The Secret of Spruce Knoll Read Online Free

of wished Aunt Sylvia would have locked the dead bolt.
    “Wolves, it looked like wolves,” Eren muttered.
    “Don’t worry about them. They won’t bother you again, I promise.”
    Dropping her head to hide her doubt behind her hair, Eren nodded. “I thought I saw a person,” she said, feeling silly the moment the words left her lips.
    “The dark can play tricks on the eyes. Why don’t you go up and try to get some sleep?” Aunt Sylvia said with a smile that looked a bit forced.
    Eren smiled back, knowing it probably looked even less convincing. She tolerated a kiss on the cheek before turning to go upstairs. Once inside the dark of her own room, Eren’s idea of animals not being able to open doors didn’t sustain her false sense of safety. There was something very strange about the way her aunt had just told them to leave, and they had. Something wasn’t quite right here. Before climbing into bed, she locked both the bedroom door and the window. It was a long time before she fell into a fitful sleep.

Chapter 3

    The heat of the late June sun finally forced Eren from bed. Barely awake, she went through the motions of her morning routine. She pulled a brush through her damp, long black hair and tied it up into a ponytail. Wincing, she slipped into a sports bra that had just recently become way too small, and a pair of jogging shorts. A lingering nightmare about the wolves made her stop and grab her mace from her purse. She had to get out despite the danger but she didn’t have to go unarmed. Clipping her I-pod to the strap of her sports bra, she crept through the quiet house.
    The sun hadn’t even been up an hour before she reached the paved road and settled into a comfortable jog. She ran west, away from town, hoping to avoid people altogether. It should have been an easy thing to do, considering she was stuck in the middle of nowhere with only a little over a thousand people in town.
    About a mile down the road she was fully immersed in the zone, her breathing steady and her pace smooth. She loved to run. The world and all the troubles in it seemed to melt away when her blood got pumping and her muscles had the chance to stretch. Something about running out here felt better than running in L.A., much as she hated to admit it. It was more than just the fact that she didn’t have to worry about being mugged. The air was clean and easy to breathe, the pine-needle strewn roadside felt great beneath her feet, and the sweet, earthy scents of the forest were invigorating.
    Each stride brought her closer to a bridge that lie ahead. The song she was listening to ended and during the pause she heard the flow of a river. Then the next song drowned everything out again.
    Eyes on the road ahead of her, she crossed the bridge without slowing—and was blind-sided. The second she hit the black top on the other side of the bridge, a figure stepped into her path. Whatever it was must have been downwind and moving very fast, otherwise she would have noticed it. She and the figure tumbled to the ground in a tangled heap.
    Eren’s knee hurt and her elbow stung, but she forgot about them both in an instant. Above her hovered the most amazing hazel eyes, framed by a shock of tousled brown hair streaked through with black highlights. It was a boy and he was lying on top of her. She fought a flush of embarrassment and lost.
    Smiling a sheepish grin, he paused a moment before standing up and offering her his hand. She accepted it and was pulled up into his arms. He let her go and quickly stepped back.
    “Sorry, I was coming up from the river and didn’t see you,” he said.
    He had a nice voice, and it just got better from there. Wearing only a pair of swim shorts, he looked like he’d stepped out of an Abercrombie and Fitch ad. His face looked too young for his body, but it wasn’t an unattractive combination, not by a long shot.
    Something warm trickled down her arm and distracted her. That warmth dripped into her hand. Her