.
"Oracle, what have you done?" Ba'al asked simply. He hadn't the time to wage words with this ancient being.
Realizing that it wasn't Satan, standing before him, Aro lifted his head in defiance.
"Whatever do you mean?" Aro asked with a strong and steady voice. Seeing that it was only a fellow prisoner of Hell, he didn't need to supplicate himself to the intruder.
Ba'al shook his head and walked over to the table that was covered in what he presumed to be evidence of the Oracle's visions.
"Stop that!" Aro ordered, alarmed that Ba'al was going through his papers.
"Why, do you have something to hide?" Ba'al may be only another resident in Hell, same as Aro, but he'd once been a general of legions and a god among men, well versed in gaining the truth from mortals. He wouldn't allow this fallen being: thinking he had the upper hand.
"I don't answer to you." Aro spoke quickly, pulling his writings from Ba'al's hands.
Ba'al turned and grabbed the man by the neck, halting Aro's movements. Papers fell from his hands fluttering to the ground as Ba'al increased his grip. "Oh, but you do answer to me. I've been sent here on orders to find a traitor." Aro's eyes widened fearfully at Ba'al's words.
"Ah, yes, now we understand each other. Good." Ba'al slowly released the gasping man, taking a perverse pleasure in Aro's obvious discomfort. "Let's begin again," he said, fixing a steely gaze onto the cowering man. "What have you done?"
~~~TDP~~~
"Yes, I'll be there in five minutes," Charlie said, before disconnecting the call. "Bella, I have to go, apparently the cold hasn't done enough to discourage Mrs. Cope's nephews from chasing her cat up a tree."
Bella laughed and shook her head. "Tell Jason and Georgie hello and give 'Snookie' a hug from me."
"Will do. Are you going to be alright up here by yourself?"
"Really?" Bella raised an eye brow at her father's assertion that their attic was too scary for her.
"Okay, okay," Charlie said humorously. "I didn't mean that my strong independent daughter couldn't handle the big bad attic, I meant, if you find something…will you be okay?"
Bella looked around the dusty but surprisingly well organized attic and nodded. They'd gone through nearly all the boxes and hadn't found even one journal. She was beginning to think that they'd been wasting their time. "I'll be fine." She promised.
"Okay. Once I get that damn cat out of the tree and have another conversation with the boys, I need to swing by the station and check on everything. I shouldn't be longer than a couple of hours." He walked towards the ladder, stopping at the top and turning back towards her. "I love you, baby," he said simply before beginning his climb down.
"I love you too." Bella repeated as she watched her father's head disappear from sight. Turning away from the ladder, she refocused on the few boxes she had left to go through. Having deduced that the chances of her mother's missing journals being in the box, labeled, Baby Charlie were slim, she pushed it aside and opened the next labeled, Charlie-private, only to find a pair of ice skates, a cigar box filled with concert ticket stubs, a ratty pair of socks and a cylindrical contraption that that looked suspiciously like a bong. Shaking her head at the thought of her law upholding father engaging in recreational drug use, Bella quickly put the paraphernalia back into the box and pushed it aside.
Bella proceeded to go through the rest of the boxes, with no results. Resigned that she'd spent the better part of the afternoon on a fool's errand, she made her way over to the ladder intending to engage in baking therapy. With recipes for decadent desserts swimming in her head, she began climbing down from the attic when something caught her eye. Off to her right appeared to be a board out of place, right under the window sill. There was an old bean bag chair pushed close to the board, the one area in the space that had natural light. "Hmm, enough light to write by?" Bella questioned. Hoisting herself back up the ladder, Bella walked over to the out of place board. Cursing her short fingernails, she tugged and prodded at the board several times before successfully breaking it loose. As strong and independent as she was, she was still reluctant to stick her hand into a dark hole. Glimpses of the scene from Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, where Willie, Indiana's female companion had to stick her hand in a similar looking space in order to save Indy and Shortround from certain death, only to find herself besieged with all manner of creepy crawling things, flashed through her mind. "Just do it!" Bella ordered. With a deep breath and a quick prayer hoping that there were no rats living in the space, she stuck her hand inside. Finding nothing willing to crawl or bite her hand, she cautiously explored. Just inside to the left, she felt paper. Carefully, Bella began to pull the item towards the opening. Barely, containing her excitement, Bella gazed at the worn notebook. The blue cover was dusty and there were a few curled pages but it looked to be in fairly good shape. Bella looked at the fading light through the one window and decided to take the book to her room.
Bella forced herself to stay calm as she washed her hands of the dirt and sweat they'd accumulated from her time in the attic, but her mind was racing with questions she hoped would be answered in the notebook.
Bella got comfortable on her bed and opened the journal to the first page. It was dated August 15, 1988, less than a month before she turned two years old. In her mother's graceful script, Bella read passages where Renee declared how much she loved being a mother and a wife. Some entries were paragraphs and some just a sentence or two. Renee's musings brought a smile to Bella's face. It was a comfort to know that her mother had loved her, yet it brought to mind more questions as to why she had left them.
Bella leafed through the journal, for nearly an hour before she noticed something off. The entry was dated May 18, 1990. Unlike the other passages where Renee's thoughts were cohesive and calm, this one was composed of frantic snippets of thoughts.
Not an accident! I think my family was murdered.
Bella's heart quickened as she read the passage. She quickly turned the page to find more equally puzzling posts.
June 16, 1990 - Need more evidence to confirm my suspicions.
June 22, 1990- Library was a bust. Will continue search. Maybe Port Angeles? I need to access records in Italy.
July 8, 1990- Charlie wants me to stop searching. He doesn't want to face the facts! He's blind to what's been happening. I'll open his eyes!
July 10- Things are beginning to add up. There is a Roman Catholic Church in Port Angeles. Father Ignatius has been very helpful with translations. He has connections in Italy. He's going to help me! Charlie is still not behind me. He thinks I'm neglecting Bella. I'm not! I'm doing this all for her. To keep her safe. If he doesn't want to help, I'll do it myself.
July 23-Succes! Faxes arrived today from Italy. The police reports of the deaths are very spotty, but clearly they labeled their deaths as accidents only because it was easy. My suspicions were correct, Mother was pregnant at the time of her death. I'm going to go back through the book, I know there's more to find!
August 1- Just as I thought, the Cygnus curse is far more sinister than I was led to believe. Even a hundred years ago my ancestors knew something was wrong. I must ensure that Bella's soul is safe!
Bella's heart quickened as she read the passages. This was making sense. Charlie had told her that Renee started badgering him about having her baptized and insisting they begin attending church. She also remembered him saying that Renee was certain that her parent's death wasn't an accident. Bella quickly turned the page to find only one more entry. It was dated three days before Renee disappeared.
August 9, 1990- I saw him again. Not an illusion as Charlie insists. And not just in my dreams. He was real this time and he was watching me. Watching us!
Father Ignatius has been missing for a three days. I fear the worst. I begged Father Augustus to complete the baptism ceremony, but he refused. Stupid man! Clinging to his rules when the darkness is at the door. Bella cried uncontrollably when we were in the church. AS if the very act of being in the place was causing her pain. She wouldn't settle down. Father Augustus insisted that we leave. He wants me to go through the proper channels while our very souls are at risk? I DON"T HAVE TIME FOR THAT! On the way out, I touched her head with the holy water, wiping some on my forehead as well. I swear he shrunk from us as we ran to the car. Ha! Take that you devil! I will secure her soul. You will not harm either of my children!
The Devil's Plan ends now!
Bella gasped as the book fell from her fingers onto the floor. Renee's rantings had left her breathless and trembling. Renee's ramblings had reached a crescendo and Bella felt as if the roof had fallen in on her. Questions swirled around in her head until she became dizzy. Bella rushed to the bathroom, kneeling over the toilet hoping that relief would come. It didn't. She dry heaved for several minutes until she collapsed on the floor with her feverish forehead laying on the cool tiles.
Bella closed her eyes trying to fight off the dizziness. Behind her closed lids, the questions continued to bombard her senses.
Who was this man Renee claimed to have seen? She called him the 'Devil'. Was that a metaphor?
Did her mother have the same dreams that she'd had?
Why did her mother say that her children would be safe? Do I have a sibling?
Was Renee crazy? Was there a chance that her mother's mental instability was passed on to her?
Bella didn't know how long she'd laid on the floor of the bathroom. The sound of Charlie calling her name broke her out of her stupor.
"Bella!" The sound of his heavy footsteps coming up the stairs prompted her to action. She went to the sink and quickly splashed cold water over her blotchy face. Her eyes were rimmed in red, she would tell him it was the dust from the attic.
Bella took another glimpse of herself in the mirror. She looked terrible. He would notice.
She didn't know what to tell him about what she'd found. If she showed him the journal, he would probably use it as confirmation that her mother had been out of her mind. There was no evidence to back up any of Renee's accusations. At least nothing that Charlie would believe, but what Bella had experienced on Halloween night and the dreams she'd had were evidence enough for her to want to investigate further into what Renee had written.
"Bella!" Charlie roared again. With a deep breath, Bella yanked open the door to find her father standing directly in front of the bathroom door with a raised fist to knock.
"Geez, dad. Can't a girl use the bathroom in peace?" She said jokingly while dodging to the left in order to go around him and down the stairs. "I was just about to start dinner. Tacos sound okay?" She asked while keeping her face down and away from his
"Hold it!" He ordered.
Bella's face fell as she heard him come up behind her.
"Are you okay?" Bella closed her eyes at the sound of his concern. She hated lying to her father. Fixing a smile on her face, she turned to face him.
"Yep!" She said brightly, noticing that his eyes narrowed as they took in her face. "It's super dusty up there," she said pointing to the attic. "I've been snot-sneezing my berries off."
Charlie laughed. Her colorful language always managing to give him a laugh.
"You sure that's all it is?" She nodded. Not willing to voice another lie.
"Okay, but you'll tell me if that changes? If I need to have a conversation with that boy, or if you find something…" His voice faltered, neither of them needed a clarification of what he meant.
Bella nodded again.
"Alrighty then, if you start the meat, I'll get to chopping." His eyebrows quirked up as he rubbed his hands together in anticipation of dinner. Charlie was a taco fiend and Bella had used that fact to her advantage.
Father and daughter proceeded with their dinner preparations. Both keeping the conversation light and fun. Charlie wasn't completely fooled. Even as she laughed at his retelling of his afternoon of cat rescue, he knew something was up and he figured it had to be the boy. He was certain Bella would tell him about anything she might have found in the attic. He'd be having a conversation with that kid soon.
Bella knew Charlie was putting on a show, and she gladly participated. Anything to keep her mind off what she'd found. Allowing her father to think that Edward was the only cause of her distress would have made her uncomfortable if his attitude of late hadn't made her so angry and confused. Maybe a dose of father logic would get Edward to change course? It couldn't hurt.
~~~TDP~~~
While the Swan's stuffed themselves with Tex-Mex and avoidance, across the small town, the 'boy' in question was having his own problems. Edward had come out of his latest stupor to find himself standing in front his bathroom mirror. Apparently he'd taken a shower and was now flexing in front of the still foggy mirror admiring himself.
"Not bad for a human." Devilward commented while running his hands down Edward's chest. He tugged on the towel wrapped around his waist, revealing Edward's flaccid cock. "But this is a problem."
Devilward took Edward in hand and tugged on his dick. "Why does this not work? Should I be taking medication or perhaps I've assumed incorrectly? Do I need to find male on male action to wake it up? " He asked into the mirror, clearly expecting Edward to answer him.
"It works dammit!" Edward screamed, hating himself for falling for the Devil's teasing. "I don't need medication and I certainly don't want to watch male porn!"
Devilward chuckled at Edward's outburst. He'd been bored waiting for Astarte to show up and like it or not, Edward was a captive audience to his mocking. "Huh, then why won't it get hard? While my real physical body is far superior to a human's, I was unprepared for how small and soft this thing is. "
"Stop calling my dick 'small and soft'! It works when Iwant it to work!" Edward could feel his heart starting to speed up as his blood pressure increased. "I'm going to have a heart attack at 17 years old while allowing Satan to use my body to feel up my girlfriend and he's taunting me about why my dick won't get hard?" Edward thought to himself.
"Wait, that's the problem isn't it? You don't command that part of my body. I do!" Edward was jubilant to discover this fact. Devilward, was not as happy about his revelation. He'd been trying to manipulate Edward's uncooperative genitalia for days.
"Cease you're prattling. I've grown weary of it." Devilward demanded before tucking the discarded towel around his hips. "You control nothing!" He sneered, pushing Edward out of his half of their shared mind.
Edward remained silent as he watched himself in the mirror as Devilward directed his limbs to push his hair away from his forehead before brushing his teeth. To his surprise, Devilward was very conscientious about his hygiene. Satan's concern for good hygiene aside, Edward couldn't stop thinking about what had just happened and why Satan kept trying to get closer to Bella?
As Edward pondered his revelation and ensuing question, Devilward, finished with his ablutions and, sauntered back into Edward's room. He'd come back from Bella's in a bad mood. He'd ranted and raved to an empty room about the injustices inflicted on him in this realm. Normally, he'd pop in, do this thing and then head back downstairs where he was revered accordingly. He'd not spent this amount of time on earth before and hadn't thought through how constrained he'd be. With no real power except for his powers of persuasion, the Devil felt a tad behind the eight ball and he was well and truly vexed. Especially, after discovering that his Swan possessed a strong will and had not easily fallen for his charms. Even more troubling was the knowledge that Edward was still in possession of a few of his faculties, one of his more important faculties and was slowly gaining strength. He may have overplayed his hand this morning, but how was he to achieve his goal with uncooperative yet required genitalia?
He would probably need to kill someone in order to put Edward back in line. Satan began to debate the pros and cons of killing everyone Edward loved. Edward was unaware of the horror Satan was planning, as he tried to decipher what the Devil wanted with Bella. Both host and guest were deep in thought when Astarte arrived.
"Sire." Astarte greeted her master, with bowed head reverence. Her arrival drew the attention of both the Devil and Edward.
"Where have you been?" Devilward demanded, taking in the slightly disheveled appearance of his minion.
"Sire, I came as soon as Ba'al informed me I was needed. What can I do to assist you?" Devilward toyed with telling her to get on her knees and prove to Edward who was really in charge, but he could feel the boy stirring in his head and didn't want to chance failure.
"I require you to be available at all times," he said sternly, pleased that Astarte bowed her head in response to his demand. "I will also need your perspective on my current dealings with my Swan. But first, do you have any of those round tablets for my head?"
Astarte tilted her head quizzically at his question before realizing he was asking for a pain reliever. Nodding, she rummaged around in her purse and produced a bottle of Midol. Astarte shook several capsules into his outstretched hand. Astarte had to suppress the urge to laugh at the image of The Devil taking a pain reliever meant for menstrual cramps.
Satan closed his eyes as the capsules delivered their healing magic. He was now in pain whenever Edward was conscious and it was taking more of the multi-colored tablets to quiet the brat.
Astarte waited quietly for Satan to address her. Finally, after feeling Edward's presence began to dull, Devilward told Astarte what had happened with Bella.
"Sire, I think things can be remedied easily," Astarte said. "You simply must apologize."
Astarte shrank against the door as Devilward turned his fiery eyes upon her. "Apologize? You dare assume that I'm wrong? Have you forgotten who I am?!"
"No. Sire, of course, I didn't mean to assert that you were wrong, only for you to give her the illusion that you are. All you have to do is to say the words." Astarte said,steadfast under his gaze.
"Just say the words?"
"Yes, you don't need to mean them. Humans rarely mean what they say, yet they accept the words with nary a thought."
"I cannot do that. She mustn't continue on her quest."
"Sire, will she find something if she continues?" Astarte knew she was pushing a boundary, but she was grasping for anything that would help Ba'al and her.
Devilward breathed heavily for a moment as he decided how much to tell her. "Suffice to say, that if she continues this quest she may stumble upon things that will cause me a great amount of bother."
"Then you must find a way to distract her."
I'm considering writing something for the Babies at the Border Fiction Compilation. I think it's a very important cause that deserves as much attention as we can bring to it. Please, write and call your representative and let them know that regardless of how you feel about immigration, what has gone on is beyond cruel and those children need to be returned to their families. I urge you to check out the Babies at the Border Facebook page. Lots of incredible authors are joining the cause.
As always, your support means everything to me. Thank you so much for the encouragement and kind words.
ruinedbyrob
