One God Thing Final Chapter
Summary: Bella is having the worst week possible, but things are about to look up.
Bella/Victoria
Life for Bella had settled into a routine in the last six months. Charlie was more than happy for her to spend her weekends away as he did the same. In the short time, she'd been in Forks, she had more of a relationship with him than she did with Renee, and that did not bode well for her. In a few months, Bella was off to college and then becoming a vampire. She planned on slowly distancing herself from him, which would be easier on both of them. At least, that is what she told herself. She was making the best of things because walking away from Victoria was not an option.
Things with the wolves had finally been agreed upon. Victoria had apparently marked Bella's home as her territory, which the wolves took issue with until they discovered Bella was her mate. Jake had brought Billy over to watch the game with Charlie when he found Victoria's scent all over the property. Bella explained that Victoria wasn't just a friend, but her mate. They had accepted that Charlie's was off-limits to them, but understood Jake bringing his father over. He also could not enter Bella's bedroom. Bella had found that stipulation amusing, especially when Victoria made that stipulation purely out of jealousy. As if she had anything to be jealous about. They were not happy about a human drinking vampire in Forks, but Victoria had agreed not to hunt in Forks. It was the best deal they were going to get. Jake had admitted that Carlisle had warned them to accept it, as a fight with Victoria wasn't one they'd want to start. If a single vampire had run an entire coven out of town, she was one to be cautious of.
They had attended the Clallam County fair and were taking a stroll through town. "Erm… where are we going?" Bella asked as she believed the plan was a walk by the pier. Not a dark and near-deserted part of Port Angeles.
"We are being followed by a vampire no less." Bella's heart rate picked up, and she started to panic. Knowing the vampire was out of hearing range, she stopped and took Bella in her arms. "Isabella, panicking is going to get us nowhere. First, he is no match for me, and second, he is an arrogant tracker who believes I am playing a game with him. I will have him in pieces before you could count to ten." Bella nodded and took a deep breath. Victoria smiled at the action. "We can do one of two things. We can walk back to the car and drive home." She offered.
"Yeah, but the vampire will only follow us," Bella muttered with a resigned sigh.
"Yes, or I can lead us away from human eyes and end things right now."
"Isn't he going to suspect a trap, considering we are walking down a deserted alleyway," Bella asked.
"Far from it. Remember what I said, he thinks I'm playing his game. I have run into him a few times during my hunts." She held onto Bella and leaped onto the roof. Victoria jumped onto another and another until Bella found herself looking over the Port Angeles skyline.
"Wow," Bella murmured, the fact a vampire was following them momentarily forgotten. Victoria had unwittingly attracted the vampire's attention a couple of months ago while she hunted. He was a tracker, and she knew how to evade and hide. She had riled him up without meaning to do so. She simply was not interested in his games, but he had read the opposite. He more than likely thought that Bella was now part of the fun and games. If she were alone, she would have easily lost him, but with him now aware of Bella, she had to end him. She hadn't seen him in some time and hoped he had moved on, but it seemed something else had occupied him briefly, and now he was back.
"What a lovely night." A voice crooned from the corner, making Bella jump. "I'm James." He added as if Victoria gave a fuck.
"Fuck, you scared the shit out of me." Bella glared at the vampire. She was surprised by the sight of him. The few vampires she had seen so far were unearthly beautiful, this vampire wasn't even average in the looks department. He had on jeans, an ill-fitting jacket, and went barefoot.
"You smell delightful." He took a deep exaggerated breath. Without Victoria, Bella would have been scared out of her wits. With her mate cocooning her close to her chest, she simply rolled her eyes at his comment.
"It's called bathing, you should try it." Victoria had to bite the inside of her cheek to stop herself from laughing.
"Your human is amusing." He turned his attention to Victoria.
"What do you want?" She asked, finally giving him her full attention. He'd never gotten a real glimpse of her, and he liked what he saw. They'd be great together.
"I was hoping you would share." He said with a smile she knew he thought was charming.
"And you would be so inclined were you in my position." Like hell, he would share such a sweet-tasting human.
"No," James answered.
Victoria smiled. "I like your honesty, but this human is not for sharing." James, despite Victoria's words, made a move towards Bella. A split second later, James was face down on the floor with both of his arms in Victoria's as she slowly pulled them off. She threw the arms on the other side of the roof and hauled James into a sitting position. "That delightful smelling human is my mate." Even Bella could decipher the look on James's face. Yep, he was fucked. "Your arrogance is your undoing. You truly believed I was playing your game, didn't you." She laughed; she truly was amused.
"Had you told me who she was to you, I would have walked away." Bella scoffed at the blatant lie.
"I highly doubt that." Before he could say anymore, Victoria twisted his head clean off.
"Oh, that is gruesome," Bella whispered, as her stomach threatened to regurgitate her earlier meal.
"Sorry, I should have asked you to close your eyes." She took his various body parts and leaped down, dumping him in a dumpster and setting it on fire. She came for Bella whose stomach seemed to have calmed down.
The drive back to the house was done in silence. Victoria lamented her carelessness for choosing to take Bella to Port Angeles, knowing the tracker would likely be there. She had put Bella in unnecessary danger, but her mate had handled it well. Victoria pulled into the driveway, but Bella appeared miles away and hadn't noticed they were home. "Bells," She called out softly.
"Mmm… oh, we are home." Victoria watched as she stumbled out of the car, and followed with a sigh. To her utter surprise, Bella jumped on her and kissed her hard. Her tongue invaded Victoria's mouth, seeming to forget the sharp teeth the vampire possessed. "You were so hot tonight. The ease in which you killed him was something else. One second he was coming towards me; next, he is face down, and his arms are gone." Bella's words came out breathlessly. Her human was very aroused and had been for some time. Victoria had been so busy berating herself for her carelessness, she had failed to notice. It seemed Bella had been trying very hard to control herself in the car. "I want you." Bella moaned as her lips trailed over Victoria's earlobes down to her neck.
A clearing of throats had both of them freezing. Victoria made no move to protect Bella as she knew who the vampires were. "Hello, mother, Caius." She gently put Bella back on her feet.
"What is this I hear about you killing a vampire?" Caius asked as he showed himself from his hiding spot in the trees.
"Trying to play hide and seek with me, brother." Victoria teased.
"Answer my question." Despite his tone, Bella could see his concern.
"He was a mere child, a tracker who thought I would play his game. I thought him long gone, but tonight he showed up while I was out with Bella. He truly thought I had brought a human to play with. I lured him away from the humans and killed him with little effort." Victoria answered with an air of nonchalance.
"Yes, with so little effort, Isabella here is ready to worship every inch of you." Elizabeth teased, earning a blush from Bella. "Hello, dear, it's lovely to finally meet you." She added.
"Likewise," Bella whispered.
"Let's take this inside before Bella freezes to death. I have kept her out in the cold long enough." Victoria muttered as she unlocked the front door. March in Washington was not outdoor weather.
"So, you couldn't wait for me to introduce Bella in my own time," Victoria said with a shake of her head.
"We gave you six months," Caius said, his eyes still glued to Bella.
"And after speaking to Bella a few times, I was desperate to meet her and Victoria, you weren't very accomodating. You were in London for the new year and didn't even pop over to say hello."
"Bella and I, unfortunately, had a full itinerary, I'm afraid popping over to Athens just did not fit into those plans." Victoria pulled Bella onto her lap as she sat down.
"Even if it did, I doubt she would have bothered." Caius countered. Bella just watched the back and forth with a wry smile. Elizabeth was very motherly even if she looked no older than her children, and Caius was definitely the surly brother.
"So, Isabella…"
"It's just Bella," Bella interjected.
"Really, Victoria almost always refers to you as Isabella."
"She is allowed." She responded, earning a laugh from Elizabeth. Even Caius couldn't help his smile.
"I stand corrected." He said with a small bow. "Most humans would not be feeling amorous after meeting a hostile vampire."
"Bella showed little fear. Her response to his comment about her mouthwatering smell was for him to try bathing as it might help him smell better." All three vampires chuckled.
"Victoria assured me he was no match for her, so I had nothing to fear," Bella said with a shrug.
"Indeed, few vampires are a match for Victoria." Caius praised.
"There was a time I could say the same about you, but sitting on that thrown and those two little freaks have made you rather soft." Victoria retorted teasingly.
"We could always find a clearing, and I will show just how soft I am." Caius challenged.
"Children," Elizabeth warned, shutting them up. "Not making an excellent impression on Bella here."
"You mean the girl we found ready to maul your daughter." Bella hid her face in Victoria's hair while Victoria glared at her brother.
"I will break your nose in a minute." Victoria threatened.
"And to think I hauled boxes of DVDs here for you." He crossed his arms over his chest with an air of haughtiness.
"Bella, come give me a tour of your home," Elizabeth said with an eye roll.
The two watched as Elizabeth and Bella disappeared down the hall. "How does it feel to have a mate." Caius had long ago found his mate in Athenodora.
"I can't help the smile that dominates my features more often than not. I also worry greatly for her, she is so fragile and accident-prone. The mere sound of her voice delights me greatly. Above all else, she loves me as much as I love her. For months, in her sleep, she will whisper my name and tell me she loved me. The day she finally told me, I could have sworn I heard my heartbeat." Caius smiled, knowing the feeling so well.
"Have you talked about her becoming a vampire?"
"We have, we would both like for her to be a little older. After she finishes college, I will change her. She has her heart set on St. Andrews in Scotland. The distance also allows her to pull away slowly from her parents. I know the idea hurts her, but she understands the reason why." Victoria added sadly knowing Bella would more than likely fail at pulling away from, especially her father.
"But, you will continue to keep an eye on them as you do your kin." Caius knew that well enough.
"We will." She said as Elizabeth and Bella made their way back down the corridor.
"Mother, try using your gift on Bella." Everyone stared at her.
Want to tell me why?" Elizabeth asked.
"That just ruins the surprise." Victoria looked a little too smug.
"You think it's not going to work on her." Caius surmised.
"This will be interesting," Elizabeth murmured. "Okay, then. Bella, I am going to ask you to do a few things, try your damndest to disobey me." Bella raised an eyebrow. "Perfectly innocuous," Elizabeth assured.
"Okay," Bella said, sitting.
"Stand up," Elizabeth ordered. Bella leaned back in the chair and folded her arms.
"That is not possible," Caius whispered, while Victoria looked positively smug.
She tried a few more times, and again nothing worked. "Incredible, you are a shield, and a powerful one even as a human."
"Yep," Bella responded.
"What exactly is your gift," Bella asked. Elizabeth turned her attention to her children.
"Stand." Without hesitation, they both stood. "The best way to explain it is something akin to a powerful hypnotic suggestion. I can choose to have you remember or not."
"Wow." Bella mouthed.
"Did you have your gift as a human?" Despite Elizabeth's gift not working on her, she was still fascinated about it.
"Now, there's a story." Victoria chuckled.
"Yes, my father being the greedy man he was, sold me to a wealthy merchant who wanted power and thought I'd be the perfect weapon. The night my father took me to his house to demonstrate my gift, a vampire was present. Of course, none of us knew that at the time. He killed the merchant after we left, and came for my family as well."
"Fuck," Bella muttered.
"Indeed, he killed both my parents, that did not bother me as much as him killing my siblings. He did not have to kill them, they posed no threat. He did it to prove that he could. He wanted me to fear him, and as a human, I did. Unfortunately for him, he turned me into a vampire, and I quickly realized I was not just as powerful, but with my gift was now exponentially more powerful than he was. Alas, I also needed him, as I had no idea what it meant to be a vampire. Just over a year later, we ended up north, in what is now Sweden. We met a coven who loved me but hated him. Realizing I now had a coven, I killed him.
A century later, I went back to Athens, and there I slowly acquired my fortune. I made quite the name for myself despite my elusiveness. Most believed I was old because I made a point to have quite a few middlemen and women. Not one though could identify me if I walked next to them on the street. One, I did it because I was a vampire, and two, it discouraged assassination attempts. Though a few tried and died gruesome deaths. Two thousand years later, I came across Caius; he'd been robbed, severely injured, and was dying.
"She told me she could save me, but I would not be human. I didn't care, I just wanted to continue living. A year and a half later, I put myself on the very path I was robbed and nearly killed. None lived to tell the tale." He added gleefully.
"Did Victoria ever tell you about Alwin?" Caius asked, earning a scowl from his sister.
"The man who tried to buy her."
"Yes, but did she tell you what she did to him?" Caius sat forward, looking a little too happy with himself.
"I'd hazard a guess and say she killed him, and it was not… kind," Bella answered. Caius looked as though his thunder had been stolen.
"No, I was not kind. I held him captive until his heart finally gave out. It took years." She muttered rather flippantly. "I made him suffer as he had made so many little girls suffer. The fool saw me when he was in Athens and had the nerve to approach me. Alwin thought I had no idea who he was. He thought he could finally get the girl who had gotten away from him. I agreed to meet him that same night, except I followed him to his inn and rendered him unconscious. I took him back home and locked him in the basement. As I said, I was not kind."
"I'm sure many little girls would thank you if they knew," Bella responded with a yawn she could not stifle.
"Okay, say goodnight." Victoria quipped.
"Goodnight, Elizabeth, Caius, I will see you in the morning." She laughed as Victoria carried her to the bedroom. She gently set Bella back on her feet, but still held her close.
"I have kept you busy today." Her voice was low, bothering on needy.
"I'm good, and it's not that late." Bella snaked her hands under Victoria's shirt. Victoria took a couple of steps back.
"Take your shirt off." She wasn't asking, but it also wasn't necessarily an order. Bella started to unbutton her shirt.
"Slowly." Her voice was barely above a whisper. Bella slowly unbuttoned her shirt, shrugging it off her shoulders. She kicked her boots off and shimmied out of her jeans. Her bra came off, followed by her panty. She stood in front of Victoria, who was now seated on the chaise taking in every inch of her mate. "Get on the bed, bend your knees, and open them wide." Bella did just that furiously blushing all the while.
Victoria crawled onto the bed, running her nose along the inside of Bella's leg. "You smell divine, Isabella." Her nose continued the journey to the apex of Bella's thighs. She buried her nose in Bella's sex, inhaling deeply. The first time she did that, Bella attempted to snap her legs shut to no avail, six months down the line, and she had accepted her mate's little quirks. Her thoughts were sharply drawn back to the present when Victoria's tongue flicked her clit over and over again. "Vick." She whimpered.
"I love how wet you get… soaking wet." Her mouth closed around Bella's clit, sucking greedily.
"I'm… Jesus, Vick… yes, right there, just a little more." And then her lips were gone. Bella's eyes snapped open, she looked wild and pissed as she glared at Victoria. "Lie face down on the bed. "She ordered ignoring the glare aimed at her. She ran her finger down Bella's spine, She flinched when Victoria's finger dipped into her butt cheeks but did not stop her. "Get on your knees." She moaned at the wetness coating Bella's lips. She ran her finger between the lips over Bella's clit continuously. Bella's thighs shook as she felt herself building again. Victoria contoured her body over Bella, kissing the back of her neck down to her spine. She brought her hand around and inserted two fingers into Bella. "Oh, God… yes, please… I need to come. Please… please." She pleaded as Victoria pumped her finger in and out of her, her palms rubbing against Bella's clit.
"Yes, Isabella, come for me, I want to hear you. Come for me." Bella's knees went from under her as she came, her body convulsing with pleasure. Victoria kept her fingers between Bella's legs rubbing her gently. Bella ground her hips onto the bed, drawing out her orgasm.
Victoria turned Bella around and stripped out of her clothes. She threw Bella's right leg over her thigh, leaned forward, and moaned when her clit rubbed against Bella's. She had to be very careful, least the broke the girl's pelvis. She leaned forward, kissing Bella, sucking on her plump bottom lip. "I can't get enough of your taste." She keened, undulating hips slowly. Bella's back arched beautifully as she felt herself quickly rising again. "No, no, no, not yet, Isabella." She teased, slowing right down much to Bella's exasperation.
"You are mean." She moaned, amusing the vampire.
"You haven't seen anything yet." She whispered before sucking on Bella's earlobes. "It's going to be a long night, darling."
Bella, despite having accepted that she would need her death to give Charlie closure, still struggled with the notion. The idea of leaving her father on his own tore at her heart, but then Charlie met Sandra. Sandra was the doctor that replaced Carlisle, much to the relief of the administration at Forks General. Harry had a near-fatal heart attack, which resulted in Charlie spending a lot of time at the hospital. He and Sandra got close and by Christmas, a mere three months after Bella left for College Charlie had proposed. By the summer, they were married expecting their first child.
Bella attended the wedding with Victoria, she was there for the birth of her baby brother, Christopher, and the birth of the twins Aubrey and Katherine, who followed two years later.
A year later, Bella died while on holiday, a cyclone had hit killing several thousand people herself included as far as everyone was concerned. He had a family, and her death had not impacted him too much. It allowed Charlie to move on and focus on his new family. It was easier than her making excuses as to why she could not attend family occasions. Her death had allowed him to move on.
Twenty-three years later, Christopher had just gotten married. She stood on the roof of the building opposite the church and watched as the family poured out. She'd never seen him happier, and in the end, that was what mattered. "Hello, Jake." She said the minute she knew he could hear her. Though he'd stopped phasing years ago, his senses were above that of the average human.
"I knew you would be around somewhere." He said as he joined her.
"Really?" She questioned, her eyes still glued to her father and family.
"Yeah, when I heard Katherine's story, I knew it had to be you." Katherine, the black sheep of the family. At least, she was until an encounter with a vampire changed all that. The vampire had the power to disorientate and had managed to separate Katherine from her friends. The foolish girl had followed him down an alley and nearly gotten herself killed. In all fairness, the vampire in question was beautiful and, at nineteen when turned, found easy targets in young girls. Lucky for her, said vampire liked to play with his food. Preferred it when his meals had adrenaline pumping through their blood. Unfortunately for him, Katherine passed out, and Victoria swooped in killing the vampire. Bella played the good Samaritan who had run the bad man off. Katherine had remarked about the fact that Bella looked so much like her older sister, who died when she was a year old. Thankfully, the incident had changed Katherine for the better.
"Yes, she was more work than most." She chuckled, finally looking up at him. He still had the same physique from when she last saw him. "You look the same."
"I might not shift anymore, but the wolf genes stayed, something we are all grateful for." He laughed. "How is Victoria?"
"She is not far from here. She still likes to keep an eye on me." Bella smiled, knowing her mate could more than likely hear them.
"Well, somebody has to." He quipped.
"How are Teri and the kids?" He was not the least bit surprised she knew of his family. "I like to keep an eye on them too." She added with a shrug.
"They are well, and thank you." He was all too aware of the dangers out there and not be grateful for the extra set of eyes. "Looks like I have to get back down there." She stood straight then and pulled him into a hug.
"Just in case." She handed him a card. "It's great to see you." She smiled at him.
"You too, and Bells, don't be a stranger." With that, he was gone. She watched as the wedding party got into various cars and drove off.
"See you around, dad." She watched until the cars disappeared from view, and headed towards her mate. As a vampire, she was twenty-three years old, a baby by vampire standards, but she had a mate. A mate who had thought her a lot, so by vampire standards, she knew more than most would expect of someone her age. Of course, the vampire following her knew she was young, what he couldn't know was the fact that she knew and would soon turn the tables on him.
He lost her, he couldn't believe he lost her. Her scent had just disappeared, and the chance was gone. "Hello, Edward." He whirled around to find her leaning against the chimney breast. "I'm sure you have a good reason for following me."
"I needed to know if it was just your blood." He said quickly, taking in her bright red eyes.
"And?" She was still leaning against the chimney breast as though bored by it all.
"I knew I was right… I was right, and this just proves it. You must feel it too. My inability to read your mind, who else would be perfect for a telepath than a silent mind." Bella hadn't moved an inch as he ranted.
"The only thing I feel is for my mate, and that is not you. She warned you, but you just wouldn't listen." Bella said with a resigned sigh.
"YOU ARE MINE." He bellowed just as a hand gripped the back of his neck.
"Isabella is not a piece of property owned by anyone, least of all you." Victoria continued to squeeze as Edward dropped to his knees. She kept squeezing until his head damn near came off. With ease, she pulled the rest off and dropped him down the side of the building into a skip on a construction site. Soon the skip was on fire.
They were soon back in the comfort of their apartment. They loved Seattle, it was the place they came to when they wanted to get up to no good. Victoria had rented a penthouse apartment and the condo below, so they didn't have to worry about their neighbors. They could go at it for days when they really wanted to. "I'd love to go out tonight," Victoria said the minute they walked through the door.
"Okay, where?" Bella asked, shrugging her coat off.
"There is a club just opened. I want to check it out." Her attempt to sound innocent made Bella suspicious.
"What kind of club?" Bella asked.
"I think I'd prefer to surprise you," Victoria smirked.
"The last time you said that I ended up in a sex club watching people have sex," Bella mumbled.
"I also remember you coming on my hands so spectacularly while watching people have sex." If she could still blush, she would. She had still been human when Victoria took her to a BDSM club in London. She had balked at the idea at first but thoroughly enjoyed herself throughout the evening. She was all of a sudden hit with an idea.
"Can we go to this new club another time? There is something I really would love to do." She loved the look in Bella's eyes.
"Why not." She said with a shrug. Bella smiled and got out her phone. She had a few things to arrange. She was also going to owe Caius one hell of a favor.
"You came," Charlie whispered, trying to take the respiratory mask off. She put it back in place, she could hear him through it just fine. Even if his voice was just above a whisper.
"I heard you refused to die until I did." She smiled as she sat on the edge of the bed. Jake had sent her a message. It was the first time he'd used the card she'd left with him twenty-six years ago.
"You look the same." He smiled as she took his hands in hers.
"Vampirism as that effect on you. When did you figure it out?" She had been surprised when she got the message from Jake regarding Charlie's request to see her. He was dying, they all knew it, and she could hear his heart struggling. He had a few days if that.
"Wouldn't say I figured it out really, just little things here and there. When I realized my time was up, I took a chance in asking Jake, and I guess he couldn't lie to a dying man." Bella nodded.
"I wouldn't have done it if Sandra hadn't come along. I knew you'd be fine without me. It was better than you believing I was alive but didn't care enough to come and visit. I have kept my eye on you. I have attended every family celebration."
"And you saved Katherine from a vampire." He added. "I seriously believed I was one day going to put my own daughter behind bars until that incident." He murmured. "It was one of those things that added to my belief that you were still out there." Charlie smiled at her.
"I was close to strangling her myself." They both chuckled. They were both quiet for a long while, at some point, Charlie fell asleep. She ducked out of the window when various people came up. Later in the afternoon, it got quiet again, and she made herself comfortable by the corner.
When he woke up, the sun was going down, and she looked ethereal in the fading sunlight. "Did you see much of your mother?" He asked.
"Not much, Florida was not a place I could spend much time in. I did see her when they visited less sunny climates. I hadn't seen her for a while before she died."
"Even if you had, there wasn't much you could have done for her. Cancer was not a threat you could have saved her from." Charlie placated.
"No, it wasn't." She sighed. "I have to go, Sandra and Christopher are back. I will come by tomorrow. Love you, dad." She planted a lingering kiss on his forehead.
"Okay, love you too, Bells." She smiled at him before disappearing out the window. When she made it to the woods, she, all of a sudden, seemed to have lost all energy. She sat against a tree unmoving; even when Victoria joined her, she remained unmoving. There would be no tomorrow for Charlie, he'd held on waiting to see her, and now he had.
Just shy of seven hours after she left, Charles Swan passed away. Victoria held her as she cried.
Nine days later, Bella stood on a branch of a tree and watched as her father was lowered into the ground. They mourned for the man they all loved, but also celebrated his life. He was buried next to her. "How do you do it?" She whispered. "How do you watch knowing eventually they will leave? I don't think I can." She let out a shuddering breath.
"He was your father, you knew him well and loved him above all else. As much as you will love the rest, they will not hold the same place in your heart, and that makes it easier. You will want the best for them, but you never really become attached, which makes it easier to let go. None will hurt as much as this one does." Victoria had not been around when her parents passed, but seeing their graves had hurt even after several decades.
Bella stood in her spot until the cemetery cleared. She moved closer and said her goodbyes.
"Where do you want to go?" Victoria asked. "It's been a while since we last stayed in Washington." They often visited for family occasions but never stayed for more than a day or two. They no longer had an apartment in Seattle. That building had been knocked down over a decade ago.
"We still have the house in Piedmont," Bella suggested. Thanks to the vast land they owned around the house, they still had no neighbors.
Piedmont, it is." Victoria smiled.
"I don't think I have told you just how much I love you lately," Bella said as they walked through the cemetery.
"Oh, you did… you screamed it while you were coming." Victoria teased. "I love you too." She laughed when Bella glared at her.
"Need to hunt before we go home," Bella murmured. "I'm looking for someone particularly evil; God knows I want to take my sweet time with them."
"I might just join you." Victoria chuckled as the two took off running.