Marked And Bound

Chapter 1

I am so scared, and my heart is racing. I do not understand what's going on. My mother is holding me so tight that it is almost painful, and I can't move. We are in a small hut that I haven't ever seen before. Surrounded by women that I do not know, chanting in a language I don't understand. I look up at my mother, and she is crying. I have never seen her cry before, and I start crying, too. She leans down and whispers in my ear, "It's okay Rowan, there's nothing to be afraid of, we're almost done here, and then we are going on an adventure. Doesn't that sound fun?" I nod yes at her and clutch onto her as the women continue chanting. It gets louder and louder until my head begins pounding. I don't understand why it hurts so much. I press my fist against my eyes, and my mother clutches me tighter to her chest. I let out a small whimper that turns into a scream as the pounding in my head gets worse. Until I am finally swept into oblivion.

I wake with a with a small start, but the dream is already fading from my mind. haven't dreamed about my parents in years. I barely remember them, and I don't even know if it was just a dream or a memory. I have not seen my parents since I was four, and they dropped me off here, and I have been living with my best friend and her dad ever since. My name is Rowan Meadow Dunne, I am seventeen years old, eighteen tomorrow, and the daughter of Irish immigrants.

Physically, I am slightly overweight but otherwise in good shape. Full figured, I guess you could say, and short. I am five feet tall and not an inch more. I have fair skin and light blue eyes. I was born in West Chester, Pennsylvania, after my parents immigrated to the States while my mother was pregnant. They took me back to Ireland only once before they brought me here.

Victoria's dad Connor used to be really close with my family, so I've known him all my life. When my parents left, he told me that they had gone back to Ireland to visit family. They did not take me with them because they were not all good people, and my parents did not want to take me anywhere near them. They never came back. I don't really remember them anymore either, and Connor doesn't talk about them. He says we shouldn't speak of the past lest it come back to haunt us.

A sharp knock on my door breaks me out of my thoughts as my door opens, and Victoria pokes her head into my room. "Time to get up sleepy head, Dad needs us at the diner this morning. I'll start the coffee while you get ready."

"Thanks, Tori. I'll be down in ten minutes."

Tori nods at me and slips back out the door, closing it behind her. I sigh, wiping my hand over my face. I'm going to need that caffeine in spades today. I toss my blanket to the side and get out of bed. I stumble to the bathroom to brush my teeth in a hurry and attempt to do something with my wild curls. I honestly don't know why I bother when I know that I don't have time to do anything with it, really. I scoop up my shoulder-length curly brown hair and twist it into a knot on top of my head and secure it with a hair tie.

I grimace at myself in the mirror as some of my baby hairs instantly come loose and stick out. I guess this is as good as it is going to get. I trudge back to my room, strip off my pajamas, and wiggle in to a pair of dark jeans, a substantial amount of jumping up and down is a better description of what really happened, and throw on a black t-shirt.

Downstairs Tori is at the kitchen table ready with two cups of coffee. She passes one to me as I sit down, "Just how you like it, cream and sugar with a splash of coffee." She smirks at me.

"You know I don't actually like the taste of coffee, I just need it to do its job." I glare jokingly at her over the rim of my cup.