Rowan woke to the smell of coffee brewing and her toes wiggling off the foot of her bed (she got her height from her dad). She rolled over and stared at the white ceiling dotted with glow-in-the-dark stars. There was a soft sort of comfort in the feeling of safety in that moment.
The slightly itchy blanket, the worn simple cotton sheets, and the sound of rain pattering against the roof above her head.
She got up and as she opened the bedroom door she found a bag with a change of clothes on the door handle. Black dress pants, a blouse and warm socks. Her boots were dry and beside the door. She smiled as she closed the door and got dressed in the fresh clothes.
She went to the bathroom and tried to tame her wild curls but ended giving up and putting them in a high bun on top of her head before heading downstairs.
Past the stairs, and the living room in the back of the house where the kitchen was Charlie Swan sat hunched over paperwork at the dining table.
He looked through them, before taking a sip of coffee before looking up. "How did you sleep?"
"Well. The rain was calming."
He gave a happy smile, "You'll fit well with Forks then." He stood and made his way to the coffee maker, "Want some?"
"Yes, please."
He nodded before bringing down a cup that looked handthrown with a tribal looking print along the side. Rowan wondered if he got it in La Push.
"I made some calls." He poured her a cup of coffee, before heading back to the table and setting it down on an empty spot on the wood table.
"With social services?" Rowan couldn't help being wary, not after she dealt with some not fun experiences with them in her life in her old world after her parents passed.
But to her surprise Charlie shook his head, "Nope. I got you a job."
Rowan plopped down in the chair beside him, "Really? But I don't even have a resume."
Charlie grinned before pointing at himself with his thumb, "Perks of being the house guest of the Forks Chief of Police, I'm the best reference there is."
Rowan shook her head with a smile, "I don't know what to say, except thank you."
"Forks High has needed a library aide for quite some time. You are 18 and I had a feeling you'd like something that's not too hectic."
She wished she could hug him, she was so happy. Charlie seemed to have read her like a book. Sure it wasn't the library position that she had studied hard for, but it was something to keep her busy when her thoughts weighed too heavy about her strange mission.
"When do I start?"
"We just need to go by so you can meet the librarian who is the last person to give the ok for you to be hired. We'll go after breakfast."
---
Forks High Library was bigger than she expected. A wall of warm wood toned bookshelves lined the walls with aisles that ran toward the tall windows that bracketed the librarian's desk.
Mrs. Dale was a lovely woman with soft warm features, a bob hair cut in strawberry blonde and a sweet smile that lit up the room.
She watched Rowan with a smile as she looked around the library with wide eyes.
"You have a lovely library."
"Thank you, Rowan is it?"
Rowan nodded.
"Are you a reader?"
Rowan smiled, "I've always believed in the quote that books are gifts that you can open again and again."
Mrs Dale grinned before winking at Rowan and smiling at Charlie, "She's hired."
Rowan didn't have to look at Charlie to know he was relieved, she felt it in her magic....like his body exhaled. All the while she felt her magic thrum happily within her, and she hoped she wasn't glowing from how much happiness she felt.
Mrs Dale shooed Charlie, "I'll make sure the girl is safe. You go off to work, Chief."
Charlie nodded before making eye contact with Rowan, "Call if you need anything."
Charlie was meant to be a dad. Rowan smiled, she hoped that this world's Bella would come to appreciate him better than her book counterpart did.
"I will."
Mrs Dale smiled after Charlie as he left before heading behind her desk and pulling a lanyard from her drawer, "The job won't be that hard for you dear. I have a good feeling about you. Light shelving, checking in and out and making sure the kids don't fight over the computer stations. Show them gentle authority and they'll respect that. You'll do just fine Rowan."
As Rowan placed the lanyard over her head she stood in the center of the library breathing in the essence of the place. The coziness, the peacefulness....yes, she thought, she would like it here.
Unbeknownst to her, the feeling she felt spread out throughout the library reflecting the cozy warmth she viewed through her eyes. The lights grew softer, no longer so harsh overhead, but with a warm inviting glow. The seating at the study tables became soft and comfortable. The plants in the windowsill by the checkout station grew a little taller.
As Rowan set to putting away some books that had been left in carts by the front desk, she noticed how students seemed to linger and drift in with soft smiles on their faces.
The magic had spread out; soaking into the wood of the doorframes, shelves, into the carpeted floors and into the pages of books to soothe the weary eyes and calm the souls that all thast ventured in.
As Rowan put away the books in their right places she heard a girl whisper to her friend, "It feels nicer somehow today."
Rowan's shoulders relaxed as she continued with her job that day, greeting students as they came in their eyes widening at the new face before brightening as they looked around familiar surroundings that somehow felt nicer despite the rain pounding on the windows outside.
At lunch, Mrs Dale shared her lunch sitting out beneath the eaves looking into the rainstorm.
A soft mew had the two of them turning to see a grey tomcat coming around the building and make a beeline toward Rowan. He weaved between her legs and Mrs Dale chuckled.
"Well isn't that a sight. Verne is ever the picky one, very good judge of character too."
Rowan smiled and offered her hand to the cat, waiting until he sniffed it and gave his permission to be pet before running her hand down his spine. A loud purr came from causing both Rowan and Mrs Dale, or Juliet as she asked her to call her, to giggle.
It was later though that Rowan had a shiver run down her spine as she searched for a book in the catalog for a student. Someone was watching her. She glanced around from the corner of her eye but she didn't see anyone out of the ordinary. But the feeling didn't go away. So she closed her eyes and tried to feel the presence with her magic.
It was a shadow. Corrupted and cracked. Dangerous and unpredictable. But before she could find out more a student tapped her on the shoulder.
"Miss Rowan, did you find the book?"
"Sorry got distracted."
After getting the book for the student she searched for the shadow again, but it was gone.