Changer's Blood (Balancer's Soul cycle) (22 page)

As
she
dismounted he stood.
He began
brushing his hands over his fur
while
he
start
ed
shedding all of his
body
hair again. When he
finished
Kara listened as
his bones
started
breaking as he changed back to his usual self.
She
also saw his tail vanish back under that small flap in his leather pants.

Looking at his muscled back
she
saw his former mane cascaded to the middle of his back loosely. He reached in his leather pocket and pulled out a small
,
straight
razor. He turned to smile at her
,
asking
in his usual
human
voice
“Do you mind
giving a trim
?”

He handed
her
the
folded
razor and
Kara
pulled all of his long hair back and using the razor
,
she
cut his hair short again.
She
then handed him the
blade
bac
k and
threw the long hair into the forest.
She
had to ask
him
a personal question. “Mark
, being a Changer,
I have seen how you can make yourself bigger. My question is why d
o you go back to this height?” She
shook
her
hand in his hair
,
trying to get rid any straggling little hairs
while
she began
imagining him taller
.

He sighed as he turned around to look at
her
. “
Do you really want to know?”
She said nothing, but she
smiled at him. He slid the straight razor back in his pocket as he explained “Being a Changer
,
neither I nor my kind can reduce our skeletal structure any further than when we originally were. I can make myself much taller and bigger
and
if I forced myself
,
I could stand at
seven feet and ten inches tall.
B
ut then I will really stand out
in any crowd
.”
Yeah like changing to a wolf isn’t suspicious
enough
.
“
This was how tall I was nine hundred years ago. Back then
,
even
I was tall compared to everyone else
in my
home
village
. I was five foot seven back then and at that time I stood out
like Connor does now
.
Lucky for me I’m now at an average height and you’re brother is the tall one.” His bright white teeth were shining along with his smile.

So that’s why he always goes back to this size.
Kara
said quickly as
she
looked closer at his teeth “Mark
,
your teeth are still
a little
sharp and pointed.”

He
reached up, and with his thumb,
felt his teeth. His circular silver ey
es twinkled as he said “Thanks, S
weetheart
.”
H
is
pupils
started glowing again and she
saw his teeth flatten and
become like they should for
normal
humans.

Together
they
walked across the Branderson’s
yard and crossed the street to her
house.

Jenny
was up
,
sitting on the couch
while
reading a book as Mark and
Kara
walked in the front door. She sat
a thick
novel
on her lap as she heard them
coming in. Looking up
,
her
mom’s eyes went wide for only a moment as she saw Mark
’
s exposed chest and knew instantly who it reminded her of, but she said nothing on that subject. “Good afternoon. What were you two doing today?”

Kara
took
her
bow from around
her
back and sat it on the wall. As
she
unbelted
the belt quiver she
answered “We went with Brother and Sarah and did a little archery.”

“And did anyone come close to beating you?”
Jenny
asked with a smile.

“Not even
close
.” Mark said
while
smiling.

Then a thought hit Kara
like a freight train.

She
blurted out “Well Sarah can throw a knife as well as I can shoot.”
She watched as
Mark stiffen
ed as she
turned to
her m
om.

Jenny
star
t
ed to laugh and then she said “Now that I have to see…”
S
he kept laughing
.
“A compliment like that says a lot
about her skill
.
” Mark cleared his throat and
she
looked at him and asked “What’s with th
at
getup?” She pointed at his brow
n
leather pants.

He looked down at his pants and said as he looked back at her “I haven’t did my laundry in awhile and this was all I had
left
.”

Kara
then said quickly “That’s why I’m going over to his place. I just need to change my clothes real quick.” He nodded and
she
left him in the living room.

Entering her
room
Kara
undressed quickly.
She
threw
her
clothes in the hamper at the
other
corner of
the
room.
She went over to her
dresser
,
that
her
brother
crafted,
and pulled out a shirt, shorts and
the
new socks
that
she
bought when Sarah,
Jenny
, Jillian and
Kara
all went shopping together.
She
made sure t
hat the hallway
remained
clear and
walked into the bathroom and quickly cleaned up. After a quick shower
Kara
put on
the
clothes and brushed
her
hair.

Entering the living room
again she
saw that
her m
om returned to her book and Mark sat on the
sofa watching TV. When he saw Kara
he turned off the station he was watching and stood up.

“Ready to go?” Kara
asked
,
he nodded. “I’ll see you later tonight
,
Mom.”

“Have a good day kids.” She waved
goodbye while still reading her book.

Going outside,
Mark opened his jeep door for
her
a
nd
she
hopped into the passenger seat.
After he turned down the road they
sat in silence as he drove to his apartment.

At the end of
their
small town is a family owned apartment complex. The three
,
two story buildings were built in the shape of a U. The outside walls were all painted a light brown. All of the roofs have high slopes to keep the snow from collapsing under the weight
during the winter months
.
B
eautiful
,
late Spring
wildflowers surround
ed
the front of the buildings and skipping
areas
whe
re
there w
ere
concrete sidewalks going up to the first floor apartments.

Pulling into the apartments twenty minutes later he said “Where here.”

Getting out of the jeep
they
walked up the steps to his second story apartment. He un
locked his front door and allowed
Kara
to
enter first. His room has always been clean and smelled nice and fresh. This time
it
didn’t disappoint
her
at all. For
the fourth time she
came into his place, but this time
Kara
noticed everything in a new light; this is the home of a
nine hundred year old
Changer.
Everything now had a different feel when one
’
s perception changes

The walls were all painted a silver-white and the curtains at the windows were all see through blue. The floor was all hardwood and didn’t have any carpet
except in the bedroom
.
He had a three person
sofa in the living room that was made of brown leather. He had a small and fully stocked kitc
hen and next to his bathroom held
a small single person washer an
d dryer. Kara
glanced in the trash
can as
she
walked to sit on his sofa. It was full of meat packages and cartons of milk and eggs. “Di
d you eat all that this week?” She
asked as
she
sat down to look at him shutting the front door.

“Nope
,
I ate all that last night
before I went to bed
.” He said with
a feral smile as he walked in her
direction.
He
still
looked good after eating so much.

“Shouldn’t you be writhing in pain from putting away so much?”
Kara
couldn’t help but smile back at the man
,
or whatever he is
,
that
she
love
s
.

“Nope
, i
t
’
s one of the benefits of being what I am.”
He finally sat down next
to her
and the cushion sank
from his heavy weight
.

“How come you weigh so much?” Kara
had to ask because
she
barely managed to pick him
up back at the mountain
, even then she felt like she pulled a muscle
.
She
noticed that the litter
in
their
shelter
sunk into the ground before they
left and
she
had to know his weight.
He smiled when she
almost
gave herself
a hernia.

“Unlike Balancers who eat for energy,
we consume
food
for nutrients. We store just about everything we eat inside our bodies. We use those calories, vitamins and calcium stores
as fuel
to alter our physical makeup. And Changers
all weigh more than the average human
.”
He smiled proudly.

Kara
turned
to look at him as
she
sat on
her left foot and rested her
arm over the back of the sofa.
He seemed so calm and collected, like nothing could really surprise him nor bring his spirits down. That
i
s one of the first reason
she
was so attracted to this ancient man.
“Speakin
g of what you are,
what can other’s of your kind do with their bodies.”

He mirrored her
seating arrangement.
Kara
couldn’t
keep
her
eyes off his deep and fathomless
silver
stare
. He said in an explanatory manner “L
et’s see… Most of my kind augment
their
characteristics
to look
more
beautiful, handsome, younger or older
,
depending on where they are and how long they have lived at a certain location.
Let me give you a demonstration.” Mark
’
s black pupils started shining a bright white.
She
watched as he made wrinkles develop across his face and
around his eyes. Even
h
is jet black hair started to ashen in color
.
He aged fifty years in only a few seconds.
Quickly he changed his featured back to normal.
He smiled as he continued and she
was struck speechless. “
Some
,
like myself
,
change their bodies for practicality. When there is a need, danger or just to show off
,
we can adapt just about any animal or look at will.
Some animals are easier
for us
than others depending on the individuals personality.
Easily angered Changers
usually become lions or bears while docile ones become birds or horses.
We can
’
t make a perfect change
to a creature
, but we can come close.
”