Keeper's Knowledge (Balancer's Soul cycle) (29 page)

They
all made it easily back to
the second level. The seven of them
walked close to each other. Every being that was
on that level watched all of them
walking together. It must have been extremely rare to see a Keeper associating with
their group
.
He
had to smile because
their family is the
new
spectacle.

They
arrived at
the lodge and Connor
knew
there wasn’t any way to get Veronica
to fit her through the
small
door.
He
turned to look up at
his
new friend. “Wait right here. I will be right back.”

She looked at the door and wrinkled her
mouth in disgust.
He
even heard a slight growl escape her throat.
“I understand, Connor.”

The six of them
entered the lodge, but
Liz wasn’t at the front desk. They
walked down the corridor and
Connor pulled the key out of his
back pocket to open the door. Sarah went straight to her bag and dug around
in it
quickly. She pulled out her folded space bag and handed it over with a
gentle
smile.
He
stepped back into the hall a
s Kara
walked out with the last two space bags.

He
walked back outside and Veronica waited right where
they left her. She saw his exit
and heard her
throat
purr
gratefully
in a reptilian way. Connor
walked right up to her with the three folded blankets and held them up. She smiled and leaned down with an open palm.
He
sat them in her hand and warned “Be careful when you open them.
They will be useless if they get ripped.
”

She stood straight again and nodded.
“Thank you for your generous gift. I wish there was something I could do to repay your hospitality.”

As she put the blankets in a pocket of her robe
he
had a thought. “If you feel so strongly about it, how about you have breakfast with us?”

She looked at his
for a w
hile like he
was a new specimen
for her
to study
in a controlled lab
. She blinked and said
“You have a deal, Connor. When would you like
for us
to meet?”

“Umm
how do you tell time in here?” He
honestly didn’t know
without looking into the sky
.
Good luck with that underground.

She pointed at the roof of the Keeper’s lodge.
“There is a time keeper over on my building…
H
ere let me show you
where it is
.”
She started walking away
with her longer strides
.

He
quickly caught up and found S
arah’s mind as she stayed in their
room.
“Sarah?”

“Yes?”

“Veronica is taking me over to show me where the clock is
. I’ll be back soon.”
She understood and
severed
the link.

Connor
followed the walking giant past
the bath house and stairwell. They
arrived at her lodge and she pointed at a large clock that was built
into the wall. The clock read 8
:53 p.m.

“Alright, Veronica. We’ll meet you at eight in the morning for breakfast down in the cafeteria.”

“Sounds like a plan. Have a good night.”
She tapped her pocket.
“I will use your gifts well.”

“That I do not doubt, my friend. Sleep well.” She blinked wi
th confusion when he
called her
m
y friend
,
but
he didn’t wait because he
got what
was
needed.

Connor
jogged back to
his
room and Sarah was already in bed
with the lights off
.
He
quickly shut the door and took off
his
clean clothes because
he
would wear them
again for
tomorrow.
He
slid between the sheets and all the while Sarah just watched
him
from the
pillow of
the
bed.
It felt small compared to their last one.

She spoke in her soft and velvety voice as she rubbed the lines on
his
chest. “
Did you find where the clock was?”

He
kissed her forehead and said “Yes, I did.”

“Why did you need to know where it was?”
She rolled on her side.

“Because Veronica is going to join us for breakfast in the morning. She wanted to know when to meet and I didn’t know the exact time. We’re going to meet at eight in the morning.” Her fin
gers stopped tracing the scarred
lines. “What’s the matter, Princess?”

“Connor, didn’t you see how everyone was looking at us on our way here?”

“Of course I did. I’m not blind
…
Listen we are going to do what we want and hang out with every person who treats us with respect. If they don’t like it, that’s their problem. There isn’t a written rule that says we can
’
t
associate
, Right?”

“No, but…”
He
put
a
finger over her lips.

“If you think about it
,
we’re doing what this meeting is all about.” Her brow furrowed in confusion and
he
removed
the
finger
off her pouting lips
. “Who
ever started th
ese
gatherings
wanted us to be together and learn from the others.
Not just associate with only your species, but to become diverse.
Social interaction is what separates us from most other species on the planet.
”

“That does make more sense
if you put it in that way
.” She agreed and slowly scooted closer to
him
and
he abruptly
noticed she was
also
naked
when she threw her leg over
his
.

He
spoke quickly and before
his
will broke. “I cannot wait for tomorrow!”

She stopped moving. “Why?”

“Because we are going to play some games!”

He
couldn’t hold back any longer.
She wanted to sleep in a warm bed, but by the time she fell asleep it was almost stifling.
The day
finished with a
Great
night!

Play and Watch

T
hat strangely familiar
dream
appeared
to him
once
again.

Connor
reached the surface of the ground after gigging his way out of some strange pit that threatened to suffocate him and as he stood he found himself both
naked and a little cold
. He
felt like
as if
he
w
ere
the size of a small child
because everything of
the
surroundings were enormous
.
His
strong
senses made
him
sud
denly aware of something strange
standing
nearby
. Something was
looking at
him
and
it was
close
.
There wasn’t any sense of danger coming from whatever it was and it seemed joyous for some reason.
When
he
stood
fully erect
and looked
up
,
a pair of
enormous
eyes
met his and
continued
staring
down
at
him
from
beyond
the darkness
of the shadows
. It looked like a
large
moving shadow
of a giant man
in
the shade of a tree.
The
dream
felt
a little different
this time because it felt more like a distant
childhood
memory, oddly enough
, but not clear
. The shadow was actually solid, but glossy black
and
standing proudly.
Connor
knew it was just watching
and waiting for something
, but
he
couldn’t see the color of its eyes
let alone what exactly it i
s
.
But he
could also not feel any danger or hate coming from the creature.
Just what is it?

The creature
suddenly
disappeared from sight as soft
and warm
arms
encircled
his
body
and hoisted
him
off the ground
.
Connor’s
c
hilled
body warmed
up quickly from
being embraced
in both protective and loving arms
.

The dreamed changed when he
looked up to see a pair of piercing hazel eyes looking down on
him
and the pupils had a line in them
,
rather than circular pupils.
Why d
o
they look so familiar…?
He wondered in his dream.

He
wo
ke up from the
reverie
too soon. Connor
wanted to see
and learn
more,
to understand its profound meaning,
but
as with all dreams they cannot be controlled
.
His
mind was awake
and the dream began fading, but the elusive feeling remained
.
It felt like it was almost seven in the morning
or somewhere close
to it
.
He
regretfully
decided to wake up Sarah.
She grumbled when he
woke her
. “Princess, I’m going to check and see what time it is. I’ll be right back.” She nodded, closed her eyes and rolled back over
to resume her
earlier
progress
.

He
slipped out of bed and slid on
some
boxers, black pants a
nd a black long sleeved shirt and
slid his
feet into
the
socks and boots.
He
opened
the
door and closed it quietly because Sarah had
already
begun to snore softly.

Silently, he
walked down the hall and
found
Liz
behind the desk again
wearing a paper thin white sleeved shirt. She looked bored so
he
started a conversation
saying
“Good morning. Did you have a good night
’
s sleep?”

Fire lit in her eyes
where monotony reigned moments before
. “Don’t you know what I am? Why are you being so pleasant? Do you have a death wish?”

Her eyes faltered when
he
only smiled
from her outburst
, she wasn’t a threat
.
Once she calmed
he
said
respectfully
“Yes
,
you are an old and strong Changer. I guess that you are at least a thousand years old.
” Her eyes flared
, proving his developing assessments
at determining age
.
“
As for your second question, I like meeting new people and being
polite
is a good start in beginning a friendship.
Finally I am not seeking death for
I love life and
all that belongs within it.” His
tone darkened and became threatening as
he
focused
the full force of his
eyes on her alone; since it was only
the two of them
in this room. “Don’t mistake me for your average Balancer either or else it will be
the very
last mistake of your long life, Liz.” She gasped and her face went sheet white
, she realized she wasn’t a threat to him and he wasn’t boasting
.