Dahlia (Blood Crave Series) (30 page)

Standing in front of her, he slowly raised a hand to her curly, black hair and patted it gently, his face serious. At first Rowan was caught off guard at the cool contact of his hand on her head but she soon relaxed as she welcomed his touch, which almost seemed to have a familiarity to it.

Like family.

“Your heart cried out to me, Rowan. It reminded me of a time in my past and I had to come and stop your heart from crying.”

Those words were profound to her. She couldn’t speak, but it wasn’t necessary as he heard her every thought and knew every pain she felt since her dad died, leaving her alone. The only thing she could do was rest her head against his chest as she stepped forward and wrapped her small arms around his waist, crying out at the anguish she tried to keep buried deep inside of her for so long. He continued to stand there silently, touching her head lightly as she sobbed, finally mourning her loss. He waited to speak until she had cried out all the tears and simply whimpered silently against him.

“Are you okay?” His voice was low above her head but she heard a trace of concern.

Embarrassed, Rowan withdrew her arms from around him and stepped back as she bowed her head. “Sorry.” She sniffed loudly as she wiped the remaining tears from her eyes using the back of both hands.

“No need to apologize. I realize words can be a powerful way of expressing oneself. I truly didn’t mean to make you cry. It appears I still have a lot to learn.” He grinned softly as if remembering something. Then he spoke again, almost in a whisper.

“After all this time.”

Rowan was quiet, thinking about what he had just said.

He seemed sad too.

“I can teach you!” she exclaimed, the words rushing out of her mouth before she could even think.

He raised a thick eyebrow up at her sudden outburst, curious as to what she had to say.

She went on. “You know, on things that you need to learn. I’m really smart! I used to get A’s in everything before…before…” Her words then trailed off softly as she remembered her past.

“Before your father died.” He filled in the words she was struggling to say effortlessly.

“Yeah,” she softly answered back but then she suddenly began to feel strange. For some reason, his words continued to echo over and over again in her head as the world started to spin, her mind beginning to feel foggy. Looking up at him, she watched him move his mouth but was unable to understand what he said as it was blocked out by the sudden ringing in her ears.

Blinking slowly up at him, she found his face to be hard and unsmiling. Then it all became a blur and for a second, just before she passed out, she thought she saw her father staring down at her. Although she knew he couldn’t be real and was only a figment of her imagination. But still, she silently wished for her father to come back.

That was the last thing she remembered before everything went black.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

A dreamer, Christina Channelle holds two degrees in health sciences, but has always had a passion for writing. You will find her reading other young adult novels or typing away on her computer, getting yet another story down on paper. She resides in Mississauga, Ontario.
Dahlia
is her first novel.

For more information, visit
channellewrites.webs.com