The Secret of Spruce Knoll (12 page)

At the end of the day, Luke offered to ride home with Eren but she insisted she had to stay after and talk to her grandfather. There was absolutely no way she was ready to deal with a guy who was interested in her. She had a boyfriend. Sure, they had never made it official with words, but that’s what Aiden was without a doubt. So long as he wasn’t just avoiding her.

Luke and Elisabeth waved as they rode off. As kind as the two of them had been, even they weren’t able to make the day tolerable. Besides, she got the feeling they were hiding something. Only one person could have made her feel better and there was still no sign of him. She didn’t know whether to be pissed, or worried. The moment Luke and Elisabeth were out of sight, Eren ran down the stairs, jumped onto her bike, and took off.

Chapter 22

Day after day it was the same thing. Aiden didn’t show up but Luke and Elisabeth were always there. Though the dirty looks didn’t stop completely, the whispered comments did. But none of that mattered to Eren. She’d take all their hatred if she could only have Aiden back. She never asked anyone about him, fearing they wouldn’t tell her the truth or just wouldn’t talk to her. It was tempting to ask Elisabeth since she worked at his parents’ coffee shop, but something inside told her she shouldn’t, so she didn’t. Eren couldn’t forget the hostile way Elisabeth had acted toward Aiden that first day at the coffee shop.

Luke convinced her to come watch his fight practice after school on Wednesday. She had been thinking of something else and had said uh huh, not realizing what he’d said. As torturous as it was to have to spend the afternoon with him, it was kind of interesting to watch kids her age practice. There were so many kicks and strikes and elaborate throws. More fascinating than that though, was how they used their energy to push and strike one another as if it was a physical thing. Eren could feel it like pressure passing between the two fighters. The instructor monitored them carefully, making sure they didn’t use too much and hurt each other.

Eren couldn’t take her eyes off them. Of course, by Luke’s triumphant smile it was obvious he thought she couldn’t take her eyes off
him
. He was a good fighter, but he was too rough on the other boys and he showed off way too much.

Two more weeks passed without any sign of Aiden, and by the third week, Eren was absolutely frantic. Thursday night she begged her aunt to tell her where Aiden lived. She told Sylvia the whole story about what had happened that night they were going to channel together, every little detail she could remember. It was horribly embarrassing, but Sylvia had listened without judging. By the time she was done, her aunt believed her that something was wrong. She reassured Eren that she would talk to Zolin and together they would figure out what to do.

Friday at school Eren still looked for Aiden, she couldn’t help it. But all she found was an over eager Luke who insisted on carrying her books and escorting her everywhere she went. He always complimented her and he was very sweet. But he had too much in common with the single-minded jocks Eren used to date. For one, his compliments were always on her looks, and two, he liked to talk about himself way too much.

Though she tried to tune most of his talking out, she had to listen enough to be polite. After a history class they shared, he seemed particularly excited and wouldn’t leave her alone.

“We’re descended from a powerful Society that helped Vlad Tepes drive the Turks from Wallachia,” Luke bragged.

He said the name Vlad Tepes in a reverent tone that kind of made the hair on Eren’s neck stand up. The man had committed horrible atrocities and Luke talked like he was a saint. Which to the Romanian people, Eren supposed he probably was in a way since he’d defended them from invaders. But seriously, come on, Vlad,
the
Vlad.

“Really, Vlad Dracula?” she asked.

Luke laughed.

“He wasn’t really a vampire, not like the legends say at least. He was a channeler who bathed in the blood of his enemies to drink in their power. They were invading his country, he just protected his people,” Luke explained.

The idea disgusted Eren almost as much as the fact that Luke respected what the man had done. She’d never really thought about it but it made sense that Vlad would have been a dark channeler. She did her best not to let her distaste show on her face. There had to be some other way to protect one’s people than impaling live men, women, and children onto huge stakes. Whether or not his ancestors actually helped Vlad drive the Turks out of Romania was hard to say. But he believed it beyond a doubt.

“Back in Vlad’s time, the Hunters were created. They’re warriors who specialize in protecting the Societies and keeping them strong. Someday I’m going to be a Hunter just like my parents,” he said.

There was a fervent, intense look in his eyes. It was the look of one who knew their dream and would do whatever it took to accomplish it.

His heritage was impressive and Eren was awed by it. But it didn’t make her fall at his feet like he clearly hoped it would. Luke was the type of guy who was used to girls fighting for his attention. Eren knew his interest in her probably had to do with the challenge of someone new and forbidden, and not really much with her personally.

“Wow,” was all she said.

Elisabeth came bouncing down the hall and walked with them to Eren’s next class.

At least Luke’s interest in Eren seemed genuine, even if it was just for her body. Elisabeth was another story. There was always a bit of strain to the edge of her smile and definitely too much false cheer in her voice. Eren thought it could be because Luke forced her to be nice so he could get closer to her. But that didn’t feel like the whole truth. 

It was hard not to be rude and dash off into the gym to get away from them.

Frustration made her particularly aggressive that day in hand-to-hand combat. They had begun learning basic punches and a few other simple strikes. The small children weren’t learning to use their energy yet in practice because they hadn’t come into their power, which was a huge relief. She didn’t want them knowing she hadn’t channeled yet.

Eren was overly eager to try out the strikes she’d learned when her turn on the bag came. The other children were too small so her instructor had to hold onto the bag for her. She struck it again and again with a wild intensity, pushing him back several steps. Though she didn’t realize it, she began throwing in some of the strikes she had seen the older boys using yesterday. When her instructor blew the whistle she couldn’t stop, she just kept kicking and punching.

“Eren!” he finally screamed.

Panting and near tears, she stopped and stepped back, her hands stuck in fists. The children seated cross-legged on the floor regarded her with nervous little eyes. She felt bad for scaring them. She hadn’t meant to lose it. But it had felt so good to hit something!

“All right, class dismissed. Eren, come see me after you shower,” the instructor announced, giving her a pointed look.

Afraid she was in trouble, Eren took her time showering and dressing. She knew she shouldn’t have flipped out like that. Everything had just built up until she couldn’t hold it in anymore. Once the voices of all the children faded away she forced herself to walk out and sit down on the bleachers next to her instructor. He handed her a canteen of water and she tried not to think of how many people had drank out of it as she took a couple swallows.

People in this town refused to drink bottled water. The bottles didn’t biodegrade. She was all for protecting the environment, but she would definitely have to get her own water bottle, metal of course. She was already the talk of the town, there was no need to make it worse by carrying around a plastic water bottle.

“You learn fast and I can tell you’ve been watching the older kids practice. You’ve already passed up the little ones. But I can’t quite put you with the high school students yet,” he said.

Eren sat up a bit straighter and gave him an eager look. She prepared to plead with him, her mind going over several different arguments.

“They’d be far too hard on you,” he said as he held up a hand to halt her coming argument.

Her mouth closed and the words stuck on her lips. He must have something in mind or he wouldn’t have wanted to talk to her.

“But, if you’re willing to stay after school I’ll work with you personally. Maybe by next year we’ll be able to put you in the advanced class,” he said.

Eren squealed with joy and covered her mouth to stifle the sound.

“Thank you so much! I’ll be here every day and I’ll work hard, I promise. Oh thank you, thank you,” she exclaimed.

It took everything she had to contain herself and not jump up and down. Sure, the idea of working with kids her own age that had been practicing their whole lives was intimidating, but she still wanted to do it. She didn’t like the feeling of her skill level being so far behind everyone else. More than that though, she was excited about the idea of learning something beyond blocks and defensive moves. The only bad part was that he would figure out she hadn’t channeled yet.

Eren had a competitive spirit and without any sports to play, she was going a bit mad. Her instructor explained that students competed in sparing matches every month as a way to hone their skills further. But since Eren clearly couldn’t spare with the children, she wouldn’t be allowed to compete. If she worked really hard, maybe next year she’d be able to. More than that though, she just needed to be able to defend herself.

Chapter 23

The hope of being able to compete next year kept her going through the weekend. When she wasn’t running or painting she was practicing her fighting skills. It helped her to focus on something besides her crushing fear over Aiden’s absence. And it didn’t hurt that she got to beat on a punching bag either.

Saturday evening she sat in her loft painting a particularly disturbing painting. The breeze from the open window kept threatening to blow loose strands of her hair into the paint. It was aggravating her, which was probably adding to the anger she was pouring into the piece of work. She tucked a lock behind her ear and kept painting. Her aunt’s voice floated up to her from below, breaking her concentration.

“Eren, I have to take care of something. I’ll try to be back before too late,” she said.

Something in her voice made Eren stop and shift focus to her. Even from here she could feel that her aunt was anxious and a bit fearful. Whatever she was doing had to do with Aiden, Eren was certain of it. By the way she’d spoke it was clear Eren wasn’t invited along so she didn’t bother to ask if she could go.

“Okay, see you later,” she called back to her, trying to sound distracted.

The minute the door closed behind Sylvia, Eren leaped to her feet and flew down the stairs. She was at the door before the knob stopped turning. Too fast, she had to slow down. Breathing deep, she drew in the feel of her aunt’s energy, remembering it so she could follow its trail. Then a thought occurred to her. What if Sylvia felt her and realized she was following?  No doubt she’d send her right back home.

Maybe she could suppress her energy. If she tried that and stayed a good distance behind then she might have a chance of not getting caught.

Watching out the window, she saw Sylvia take off on foot into the trees south of the driveway. Her instincts screamed at her to chase after Sylvia but she fought them back and waited. It was only natural for her normal side to want to keep her aunt in sight, but the channeler side of her knew she didn’t need to see her to track her.

After counting out several breaths, she opened the door very slowly, stepped out, and closed it behind her as carefully as she could. She knew that if she wasn’t as quiet as possible, Sylvia might hear her, or worse, feel her nervous energy. The door closed softly enough that there was hardly an audible click.

She didn’t have to try very hard to find the trail. The feel of her aunt’s energy was so thick in the air she could practically ‘see’ it as clearly as if it were literally a path. There was a homey, welcoming feel to the energy but it also buzzed with the potential for something dangerous. By the energy, there was more to her aunt than just a bubbly, talkative little Maya woman.

Eren could feel much more than her aunt’s energy though. She could feel the energy in everything, the trees, the grass, the dirt, and all that passed through and upon them. If she concentrated hard enough, she could even see it. Every living thing had its own unique energy which varied in every imaginable color depending on the thing. At first, the feel of it was all overpowering. But it didn’t take long to focus on the one she wanted and sort of tune out the rest. The others actually made it easier by kind of outlining the one energy she was concentrating on and making its trail more distinct.

Counting out twenty heartbeats, she forced herself to wait. If she didn’t allow some distance between them, Sylvia would sense her. She would have to concentrate as much on controlling how nervous she was as on the actual trail. One spike of her energy could give her away.

When she could wait no longer she crept out into the woods and followed her aunt’s trail. A canopy of clouds blocked out all of the starlight and only allowed the occasional glimpse of the waning moon. It made for a very dark walk through the forest. While Eren’s sensitivity to energy gave her a clear ‘picture’ of where she was going and what not to run into, it didn’t tell her where the dead leaves and twigs were. She was forced to take it painfully slow.

Somewhere around two miles into the forest she began to hear voices coming from up ahead. Sylvia’s trail was leading her straight to them. When she reached the bottom of a steep hill the voices became so loud that she was certain they were just over the rise. Not wanting to be discovered, she walked a good distance away from Sylvia’s trail before starting carefully up the hill. Sylvia could still probably pick up her energy signature, but she had to try something. Halfway up the hill, she got down on all fours and started to crawl. When she’d almost reached the top, she laid down and scooted forward inch by inch. She made her way to a thick group of spruce trees atop the hill.

Not far below her was a valley filled with Maya people, maybe forty in all. They were seated in a huge circle talking in hushed whispers. Eren could actually catch bits and pieces of the conversations despite the group being a couple hundred feet away. The wind was blowing their voices to her. A man stood up and went to the middle of the circle.

Eren felt something light and wet drop onto the back of her hand. She looked down to see a raindrop sliding its way along her fingers. More followed and soon the erratic rhythm of millions of drops drummed all around her. Moments later, her long black hair was plastered to her back, but it was worth it. The rain would mute her energy and hopefully wash away her trail.

Her attention was drawn to the valley below where the man was talking about why the meeting had been called. Thankfully he was talking loud enough to be heard over the rain. He was speaking Maya, but Eren was fluent in the particular dialect and understood every word.

“You all know about the threat to our Societies, those that call themselves Hunters of our kind, the Moldovans. Zolin has invited Sylvia here tonight to speak on a matter concerning them.” The man stepped back and sat down in the circle of people.

Sylvia rose to her feet and walked into the circle’s center. “The Moldovan’s adopted son is missing,” she said.

The crowd fell deathly silent. The only sound in the valley was the increasing patter of rain. It was so dark Eren couldn’t see people’s expressions but a few women covered their mouths and several heads shook with disapproval.

“He had a fight with Virgil. I know this because Aiden has been seeing my niece, Eren,” Sylvia said. 

This caused several shocked outbursts and a few people even rose to their feet. The atmosphere became charged and Eren could feel the energy of their fear and anxiety on the wind.

“The boy is in danger!” someone exclaimed.

“We have to do something!” another cried.

Zolin stood up and tried to soothe the Society but they wouldn’t calm down. It was obvious from their reaction that trouble usually gravitated around the Moldovans. From the comments flying around, they were not well liked. No surprise there.

“Sylvia, can’t your husband do something?” a woman stood up and asked.

Sylvia ran a hand through her soaking wet hair and dropped her gaze to the ground. Her chest rose and fell as she took a few deep breaths and squared her shoulders.

“There isn’t enough proof yet for my Society to step in. I wish there was, you know I do. Those bastards killed my mother, my sister, and her husband. I’d blow them apart myself if I could prove half of what they’ve done,” Sylvia swore.

She took a deep breath before going on. “But that isn’t the issue right now. The Irish boy is missing and he could die if we don’t do something,” she said.

That caused a new wave of excited conversation. Several others stood up and spoke but Eren was barely listening. Her aunt was married? Why hadn’t she told her? And what was that about her aunt’s Society not getting involved? The way she talked made it sound like she wasn’t part of this Society. What was going on?

“We will go to the Irish and see if they’ll approach the Moldovan’s Society with us to ask about the boy’s welfare. That is all we can do for now,” Zolin’s voice boomed above the buzzing of the crowd.

Everyone cheered in agreement. Eren had no idea her grandfather had so much pull in the Society. There was far too much she didn’t know and she was tired of it.

“Who will go with me?” Zolin asked.

Eren realized that the meeting was nearly over and she was running out of time to make her getaway. Very slowly, she began crawling backwards down the hill. Once she reached the bottom she flew to her feet and sprinted off into the darkness unnoticed.