All that was forgotten the moment she laid eyes on the dining room table. The carcass of a pig took up most of it, leaving just barely enough room for the place settings. It lay on its back, stomach split open and filled with what she hoped were vegetables. The pig’s skin was golden and looked crispy. When the initial shock wore off, Eren was surprised to discover that it smelled wonderful.
“I know huh? It smells great!” Elisabeth said.
“Yeah it does,” Eren agreed.
“Well thank you,” Camilia said as she entered the room carrying a platter of roasted potatoes.
Before Eren could wonder where she was supposed to sit, Luke was at the table pulling a chair out for her. Smiling, she thanked him as she sat down. He took the chair beside her and her heart sank. She’d hoped maybe Elisabeth would sit there. Instead, she sat on the opposite side of the table from Eren. Camilia sat at one end of the table and Virgil finally made his appearance and sat at the other end.
His resemblance to her uncle Alin was so startling that Eren’s breath caught in her throat. There was no doubt they were brothers. From Aunt Sylvia’s stories, Eren knew Virgil was fifty years Alin’s senior, but the man didn’t look a day over thirty five. Before she had learned that her kind lived to be five hundred, thirty five had seemed old. Age had taken on a completely different meaning to her now.
“Welcome to our home, Eren Donovan,” Virgil said.
There was a similar timbre to his voice as Alin’s, but then there was a slick, almost sinister edge to it. Eren wondered if he’d said her full name to remind her of their family’s rivalry. It felt that way.
“There’s no need to be so formal Father,” Elisabeth said with wide eyes.
“Well, it’s not often we get guests,” Camilia said as she shot her daughter a piercing look.
Eren felt the tension in the air as if it had thickened with an electric charge. It wasn’t just toward her anymore. Now it was also directed toward Elisabeth.
“We get them all the time,” Elisabeth mumbled as she found something interesting on her plate to look at.
“True, Dear. To better phrase it, we don’t often get guests from outside the Romanian Societies,” Virgil said with false cheer.
The rest of dinner didn’t get any more relaxed. Virgil and Camilia asked how Eren liked Spruce Knoll but besides that there were many uncomfortable moments of silence. Luke chatted about school a bit, seemingly oblivious to the tension. Eren knew it was an act. The glimmer in his eyes and the constant smirk he had to work to hide made it clear that he was enjoying this game. Elisabeth remained silent until everyone had finished and Virgil pushed back from the table.
“I’ll clean up,” Elisabeth volunteered.
“Excellent. Join us on the veranda when you’re finished, won’t you?” Camilia said in that too sweet voice of hers.
Virgil took Camilia by the arm and they walked down a hallway. Eren had barely cleared her chair when Luke grabbed her hand and led her after them. She cast a desperate look over her shoulder at Elisabeth who only smiled weakly. Did that smile mean she was safe, or did it just mean that Elisabeth felt powerless to help? Anxiety tied Eren’s stomach in knots and called to her power. She suppressed it and managed to calm herself a little.
The veranda was so beautiful, it could have graced the pages of Better Homes and Gardens. Plush furniture was grouped here and there on the huge deck and candles were upon every table. Beyond the deck, blue slate stretched across the yard like puzzle piece pathways, winding through flowers and shrubbery.
A refreshing breeze that smelled great and felt even better swept away the vestiges of the Moldovans energy that clung to Eren. But the breeze soon stilled and she was once again cocooned in their power. At least out here she could smell the wet grass and earth and could at least try to focus on it.
Virgil and Camilia sat down on a couch and Luke pulled Eren down next to him in a loveseat just opposite them. Luke hadn’t left any room between them and if she scooted away, it would draw attention, and worse, suspicion. Since there was plenty of that on her already she wasn’t about to risk it, no matter how uncomfortable it felt to have him touching her.
“So Eren, how did you enjoy your time among mundane people?” Virgil asked.
It was such an odd question that for a moment she didn’t know what to say.
“Um, it was fine I guess. I mean, I didn’t really know I was any different from them at the time,” she said.
Virgil and Camilia exchanged a look that confused Eren. Their expressions were very hard to read. It reminded Eren of the police officers she had talked to since her parents’ deaths. The cold detachment was the same.
“Your parents didn’t tell you?” Virgil asked.
“No,” Eren said, her discomfort growing.
“So you didn’t start to come into your power until you came here?” Camilia asked. The concern on her face made it appear that she was trying to sound gentle. She failed miserably.
This was starting to feel like an interrogation and Eren was getting worried about answering a question wrong.
“No, not until about a month later. Why?” Eren asked.
She knew she had to tread lightly here but she couldn’t help asking. The tension got worse, heating the air around them. Eren couldn’t completely stop her body from vibrating or banish a nauseous feeling.
“Because the risk of exposing our kind cannot be tolerated,” Virgil said in a dark voice that was void of any propriety or kindness.
Eren’s leg convulsed with the desire to run as her power surged and she had to fight hard to stop it as well as quell her fear. Luke’s hand tightened around hers and he gave her that frightening, hungry look. It suddenly occurred to her that he was getting off on her fear. That thought made her stomach do flip flops.
“I brought dessert,” Elisabeth said just a little too loudly.
She carried out a large tray of cream puffs and steaming coffee cups. Using the distraction, Eren let go of Luke’s hand and stood up.
“May I use your bathroom, please?” she asked.
“Sure, it’s down the hall we came through, turn right and it’s the third door on the left,” Elisabeth said as she sat down.
“Thanks,” Eren said.
She turned and headed back into the house as quickly as she dared. No one followed her, which was a good thing because when she got to the second hallway, a powerful convulsion rippled through her legs and sent her sprawling. Blue energy flecked through with red started to leak from the back of her hands.
No! She would not let this happen, not in this house, not among these people. Her first channeling couldn’t be fear-induced, she wouldn’t let it. And it wasn’t going to be here with these people, it was going to be with Aiden.
The energy disappeared and the convulsions stopped. Panting from the effort, she stumbled to her feet and hurried down the hall. A few steps later, the energy she’d been searching for all night stopped her in her tracks. She stood directly in front of a closed door with a reinforced frame and a massive deadbolt on it.
Listening hard, she forced herself to wait and make sure no one was following her. They weren’t, so she reached out and opened the door. A staircase led down into yawning darkness, the basement most likely. Aiden’s energy signature was overpowering. She was certain his room was down there. Curiosity beat out caution and she descended the stairs.
By the time she reached the bottom her eyes had adjusted. There was a bare light bulb on that gave everything an eerie glow. To her left, a door stood slightly ajar, to her right, another was closed. She pushed the left door the rest of the way open. It wasn’t so much a room as it was a space under the stairs. A single sized mattress lay upon the floor in the tiny spot directly under the stairs. It was covered in tattered blankets. There was a very small desk in the tiny space just opposite it with a rickety looking chair sitting at it.
Eren’s survival instinct told her she should leave—and quickly—but she couldn’t. As if the
y had a will of their own, her feet carried her farther into the room. Her mind tried to deny what her power already knew. On the concrete wall next to the bed a rough copy of the painting she and Aiden had done together was drawn with blue and pink chalk. Eren almost heard her heart break when her mind faced the truth; this was Aiden’s bedroom.
Fighting tears, she stepped out of the room and paused at the other door. She had to know what was in there, especially if it had something to do with Aiden. They wouldn’t come looking for her yet. Just in case, she paused with her hand on the doorknob and tried to feel their energy. It wasn’t hard. They were still outside and they were arguing, she could tell by the way their energy was aggravated. She opened the door.
Some doors were better left unopened. She understood that the moment she looked into the room. The walls, floor, and ceiling were all concrete. A pair of heavy duty chains ending in shackles hung from the ceiling and another were attached to the floor. They had the same black hole void feeling to them that the weapons in Luke’s room had. They were iron. And there was blood on them. She could feel it more than see it. The blood had an undeniable energy signature clinging to it. It was Aiden’s.
A hand flew to her mouth to cover a whimper. His temper made sense now. No one could live through such a horrible childhood unscathed. She closed the door as softly as she could before leaping up the steps two at a time. Arms pumping and dark hair flying, she ran with everything she had. A few heartbeats later, she skidded into the bathroom, shut the door, and turned the water on.
A knock sounded on the door, making her jump.
“Eren, are you okay?” Elisabeth said.
Relief surged through her. She had thought it would be Luke. Turning the water off and opening the door, she decided a bit of honesty would serve her best.
“No. I don’t feel good. I’m having a lot of trouble not channeling,” she said.
Footsteps sounded down the hall. Luke appeared in the doorway a moment later. He put his arms to either side of the door which blocked Elisabeth from view, and leaned in with a smile.
“No problem. We can go into the forest and channel together,” he said.
Eren dropped her head and hid her disgust with a demur look.
“I’m afraid I’ll channel at the wrong time and ruin my favorite jeans,” she said with a laugh that she feared sounded forced. It was getting harder to pretend she wasn’t terrified.
“That’s the perfect reason to channel on purpose. We can take our clothes off. Come on, it’ll be fun,” He turned the last word into something dirty.
“I’m sorry Luke, I can’t. I just need to go home. Can you and Elisabeth please walk me to the turnabout?” she said with the sweetest look she could muster.
She purposefully added Elisabeth so she wouldn’t have to be alone with him and she’d said the turnabout to keep their time together short. After what she’d seen downstairs her patience had run out.
The expression on Luke’s face wavered between anger and acceptance. Eren stepped forward and put a hand on his shoulder, hoping it would interrupt his thoughts long enough. It did.
“Of course we’ll walk you,” Elisabeth said.
Eren smiled thankfully at her as Luke whisked her down the hall. Elisabeth skipped ahead of them, humming a tune that didn’t exactly sound cheerful as she went. It felt like she was faking her lighthearted mood as much as Eren was. As they stepped outside Virgil and Camilia stood up.
“Eren isn’t feeling good. We’re going to walk her home,” Elisabeth said.
Camilia was good at hiding her feelings. Eren couldn’t tell what she was thinking at all. The blank look alone was enough to make it obvious she was hiding something though.
“That’s a shame. Well you kids don’t be too late,” Camilia said.
“Yes, tomorrow is a school day,” Virgil agreed.
His voice was so hard and cold that it raised the hair on Eren’s arms. She had to swallow before she could say anything.
“Thank you for having me over. Dinner was wonderful,” she said.
“We better get going, it smells like it’s going to rain,” Elisabeth said.
She looped an arm through Eren’s and pulled her toward the steps that led into the yard. Luke was forced to relinquish his grip on her waist and had to move quick to even catch her hand. She felt like a piece of meat between two dogs. Elisabeth had to give up her hand when they came to the gate leading out of the yard. When she did, she shot Luke a fierce look. Luke ignored it and smiled at Eren as if nothing was wrong. What the heck was going on?
On the way to the turnabout Luke rambled on about the fighting tournament that was going to take place at the end of November. Apparently there were three big tournaments throughout the school year. You had to qualify for them by placing in the top ten for your fighting style in the tournaments held the two months prior. Only the best qualified for the big tournaments and Luke was planning on being among them he said.
The whole idea was interesting, but Eren was unimpressed by his over confidence and she was in no mood to hear his ranting. At least talking about it kept his hands from groping her since he kept using them to demonstrate different moves. Elisabeth encouraged him by naming moves that some of his competition was good at. It was hard to tell, but Eren was pretty sure Elisabeth was doing it because she saw that it made her more comfortable.
When the turnabout came into sight, Eren had to fight the urge to sob with relief. It took a lot of concentration not to speed up. Those last few yards seemed to take an eternity to cover, as if she were moving in slow motion.
“Thanks for coming. I’m really sorry you don’t feel well,” Elisabeth said.
Luke shot Elisabeth a glare, clearly wanting her to leave, but she didn’t budge. Eren smiled at her. She owed her for that.
“Thanks. I’ll see you guys tomorrow at school,” Eren said as she pulled her hand free of Luke’s.
“Are you sure you don’t want me to walk you all the way home?” Luke asked.
His eyes were hopeful and he was attempting to look innocent. She wasn’t fooled and was running out of the energy it took to pretend.
“Thanks, but I’ll be fine. My aunt would kill me if she saw you. See you in the morning,” Eren said as she waved and walked backwards.
Shoving her hands in her pockets, she turned and hurried off.
“Come on, lover boy,” Elisabeth teased.
The muscles in Eren’s legs ached from working so hard at not running. She forced herself to wait until their voices faded into the distance. As huge raindrops started to fall, she let go and ran with all her heart. The dark blurry scenery whipped by as her thoughts turned inward.
She wanted desperately to tell her grandfather about this. The necklace was proof! Yet, no one knew about it but her. Would they take the word of a sixteen year old kid? Not likely. And poor Aiden, there was no way she’d ever sleep again knowing the conditions he was forced to live in. He wasn’t safe in that house with those horrible people. But if she told they’d hide the truth and he could be in worse danger.
As much as it hurt her to admit it, there was nothing she could do right now. They just didn’t have enough proof yet. From somewhere deep inside, she would have to dig up the strength and courage to keep up this game. She would have to go to that party.
Chapter 31
The last few days in the week felt like an eternity. She could barely look at Aiden in class because every time she did she pictured that pitiful bedroom and the horrible room with chains. He gave her a sad, almost ashamed look that made her think he knew what she’d seen. On Wednesday he slipped her a note that said he’d be over on Friday around 6:00 p.m. It tortured her to wait to see him, to wait to be alone with him.
Luke didn’t allow her a free moment outside of class and insisted on walking her most of the way home every day. Thankfully, Elisabeth stayed close by which encouraged Luke to keep his hands to himself. Her strange, surly attitude didn’t improve, but at least now when she
was nice to Eren it seemed genuine.
Friday after Luke walked her home, Eren flew up the stairs, shedding clothing as she went, and jumped in the shower. His energy clung to her and she couldn’t wait to wash it off. There was no way she was going to allow him to taint her time with Aiden. Shampoo and a lot of body wash finally solved the problem.
Smelling like flowers, she toweled off and picked out a loose fitting sundress to wear. Not that it mattered much. She’d be taking it off soon anyways. That thought brought a rush of heat to her cheeks. Thankfully her almost-mocha colored skin was good at hiding a blush. As she combed her long hair out she looked in the mirror and contemplated make-up. Considering that she had no idea what channeling would do to it, putting it on didn’t seem like a good idea. That thought was all it took to make her nervous and shaky.
Outside gravel crunched to the rhythm of Aiden’s steps. She must have been in the shower a lot longer than she’d realized. She could feel his energy on the breeze that blew through her open window. The moment she felt it, her anxiety was replaced by a tremendous sorrow. With Luke dogging her every move she hadn’t been able to talk to Aiden about what she’d seen.
His voice drifted to her as he came in and greeted Sylvia. Eren ran to meet him, catching him just as he walked onto the loft. Tears streamed down her cheeks as she flew into his arms. He picked her up as if she weighed next to nothing and carried her into the bedroom, closing the door with his foot. Still holding her in his arms, he sat down on the daybed and leaned back against the wall.
Eren cuddled in against his chest, her arms wrapped tight around him. The tears wouldn’t stop. She was so afraid for him and there was nothing she could do about it. The helpless feeling was torturous. Sure, they were working on exposing the truth about Virgil and Camilia, but in the meantime he had to live in a nest of vipers.
The methodic way he stroked her hair eventually calmed her and stopped her tears.
The Secret Of Spruce Knoll: A Channeler Novel Page 18
