Devil's Pitchfork by 1blue25 COMPLETE.pdf

Devil's Pitchfork

By 1Blue25

Summary: Bella had always been warned to stay away from Forks. So when she finds herself stranded there,

she expects a very unfriendly welcome. Instead, she finds an opportunity to become the person she’s always

wanted to be. BxE, AU-AH

Prologue: Dream On

"I can't believe you let them do this," Renee Swan hissed at her husband as she watched him tuck their

little girl into bed. "She's just a child. They had no business…"

"What was my alternative?" Charlie Swan replied quietly, his head bowed over the small dark-haired

child nestled amongst the purple and white sheets of her bed. "I couldn't ignore the summons and they

didn't tell me until I got there what they planned to do."

Renee motioned for Charlie to follow her out of the room. Bella was finally asleep after crying endlessly

for hours. The last thing Renee wanted was for her daughter to wake again. She pulled the door shut

behind her and followed Charlie into their bedroom across the hall.

Renee loved her house. It was the first major purchase she and Charlie had made after their marriage. It

was a small two-bedroom Cape Cod and Renee had spent countless hours turning it into their home.

Over the past six months, her home had begun to feel less and less welcoming. Instead of comfort and

peace, she felt fear and anxiety. She sat at the end of the bed and watched Charlie pace the floor.

"We can't stay here," she said, clasping her hands together. Her hands were dry from the sink of dishes

she'd washed after dinner, just before Charlie had returned with their three-year-old in tears. Each crack

and ridge of her palms reminded her of how barren their lives had become. "This is only the beginning. I

was willing to wait it out through the curfews and the rations, but this has gotten completely out of hand.

We need to leave now before we become prisoners in our own home. This isn't any way to raise a child."

"Renee, sweetheart, where would we go? We both have only ever lived here. Our families have only

ever lived here. Your friends are here, my job is here…"

Renee stood and advanced on her husband, her arms flailing in the air. "You and Bella are the only

important things in my life, Charlie. I just want our family to be safe. I have no problem leaving friends,

our things, even our house behind. You could easily find a job somewhere else. We need to leave," she

pleaded with him.

Charlie faced his wife and absorbed the energy she was radiating at him. They were strangely connected,

always had been, and whenever she felt something this strongly, he could feel it too. He felt her despair.

Her fear and her worry. Her arguments were sound - Charlie had made notice of the same events that she

had mentioned. He didn't want to see his family hurt anymore than Renee did. It ate at his gut that he'd

allowed them to harm Bella. His options were few, but in this instance, he was inclined to agree with his

wife.

"When can you be ready to go?" he asked with a quick glance around their bedroom.

"In an hour," Renee replied. She saw no point in delaying the inevitable. The sooner they escaped the

better.

Charlie ground his teeth as the reality of what they were about to do sunk in. "Make it two. I need to

write up a letter of resignation for the town and we'll need to destroy some of our files. Renee…we'll

have to leave most of our belongings behind." Charlie glanced around the bedroom as he calculated in

his head everything that he would take with him. Renee would take care of packing up Bella's things.

There was still the not so small matter of the garage…but he would take care of that last.

Renee rushed to him and wrapped her arms around him. "Thank you…thank you," she whispered into

his ear lovingly. Charlie patted her back and then watched her hurry out of the room to start packing.

He spent the next hour typing up his resignation, packing a bag of clothes and necessities, and collecting

their personal documents. True to her word, Renee appeared with three bags filled with clothes for her

and Bella just as he finished his own packing. Charlie carried the bags outside and set them on the front

porch. The rain was coming down steadily, the sound of it soothing to his nerves after the events of the

evening. Charlie paused on the steps of the porch and tilted his face up, opening his mouth to catch some

of the raindrops on the end of his tongue. He didn't know where they would end up, but he knew that he

would miss the constant rain. Hopefully, Renee wouldn't force him someplace dry like Phoenix or Las

Vegas. She'd mentioned both cities before as places she wanted to visit someday. He wouldn't put it past

her to decide that either would be a good place to start over.

The cruiser that the town had issued loomed in the driveway but Charlie bypassed it and headed to the

small garage behind the house. The padlock on the door was rusted from disuse but he was able to open

it with the small silver key that he kept with him at all times. The door swung open with a small groan

and he was greeted with months of stale air and dust.

The free-standing garage wasn't very large – barely wide and long enough for the object that Charlie had

hidden inside it two years ago. He managed to squeeze into the small space between the sheet-draped

vehicle and the bookcase along the wall. With a quick yank, he pulled on the sheet and his eyes raked

over the vehicle that lay beneath.

The 1953 Chevy truck had been a gift from one of his oldest friends. A friend that he'd not seen or

spoken to in a long time. Charlie patted the hood affectionately before hurrying around to the cab door

and pulling it open. The keys were in the ignition, right where he'd left them, and he issued up a small

prayer as he pumped the clutch and turned the ignition. With a giant roar, the engine caught and rattled

to life, the sound a relief to Charlie's frayed nerves.

Renee and Bella appeared on the porch just as he finished packing the bed of the truck with the few

belongings they were taking with them. Bella was still in her pajamas, tear tracks evident on her cheeks.

"Hey pumpkin, how are you feeling?" he asked as he squatted down to pull her in for a hug. Bella shied

away from him and hid behind Renee's legs.

"She's still afraid," Renee said as she stroked her daughter's hair. "She'll get over it in time, but she's

going to associate the pain with you for a while."

Charlie straightened and ground his teeth some more. The last thing he'd ever wanted to do was harm his

child. He'd turned into a sorry excuse for a father, but he was going to change that. "I'm sorry," he

whispered, meeting his wife's in the dark. Renee was his strength, his heart, his reason for living. The

look she gave him spoke of her forgiveness and Charlie swore that he would spend the rest of his life

making up for the events that had happened that evening under his watch.

He secured his family into the truck and pulled down the driveway slowly, parking next to the house.

"Did you grab the quilt?" he asked as he turned to hop out of the truck.

"Yes," Renee replied with a nod towards the back where Bella had gone to sleep. "I packed that first."

Charlie smiled at her for the first time that night. That quilt had been a wedding present from both their

mothers. It was a family tree, detailing generations of Swans and Higginbothams. It was the only thing

besides the truck that held any sentimental value for Charlie.

The truck's engine seemed louder than usual as he hurried into the backyard. Their closest neighbor was

half a mile away but Charlie didn't want to linger any longer than necessary. They had to take the small

advantage they'd been given and sneak out of town before anyone thought to check on them. Hopefully,

their absence wouldn't be noticed until he failed to show up at the station in the morning.

From the shed that stood next to the house, he removed a box of matches and the gas can he kept for the

lawn mower. He approached the garage at a fast clip, hesitating only when he reached the door and

needed to decide the order of his destruction. He doused the three file cabinets along the wall of the

garage with gas first, being careful not to splash himself with it. The bookcase was next, and probably

the most difficult for him to soak with the flammable liquid. Renee would have a fit if she saw him

destroying books, but he didn't have time to sift through the pages looking for the documents he knew

were hidden inside. All traces needed to be erased. When he was finished, Charlie pulled out his

matches and tossed a lit one into each of the three cabinets. He knew the fire would spread quickly to the

bookcase and the wooden garage.

He ran for the truck and pulled the door shut just as the fire crackled to life. He put the truck in gear and

tore out of the driveway onto their small, quiet street. With one last look in the rearview mirror to make

sure the garage was actually ablaze, Charlie drove down the street and out of sight of the only home

they'd ever known.

Chapter 1: Teenagers

Bella Swayne was on the verge of hysterics. It wasn't because of the rainfall that had been her constant

companion during the three-mile trek into town. It wasn't due to the sinister-looking alley she'd stupidly

stumbled down in search of a payphone. It wasn't even caused by the man who'd grabbed her, cutting off

her scream with his hand and holding her immobilized against the hard planes of his chest. No, it was

the fact that Bella was going to have to tell her father that she'd screwed up that made her flip out

completely.

Bella struggled against the iron grip of the man who'd snuck up from behind and encased her in his

grasp. Her mouth opened in another scream, but his hand only pushed back harder. The man was much

larger and stronger than Bella. He also didn't seem to have much patience.

"Who are you?" he whispered hurriedly into her ear, the sound of his voice making her freeze in

surprise. He didn't sound like a criminal. His deep, hushed query lacked the thug-like quality that she

had imagined all of Forks' citizens to possess. Well, according to her parents anyway.

Bella mumbled her name against the hand pressed to her mouth, hoping that her captor wouldn't be able

to understand her. As soon as her mouth was free, she was going to scream her head off.

The man behind her was more capable than she'd given him credit for. "Well, Just Bella, if you're with

the Quils, you're in for a rough night. Though, by the look of you, I wouldn't guess that you are." His

hand whispered across the pale skin of her arm and Bella struggled even harder against his hold.

"Hold still, girl," he said in a low monotone. Bella felt him slip her purse off her shoulder and watched

in horror as the man dumped its contents onto the ground at their feet. Her muffled protests filled the

alley, following her favorite lipstick as it rolled into a nearby sewer grate. Apparently, only her wallet

warranted the first class treatment. It appeared out of thin air, the man holding it at an angle in front of

her body in order to catch the light that filtered into the alley. Bella seethed quietly as he examined her

driver's license and flipped through the credit and membership cards.

"Either they've gotten a better forger, or you're the real deal, Isabella Swayne of Olympia. The question

is: what the fuck are you doing in my town?" His voice was menacing, but quiet. His lips pressed nearly

to her ear as he spoke, and his breath created little puffs of smoke in the chilled night air. He smelled

like rain and mint, with a hint of cigar. In fact, the scent seemed so familiar that Bella found herself

turning towards him instead of trying to fight her way out of his grasp. Her slight movement earned her

a shake and Bella's shoulders sagged as she thought about her dad's reaction again. Of all the places for

her to wind up…

This time, the man expected an audible answer to his question. He lifted his hand from her mouth so she

could speak, allowing Bella to suck down a gulp of fresh air. "My truck broke down outside of town,"

she explained quickly. "My friend Jessica's getting married today and there was an accident on the I-5 so

I decided to take a shortcut and my dad is going to be really pissed when he finds out. I promised him I'd

stay on the highway but then my cell phone died and I'm going to get lectured about that too." Bella

snapped her mouth shut, silently cursing her tendency to say too much.

The man chuckled but tightened his grip on her arm. "You've come on a bad night, little Bella. We've

had trouble and I don't have time to babysit you." He sighed, his breath blowing gently across her hair,

and shifted her slightly in his grasp. "I need to check you for weapons," he said, causing Bella to stiffen.

"What do you mean?" she asked as she was turned quickly and her face pressed against the brick wall of

the building to their right. The man ignored her question, letting his hands explain to her what he meant.

They slid quickly up her legs, and Bella cursed herself for taking her nylons off during her trek through

the rain. They wouldn't have offered much protection from the man's gropings, but she would have felt a

little better with an added layer on top of her skin. She gasped when he continued up under her skirt and

hit the top of her thighs. She tried to buck him off when one of his large, roughened hands slid

unceremoniously over her mound. Bella sputtered, unable to form the cut-down that the thug so

obviously deserved. All attempts came to a screeching halt as his other hand slid underneath her sweater,

over her ribs and across her bra even more thoroughly.

"Cut it out!" Bella finally managed to yell towards the bricks her mouth was smashed against. She tried

to shake off the offending hands, but the man had finished his investigation before she was even good

and worked up over it.

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