One spot of pressure drew closer, heading straight for her. Sniffling, she swallowed the lump in her throat and tried in vain to wipe her tears away. The footsteps stopped directly in front of her. Brushing the dark curtain of her long hair aside, she looked up.
A man who looked to be in his early fifties stood over her. He had a full head of salt and pepper hair, kind brown eyes, and darkly tanned skin. No, not tanned, Eren realized. He was Maya, and he looked remarkably similar to her mother.
“Eren, please come home,” he said as he extended a hand to her.
Hope and disbelief battled within her.
“Grandfather?” she asked.
The title caused a look of pain to flash across the man’s features. His hand trembled before her. Joy lit his eyes as he smiled and nodded.
A staggering relief bubbled through Eren. She launched to her feet and straight into his arms. False hope held no hooks in her heart, though. As much as she wanted to hear it, she knew he wasn’t going to tell her it had all been a mistake or a joke. The blue energy that had leaked out of her and threatened to make her explode had not been a hallucination.
It was not illusions of an old reality that made her cling to her grandfather as he scooped her into his arms. Nor was it hopes that he would contradict her aunt’s story. It was joy and desperation wrought from the knowledge that she had a grandfather. With him and Aunt Sylvia she now had a family again. However strange or supernatural they may be, they were hers. That thought scared her as much as it comforted her.
***
The cup of hot chocolate was warm and comforting in Eren’s hands, but she had yet to take a drink. After the worry she had caused she wasn’t about to be rude by telling Sylvia she’d prefer coffee. She sat with Sylvia, and her grandfather, at the dining room table, a blanket wrapped around her shoulders. Sylvia had been apologizing for the last fifteen minutes. At first Eren had tried to stop her, insisting that she was the one who should be sorry. But then she’d realized she would just have to let her aunt get it all out.
Finally, when she started babbling, Eren reached over and put her hand atop Sylvia’s, stopping the flow of words. Though she wanted to run screaming from the room, Eren managed a gentle smile.
“There’s no way you could have said it that wouldn’t have freaked me out. Stop blaming yourself,” she told her.
When she began to protest Eren squeezed her hand and shook her head. Sylvia closed her mouth and smiled. Eren’s grandfather—Zolin, he had said his name was—reached out and put his hand atop both of theirs. They were so caring and concerned that it made it hard to be cold to them.
“You must have questions,” he said. His voice was deep and rich, thick with an accent that wasn’t quite Spanish, but was similar.
That accent made Eren wonder what his age really was, it sounded very old world. Her first impression had been that he was in his early fifties. But now that she got a closer look at him he looked far too vital and fit to be that old. Not that she thought people in their fifties were broken down and decrepit, that wasn’t it at all. The color of her grandfather’s skin was too even, its texture too smooth and healthy looking. He had crow’s feet at the corners of his eyes and laugh-lines around his mouth, but that was it. His shoulders didn’t hunch even the slightest bit and his joints didn’t have that too-tight look.
Now that she really looked, she thought he appeared to be in his early forties. This would make sense considering her aunt looked to be in her early twenties. The problem was there was something deep in both of their eyes that looked much older than either of them could possibly be. It was hard to identify, something Eren felt more than saw.
“Actually, I do,” Eren said after a moment.
There were so many questions to ask that she had no idea where to begin. All the books she’d read and all the movies she’d seen sprang to mind and only muddled things. Well, almost all the books. Every myth and legend she’d ever heard on the subject brought up a new question or a new fear.
“That book wasn’t fiction was it?”
Her grandfather looked confused but Aunt Sylvia dropped her head and hid behind her short hair, which only partially obscured the look of guilt on her face.
“No it isn’t. I was afraid you might have found it. I wanted to tell you before you read that, so I wouldn’t sound like a crazy woman,” she said.
Everything sounded crazy to Eren right now but she didn’t want to make matters worse by saying that aloud.
“Which book?” Zolin asked.
“Life In A Society,” Sylvia said as she lifted her head. She still wouldn’t meet Eren’s gaze though.
Grandfather smiled and nodded.
To distract herself from the anger that was starting to rise within, Eren asked, “How much can we control the energy?”
Her grandfather looked impressed, as though he hadn’t expected her to ask something like that. She might feel proud if she wasn’t so freaked out.
“Completely, eventually. But such control must be learned, we’ll help teach you,” he said.
She felt her brow crease as her stomach clenched into knots. Though that certainly sounded better than the often dangerous way movies portrayed magic, it still wasn’t encouraging. Since she didn’t know how to control it, did that mean she might feel the need to explode at any time? She was too afraid to find out the answer to that, so she asked a different question instead.
“What happens when I release it?”
Sylvia and Zolin exchanged a look.
“That depends on what kind of channeler you are and how powerful you are,” Aunt Sylvia said.
“What kind?”
She recalled the book saying something about two kinds of channelers, but she hadn’t got to a part where it said what that meant.
The hard look Eren gave her must have been too much because her aunt looked down at her hot chocolate. Grandfather met her gaze and held it though. The gentleness was gone from his eyes and he suddenly looked all business.
“The more powerful channelers can hurt or heal people with their energy. You may be able to push or move things or people, how hard depends on how powerful you are. Rector channelers can even command and use the energy of other channelers and creatures. We are strongest during the full moon because it and all the celestial bodies affect our power just as they affect the Earth,” Zolin explained.
“Dad, not too much at once,” Sylvia protested.
Eren was stuck on the first part of what he’d said. “Hurt and heal people?” she asked.
Aunt Sylvia shook her head. “Not both, dear, one or the other. We are either warriors or healers. Which one will reveal itself when you let the energy out,” she said.
Eren’s eyes dropped to her hot chocolate. She swirled the melted marshmallow around with her finger. “Am I even human?” she whispered.
Aunt Sylvia’s hand gripped her arm tight. “Of course. We are just tapped into the Earth’s energy and are in tune with it more than most. If anything that makes us more human, not less,” she said.
Eren wanted to be comforted by that but she wasn’t. She looked up at her aunt. Part of her wished her parents had told her the truth a long time ago. Another part of her understood why they hadn’t and was grateful that she had the chance to feel normal at least for a little while.
Sylvia must have read the look on her face because she shook her head and said, “no honey, there are no silly questions. Please don’t feel bad for asking.”
“Don’t worry. You will be able to control it completely some day,” her grandfather said.
Finally, something encouraging. That made it sound a bit less like she was going to be a freak who couldn’t even function. In fact, that almost made it sound kind of cool. Except that the moon was bound to be full soon and he had said their power was the strongest then. She had to learn to control it, fast.
“How do I control it?” she asked so fast she almost tripped over the words.
“You’ve already star
ted to learn. Mundane thoughts help,” Sylvia said.
“Yes, I heard you did a remarkable job, better even than some who’ve had months to work on it,” her grandfather said with a raise of one eyebrow.
Maybe there was hope that she could remain normal a bit longer. Or at least, pretend she was. She’d lost so much. Did she really have to lose that too? As Aiden had said, ‘you can’t really lose something you never had’. Sure, he’d been talking about something else, but it still applied.
“If we’re human then can anyone be a channeler?” she asked.
Aunt Sylvia and her grandfather exchanged an amused look. So much for no silly questions. They probably thought she was just a naïve girl who had seen one too many movies.
“Yes and no. The potential is there but their minds have been closed off for so long the possibility is almost non-existent for them. Our family has been channelers for as far back as anyone can remember. We nurture the power and learn to control it. We’ve never forgotten and shut it off like most people have,” Zolin explained.
That was so not comforting. She wanted to shut it off and forget.
“You said some of us are warriors. Do we kill people?” She practically had to choke out the word ‘kill’.
Just thinking about it raised such an intense fear within her that she felt dizzy again. Since the dizziness was usually followed by the weird vibrating feeling that had something to do with the energy, she fought to control her fear. Was it possible the thought on killing triggered it? That idea made her nauseous for an entirely different reason. Turning into a freak she could handle, turning into a killer she could not.
“No! We can, but we don’t. We’re no more killers than regular people,” her grandfather insisted. He looked like he wanted to say something more but wasn’t sure if he should.
So if the idea of killing hadn’t caused the feeling, what had? Then it hit her. Anxiety brought it on. Great, that was almost worse. No wonder it happened with puberty. She thought that if she could control the energy maybe she could deal with this. That thought helped to calm her a little.
Eren soaked it all in and tried to think of her next question, but there was just too much cluttering her mind. Obviously they weren’t immortal or her parents wouldn’t be dead. Staring off into the kitchen at nothing, she drank her hot chocolate and tried to think. A deep weariness was settling over her and scattering her thoughts even worse.
“Is it just our family or are there more?” she finally asked.
“It’s the entire town dear,” her grandfather said.
Her eyes widened and her face flushed as her blood began to race.
The entire town? No way! She just couldn’t wrap her mind around it. Earlier, when all this had started, Aunt Sylvia had tried to tell her that but she’d blocked it out. Hearing it again made it terribly real. It would explain the whole territorial thing, according to the book at least.
“Every last person. Though the Irish call themselves druids,” Aunt Sylvia said.
Eren wasn’t sure if she should feel comforted by that or intimidated. It did kind of help to know that Aiden was one too. At least this way there was a good chance he wouldn’t run screaming from her.
Sylvia took the mug from her and told her, “You should get some sleep. You look exhausted.”
That was exactly how Eren felt. Going to bed sounded like a very good idea. She was until she stood up and the world swayed. Zolin was at her side in a second, an arm around her waist to support her.
With ease, her grandfather more than half-carried her up the stairs and placed her into the queen sized bed. It shouldn’t have been as easy as he made it look. Eren was slender to be sure, but she had a solid, athletic body that tipped the scale over one-twenty. How old was he really? Those questions faded away as he bid her good night and promised to talk more in the morning.
As soon as he eased the door closed Eren remembered something, the gift from her mother.
Oh God, where did I put it?
Strength returned to her in a rush and she sprung from the bed and ran to the closet. Throwing things everywhere, she dug through her backpack. It wasn’t in there. Close to hyperventilating, she sat still and took a few deep breaths. Her jacket, the one she hadn’t touched since she’d arrived here! Springing up, she grabbed it off a hanger and pulled it back to the floor with her. There it was, right where she’d left it in the pocket. Her hands shook as she retrieved the tiny box wrapped in pink and gold paper.
After a deep breath she tore the box open. Inside was a milky white round pendant in a silver setting. The closet was dark so she popped back up to turn the light on. It was a moonstone. Eren knew because her mother had a necklace similar to it, only her mother’s was in the shape of a crescent moon. A few tries later, her shaking fingers drew it out of the box. The chain of silver and white beads was long enough she was able to slip it over her head and it hung down past her bra line.
Sobs seized her again as she realized her mother was probably going to tell her their family secret when she gave her this necklace. Now she’d never be able to talk to her about it.
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 energ
y 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.
The Secret Of Spruce Knoll: A Channeler Novel Page 6