Tenebrous ↠ Volturi Kings {1} ✓

011

"Alright," Officer Harris sighed, clapping his hands together. "We'll get you some food and drive you home, I'm sure your folks are worried sick."

Rowan gave a small nod, tears building up in her eyes as she sat in the back of their cruiser. The McDonald's happy meal they bought her was her only meal for several days after she was returned to her father, and she didn't try to run again for a long time.

December 2000
12 Years Old

The city was packed with activity. Twelve-year-old Rowan Ailes walked alongside Ben Marks, one of the few friends she had in school. They were in the awkward age between childhood and adolescence, their gangly, too-big limbs enough to display this.

They had been friends for a very long time, since before the accident that killed her mother and ruined her life, and he was one of the very few that had been with her through everything. She wondered sometimes if he suspected something was off about her father. If he did, Ben never mentioned it.

"Are you traveling over Christmas break?" he asked her, his hands shoved into the pockets of his thick winter jacket. Alternatively, Rowan's thin windbreaker did little to ward off the biting winter air.

"No, we're staying in town as always," she said with a shrug.

Ben hummed in response. "Not even for vacation? That's lame. We're going to a ski resort for Christmas along with my aunt and uncle and cousins."

"That sounds awesome." Rowan tried not to let jealousy seep into her voice. She knew she shouldn't be bitter - plenty of kids probably had it much worse - but she couldn't help it. Ben had the perfect family, and Rowan... didn't.

"You and your dad should come out with us. It would be fun! None of my cousins are close to my age anyway, it'll be really boring," he said with a crooked smile.

"Maybe next year," Rowan said awkwardly. "It's probably too short notice now."

"Yeah, you're right." Ben paused as he spotted his father. "That's my dad, I have to go. See you later?"

"Yeah, I'll catch you later," Rowan agreed. She would have to walk home, despite her father's words to Ben's dad that he would pick her up. Curtis Ailes had cornered her before they had left to tell her she could walk or hitchhike. There was no way in hell that he was picking her up.

She waved at Ben and his dad before stuffing her chilled hands into her pockets. She was in a busier part of the city, and she'd have to cross to follow this section of the sidewalk to her home.

A car flew by every few seconds, buffeting her with wind. Rowan stepped onto the asphalt, walking little over normal pace as she crossed the road. She was incredibly fortunate to not be hit, but Rowan felt the disappointment that coiled in her stomach as she arrived safely on the other side.

She didn't care if she died. She just wanted the pain to end.

January 2003
Fourteen Years Old

Rowan wheezed, her lungs freezing within her as her father's foot connected once more with her ribs. She coughed, tasting blood in her mouth. She didn't dare spit it out, instead swallowing it and cringing at the harsh tang of iron that remained.

"Just remember, Rowan. You deserve this." Curtis Ailes had knelt to where his daughter curled in a futile attempt to protect herself. He was close enough that his breath stirred her matted hair. "You deserve this."

Rowan didn't even have the strength to cry out as he kicked her again, and she knew for certain that several of her ribs were broken.

"Say something!" He roared, infuriated by her silence and unappeased by the tears that ran in rivulets down her face, which was the only thing that remained untouched by his fury.