The Only Exception

I didn’t know what I was supposed to think, or how I was supposed to react. The look in Alice’s eyes had everyone worried, including me. And the way she looked at me, before quickly shifting her eyes to her family, my heart could have stopped if it were possible through that surprise.

I hadn’t heard all of what Edward, Carlisle, and Alice were speaking about, but every few minutes, Alice would look over to me, before quickly looking back at Carlisle. I knew for a fact that she was keeping something from everyone, and not only just me. I was completely terrified as to what she’d actually seen, but from what Edward had ‘seen’, those images that played in his head were what everyone was told.

Edward had made a stop out in the woods, where he communicated with one of the wolves, who in return, told Jacob that I was ready to leave. But before I’d left, Alice had told me something. Something that I knew I’d have to keep to myself. And it wasn’t only her that wanted to keep this between her and I. She’d said that she had some sort of feeling that I was a part of this war, now. It wasn’t just Bella that was at fault here. I’d done something wrong as well, and not knowing what made it all the more terrifying.

When Jacob had picked me up from the Cullen’s, Carlisle and Edward had taken Jacob over to the trees in the backyard. There, they were all well-prepared for his uncontrollable blowup. I couldn’t even watch as they told Jacob what Alice had seen and what was going on with me. And after stabilizing himself, they all came inside, Jacob coming up towards me and holding me like I was his life line.

Clearing his throat, Carlisle began to tell the others what was going to happen for the next few days before the war. “Jacob will take Braylin to Emily’s tonight and speak to the others about what Alice had seen. And though it wasn’t much that she did see, it’s good enough for all of us.” Beginning to feel uneasy, I pulled Jacob down onto the couch to relax – and that wasn’t working out so well.

Looking directly at Jacob, Carlisle continued, “Edward will be taking Bella into the mountains to keep her hidden during the fight. And since I’m sure that you’ll want Braylin to be safe, and closer to you, well, that won’t be very possible. But as long as your father is at Charlie’s and the pack’s imprints are all at Emily’s, things should be fine.” I was impressed, at the very least that Carlisle had just thought all of this out.

Even more impressing was the fact that Jacob had complied and agreed with Carlisle. “We’ll all meet tomorrow night to go over what’s going on. I’ll take Braylin to Emily’s and let the guys in on the new plan.” Jacob’s voice was harsh, and his eyes were set in the most painful glare I’d ever seen. Though he wasn’t directing his glance at anyone, it still scared me, just a bit.

Letting out a small sigh, Alice skipped over to me and pulled me off the couch so that she could give me a hug. She looked directly at me and whispered, “Things are going to be fine, Bray. Whoever this other man is, he hasn’t quite made up his mind, but he is looking more towards following in the footsteps with Victoria – where she will go, that is.”

I couldn’t speak, and even though it was Alice reassuring me just the slightest, I couldn’t make my mouth move, nor create a sound to escape past my lips. So I nodded and gave her a hug before watching the others in slight humor, line up to say goodbye for the day.

~

Jacob was quiet the whole ride back to Emily’s. I didn’t even try to make an effort to speak, because knowing him; he was way too stressed out to speak to anyone.

I hadn’t given much of a thought about how he, let alone everyone else, felt about this. They were the ones preparing to fight off a bunch of newborn vampires. They had all of the pressure on their shoulders to keep Forks and La Push safe from danger. And if I thought that being one of the faults to this war was overwhelming and unnerving, I couldn’t even imagine what my friends and family were going through.

And that’s what made me feel worse about not only myself, but just all around everything. This wouldn’t have happened if I hadn’t made so many mistakes and let the years drag on with carelessness. I mean, I’m sure that there would have been a war no doubt if Bella was the only one for cause. But today, figuring out that I was something considerably known as the main target – or one of them, harsh thoughts and horrible things were screaming at me inside my head.

This wasn’t right, and thinking of it before, I knew I was correct to believe that I could help in some way. I didn’t even know what was going to happen, or how safe the girls and I would be, but if there were to be an emergency where I’d need to be the one to do something, I’d risk everything for that.

Knocking me out of my thoughts was the sound of Jacob’s car door shutting. I didn’t realize how long we’d been parked until I watched Jacob look back at me and gesture me to come. When I’d gotten out, he’d asked me what was wrong, I asked what he meant. And so apparently we’d been sitting in Sam and Emily’s driveway for the past five minutes, him asking me questions and trying to get my attention.

“I must have spaced out, I’m sorry,” I said quietly before walking in front of Jacob and welcoming myself into Emily’s nice warm house that smelled like nothing by cookies.

“Well well well, look what the wolf –“ I looked at Jacob as he gave Jared a menacing glare and a small growl, which came abrupt in his throat. The boys instantly started asking questions about what was going on, because they could see it all over Jacob’s face.

“Where’s Sam?” Was all Jacob said. His hand had taken mine into his own and he gave a light squeeze, saying that he was okay.

Walking into the room quickly, Sam went straight up to Jacob, “What’s going on, Jake?” Jacob gestured to outside, and I was guessing it was best that they phased to talk about this vampire war. Letting go of my hand, Jacob and the rest of the guys followed Sam outside, leaving me and Emily in the living room.

I heard Emily sigh as she found a seat on the couch. I looked back at her with a small smile as she tapped the spot next to her. Sitting on the couch, I ran a hand through my hair and stared at the door. “Braylin, what’s going on?” She asked calmly. I turned my attention to her and shrugged. At this point, I wasn’t even sure myself.

“Alice saw something today,” I began. Emily saw how upset this was making me, and took my hand in hers comfortingly. “Victoria was behind all of this, but she’s letting someone else make the decisions for her so Alice wouldn’t be able to see her. But…” I took a deep breath and closed my eyes for a second. “That was ruined when she saw someone else getting their way into this fight. Alice isn’t sure, but she knows that this man wants something out of this…” I trailed off, stopping before Emily would be able to hear the sobs in my throat.

I looked over at Emily, who looked at me with sympathy, “There is no need to worry, Braylin. If Jacob is explaining to the boys right now about what’s going on, well, we’re going to help the Cullen’s end this fight.” Her words were soothing, but they just weren’t enough for me. I could feel a headache arising, so I let my head fall onto Emily’s lap, and curled myself up on the couch.

Emily began to brush her fingers through my hair soothingly as I spoke; “All that I’m sure of, is that the imprints will be here, safe and away from the clearing.”

“Yes,” I could feel Emily nodding in agreement, “See, Bray? Everything is going to be alright.” She was smiling; I was able to tell through the pureness in her voice.

I nodded off, closing my eyes as I did, and let the calm feeling of Emily’s soft hands run through my hair in reassurance that everything would be alright.

But for fact, my heart and my head agreed with each other for once; nothing was going to be alright this time.

...

I was nine years old when the anxiety attacks started to happen. The first time it happened, I could do nothing but scream; and I wished I could have kicked and swung my arms around, but my body was frozen. But my chest heaved up and down all too quickly, and I feared the worst.

My father was the one who came rushing in at the sound of my screams. They were painful, but I wasn’t in pain at all. I was just scared; but scared couldn’t even cover all of the emotions that cluttered into my chest.

After both my parents were in my room, my mother had called 911 all while my dad placed his hands over my forehead and began to sooth me with his words. They were calming, and though it took me a while to grasp onto them, I was sure thankful for the strength I’d had, and thankful for the knowledge my father somehow gained from nowhere. But the next day, after my first attack, I was taken to the doctor and tested for all different things. Blood pressure, any heart dysfunctions, CAT scans, anything that was mandatory or needed. I was asked to tell them what happened before I woke up. I told them about the dream I had, the one about these pale skinned people, with crimson red eyes. My mother had flinched at that, but the reaction was gone the second she’d shown it.

I was diagnosed with anxiety disorder, and though it was possibly something that people could go through, I didn’t believe I could. I almost gave up on myself, but my father especially, helped me never give up. So by the time that I was fourteen, I was able to calm myself down with breathing exercises and meditation. I was a new person; I didn’t have those problems anymore.

Until my mother died. It was the same night, that after she was found, I had my last attack, and then that was it. I didn’t quite understand it and neither did my doctor. He let me off my medication for a month to see if I could do well without them. I did fine, and I was alright. But deep down, I knew it would never go away.

And the nightmares just kept coming. Just like tonight, after falling asleep on Emily’s lap, Seth carrying me to the guest bedroom; I had a feeling, but I didn’t follow it; such a bad mistake.