Impasse

Disclaimer: all characters and copyright belong to SM.

A Hard Truth

Bella continued to stare at the strange woman in dismay. She didn't know what to think or feel anymore. Everything about her was odd. She reminded Bella of a lioness, her catlike posture always on the edge of shifting into a crouch, as if she was preparing to spring at her prey.

Am I the prey? Bella thought fleetingly.

The woman was dressed in the ordinary gear of backpackers: jeans and a casual form fitting t-shirt, and over that a dark weather proof rain jacket. The clothes were frayed, though, with wear, and the woman was also barefoot. Her brilliant orange hair was filled with leaves and debris as if she had been crawling in undergrowth.

Her sharp eyes shifted restlessly as if they had trouble keeping still. Her chaotic hair quivered as if it had a life of its own.

Bella squared her shoulders and jutted out her chin as she tried to channel her inner Leah. Her frenemy would never let herself be intimidated by an intruder – because that was what this woman was – she had broken in with the intent to steal. She probably didn't even realize it was the police chief's house she was trying to rob, and that Bella was his daughter.

"My dad is the police chief of Forks. He will be home any minute. If you don't want to be caught, I suggest you do yourself a favor and leave right now. It won't work out well for you if he catches you. He doesn't look kindly on thieves."

The woman's deep burgundy eyes stilled momentarily. Bella had never seen their like before, they were disturbing and sinister. The woman had to be wearing contacts, Bella decided, no one's eyes were that color naturally. Maybe she wore them to frighten her victims and make herself appear more menacing. Bella guessed she must have been disturbed several times during the course of her criminal activities in the past. She was probably a habitual thief, had maybe even served time inside.

The woman cocked her head to one side and studied Bella critically. "You are such a strange human." She surmised. The words were not aggressive, merely astounded.

Bella was taken aback at this odd declaration. For a habitual thief to call her strange was quite insulting. The last of her fear trickled away as she glared at the woman in irritation.

"You have no right to call me strange – you're the one who broke into my house!" She accused in a loud voice. "You're nothing but a petty thief. And not even a good one, seeing as I caught you in the act."

A swift rigidity overtook the woman as she lurched one step forward into a crouch. She bared her teeth, a feral snarl ripping from her throat. It was the single most menacing thing Bella had ever heard in her life, and chills ran from the crown of her head to the back of her heels.

But, still, despite this Bella managed to maintain her composure. She imagined what her frenemy would do in this situation. Leah would certainly not allow herself to be intimidated, that was for sure. She would look for a weapon to defend herself. The woman wasn't much taller than she was. She was sure she could get a good hit in if she tried to attack.

"You don't scare me!" Bella continued in the same steady tone. She was playing for time, trying to stall the woman as she looked for something suitable that she could utilize as a makeshift club.

The woman kept up her aggressive pose, snarling even more ferociously, harshly, her lip curling high above her glistening, bared teeth. She really exhibited all the signs of a wild animal.

Bella retreated a few steps, trying to ignore the hammering of her heart. In her periphery vision she had spied the Cal Raleigh Seattle Mariners Signed Louisville Slugger Game Model Baseball bat. It was Charlie's pride and joy, a joint gift from the upper echelons of the police force in celebration of his twenty years' service.

Normally it was kept securely under lock and key, but for some reason was now leaning carelessly against the coatrack. Maybe Charlie had taken it out to show it off to Billy or Harry, or maybe his colleagues at the station. Whatever the reason, Bella was elated, it was the perfect weapon. One clunk over the head with the bat would knock the thieving redheaded witch on her ass.

But unfortunately, it wasn't the redhead who fell on her ass, it was Bella. Like so many times before in her lifetime, her clumsiness worked against her. As she lunged for the bat, somehow her feet got tangled together. She fell down hard on her butt, the breath knocked completely out of her, her elbow hitting the coat rack. She watched in horror as the baseball bat rolled away out of her reach, while the coatrack wobbled on unsteady legs. Then she suddenly found herself buried beneath a pile of coats as the rack gave up the fight and toppled over, sending the coats raining down on top of her head.

The next thing Bella was aware of was the sound of the front door being wrenched open. She choked back a building scream. Somehow, she had to keep it together….

And then a familiar, husky voice called her name.

"Bella!" It said loudly. "Oh, jeez, what the hell happened here?"

"Jake, I'm here! I'm here!" Bella shrieked as she wrestled with the heavy coats piled on top of her. One of them was Charlie's smelly, old hunting jacket. She grimaced as she batted it away from her.

"Oh, god, Bella, honey." Jacob cried as he pulled the rest of the coats off her and flung them carelessly to one side.

Bella blinked her wet blurry eyes; suddenly sure she was dreaming.

"Jacob, is that really you?"

Jacob snorted, unamused. "Its really me, Bella." He said grimly.

Bella gulped with relief, trying to suppress her tears. "Oh, Jake, I've been so scared."

"Oh, Bells." Jacob murmured as he stared down at her with an expression like something was stabbing him. He held one hand out, pleading.

Bella sniffed, she took his hand, and suddenly he yanked her – too roughly – right off the floor so that she thudded against his chest.

"I was almost too late." He muttered against her hair, crushing Bella in a bear hug that almost broke her ribs.

"Can't – breathe!" Bella gasped.

Jacob dropped her at once, keeping one hand at her waist so she didn't fall over. His chest was heaving as he breathed deeply. His dark eyes glistening with some unnamed emotion Bella couldn't quite place. If she had to hazard a guess, it was terror. Terror not for himself, but for her.

She looked up at him, her own breathing quietening as she began to calm down. "Jake, I'm so glad you're here. Some strange woman broke into the house – "She paused, scanning the immediate area, expecting to see the redheaded thief hovering somewhere in the shadows. "Where is she? She was right here." She finished in confusion.

"Your intruder was no thief."

To Bella's astonishment Jacob's face turned hard and bitter. "What do you mean?"

Jacob noted the incomprehension in her eyes and reached out one warm hand to cup her face. He didn't want to make her more frightened than she already was, but he couldn't shield her from the truth.

"Your nighttime visitor was a vampire, honey."

His words sent Bella's head spinning. Jacob caught her as she fell against him. She felt the sensation of being lifted and she closed her eyes. She was too confused, too worn out to make sense of any of it. It had been a day filled with panic and fear – first being stalked by Edward, and now Jacob's confirmation that the redheaded woman was no mere thief, but an actual blood drinking vampire. Of course she was, it was obvious now. How could she have been so naïve? Everything about her clearly screamed otherworldly monster.

Overcome with everything that had happened, Bella soon found herself swallowed up by unconsciousness so swiftly that it was disorientating.

However, it was not the peaceful, dreamless sleep she had yearned for – of course not – the nightmares were never far away.

Bella found herself in the forest, wandering aimlessly. She quickly became aware that this was the not the same dream as usual. There was no sign of Edward for one thing – she supposed she should be grateful for small mercies – she continued to wander, like she was doing it out of habit, she wasn't actually searching for anything.

The forest had a strange aroma, not like the damp earth of the woods outside her house, but like the brine of the ocean. Bella couldn't see the sky; still, it seemed like the sun must be shining – the leaves above were bright jade green.

This was the forest around La Push – near the beach there, she was sure of it. She knew that if she found the beach, she would be able to see the sun, so she hurried forward, following the faint sound of waves in the distance.

And then Jacob was there. He grabbed her hand, pulling her back toward the blackest part of the forest.

"Jacob, what's wrong?" His face was the frightened face of a boy, and his hair was long and beautiful again, swept into a ponytail at the nape of his neck. He yanked with all his strength, but Bella resisted; she didn't want to go into the dark.

"Run, Bella, run." He whispered, terrified.

No, this wasn't right. Jacob was the bravest person she knew. She had never known him to be terrified.

Something was nagging at the back of Bella's mind, some significant piece of information she was missing. It was like her lost memories were trying to poke through the thin wall of her subconscious, trying to break free and ambush her.

"I'm not ready." She mumbled over and over.

But the abrupt wave of déjà vu would not be denied. It was so strong; it nearly woke her up from the fever dream.

Bella knew why she recognized this place now. It was because she had been there before, in another dream. A million years ago, part of a different life entirely. One she had been fighting so hard not to remember. But this one memory had forced its way through all the mental traps she'd set for it.

For this was the same dream she'd had the night after she walked with Jacob on the beach and flirted with him. Being confronted with the horrifying truth about the red headed intruder had dredged this dream out of her buried memories.

Detached from the dream now, Bella waited dully for it to play out. A light was coming toward her from the beach. In just a moment, she knew that Edward would walk through the trees, his skin faintly glowing with an odd luminescence and his eyes black and dangerous. He would beckon to her, and smile. He would be beautiful as an angel, and his teeth would be pointed and sharp….

But Bella knew she was getting ahead of herself. Something else had to happen first.

The dream Jacob dropped her hand and yelped. Shaking and twitching, he fell to the ground at her feet.

"Jacob!" She screamed, but he was gone.

In his place was the magnificent, enormous, red-brown wolf with dark, intelligent eyes.

The wolf stared at her intently, trying to convey something vital with his expressive eyes. The black-brown eyes of Jacob Black.

But, of course, she already knew what he was trying to say. The truth had been right there, in plain sight all along. She had just refused to see.

Bella woke screaming at the top of her lungs.

Jacob had been holding her this whole time. His arms flexed tightly around her as she buried her head against his chest and tried to muffle the hysterics that her screams were building into. She pressed her face into his hot skin, gasping as she tried to keep her tears in check.

Bella felt Jacob's fingers combing through the tangled strands of her hair as he whispered soothing words.

But nothing he could say could comfort her now. She was too traumatized.

What kind of a place was this? Could a world really exist where ancient legends went wandering around the borders of tiny, insignificant towns, facing down mythical monsters? Did this mean every impossible fairytale was grounded somewhere in absolute truth? Was there anything sane or normal at all, or was everything just magic and ghost stories?

Bella pulled away from Jacob, clutching her head in her hands, trying to keep it from exploding.

"Bella, what is it?" Jacob asked frantically. "Talk to me!"

A small, dry voice in the back of her mind (which sounded remarkably like Leah) asked her what the big deal was. Hadn't she already accepted that werewolves existed? She had readily accepted Jacob just as he was – and without all the hysterics?

But this – this was different.

Of course, she had been aware that Edward Cullen was above and beyond the ordinary. She just hadn't allowed herself to think or question it.

Because you didn't want to - her inner voice screamed back at her.

And she hadn't wanted to for a reason, because it meant having to face a dark, horrifying reality that defied all rationality.

For Edward Cullen was a vampire – and she had been in a relationship with him.

A/N-thanks for reading!