The Secret Of Spruce Knoll: A Channeler Novel Read online

  The Secret Of Spruce Knoll

  A Channeler Novel

  The Secret Of Spruce Knoll

  A Channeler Novel

  Heather McCorkle

  The Secret Of Spruce Knoll

  Heather McCorkle

  Copyright 2011 Heather McCorkle

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping, or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of quotations embodied in articles and reviews.

  ISBN: 978-0-9847863-0-5 (hardback)

  ISBN: 978-0-9847863-1-2 (paperback)

  ISBN: 978-0-9847863-2-9 (e-book)

  Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

  Certain stock imagery from Thinkstock. Cover design by CP Design.

  Printed in the United States of America.

  Special edition.

  Compass Press release date: 11-30-2011

  For my dad. I wish you could have held this in your hands. And for my mom, my first and greatest fan.

  Praise for The Secret Of Spruce Knoll

  “McCorkle fuses magic, mystery, and myth into one action-packed tale.” ~Judith Graves, author of the Skinned series.

  “Electrifying in every possible way. A compelling read with unforgettable characters that readers will cheer for.” ~Elana Johnson, author of Possession.

  “McCorkle has crafted an enchanting world… You will root for Eren and Aiden.” ~Kitty Keswick, author of the Freaksville series.

  Table Of Contents

  Prologue

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Chapter 37

  Chapter 38

  Chapter 39

  Chapter 40

  Chapter 41

  Prologue

  Moonlight gave the wintry forest a sinister glow that made it hard to find good footing. One wrong step would bury him up to his waist in snow and his attempted escape would come to a brutal end. Though his heart hammered against the cage of his chest, he pushed himself harder until every ragged breath was like fire scorching down his throat. His wobbling legs could scarcely afford to slip on the snow, yet he couldn’t fight the need to cast a fearful glance over his shoulder. He couldn’t see them, but that didn’t mean they weren’t there, flitting through the shadows like a wraith upon his tail.

  Just ahead of him ran his wife. Her speed was superior to his and he prayed that it may save at least her.

  Fate couldn’t possibly be so cruel as to take them both from their daughter right before she was about to come into her powers, could it?

  No, he couldn’t allow himself to get distracted. He and his wife were not warriors. The only way they would survive this was if they outran or outwitted the Hunters.

  Legs aching from exertion, he staggered atop the hill, barely avoiding a collision with a massive ponderosa. Pulling back from the feathery boughs that were weighed down by the snow, he dodged around it and pushed on, forcing his weary feet to obey him. Tears of sweet relief sprang to his eyes at the sight of glowing light behind windows in a town not far below. The safety of civilization was almost within his reach.

  “Run Lilly! Don’t wait for me!” he called to his wife.

  Her long black hair flew in a shining arc as she whipped her head around to look at him. Despite the reluctance in her eyes, she sped up. Weakness washed from his muscles in a dizzying rush of hot adrenaline and he flew down the snowy hillside. Breathing hard, he sucked in the pine-scented night air, wincing at the feel of the cold on his raw throat. The blood pounding in his ears almost drowned out the sound of his pursuer following behind him. Almost.

  Below, the glowing beacon of civilization loomed ever closer until finally he could make out a few plowed roads winding between the buildings. Hot tears streamed down his face as he dared to hope that they were going to make it. But just before he reached the road his foot slipped and he went sprawling. An involuntary cry escaped him before he slammed into the snow and lost the air in his lungs.

  Pushing himself up, his eyes searched desperately for his wife. She stood frozen in the middle of the road, her cell phone clutched in her hand. There was no signal out here in the middle of nowhere. But she wasn’t trying to make a phone call. She was snapping a picture of the tall hooded man that stood only a few feet from her, staring her down.

  Those horrible dark eyes moved to him for a moment and white teeth gleamed from within the man’s hood. He knew those eyes. They flicked back to his wife and time slowed to an agonizing crawl. The light of the moon caught on something long and sleek in the man’s hand; a dagger. The man leaped for his wife, collided with her, and took her to the ground. Screaming, he launched himself to his feet and tried to run to her. But something heavy fell upon his back and pinned him to the ground. The flash of a blade was the last thing he saw before he was swallowed by darkness.

  Chapter 1

  The bus flew like a rollercoaster through the wooded landscape, flinging Eren toward a new, unwanted life. All too soon it pulled into the bus station of a tiny town on the outskirts of nowhere Colorado. As if that wasn’t bad enough, she and an aunt she’d never met were going to have to drive another hundred miles into nowhere to find the town of Spruce Knoll.

  Eren’s stomach turned as she entered the tedious crawl of sweaty bodies exiting the bus. What if her aunt didn’t like her? Or worse, what if she was an unbearable tyrant who was furious that child services had saddled her with an unwanted niece? It was too much. She had to remind herself to breathe.

  Clutching her duffle bag a bit tighter, she reminded herself not to overreact.

  See the bright side until you’re forced not to. That’s what her mother always told her. The memory helped slow her breathing and she was able to regain a bit of calm.

  Not willing to stand in the press of rank smelling bodies any longer than she had to, she waited until the crowd around the luggage dissipated. When everyone walked away her big blue suitcase was the last one sitting on the sidewalk. Pulling it up onto its wheels, she turned to follow the retreating crowd toward the small bus station. The sight of a woman who could have been her dead mother brought her to a jarring halt and she sucked in a deep breath.

  At five foot six, this woman was a bit taller than her mother and slender almost to the point of looking anorexic. Her black hair was cut into a cute bob that framed her round face. At first glance one would assume she was Hispanic, but a closer look revealed a more exotic ancestry that was harder to pinpoint. She was Maya, as was all of Eren’s mother’s family.

  “Erendria! It’s fabulo
us to finally meet you!” the woman exclaimed.

  It was hard not to cringe at the use of her full name. Back in California, Eren had never used it. The name had just never fit into her ‘it’ girl persona. Before Eren could respond the woman dashed forward and pulled her into a tight embrace. Everywhere Sylvia touched her sent a tiny electric shock like static electricity across her skin. It wasn’t unpleasant, just strange. It faded quickly but left Eren feeling charged.

  When Sylvia finally let go she began chattering about how much Eren resembled her mother, touching her face and hair as she squealed in delight. Eren could only stare at her in wide-eyed wonder.

  “Oh you have your dad’s blue eyes, how beautiful!” she gushed.

  She’d never really thought of it that way, but Eren supposed her aunt was right; her eyes did look like her father’s. That kind of made her sad and she wasn’t sure how to react. Sylvia continued on without missing a beat, talking all the way to the black JK Wrangler halfway across the parking lot.

  Impressed, Eren stared at the car and muttered, “Wow.” It was the first word she’d gotten in so far.

  “You like it, huh?” Sylvia said with a smile.

  Before she could answer, though, her aunt started going on about four-by-fours, wheel bases, and all kinds of other car talk that might as well have been Greek. Eren tried to smile and nod at what seemed like the appropriate times. She wasn’t about to be rude and admit that she just thought it looked cool.

  Sylvia didn’t so much as pause the conversation when she hefted Eren’s fifty-five pound suitcase into the back of the Jeep. Eren knew it was fifty-five pounds because she had been forced to pay extra when it had been weighed at the airport. Her mouth fell open and she stared in awe at her tiny aunt.

  But Sylvia paid her no mind; she just kept talking as she closed the back of the Jeep and walked around to the driver’s door. When Eren tossed her duffel in the back and crawled into the passenger seat, she was still chatting away. In a way, it was a relief. There was no awkward silence that she felt obligated to fill and her aunt’s enthusiasm was kind of uplifting.

  The Jeep purred to life, and they pulled out onto the highway that would lead them further into nowhere.

  Though the drive to Spruce Knoll took two hours, it flew by. Sylvia chatted the entire time. At first Eren thought maybe she was nervous, but when she kept going strong after an hour, she realized it was just the woman’s personality. Being around her made Eren feel a bit like she’d had too much coffee to drink, as if the attitude was infectious. There wasn’t a single question she could think of to ask that Sylvia didn’t already answer, so she hardly had to speak.

  “I live alone so you’ll have your own room,” Sylvia said, which caught Eren’s attention. That was a relief.

  “My dad is away on a hiking trip but he’ll be back in a month and you’ll get to meet him then,” Sylvia said without missing a beat.

  Hearing that sent a shot of pain through Eren’s heart. A love of hiking must run in the family. Still, she wondered how he could go hiking so soon after what had happened to Eren’s parents. The thought was quickly washed away in the wave of wonder over the realization that she had a grandfather.

  But Sylvia gave her no chance to ask about him.

  “I’m just so amazed at how much you look like your dad’s mother! Not to worry, honey; she is beautiful,” Sylvia said.

  That piqued her interest too. Her dad had never talked about his family. She knew almost nothing about them.

  “Dad never talked about her,” she interjected when Sylvia’s paused in her endless string of words to take a breath.

  Aunt Sylvia went quiet, and it was a moment before she turned a very serious look on Eren. Shadows of pain hid in the woman’s eyes.

  “They went back to Ireland when your parents got married against their wishes. They didn’t want your dad’s little brother to be influenced by his interracial marriage,” she explained in a harsh tone. “But don’t worry,” she was quick to add with a smile. “On your mom’s side of the family we aren’t nearly as old fashioned.”

  Eren’s mind reeled. She’d had no idea things had been quite that bad between her parents and grandparents, nor did she know she had an uncle on her dad’s side.

  They crested a massive hill and the encroaching forest drew back to reveal the shape of houses in the distance. The sun had just begun to set, painting the sky a bloody red. Maybe it was just her pessimistic mood, but Eren took it as a bad sign. Dusk had brought with it a thick fog that obscured everything below about two and a half feet from the ground. Fifty feet or so from the road, at the edge of the forest, Eren saw a pair of eyes above the mist. No, not one pair; several pairs.

  At first she thought they were dogs. Then she realized they were much too large to be dogs. Fear raced up her spine, setting every nerve on edge.

  “Are those wolves?” she asked, her voice breaking on the last word. All she could think of was the policeman’s words: “animal attack”. She would never be able to look at wild animals the same again.

  Sylvia’s eyes didn’t even flick in that direction. “Uh huh,” she murmured in an uninterested tone.

  “So close to town! Aren’t they dangerous?” Eren asked, working hard at not letting the fear into her voice this time.

  “Some are,” Sylvia admitted.

  It seemed like such a strange thing to say. Eren wanted to protest but couldn’t speak past the lump in her throat.

  Instead, she turned her gaze back out the window. The wolves were gone. A beautiful wooden sign welcomed them to Spruce Knoll. Population 1,005 was carved at the bottom. Eren groaned. Back home there had been more people than that in her prep school. No doubt the population had been part of why her parents had chosen to leave this Podunk town. It had to be! A horrible picture of hicks tipping cows entered her mind.

  As they approached the first of the houses, Eren started to feel a bit sick to her stomach. Though, it wasn’t the kind of sick where you needed to throw up. Pressure closed in from all sides as if they had driven into the middle of a storm. Her heart started to race, sending blood pounding through her head. That was going to turn into a headache for sure. Sometimes before a track meet this happened, but never quite this bad. She took a few deep breaths and the feeling started to fade. Like her aunt’s hug had earlier, the deep breaths left her feeling full of energy.

  They drove down the aptly named ‘Main Street’ headed straight for a looming mountain. Fine homes with ridiculously large yards lined the street. She was forced to rethink her original assessment. Podunk this was not, nor was it a simple mining town. There was money here, old money. The houses looked like something straight out of an old Dracula movie. They were massive brick structures adorned with far too much wrought iron. On the other side of the street, most of the houses were actually made from adobe.

  In a few miles, they approached a roundabout that sat in the middle of four intersecting roads. Just beyond the roundabout Eren saw houses and buildings that looked distinctly like Chinese architecture, and on the opposite side of the road were brightly colored homes that contrasted in their simplicity. These people took pride in the ancestry to extremes.

  “That’s kind of strange,” Eren said.

  “What’s that sweety?”

  “The houses. They’re so different on each side of the crossroads of town,” Eren said.

  It was as though four totally different cultures butted up against one another at the edges of the crossroads. To say it was weird was putting it mildly.

  “Spruce Knoll was colonized by immigrants from Ireland, Mexico, Romania, and Tibet,” Sylvia said.

  Normally this would have sounded like a history lesson and Eren would have tuned it out. But Tibet? She had never heard of people emigrating from Tibet. That seemed odd, not to mention the strange mixture of four very different cultures. What in the world could have brought them all here? Some kind of mine or something? But her aunt hardly took a breath and gave her no chance to
ask.

  “They were driven from their homelands, persecuted,” Sylvia said.

  She made it sound like the Salem witch trials.

  When they reached the roundabout, Eren realized it was more than just an intersection. The roundabout was huge, easily a hundred feet across. It was raised above the level of the road and surrounded by tiered stone benches. There were four pathways between the benches, mimicking the intersecting roads.

  “I’ve never seen a turnabout that big,” Eren commented.

  “They have them in Europe. That’s more than just a turnabout though. It’s also the town’s meeting center,” Sylvia explained.

  As they rounded the turnabout, Eren saw a shape standing right in the middle of the road. It was a teenage boy with dark hair and eyes. He was sneering at them as if they were the ones who didn’t belong on the road. The Jeep lurched as Aunt Sylvia slammed on the brakes.

  “Dammit!” she cried.

  They came to an abrupt stop only inches from the boy. His lips curled up from his teeth into a sneer. There was a look of fury in his eyes that was completely unwarranted. Hate-filled energy rolled off him, raising bumps on Eren’s arms. She tried to ignore it, knowing it was crazy to think she could feel his energy. Things like that happened to her all the time but she knew she was just over sensitized because of her mother’s new age views. After spitting a few cuss words at them, the boy shot out of sight at a speed that would have impressed Eren’s old track coach.

  “What’s his problem?” Eren asked.

  “He’s a little bastard,” Aunt Sylvia mumbled, sounding like she wasn’t surprised in the least.

  Shaking her head, she pressed on the gas pedal again. A few minutes later, they took a left turn onto a gravel road that wound up through a forest of spruce trees and Eren forgot all about the turnabout.

  The forest was beautiful and mysterious and so thick that it choked out the last of the fading sun. Rather than make it frightening, the darkness made it more alluring. Eren rolled down her window and breathed deep of the sweet evergreen scent. She loved the forest, always had.