The Bonds Between Us • E.Cullen x Fem oc x B. Swan

Chapter 82

Throwing clothing into a duffel bag, Bella was panicking.

'Where's my passport? Is Lia alright? What happened to her? Is Edward going to live? Will we get to him in enough time?' Were all questions swirling around her mind currently.

"Do you have everything?" Alice asked as she appeared next to the brunette girl, making her jump.

"Yeah." Bella said as she threw in her passport that was hiding in her night stand. With that, Alice grabbed her bag and was about to run and put it in the car, but Bella stopped her. "Alice? Where's Lia? We've got to find her." Bella spoke and Alice seemed remorseful.

"Bella, we don't have time." "What do you mean! She needs to be with us!" Bella shouted. "Bella, it's either stay and find Cori, or go and save Edward. There is no other option." Alice told her, then sighed as Bella seemed lost. "Cori doesn't appear in my vision. Not at Voltora or with us traveling." Alice stated.

"You can't see her anyway." Bella cried. "I've gotten used to looking in the background. There's nothing. Cori doesn't come along." Alice stated bluntly. Tears come to Bella's eyes as she looked around frantically. "Jake! Jacob!" Bella called out moving past Alice as she left her bag in the hands of the vampire.

Seeing him in the living room, his eyes cast down. "Bella, please. Don't leave, for Charlie, for me." He begged. "Jake, I have to. I can't let him die thinking I died, that we both did. And I'm legally allowed to, plus I left a note." She told him. His frown deepened, but Bella continued. "I need you to do something for me. I know Sam has a connection with Lia, one that I will never have. I need him to find her. Please. I'll beg you, I'm begging you." Bella said, giving the wolf a pleading look as tears collected in her eyes.

"We'll find her." He told her, "Be safe, and come back to me." "I'll come back, Jake." She told him, purposefully leave out the "for you" part. Rushing to get into the car, Bella looked back to see Jake's frown that disappeared as he turned into his wolf, darting into the woods. A low crying howl was heard through the night sky as Bella wondered what would happen on her trip abroad, and if Cori was okay.

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Sam's black wolf stalked through the forest surround Forks. He was once again having problems finding Cori. He had to remember she couldn't be tracked by scent, and had to use his other senses. Sight and hearing were his friend until he had realized he was going in circles without a scent.

In frustration, he let out a loud howl, making the animals scatter for miles. Trying to think of where the girl would have gone, he mentally checked off the places he knew about.

The alcove by the stream, the den that Sam and Cori had found years ago, the cliff that hung high above the ocean, yet could see the sunsets like no other, Sam's spot that he had shown Cori just this last year, and where he taught her control.

Every place he seemed to look, he came up empty handed. He was starting to panic as the wether was turning dangerously cold, enough that Sam felt it under his fur.

Another wolf soon joined him, a russet brown wolf.

What are you doing here? Sam asked into their mind link as he looked to his side. 'I'm here to help.' 'Why?' Sam asked. 'It's the least I could do.' Jacob told him. 'Bella asked didn't she?' Sam asked and Jacob was quiet for a bit, but eventually spoke. 'The why doesn't matter, it matters that I'm here.' Jacob said.

Sam huffed but walked off with Jacob following. 'I've checked everywhere.' Sam thought as he mentally went through his list once again. 'Bella said something about a treehouse in a story once. Could that be it?' Jake thought through their link, making Sam stop and the "tree house" showed through the link. It was an old deer stand, no walls surrounding it, just a wooden floor that was built up into a tree. They had found it together when they were younger, much younger. They considered it their spot, and where they would find themselves if they were walking and talking.

'Nothing like making the live tree carry its dead brother.' Jacob thought, but a glare was sent his way, and he quickly shut down the joking.

'It's just around this way.' Sam said as he saw the tree from his memory. Shifting back, Sam threw on his shorts that were always tied around his leg. Climbing the tree easily, what he found broke his heart.

Cori was curled up, close to the main trunk as she shivered from the cold, clad in only a pair of ripped jeans and a t-shirt. Tears were somehow still falling, yet freezing on her face. He could see her skin was the palest it had ever been, her lips, a shade of blue.

Picking her up, he flinched away from her cold skin, as he listened for her heartbeat. It was slow, dangerously slow, yet still somehow steady. It made him worry, enough that when he made it down to the ground, Sam just started to run.

A bark came from Jacob as he followed behind. "She's cold. Too cold, especially for a human." Sam told the wolf and Jacob huffed. "I'm taking her to the house, then I'm figuring out what the hell is happening." Sam yelled back, not daring to turn back.

Getting Cordelia to his house, Emily was startled awake from where she was sleeping on the couch. "Sam? What's happening?" She asked. "It's Cori. She's too cold." He said as he grabbed a few throws that he could reach with one hand as he held Cori's shivering body in the other arm, Emily standing immediately, getting the heated blanket from the closet. "What happened?" Emily asked her fiancée from down the hall. "I'm not sure, but I'm damn sure gonna find out." He told her.

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Finding his way to the Austin house once more, Sam was met with the lights on in the house, and a car parked outside.

Knocking, Sam was met with cold dead silence. Trying the door, he found it unlocked. Walking in, he found Jonas Austin with the note his daughter left, his phone sitting in front of him, and a bottle of whiskey in his hands, though it was half gone.

"Jonas?" Sam asked softly as he stepped closer to the man. "She's gone." Jonas whispered after a moment. "Who?" Sam asked. "Margery. She's dead." Jonas told the Uley boy, his voice cracking yet slurring at the same time as he took another drink from the bottle. Messing with the wedding ring that was on a chain around his neck, as tears ran down his face.

"She's gone." Jonas whispered once more, as he stared in front of him, wishing he tried harder to make their marriage work.

"She's gone."

A/N: I know, the ending is so sad! It had to happen. I don't think anyone truly liked Cori's mother, but it's still sad. What are your thoughts? I would love to hear them!

P.S. Did you guys know you got this story to #1 on the Edward list? That's amazing! Thank you so much! I don't think I've ever been #1 for Edward. I appreciate all your votes, views, and comments so much! It really keeps me going!