Balancer's Soul

by Jr H. Lee Morgan

  He ran back in the room and saw Sarah try and sit up. “Princess, let me help you do that.” Her legs were and muscles were exhausted. He slipped back into bed and handed her the two items. Connor was able to sit her up between his legs and laid her back against his chest. She started with the soft drink first and almost drank the entire bottle before she took a breath. He had to stop her from eating the cereal just yet. “Sarah, let your stomach settle first or you will not be able to keep anything down. I don’t want you to get sick.” Then she softly burped from the excess carbonation.

  “What did you have planned while we wait?” She leaned her head back onto his chest. “Ravishing me this time?” She sounded a little livelier after drinking so much. She sighed in blissful contentment as she crossed her ankles on the bed. He then caught her smile as she gazed at her silver anklet.

  “For one thing, what were those orbs?” Connor asked quietly in her ear.

  She giggled playfully. “They weren’t orbs, silly, those were actually the physical representation of our souls! I had to collect our essence into the spheres before I could extract them. Our hearts are the only place to gather and sustain the energy until I was able to pull out both of our souls…”

  “Our Souls?” he sounded even more confused because he truly was.

  “Yes, our souls.” She snuggled into his chest a little more. “Being a female Balancer I only had, in the simplest terms, half of a soul. You have heard of the saying ‘Searching for your other half.’ Haven’t you?”

  “Of course I have.” And she continues saying calmly “Well it is a saying that originated from an unmated Balancer searching for their partner, like I was.” She looked up at him and smiled brightly. “Having a half soul is like you growing up without the use your right arm. You can survive, but you still feel like you’re missing something important. Now I can use the once dead limb.

  “I took my soul and your soul and put them together. Now we are in the truest sense Soul Mates. And we will be that way forever.”

  Another question came out of nowhere, but he was the one to ask. “What about the colors? They were the same color as our…”

  “Eyes.” She interrupted his rambling. “Ever heard the expression; The eyes are the gateway to the soul?” She pointed to her exposed chest. “That also came from Balancers as well. Our souls are always the exact same color as our eyes.” She looked at the cereal box hungrily. “May I eat now?” She pleaded and Connor gave in.

  “Yes, but eat slowly.” He cautioned and she took the advice and ate. As she ate Connor wondered what was going through her mind and suddenly a weird sensation on his forehead gave a gentle tug. It felt like his mind began reaching outside his skull as if it weren’t there blocking the way anymore. “… so very amazing. I thought I wouldn’t be able to make him fit, but I did! Damn it still hurts, but felt so good. Now we are together, forever… Mother didn’t tell me how much energy was to be expended, but at least I didn’t get a headache…”

  “I’m glad.”

  “You’re glad about what? Finally being together with me?” She giggled innocently and she rubbed his thigh.

  “No silly. That you didn’t get a headache.” And she went completely rigid.

  “What did you say?” She turned slowly with shocked eyes. She soon had the covers wrapped around her torso and a handful of cereal clutched in one hand.

  “You were the one who said that ‘at least I didn’t get a headache.’.” Connor looked at her confused. “You were the one to say it.”

  Her eyes went wide as she said seriously “No I didn’t. I thought it.” Her face began to turn white.

  “Really? Try thinking some more.” He closed his eyes and had the same sensation on his forehead. “There is no way he could hear my thoughts. It’s not possible for mates to read each other’s mind!” he opened his eyes to say “Well it is possible, in our case.” Connor tilted his head curiously and asked playfully “Princess, see if you’re able to read my mind now?”

  This was so strange for the both of them.

  She looked at him like he’d lost his mind, which he might have. She closed her eyes and Connor felt her reaching for his mind, but it was no longer uncomfortable. Something had changed somewhere deep within him, but he felt physically fine if not better. “Sarah? Can you hear me? If you can, I love you with all that I am!”

  Her eyes shot open and he knew that she heard his thoughts. “I love you with all that I am too.” Her eyes started to water almost happily. He wondered if she had always wanted to be in his mind. “How is this possible?” She asked.

  “I have no idea!” he became excited from these new, manifesting gifts. “Let’s test it out real quick. Let’s have a mental conversation together.” Connor smiled and she did as well, but her eyes looked a little unsure. Sarah eventually closed her eyes as he did.

  “Connor, are you there?” Sarah started their first mental conversation.

  “Yes.” He opened his eyes yet hers remained closed. “How do you feel?”

  “I do not have any idea how this is possible. This is supposed to be unattainable for mates. We are doing the impossible! I’ve never heard of mates ever being able to speak in this manner.”

  “You seem very afraid.” Connor could feel her fear in the pit of his gut.

  “I’m just so…confused, you could say. Connor, putting aside that we can communicate telepathically, you shouldn’t be able to read another’s mind yet!”

  “Why not? After you fused our souls together, I became a male Balancer, right?” She finally opened her emerald eyes, slowly.

  “Connor, that’s exactly my point. You have only recently become a male Balancer. It’s only been a handful of minutes.” She started speaking aloud and she shook her head. “It takes at least a year for your body to evolve completely. Do you remember when you asked about the differences between Balancers and humans? I told you that it will take a year for your mind to grow.”

  “Of course I remember. And during the course of the year I will slowly lose all of my hair from the neck down.” She smacked his arm because he was playing around and not taking her words seriously.

  All of these new experiences were so exciting that it made him uninhibited.

  “I’m serious, Connor!” And she now looked it too. Connor told her to go on and she did. “Connor, do you feel like anything has changed within you?” Her eyes showed love yet her expression revealed total confusion.

  “Only a few things.” And that was the truth.

  “Explain then to me as clearly as you can.”

  Taking a deep breath he began to tell her of his changes. “When I left you to get some food I had this new feeling in the pit of my stomach. When I focused on it, I knew exactly where you were, knew that you craved sugar and I even felt your exhaustion as if it were my own.” Her expressions went from confusion to astonishment to something in between.

  “Connor, that feeling is known as The Bond. You shouldn’t completely feel that for several more years.”

  “I have a question. Why and how did I know you craved sugar?” He skipped to another subject and it confused her for a few moments.

  “We need fuel to use utilize our abilities. We can never overeat, being a Balancer and all. Our bodies absorb almost all of our food and turn it into straight energy for our abilities. At least you will never get fat, no matter how much you can possibly consume.”

  “That’s a handy ability to have.” He came back to her last statement with another question. “If I can feel the Bond, can you feel the bond to me? Within yourself I mean…”

  “I don’t really know.” She looked lost in her thoughts.

  “Maybe I can help.” And she asked “How?” Connor walked to his dresser and put on a pair of shorts. He turned around to see her standing a few feet behind him, covering her nakedness by the brown bed sheet. He taped his temple. “Sarah, are you listening to me in here?”

  “Yes, what are you up to?” Her green eyes searched his.
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  “Close your eyes and focus on the center of your stomach. It feels like a rope tugging at your gut. I am going to go hide, when I say “Now!” I want you to follow that pull in your stomach and search me out.” She nodded and walked over to her dresser to put on a t-shirt and shorts. Connor snuck out silently while her back was turned. He left the inside of the house and heard her quiet and dazed thoughts as she put on some clothes. The outside of their property had sunk and completely immersed itself in darkness. Apparently their ritual had taken over six blissful hours to complete. He found an ideal location and hid on the other side of the stream, being completely hidden by the rotating waterwheel. Another bonus was that the sounds of the waterwheel covered any sounds he might make. “Now!” Connor knew that she heard because he could now tell she started moving thanks to the bond that connected them. She ran outside the front door and walked around the water wheel.

  “Found you, my knight.” Connor stood up and gave her a hug. She looked up at him to ask “Connor, what if I did something wrong when we…? How are we so different from any Balancer couple I’ve ever met? What are we going to do?”

  “Sarah, relax. I haven’t any ideas because I am still so new to all of this. But there are some things I would like to test.”

  “What do you have in mind my mate?” She finally started calming down.

  “First let’s go back inside the house.” They came back inside and sat at the dinner table, looking at each other. He asked “First things first. How do you speak into another’s mind?”

  “You mean pushing your thoughts out so that another person can hear you?” He nodded. “The way I do it is by focusing my eyes into theirs. I then think about listening to what they are thinking. It’s more difficult to push your thoughts into another unlike listening, but now that we’ve mated it feels effortless…”

  Connor looked into his mate’s eyes and felt his mind enter hers. His mind now felt like he was floating on the surface of a massive lake. He was both physically inside his mind yet strangely corporeal outside. Then when he touched her loving mind it felt as natural as breathing. “Sarah, can you hear me?”

  “Yes!” She smiled weakly, but she wasn’t as worried as she has been.

  “Can you feel me in your mind? Like how I had that ability before…” Her eyes shut as she caught his train of thought.

  “This is very odd. I have never felt anyone in my mind before… this sensation is peculiar… Why am I able to feel this now?”

  “I think that when we became one, some of me went into you.”

  “I think that you are right. I have a question? How were you able to keep any secrets in your head when my parents went probing?”

  “I pictured your eyes in my mind. If I did that then maybe if you focus on something, I won’t be able to read your mind. Try my method yourself.” She opened her eyes and he still watched her. Connor felt something change in her mind, a deep shift. Her thoughts became a buzzing sound like a swarm of mosquitoes by your ear. All he was able to see in her mind was a black X.

  “Did you hear what I said?” He shook his head and she said “I said that I have never felt so happy and exhilarated in my life… Whatever happens I am glad we chose each other.”

  “I will never let anything happen.” Connor vowed, stood up and walked around the table. He slipped his hands under her legs and picked her up. She went willingly by wrapping her arms around his neck, staring at him like in a euphoric dream. He walked her into their room and gently sat her on the bed.

  “What are we doing back in here?” She had a twinkle of mischief dancing in her eyes.

  “We are not doing that again tonight. You need to get some rest after this ordeal, we both do. I read your mind and I know you’re sore. Plus I’m not convinced you’re able to physically able to undertake another session. First, I will make us some dinner.” She reached over and pulled down his head and his lips were met by her passionate kiss.

  When Connor returned with dinner, Sarah sat on the bed with her legs crossed. “I have an idea. We need to visit my parents early tomorrow morning.”

  He sat the food in front of her. Pushing out with his mind he said “I agree, maybe they might know something about what’s caused our differences from the rest of our kind.”

  She laughed “You are right. It is our kind now isn’t it? Maybe they might be able to help our predicament. Put our minds at ease.”

  Early the next morning they left the house just as the first rays of the sun warmed the sky. As they passed into the forest Sarah said “Connor, I feel really different today.”

  What seemed strange was that she wasn’t the only one.

  “As do I.” It was the truth. Connor felt not only a new inner strength, but also felt lighter than normal. “I feel good. Like I can run faster than ever before.”

  “Give it a try.” She edged him on. Sarah crouched down into a racing position. She looked up at him and mentally shouted “GO!” She took off at an unbelievable pace. She was like a drag racer dropping his foot hard on the accelerator.

  Connor started to run after her when he suddenly noticed everything in his field of vision in a new light. He knew his legs were pumping far faster than should be humanly possible, but this speed alone was nothing compared to the new experience of perception. The shocking thing about the run came from the scenery. Connor unbelievingly saw everything like it was all captured on slow motion cameras. He effortlessly missed every branch, leaf, rock and twig without so much as trying, during the exciting run. Looking around as he ran, he noticed that everything didn’t actually slow down. It was his mind and body that sped up to a new state. He felt unbound. Free. Connor caught Sarah’s arm just before she broke the tree line of her parent’s property.

  Not feeling any fatigue whatsoever from the exercise he calmly told her “Sarah, we have something new to add to our list of oddities.”

  “Like?” he released her arm as she smiled.

  “Did you notice how fast we just ran?” He shifted his weight to the left foot.

  “Not really why? I just felt like running. It was positively exhilarating.”

  “We just ran a fifteen minute walk from our home to here in sixty five seconds.” He lean down and thought in her mind “Not only that, but as I ran faster everything slowed down dramatically. I think that my mind has gotten much faster and was able to process more detailed information.”

  As he heard her contemplating back to her superhuman run, she looked back up into his guarded eyes. “I agree. It’s like we are both evolving so to speak.”

  They walked slowly with their hands entwined up to Jack’s home.

  They knocked on the door together.

  A few minutes later Jillian opened the door wearing a blood red silk robe. “What are you two doing here so early?” She yawned and rubbed the back of her neck. Her eyes shifted to Sarah while twinkling provocatively. “Did you two go through with the ritual?”

  “Yes Mother, b…” Jillian suddenly opened her arms and hugged the two of them at the same time.

  “Finally my daughter is whole and I have a new son-in-law to annoy! Welcome to the family, Connor.” She now sounded fully awake and filled with cheer.

  When she let go and looked at the two of them Connor changed her happiness into shock. “Jillian, listen to me. Something is different about the two of us after the contract was completed last night.”

  Her eyes went wide and her voice shook in disbelief after realizing his lips didn’t move. “Yyy… you shouldn’t be able to do that yet!” She looked down to Sarah. “Did something go wrong?”

  “Not that I knew of.” Sarah replied while looking shyly at the ground.

  “Jillian, that isn’t the only thing, we need you to wake up Jack. We need to speak to the two of you.” She nodded and ran back in the house quickly.

  Sarah and Connor walked inside and sat down on the sofa together. Connor heard Jillian in their room. “Jack, you need to wake up; like right this instant. Jack! Wake
up!” he then heard him say “What’s the problem?” She said in her shaky voice “Sarah and Connor went through with the ritual and something is very different with them.” Connor heard Jack land on the floor with a heavy thud. He must have jumped out of the bed. Then he heard them walk quickly down the hallway with a seriousness in the walk.

  As Jack rounded the corner, he stood shirtless and reveled that his muscles were more developed than Connor previously knew. This man was indeed a powerful force to look upon. All he wore were blue shorts, but everything about him screamed Viking. He sounded worried when he asked “What is the problem?”

  Connor looked at his new mate and said telepathically “I think first I should show him my speed and prove that this isn’t a hoax.”

  “I think we should both do it together.” Jillian now stood beside Jack eyeing the two of them suspiciously.

  Sarah and Connor used their newfound speed to stand up and run to them. Connor stopped one inch from into Jack and Sarah did the same to her mother. Both of their eyes went wide. They stepped back involuntarily, recoiling from their simple demonstration. Jack addressed the two of them, but looked at Connor “How could you two move so fast? It has only been one day.”

  Connor entered his mind and said “That isn’t the only things that is weird about us. We were hoping that you might know what makes the two of us different.”

  “I’m not sure I follow, what else is different with the two of you.” Jack thought back. Surprisingly Connor knew the touch came from his father-in-law’s mind, but it no longer hurt to have him inside his head. It was like feeling a subtle breeze rather than a jackhammer.

  Sarah cut in on their conversation. “Father, not only are we fast and can read minds now, but we both feel a bond to each other. The biggest concern we have is that we can talk to each other with our minds even though we are mated.”