Impasse

Disclaimer: all characters and copyright belong to SM.

A Strange Visitor

It was very dark when Bella turned off the headlights of her truck. The porch lamp still wasn't on, which meant that Charlie wasn't home yet. Bella felt a pang of doubt, staring at the house, deep in shadow. What if Edward Cullen was lurking somewhere nearby?

After the frightening experience of being stalked by Edward Cullen, Bella had spent the rest of the day at the Clearwaters, too nervous to return home. It was past nine before she decided to venture back to Forks, certain that Charlie would back from his fishing trip by then.

Leah had offered to drive her home before she left for her late-night shift at the local diner. Bella thanked her, but already felt guilty enough for taking up so much of the other girl's time.

"You're already running late for work because of me."

Leah rolled her eyes impatiently. "I don't care about that, girl. Your safety is more important. What if that creep is still hanging around?"

"Charlie should be on his way home by now."

"My dad isn't home yet." Leah pointed out. "I don't think you should risk it."

Bella swallowed down her anxiety and gave Leah a watery smile. "I won't let Edward Cullen make me live in fear, Leah. I refuse to be a coward about this."

"Its not about being cowardly, its about being careful." Leah argued.

"Its nice that you're so worried about me." Bella tried to make light if of it with a weak joke. "It almost makes me think you care."

"Don't push it, Swan. I wouldn't go that far." Leah retorted. She studied Bella critically. "You're determined to go whatever I say, aren't you?"

Bella nodded. "I'll be fine."

Leah still wasn't convinced, but knew there was no persuading Bella when she was in this type of stubborn mood. "Make sure you ring my cell as soon as you get in."

"Won't your boss be annoyed with me for ringing you at work?"

"Like I care." Leah said dismissively. "Just call."

"I promise." Bella agreed solemnly.

And now here she was, sitting outside in her truck, all alone and in the dark. Bella was beginning to regret her hasty decision to drive home alone. She should have listened to Leah. She was always so scared of imposing on people, that she always inevitably ended up making things worse for herself.

"Don't be a coward." She mumbled under her breath. "Leah wouldn't be intimidated. She would just square her shoulders and get on with it."

Deciding to channel some of her best frenemy's arrogant confidence, Bella decided to try and be brave. Jutting out her chin and squaring her shoulders as if she was prepping for a fight, she finally found the courage to slip out of her truck and make a run for the front door.

Still, despite her inner pep talk, her hands were shaking as she reached for the key above the front door. When she grabbed the door to unlock it, it twisted easily under her hand. She let the door fall open, the hallway was black.

Bella wanted to call out a greeting, but knew it was pointless as she already knew Charlie wasn't at home. She just wanted to hear her own voice break the deathly silence. And anyway, she couldn't seem to quite catch her breath.

Taking a step inside the house, Bella fumbled for the light switch. It was so black – like black water…. Where was that damn switch?

Her fingertips traced the wall, still searching, still shaking. After another few taut seconds of searching, she finally located it and flicked it on. She blinked in the sudden light, and saw that someone was there, waiting for her.

Sam transformed back into his human form to find a dozen texts and missed calls from Leah on his cell phone. He scanned the texts, alarmed when he read the content. He immediately alerted Jacob, who was in the process of giving Quil yet another lecture on his reckless behavior. Quil had immediately gone on the defensive, reminding Jacob that they were the same age, and he had no right to criticize his actions when all he was doing was trying to protect the res from predators.

"I was just fulfilling my role as a protector." Quil complained. "You don't need to babysit me every second. It's getting old, Jake. You're worse than my old pops. I think being Alpha has gone to your head. You never used to be like this – so serious all the time, and acting all superior. You used to know how to have fun."

"I have responsibilities now!" Jacob retorted angrily. "You need to grow the fuck up, Quil. I am sick of your devil may care attitude. Its going to get us all killed. If Sam and I weren't there to haul your sorry ass out of trouble tonight, who knows what would have happened!"

"I was perfectly fine." Quil argued hotly, his fists trembling at his sides. "You didn't need to intervene like you did. I was winning."

"That cold one was about to sink its fangs into you." Sam stepped between the warring friends, his expression stern. "Jake's right, Quil. The way you're acting now makes you more of a liability than a help."

"Oh, of course you guys would stick together!" Quil snapped indignantly, crossing his arms over his broad chest. He was extremely proud of his newly buff physique and wasted no time in showing off to the local girls, flirting and flexing his bulging biceps to attract their attention. Since turning wolf his arrogance had become uncontrollable.

"I'm so done trying to make you see sense!" Jacob growled, towering over his friend, and wondering again how he hadn't noticed the signs of Quil's conceitedness before.

At school, before his transformation, Quil often played the joker. Always acting the fool, he spent most of his time trying to impress the girls with his lame quips and stupid pranks. None of this had bothered Jacob before. He used to find Quil entertaining, maybe a bit overexuberant, but he never used to think too much about the consequences of his friend's crass and selfish behavior. It was only their other friend, Embry, who used to remark on occasion that he thought Quil was getting too above himself. But back then, Jacob hadn't really taken much notice. He was paying the price for that now, though.

"Oooh, I'm scared!" Quil taunted him, thinking he could get away with it because of their former friendship. "Are you going to issue another one of your petty Alpha orders, Jake? What is it this time, huh? No TV for a week? More chores? You really are becoming an old man, dude! Lighten up!"

Jacob found himself running out of patience with Quil's childish behavior. His friend was just too pigheaded to listen. None of the lectures he had given, none of the punishments he'd meted out had worked to tone down Quil's attention seeking antics. It was like the guy was on a mission to make himself as obnoxious as possible. Jacob was tired of babysitting him in the hope that Quil would finally realize what an ass he was being and behave. He just wasn't open to change.

"You leave me little choice." He growled.

Quil just raised his eyebrows, smirking arrogantly as he waited for Jacob to speak.

"I'm confining you to your house for a month, Quil." The timbre of Jacob's voice changed into a much deeper baritone as he issued the Alpha order, his expression hardening. "You will not be able to leave or phase unless I allow it. In that time, I want you to think hard about your reckless need for attention. When the month is up, I need you to convince me that you're willing to change and take direction, if not, then your time running as part of this pack is over."

Quil was absolutely horrified at this command. The thought of being stuck inside his house with only his nagging mother and ancient lecturing grandfather for company was worse than torture for him. He immediately opened his mouth to protest, but found he couldn't speak. He had been basically gagged by Jacob's Alpha order, and had no choice but to comply. All he could do was throw a resentful glare Jacob's way as he sloped off in defeat.

Jacob's shoulders sagged wearily as he watched his friend disappear out of sight. "Did I do the right thing?" He asked Sam quietly, seeking his counsel as he often did these days.

"Yes." Sam said earnestly. "Quil forced your hand. He deserved the harshest punishment. Being confined will give him time to think about his abhorrent behavior."

"I hated doing it." Jacob admitted. "Its funny. I've known Quil all my life. I just didn't realize how self-centered he could be. I knew he could act the fool, and I admit I was concerned about how he would cope with taking orders from me, I just hoped that our friendship overrode his need for constant attention."

"We always like to see the best in the ones we care about." Sam looked in the direction of where Quil had disappeared, his expression dour. "Anyway, we have bigger problems than Quil right now."

Jacob was immediately on alert. He tensed as Sam showed him the frantic texts Leah had sent him. His eyes scanned the many messages, his whole body becoming rigid. His face became masklike, his thick, black brows pushing into a furious angle over his deep-set eyes. His jaw set as he read the last message and raised his head to meet Sam's stoic gaze.

"The leech has gone too far!" He ground out through clenched teeth.

"What do you plan to do?" Sam asked calmly. "Confront him? Your father and the other elders won't be happy about you taking matters into your own hands. They'll just express caution and throw the old treaty excuse at you."

Jacob's face was grim as he looked back at Sam. "I don't need to go running to them with every decision I make. I'm the Alpha wolf. It's my choice."

A rare grin lightened Sam's eyes as he regarded Jacob with interest. "What then?"

"We're going to pay the Cullens a little visit." Jacob replied succinctly, his dark eyes burning with an inner fire that fueled his determination. "But I need to check on Bella first."

Sam nodded. "While you check on her, I'll do the same with Lee."

"Meet me back here in one hour." Jacob ordered, his form already shimmering as he got ready to phase.

Unnaturally still, and white, with large crimson eyes intent on her face, Bella's visitor waited perfectly motionless in the center of the hall, beautiful beyond imagining.

The strange visitor was a woman, with orange hair brighter than any flame, it was like a fire halo around her face, shimmering as if had a life of its own.

Bella stared back at the strange woman in stunned silence. She had no idea who she was. However, the malevolence in the woman's taut expression confirmed that her visit was not a friendly one.

"Who – who are you?" She asked shakily.

"Me?" The strange woman answered in a high soprano voice, her tongue darting out to lick her full ruby red lips. "I'm your worst nightmare come to life."

A/N-thanks for reading!