The Secret Of Spruce Knoll: A Channeler Novel

by McCorkle, Heather

  A chapter on why Societies kept separated made the back of Eren’s skull feel like it was crawling. An involuntary shiver shook her. It said that channelers were tied closely to the energy of the Earth and they bonded to the place where they lived, making them extremely territorial. Both Aunt Sylvia and Aiden’s words about the people of this town ‘liking their privacy’ ran through Eren’s head again. Could there be a connection? It sounded crazy even inside her head.

  The ding of a doorbell peeled through the silence, making Eren squeal and jump.

  “It can’t be that late already!” she whispered as she looked around for a clock. One framed in wrought iron ivy hung over the dresser, proclaiming it was indeed that late. She had been sitting there reading for hours.

  She shoved the book back under the mattress and dashed for the door. Skidding to a stop on the hardwood floor, she glanced back to make sure the book looked like it was in the same position. Satisfied, she slipped out the door, trying her best to put it back in like she had found it, half ajar. The bell rang again. At least that meant it wasn’t Aunt Sylvia, unless she had forgotten her keys.

  Eren dashed down the stairs, ran to the door, and yanked it open. Aiden cocked his head at her and smiled. In each hand he held a paper cup from which wafted the most wonderful aroma of coffee mingled with chocolate. He held one out to her and she snatched it up.

  “Oh thank you so much! God, this smells amazing,” she said as she lifted it to her lips. It tasted even better.

  Aiden’s smile widened as he stepped inside the house. “Excellent! I didn’t know what you liked so I guessed,” he said.

  “You wanna sit out back? It looks way to nice out there to waste another second inside,” Eren said as she cast a longing glance at the bright day.

  “Yeah, sounds good.”

  She took him through the house and out onto the back deck. The shadowy forest just beyond the lawn made her stomach tighten and her skin crawl. There were no menacing eyes watching her from within it this time but she couldn’t forget them.

  “Are you okay?” Aiden asked, hesitating just above a lounge chair.

  Shaking her head and laughing, she motioned for him to sit and did so herself. “It’s nothing. This place just doesn’t feel like home yet,” she said.

  A wistful look came over Aiden as he looked out over the forest. “I’m not sure what home is supposed to feel like,” he said.

  Eren’s throat tightened and it took her a moment to respond. “It feels safe,” she said.

  All emotion drained from Aiden’s face, leaving it looking blank. “You don’t feel safe here?” he asked.

  Of all things she might have thought he’d say, that hadn’t been among them. To gain herself a bit of time to think, she took a long drink of her coffee.

  “It’s just strange here. People haven’t exactly been welcoming and I think my aunt is hiding something important from me, maybe even something about this town and why my parents left it,” she said.

  Aiden went very still. After a painfully long silence Eren reached over and touched his arm. He turned to her, revealing eyes that were filled with regret.

  “What is it? What do you know?” she asked.

  “I want to tell you everything but it isn’t my place. It kills me not to talk to you about it, you have to believe me, please,” he said.

  “What do you mean it’s not your place?” She tried not to sound hostile but it came out that way.

  “Your aunt needs to tell you. I’d be breaking a code if I told you and that could get me in a lot of trouble.”

  There was fear in his eyes, the deep, shaking in your boots kind.

  “A code? None of this makes sense. Aiden, what if she doesn’t tell me?” Eren asked, her voice nearly cracking at the end.

  Aiden set his coffee down and took her hand in both of his, swallowing it in a wonderful warmth. A deep breath helped her focus beyond his amazing touch. She would not allow herself to be distracted again. This was too important.

  “This weekend I have to go on a hunting trip with my adopted father. When I get back if she hasn’t told you, then I will,” he said.

  The conviction in his voice eased her mind a little, but only a little. “You promise?”

  Tenderness filled his eyes as he nodded.

  “I promise.”

  Chapter 10

  A terrible cramping in her stomach awoke Eren and sent her running to the bathroom. But it wasn’t Aunt Sylvia’s awful dinner like she thought, not by a long shot. Apparently, she wasn’t just a year older today, she was a woman. This didn’t thrill or excite her as it had her ex-friends. She was reaching this milestone about three years later than was average. More than that though, she knew this would change and complicate her life in ways she wasn’t ready for. And her mother wasn’t here to share it with her.

  The only consolation was that Aiden was away with his adopted father this weekend. Seeing him while dealing with this was not something she wanted to do. Of all days, did she really have to start her period on her sixteenth birthday? Luckily, her aunt seemed prepared for every circumstance and had stocked the bathroom cabinet with what Eren would need.

  Prepared, but nonetheless disappointed, she returned to her room to find something to wear. Today was going to be bad enough without Mother Nature interfering. Almost immediately after she turned fifteen Eren and her mom had begun planning a huge bash for her sixteenth birthday. They had gone back and forth over decorations, talked about caterers, and even window shopped for dresses. It brought tears to Eren’s eyes just thinking about it.

  An annoyingly loud bird serenaded her as she slipped her shorts on. It sounded like it was right on her windowsill but when she turned to look nothing was there. Curious, she leaned onto the daybed and looked outside. Her eyes were drawn to a tree that stood about ten feet from her window. A robin was perched among the branches, its brown chest rising and falling in time to the tune. It was surrounded by a bluish hallow of light. She blinked several times but the odd colors didn’t disappear. Somehow she knew the colors were energy.

  Eren backed away from the window, shaking her head. That was impossible. Not only should she not be able to see that, she could have sworn that her eyes were drawn to it so quickly because she felt the pulse of its energy. That had never happened before.

  She jumped off the bed and stumbled backwards, suddenly dizzy. Her legs gave out and she went to her knees on the hardwood floor. It should have hurt, but it didn’t. It was as though she had fallen onto a cushion of energy that slowed her impact. Her body felt like it was going to vibrate right out of her skin. She fell forward onto her hands and took deep breaths until the world stopped shaking. When it did she heard the rattle of pans and silverware and smelled burning hash browns. Though she couldn’t see her, she could feel Aunt Sylvia—or rather, her energy. Her aunt’s happiness permeated through the floor.

  She hadn’t paid much attention in health class, but Eren was pretty sure these things didn’t accompany a girl’s period. Cramps, uncontrollable emotions, yeah, seeing and feeling the energy of people in another room or animals outside, no. The weird vertigo and crawling sensation under her skin were definitely not normal either.

  “Eren?” her aunt said.

  It felt like there was a pressure between the two of them and it was building as Aunt Sylvia came closer. Eren heard her footsteps as her aunt swiftly crossed the living room and dashed up the stairs.

  No way! Impossible! her mind screamed.

  Maybe she had some strange virus that was making her hallucinate and made her feel like she was going to jump out of her skin. Yeah, that had to be it. Or, she had just been reading that book too much. Those were the only things that made sense. Wouldn’t it be just like her to get her period, and get sick, both on her birthday!

  Sylvia flew into the room so fast that the door slammed back against the wall. A wave of energy preceded her, washing over Eren in a scalding rush. It made the pressure between them almost unbearabl
e. Sylvia cursed and suddenly the heat was gone, blown away as though a breeze had whipped through the room, or like Sylvia had pulled the energy back into herself. No, that was crazy thinking. Eren wondered if she was a bit delirious. That would explain a lot.

  “Eren honey, tell me about the Sistine Chapel,” Sylvia insisted as she went to her knees beside her.

  Eren wasn’t sure she had heard her right. It didn’t make sense. Couldn’t her aunt see that she was sick? What a bizarre thing to ask.

  “Come on Eren, it will make you feel better. What are some of the paintings called? Tell me!” she demanded, no longer her gentle, bubbly aunt. Now she was commanding and powerful.

  It made Eren think about the paintings. The moment she did the disorienting feeling began to fade. It no longer felt like she was going to explode. When she started thinking about the names of the paintings even her nausea began to go away. She rattled off the names and found she could sit up. Weird.

  “That doesn’t make sense. How did that make me feel better?” she asked.

  Sylvia took a deep breath and settled into a more comfortable cross legged-position. From the look on her face Eren knew she wasn’t going to like the answer.

  “It helped ground you. You’re starting to come into your power,” Sylvia said.

  She’d never heard anyone refer to puberty as ‘coming into your power’. Maybe it was some weird ancestral saying. Or maybe her aunt just didn’t know how to phrase it. After all, she didn’t have any children and had never had to have this talk before.

  “Because it’s a thought that reminds you of mundane things,” her aunt sighed.

  Reluctance wrinkled her brow and her eyes were filled with a grudging acceptance. Eren liked that look about as much as she liked Sylvia’s reasoning. She looked like she was about to tell her that she was dying from an incurable plague.

  “Your parents should have been the one’s to tell you this, to help you through it. And I know they wanted to. Things don’t always work out the way people plan them though,” Sylvia said.

  There were tears in her eyes now. Her head fell into her hands and she sniffled. Eren reached out tentatively and touched her shoulder. Then she realized she could not only see Aunt Sylvia’s pain, she could feel it. Her hand began to tremble. She was quickly becoming freaked out.

  “Tell me Aunt Sylvia,” she said, not liking the way her voice trembled.

  “Okay, but this is going to sound crazy, and it’s going to freak you out,” she warned her.

  That would be a short trip. She was pretty much already there. Eren did her best to look brave. Maybe this had something to do with her parents’ deaths. What else could have Sylvia so upset and saying such strange things?

  “You’re sensing the energy of other people and living things,” Sylvia stopped, looking as though she wasn’t sure how to go on.

  How could she know that? Then a simple—completely wrong—explanation occurred to Eren. Sylvia must have this cold or virus already and knew its symptoms. Eren nodded.

  “Your parents took you from Spruce Knoll so you could be raised among normal people. It was the only time in your life that you’d have a chance to really be a part of their world, to feel like you belonged in it. They wanted you to experience that,” Sylvia paused again.

  Eren dropped her hand from her aunt’s shoulder and sat back. The bizarre twist this conversation had taken was making her uncomfortable. As much as she wanted to believe Sylvia was joking, she looked completely serious. The tears and anxiety on her face were definitely real. Sylvia clearly believed what she was saying.

  “When our kind reach puberty, they come into their power. Being around so many of your own kind probably sped up the process. Once we’re able to feel the energy, we can never truly belong in the civilized world again,” Sylvia said.

  Eren was afraid she really didn’t want to know, but she had to ask. “What do you mean, ‘our kind’?”

  Taking a deep breath, Sylvia swallowed hard, and fixed Eren with an intense gaze. She’d never seen her look so serious, it was frightening.

  “Channelers, though others would call us witches or sorcerers,” she said.

  Eren just stared at her, wondering if she’d heard her wrong. Yes, she must have. Or, maybe this was a joke meant to cheer her up on her birthday. If so, it wasn’t funny and she wasn’t in the mood. It was better than the alternative though, so she decided to try and play along.

  “I’m sorry, what?” Eren asked. The beginning of smile worked at the corners of her mouth. Maybe this was a joke about the book.

  “It isn’t a joke Eren. You’re parents were both channelers and so are you. Everyone in this town is.”

  She was absolutely serious, to the point of being scary.

  Eren’s smile died on her lips. Her aunt believed the book was real, which made her insane, there was no other explanation. Eren flew to her feet so fast that she staggered and immediately became dizzy again. This couldn’t be happening, not after everything else she had been through in the last eight months. How could her aunt seem perfectly sane for weeks and then all of a sudden flip out like this?

  “We’re witches, like spellcasting and all that?” she asked.

  Aunt Sylvia shook her head. “No, nothing like that. What we do is very different from what the fairy tales say. We’re not witches,” she said.

  Eren’s heart drummed in her chest as if it were trying to keep beat to a heavy metal song and her blood burned through her veins like hot oil. The vibrating feeling returned with such force that her vision blurred. She didn’t want to hear any more. She had to get out of here, had to clear her thoughts.

  Darting around her startled aunt, she shot out the door and down the stairs. There would be no catching her, she was like the wind and she knew it.

  “Eren wait!” Sylvia cried.

  Before her aunt could say another word, she was out the front door and running down the driveway. Gravel flew as her bare feet ate up the road. She didn’t feel the painful bite of the rough terrain as she should have and that realization scared her and fueled her speed. The tall evergreens whipped by, leaving her head filled with their overwhelming scent. Everything was too loud and smelled too strong, it pushed her even faster.

  In what felt like a few heartbeats she was already to the pavement. Without hesitating she turned west, away from town, and kept running. Minutes later, she was past the bridge. Though her heart continued its furious rhythm and her pace was blindingly fast, she wasn’t even becoming winded. The world shook and it felt like she was going to explode.

  Off in the distance she heard a car approaching. Pace never slowing, she dove into the forest on the south side of the road. Soon the underbrush and aspen trees swallowed her up and the road disappeared. The vibrating became so bad that she slowed and eventually stumbled to her knees. Ferns and moss softened the landing. There was something inside her that wanted out. The horrible feeling that she was going to explode gripped her again.

  Suddenly blue energy started to leak from every exposed bit of skin she could see. She screamed in wordless denial and rage. Rational thought was beginning to slip away. Even her fear was fading. A moment later all she could think of was how great the dirt and greenery beneath her feet smelled, how wonderful it had felt to run across it. The blue energy was seeping into the Earth like a falling mist.

  “No! This is not happening!” she screamed.

  The noise drove a flock of black birds from the trees above her. Their wings were like thunder and their passage through the leafy canopy sounded like the applause at a Friday night football game. She knew the heightened sounds meant she was undergoing some kind of stress reaction but she couldn’t stop it. Tears dripped from her chin to land on the back of her freakishly blue hands.

  Then she remembered something her aunt had said. Mundane thoughts had made her feel better, it had pushed back the—she could hardly think the word—power. Her mind struggled to picture the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. At first she
had trouble even remembering what a chapel was, then very slowly it started to form in her mind. She pictured the architecture first, which made her think of Aiden. With a desperate determination, she forced her mind to see the ceiling, then at last, the details of the painting.

  The energy covering her hands disappeared, taking the disconcerting vibrations with it. Eventually her heart slowed and the dizziness passed. A breeze blew through the trees, lifting her hair and cooling her sweating skin. She could feel the life energy of countless tiny birds, squirrels, and rabbits. Then she realized she could easily discern which energy belonged to a feathered creature, and which belonged to a furred one, even though she couldn’t see them. Being able to sense such things made her feel like some kind of freak or monster. Using the word channeler instead of witch didn’t make her feel any better about it.

  Eren leaned back against a tree, pulled her knees to her chest, and tucked her head between them. Sobs shook her body as she wept for the world she’d lost.

  Chapter 11

  She felt them coming for her like different pressure spots approaching through the forest, but she didn’t move. What would be the point? Sanity and logic had fled her world and there was nowhere else to run. Reality had been stripped away and she was left wrapped in nightmares. She was a freak. What did it matter if the other freaks found her? It was selfish thinking, she knew. But, she wanted to wallow in her selfishness for just a little bit longer.

  There were several sets of footsteps. Her aunt must have brought help. A part of Eren knew she should feel bad but she just couldn’t bring herself to. She wanted to sit here and pretend her world hadn’t gone completely mad. When they found her she would have to face reality. That thought made her laugh. The laughter gave way to hysterics which soon gave way to more tears. Slowly, the selfishness was turned into remorse.