Everyone still with me? Thank you to all that reviewed with their thoughts and encouragement. Your words mean the world to me.
Much love to my team, Sazzledazzled and Edwardsfirstkiss. They talked me off the ledge and told me to keep going. Their encouragement and support is very much appreciated.
All mistakes are mine.
SM owns Twilight. I take full responsibility for unleashing this Devil.
The Devil's Plan
Chapter 37
Edward was expecting to be subjected a line of colorful language, to be told to kiss unmentionable areas on his brother's anatomy even a possible hard shot to the face; what he was not expecting was to watch his older brother roll around on the ground clutching his gut as he laughed uncontrollably.
Rose looked from her hysterical boyfriend to Edward and back to Emmett. Her human was throwing a fit, and she was clearly not sure what to do about it.
Edward was equally at a loss at what to do about Emmett's laughing fit. He knew that his hold on the Devil wouldn't last forever and that he needed his brother's help before he lost control.
"Um, Em, are you almost done? I don't know how long I have before he comes back." Edward's voice was laced with enough uncertainty and fear that should have caused Emmett to stop laughing. Instead, he looked up at this brother and then broke out in more laughter.
"Emmett, this is serious." Rose scolded, stamping her foot and placing her hands on her hips. Emmett stopped rolling around on the floor and glared up at the angry woman.
"What the fuck, Rose! Did you hear him? Possessed by the Devil my ass!" Emmett exclaimed before slowly getting up from the floor to face Edward and Rose. His face was red from anger at his brother's latest ploy for attention
"That's the most pathetic thing I've heard that little shit say in a long time and believe me he's been pretty pathetic this last year. It's just another way for him to get attention. As if fucking my best friend's mother and ruining all of our lives wasn't enough, now he's possessed by the Devil? Fuck this! I'm tired of treating you with kid gloves." Emmett rounded on Edward and raised his fist to strike his brother. With lightning quick speed, Edward's hand shot out and roughly stopped Emmett's fist from reaching his face. With a flick of his wrist, he snapped Emmett's hand backwards bringing the bigger boy to his knees.
"I do not know why you were attempting to strike me, but I trust you have since rethought that decision."
Rose's eyes grew large, and she took a step back as she recognized the voice of Satan.
The Devil's eyes snapped from the writhing boy on the floor to his minion. "Care to enlighten me, Astarte?" Rose shook her head in quick denial. Satan cast his glare back to his writhing victim. "Well, then it would appear we're back where we started. He applied more pressure to Emmett's wrist, causing him to yelp in pain. Fearing that Emmett was about to end up with a broken wrist, Rose stepped in.
"Sire, please, a broken wrist will cause questions from his parents." Through the haze of pain, Emmett heard Rose's statement. His eyes darted in bewilderment between his girlfriend and the body he recognized as his brother's.
"Hmmm, the last thing I need is to deal with nosy parents." Emmett cried out in relief as, Devilward suddenly released his wrist and the blood began to flow back into the mangled appendage.
"Oh, don't be so dramatic. I barely touched you. I can do a lot worse with a lot less. Remember that." Emmett nodded silently as he cradled his throbbing wrist to his chest.
"I'm suddenly feeling famished. Bring me food. And then contact your worthless partner. My Swan needs to be caged!" Rose nodded quickly and bowed as Satan swiftly passed through the door. She waited until he was out of sight before rushing to Emmett's side.
"Wh-what the hell was that?" Emmett stuttered with fear in his eyes.
Rose's eyes closed briefly as she thought about what to say. Sighing, she slowly opened her eyes and solemnly regarded the boy she was willing to sacrifice everything for.
"That, Emmett, was hell on earth."
~~~TDP~~~
"Did you enjoy your trip?" Charlie asked as he poured a good amount of ketchup next to his fries. He picked up his knife and began cutting into his steak. After chewing a couple of bites, he sat his fork and knife down and addressed his silent daughter. "Bella, what's going on? I've asked you the same question three times." Bella lifted her heavy head to look at her father. His frown told her that she was not pulling off a 'nothing is going on look.'
Bella Swan had a problem. Several problems, actually. Each seemed to be more frightening than the next. How did she get her father to believe that the Devil had been murdering members of their family for decades if not centuries for a purpose that was still unclear, when she couldn't get Father Accosta to believe her? Bella sighed as she remembered more of the conversation she and the priest had before she left. He believed that Father Ignatius and her mother believed Satan was involved but accepting that the dark angel was coming to Earth for this purpose and that he was still working his machinations against the Swan family, well, he had more trouble with that.
"Bella, the Catholic Church fights every day against Satan's dark influence, but thinking that he has manifested on this earthly plane to extinguish your ancestors, well my dear that's just not probable. Think to yourself, what would Lucifer have to gain with your ancestors' deaths? Why would he target you and your family?"
Bella couldn't answer his questions. She had no idea why the embodiment of evil would have a vendetta against her. She just knew that he did.
The information that Father Ignatius had received from his contacts in Italy painted a dark and menacing picture of death. Line after line of her ancestors had perished unexpectedly and in most cases they died by accidents that were, somewhat unexplained or at least questionable. They were all young men and women in the prime of their lives. Charlie had called it bad luck, Bella had called it a curse. But now, as she put the pieces of the evidence together in her head, the woes her ancestors had experienced were not, 'accidents' or bad luck. There had been a force moving the pieces of the puzzle until they were arranged to its liking.
Charlie gruffly cleared his throat, dragging his daughter from her deep thoughts.
"Um, my trip was good." Bella said quickly as her eyes darted from her grilled chicken salad, to her father and then back to the untouched meal.
Charlie's moustache twitched at his daughter's statement. "Uh, huh," he said, wiping his mouth with the cheap white paper napkin.
"Yep." She said simply, poking a piece of dried-out chicken with her fork. The idle chit chat of the townspeople filtered around her as she pondered what her next move would be or if she even had one. Bella could hear Mrs. Carson laugh loudly into her phone as her seven -year- old son threw french fries at his baby sister, causing the wait staff to get on their hands and knees to pick up his mess. Mr. Williamson was fighting with his wife about how the damp weather was making his sciatica act up. Mrs. Mallory whined to Mr. Mallory that dinner at the 'Forks Diner' was not appropriate for their anniversary and she expected a real night out. Those conversations and many more like them floated around her ears like a pack of gnats. All of them more annoying than the last. She was dealing with possibly life and death problems and Mrs. Long was worried that her son might be gay and how that might affect her status in the community? Mr. Travers was bragging to his friends that the young waitress was 'checking him out' and that freaking Mrs. Newton was spreading gossip to her book club that Mr. Mallory was having an affair with the new student teacher at Forks high. As her ears filled up with the nonsense, her face grew redder and her fists clenched tighter until the pressure rose to her red zone.
"STOP!" Bella screamed out into the full restaurant. Silverware clattered to the tacky plastic table cloths as everyone stopped to look at the Chief's crazy daughter making a spectacle.
"You are a brat who is old enough to know better than to make a mess someone else will have to clean up!" She pointed to the wide-eyed, seven-year- old.
"Anyone that would hold your son's sexuality against you is no one you should be worried about. You should be more concerned about what he may be going through and how you can support him!" Mrs. Long burst into tears as all eyes turned briefly toward her.
"The waitress is not checking you out! She's smiling at you and your lecherous friends because it's her job but she really wants you to stop leering down her blouse!" The four men sat in open mouthed astonishment as a small smile came to the waitress in question's face.
"And you should be more concerned why your middle- aged husband has begun spending his lunch hours watching the ninth grade cheerleading practice every day rather than spreading rumors about someone else's husband!" Mrs. Newton nearly fell off her chair as Bella turned her gossip around on her.
"All of you! You sit here gossiping about, and degrading your friends, coworkers … people you don't even know while real life shit is hanging over our heads!"
"That's enough." Charlie ordered, taking a hold of his daughter's hand and trying to get her to sit back down.
"No, dad. It's not! I'm sick of all of you and your petty, whining complaints. I'm sick of you waiting for someone else to parent your children because you can't be bothered to get off the damn phone!" Mrs. Carson huffed as all eyes briefly fell on her.
"Listen here, young lady, you have no right to speak to us in that matter. Charlie, you better reign in your child!" Mrs. Mallory pointed a manicured finger in Bella's direction.
Bella evaded her father's reaching hand and turned to once again face the crowd. "No right? Are you freaking kidding me? I have sat in this diner for my entire life listening to all of your petty drama, and gossip. There is a real evil in this world and you're too caught up in your small lives to see it!"
Bella opened her mouth to rain down another volley of truth on the astonished diners when Charlie abruptly pushed away from the table and stood up.
"That's enough!" He said pointedly at his shocked daughter, who closed her mouth in daughterly submission. Charlie threw a wad of folded up bills onto their table before grabbing his daughter roughly by the arm and pulled her towards the exit. As they moved through the crowd, most stared in silence as their Chief of Police led his usually pleasant and agreeable daughter out of the diner.
As they passed the closest table to the door they heard Mrs. Newton whisper loudly, "Well, what kind of behavior do we expect from a child whose own mother wouldn't stick around to raise her?"
Bella furiously ripped her arm from her father's hold and turned red-faced with fury toward the offensive woman.
"My mother didn't leave me! She was taken and I'm probably next!" Bella's fears exploded out onto the shocked crowd. Mere seconds after the outburst she could feel herself start to crumple. All of the agitation and frustration that had built up had been released, and it had taken a physical toll on her. Bella's pleading brown eyes fell on her father's concerned and anxious face. He studied his daughter and caught the trembling in her lips right before it reached her limbs. Only Charlie's steady hand on her back kept her from falling as they hurried out of the restaurant.
With only the sound of the gravel crunching under their feet, Charlie rushed his daughter to his patrol car. She folded easily into the front seat, her earlier bravado spent.
Charlie had enough first aid training to recognize that his daughter was about to go into shock.
"Here wrap this around you." He ordered, throwing the scratchy gray blanket around her shaking shoulders. He waited several moments as his own breathing struggled to calm down, before addressing her episode. Charlie knew his daughter well enough to know that what had just happened was the result of some kind of emotional trauma.
"Bella, what just happened?" He asked in his fatherly tone, leaving his practiced police tone to questions not directed at his shuddering child.
Bella's voice struggled to catch up to her racing mind. Everything that she'd discovered in Port Angeles melded into a chaotic swirl of too many questions, unexplained events and the darkest of truths. As it all swirled in her head, Bella spat them out as they came around.
"I know now that it was grandma that warned me on Halloween."
Charlie opened his mouth to denounce her statement, but Bella continued.
"I saw the journals-the proof from Italy. For generations of mom's family have been eliminated. One by one until I'm all that's left. And I know that if we looked into your line we'd find the same kind of murders!"
"Now Bella, there's no proof that-" The cop tone was back.
Bella turned to face her frustrated father in the eye. Her watery gaze met his fearful eyes. Charlie was afraid he was witnessing his baby having a mental breakdown.
"Bella-"
"Mom, didn't leave. She was killed by the Devil and now he's after me." Her calm declaration scared her father infinitely more than the nonsense she'd just said before turning to stare out of the window.
~~~TDP~~~
"This sort of thing isn't out of the ordinary in teenagers. Their hormones and emotions are chaotic. They find it difficult to control them, especially when they've experienced something in their lives that sends them for a loop. For instance, relationship problems are usually a good place to start looking." Charlie nodded at the doctor as she explained that Bella was experiencing a normal array of emotions. He'd personally dealt with the exact type of teen behavior the doctor was describing. Teenage boys comprised eighty-percent of his weekly arrests. Vandalism, brawling, underage drinking, he understood how emotional and erratic teens could be. But this was different.
"Doctor Gartin, I understand what you're saying, I deal with teens 'acting out' every day, but this is not normal for Bella. There is something more going on-"
"My dear man, of course you feel that your daughter's state of mind is more critical. She's your child. But believe me, all she needs is a little sleep and a bit more attention from her handsome father." Widow Sheila Gartin, Forks General Hospital's only doctor of psychiatry smiled and patted Charlie's knee condescendingly. "I suggest you take her home and put her to bed. She'll be right as rain after a long nap. Right, Bella?" Bella's eyes narrowed at the overly coiffed blond woman that was batting her lashes at Charlie.
"Right, a nap will make the fact that I'm in the path of the Devil and probably looking at an early death all better." Dr. Gartin pursed her lips at Bella's sarcastic tone, before turning her attention back to Charlie.
"She has quite the imagination doesn't she?" Bella rolled her eyes at the unhelpful woman.
"Uh, huh. Well, thank you for your time," Charlie said, brushing the doctor's hand from his leg. "Bella, let's get you home."
Bella dutifully stood, following her father out the door, leaving the frowning doctor alone in her office.
"She wasn't very helpful." Charlie commented, leaning against the dull white hallway wall in frustration.
"What did you think she was going to do, perform an exorcism?"
"Is that what you need?" Charlie answered with just as much sarcasm as she'd used to deliver the question.
Bella sighed, and shook her head, "Dad, if you would just listen to what I'm saying, you would understand."
"Bella, you just told me and anyone with earshot that you're being targeted by Satan. Do you have any idea how ridiculous that sounds?"
"Yes, I do. But it's true."
"No, it's not."
"Dad, you don't know what I've –"
"Charlie, Bella, how nice to see you." Carlisle Cullen greeted the two bickering Swans.
"Carlisle." Charlie nodded at the approaching man.
"Hello, Dr. Cullen." Bella muttered.
"What brings you two in? Is everything okay?" Carlisle asked, noting that they were standing just outside Sheila's office. The woman was more interested in hitting on every eligible male that crossed her path rather than actually helping the patients she was paid to care for. That was just one of the many reasons he and Esme had elected to send Edward elsewhere for treatment.
"Um, yeah, we're fine." Charlie muttered unconvincingly. Carlisle was not fooled.
"That's good. If either of you ever need anything, I'm always here to help," Carlisle smiled reassuringly, his professional physicians demeanor firmly on display. His parental instincts were telling him that something was wrong and from worried look on Charlie's face, he deduced that the problem was with Bella. "I haven't seen you around the house lately. Is everything okay with you and Edward?"
Bella's eyes widened as she nodded. "Yes, we're fine.
"Good to hear," he said, smiling warmly at the girl he'd credited with bringing life back to his son. "Edward has seemed a bit off lately. His mother and I were afraid you two had broken up."
Bella shook her head. "I've just been busy with … some research. I'll visit soon."
"I look forward to it. Well, you two have a good rest of the day." Carlisle patted Bella's shoulder and shook Charlie's hand before resuming his walk down the hallway.
"Are you and Edward okay? Charlie asked pointedly as it suddenly dawned on him that perhaps his daughter's abrupt change in behavior could be a symptom of boy trouble.
Bella's face darkened as she regarded her father. "Just to be really clear, my realization that the Devil is coming for me is NOT a reaction to boy problems nor am I overly emotional because I'm pms'ng." Bella retorted angrily. She was not okay with the doctor claiming that her hormones were out of control, as Charlie visibly recoiled at the talk of possible menstruation.
"Okay, okay," he muttered, looking everywhere but at his daughter. "Let's go home. Show me what you've found and we'll talk."
Bella's eyes brightened. "Really?"
"Yeah. I don't believe in all of this 'Devil' stuff." Charlie scoffed with a dismissive hand as Bella opened her mouth to speak. "I think that you're looking for a complex and unnatural explanation for a fairly common occurrence. But I know you well enough to know something has you spooked, and it's more than a couple nonsensical entries in your mother's discarded journal." Charlie's dark eyes bored into his daughter's with implied meaning. Bella swallowed and looked to the floor. She hadn't been honest with her father about going to Port Angeles and she had a feeling that he knew it.
"Let's get out of here." Charlie put a fatherly arm around his daughter's shoulders. Bella melted into her father's embrace as they walked out of the hospital.
~~TDP~~
Ba'al shifted nervously under Satan's dark and unwavering gaze. He'd been summoned to the Cullen house by a near frantic Astarte. She'd been alternating between telling him to get over to the Cullen's immediately and trying to console a whimpering Emmett. From what he could gather before she rudely hung up on him, was that Edward had been able to control his body and mind for an extended time and had revealed himself to his brother. Emmett had reacted by attempting to strike his brother, which had somehow resulted in Satan regaining control.
"Sire, if the girl knows, is it even possible to move forward with your plan?" Ba'al had no time to brace for the impact of Satan's blow.
"You think that I will return to Hell without having accomplished my goal, like some Philistine?" Ba'al quickly shook his head, wiping the blood dripping from his mouth with the back of his hand.
Warily, he watched Satan pace the room as he continued his rant. "I have not come this far to have my vindication thwarted by a human female! If I still possessed all of my powers I would simply, remove her memory, but this pathetic body limits me. Why can't I bend her to my will? " He mused darkly.
"Humans have free will." Ba'al regretted his statement immediately as Satan turned on him. Instead of the handsome features of Edward Cullen, Ba'al could swear that he was able to see glimpses of the truly horrific countenance of the Devil's true face. Ba'al sucked in a breath as the being moved closer.
"You think I AM NOT AWARE SHE HAS FREE WILL? I was cast out of Heaven for exerting free will! I lost my place beside God because of FREE WILL! And yet these humans who are no more than clothed animals are allowed to exert their free will on a daily basis are still praised and loved by my father, MY FATHER!" Satan spat.
Spittle landed on Ba'al's cheek. He wisely remained still.
"Why should they be given that choice when my brothers and sisters are expected to follow every order blindly? We are treated as mindless vessels existing only on the whim of our creator. We are his children and yet his love and forgiveness is reserved for these … lesser beings. He allows them the choice to believe or not. To follow his rules or not and yet he speaks to them. They must only fold their hands and speak. Why have I heard nothing from him since being cast out? Where is my love, praise or forgiveness?" The fire that had been in Satan's eyes dimmed as he appeared to slump slightly before turning away from Ba'al and walking abruptly away, entering the adjoining bathroom. The door slammed at his back.
Ba'al's eyes widened as he digested Satan's statement. Did the Lord of Hell wish to be forgiven by God? Was this plan, this prophecy nothing but an errant child's attempt to gain attention from his father? The Devil's plan had always spelled doom for humankind, but he had thought that if he and the few that were helping him, were able to stop this plot, Satan would return to Hell to lick his wounds for a millennia or two. But now as fear coursed through his veins, Ba'al worried that no amount of failure would stop Satan from attempting to destroy humankind. Satan's anger was amplified by his need for his father's love. And Ba'al knew from experience that type of motivation didn't end with failure. It only resulted in continued attempts. Each more desperate than the last.
~~TDP~~
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~ruinebyrob
