Spirit Mountain Read Online Free PDF

just outside my window? My brows furrowed as I tried to understand.
    “What is this place?” I glanced down at the dolls now at my feet. “These must be all of Aunt Vine’s favorite dolls.” My heart raced. Is this place some kind of portal? Like in scary ghost stories?
    Even more intriguing about this place, its colors were different than the earth I knew. Its insects were intriguing and its trees otherworldly. Each step I took away from the dolls meant I was another step away from the area that would take me back home.
    Yet, I had to know—had to find out what this place was and why there was a gateway in my room to get me here. The sound of my own heartbeat filled my ears. My breathing grew erratic and I clenched my hands at my sides. I carried on, placing one shaky step in front of the next.
    I heard something move. My heart leapt and I took a step back. From the corner around a tree, I saw him—the guy I thought was Ty. I inched toward him, uncertain what he’d do to me. I rubbed my eyes in disbelief. How could I see a spirit? How could I be standing in the same realm as someone who died a hundred years ago?
    “Am I dead?” I muttered to myself.
    The closer I moved to the tree, the more I noticed how familiar he seemed—not just from my dreams, but from my family. Ty had similar eyes to my father’s—dark and close-set, but my father’s eyes were blue.
    Without warning, he darted out from behind the tree ran toward me. I froze. My legs wanted to run the other way, but I couldn’t move a muscle. Why was he coming at me? I threw up my hands. “I’m not here to hurt you. Please!”
    He grabbed my arm and pulled me with him toward the tree. I could feel him—his fingers wrapped around my wrist. He felt real. Once we stood behind the huge tree, he turned on me. “What are you doing here?”
    “I, uh.” I didn’t know what to say. Where was here ? He could see me, touch me, talk to me, and yet, he was a spirit. “Am I dead?”
    “No,” he whispered. “Keep your voice down.”
    I glanced around at the serene setting. When I gazed back at Ty, something prompted me to reach out and touch his face. He seemed shocked as my fingers trailed down the side of his cheek. “Are you alive, then?”
    “No. I am dead. But I’m trapped.”
    I stared at him through stunned eyes. “Trapped? What do you mean?”
    “Here... in this place.”
    “And me? Am I trapped here now?”
    “No, Beth. You’re not.”
    I nearly screeched. “How do you know my name?”
    He narrowed his eyes at me. “Beth, you don’t know yet?” He appeared shocked.
    “Know what?”
    “About your gift.”
    I crossed my arms over my chest, staring at the boy who’d died nearly a hundred years ago. Things were beginning to shock me less and less. A gift? What gift could he be talking about?
    “No, what gift?”
    He grabbed my arm as a loud growl came from somewhere in the vast forest behind us. “We have to move.”
    “What is that?”
    “It’s him .”
    “Wait! Wait.” I pulled my arm from his hand. “I can’t leave. I need to go back. If I get lost, I won’t find my way back.”
    “I won’t let you get lost, Beth.” His eyes were soft and loving. Nothing about him stood out to me that he might be a killer. How could he be? He seemed so gentle and kind. “The window to leave will reopen in fifteen minutes. What I need to tell you, I will tell you quickly, and then you must go. We haven’t much time before he arrives.”
    “Who’s this he ?”
    “He’s an angry spirit, evil and conniving.”
    “I don’t understand.”
    Ty grabbed my arms. “Listen to me. Every few generations, in our bloodline, there is one of us who has the ability to see into the future—to know what’s going to happen to others. A hundred years ago, I had that gift. Now you have the gift, too. It materializes six months before we turn seventeen years old. You’ve blocked it out because of your mother’s death.” He shook his head. “But