The Secret of Spruce Knoll (17 page)

The shade of red Aiden’s face turned was so bright it almost looked painful. His mouth opened and closed but it was a moment before he could gather his wits enough to speak.

“While I’m not opposed to that, we do need to find out if you’re one or both,” he said.

Grabbing her hand, he started to walk to the edge of the meadow just opposite where they had come in. There was a small hill just before the trees and it was covered in boulders.

“See that rock?” he asked.

It took a minute for her to see what he was pointing at. The feel of his hand in hers was distracting.

“Yes.”

“Raise your energy, focus on destroying that rock,” he said.

Rock was a bit of an understatement. It was a boulder larger than she was and probably at least four times as heavy. Eren remembered lifting the boulder back at the river. She had used its energy as well as her own.

“But rocks have energy. Doesn’t that mean they’re alive?” she asked.

“Not exactly. They’re part of the Earth so they carry her residual energy. But don’t worry, you won’t be hurting them. Their energy just gets scattered and returns to the Earth,” he said.

That didn’t sound so bad. But it did make her wonder about the nature of energy. “Okay,” she agreed.

Aiden let go of her hand and backed away a bit. “This time, raise your power and focus it on the rock. Think about destroying it. You won’t need to ground yourself, the energy should all go into the rock,” he said.

Reaching deep into herself she called upon her power, and was surprised when it rose so quickly. She wasn’t sure if she’d be able to do it again so soon. It built like a wave within her, gaining momentum as it worked its way up from her core. In only a moment her body was vibrating from the effort of holding it in. It had built too fast and felt like too much for her to handle. A vision of Aunt Sylvia and the bear came to her. She remembered how her aunt had focused the energy through her hands and shot it at the bear.

Her eyes were hazing over with blue when she raised her arms and pointed her palms at the boulder. She let go. The energy left more than just her hands, though most of it focused through them. A blue bolt of mist shot toward the boulder, exploding it into millions of pieces.

“Sweet!” Aiden exclaimed.

She realized she was suddenly cold in places that should have been covered. Before she looked down to check, she knew her clothes had been ruined. Actually, ruined would have been kind. They had been disintegrated. Letting out a small squeak, she turned away from Aiden, using her long black hair to cover what she could.

“Turn around!” she demanded.

“What? Oh!”

She checked to make sure he had turned his back then rushed over to where her dress was laying in the flowers. It didn’t fit quite right without the support of her bikini top but it would have to do. At least she had something to cover herself with. By the time she put her necklace on Aiden was back at her side.

“That was amazing!” he said.

Heat rushed to Eren’s cheeks and she was glad he couldn’t tell. “The rock or the fact that my clothes were blown to bits?” she asked.

“Both, but I meant the rock,” he said with a sly smile.

“Very funny,” Eren mumbled as she slipped her sandals on.

They started walking back into the forest.

“It looks like you are both types of channeler, just like me,” Aiden said as he took hold of her hand.

“What does that mean?”

“I have no idea. No one’s ever been both that I know of.”  There was no fear in his tone, just excitement and awe. It was hard for her to worry about it when he was so confident.

They walked for a while in silence. It was comfortable and easy like all the time they spent together. The relief Eren felt over that was almost staggering. She hadn’t realized just how much she’d been afraid that channeling would change things between them.

“You should try running with your energy raised. It’s the most amazing feeling in the world,” Aiden said after a while.

“A peek wasn’t enough? Now you want me to run through the forest naked with you?” Eren asked. 

A blush brightened his cheeks again, making her laugh. He laughed with her. “You don’t channel, just raise your power and use the energy of the living things around you to guide you and help you move. There’s no risk to your clothes as long as you don’t get carried away,” he said.

It sounded like a great idea. Eren was so charged after raising her power that a run seemed like exactly what she needed.

“Let’s do it,” she said.

“Are you sure?” he asked.

Already Eren’s power was rising to the surface. It felt like she’d downed a quadruple espresso. “As long as my dress isn’t at risk, let’s go,” she said.

Gripping her hand tight, Aiden took off running. If felt amazing. Eren loved to run anyways, but this was different. The only word that came to mind was freedom, complete and utter freedom. Everything felt different with her power crackling just beneath her skin. The energy of every tree, fern, and bush pulsed around her, feeding and guiding her. She wasn’t just running upon the earth, she was a part of it.

That realization was staggering. Suddenly she understood why everyone in Spruce Knoll cared so much about the environment. Such heavy thoughts were impossible to hang onto as the joy of running took over. She gave into it with an eagerness that surprised her. It was a lot like giving into the artist in her when she painted.

They ran for nearly an hour. When they reached the river they ran down along its cold banks for a while before continuing deep into the Mayan woods. For a short time, they even ran alongside a herd of deer they had startled. Eren found the energy of the deer fed her too, renewing her strength and enabling her to run faster.

When the sun was getting close to setting, they returned to the meadow. She collapsed onto her stomach. It wasn’t exhaustion so much as she was overwhelmed with a variety of emotions: contentment, excitement, and a profound sense of belonging. The slightly damp grass felt wonderful beneath her body so she stretched out belly down on it. Crossing her arms, she propped her head up on them and turned to watch Aiden slip a pair of black jeans on over his boxers. His eyes widened when he turned back to her which made her laugh.

He turned his head away and took a deep breath. “What did you think?” he asked.

“It was amazing. You were absolutely right, of course. I can’t believe I fought against this for so long,” she sighed.

“Of course I was,” he agreed with a smirk.

They sat together and chatted, watching the sun sink behind a forest as colorful as the painted sky. He wrapped his arm around her and she laid her head upon his shoulder. The day couldn’t have been more perfect. Experiencing this with Aiden completed a part of her that she hadn’t realized wasn’t whole. She knew who and what she was and was starting to think she might be able to embrace it someday.

Chapter 32

The weekend went far too fast. Since Aiden’s adopted parents were out of town, Aunt Sylvia agreed to let him sleep on the couch. Eren kind of figured it was mostly because Sylvia was afraid he would just sneak in Eren’s window if she didn’t let him stay over. They made the most of every moment, going to bed late and getting up early. A month of lost time gave them a lot to make up for.

Saturday they went for another long run and practiced channeling nearly all day. He showed her an entirely different world, one without fear and worries. Aiden was a perfect gentleman the whole time with no sign of the anger Eren worried about. He always turned away when she channeled just in case she ruined her clothes. And there were times when she did. He wouldn’t stop complimenting her on her natural ability and her amazing control over it. If what he said was true—and it always was—it had taken him months of channeling to make it look as easy as she did.

He left early on Sunday, wanting to shower and wash his clothes before anyone got home. It killed Eren to let him go, but she had no choice. She just kept telling herself that a week wasn’t that long. After the party they could quit pretending. That kind of became a mantra of hers anytime she thought about having to face Luke.

Once he left, Sylvia sat Eren down for a talk. She wasn’t controlling or judgmental. And thankfully, she had already figured out that Aiden had helped her channel for the first time. There was an uncomfortable moment where Eren had to tell her that they had not had sex. Then Aunt Sylvia had a talk with her about how the power could heighten sexual arousal. Just hearing her aunt say those words made Eren want to crawl into a hole and disappear. It was way more awkward than the sex talk with her mother had been.

Monday arrived and she was forced to face Luke and Elisabeth again. After her time with Aiden being around Luke was just too hard. Every time Luke touched her she had to fight the instinct to lash out at him with her power. It wasn’t difficult to make him and Elisabeth believe she wasn’t feeling well. She could tell they thought it was because she was fighting the desire to channel, and she let them think exactly that.

That night, she broke down and told Aunt Sylvia that Luke and Elisabeth were bothering her so much that she needed a few days off from school. At first Sylvia had wanted to talk to the Moldovans about it, but Eren freaked out so bad that it convinced her not to.

“Please, Aunt Sylvia, it’ll be okay. I just need a few days off. Can’t we say I’m sick or something?” Eren pleaded.

“Our kind don’t get sick,” Sylvia protested. 

She thought about it for a moment as she stared very hard at Eren.

“All right. I’ve been thinking about going to the city for some shopping. I guess it would be fun if we went together. We could stay in a nice hotel, maybe catch a movie,” she said.

Eren jumped up and down before hugging her aunt so tight she gasped for breath. This was perfect! She wouldn’t have to see Luke almost until the party, and she’d get to spend a couple of fun days with her aunt.

“Oh thank you, thank you, thank you!” she exclaimed.

“I’ll call the school, you go pack enough clothes for a few days,” Sylvia said, shooing her off.

Eren skipped all the way upstairs. She was so relieved that she wouldn’t have to see Luke, wouldn’t have to let him hold her hand or put his arm around her. Even one day that she didn’t have to pretend to like that jerk was enough to make her giddy. She threw some clothes in a duffle bag and wrote Aiden a quick note to let him know where she was going and that she’d be back in a few days.

As an afterthought, she threw the necklace the coroner had sent into the bag as well. Something about it had been nagging at her and she wanted to ask Uncle Alin about it. No doubt Sylvia would be taking her laptop so she could talk to Alin and Fane. Not a night went by when Sylvia didn’t talk to them. And after chatting with them nearly every night herself, Eren understood why. They were great people. No one should have to be separated from their family like that. It made Eren all the more determined to take Virgil and Camilia down.

Feeling particularly spirited, she called her energy, swung over the loft railing and jumped. She landed on a soft cushion of her power in the living room twelve feet below. Sylvia stepped out of the kitchen and gave her a wide-eyed look.

“Feeling saucy are we?” she asked.

“Just happy to get out. Sometimes this town seems very small,” Eren said.

Laughing, Sylvia nodded in agreement. Her car keys jingled in her hand as she headed for the door.

“I’ve got to run do something real quick. I’ll be back before you have the Jeep pulled around,” Eren said, pausing to slip her sandals on.

“Okay,” Sylvia said as they stepped outside.

The moment she turned toward the garage Eren sprinted for the forest. Trees streaked by as she covered distance. This was why she had been forced to hold back when she was on the track team. Her speed was incredible and she realized that was in part because her power made her faster. 

At the edge of Aiden’s meadow, she skidded to a stop and gave the world a moment to stop spinning. Such abilities came at a price. Stopping was the hard part, it always left her dizzy for a little bit. Finally her vision cleared enough for her to find what she was looking for. She and Aiden had found a boulder that sat like a bench overlooking the meadow. After their runs they’d spent a lot of time sitting on it and talking. Their energy still lingered here. Eren loved the feel of their two energies mixed together.

Just under the boulder was a cubby hole they had decided would be a great place for secret notes. This way even when they couldn’t see each other at least they could still communicate. There was no way she was going to leave town without telling him where she was going and why. There had been too much miscommunication between them already. Besides, she didn’t want him to worry. This would be so much easier if he just had a cell phone.

Not caring how silly it was, she kissed the note, closing her eyes and picturing Aiden’s face as she did so. It was going to be excruciating not seeing him for a few days, even when all she could do was gaze at him across a room. But Aiden was exactly why she had to get away from Luke. After what she and Aiden had shared it was nearly impossible to fake affection for someone else.

Reluctantly, she placed the note and turned and ran before she could lose her willpower. When she skidded into the gravel almost two minutes later the Jeep was waiting there with its engine purring. Aunt Sylvia was sitting in the passenger seat. Hesitantly, Eren opened the driver’s door and peered in at her.

“Sorry, it took a bit longer than I expected,” she said.

Her aunt gave her a knowing smile and waved the apology away.

“Time for us girls to have some fun. Come on, you need the practice,” she said with a nod at the driver’s seat.

Taken completely by surprise, it was a moment before she leaped in. This was going to be even better than she had imagined! Some girl time was exactly what she needed. Getting to drive all the way there was a huge bonus that she hadn’t expected though. She really had to learn to stop underestimating her aunt.

*                    *                    *

The drive took a good part of the day, but Eren never tired of the practice. They weren’t just going to the small town outside of Spruce Knoll with the bus station. Sylvia had meant the actual city. Eren didn’t mind the long drive because it gave them a chance to talk. Sylvia wasn’t nosy at all about Luke and Elisabeth. In fact, she didn’t even bring them up. That scored her huge points, almost as many points as letting Eren drive. They talked about Sylvia’s work as an art dealer and that led to a discussion about Eren’s paintings.

“You’re quite talented. I think you should look into some of the art colleges in Europe,” Sylvia told her. 

Eren was so thrilled by this idea that she hardly spoke for the next hour. Never in her wildest dreams had she ever imagined she’d be able to go to an art college. As much as she loved art, she had never discussed it with her parents. They thought it was a phase she would outgrow. This gave her a lot to think about, so much so that she finally relinquished the wheel to Sylvia. It was more than just that though. A dull ache had started behind Eren’s eyes and her stomach felt like it was considering rejecting her breakfast.

Outside her window the forest had long ago given way to open fields which had then given way to suburbs filled with houses crammed too close together. It was nothing like California but it was more buildings than Eren had seen in months. She thought the familiar sight of civilization would have been comforting, but it wasn’t. The postcard sized lawns seemed choked by all the concrete and houses. The air felt different and the sheer lack of energy from plant life was disturbing. Eren rolled the window down and leaned her face into the wind, but it didn’t help. Back in California she had experienced panic attacks on occasion and they kind of reminded her of this, only less severe.

“I don’t feel so good,” she mumbled.

“I’m sorry, honey. It’s like that after you’ve come into your power. I should have remembered. It’s just been so long for me,” Sylvia said.

“What do you mean?”

“The sickness you’re feeling is your body reacting to the lack of healthy energy from plants. Cities have that affect on our kind,” Sylvia said.

Eren rolled her head in her aunt’s direction, hating how the motion made her want to throw up. Sylvia didn’t look as chipper as she usually did but she didn’t look as ill as Eren felt either.

“It doesn’t look like it’s affecting you that way,” she said, having to force the words out. It felt like it was getting harder to breathe, like they had climbed a thousand feet higher in elevation or something. Could her panic attacks really have just been a mild case of this all along? Now that she thought about it, they had only happened when she had gone into downtown.

“I’ve learned how to tolerate it over the years. It helps if you pull your power tight into your center and keep it contained there,” Sylvia explained.

Closing her eyes, Eren focused on the dull pulse of her power and drew it in to her center as tightly as she could. It wasn’t hard considering it felt so repressed already. By the time she opened her eyes the nausea had started to pass and it had become easier to breathe.

“Why have I never felt that before?” she asked.

“Because you don’t notice it until your power has awakened.”

“It’s always going to be like this?” Eren hated how whiny her voice sounded but she couldn’t help it. While the headache had almost disappeared and she no longer felt the need to throw up, she still didn’t feel quite right.

“I’m afraid so. You get better at tolerating it, though.”

Eren let the topic drop. Talking made it harder to concentrate.

When they arrived, Sylvia surprised her by pulling into a five star hotel. Like her parents, Sylvia wasn’t hurting for money. The Mayan channelers had not left Yaxchilan without a good amount of the city’s gold. What surprised her was that Sylvia would spend so much just on an excursion with her. Her parents had always been so conservative. They never would have sprung for something like this.

“Wow, this makes the headache so worth it,” Eren murmured as her eyes were drawn up the side of the towering building.

“The headaches will get better with time and practice. I’m glad you like my choice of hotels!”

There was sadness in Sylvia’s voice hidden beneath the cheerful tone. It made Eren wonder.

“This is why our kind live in the country isn’t it?” she asked.

“Yes. That and we don’t seem able to conceive children when living in the city. We’re dependent on the feel of the Earth beneath our feet and around us,” Sylvia said.

That kind of freaked Eren out. She was nowhere near ready to even think about having kids but to hear that her kind couldn’t have them if they lived in the city was not encouraging. A good majority of the world was covered in cities or civilization of some kind and there was always more being built. What happened when there was no more country for her kind to live in? It gave a whole new urgency to the need for preservation.

Such heavy thoughts faded to the back of her mind as Sylvia brought the Jeep to a stop and got out.

The lobby was so amazing that Eren decided the spa would definitely be worth checking out. Massive pillars rose up to the twenty foot high ceiling out of gray marble floors that were polished to a blinding shine. A man in a suit took their bags while a smiling receptionist checked them in and pointed out on a map where the pool, spa, and workout room were. Even the carpet in the hallway was tasteful. That was something Eren had never seen in a hotel.

Their room didn’t disappoint either. There was actually a hot tub in the room so incredible that there was no need to go to the spa. Right now she was happy to just settle for a shower. By the time she got out, Aunt Sylvia had already tried chatting with Alin but the network was down. As much as Eren wanted to ask him her question, she was just as happy to sink into the huge queen sized bed that awaited her.