Keeper's Knowledge (Balancer's Soul cycle) (53 page)

Sarah
moved forward and
snagg
ed Connor’s hand. He squeezed in appreciation.
She
turned to the others and said “I have an idea. How about we all
go and see what is happening with the other games?”

“Football
or W
restling?”
Jack
asked and adjusted
Haunt
behind
his shoulder.

“Why not go see
a
football
game
first?” Kara asked and that’s what
they
did.

The moment
the gate of the baseball field
opened the
y w
ere assaulted by a throng of cheering
and excited
fans. They were clapping, cheering and calling out
their
names. There were so many people it was hard to imagine.
They all asked q
uestions like ‘
How did you do so well?
’
‘
Did you stage this
for our amusement
or cheat?
’
‘
What kind of training
did you
have to
do to
play against the other team?
’
‘May I have your autograph?’
and so on.
The Changers took the liberty of chatting with Mark and Kara and everyone else congratulated
them over and over. Sarah
remembered half of the people and most of them ne
ver even bothered to talk with her
because they were stuck in their worlds. Now though,
they were getting their
fifteen minutes of fame, but it’s not what it is cracked up to be. It was hard to get away from everyone and
she
wanted to go back to
their quiet cottage and sleep in her
bed
,
holding Connor in
ever
blissful silence.

They
som
e
how managed to get away from
their
new
throng of
fans and ma
d
e
thei
r way to the football/soccer stadium.
They
found a secluded section on the
top
back row and watched a team of Changers ba
ttling against their own kind. Sarah
really wasn’t paying too
much attention to the game as she
kept
replaying everything in
her
mind from
playing
the
fun baseball
game.

Sarah
was
rudely
brought back to reality when
she
realized that
their
secluded section
became
packed with people
wanting to sit and talk with them
.
She
didn’t realize how much time had passed, but there were two n
ew teams playing on the field. She
looked at all the faces staring at
them,
asking ridiculous questions.
Now I’m getting annoyed…

She
felt Connor reading
her
thoughts
and didn’t disagree
. He leaned forward and
she
saw both
her f
ather and Mark look at him simultaneously and nod
just as quickly
. Connor turned to
her
and stood up. He slid his hands
under
her
legs and around
her
back. He lifted
her
up like a
breeze to a
feather and scooped
her
into his massive arms. He turned and jumped off the back ledge
of the bleachers
. It was at least a thirty five foot drop
, but i
t was strange,
she
wasn’t scared
from the suddenness
.
She
felt the lightness of the fall, but also the security of being in his arms. He landed on the ground and made the softest of sounds with his feet.
Sarah
wasn’t jarred from the impact, but did feel
as
gravity t
ook
over
her
again. Connor sat
her down on her
feet again and he had a playful smile dancing on his lips.

Sarah
turned to the
sudden
loud noise and saw Mark carrying Kara in his arms and their combined weight made the loud noise.
She
looked up to see
her f
ather dropping down with
her m
other in his
long
arms as well. His landing was half as loud as Mark’s, but
nowhere near as quiet as Connor’s. They sat the girls down and smiled. Kara chirped “Let’s go do that again!”

“Kara, it is almost dinner time. Let’s g
o get something to eat first.” Sara
h
said because she
was getting another
powerful
craving for more apples.

She looked up at the top
of the bleachers and so did
Sarah
. P
eoples heads were staring over the edge and gawking at
them
. “I agree, Sarah. We need to get away from them and I need to replenish my nutrients I used up from today.”

“Come on then.”
Sarah
began walking after joining
her
hands with Connor
.

On the way
to the central stairwell
they
only met five people who congratulated
them
.
They
descended down to level two and someone was waiting for
them
.
Jillian
said cheerfully “Good evening Veronica. Are you waiting for us?”

“Indeed I am.”
Veronica stood from a bench close to the stairwell and made her way over to
the group
. Her egg was still wrapped in the space blanket and tucked into the curve of her left arm. Her head twitched as she said
“Have all of you been approached by many people today?”

“We have.” Connor said plainly.

“It is quite difficult to get around after the game. Even my own brethren have been
how do you say it
Kara…hounding me?
”
She self-consciously looked over her left shoulder
and saw two other female of her kind waiving in her direction
.
“
Can we eat and retire for the night? It is difficult being asked so
many questions by so many
.”

“Hurry on up then. We had the same idea. Things
might
settle down by
tomorrow.” Sarah
said
,
making
her
way down the stairs again.

The seven of
them
wound
their
way down the
spiral staircase
to the third level. Soft
Victorian
music
was
currently
playing again and crowds of people chatting away. The moment
they
all got off the stairs
they
stopped once
a new noise replaced the usual kind
.
Sarah
looked up to see the entire cafeteria looking at
them
and clapping. Some people whist
led or banged on their tables from all three rows. She
still was not expecting such a
welcome from so many others. Her
heart swe
lled with joy. Two nights ago they
had to fight
for
their
lives
, but now were being congratulated by all. It was something
she never considered to see with her
own
two
eyes.

Eventually they
made
their
way to the line and waited for
their
turn to eat. The applause slowly died away and everyone returned
to what they were doing before they
made
an
entrance. The line moved rather quickly thanks to Kara
’s talking to keep their
minds distracted.

They
finally made it
to the front desk. Connor and Sarah
bowed to Elder Adela and she smiled. “I heard
all
about the game today. I’m sorry I couldn’t make it. I was shocked to hear my second youngest and youngest
granddaughters were
part of the team p
laying against Xaon and his crew
. I couldn’t be more proud.”

“Thank you for your kind words
,
Elder.” Sarah
said and bowed again.
Adela
smiled innocently and then said “What can I get for you today?”
Sarah
gave her
the
order and soo
n ate with everyone at the
usual table. Once
they
ate and separated upstairs, Connor and
Sarah
went to the bath house and soon after went to sleep.

Over the next week very little has happened
to her and the family
.
Sarah
was right in saying that the crowds
excitement
would die down. Everyone
now
either smiled or said “Hello” and then they left.
Every morning they
ate breakfast and
in the
evening
s
they’d spend
supper together as a group.
Firon was the only one who couldn’t be there every time.
A few nights ago
they
saw a drunk Changer named Bryce. He looked like a brown gorilla with long legs and feet. He was where the
actual
Bigfoot legend
originated
. He danced on top of the table with a mug of mead in his hand. Connor laughed and clapped along with everyone else as Bryce tried dancing to the tune that the musicians played.
Unfortunately an inebriated
Changer couldn’t dance, but it was
still
funny
and doubly entertaining
.
During the days
,
they
would watch the sports and see the different variations of abilities and how they were used.
Also during the week more and more
immortals
showed up
, now reaching
into tens of
thousands
. The bathing room began to
get a little bit crowded, but she
expected that.
Sarah
began to see more and more female Keepers show up and Connor got to meet a seventeen year old female Keeper
,
thanks to Veronica’s help with introductions. The young Keeper and Connor were the same height and about the same size. Her parents both watch
ed
Connor’s interaction with their
curious
daughter. Connor thanked them and they went on their way. Also there was a new Balancer and she was about twelve years old, but looked more like five or six.

During this time
a slight change in Connor’s behavior
became evident when
they
were alone
and had no company
. He has become
very
edgy
for some reason
and
highly
temperamental
,
like a person
who’s
in the first stage
s
of withdraw from drugs. He remained cal
m and collected when he was around others
, but
Sarah
could feel
his
slight inner turmoil through
the
connection
steadily growing. She
blamed it on those weird dreams he’s been having every single night
, but as time progresses she wasn’t as certain
. The
dreams
about shadows and encircling arms
became more vivid and frequent
,
she
just wished whatever was going on with him would pass away quickly. Even his lovemaking has become slightly off and more animalistic.