LET DOWN

twenty.             i forgive you

▬ CORI SHIFTED ON HER FEET, her arms wrapped around her torso as she stood in the middle of the ballet studio, tears streaming down her cheeks, even if she had managed to keep her sobs at bay. She looked around, her blue eyes darting to every dark corner but she couldn't see him. She knew he was there, lurking in the shadows and she knew he had that damned camera raised and pointed right at her.

She knew he was enjoying it.

Cori inhaled sharply when she heard the heavy wooden door close then she took quick steps when she saw her sister. "Cori." Bella sighed upon seeing her unharmed and she made her way towards her, only to have James intercept. A smirk on his face as he looked down at Bella then over his shoulder at Cori, who had stopped just before running right into his back. "I'm here. Let her go."

"Let me think... no." He shook his head a little. "Now that I have both of you..." he reached back, wrapping his arm around Cori's shoulders and pulling her to him. "...let's make that movie, huh?" He looked down at Cori as she squirmed in his hold, but he just held her tighter as he raised the camera towards Bella, the younger of the two choked back a sob. "Shall we?"

Bella looked from the camera to her sister, she had never seen such fear in Cori's eyes and she hated it with every fiber of her being. "Let her go." Bella tried, shifting on her feet, looking up at the vampire. She tried to look unafraid, but that only seemed to spur him on. Probably because he knew it was all false bravado.

He smirked and it all crumbled away. "No." Bella shifted again, taking a breath as she looked away from him, fear clear on her face as she met her sister's gaze. Cori could see the wheels turning behind her sister's eyes, though she couldn't tell what she was thinking.

"Oh, that'll break Edward's heart." He mumbled, clearly enjoying himself.

"Edward has nothing to do with this!" Bella shouted, moving closer to the vampire, trying to figure out a way to get Cori from him. Trying to get them out of this alive. Or at least, get Cori out alive.

"But he does." He chuckled. "His rage will make for a more interesting sport than his feeble attempt to protect you. And continue." He mumbled, the camera once again raised as he leaned down closer to Cori, his nose close to her neck. "She's not really capturing the fear like-" he was cut off when Bella pepper sprayed him and ran. But her attempt to get away merely made the vampire angry.

"Just a moment." He muttered, inhaling Cori's sweet scent once more before he shoved her to the side and she hit the hardwood floor, knocking the wind out of her as he went after Bella. The blue eyed Swan groaned, wheezing a little as she pushed herself up onto her hands and knees, coughing up blood from the impact, just as the vampire threw Bella to the ground. She slid right into the base of one of the mirrors, her head hitting the corner and she groaned, holding her hand to the back of her head.

"Beautiful. Very visually dynamic. I chose my stage well." He mused, moving closer to her. His attention solely on the older Swan. Cori pushed herself up, her legs shaking a little, her arms wrapped around her torso when her ribs ached, and she wanted to run. She wanted to get the hell out of there but even if Bella had tried to abandon her – at least that's what it looked like – she couldn't do the same. "Too bad he didn't have the strength to turn you." He mumbled, holding her hand close to his nose – her blood stained her hand. He let out a hungry groan, his eyes rolling into the back of his head a little.

"Stop." Cori spoke, her legs shaking as she neared them and he looked up at her, amusement playing in his eyes. It was clear that he was very much intrigued by the young Swan. Even more so with her blood now staining her chin.

"I don't think I will." He put his hand on Bella's shin and simply pushed, snapping her leg and she screamed, making Cori flinch. "Tell Edward how much it hurts." The camera was in her face again, capturing all of her pain as her screams echoed around the room, bouncing off of the mirrors and the walls. It sounded as if it was coming from every direction.

"Stop!" Cori screamed, rushing towards them and throwing herself into his side. He was momentarily knocked off balance, but he was on his feet in seconds, his hand around Cori's throat as he lifted her off the ground with ease.

"You shouldn't have done that." He tsked as she clawed at his hand, kicking her feet a little but he just tilted his head to the side as a sadistic smile tugged at his lips as he watched her struggle in his hold. "Really, you should've just left it alone." He sounded almost disappointed.

"Please." She gasped, fighting for air.

"I love it when you beg." He nearly purred, pulling her in close as he pressed his nose against her cheek. He still couldn't get over how sweet she smelled. It was different from the intoxicating scent of her sister, but he was still entrapped by it... by her. He moved his nose towards her chin, taking in a deep breath before he sighed, then he licked just a little bit of her blood from her face. He let out an animalistic groan of appreciation. His nearly black eyes met hers and an even deeper fear coursed through her. "But, no." He gave her a sick smile before he tossed her to the side like she was nothing more than a ragdoll and she groaned as she rolled across the hardwood floor, her head hitting the hard surface. She tried to push herself up but she was in too much pain. Her head alone ached and her torso felt as if he had taken a baseball to her. She squinted her eyes, but everything was blurry.

She sat up, her back against a mirror, tears spilled from her eyes and her eyelids grew heavy as she slumped down. She could hear their voices, though they sounded muffled and far away. She shook her head, but she couldn't form any words. The last thing she heard before everything went black, the pain encompassing her, was her sister screaming in agony.

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▬ BEEP. BEEP. BEEP.

Did heaven beep? Was it, like, a way of keeping track of all the angles? Maybe it was an evil detector and that was how they decided if you went up or down.

Whatever that annoying sound was, it was driving Cori insane as she peeled her eyes open. She saw a bright light and she was sure she was dead then the pain set in and the rest of the room came into focus as a soft groan left her lips.

"Cori." She turned her head, her neck stiff, to see Charlie. He let out a relieved breath running his hand down his tired face as a smile tugged at his lips. "You're awake." He reached for her hand and her eyebrows pinched as she looked around the room.

"Wha-" her throat was sore and scratchy. "Water."

"Oh." He mumbled, quickly reaching for the cup on the table beside her hospital bed. "Here." He raised it to her lips and she took a few small sips before she laid her head against the pillow again.

"What happened?"

"You don't..." he trailed off, remembering what the doctor had told him. She'd hit her head again and her memory may not be all that great. "Bella left, you snuck out after her." She knew that wasn't true, she was kidnapped. "Well, uh, Edward and his dad came to try and get you and Bella to come back home, back to Forks. Um, there was something about falling down the stairs." He shook his head. "I was so worried, I only heard half of it." He wrapped his hand around hers again. "You hit your head again. And cracked a rib."

"Really?" She held her hand to her torso, winching a little as she pushed too hard. She could feel the bandage around her ribs through the thin hospital gown she wore.

"Yeah." He nodded. "But you don't have a concussion this time, just a bump."

"Remind me never to walk down stairs with Bella again." She mumbled, shifting to get comfortable and he chuckled a little, glad she could make a joke even in her condition.

"I'll do that." He nodded, then a knock came at the door. "Yeah?" He turned to see Emmett step into the room and he looked from the boy to Cori, who nodded her head. "I'll, uh, let you two talk." Charlie stood up, squeezing Cori's hand then he left the room, closing the door behind him.

"You're okay." Emmett mumbled, staying away from the bed the girl laid upon.

"Sure." She nodded. "If you call feeling like I got hit by a bus, that then reversed back over me okay, then yeah. I'm okay." He hated how rough her voice sounded, how low she spoke. And he hated even more the bruise he could see on her throat poking out from under her hospital gown.

"Cori-"

"Who the hell was that? And how the hell did he know to use me to get to Bella?"

"James. He was a tracker." He answered. His hands clenched at his sides before unclenching. "He's gone now."

"Gone as in left or-"

"Dead." He nodded his head. "Ripped him to pieces. Travis and Alice helped."

She closed her eyes and shook her head, then she let out a soft groan as she shifted in her bed, she hurt pretty much everywhere. "This is insane." Even talking hurt. Hell, breathing hurt.

"I'm so sorry." He rushed out, moving towards the bed. "It's my fault. I should've told you about us sooner, I should've been there to protect you."

"I should've stayed in Phoenix." She mumbled, though she knew she didn't mean it. She liked living in Forks, she liked her friends there, she liked the weather. And even if it did suck and her chest still ached, she knew that she didn't want to erase what she had with Emmett in their short time together.

"Cori." He sighed, running his hand down his face as he sat in the chair Charlie had once occupied. "Can you forgive me? Can we go back to how things used to be, just me and you?" His cold hand found hers.

"No." She shook her head, tears welling up in her eyes as she pulled her hand back. "We can't. Too much has happened. You kept this huge part of yourself from me, a-and I..." she closed her eyes and took a breath. "-I need time and space. To process everything."

"Cori, please." Tears wanted to form in his eyes, though they would never fall. "I'll do anything. Please."

"I forgive you." She told him, wiping at her cheeks, winching a little as she raised her arm. "But I can't be with you. I'm sorry."

"I get it." He nodded, a sad smile pulling at his lips. "I don't like it, but I get it." He pushed himself up and she watched him. "Get some rest, you need it." He gave her a soft smile before leaning down and pressing a slow, lingering kiss to her forehead. Then he started for the door.

"Emmett," She stopped him and he turned, his chest filled with hope. "I don't blame you for what happened. It wasn't your fault. Don't blame yourself, please."

He let out a sigh, a small weight lifting off his shoulders. "I adore you, Cori Swan." He mumbled and she gave him a small smile, but it didn't reach her leaking eyes. "Always will." With that he left, pulling the door closed behind him before he leaned against it. He closed his eyes and took a needless breath as he heard her sniffle before a choked sob escaped her. He knew this was breaking her heart just as much as it was his. And that tore him to pieces.

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▬ CORI SAT ON THE COUCH, her phone in her hands as she texted Rachel and Paul – both of whom were worried about the girl and wanted almost hourly updates. She looked up from the small screen when she heard Bella coming down the stairs, she chose to ignore the fact that Edward stood stiffly beside her dad near the door.

"Alice lent me the dress. The cast is..." she let out a breathy laugh.

"You're perfect." Edward told her and she gave him a smile, to which Cori rolled her eyes and went back to texting, ignoring the rest of the interaction until the couple started for the door.

"Have fun." She called out after her sister. "Bye, Psycho." She muttered under her breath and Edward couldn't help the snort that left his lips as he and Bella left the Swan house and Bella gave him a confused look, to which he simply shook his head.

Charlie sat next to his youngest and she gave him a smile as she looked up from her phone, winching slightly as she shifted on the couch. "You know, out of the two of you, I thought you'd be the one to go to prom."

"How the turns have tabled." She hummed, getting a confused look from her dad. But she just grinned.

"Gonna chalk that one up to the head injury." He mumbled, not wanting to correct her or dissect it. "You hungry?"

"Always." She nodded and he chuckled as he pushed himself up, extending his hand out to her. She groaned a little as he pulled her up and he absolutely hated it, but she didn't complain.

"You gonna change?" He asked and she looked down at her black and white plaid pajama pants and her black sweatshirt.

"No." She shook her head and he just nodded as they started towards the door, the younger of the two sliding her feet into her shoes. "Can Rachel and Paul come with us?"

"Yeah, of course." He nodded and she smiled as she quickly typed up a message on her phone as they neared the truck that sat in the driveway.

And she knew she would be okay.

⚘‎ nova speaks┆and that's a wrap on let down!!  let me know what you think, give me
feedback — but don't be rude about it!

book two is coming soon!!
be on the look out for the second installment
of the ADORE YOU SERIES... COLD WATER!!