One God Thing Chapter 2

Summary: Bella is having the worst week possible, but things are about to look up.

Bella/Victoria

"You are a vampire," Bella whispered so low, Victoria just about heard her. With her secret out, she had no need to pretend she didn't hear it. Despite her shock at Bella somehow figuring out what she was and how a conversation with her father had triggered it, she focused on the important thing first.

"If I had any intention of hurting you, I would have done so already." Bella's rational mind would admit that the statement made a great deal of sense, but she was still in a hotel room with a vampire. Victoria could see how Bella's eyes kept darting to the door. "Isabella, please calm down and let's talk." Somehow the vampire pleading with her managed to get past her panicked state.

"You have red eyes." She blurted out. "The ones with gold eyes only drink from animals." Victoria raised an eyebrow at the human's seemingly extensive knowledge of them.

"Yes, I hunt humans, but I hunt pedophiles, rapists, abusers, drug dealers never people like you. I fight for people like you, though they never know why an attacker has suddenly vanished. I only ever go after the scum of this world." I truly adore you, but if this is too much for you, we can part ways… It would hurt, but I would understand." The thought of parting ways did not sit well with Bella.

"No, no… I'm good, it's going to take a minute to get my head around the fact that, the cold ones are real. I always thought they were just stories. You know… stories told to keep the Quileute children in line. Meaning… I will be damned, they turn into wolves." Victoria somehow managed to follow Bella's jumbled train of thought.

"There is a native tribe in Forks…"

"La Push," Bella emphasized.

"Who knows all about vampires, and you thought they were just stories until now. What is this about them turning into wolves." Bella proceeded to explain all she could remember to Victoria. "So, that is why you thought I looked familiar, and talking to your father reminded you of the stories."

Bella chuckled, something Victoria considered a very good sign. "Yeah."

"Wow," Victoria sat back in contemplation." Me moving to Piedmont might not be feasible after all." She murmured, testing the waters. Bella's response would be a great indicator of whether they were good or she needed to work a little harder to convince Bella she meant her no harm whatsoever.

"Why not, it's over an hour from La Push, and the Wolves territory if I remember correctly, is their land and Forks. Don't change your plans before anything has happened. Hell, you might never run into them." Bella argued, and victoria hid her smile.

"I might if I intend to come and visit you," Victoria argued, playing devil's advocate.

"We will cross that bridge when we come to it," Bella said with a shrug.

"Just a few minutes ago, you were ready to bolt when you found out I was a vampire. Now, you sound as though you are prepared to go to war for me." She teased, earning a blush from Bella.

"Hey, give a girl a break, it's not every day you learn a story isn't just a story." Bella retorted.

"I have been around long enough to know that no story is ever just a story. The good ones all have some basis in fact."

"How old are you… if you mind me asking."

"Just over a thousand years old," Victoria answered, and Bella's jaw dropped.

"Well, fuck me." She muttered.

"Be more than happy to. In fact, it was what I had in mind when you figured things out." Victoria purred crawling towards Bella.

"But… I've got questions." She argued.

"And I will answer all of them after I have my way with you." The red-haired swiftly captured Bella's lips before she could protest further.

School seemed to all of a sudden be so far down on her list of important things. Her every thought had been consumed by Victoria. She recognized three vampires, they sat together and didn't bother with anyone else. She wondered why they bothered with the charade of humanity when they made no real effort to fit in. The joy of being out of school was magnified when Victoria called her. "So, how is the town of Forks." She shrugged then realized the vampire could not see her.

"It's Forks, it's a small town with three vegetarian vampires pretending to be human teenagers attending high school." The vampire chuckled.

"My room is very dull without you to brighten it up."

"You need work on your sweet talk," Bella quipped.

"Your sudden elevated heartbeat says otherwise," Victoria sounded incredibly smug.

"That's cheating," Bella grumbled.

"All's fair in love and war." Victoria retorted.

"I don't know if that is entirely true," Bella replied.

"I will agree with you," Victoria said with a rather human sigh. "I miss you, Isabella, and I intend to call on you this Friday if you are agreeable." Bella's smile lit up her face.

"I am." She was practically bouncing with excitement.

"Excellent, I call you later, before you go bed. Right now, I have a complimentary meal coming up that I will promptly flush down the toilet." Bella laughed as the call ended. With that expensive drink Victoria kept ordering, Bella wasn't surprised they threw in a complimentary meal.

She loved the fact that Charlie had taken a real liking to Victoria. He even went as far as to comment on her similarity to the Cullens after Victoria left. Bella said nothing; after all, she hadn't met the Cullen's yet to agree or disagree.

A knock on the door had her damn near jumping out of her skin. Why did they have to knock so loud? She yanked the door open to give whoever it was a piece of her mind when she froze.

"Jake… wow." Bella said at the size of him. Charlie had let it slip about Jake's sudden increase in size.

"Hey, Bells, long time no see." He said, pulling her into a hug.

"I see you wolved out." Jacob took a sudden step back in shock.

"Ehh… what?" He looked around as though waiting for someone or something to come make sense of what Bella just said.

"Considering I now know vampires exist, I think it's safe to say the wolf side of the story is also true." Jake just shook his head in disbelief.

"You took one look at the Cullen's and figured it out. It makes me feel kind of stupid. Nearly three years and I didn't until I phased."

"Actually, I met a vampire before meeting the Cullens." Jake's jaw dropped. If Bella dropped one more bombshell, he was likely to explode and not into a wolf.

"You what?"

"Yeah, the weekend in Seattle, I spent most of it with a red eyed vampire."

"How the hell are you still alive?" He sat down, more just collapsed on Charlie's armchair, which audibly groaned under Jacob's weight.

"Her preference when it comes to food are pedophiles, rapist abusers, child molesters, drug dealers… you know, the scum of the earth. She has descendants from her siblings that she still keeps an eye on and even help without their knowing. This is a vampire that actually has respect for decent human beings." Bella said with a shrug.

"Wow." He stared at her. "Between the Cullens and their vegetarian diet and a vampire that spent the weekend with you and left you intact, I'm beginning to question the elder's views on vampires," Jacob mumbled.

"Don't. Victoria was very clear in her warning of vampires. They are vicious creatures with little to no respect for human beings. She is old enough to have met plenty. She said her own brother detested humans. Most of them are very cruel, Jake, just not all." He nodded. "Heads up, Victoria will be visiting me. I like her, Jake I really do and… well, if you see a flaming red-haired vampire around, know it's her."

"Bells, a red eye can't come to Forks." He warned.

"She will, and she has made it clear she has no reason to cross into your lands and will not hunt here. I think we can both say it's what matters… right?"

"I will have to speak to my dad and Sam." He murmured.

"Speak to whoever, she is visiting me on Friday, picking me up after school. We are going away after she speaks to the Cullens," Jacob nodded, what else could he say.

Bella could not help the smile that broke on her face when she spotted Victoria leaning against a car. It looked new and very sporty, her knowledge of cars was nonexistent. She simply appreciated the beautiful woman leaning against the car. She was so far gone it wasn't even funny anymore. Two of the Cullens were leaning against a yellow Porsche watching Victoria. The way Edward behaved in class, she wasn't the least bit surprised he wasn't there.

Bella practically ran to get to Victoria, the vampire opened her arms for her. "How is my human?" She teased.

"Your human is great now that you are here, and how is my vampire." Victoria smiled, having heard the gasps from the two vampires across the car park.

"Your vampire is great now that she has you in her arms." She planted a quick kiss on Bella in full view of the gawking students. "I have that meeting to attend, and then I will come and get you," Victoria said as Bella got into her car. Knowing Victoria was coming to pick her up, she had Charlie drive her, so she could leave the truck at home.

"Cool, I should be packed and ready to go by the time you get back," Bella said, unable to wipe the smile off her face. A smile that had Victoria elated beyond words.

"I heard the rumors about the Cullen kids going to school over and over again, but I don't think I truly believed it until I saw them. I would have thought there'd be more of them." Victoria murmured.

"Yeah, Edward was around until biology… he acted as though I stunk to high heaven and disappeared after class." Victoria's stared at Bella, losing control of the car and driving into the oncoming lane, luckily it was empty.

"Sorry, I'm just… fuck." She sighed. "No, you don't stink, I suspect you are his singer." Bella looked perplexed. "Your blood literally calls to him. Your scent is the best thing he has ever smelled. The fact that he was able to walk away from you is…" Bella finally understood.

"So what do we do, I mean, I'm at school with him," Bella muttered.

"Well, someone is going to have to give up school, and considering he has done high school for longer than you've been alive, he should understand." If everything she's heard about the Cullens is true, then Carlisle would not argue. She pulled into Charlie's driveway and got out, her concern was evident. "I should be back soon."

"Do you know where they live?" Bella asked.

"Yeah, and you don't want to know how." Her smirk was enough for Bella to agree.

"Right." Bella shook her head and quickly headed in as Victoria disappeared through the woods opposite the house.

Victoria took her time making her way to the Cullens, she wanted to leave her scent on the path from their house to Bella's. It was a warning; the human was hers and protected. Any vampire that went after her could not then claim ignorance. After the Cullens, she would run the perimeter around the Swan property. In fact, it was something she intended to do often until her scent was damn right cloying.

Even as a human, she had the ability to evade and hide, her senses were rather acute, and as a vampire, she could hear, see further than any other vampire she knew. When she heard the Cullens talking, she stopped and listened, knowing they couldn't hear her just yet.

"So, she is coming here?" A female voice asked.

"Yes, she made the decision before she got to Forks, but I saw it when she was talking to Bella." That was clearly the female vampire she saw at the school. She was clearly a seer. Victoria noted the mentioning of her making a decision and wondered it played a part in what the seer saw. As it stood, she was going to work with that hypothesis.

"And this Bella knows she's a vampire?" That was Carlisle, that much she knew.

"Yes, Bella was incredibly happy to see her, and so was the vampire. I got… Carlisle, I believe she is mated to Bella. Her emotions are the very ones we all feel when we think about our mates. I don't know if Bella knows yet, but I doubt she will have an issue with it when she finds out. Her emotions when she saw the vampire was not something to be trifled with."

"Okay, Edward, listen carefully and do not give yourself away. Jasper, Alice, you two as well." Carlisle said.

"I know what to do," Edward was clearly not happy being told what to do.

Victoria smiled serenely to herself before continuing the trip to the Cullen's. The conversation stopped when they heard her approach, but it was a little too late. Edward was a telepath, The small vampire was a seer, and her mate was an empath. What a gifted coven, if Aro knew this, it would not bode well for the Cullens at all.

They were lined up as one would expect when a coven was facing a vampire they didn't know, except at the sight of her, Carlisle smiled. "Victoria, I thought it might be you, but I wasn't sure."

"Carlisle, it has been too long. Elizabeth sends her greetings." The rest of his family was surprised when the two hugged.

"This is my family, my wife Esme, my sons, Edward, Jasper, and Emmett, and my daughters, Rosalie and Alice."

Hello." Victoria greeted.

"Come in." Carlisle and Esme sat, but the rest stood behind them. Victoria sat opposite them and tried her damndest not to smirk. She made them very uncomfortable, despite her rather cordial greeting with Carlisle.

"I was up until a few minutes ago, just coming to make my presence known." Carlisle nodded. "Isabella told me of the incident in her biology class."

"Yes, Edward informed us," Carlisle added solemnly. I should inform you, Isabella is my mate, and as such, I do have a right to ask you to stay away from her. I understand how… fortunate, we all were that you were able to walk away from her, but I would rather not test fate." Victoria said, finally looking at Edward, who glared back at her.

"Her blood would not be an issue." He retorted angrily.

"That is beside the point; if you aren't familiar with the law, then let me enlighten you. As her mate, I have the right to tell you to stay away from her. Failure to do so will mean death." Edward turned to look at Carlisle, who, after a few seconds, looked up at his son.

"It is true, a mate's edict is absolute," Carlisle told him. "He will stay away from…" Carlisle did not finish his sentence.

"What about the fact that she told a human about us. Isn't that against the law?" The boy's anger at being told to stay away from his singer was perplexing, considering the Cullens vegetarian lifestyle. One would think this was something she didn't even have to say to him.

"I have not broken the law. I did not tell her about us, she already knew. She figured it out from the legends of the local tribe. As for the Volturi, they are already informed of my mating to Isabella. I believe when it comes to mates, the law makes allowances for that." Victoria returned with a glare of her own.

"As I said, he will stay away from your mate," Carlisle said with his own glare aimed at the boy.

"Thank you, Carlisle, I will be on my way." Victoria was gone a split second later.

"I don't believe the girl knew from the local tribe, she just moved here. Told the Volturi my ass." Edward grumbled.

"If I'm not mistaking, this is chief Swan's daughter, so it is likely she grew up here and has heard the stories considering the chief's friendship with the tribe. As for telling the Volturi, considering she is a Volturi, I'd say they know." Edward's jaw dropped.

"What!" Alice exclaimed in disbelief.

"Yes, that was Victoria Volturi, daughter of Elizabeth and younger sister to Caius. I knew her from my time with the Volturi, she visited quite often with her mother. Her mother is the oldest vampire I know, even older than Amun and Kebi. She changed Caius, and the Volturi castle is hers, She built the town of Volterra. The Volturi's rise to power was largely in part to Elizabeth's finances and influence; without her, Aro's plans would never have come to fruition. They are a powerful coven in their own right. Victoria is over a thousand years old and extremely powerful. This entire coven together would struggle to best her. She has the gift to evade and hide in plain sight, and I suspect even more that only her family knows." Carlise finished to shocked faces.

"That is who you want to pick a fight with." Rosalie sneered at Edward. "Why are you arguing about staying away from your singer… or do you want to drain her, is that it?" It was a fair question, and Edward could see the others waiting for an answer.

"I can't hear her." He admitted. "It's not that she's silent, I cannot sense her brain at all." He emphasized before anyone could ask.

"Interesting." Carlisle murmured.

"I just wanted to know her." He said with a shrug. "Don't worry, I'm staying away. I am not about to defy the princess of the Volturi." He sneered before disappearing out the back door.

"He is lying," Jasper said the minute he could no longer feel Edwards emotions. "His emotions towards her are too strong, and I felt his anger when I surmised the girl was mated to Victoria. That anger only got stronger when she confirmed it. He wants the human, I believe he thought she was his mate, and I'm afraid he still does. He feels the pull, but it's that of a singer, not a mate." Jasper's words sent a dread of fear through Carlisle and Esme.

"I will send him to Denali. Victoria would kill him without so much as a consideration for our friendship." Carlisle murmured.

"Yes, I would." Victoria groused, walking back to Bella's. She was right in thinking Edward's anger just did not make sense, and now she knew. It was time Victoria had a candid conversation with her mate. She was not going to take the chance of anybody telling Bella her story before she did. She ran the perimeter of the Swan property a couple of times before heading towards the house.