He knew about imprinting from all of his pack-mates back on the res. He knew how it often defied logic and had the tendency to create complicated situations - but he still wasn't prepared for the anguish he was already beginning to feel. Jacob was drawn to this girl, this Annabel… and it was only making it more difficult to deal with his feelings for Bella.

Annabel stood in front of him with the bowl of soup.

"Are you okay?"

Jacob's body was shaking. He tried to draw his eyes away from her face, but he couldn't. At this point he was delirious. Even as he tried to pull his gaze away from Annabel's face, it shifted, becoming Bella's face, only paler, and with a grotesque beauty that gave away her vampiric form.

"Hey… are you okay?"

Her pale face suddenly began to melt and morph and Jacob's instincts once again went into fight-or-flight mode. He could feel his body shifting into his wolf's form, but he couldn't stop it. He heard a crash and the sound of toppling furniture, followed by a banshee-like shriek. Once again, blackness washed over his senses, and he was out.

"No, we don't know what to do… he won't eat… No, we don't even know his name. John – I don't think we can take him to a hospital at this point. No, he's in and he's out and he's... I don't know what's best…. I just, I think he needs to see Kim… Oh wait, I think he might be awake – Just send Kim over, please…"

Jacob opened his eyes. He saw the redheaded giant place the phone back into its cradle on the wall, and watched him walk over to the couch. He was holding a cup of something… tea? broth? He looked worried.

"Drink this."

The man helped Jacob sit up and propping him up on some pillows as he handed him the blue tin mug. Jacob looked at the unappetizing green color of the liquid in the cup as he swirled its contents, but he brought the cup to his lips anyway. As soon as the liquid touched his mouth, he couldn't put the cup down. Despite its foul, bitter taste, his body craved the concoction and he didn't stop gulping until every last drop was gone.

"More?"

Jacob nodded eagerly, some strength slowly returning to his body.

"I'll be right back."

Jacob looked around the room. He was still on the couch, but he was in different clothes than before – a different flannel shirt, and some canvas pants that fit his lean body a little better. And instead of coming from the bare bulb hanging from a low wooden beam in the ceiling, light came streaming in from a huge window across from where he was sitting. He wondered for a moment how long it had been since he had… What had actually happened? He remembered a scream, and before that…

Annabel. Where was she? Suddenly, Jacob felt a longing, an emptiness that he hadn't noticed before.

The redheaded giant came back in with the mug and Jacob quickly downed a second helping of the green-gray liquid.

The man sat down in a chair next to the window, and the two men looked at each other for a while. The jolly twinkle in the man's eyes was gone, but he gave Jacob a weak smile anyways.

"So, we haven't actually been introduced, I guess. I'm Morgan, Annabel's dad."

"Jacob Black." The sound of his own voice surprised him – raspy, frail, unused. He cleared his throat. "I'm from Forks."

"Forks? Forks where?

Jacob was surprised. He knew Forks was a small town, but most people had at least heard of it after all the trouble the Cullens had stirred up in the last year or so.

"It's just a ways off from Port Angeles."

"Wait - Port Angeles, Washington?"

There was an awkward pause and Jacob shifted uncomfortably.

"….Yeah. Washington. Forks, Washington."

"…"

"Morgan – where am I?"

"You're in Sioux Country. This is Minnesota."

Min-Minnesota? Is that even possible? How long was I actually running? It felt like maybe a week or so, but…Minnesota?

Jacob looked down at his hands. For the first time, he noticed the poor condition his body was in. His fingernails were ripped and cracked, and dark, dried blood lay in the creases of his nailbeds. There were scratches, in various stages of healing, running up and down his sunburnt arms. Some just thin lines, others deep ragged gashes that he couldn't remember feeling until just now.

"Unghhhhhh…"

Jake let out an unexpected and uncontrolled moan as the pain suddenly hit him. Everywhere - cuts, scratches, burns – all over his body… But the worst pain was focused in a thin line drawn from his right scapula over his shoulder and to the edge of his collarbone. He reached his left hand over to feel the damage and winced as his fingers brushed over fresh stitches.

What's happening to me? What am I doing… No, what am I going to do now?

He felt like he was just waking up after some horrible, fevered nightmare…Suddenly everything came back into focus, the pain, emotional and physical, the memories, and the lack thereof. He remembered wanting to see Bella, wanting to die, finally giving in to the exhaustion and pain, and then waking up here, in the most unlikely of places.

BAM!

Somewhere behind the couch, a door slammed open. Morgan jumped to his feet, rushing over to the sound. From where he sat, Jacob couldn't see what was going on, but with his keen hearing he could sort of imagine the scene. One truck, two people… One's a woman? There was chattering, and general clamor, like the sound of boxes or equipment being moved. Then the door slammed again, this time followed by an angry voice.

"MORGAN! I don't know what you're thinking…. You know this is only going to be trouble, and I don't know why you're dragging me into this nonsense. You should have – "

"What? Did you want to me to toss him out into the wild to die? He's just a –"

"Actually, yes. That's EXACTLY what I would have done. Jeez, you just don't get it, do you? This is not going to turn out well for anyone. We should just end it now."

There was an awkward pause… filled with intention, and, Jacob could imagine, meaningful looks being tossed across the room. Finally, a third, calmer voice entered the fray.

"Why don't we discuss this outside you two, hmm?"

Jacob heard the door slam shut and sighed. A pained smirk crept onto his face.

Everywhere I go I seem to cause problems.

There was a shuffling sound from the next room, and Jacob looked up to see…

" –Oh, it's you."

There she was. Annabel… She was standing in the shadows of a doorframe, just out of sight.

"Sorry about all of them, they're good people, you'll see. Things are just… a little confusing right now, you could say."

She lips formed a kind smile as she stepped forward into the living room. Jake let out a small gasp.

"You – You're… What happened to you? Are you alright?"

Her torso was wrapped up in a white bandage, and there were some cuts on her face that looked eerily like claw marks. Jacob instantly thought of Emily. Did I somehow do this?

Annabel continued to smile and waved away his concern with a small hand.

"Oh, I'll be fine. You don't have to worry. I just came to see how you were doing – I suppose you're in a lot of pain? I can help fix that – I brought my medic supplies!" She held up a small black tin Jake hadn't noticed before. "People around here are always finding some way to get into trouble, so I've had a lot of practice at sewing people up."

She walked over to the couch where Jacob was sitting, her bunny slippers shuffling along the wooden floor. She was wearing a pair of jeans and a baggy plaid flannel shirt. Seriously, what is up with this family and flannel?

Jacob tried to stay calm, but he could feel his chest beating. He was nervous, but he didn't know why. As she came closer and closer to where he lay, it was as if there was some kind of magnetic pulse between them – his hairs stood on end, and he got chills even as his skin became flushed.

She came right up to the couch and – plop! Sat down right on top of his bare exposed feet, her hand resting on one of his calves. Jacob let out a gasp as they touched, not because of the emotional current that it sent hammering through his body, but rather the physical pain that shot up from his feet to his shoulder.

"OWW! Are you serious? That huurrrrt!... OW!" Jacob looked at her with both shock and mild infuriation (he had a temper after all). Bella would probably have gone on apologizing for being clumsy or clutzy, and because of the uncanny similarities between them, Jacob naively thought this Annabel might be the same way. Wrong.

"Wait, no… Are you serious? I thought you were this 'tough guy'? You can handle a little love bump. Suck it up - Frankenstein." Her eyes twinkled as she crinkled up her nose and laughed.

Somehow, Jacob found himself smiling too. Banter, he could do banter.

"Frankenstein? What's up with that nickname? By the way, have you looked in a mirror recently? You should really get that checked out. Your face, I mean."

Annabel just smirked, clearly pleased with this response.

"I think you're the one who hasn't been near a mirror recently. Have a look." She tossed him a small round pocket mirror she had pulled out of the black tin. Jake caught it, just barely, and gasped as he looked at his face.

He really did look like Frankenstein. His face was a horrible yellow, and covered in cuts, just like his hands and feet. His hair was dull, matted and clumpy – parts of it stuck together with what he assumed was dried blood. One of his ears looked as if it had been ripped in half at some point, and was now held together only by some stitches.

"Pretty gross, huh? But don't worry about it, I'll fix you up good as new!" She smiled a wide smile, but Jacob was suddenly wary as he glimpsed what was in her tin.

"Oh my god, please tell me you're not going to use that stuff to try and heal me…"

In the tin, Jake could see a tub of Vaseline, some colorful band-aids, and a vast assortment of needles and threads.

"Mm-hmm! It's also my sewing kit!" Annabel winked at him, and suddenly Jacob's heart was beating faster – and not because he had imprinted on her.

"NO! Stay away – there's absolutely no way I'm letting you near me with that stuff." He tried vainly to move away, but his body was in pain and refused to comply.

"Oh please, it's not actually a sewing kit. Don't worry, I'm actually really good at this type of stuff. Trust me." She looked up at him, her brown eyes earnest, and he slowly nodded his head.

"Great! I'll go get a towel really quick, I'll be right back!"

As Jake watched her bound off into the next room, he sighed.

I wonder how this is going to turn out…