Tenebrous ↠ Volturi Kings {1} ✓

012

January 2003
Fourteen Years Old

"She'll be fine, Rose. There's no reason to worry." A gentle, soft voice greeted Rowan as she slowly woke, blissfully pain-free.

"She's waking up," A different, younger voice said. It was equally pleasing to the first. "Just like we said."

"Shut up, Edward," Rose snapped.

Rowan tried opening her eyes now, thankful that the room had been kept dim. She was lying on a bed, with fresh clothes and an IV in her arm. She hadn't even noticed the pinch.

"Welcome back to the land of the living, kiddo!" Emmett grinned at her. Her memories from the night before were hazy, but she recognized his face. His eyes were a darker color than she remembered. "How're you feeling?"

This time, words came out when Rowan tried to speak. "Okay."

"Great." A blonde man, the one whose voice had woken her, spoke with a smile. "My name is Dr. Carlisle Cullen, and these are my children. You've already met Rose and Emmett. This is my son Edward."

Rowan's eyes fell on a boy perhaps a few years older than her, with rust-red hair and gold eyes that matched his father's. He gave her a small smile. "Hello."

"Can you tell us your name?" Dr. Cullen asked kindly.

"Rowan," she said hesitantly, eying him uncertainty. He had been kind so far, but how was she to know if he would turn out to be just like her own father or not? "Rowan Ailes."

"Who did this to you, Rowan?" Rosalie asked, gently seating herself on the edge of the bed.

Rowan glanced away and was silent. Emmett squeezed her shoulder. "We can't help you if you don't tell us anything, kiddo."

"My dad," she said at length, her voice small.

Was it her imagination, or had Rosalie hissed? Edward spoke before she could ponder this. "So you ran away?"

"Please don't make me go back," Rowan whispered.

Emmett was already shaking his head. "We won't."

"Thank you." The relief was tangible in Rowan's voice.

"We can't just leave you to wander the forest, either," Dr. Cullen said, his voice still gentle and calm.

Rowan stiffened. "What do you mean?"

"You're fourteen, we can't just let you go out into the world alone. You're too young," he said. "So I have a different proposal."

"Which is..." Rowan was almost afraid to ask.

"You stay with us. We won't hurt you, and we live far away from here. Rose and Emmett were on their honeymoon, that's why they were here," He said. "We live in Alaska. You could come stay with us. We'd make sure that your father couldn't find you again."

"I'd like to think about it," she said.

"Understandable. I'll leave you to do so, but I need to check your ribs first, if you don't mind?" Rowan deliberated before allowing him, her wary eyes tracking his every move as he carefully checked her progress. "You were very lucky, you know. Ten broken ribs and not one punctured your lungs."

"How long will it be until I'm healed?" she asked.

"Several weeks. I don't want you leaving the bed for at least a few more days, your body has suffered major trauma and I don't want to risk aggravating any of your injuries."

This sounded reasonable to Rowan. "I can do that."

"Good. Are you hungry? I can have Edward get you something," Dr. Cullen offered.