The Secret of Spruce Knoll (6 page)

Chapter 12

Eren spent the next three days getting to know her grandfather. While she may not want to get close to anyone again, she still wanted to know him. He was a quiet, contemplative man who was as easy to be around as an old friend. World history was his passion and his job. He taught at Spruce Knoll’s high school. It made the idea of going to a school full of channelers just a little less terrifying. At least she could run to her grandfather if someone went all atomic on her.

She and Sylvia were eating breakfast when Eren heard her grandfather’s footsteps on the gravel driveway. He was going to take her fishing down at the river. It had sounded like a torturous way to spend a hot August afternoon, but she was eager to get to know him better.

“Thanks Aunt Sylvia, see you tonight,” she called over her shoulder as she dashed out the door.

 The pancakes had been frightfully bad but she hadn’t had the heart to tell her that. Sylvia was still annoyingly apologetic about the way Eren had found out she was a channeler. Any criticism wouldn’t go over well right now. Grandfather’s timing couldn’t have been better. 

It was still pretty dark since the sun hadn’t come all the way up and Eren could just make out the shadow of her grandfather approaching. When he got closer she realized he wasn’t carrying fishing poles, he was carrying spears. Her eyebrows rose and she wondered for a moment if he was kidding.

“Eren, good morning, you ready?” he asked. The cheerful tone of his voice made her smile despite her reservations.

“Yep. Um, we’re going to use spears?” she asked with a touch of disbelief.

“Of course. The other way is so boring, don’t you think? We’ll do it the Maya way,” he said as he handed her a spear.

Speechless, she accepted the spear. It was taller than she was and had a sharp steel head with little barbs sticking out of it. This would definitely be more exciting than sitting on a bank and watching a line bob. He surprised her by walking around the back of the house and heading straight out into the forest.

“You haven’t discovered this way to the river yet?” he asked when he saw her shocked look.

“No, I didn’t realize our land went back so far,” she admitted.

It was at least two miles to the bridge and the river wound farther west after it passed beneath it. Which meant their land was a lot more than just a few acres. More like a few thousand. That seemed totally unreal. Where Eren was from people lived on lots that weren’t even close to a quarter of an acre.

There wasn’t much underbrush and the lowest limbs of the trees were well above her head which made for easy traveling. Since the sun wasn’t all the way up yet it was somewhat dark but Eren had no problem seeing through the trees. What she couldn’t see, she could feel. Trees and plants had energy too. It was kind of strange to feel it after all these years of seeing such things as mere greenery. The sensitivity to energy was overwhelming at times but she was learning that she could dampen it when she didn’t need to see or feel it.

Now she understood why it felt so much better to run here than it had felt in L.A. It wasn’t just the air quality, it was the lack of concrete.

“With all the plants and open space here it feels so much better than it did in L.A. How could I have not noticed this before?” Eren asked.

Her grandfather’s smile faded. “Because your power wasn’t fully awakened yet,” he said.

“Does it always happen when we’re sixteen?” she asked.

“No, but being among other channelers makes one awaken earlier. The energy of our kind calls out to its own. Stress brings it about faster as well,” he said. 

Eren wondered if that was part of why her parents had raised her among normal people. She didn’t ask though. Talking about them was too hard.

In about a mile the majority of trees changed from spruce to aspen. Birds sang to the sun as it rose and bathed the forest in its bright light. The rushing sound of water had become so loud that she knew they had to be almost there. After another turn through a thick copse of aspens, they crested a hill and saw the river. The river bed was filled with large boulders and the water rushed along in foamy patches of white. Even from the water she felt a powerful pressure of energy. It looked a bit dangerous.

Zolin walked into the water without hesitation. He was already barefoot so there was no need to remove shoes. His old Maya feet were tough she guessed. She’d been going barefoot much more often herself but her feet were used to designer shoes, manicured lawns, and concrete. The forest path had forced her to wear her hiking shoes here. She paused to take them off.

Slipping the loop of rope attached to the end of her spear around her wrist, she hesitated a moment before following her grandfather into the water. It looked as though it was running pretty fast. This was nothing like the calm swimming hole she and Aiden frequented.

“Don’t think of withstanding the current. Allow its energy to flow around you,” her grandfather encouraged.

While the water looked too swift, Grandfather knew a lot more about what they were capable of than she did so she decided to trust him.

Even though it was already hot out, the sun hadn’t had time to warm the water up yet. It felt like submerging her toe into ice. She paused to let herself adjust to it. Her energy spiked, leaving her feeling like she had just downed a quadruple espresso. The sensation passed and left her submerged legs warm. That was new. A moment later the water didn’t feel cold at all. It felt good.

Walking in deeper, she made her way over to where her grandfather stood up to his waist in water. She found a shallower spot next to him, not quite willing to go in deeper than her own waist just yet. The water was moving fast. She felt it pushing against her and then thought about what her grandfather had said. The pressure eased and flowed around her, leaving her balanced and steady. Even when she moved her feet it didn’t threaten to sweep her way.

“Excellent job. Now feel the weight of your spear, find where its balance is,” Grandfather instructed. 

She lifted it in her right hand, getting used to its weight and balance. The shaft had no energy to it but the steel tip did.

“Good. Now let your instincts find the fish,” he said as he turned his attention to the water.

That sounded crazy. How were her instincts supposed to find the fish when she’d never fished a day in her life? Not wanting to disappoint him, she watched him very closely. His eyes were half closed against the glare of the sun off the water and his head moved from side to side, scanning. Suddenly, he thrust his spear into the white caps just in front of them. When he pulled it back to him there was a fish wriggling on the end of it. Laughing, he lifted it triumphantly and showed it to her.

“Wow! How did you do that?” she asked. There was no way he could have seen it, not in the white caps.

“I felt where it was. The water telegraphs their movement and if you’re paying attention to the energy of both, you will feel where the fish is,” he explained as he tossed the wiggling thing onto the grassy bank.

Eren nodded and turned her attention back to the water. It sounded fascinating, she had to try it. At first she was distracted by the movement of the water around her. Taking a deep breath, she forced herself to focus and try feeling for the energy. It was hard, at first the only fish she could feel was the one flopping on the bank and its energy was slowly fading. There was a stronger feeling energy that was similar to it in the water, just in front of her. Once she noticed it, she felt the fish’s movement—or rather its energy—in the water as it was trying to swim up river.

She tuned into the energy of the steel tip of her spear and launched it toward the heart of the fish’s energy. When she pulled the spear back there was a fish on the end of it. It was smaller than her grandfather’s catch, but still close to six inches long. She whooped in triumph and presented it proudly to him.

“Nicely done! You’re a natural with a spear. Most people can’t hit anything the first time they use one. We’ll eat well tonight!” he exclaimed.

Eren laughed. “Thanks! I directed the energy of the spear and it was easy,” she said.

Her grandfather’s brow furrowed and he gave her a strange look that bordered on suspicion. “You did what?” he asked. His tone was full of awe.

Eren couldn’t help but wonder if she had done something wrong. “I used the energy of the steel and directed it at the fish. Did I do something wrong?” she asked.

An excited laugh escaped him. “Not at all! That means you’re a warrior channeler and it could also mean something else but we’ll have to see about that. This is wonderful Eren, I couldn’t be prouder!” he said as he hugged her tight. 

“Was that channeling?” she asked. She hoped so. That hadn’t been bad at all.

But her grandfather shook his head. “Yes and no. It was on a small degree. But that’s more like what we call tuning in. True channeling releases much more power and is harder to control,” he said.

She should have known it wouldn’t be that easy.

“What do you mean it could also mean something more?” she asked.

He shook his head. “Let’s worry about that later. For now, we fish!” he said.

Humming to himself, he practically skipped back over to his fishing spot and began scanning the water again. It didn’t matter. Eren was in too good of a mood to worry about it.

Smiling, she tossed her fish onto the bank and quickly turned her attention back to the water. This had gone from being something she had to do to something she wanted to do. It was challenging and exciting and that took her completely by surprise. In fact, it was so much fun that the afternoon was over before she knew it. They caught more than enough rainbow trout for dinner and had a load of fun. On the way home she worked up the courage to ask her grandfather something that had been bugging her.

“We live in covens right?” she asked.

“We call them Societies, but yes, it’s the same concept,” he answered.

“You and Aunt Sylvia belong to a Society right?” she asked, her voice growing more anxious as she worked up to the real question.

“Yes. I belong to the oldest Maya Society in Spruce Knoll, the original Society that migrated here,” he said.

That took her by surprise. She figured there was just one Society of each different race.

“There is more than one Maya Society here?” she asked.

“Yes, there are four. Each race has four Societies, each with about twenty five couples. You get any more than that in a Society and things get hard to manage. Each Society has a Rector couple that runs it,” he said as he turned to look at her.

That helped to ease her mind and made her last question a little easier to ask. With so many Societies maybe there was a chance. . .

“Since I’m half-Maya and half-Irish do you think I’ll ever find a Society that will accept me?” she asked under her breath.

Her grandfather sighed and rubbed his brow a moment before answering. “It will be hard.”

“Our kind know it’s the 21
^st
century right? Prejudice is supposed to be a thing of the past,” she grumbled.

“It’s not like that. We are all equal. None of us will dispute that. It’s just that we lost so much when we were driven from our own countries that we don’t want to lose what little of our cultures we have left,” he tried to explain.

That Eren could understand. What she couldn’t was the hatred she had seen in the eyes of the town’s people that day she and Aunt Sylvia had gone shopping. She didn’t know how to say that without sounding like she was contradicting him so she didn’t say anything.

“But you don’t need to worry about finding a Society until you find a husband. And that’s something I hope you won’t do for a long time yet,” Zolin said, casting his gaze out across the forest.

Eren groaned and shook her head. Did he have to say it like that? He laughed at her reaction and the tension evaporated along with the last bit of water from their damp clothes. They laughed and joked with each other the rest of the way home, abandoning such hard subjects and just enjoying the rest of their day.

By the time Friday arrived, he had to leave to check on the bookstore in town that he owned. He lived in an expansive apartment above it. Eren eagerly promised to visit the store in a few days.

That night she was so nervous that she had to keep reciting the names of paintings to stop the vibrating beneath her skin. Tomorrow morning Aiden would be back and he was going to meet her for a run. Even though she thought maybe she should be, she wasn’t mad at him or even afraid of him. She didn’t like him any less now that she knew he was a druid, if anything it made him even more interesting.

What kept her awake and fighting back the pressure of her energy, was wondering if he would feel any differently about her now that the she had come into her power. What if he had just liked her because it hadn’t happened to her yet?

Sleeplessness drove her to a blank canvas once again. Gray, blue, and black spread across the canvas until her brushes revealed a scene she had seen before from behind the window of her aunt’s Jeep. It was the wolves stepping out of the misty forest to get their first look at her.

Chapter 13

Eren stared in the mirror, trying to decide if she looked any different. It was silly, she knew. But she was a woman—and a channeler—now. Wasn’t she supposed to look different? Of course, she hadn’t had sex or used her power yet. And she was in no hurry to do either. Maybe that meant she wasn’t completely either one yet. The full moon was still two weeks away. She hoped that would give her enough time to practice her control. She had no idea what would happen if she couldn’t control it and didn’t want to find out.

Having the necklace from her mother on made her feel different somehow, as if she was in on the world’s biggest secret. In a way she guessed she kind of was. But that didn’t exactly make her feel more like a woman. Despite being in a town filled with people like her, it made her feel alone and kind of like a freak. What would the Captain of the basketball team back home think of her now?

Like I care.

Still, it hurt.

From her open bedroom window she heard the sound of gravel crunching under foot. It snapped her attention back to the here and now. It had to be Aiden. Her pulse sped up which triggered a very channeler-like reaction. Power crawled under her skin, looking for an escape. But this time all she had to do to fight back the dizziness and vibrating was to think Aiden’s name. The pressure of her energy receded. Interesting, that simplified things.

It was hard to get her feet moving and even harder to open the front door once she reached it. He was smiling when she stepped outside but as soon as he saw the look on her face he turned serious. Eren drew in a deep breath, marveling at how fantastic his energy felt. It was both powerful and gentle and it pulled at her like a magnet. She had the absurd impulse to step into him until she was bathing in it. That thought made her eyes widen and her cheeks flush. She pretended to find something interesting on the ground.

“You’ve started to come into your power,” Aiden stated.

Not trusting her voice, she just nodded.

“So, your aunt told you then?” he asked.

“Yeah,” she answered as they started down the driveway.

There was a long moment of silence and Eren felt a tension surrounding Aiden that she’d never felt before. It made her nervous. Was he unhappy that she wasn’t normal anymore? She was too afraid to ask. He remained deep in thought almost until they reached the pavement.

“Are you okay with it? With what we are?” he asked.

His hazel eyes studied her with a deep intensity. She realized he wasn’t asking if
she
was okay with being a channeler, he was asking if she was okay with
him
being one. It was refreshing to know they were both worried about the same thing.

Smiling, she took his hand. “Of course.”

The tension melted away and they were once again just two friends enjoying a summer afternoon. That wasn’t entirely right, it was better than that. There was a profound sense of comfort and belonging in knowing that they were both going through the same thing. Her aunt and grandfather had been through it so long ago that she couldn’t really relate to them. Besides, it was different with Aiden, very different.

The day was so hot that they lounged half-in, half-out of the water as they talked. Eren’s fear that Aiden would lose interest in her turned out to be way off base. He couldn’t take his eyes off her for very long. It made her infinitely more self-conscious but she didn’t mind, not at all.

Her wet legs glimmered in the sunlight as she swung them in and out of the water. They drew his eyes as though they possessed a pull that he couldn’t resist if he tried, and he appeared to be trying.

“I like your necklace,” he said.

Eren reached down and touched the smooth white stone. It was comforting and not just because it made her think of her mother. Something about it soothed her.

“Thanks. It was from my mom,” she said. She’d tried not to sound too sad but it had come out that way anyways.

He reached over and touched it gently. “Moonstone’s help us control our power, they dampen it somehow,” he said.

That made Eren smile. Her mom was helping her after all.

Not wanting to ruin the moment, she moved on. “So, I’m guessing you’ve already come into your power.”

Aiden’s eyes flicked over to meet hers and there was concern on his face once again. It was hard to believe that he was just as worried about being judged.

“Yeah. A couple years ago,” he answered.

Eren was so fascinated by this that she nearly missed the tone of embarrassment in his voice. Leaning forward, she grabbed his leg. He closed his eyes and took several deep breaths. His bare leg was shaking beneath her hand. It took a while before he stopped shaking and opened his eyes. So she wasn’t the only one who had to concentrate to stop the energy from trying to escape. The idea of her touch causing him anxiety made her smile.

“Tell me what it’s like,” she begged.

Smiling, he grabbed her hand. Now
her
heart sped up and the vibrations worked their way through her body. Looking into his eyes drove the sensation back and helped her regain control over her power. The smirk on his face told her he had done it on purpose.

“You brat!” she chided as she slapped his leg with her free hand.

The fingers of his other hand wove their way through hers and got a better grip. When she looked down pointedly at their clasped hands he just shrugged.

“I can’t learn to control it better if you don’t touch me,” he said with an innocent look.

There was a new line. Coming from him, though, it didn’t carry the threat it would have from other guys. But he was still a guy. The innocent look was wasted on her. She didn’t believe it for a second. But, she did believe they both needed to practice their control. That wasn’t why she didn’t let go though.

“It’s like giving up all your worries, like being totally free,” he finally told her.

There was a look of such contentment in his eyes that it put some of her fears to rest. Still, there was too much she didn’t know. Another pang gripped her heart as she longed for her mom. Aiden was great to talk to and all, but it wasn’t the same.

“Does channeling hurt?” she asked.

Channelers weren’t something she’d read about or seen in a movie so she had no idea what to expect. She knew it was silly to think about movies and books on something that was actually real but usually those stories were based on some kind of truth. All she’d ever read about or seen was witches and sorcerers, but nothing to do with energy. It made her angry with her parents. They should have told her. They should have been the one’s to teach her and answer her questions. Being angry at them caused a painful flush of guilt.

“No, not at all. It just kind of feels like you’re letting go,” he explained.

Her anger and guilt faded as her interest was piqued. The fact that it didn’t hurt was a huge relief. A bigger concern surfaced.

“What does it do?” she asked.

Turning to her, he met her gaze, his eyes serious.

“Nothing if you release it into the Earth. If you’re a healer channeler you can heal. If you’re warrior channeler and you focus it on something it can hurt it. How bad depends on how powerful you are and what you want it to do,” he said.

That kind of freaked her out. What she had read about magic was that it could change its user. Then again, this wasn’t exactly magic they were talking about. But with something dangerous that could hurt people, she wondered.

“Can you still think? I mean, are you still…you while you’re channeling?” she asked.

“Definitely! Better even. You’re you, just without all the pressure and worries,” he said.

Eren wasn’t so sure she wanted to give up her worries. Her hand went to the necklace resting on her chest. It sounded a bit too much like giving up a part of herself, a part of who she had been. If she did that she gave up what she had known of her parents. Guys were a little more instinctive to begin with, so she didn’t really expect him to understand that.

He jumped to his feet and yanked her from her thoughts. There was an excited twinkle in his eyes that made her think of flecks of gold caught in honey. It was very distracting.

“You want to see something cool?” he asked.

“Sure,” she said, unable to resist that look had she wanted to.

Aiden turned his head left and right, eyeing the banks of the river as if he was looking for something. He climbed out of the water and stood next to a large boulder. Eren’s jaw dropped as he bent and picked it up with ease. His energy had changed, spiked. She felt it like an increasing pressure that was coming off of him. The boulder was huge, at least two feet long and two feet wide. Not even straining, he lifted it over his head and chucked it across the wide river. It landed on the opposite bank and clattered down the other rocks. Grinning, he wiggled his eyebrows as he flexed for her.

Aiden was in shape, there was no doubt about that. But he was no body builder. Even if he was, that boulder had to have been at least three hundred pounds. Lifting it would have made a body builder strain, throwing it that far so easily would have been impossible.

“Wow,” she murmured. It seemed terribly inadequate, but she was so shocked she couldn’t figure out what else to say.

Curiosity drew her eyes to a much smaller boulder that sat just off to her left. She wondered if it was possible. . .

“Try it, come on! I’ll spot you just in case,” Aiden encouraged.

Pebbles tumbled down into the water as he jogged back to her side. Reconsidering, she looked at her chosen rock. It was half the size of the one he’d thrown, but had to still weigh a hundred and fifty pounds or so. Knowing how badly he wanted her to try, she put aside her skepticism, bent and wrapped her hands around it. He bent with her, ready to catch it should she slip.

“If you’re a Rector you’ll be able to command the energy of the rock, if not you can use your own energy to move it. Just think of pushing your energy out and using it to lift it,” Aiden instructed.

Before even picking it up she could feel the energy of the rock, which was odd because she had never thought of rocks as living things. She did as he said. Her energy flowed out from her hands in two blue lines of mist. It felt like pressure releasing just like he had described. Much to her amazement, she didn’t drop the rock. At first she thought maybe it was pumice or lava rock. It was light as a volley ball. But there was no doubt it was solid river rock. Grinning with delight, she used her energy to toss it up and caught it a few times before throwing it one handed across the water. It splashed into the water just short of the other bank.

Whooping, Eren jumped up and down. Aiden high-fived her as he laughed at her. A loose rock under foot sent her stumbling and she ended up in his embrace. The muscles of his bare chest pressing against her back raised a heat within her that had nothing to do with the summer day. Both of them froze. Eren feared her anxiety would trigger the beginning of channeling and was surprised when it didn’t happen.

This was encouraging. It meant just maybe she had a shot at halfway normal dating. Beyond that she wasn’t ready to think about the implications. She hid a disappointed sigh when Aiden pulled away.

“Check this out,” he said with a wiggle of his eyebrows.

That sent such a thrill shooting through her that she had to look away. Her body still burned with the memory of his chest pressed against her, the look was too much. Then he amazed her again.

He crouched and Eren thought for a moment that he was going to pick something up. Instead he leaped into the air, disappearing into the spruce trees above the bank. Eren’s amazed eyes followed him as he soared fifteen feet up and landed on a tree limb. In that moment, looking so wild and exuberant like he did, she was sure she’d never see anything finer. Certainly not even the breathtaking beauty of the Sistine Chapel could compare.

“Wow.”

Sure the jump was impressive, but of course, that wasn’t what she was marveling at.

“Come on. Try it. Just push down on the ground with your energy and it will push you up,” he said as he beckoned to her.

How could she resist, especially when she didn’t want to? She tried to imitate the way he’d done it, crouching low before pushing off with all her power. Just like throwing the rock, she didn’t expect to do as good as he had. Much as she hated it, he’d had a lot more practice at this. It shocked her when she flew up into the trees like a bullet. Panic rose as she realized the momentum was going to take her soaring past Aiden and she didn’t know what to do. Thankfully, he did. He reached out and plucked her out of the air.

Once again she found herself in his arms, saved by his quick thinking.

“That one takes a lot of practice. I should have warned you!” he laughed. 

“Yah think?” She meant to sound chiding but ended up ruining it by laughing.

“Just don’t try that with your shoes on, it kind of makes them explode,” he said.

Thinking of some of the really expensive shoes in her closet made Eren cringe. “I’ll remember that.”

They sat down on the huge tree limb and looked out over the forest. It was the first moment of real peace she had felt since her parents had died. For a while neither of them spoke. It was a comfortable silence.

“Your energy is beautiful,” Aiden said.

Eren sat up straight and gave him a wide-eyed look. “You can see it? Can everyone see it?” she asked. It was a terrifying thought. Maybe she couldn’t live as normal a life as she had hoped.

Aiden laughed, easing some of her worry. “No, only other channelers. Except for a few sensitive people but most don’t take them seriously so they’re nothing to worry about,” he said.

“I can’t see yours. I can feel it, but I can’t see it,” she said.

He waved a hand in a dismissive gesture. “You will. It just takes focus and practice,” he said.

There was so much to learn that it was overwhelming. They talked and laughed away the day, escaping the heat in the cool water of the river and the shadows of the forest. Eren had never felt so comfortable around someone and hadn’t been this happy in a long time. Today made her realize that being a channeler might not make her a freak after all, it may just make her,
her
. And as long as Aiden liked her for who she was and what she was, she decided that might be fine.