Okay folks, we're starting the downhill slide. I can't tell you how many more chapters are left because I tend to be a bit wordy and don't really know how many are left. I know where we're headed and and yes, I have an outline. I will promise to write as much as RL allows and I hope to have TDP wrapped up before I head down to St. Louis for the Twific meetup at the end of June. YAY!

Thank you for all sharing your thoughts in the reviews. I read them all and answered the ones I could. Please know that I appreciate every single review. Even when it's just a smiley face.

I cannot thank my pre-reader, sazzledazzled and my beta, Edwardsfirstkiss enough for their help. I could not do this without them!

SM owns Twilight but Devilward is mine!


The Devil's Plan

Chapter 35

"As dawn breaks on the Son's ascension, Man will rejoice, for they have been saved. Should the Devil find his vessel and plant his seed, when light and dark are equal, the Son of Light's ascension will be halted and the Dark Son will reign over Man."

Ba'al read and reread that passage several times before flinging the parchment to the desk. He glanced at the calendar on his iPhone and his scowl deepened.

They were running out of time.

"I recognize that look of despair. I believe that was the same look you had on your face when our father threw us into the pit," Astarte remarked, as she walked into Ba'al's room and lying down on his unmade bed. "I don't like it."

"Oh really? You don't enjoy seeing my eyes envisioning the horror that awaits us? You don't appreciate the pallid appearance my skin has taken on as death approaches with each despondent breath I take?" Ba'al huffed, affixing her with a hard stare.

Astarte rolled her blue eyes and sighed at his dramatics. "No. I don't."

Ba'al muttered under his breath and returned to his attention to the parchments that littered his desk.

Astarte unfolded her voluptuous frame from his bed, draping her arms around his neck before speaking seductively into his ear. "I feel as if your dramatics are a bit over played."

"Is your 'boy' not servicing your needs?" he asked, roughly removing her arms from around his neck. "That's too bad. However I'm not interested in picking up his slack."

"That's not a problem," she huffed, leaving out Emmett's recent refusal to continue their afternoon fun. "I have made contact with Edward."

"What? How? Why didn't you inform me of this immediately?" Astarte turned and gracefully sat back onto his bed, fluffing her hair. She was enjoying her moment. It wasn't often that she had the upper hand.

Ba'al narrowed his eyes at her attempts to delay her answers. "Answer me!" He ordered as she began to check her fingernails.

"Fine. I was with Emmett when we were interrupted by shrieking. I rushed out to find him cowering in pain. It appears that my placebo idea has worked." Ba'al nodded and motioned for her to continue. He wasn't in the mood to give praise.

"Anyway, I rushed in and he began to voice his anger when suddenly, he was gone and Edward was in charge."

"How do you know it was Edward and not…"

"Give me some credit." Astarte demanded with narrowed eyes.

"Fine, if you're sure. You actually spoke to him?" Astarte nodded affirmatively. "And he understands what's going on?"

"He's fully aware of who he's hosting. And he has a fairly good idea that Satan's plan is not going to benefit mankind. He's also aware that Bella is the key, but I don't know if he fully understands what her role is." Ba'al nodded thoughtfully as he absorbed her words.

"He wants to help us." Ba'al's eyes lifted to Astarte's in surprise.

"Good. Because we're going to need all of the help we can get."

"Dude, that was classic. I've never seen anyone put Ole' Mrs. Wagner in her place before." Edward grimaced slightly when Mike gave his back a congratulatory smack. "Seriously, that was epic." Mike went to repeat his earlier action but was stopped when Edward's hand shot out, grabbing Mike's wrist, stopping its motion before making contact once again with his back.

"Don't." Edward ordered gruffly, before releasing Mike's wrist.

"Whoa, I was just…"

"I don't care to be touched." Edward interrupted. Bella couldn't see Edward's face but from the look of fear in Mike's eyes, she guessed that he was giving him the stink eye that he'd developed lately.

"Okay. Okay, no touching I got it. See ya." Mike uttered before hurrying off towards the nurse's office cradling his wrist.

"Was that really necessary?" Bella shook her head as she deposited her Biology book into her locker.

"I believe it was." Edward remarked, reaching out to curl a piece of her hair around his fingers.

"Really? Well what if I suddenly didn't want to be touched?" She said, moving her head so that her hair pulled away from his grasp.

"Be careful, Sweetheart, lying is a sin. And a good girl like you wouldn't last a day in Hell. Trust me." Shocked, Bella looked up into this dark glossy eyes. He smirked at her surprise. "Besides, we both know that you crave my touch." Edward said before taking quick and hard possession of her lips. He pushed her back until she could feel the slats of her locker imprint themselves into her skin. She knew she should stop him. She knew that any minute a teacher was going to see them and force them apart, awarding detention or worse for their display. She knew that Charlie would be embarrassed and upset that his daughter had become such a harlot. She knew that girls like Lauren, and Siobhan were snickering behind her back and making remarks about her loose morals to their caustic group of harpies. Bella knew all of those things were reasons to stop kissing the beautiful boy she was currently entangled with, but for the life of her, she couldn't pull away from him.

"Ahem." The sound of a clearing throat pulled Bella out of her Edward bubble.

"Go away!" Edward demanded gruffly, tightening his arms around Bella.

"Si-Edward, it's not a good idea to show so much affection in public. It tends to invite unwanted attention." At Jasper's warning Edward released her lips and loosened his arms but didn't completely release her. Instead, he tucked her in close to his side, keeping his hand firmly planted right above her right butt cheek.

Bella watched the two boys stare at each other. Edward's eyes hardened towards Jasper, who quickly lowered his gaze. Bella looked quizzically towards Jasper, wondering why he would act subservient to Edward.

She was just about to ask what was going on when Edward spoke. "The smell coming from the cafeteria is less nauseating than usual. Shall we?" He asked, gently pushing Bella towards the cafeteria doors.

All heads turned towards the group as they entered the loud and crowded room. Edward took the attention in stride as they proceeded to walk towards their usual table. Alice was already there waving at them.

"Hi." Alice cheerfully greeted.

"Hey." Bella offered, taking her seat across from her exuberant friend.

Edward took the seat next to Bella, moving his seat so that he could observe more of the room. To Bella his actions were more like a king observing his subjects rather than a high school student eating lunch with his classmates. She shook off those thoughts and returned them to decide what to have for lunch. Before her stomach had complete its third grumble, a tray filled with pizza, pasta, and French fries appeared before her.

Edward took the tray from Jasper and began to eat. He pushed a piece of pizza towards her and shoved several fries into his mouth. His eating habits were just one more thing that had abruptly changed since Christmas.

"Thank you." She muttered. Edward nodded and returned his attention to his meal.

"You're welcome, Bella." Jasper's smile faded slightly as he noticed that she wasn't eating. "Is the selection of food I brought not to your liking? Would you like me to get you something else? They have tomato soup, perhaps a Caesar salad-"

"Thank you, but I don't need you to serve me. I can get my own food."

"He doesn't mind." Edward interjected with a stern glance towards Jasper.

"He is correct. I do not mind." Jasper answered, smiling widely towards her.

"Still, it's weird. You're not my servant."

"I get food for Alice, it's no trouble to also serve you."

"I'm not your girlfriend." Bella explained.

"No, you're mine." Edward's forceful declaration rang out across the table. Jasper once again lowered his head in submission as Alice smiled and picked at her fruit cup.

Bella looked from the glowering Edward to the still submissive Jasper. "What does that have to do with anything? He shouldn't be serving you either. You're not a king or a-"

"-Bella, if it will make you feel better, I will no longer bring you lunch. I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable." Jasper sought to appease her, and she didn't understand why he would feel the need to do that.

"That's not the point. Edward isn't in charge of you. Why do you act as if he you're below him? Jasper's eyes widened, before quickly glancing towards Edward.

"Enough. This conversation is inhibiting the enjoyment of my meal." Bella threw up her hands and shook her head at Edward's statement. She knew that there was no point in saying anything else at the moment.

She picked up her now cold slice of pizza and let this latest installment of weirdness fall onto the heap with the rest.

"Yes, dad, my phone is charged. And before you ask, yes, I have my pepper spray." Bella could hear her father huff through the phone as she backed out of the driveway and turned towards the interstate that would take her to Port Angeles.

"Good. Call me the minute you get there, the minute you leave and the second you get home." She sighed imagining the stern look that would be affixed to her father's face and the way his moustache would be twitching as he issued his orders through his phone.

"Dad, I'll be fine." Bella's promise did little to assuage Charlie's fears. He knew she was an adult, and he had precious months to still attempt to control her movements, but every time she walked out his door, there was a still that horrible, almost paralyzing fear that she wouldn't return. He survived losing Renee. He wouldn't be as lucky if he lost Bella.

"Okay. Find some good books. Love you." Bella's fist clenched at his heartfelt declaration. The lie she'd given him for the purpose of her trip to Port Angeles, tasted bitter as it sat on her tongue.

"Love you too." She uttered quickly before hanging up and tossing the phone onto the passenger seat of her car.

US 101 stretched out ahead of her in one long gunmetal colored ribbon. Bella paid little attention the scenery as she made her way past the quaint towns of Beaver and Piedmont. Her iPod kept her favorite music blaring through the interior, blocking all thoughts as she drove. A glance at the marker sign on the side of the road told her she'd just passed Elwha. She was only about twenty -minutes from Port Angeles. Bella pulled into a rest stop and reached over to grab her phone from the passenger seat, intending to use the GPS mode. As she opened up her phone, the familiar tones for missed messages rang out loudly. Sighing, she swiped open the message tab where twenty-two new messages from Edward were waiting. Instead of taking the time to read them all, she decided to call him. There was no reason for her to feel the anxiety that was swelling in her chest with every ring. She had every right to be doing what she was doing. Then why was she worried about telling Edward she was on her way to speak to Father Accardi?

"Bella! Where are you?" Edward bellowed through her phone.

"I-"

"-I've been calling you for over an hour! You are not at your house; you are not at sch-"

"Edward, stop. I'm in Port Angeles." To her surprise, her announcement was met with a long silence.

"Um, Edward, did you hear me?"

"What are you doing in Port Angeles?" The serious tone of his voice surprised her. Before his voice had held a frantic tone, now he sounded almost angry. She found herself reacting defensively because of it.

"I'm running an errand." She answered flatly while drumming her fingers on the steering wheel.

"What kind of errand?" Edward demanded.

"It's personal."

"Return immediately and I will accompany you on this errand."

"No."

"Bella, I wish to know what you are doing." His tone was now almost flat. She could tell that he was angry, and she didn't understand why except that he'd become increasingly possessive of her. Regardless of his possessiveness, and moments of general weirdness, he'd been attentive and good to her. She wasn't looking to make him feel as if he didn't matter to her.

"Edward, I'm going to be meeting with someone who may have answers about what happened to my mom. I will call you when I return to Forks. If I'm not too late, maybe we can get dinner? I'll talk to you then. Good bye. " Bella turned her phone back off, not wanting to hear the chimes from incoming calls she was sure would come. With one deep breath and a quick right turn later, she was back on the road on her way to Port Angeles and hopefully some answers.

A shower of aluminum, copper, gold and other materials rained down in a pile as the iPhone X impacted with the wall opposite of where Satan stood. His hands shook and his eyes blazed with anger. If he'd been in his Hellish form, there would no doubt be fire coming from his eyes and a hole or two would be found in the nearest solid subject, whether that be a rock or a human. On this plane, he was limited to throwing items at walls.

"Sire, is something wrong?" Ba'al asked from a safe distance while slipping his own phone safely into his back pocket.

"She's in Port Angeles." Satan forced out through gritted teeth. "She's in fucking Port Angeles!"

Ba'al grimaced as Edward's desk chair rolled violently past him to crash into the hallway wall.

"What is in Port Angeles?" Ba'al unwisely asked.

"How long is the drive?" Satan snapped.

"Just over an hour. Sire, what is-"

"FUCK!" Satan's displeasure roared through the Cullen's house. Kodi, the only Cullen at home, began barking from the safety of one floor down, causing Ba'al to shut the door to Edward's room, pending any more outbursts.

Satan began pacing back and forth between the bed and the bathroom. It was only a path of about eight feet, a far less distance than would be found in Hell, Ba'al could only guess that the pacing would not do much to cool whatever had Satan in such a temper.

"Sire, I can safely say that 'she' is Bella, but I can only assume that Bella being in Port Angeles is a bad thing. Perhaps if you-"

"-A bad thing? A bad thing? Yes, it's a fucking bad thing, you worm ridden excuse for a god!" Ba'al took a step back and wiped Satan's spittle off his cheeks.

Satan began muttering to himself as he continued to pace. "Who is left? How do I stop them in this body? What would they know? How did she make contact with them?" His ranting made little sense.

"Sire," Ba'al began, staying what he hoped was a spittle safe distance away. "If you tell me what is happening, perhaps I can help?"

Satan ceased pacing, affixing a murderous glare onto his minion. "Just how do you propose we silence a man whose soul has been silenced for years! Or how you would keep my Swan from discovering that her mother didn't walk away of her own accord? Just how do you propose to help me while I'm in this worthless vessel!"

Ba'al absorbed the information and quickly tried to decipher what Satan had said.

"How can she gain any knowledge from a dead man?"

"Obviously the little worm told someone."

"Told them what?" Ba'al understood that he was jeopardizing his life by continuing to question the ruler of Hell, but he took that chance hoping that whatever he might uncover would assist in his his efforts to thwart the very being that held his eternal soul in his clawed hands.

"That I have been systematically removing all obstacles standing between me and my Swan for centuries." Satan answered flatly, with a sneer, obviously happy with his horrific accomplishments.

Satan's admission didn't just inform Ba'al of his horrendous deeds. The young man that was hosting the Devil listened intensely to what the evil one had just said. Ever since his conversation with Rose, Edward had been determined to do whatever he could to stop the Devil. Slowly, he'd been able to find ways to stay aware of his surroundings and stay connected with Satan's deeds without alerting Satan to his wakefulness. Even though it meant that he had to watch the unmentionable evil become close to his Bella. Edward had struggled with everything he'd witnessed. The fog had threatened to consume him several times. Giving in to the embrace of the void as he'd come to describe it, offered him the oblivious escape he longed for, but he'd resisted.

He'd resisted for his Bella.

Edward's mind was reeling from the information Satan had divulged. He'd read Bella's family bible and was overwhelmed to discover the tragic events that had plagued her ancestors was an intricately designed scheme to remove all lines of her family until Bella was the last of her family line on both sides.

He had to find a way to tell someone what Satan had done and get them to

tell Bella.

And he needed to do it quickly.

"Ugh, who would charge to park in front of a church?" Bella griped as she fished around in her center console for coins to feed the parking meter. "Gotcha!" She exclaimed triumphantly, holding up two quarters and a dime. Bella grabbed her bag and fed the ravenous meter. "Okay Bella, don't get your hopes up. Go in there and look at what Father Acarrdi, has to show me and deal with whatever comes next. Good or bad." Bella's hand shook slightly as she grasped the ornate door handle to the church.

"Here goes nothing."


I dropped some clues. Did you all catch them? LOL!

Please consider leaving a review and letting me know your thoughts. Your reviews fuel this ride!

Until next time,

ruinedbyrob