Exhibit ~ Paul Lahote

VI

I knew something was wrong the moment I got home from school. I had walked into the kitchen, my dad at the table on the phone. He looked like he was about to cry.

I wait for him to get off the phone to know what happened. Sitting down across from him, I take a deep breath.

Once the phone call ends my father breaks. He begins to cry, and I dont know how to comfort him. I cross over to the other side and give him a hug.

"Harry had a heart attack. He died yesterday."

The air leaves my lungs and I begin to start crying too. I grew up with Harry's family. He was like an uncle to me. I basically grew up at his house and I cant believe he's gone.

I sit with my dad for an hour before going in my room to call Seth to make sure him, his sister, and his mom are okay.

"Hey Seth."

"Im guessing you heard?" I've never  heard his voice sound so dull. So empty. It brought back the tears and I fell terrible for him.

"Yeah. Do you want me to come over? Or do you need space?"

"I need you to come over. Somethings happened and I cant tell you right now. Bring your dad." My first thought is the Cullen's are back. Bella told me they're vampires. She also said they're vegetarian but who knows what they can do.

"Ok. I'm coming." I begin to get ready. "Love you."

"Love you too. Hurry."

I run down the stairs and go up to my dad. "Seth wants us over there."

My dad nods his head and begins to get dressed. We both collect ourselves, knowing we have to be strong for our friends.

-

Seth and I walk into his bedroom and close the door. He sits me down and gives me a blanket cause he knows I find his room freezing.

"Paul doesn't want me to tell you this, so please dont tell him." I nod and roll my eyes at the mentioning of Paul. "What do you know about vampires?"

"I know about the Cullen's, Bella told me." I explain.

"There's this other vampire, Victoria. Shes really bad. We've been hunting her for a while. She's fast." I bite my lip. I was never afraid of the wolves because they were my friends, but vampires...

"Last night she passed by the house along the edge of the woods. My dad was outside." My eyes widen.

"So Victoria caused your dad to have a heart attack?" His eyes begin to water and I want to stop the conversation so he doesnt have to think about it.

"No." He sniffs. "Leah transformed. And my dad... he didn't know about us. He had a heart attack from seeing her."

"Oh my god." I wrap him up in a hug. "Thats not her fault okay. Is she in her room?"

"No, she hasn't been back since it happened."

We talk about it for a while and I try to make him feel better. We end up looking through photo albums from years ago. Pictures of them fishing and birthday parties. It was hard but eventually he fell asleep.

Once he passed out, I quietly made my way down the stairs. I could still here my dad and his mom talking, so I just decided to help around the house. It is the least I can do in this situation.

Almost as soon as I finish the dishes, my phone vibrates. Its Paul. I don't answer. He calls two more times before he stops. Im still mad at him even if Im upset and want comfort.

My phone begins to ring again and this time its Jared.

"Elle?"

"Please tell Paul to not call me." I put my phone in-between my ear and shoulder and continue cleaning. "Im going through something at the moment."

"Your lucky you picked up because he was about to go kidnap you from your house."

"Um why?"

There's a silence and I suddenly realize he's talking about Victoria.

"Im fine. My dad and I are at Seth's house. See you later." I shut my phone and put it back in my pocket.

"Hey dad." I poke my head into the bedroom. "Are we sleeping here tonight or?"

"Yeah you know the rules." I go up and grab the air mattress out the closet.

-

In the morning I get a very weird call.

"Your with Seth, right?" Jacob asks. Dude, the boys tell each other everything.

"Yeah." I rub my eyes and sit up. "He's sleeping. Why?"

"When he wakes up tell him that the Cullens are in town. One of them is with Bella right now."