Grim Hill: Forest of Secrets Read online

  Table of Contents

  reviews

  title

  rights

  dedication

  CHAPTER 1 – Uneasy Beginnings

  CHAPTER 2 - A Haunting Past

  CHAPTER 3 - A Bad Omen

  CHAPTER 4 - A Dire Departure

  CHAPTER 5 - A Wicked Illusion

  CHAPTER 6 - A Perilous Ride

  CHAPTER 7 - A Narrow Escape

  CHAPTER 8 - Forest of Darkness

  CHAPTER 9 - A Dicey Decision

  CHAPTER 10 - Deadly Encounters

  CHAPTER 11 - Dangerous Magic

  CHAPTER 12 - A Diabolical Plot

  CHAPTER 13 - A Treacherous Choice

  CHAPTER 14 - Dead Lost

  CHAPTER 15 - A Sinister Turn

  CHAPTER 16 - A Foreboding Discovery

  CHAPTER 17 - The Nightmare Begins

  CHAPTER 18 - Night Terrors

  CHAPTER 19 - A Menacing Fiend

  CHAPTER 20 - Disturbing Visions

  CHAPTER 21 - A Dark Despair

  CHAPTER 22 - Sookie’s Mistake

  CHAPTER 23 - A Grave Plan

  CHAPTER 24 - Mirror Madness

  CHAPTER 25 - A Fiendish Bargain

  CHAPTER 26 - A Secret Door

  CHAPTER 27 - A Ghastly Sacrifice

  CHAPTER 28 - Dark Whispers

  CHAPTER 29 - Mirror Magic

  CHAPTER 30 - A Dreadful Homecoming

  CHAPTER 31 - An Unsettling Mystery

  CHAPTER 32 - Carnival of Horrors

  About the Author

  CHAPTER 33 - An Uncertain Future

  Discover the entire award-winning “Grim Hill” Series

  Praise for the “Grim Hill” series:

  “Solid tween appeal …” – The Globe and Mail

  “… a pre-Steven King novel for tween readers.”

  – BellaOnline.com

  “… a storyline that fantasy addicts will devour.”

  – Montreal Review of Books

  “[An] appealing mix of realism, whimsy, and legend.”

  – Booklist

  “… bubbles along at a magical pace … creepy enough to cast a spell over anyone who reads it!”

  – Resource Links

  “DeMeulemeester has scored big …” – Vancouver Sun

  “Cat is an engaging heroine, and Grimoire has just the right amount of evil …”

  – January Magazine

  “… an entertaining and worthwhile read.” – Kirkus Reviews

  “We simply want to devour more of this author’s highly readable and intriguing prose that she has a knack for creating … Next installment, please!”

  – CM: Canadian Review of Materials

  Visit the official “Grim Hill” series website:

  www.grimhill.com

  Grim Hill

  Forest of Secrets

  written by

  Linda DeMeulemeester

  Grim Hill: Forest of Secrets Text © 2011 Linda DeMeulemeester

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced,stored in any retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of Grim Hill Press.

  Published by Lobster Press™ in 2011

  Reissued by Grim Hill Press in 2013

  Editor: Mahak Jain Editorial Assistants: Stephanie Campbell & Simon Lewsen Cover Illustration: John Shroades Graphic Design & Production: Tammy Desnoyers Production Assistant: Vo Ngoc Yen Vy

  Remembering Dawn Marie Holtby (Ellis) and Ryan Edward Holtby

  – Best friends forever

  … That is why falling stars are visible for a split second,

  They hope against hope that their light will be seen,

  And that someone will catch them.

  And put them close to their heart,

  And again make their fire start.

  So that again they can shine bright,

  Bringing joy, love, and laughter to all those near their light.

  – Ryan Edward Holtby

  Acknowledgements

  Much appreciation to everyone at Lobster Press for all

  their hard work on the Grim Hill series, with special thanks

  to Alison Fripp and Stephanie Hindley. Thank you to

  Mahak Jain and her assistants, Stephanie Campbell and

  Simon Lewsen, for their insightful editorial feedback!

  John Shroades, your covers are pure enchantment.

  Love to John, Alec, and Joey.

  – Linda DeMeulemeester

  CHAPTER 1 – Uneasy Beginnings

  THE TALL GRAY lockers of Shadowridge High loomed over me while my friends and I waited for Jasper to leave the library. I rubbed my clammy palms against my jeans. Call it déjà vu. I’d started a new school before and I knew from experience it wasn’t fun.

  I swallowed. Courage, Cat, I told myself. After all, just the day before you were looking forward to this.

  “Wow, this school is a lot bigger than Darkmont,” Amarjeet said. The edge in her voice made me think I wasn’t the only one who had butterflies backflipping in her stomach.

  This place was huge – and a maze. I would need a map to navigate my way around senior high. Zach gave my hand a reassuring squeeze. Immediately, Clive shot me an irritated look.

  “Time doesn’t stop for anyone,” said our history teacher, Mr. Morrows. He was also our chaperone for Orientation Day. His voice echoed down the hall and our group began moving again.

  “C’mon,” Mia said when I hesitated. “The tour is starting again. Mr. Morrows isn’t waiting any longer. He already said he had to get back to Darkmont in the afternoon.”

  I shrugged. Jasper would have to find us on his own. I followed my friends down the hall of our new school – well, technically it wouldn’t be our school until September. This was only Orientation Day. But I still felt the way I had when I’d first started at Darkmont. I’d been sort of anxious then too. But this should be different. This time I actually had friends. Looking everywhere but in front of me, I bumped into Clive.

  “Walk much?” he said sarcastically.

  Ever since the flight home from Sweden, Clive and I had returned to square one. He’d finally started being nicer, but now he was worse than ever. I sighed. Even having friends brought complications. Now that I was almost fourteen, I wondered if life would ever be simple again, like it was when I was nine, my kid sister Sookie’s age.

  As if answering my question, Mr. Morrows guided us to our next stop on the tour: the science lab, which was really a science auditorium. There was nothing simple about this place. It was set up like a gigantic wagon wheel: the demonstration table sat in the center and the student lab tables were lined up in rows that resembled the spokes. The lab counters and tables had the cold gleam of stainless steel, and I didn’t want to know what those sharp surgical instruments on the trays were used for. This lab was very different from Darkmont’s shabby old science classroom, which only had faded animal posters and a dog-eared chart of the periodic table on the walls.

  The butterflies in my stomach backflipped again. I’d let Ms. Dreeble, my science teacher, talk me into taking advanced science at senior high, but judging by this superdeluxe, high tech lab, it would be a challenge.

  Jasper rejoined our group, but he didn’t look nearly as bothered as Mr. Morrows that he had lagged behind. Instead, Jasper’s smile was that of somebody who’d just found a new best friend.

  “You should have spent longer checking out the library – it’s amazing,” Jasper said.

  “Welcome back, Mr. Chung,” Mr. Morrows said, not sounding welcoming at all. “I’m so glad you had time to join us again,” he finished sarcastically.

 
I pushed away my worrisome thoughts and elbowed Jasper.

  “Hey,” I whispered. “Watch out – besides making it on Mr. Morrows’s blacklist, you could lose your hard-earned jock image. Everyone will know you’re secretly a geek and a bona fide bookworm. Then your reputation at senior high will be toast.”

  Jasper grinned, and ignoring my advice, continued. “There are more books in this library than in our town library.” That was Jasper. He couldn’t care less what others thought of him and somehow that made him even cooler. Go figure.

  We piled out of the science lab and straggled along the endless hallways. Amarjeet was impressed with the easels and potting wheel in the art room, while Mia gushed in “oohs” and “aahs” over the big stage and greenroom in the drama studio.

  “Check out the music room’s speakers and take a look at those amps,” Clive said admiringly, until he saw me nod in agreement. “Not like I was talking to you,” he mumbled.

  “No, you were talking to yourself,” I snapped. I was getting tired of his constant digs. “You think you’re the only interesting person in this room.” Clive and I had been through a lot together – battling fairies and witches, surviving being captured by trolls. You’d think that would create a few bonds. Not that he remembered all that, but still …

  “There are other interesting people in this room,” Clive taunted. “Just not you.” Then he turned his back on me and walked away.

  So much for bonds.

  “Ignore him,” Zach said coolly. For some reason, Zach, Darkmont School’s most popular boy, had invited me to sit beside him on the plane back from Sweden. So had Clive – but how could I resist Zach, the golden boy I’d had a crush on since the beginning of school? I didn’t see why that meant Clive and I couldn’t get along. It’s not like Zach and I were dating. Mom wouldn’t allow that until I was at least sixteen. She’d made that clear. Shaking my head, I trailed behind as we headed for the lunch area.

  “Whoa, check out the cafeteria. They have burgers and fries!” Mitch sounded half-starved. Our lunch counter at Darkmont only served soggy chicken fingers for the main course.

  Then my steps quickened as we headed for not one, but three gyms. There was clearly an upside to attending a big school. Sports trophies filled a series of glass cases and the biggest trophy was awarded to the girls’ soccer team.

  I’d signed up for summer soccer camp and I couldn’t help thinking that it might give me an edge. Maybe I’d make the tryouts of a champion team.

  “Hello. Now we’re talking.” Zach glanced at the shining basketball court in the first gym. Cool – the doors at the back were open, and we could see that there was a track and two soccer fields outside.

  “The girls and guys won’t have to fight for practice time,” Amarjeet exclaimed.

  “You’re forgetting we’ll be the youngest in this school and lowest priority,” Clive pointed out.

  “Not to mention our commute time might cut into practice time,” I worried. “We’ll be on a bus for an hour and a half each way.” Our town didn’t have a high school, so we would have to travel back and forth into the city every day. Mom had suggested I could get a lot of homework done in that time, but riding on a bus always made me feel a little woozy. I’d probably only have enough energy to socialize, or maybe listen to music – especially the days I stayed late for soccer practice.

  “Don’t be negative, guys,” said Mia. “We’ve been waiting to go to senior high school all our lives.”

  That may have been a slight exaggeration, but it was all we’d been talking about these past weeks. I didn’t think I was being negative. I mean, I was excited, for the most part. Except …

  The students walking these halls seemed so much older. I hated the way they looked at us and smirked, like we were little kids. I’d had about enough of that when we’d visited our sister school, Svartsberg, in Sweden. Right now, at Darkmont, we were the oldest group and I liked how the younger kids looked up to us. Okay, that’s weird – I hated Darkmont when I began there. Why did I suddenly feel nostalgic?

  For our next stop on the tour, we visited the counselors’ offices, where student guides handed out pages and pages of forms for our parents to sign. We stuffed them in our backpacks without a second glance. As we started leaving, a counselor called out – “Caitlin Peters?”

  I hung back as my friends filed out of the office. “Um, it’s Cat Peters.”

  “The register says Caitlin,” she said, staring at her file and not even looking up at me. She reminded me of our vice-principal, Ms. Severn, with her short clipped hair and severely cut suit. But Ms. Severn at least looked at you when she spoke.

  It’s all good, I thought. It takes time to settle in at a new school. People sometimes seem cold at the beginning, but they warm up eventually – just like the teachers at Darkmont. Okay, I wouldn’t go that far, but I did see other sides to Ms. Dreeble and Mr. Morrows after they volunteered to become our coaches.

  “Caitlin is fine,” I answered politely.

  She didn’t smile or glance up. Instead, she waved me into a small office. “We need to talk,” she said sternly.

  “I see that your shaky academic reputation has been discovered,” Clive said. He had hung back too and stayed behind long enough to shoot me a spiteful grin.

  I sighed.

  I knew he was just being mean, but I worried he might be right.

  CHAPTER 2 - A Haunting Past

  IT’S FUNNY HOW you’re not really sure you want something until it looks as if someone is going to take it away from you. I clenched and unclenched my fists. “But my teacher recommended me,” I said.

  The counselor, Ms. Needlemeyer, shuffled the files on her desk. A gray folder labeled Caitlin Peters rested on the top. She flipped it open. “When a student is recommended for advanced placement, we have a careful look at the student’s total academic standing. Citizenship and attendance are also scrutinized.” She sized me up and her eyes lingered on my hair, which was streaked green. Stupid fairies had marked me and there was no dye that could cover those green streaks.

  Bad news was coming. I could tell from the way the counselor used the impersonal “student” when referring to me. I wanted to protest that I’d brought my science mark up from a low C to an A over the year. Except Ms. Needlemeyer would have already seen that on my report.

  Frowning, she said, “You were late a lot this past year and had unexcused absences some school days. It says you disappeared for a period of time during a student exchange. There’s a note in your file that you broke into the school in Sweden after hours. A janitor had identified you in the hallway.”

  I hadn’t realized that had gone on my record. My friends and I had snuck into Svartsberg, but only to find our teacher’s daybook. Evil had been lurking on Walpurgis Night and we had to find out who was behind it. Just my luck that I was the one spotted. I’d been saving the town from a diabolical plot, which wasn’t exactly an excuse adults would buy. As for the spotty attendance, well, being a fairy fighter tended to make one less punctual. Not that I could admit that either.

  “Um, a few of us had forgotten our belongings and we, um, hadn’t realized the school was closed.”

  “The file says that was your excuse.” Ms. Needlemeyer scrutinized that file some more. I needed to come up with something convincing, fast.

  “My teacher thinks I will benefit from the more challenging curriculum.” I wasn’t sure what that meant, but I figured the best way to get around the counselor was to parrot what Ms. Dreeble had explained to my mother. “So I become, ah, more organized.”

  Finally the counselor looked me in the eye, but only to smile that reassuring adult smile – the one they use when they want the best for you, missing the point that maybe you are the one who should decide what that is. “We like to make sure our new students are set up for success,” she said. Again, she never mentioned me personally. She ran her pen across my file adding more notes.

  “I can do the work,” I said quietly. Even
though I hadn’t been sure that I could, I didn’t want her deciding that for me. One thing I did know – I could handle a challenge.

  “We don’t usually allow students to take only one advanced course. We prefer students to be in one program or the other. It makes scheduling easier.” She tapped her pen – code for, I don’t believe this student has the makings of a scholar. Tap – Tap – she’s going to be trouble. Finally, Ms. Needlemeyer said, “We will set up several prep classes for you to get ready for an entrance exam the first week of July. Then we’ll revisit this based on your test score.”

  I shuffled out of the office as if my legs had been anchored with chains. Soccer camp was on the last week of June and the first week of July. We were planning on having so much fun. But now I would have to spend those weeks going to class, studying, and writing an exam. It would be torture. It was so … so …

  “So have you been expelled yet?” Clive said in his most annoying, cocky way. Anger coursed through me. If I had laser vision, he would be nothing but a smoldering pile of ashes right now.

  “What’s wrong, Cat?” asked Amarjeet.

  “I … I …” My voice grew raspy. Oh no – I was fighting back tears. I rubbed my hands against my eyes in surprise. Clive did a double take and his expression softened. He took a step toward me, but then backed off as if I were contagious when Zach came up from behind and put his hand on my shoulder. “Hey, what’s wrong?”

  I didn’t want to be comforted. I choked back my unexpected tears and pasted a fake grin on my face. “I’m going to miss good old Darkmont’s crowded, crappy hallways.”

  Everyone broke into laughter. For the rest of Orientation, I snapped one-liners and tried to keep my mind off what the counselor had said, even though Clive kept giving me suspicious glances. Amarjeet finally pulled me aside when things had quieted down a bit. “Okay, dish it out. What’s up?”