11/07/13

Fifteen

Keith watched Larissa cross the quad, as he had done dozens of times before.  This time, though, he stepped out to meet her.  He walked towards her, watched as her gaze met his and darted around.  He wondered what she was thinking.  He knew that she was avoiding him, he hadn’t heard from her or seen her in a couple of days.

“Hi Larissa” He said as he fell into step beside her.

“Hi Keith.”

“How are things?”

“Good.  Look, I’m not sure that we should be talking.”

“I know.  But it’s time that we chatted about what is going on.”

Larissa glanced up at him, caught his eye and nodded.  She turned off the path and headed towards the bench where they had talked before.  He followed her, looking around to make sure that they would not be followed.  He saw the other man, the seeker, on the other side of the quad.  Energetically, Keith put up a shield around he and Larissa.  Now was not the time to be seen.

Sixteen

He knew that she was avoiding him, Larissa thought.  Of course it would have been obvious.  They had spent hours and days together, talking and discussing her gifts and suddenly she wasn’t talking to him anymore.  How could she explain to him?  Could she tell him the truth?  She wasn’t sure.

She walked past the bench, and started on the path down the hill, off campus when she felt a tug on her arm.

“No Larissa.  We can’t leave the boundaries of campus.” Keith sat down on the ground, and tugged her hand, requesting that she sit as well.

“What do you mean?”

“Larissa, there is much going on, there are things that I, well, I’m not sure that I should talk to you about but I feel like I don’t have any other choice.”

“I guess I feel the same way, Keith.  Something has happened and I don’t know what to think or do.”

“Maybe I should start.”

“Ok.”

Keith took a deep breath.  Larissa watched the emotions play across his features.  She had never seen him so serious before. 

“I don’t know exactly where to start.  You know there are others, right?”

“Yes.  There has to be.”

“There are others, some who have more abilities and some who have less.  There are those that would use their abilities for good and some that would use their abilities for, well, not so good things.”

“Sure.”

“Right.  So, ok, this is going to sound crazy and very ‘conspiracy theory’ but just go with me for a bit.  There are people out there” Keith gestured towards the world, “these people want people like you so they can steal what they have.  Somehow or other, they steal the energies, the abilities that people like you have and they harness them.  They use them for other things than what you would use them.”

“I’m with you so far, go on.”

“Ok.  These people, well they have found you.  I don’t know how, they have some sort of tracking system, and they have found you.  Well at least they found a blip of you.  They are here, now, looking for you.  And if you leave campus they will know immediately who you are and where you are and they will come after you.”

“Right.  Then they will sever me from myself and turn me into a ghost.” Larissa said. 

She watched as Keith’s mouth dropped.  She smiled at him.

“Did you think they would not tell me?  You think the rest of me would hide this information from myself?  That I would allow myself to be severed?”

“I had no idea that you knew anything about it.”

“Well, I didn’t know about them already being here and looking for me.  I knew I was in danger.  I know what they want to do, I showed myself.”

“Well, they are here, they are on campus and they are looking for you.”

Larissa nodded and thought to herself.  If they were already on campus, what did she do then?  She could not use her abilities or she would be found out.  And she wasn’t sure how she would handle that just yet.  She needed  a plan.

“Can you leave campus?” Larissa asked.

“Yes.  I am just a tiny blip compared to you.  They aren’t looking for my energy, they are looking for yours.”

“Are there others on campus as well?  Others like you?”

“Yes, there are several of us on campus.”

“Do you all know each other?”

“Most of us know each other.  There are a few that don’t want to join with us, and so we leave them alone.  But there are a dozen of us that know each other.”

“Do they know about me?”

“Yes.”

“Do they know about this person who has come looking for me?”

“Yes.”

“What do they propose we do about it?”

“There are others, there is a, well a high council of sorts, and they want to go there and tell them what is happening.”

“Good.  What else?”

“Um, well, they want to make sure you understand that you have to remain here and shielded.”

“Right.  I’m already doing that.  But what’s the plan beyond that?”

“We don’t know yet.”

“That’s helpful.”

“I know.  Look Larissa, I wasn’t sure how you would take this information.  I was prepared for all kinds of things, but not for you to already know about what’s happening.  We didn’t get beyond making sure you knew you were in danger and that we are all here trying to help you.”

“Ok.  I get it.  I’m in danger and I need help.  I’m ok with that. I was just hoping for more of a plan.”

“I totally get that.  We just haven’t gotten one yet.”

“Do you know who he is?”

“Who?  The guy that’s keeping an eye out for you?  Yeah, I know who he is.”

“Will you point him out to me?”

“Will you promise not to do anything stupid?”

“Like what?  Run up to him and show myself to him?  Why would I do that?  I just want to know who I’m up against.  I want to know where to shield myself even more closely.”

“I’ll show you who he is.”

“Thanks.”

“Larissa, what else did you tell yourself?”

“There’s more here than you think Keith.  And I’m here to help put an end to all of this.  I’m here to shut down the machines and help people get back to themselves.  I just have to figure out how.”

“Right.  I figured it was something like that.” Keith took a deep breath and stood up. “Well, come on, I will show you who he is.”

Keith waited for her to stand up and then walked back towards the quad. He stopped just as they reached the trees and suddenly grabbed her and held her close.

“He is watching us, wondering where we went and why.  Put some love in your energy will you?”

Larissa filled her field with love, and looked up into Keith’s face as though they had just been having a romantic interlude.

“A little less Larissa. You’re overwhelming me.”

“Sorry Keith.” Larissa calmed down her energy. 

“Thanks.  He’s across the quad, staring at us, he’s being totally obvious about it.” 

Larissa let her gaze flow across the quad, as though she were looking to see if anyone noticed them.  She saw him right away.  She felt his energy, dark and sticky, and knew it was him.  He stared at them, and she could feel him trying to penetrate her shield, to see if there were more to her than what she was putting out.  She added strength to her boundaries, not allowing him to see anything more.

“I see him.” She looked back into Keith’s eyes, he was close to her, his face almost touching hers.  Suddenly she felt her cheeks grow warm.  He was still holding her close, as though it were impossible for him to let go of her.

“Keith?” She said his name.  He was breathing hard as well.  He blinked several times before pulling back from her a bit.  But he did not let her go.

“You really are good Larissa. I could get lost in you.”

Larissa blushed.  She had not really thought about Keith as any more than a friend.  But with his body so close to hers, his face so close to hers, she looked into his eyes and could see the passion in his eyes.  She closed her eyes and raised her face to his, meeting his lips with hers.

She could feel him tremble at the unexpected touch.  She shielded them more fully from onlookers and let her energy flow through him.  She felt him stiffen next to her and pull back.

“Larissa, what are you doing?”

“Kissing you.”

“But,  but your energy, they will see.”

“No they won’t.  Trust me, they won’t see anything but you and I, engaging in a little kiss.”

“More than a little kiss.” Keith glanced at the man across the quad.  Larissa looked in his direction as well.  The man wasn’t watching them any longer.  He was looking in a different direction.  Larissa followed his gaze to see that he was watching another girl.

“Yes, more than a kiss.  Shall we do it again?” Keith brought his mouth down to Larissa’s and she let the energy flow between them again.