Impasse
Disclaimer: all characters and copyright belong to SM.
Embry Call
Bella cleaned the Black's house to distract herself while she waited for Jacob to return. The house was gleaming by the time she finished. She threw the cleaning products under the bathroom counter and grabbed her jacket. She was too keyed up to stay inside.
As she stepped outside the air was an anxious swirl of drops, wind-freed from gravity. She zipped her rain jacket up to her chin to ward off the chill and pulled the hood tight over her head. Slightly hunched over she began to walk on autopilot, not really paying attention to the direction she was heading.
Bella was so preoccupied with her thoughts that she was unaware of the boy approaching her in the distance. It was only when she heard her name being called that she raised her head, squinting through the violent squall of rain.
She could just make out the tall figure of a boy coming toward her. He was almost as tall as Jacob, though much slenderer in build. His black hair was chin length and parted down the middle, one side tucked behind his ear while the other hung in wet tendrils around his face. Like Bella he was slightly hunched over because of the bad weather, his hands dug deep into the pockets of his thin jacket.
"Embry?" She questioned as recognition finally set in.
"Hey, Bella." Embry smiled his usual shy smile when she acknowledged him and waved with one hand, which he then shoved back in his pocket.
"Are you looking for Jacob?" Bella asked breathlessly as she closed the gap between them.
Embry nodded.
"I'm so sorry. You just missed him."
"Oh." Embry's smile faded and he stared at his feet morosely. "I guess I'll come back and try again later then."
"Wait, Embry, are you okay?" Bella pushed her hood back a little so she could get a better look at his face. The rain conjured a sweet pattern on her pale skin, the thousands of liquid globes sparkling like tiny diamonds.
"I'm fine." Embry mumbled, though his glum expression stated otherwise.
Bella glanced uneasily back at the house. She could only see its indistinct outline in the distance; the rain had turned into a downpour. She looked back at Embry. His downcast expression frightened her more than it surprised her. His face was bleak, brooding, his forehead creased with tension as he tried to suppress his emotions.
"Do you want to come inside and wait for Jake?" She offered hesitantly.
Embry shook his head. "I don't want to impose."
"You wouldn't be imposing." Bella reassured him.
"Thank you – but I won't come in just the same."
"Okay." Bella felt at a loss. She could see how unhappy he was. She remembered what Jacob had said about Embry being so close to phasing. Upon closer examination of his face, she didn't see any sign of fever or anything. "If you won't come in, then perhaps I can offer you a lift somewhere. I think a storm is coming in. You'll get even more drenched if you stay outside."
Embry hesitated, looking awkward.
"My truck is just parked over there." Bella waved her hand vaguely in the direction of the ancient old Chevy.
"Sure, I guess." Embry mumbled. He shuffled behind her as she led the way back toward the old iron monster, his head bowed with the weight of his unhappiness.
When they reached the truck, he opened the passenger door and climbed in.
"Where to?" Bella asked, breathing heavily as she pushed her hood back from her head.
"My house is on the north side, not too far from Quil's. Its back behind the store." Embry told her.
Bella switched on the engine, jumping slightly as it rumbled loudly to life. She laughed nervously at the odd look Embry threw her way. "You think I would be used to the noise by now." She joked with a small smile.
"Sure." Embry mumbled.
Bella looked at him worriedly, wondering what was going through his mind. Embry stared out the windshield, his dark eyes somber. "You're lucky that Jake is still speaking to you. He's been avoiding me." He finally said.
"He hasn't been avoiding you, Embry." Bella rushed to reassure him again. "Jake has been super busy lately, that's all."
"Doing what?" Embry responded curtly. "He seems to have plenty of time for you and Quil and Sam Uley. I saw them."
"Saw them?" Bella echoed, unnerved by the clear resentment in Embry's tone.
"Yes." Embry confirmed sullenly. His voice was hard to hear over the engine. Bella leaned in closer. "I know they saw me. But they turned and just disappeared into the trees. I tried to follow them, but just ended up stumbling around in the forest for an hour, yelling for them. I feel like such a fool. That's why I came here today – to confront Jacob and demand to know what his problem with me is."
Bella gazed at him in trepidation. "Jake doesn't have a problem with you, Embry. You're his best friend."
"He sure isn't acting like I am." Embry snapped, losing his temper a little.
"He is." Bella insisted. "Like I said before, he's just been – "
"Super busy." Embry cut in sarcastically. "I heard you."
Bella couldn't blame him for being mad. Her excuse sounded feeble even to her own ears.
"I'm sorry, Bella." Embry apologized, his voice low and rough. "I didn't mean to snap. It just hurts, that's all. Jake and I have been friends since we were kids. His house is like a second home to me. When things get rough at my house, I knew I could always escape to his."
"Oh, Embry." Bella reached out and placed a sympathetic hand over his. "You still can."
Embry glanced up at Bella, his cheeks turning slightly pink. "You know what's going on, don't you?"
Bella blanched, her hand dropping from his. She turned to look out the misty windshield. The driving rain beat a drum tattoo on the roof of the truck's cab. She didn't want to lie to Embry. But she couldn't tell him the truth, either. It was so unfair. She understood the need for secrecy, but this was going too far in her mind. Embry was going to phase soon anyway. Why not give him the head's up? She knew that Jacob had been pushing the elders to let him to do just that, but the old men insisted on clinging to the rules of the past, not willing, or more likely afraid to mess with a tried and tested formula.
"Well?" Embry persisted, his anger returning.
"I do." Bella admitted.
"But you won't tell me?" Embry guessed, his resentment growing.
"Its not my place to say." Bella pleaded.
"That's bull, Bella. Are Jake and the others in some kind of trouble? Is it drugs or something?"
Bella gave Embry a disbelieving look, indicating that she couldn't believe he had gone there. "You know Jake and the others would never do drugs, Embry."
"What am I supposed to think?" Embry pushed his right hand through his hair, tightening his fingers in the wet strands as he pulled them back from his face. "What else could it be? And why aren't the old people worried?" He shook his head, and the fear showed in his eyes now. "I don't understand what made Jake and Quil change so drastically in such a short time. And why are they hanging out with Sam Uley? He's older than they are."
Bella winced at the hurt in his tone. "You just need to be patient, Embry. It will all make sense soon. I promise."
Embry grimaced. "So you keep saying."
They stared at each other for a prolonged moment. Bella had been driving very slowly the whole time, aware of the bad weather, she could barely see two feet in front of her. She could just make out the village's only store not too far ahead.
"I'll get out now." Embry said. "My house is just over there." He gestured toward the small wooden rectangle behind the store. Even with limited visibility Bella could see the state of neglect and disrepair hanging over the place like a black cloud.
"Are you sure you don't want to come back to Jacob's and wait for him?" Bella offered again. "I don't like leaving you like this."
"No thanks." Embry jumped out of the truck. "Thanks for the ride." He slammed the door shut and shuffled forward along the road, his head bent forward, his shoulders slumped.
Embry's face haunted Bella as she made a wide U-turn and headed back to the Black's. He was so upset and hurt by what he perceived as Jacob's rejection. She felt so sad for him.
The truck crawled along as she drove slowly back in the direction she had just come from, her mind and heart filled with sorrow for poor Embry. Eventually she reached Jacob's house, killing the motor, and rolling down the windows. The cold air gushed through the gap, hitting her square in the face, and turning her cheeks rosy pink. She still didn't feel like going inside the house, instead putting her feet up on the dashboard and settling in to wait until the rain died down a little.
A sudden movement in her peripheral vision caught her attention – she sat upright, pulling her feet off the dashboard. There was a sharp tap against the driver's side door.
"Still here?"
Bella jumped, looking up, hoping to see Jacob.
It wasn't him, though. It was Paul Lahote.
Bella stared at him in blank astonishment, taking in the hard planes of his face. His dark eyes were filled with a brooding resentment as he glared at her, and his hands, where they gripped the window frame, looked enormous, with the veins and tendons prominent under the russet skin.
"W-where's Jacob?" Bella whispered fearfully.
Paul just stared at her, his eyes tense and angry.
Bella cast her eyes over the immediate area, looking desperately, hoping to see some sign of Jacob or Sam. It couldn't be possible that Paul had outrun either of them. So, how come he was here, alone, and unsupervised, it didn't make sense.
Paul's eyes remained hostile as he yanked the truck's door open and grabbed Bella none too gently by the arm and hauled her out of the driver's seat. She squealed in surprise, the bile rising in her throat. She wanted to take a swing at him. No, more than that. More than anything, she wanted to be fierce and deadly, someone no one would dare mess with. Someone who could scare Paul Lahote silly.
She wanted to be a female wolf – a fierce, almighty she-wolf, capable of putting assholes like Paul in his place.
The violent desire caught her off guard and knocked the wind out of her. It was the most forbidden of all wishes – one she had not really admitted to herself until now – she scrambled to regain control of herself.
"Let go of me." She snapped.
Paul's expression only grew more resentful as he dragged her toward the house against her will. Bella fought him, twisting and turning, dragging her feet to slow him down. But his hold on her was too strong, his long fingers bit into the soft skin of her bicep, almost stopping the blood flow.
"I said let me go!"
"No can do, princess." Paul scowled. "I have my orders." His tone darkened when he said the last bit.
"Orders?" Bella questioned, her surprise making her give up the fight. "What do you mean?"
Paul's scowl intensified as he stopped and watched the play of emotions crossing her face. "Stop playing dumb, princess. I'm talking about lover boy. He ordered me to keep you under house arrest until he and Sam are finished dealing with the dreadlocked vamp."
"What?" Bella exclaimed in horror. An image of a handsome, dark-skinned male, his exposed muscular torso showing clearly through an open jacket, with dreadlocks that ran down to his shoulders, filled her mind. She paled, shaking her head to get rid of the unwanted image – or memory.
Paul was unaware of her distress. He was still complaining about Jacob. "I wanted to dive right in once they filled me in about what I am. I'm no fucking coward like Quil Ateara – but no - your boyfriend thinks I'm too green." He sneered. "As if? He just didn't want me showing him up. I'm not without skills. I've been in more fights than – "
"Laurent." Bella gasped in fear, cutting him off mid-rant. "His name is Laurent."
"What?" Paul questioned, easing his grip on her arm a little.
A dizzying array of emotions shot through Bella in a second. The first was fear; she was far away from any danger, but even the memory of the dreadlocked vampire made her tremble. He had been part of James' coven along with the redheaded Victoria. She clenched her teeth, trying to suppress the memory, fighting against the sharp lash of agony it invoked. The second was resignation when she realized her mind would no longer allow her to suppress it, that it was going to force her to remember whether she was ready to or not.
Paul shook her a little. "What's going on with you, princess?" He demanded. "You look like you're gonna be sick."
"I might." Bella groaned. "Oh, god, I can't believe this is happening."
"What are you babbling on about?" Paul was getting increasingly impatient. He was still pissed off at being ordered around by Jacob, a guy he had little respect for, but who was now his boss or Alpha, or whatever ridiculous moniker he wanted to slap on himself.
"Laurent." Bella repeated with difficulty. "The vampire Jacob and Sam are chasing. He was part of James' coven when I first met him." She clutched her aching head with her free hand, bending over and gasping with the effort to keep from collapsing to the ground with fear. "He wasn't involved with the hunt where I was the quarry – but that was only because he was afraid; I was protected by a bigger coven than his own."
Paul stared at her critically as he listened to her rambles, making no move to either comfort her or help her to stand.
"It would have been different if that wasn't the case." Bella continued, her voice a quiet tremor. She was reliving it as she was speaking, unable to block the images the repressed memory slotted into her mind like a series of horrifying photographs. "He had no compunction at the time of making a meal of me. The last I heard about him was he had gone to Alaska to live with another coven, friends of the Cullens, they refuse to drink human blood for ethical reasons. The other coven…. I can't remember their name…. oh, God, why is he here? What does this mean? Is he helping Victoria?"
"For fucks sake." Paul muttered under his breath. "I would rather be facing that demon down then dealing with a hysterical woman." He let go of Bella's arm, nearly causing her to topple over. But he didn't let her fall to the ground. To her alarm, her world turned upside down as Paul gripped her around the waist and flung her over his shoulder like he was hauling a sack of potatoes.
"Hey." Bella protested weakly. She tried to focus, but was still reeling from the revival of the repressed memory.
"Save your breath, princess. I'm not listening." Paul hissed through his teeth. His glare was vicious as he stalked toward the Black's house with Bella dangling in an undignified heap over his shoulder.
A/N-thanks for reading!