Changer's Blood (Balancer's Soul cycle) (55 page)

Shutting the door Mark
could hear Sarah giggling
softly
.
The
comment mad
e him
laugh as well.

He
stripped, took
a shower, shaved and trimmed his
hair more with the
scissors
. Putting on a fresh pair of blue jeans and a silver shirt
,
Mark
stepped out of the bathroom
and into the hallway
.

Then his
vision turned to
the
right.

B
oth Kara and Sarah were sitting on the sofa while watching a little
bit of
TV. Taking one step towards them, Kara’s head turned towards
him
whil
e she grinned. She got up and they
walked up to each other while
his
heart was sprinting. Her new liquid silver eyes made her so much prettier
and exotic
. She leaned forwards and sniffed
his
chest. “Good boy. You don’t smell like a wet dog.”
Her transition into a Changer was going smoothly.
Her senses had heightened to a whole new level that she was barely scratching the surface of.

“Aw Kara, are you going t
o always treat me like a dog?” He
asked with a sly smile
,
even if he
already
knew her answer
.

She grinned. “That’s what all men are at heart. It’s a good thing though
,
Honey. Dogs are loyal
as long as you keep them
properly
fed and play with them regularly
.
If not
,
there is always the option of getting them fixed.
” She pinched
his
bottom as she turned around.
Mark
was laughing on the inside
, but his jaw hung by the hinges
.

Sarah simply winked
as she was the last to take a shower.

Putting on his
shoes, Kara grabbed
the jeep
keys and walked w
ith Sarah outside. By the time Mark
walked down the steps
his
girlfriend
had already started
the vehicle
.
He
jumped into the driver’s seat and started the journey to the diner.

Pulling into the gravel parking lot and
coming to a complete
stop,
Mark
turned off the ignition and exited the vehicle.
O
nly one vehicle
besides the jeep say
on the premises and it belonged to Gerry.
He did a good job at following my orders.
Mark
looked at
the
empty
diner and smiled.

The old-style
diner has a maximum occupancy of one hundred people and on any given day
can feed over six
hundred meals
, on holidays can feed near a thousand
. The diner serves just about everything.
They
offer; eggs, all breakfast meats, seafood, steak, chicken,
vegetables
, bread, pancakes, waffles, biscuits, ice cream,
soda and finally
beer
–
both
imported and domestic
– at all times of the day. The store hours are from six in the morning
un
til eight at night.

Mark
looked at the outside of the diner and looked for anything out of place. The blinds on the windows were all
pulled down
and the front glass door’s
orange
sign said ‘CLOSED.’ The outside walls were pained a silver/white and the diner
’
s lettering were enameled in
a deep
shade of
red. The solid letters spelling ‘DINER’ stood atop the roof as a display that people fro
m
the road could easily see.
The shrubbery that lined the front of the building was perfectly trimmed as was the grass.
Having a well kept place of business kept him
and
his
many
customers content
, satisfied and returning regularly
.
Mark
could hear
the
vehicles passing the establishment
and
could smell the faint scent of jasmine in the air.

The girls came around the jeep and Sarah said “This is a good looking restaurant.”
a
nd
he
thanked her for the compliment.

The three of
them
walk
ed up the handicapped ramp and Mark
opened the front door. The bell above the door rang as
he
made
an
entrance. In the back
they
heard “I’m sorry, but were closed for the day
!
”

Mark
yelled into the back “It
’
s ok Gerry, it’s me
!
”

He came out from behind the kitchen.
Gerry
stood close to six feet tall, but
seemed proud to be
built like a
fluffy
pillow. He
i
s
clearly
a heavy set man, but one of the nicest people
Mark
has
ever met.
Gerry is a retired police officer from Georgia and he has a
thick
southern
drawl
.
T
wo sons
, fathered from his loins had
just
finished coll
e
ge
and flew to live on their own
and a wife
waited at home
who can make the best desserts
anyone has
ever had
,
if they wanted to tempt
receiving
a heart attack
.
Mark
eagerly
partook
whenever she offered. Gerry
w
ore
an
apron with a blue shirt
underneath
and blue jeans. “Howdy Boss
,
and little ladies. Y’all look very nice today.”

Mark
introduced them. “Gerry, this is my best friend
’
s wife; Sarah.”

Gerry shook her hand. “Connor is a good young man.
Take good care of him
,
ya hear
.” Sarah smiled generously.

“And Gerry you know my girlfriend Kara; Connor’s little sister.” Kara walked up to him
,
shaking his hand.

“It’s been a very long time
, Big Guy
. How are the boys?”
Kara said
while
flashing him a
rare,
calm
smile.

He drew back and studied her. “There fine, but… I didn’t recognize you
there
for a minute. Weren’t your eyes brown before
, Lil Missy
?”

Oh crap…
Kara instantly said back to Gerry “Nope, but I did need contacts. I
always hated these silver
eyes,
so I always bought
chocolate
colored contacts
to not feel
so out of place
. I’m sorry for the deception
, big guy
, but this is my natural eye color
.”

She did have a good cover up.

Gerry laughed. “Girl, now don’t be tryin to hide them glorious eyes.” Gerry elbowed
Mark’s
ribs playfully.
“Her eyes look like yours. I bet that’s why you were
always so
attracted to her.”

Mark
scratched the back of
his
head saying
“You’d win that bet.”

He laughed
for a moment. “Boss, will ya be
needing my services for t
a
’
n
ight?”

Mark
patted him on the back. “Thanks Gerry, but I’ve got it
all
covered. Have a good day
on me
.”

“Thank ya
,
Boss.
I’ll be back
first thing in the mornin
.
” He said
while
leaving out the front door. Soon his truck
left,
heading south.

The inside of the diner has twenty five bar stools that line
d
t
he bar table. There are ten
square tables that hold four people to a table. All of the chairs were upturned and sitting on top of the wooden tables
to show the floor had already been swept
.
A
nd all of the lights
remained
on.

Mark
walked behind the bar and asked “What woul
d you ladies like to drink for starters?” T
hey walked up and sat side by side on the barstools and ordered their drinks.
He
filled two glasses and handed it to them on the table.

Five minutes later
Sarah turned around
in her stool
just as
Connor’s green
super
truck pull
ed
into the parking lot.
Her bond all
owed her to know just when her m
ate had arrived.
Soon Connor, Jillian and Jack entered
the local
establishment.
They must have all ridden in his truck together.
Mark assumed. His exhausted friend
sat next to Sarah and her parents sat beside him.

Connor wore his black slee
veless shirt and black shorts. H
e clean
ed
up properly
and shaved
, but still looked
completely
drained. Jillian had on a
fresh
red shirt and white shorts, looking as chipper as ever. Jack
attired
a blue shirt and blue jeans. He sat in a refined and alert position while ordering a drink.

Giving everyone a
cool drink
, Mark
let them look over the menu.
While they were looking it over
he
went back to the freezer and checked that it
remained
fully stocked.
It was.
Coming back through the
stainless steel
swinging door that sepa
rated the kitchen and the bar, he
took
all of
their orders.

Everyone urged
for
Connor to go first. “I’ll have ten steaks
prepared
well done,
five hamburgers
done the same way
,
five orders of fried
popcorn
shrimp, two fully loaded omelets filled with bacon and sausage
minus the bell pepper
.
F
inally I will have three
deep
fried chickens.”

As
Mark
easily memorized
all the information
Sara
h
said
while
shutting her menu “
That sounds good.
I’ll have the same.”

Both
Jillian and Jack
each
ordered
twelve
scrambled eggs, a
half
pound of bacon, five steaks and a chicken.

Kara ordered
six steaks medium rare, three orders of fried shrimp, a plate of sausages, tw
o chickens and ten hamburgers. Mark
knew that her stores were
mostly
craving protein and fats.

Mark
walked into the kitchen and was
relieved to find
the deep fryer’s oil
remained
hot
and ready to be used
.
He
grabbed the food cart and gathered everything
he
needed from the
back
freezer.
H
e
had to put the whole chickens into the oven and have them thawed before
he
could put them into the boiling oil
or else
he
’d
start
a grease fire
.