Autumn Secrets (Numinous Book 1)

  Contents

  Autumn Secrets

  Dedication

  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

  Acknowledgements

  About the Author

  Autumn Secrets

  By Ivy Rose

  Copyright © 2020 Ivy Rose

  All rights reserved.

  This is a work of fiction, any similarities to real incidents and people is purely coincidental. No part of this work may be reproduced without written permission from the author, except for brief quotations in an article or book reviews.

  Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

  Dedication

  To my dad:

  My hero, who left us all to soon. I love you and I miss you every day. Until we meet again…

  And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light…

  Corinthians 11:14

  Chapter 1

  “I forgot how beautiful autumn is in this part of the world.” I sighed dreamily as I watched the idyllic scenery unfold outside the car window. The widespread forest looked like a rainbow of autumn colours with its yellow, orange and red leaves. The hilly landscape with its lakes and rivers was dotted with little red houses, and the mountain ranges in the distance were basking in the afternoon sun, making them look like they were made of pure gold. It looked like a perfect postcard.

  Mum glanced at me and chuckled. “Yes, it’s quite exquisite, isn’t it?”

  Mum was born and raised in this quiet part of the world, where almost half of the country is covered in forest, extending all the way beyond the Arctic Circle. It’s a very cold climate with long, severe winters, but when the short summers finally come along, the sun never seems to set beyond the horizon. Mum stayed here until she was twenty. By then my grandparents’ antique business had expanded dramatically and they needed someone to run a second office in Vancouver. Mum was an only child and eager to work within the family business, so she gladly packed her bags and made the big move away from the little town of Angel Falls. She met my dad shortly after moving, and not long after they’d met she fell pregnant with me.

  That was all I knew about their love story. I didn’t know how they met or, more importantly, why everything ended, because Mum never talked about him. I didn’t even know what my dad looked like. I look so much like my mum with my long, dark hair and moss green eyes. We even share the same oval-shaped face. This leaves me with very little room to imagine what my dad could possibly look like. I knew Mum deliberately kept things from me, most likely to try and spare my feelings, but it made me feel insecure in a way. In the back of my mind I had always wondered if they ended because of me but I’d always been too much of a coward to ask. Deep down, I guess I was too terrified of the answer.

  All I knew was that my dad left before I was even born. Mum moved back to Angel Falls just before she gave birth to me and I spent the first six years of my life here, living in my grandparents’ manor, before we moved away. A tragic car accident took both my grandparents’ lives when I was twelve years old. The last time I ever set foot in this part of the Northern Hemisphere was when we had to come back for their funeral.

  Now we were back here again to live for a year and run the family business from the head office. That was Mum’s plan anyway, as far as I’d been told. Apparently, the manager for the past few years was set to retire so Mum decided to come back and work from Angel Falls for a while. She said we were coming back because of the business but I had a feeling there was a little bit more to it. I think she wanted to see how well I would fit into a small town like this, and how I would manage such a dramatic change. Mum was tired of moving around and was longing to settle down somewhere permanently, and I think she always had her mind set on returning to Angel Falls.

  Personally, it didn’t really matter to me where I lived. It didn’t even bother me that I’d be going to a new school to finish my final year. I was used to it. I’d moved quite a lot in my life. We’d lived in Vancouver, Barcelona, Seattle and Paris. I’d only ever attended international schools, where a lot of the students were in the same situation as myself. They stayed for a year or two, then they moved on with their parents to the next city or country, just like me. I quickly learned that the easiest way to cope with the constant changes around me was to not get attached to other people or develop any kind of real friendship. It was too complicated, and I couldn’t see how it would last. I lived by that rule and that’s why I never had trouble leaving when we had to move on. I never had any close friends to say goodbye to. I just got on with my life like nothing had ever happened. I was used to that kind of lifestyle, and I didn’t mind being alone. In fact, I craved it.

  Coming back here made me a little bit nervous though. This wasn’t another big city; this was a small town with a population of less than six thousand. In these little towns people knew each other. They were close, and I wasn’t sure how they would welcome someone like me here. It was the final year of high school, and everyone else would have known each other for a lifetime. I would be the odd one out and for the first time in my life, I actually cared that I was going to be that person. The closer we got to Angel Falls, the more nervous I became.

  After another fifteen minutes of admiring the scenery outside the car window, I spotted the little town in the valley, nestled between the hills and magical mountains. Suddenly, butterflies were fluttering wildly in my stomach. “Home sweet home,” Mum murmured. She threw me a quick glance. “Are you nervous, Aurora?”

  “Yeah, a little bit,” I admitted. I could never lie to her; it was pointless to even try. She always seemed to know what was going on in my head.

  “Don’t be. This will be great, I promise. In fact, I have little surprise for you tomorrow night.”

  “Okay, you do know how I feel about surprises, don’t you?” I said flatly as I braced myself for what was to come. I hated surprises, big or small, and she knew that. I liked being in control. I always wanted to know what was going on around me.

  “Well, I know you’re worried about not fitting in here this time, in a small town like this, so I’ve organised a little dinner tomorrow night.”

  “With whom?” I asked, warily.

  “With your friend Lexi and her parents.”

  “My friend Lexi? Mum, you can’t do that! We were friends when we were, like, six years old! I don’t even really remember her! This is so embarrassing!” I groaned.

  “No, it’s not. Now you’re being silly. I know Lexi would love to see you.”

  “Do you honestly believe that she will even remember me, if I can’t remember her?! It’s like you’ve set us up for a playdate. I’m a little bit too old for that, Mum.”

  “Aurora, don’t be silly. That’s not what I intended to do at all. Lexi’s parents are good friends of mine, and Lexi would love to see you. We’re having dinner tomorrow night and that’s the end of it.”

  I sighed and turned my attention back toward the window. I didn’t understand the sudden urgency to all of this. Lexi’s parents were apparently really good friends with Mum, which was kind of weird because I’d never heard her speak of them until a couple of days ago. And now she was hostin
g this dinner party, before we even had a chance to settle in. I was going to continue to argue with her but I got distracted as we drove into Angel Falls. It was early in the evening and all the little shops were closed. I spotted a small café with an empty verandah; not a chair or table in sight. It reminded me that the colder, darker months were lurking around the corner. It was too cold to sit outside even now, and it wouldn’t take long before the freezing winter would arrive without mercy. Paris got cold too, but Mum said that you could really tell when the seasons shifted here.

  We pulled up outside the only big supermarket by the look of it, and an hour later we came out with so many groceries we had trouble fitting everything into the car.

  We continued our drive towards my grandparents’ manor on the outskirts of town. By now, the sun had set for the day so I couldn’t really see anything outside the window anymore. I shifted my focus back to Mum.

  “Thank you for trying – you know with dinner tomorrow and all that.” I was feeling a little bit guilty over my earlier comments because I knew she only wanted to help me. She really believed she was doing me a favour by organising this dinner.

  “It’ll be fun, I promise. Like I said before, I know Lexi’s parents really well. We grew up together. If they didn’t want to come for dinner, they would have told me so.”

  Mum turned off the highway and started driving down a smaller country road with no streetlights at all.

  “I’m surprised you can find your way here, it’s pitch-black,” I said nervously. The only things I could distinguish were the enormous shadows of the pine trees surrounding us.

  “I know this road by heart, Aurora. Don’t be nervous.” She chuckled. “Mr Peters promised to turn the lights on in the house, and Mrs Peters has cooked us a light dinner.” Mr Peters was the maintenance man for the property. His wife took care of the cleaning. They lived in a small house on the other side of the lake and had worked at the manor for as long as I could remember. They’d been like part of the family when I lived here, and I couldn’t wait to see them again.

  Soon enough we had made it to the end of the road and a long, familiar driveway appeared in front of us. Sometimes the things you remember as big and overwhelming when you were little, don’t really seem so imposing when you see them again years later. Well, this was an exception. It still looked exactly as I remembered it; the manor in front of us was enormous.

  “Wow,” was all I managed to say as I tried to take it all in.

  “Yes, it never fails to impress, does it?” Mum stopped the car and got out, and I quickly followed her move. We stood there next to each other, observing the manor in silence. It was a white two-storey mansion, with front steps leading up to a massive oak door. There were big windows everywhere and a small balcony in the middle of the second floor. Above that was an attic with two smaller windows. I couldn’t even remember how many rooms there were, but I knew there were a lot of them. I had a faint memory of playing hide-and-seek when I was younger, and the manor was like a never-ending maze.

  “Well, let’s get everything inside,” said Mum.

  It immediately felt like home as soon as we stepped inside the foyer with the old chandelier hanging from the roof. Mum turned off the alarm as I let my eyes sweep across my surroundings, admiring the many paintings on the walls. My grandmother had been a great painter, and the house was full of her work.

  I loved the high ceilings and massive rooms; it was just so easy to breathe in here. There were two broad staircases on either side of the foyer, leading up to a balcony on the second floor. It was like walking into a castle.

  I helped Mum carry the groceries to the kitchen, which was big enough to host one of those cooking shows on TV. I put the groceries down and moved over to the windows to look outside. A deep longing to explore my old surroundings had washed over me as soon as I saw the manor from the car. I was curious to see if everything else looked the same as I remembered it, but I knew I had to wait until the morning. Mum started to unpack food into the fridge, but suddenly stopped and gave me a horrified look.

  “No, no, no! I left the bag with the meat in the shop! How am I supposed to get everything ready for tomorrow? I need to slow-cook everything…”

  “I’ll go back and get it,” I offered straight away.

  “No, you can’t find your way in the dark.”

  “Of course I can. It’s straight ahead up to the main road and then left, all the way into town. It’s like a ten-minute drive, Mum.” I laughed. “This is not a big city; there’s no way I can get lost here.”

  She looked at me. “Are you sure? I mean, I could just go back in the morning.”

  “Don’t be silly, I’ll do it. Where are the keys?”

  “On the table in the foyer. I’ll keep unpacking. If it’s not there, call me and I’ll explain what you need to buy.”

  Chapter 2

  I found a radio station with some decent music as I drove back into town. I hadn’t driven at all since we moved to Paris, as I found it too stressful to navigate my way around. This was a newfound freedom I didn’t know I’d missed. I found the supermarket with ease, just as I told Mum I would, and pulled up in the empty parking lot. I had a feeling you never had to wait to get a park here, even in the busiest part of the day. I walked straight to the cashier when I got inside and, luckily, she had kept our missing shopping bag. I thanked her and was about to jump back in the car and drive home, when my eyes darted to the other end of the main street.

  The street looked completely deserted in the dark. However, it wasn’t the shops I was interested in; something else had awakened my memories. Further down the street was the town library, and the lights were still on. I loved that library; I had really clear memories of going there with my grandmother. It was located in an old church, and its interior honestly looked like the library from a Harry Potter movie. That was how I remembered it anyway. Before I could think twice, I threw the bag with the meat onto the back seat, locked the car and started to walk towards the old church. I wasn’t worried about walking alone at night. I felt safe in this little town, and there were streetlights leading the way anyway. Once I reached the old church, I hurried up the front steps and peeked inside.

  There were still a few people in there, and excitedly I pushed open the door and walked inside. The smell of books and old wood hit me as soon as I entered and it brought a huge smile to my face straight away. There was a lady at the front desk and a group of girls sitting together by a table. I waved to the lady at the desk and continued upstairs. The second floor used to be my favourite place and when I reached the top of the stairs I found, to my relief, that it still looked the same. There were little study nooks everywhere and the dim lighting made it feel so cosy. I walked through an aisle of books and reached a bay window with a cushioned seat. I sat down and looked around me, smiling. I had always found such pleasure being surrounded by books.

  I sat there for a few minutes before a sudden crash near the window behind me made me jump to my feet. I quickly turned and looked out the window, but there was nothing that caught my eye. Maybe it was a bird? When I turned back from the window again, I noticed a book on the floor in front of me. It must have just fallen off the shelf, because I was sure it hadn’t been there when I came in. I reached down to pick it up and an intense feeling of déjà vu swept over me, freezing me to the spot.

  I studied the book cover. Fallen Angels and Demons. For some reason I recognised this book, although it definitely wasn’t what I would normally read. I had just risen to my feet with the book in my hand, when I noticed movement in front of me. My eyes instinctively shot up and found the most striking pair of pale, turquoise-blue eyes I’d ever seen.

  Oh my God.

  I placed my hand over my suddenly pounding heart to try and calm myself down.

  I wasn’t sure if my heart was reacting to being scared by a random stranger or if it was because that stranger happened to be stunningly gorgeous, but I was pretty sure it was the latter. He wa
s very tall, and his black T-shirt hugged flawlessly against his well-toned body. His raven black, tousled hair looked so silky I almost wanted to reach out and touch it. I realised I had been staring and he was staring right back at me. His eyes were mesmerising, reminding me of the lakes around the Rocky Mountains. He was absolutely spellbinding. My stomach fluttered, and a sudden rush of heat coloured my cheeks in an unwelcome way.

  “Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you.” His voice was smooth and deep. I shuddered slightly. He casually took a step closer, his gaze still steadily locked on mine, affecting me in an unfamiliar way. His god-like looks combined with his confident approach screamed trouble from a mile away. Adding to the lethal combination was his playful, yet seductive smile. I was usually far from adventurous or confident enough to even look at someone like him but here I was dumbstruck by his presence, unable to tear my eyes away.

  “It’s just that no one ever comes here on a Friday night. I thought I was alone,” he continued as he stopped right in front of me. His eyes stayed locked on mine, making my head spin and my eyes begin to hurt. This was crazy. I could almost feel my knees begin to buckle underneath me.

  “N-no, that’s okay,” I mumbled with a shaky voice, as I tried to draw a breath.

  “Are you sure?” He grinned and arched an eyebrow, like he could tell exactly what kind of effect he was having on me. I nodded and tried to divert my gaze away from him, but it was impossible. I was hypnotised. “I’m Adrian. Adrian Hunter.”

  “Aurora Kinsley.”

  I thought I saw a flicker of surprise, or perhaps recognition when I mentioned my name, but that was silly. Why would he recognise my name? Did he know me when I used to live here? Wishful thinking, I suppose.

  His eyes roamed my face, curiously. “So, Aurora Kinsley, what brings you to the library of all places on a Friday night?”

  His voice was soft and soothing against my tingling skin, and it spoke to me on a deeper level than I could explain, singing in tune with my body and mind. It was almost as if it was calling to me. It was the most unsettling feeling I’d ever experienced. It was almost like I was falling under a spell and I was completely powerless to stop it.