Chapter 32
*****Ben’s perspective*****
“Man, am I glad that we have a huge house, and that most of you don’t sleep.” I remarked as we went hunting with Christian.
“Yeah Ben, you guys have the biggest houses of any of us.” Christian commented. “Where did Strix and Zach go?”
“The mall, for some shopping,” Scott replied.
“Oh. Are they Christmas shopping already?” Inquired Christian.
“No, Strix definitely wouldn’t be Christmas shopping yet. But she is getting gifts for everyone. We haven’t met most of you and she wants you guys to remember this time. Plus it’s Thanksgiving and she’s thankful to meet everyone finally.” I responded.
“That’s cool. I wish I could see what she is getting. I doubt I’ll be able to figure it out by smell.”
“Yeah, it sucks you can’t see the future. But you are a better tracker than most.” Scott noted as Christian caught a wolf he and I were only aware of in our visions.
“Nice tackle!” I shouted to Christian.
“Thanks, I’ve been working on it. The more I practice with animals the better I am with humans. Except I’m not tackling them to eat.”
“What do you mean?” Scott asked.
“Well, I want to play football, but I could kill someone if I hit them too hard. So I practice tackling animals like wolves and deer. Tackle them without killing them, so I know how to tackle a person without killing or injuring them. It’s great practice and I’m getting better at it. I may have broken this wolf’s leg but it is still living. It won’t be for long as I intend to eat it, but I didn’t kill it when I took it down. It’s the fifth animal I haven’t killed with a tackle.”
“Awesome. We do cross-country and track. But we’re careful not to place first too often. Me especially. I sometimes let Scott beat me and I’ll place two spots behind him. But most of the time he comes in right behind me.” I said adding, “It’s a great little game we play.”
“That’s cool. I have to learn to control my speed too. But I love going fast; it feels like I’m flying sometimes.”
“Same here,” exclaimed Scott.
We continued to hunt and discussed playing football when we got back to the house.
*****Strix’s perspective*****
When Zach and I got home from the mall, we discovered some of the guys playing football out back. We hurried to put the gifts away and went to join them.
Mitch and Aubrey were the only ones not here yet and because of some problems in their area they probably would not be coming. This was okay because it gave me a chance to get to know everyone else and find out more about Mitch before I met him so I wouldn’t be completely lost for words and could ask him questions without being so nervous.
In the yard, Kali, Nick, Tristan, and Thomas were playing football with Jason, Scott, Ben, and Eva. I didn’t want to be on Jason’s team, but didn’t want to be against Ben, Eva, or Scott, so I asked Zach to help me recruit more players and we would ask the others if they wouldn’t mind starting over with a few more players and of course picking new teams.
Zach got Sophie, Martin, Charles, Emma, Adam, Jade, Christian, Harley, Ruby, Jeremiah, and Hailey to play. I got Billy, Elizabeth, Donnie, Scarlett, Karmen, Rose, Drake, Lucas, Selene, Bryce, Lucy, Faith, and Hunter. The others went hunting and wouldn’t be back 'til later tonight.
Ben and Tristan were team captains. In the end, these were the teams: On Ben’s team: Scott, Zach, Eva, Christian, Jeremiah, Drake, Hunter, Billy, Rose, Selene, Elizabeth, Donnie, Jade, Sophie, Adam, and me. On Tristan’s team: Kali, Nick, Thomas, Harley, Martin, Emma, Ruby, Hailey, Charles, Jason, Scarlett, Karmen, Lucas, Bryce, Lucy, and Faith.
With both sides having seers and mind-readers, the game was more interesting. Tristan won the coin toss; Ben had let him call it, to be fair. It started raining. We took our game to the clearing in the mountains where we hunted. Our field was one and a half miles long and three-quarters wide.
Martin kicked the ball with such force that anyone watching might have thought it was going to implode. The ball soared through the air traveling two hundred and eighteen yards at a hundred and twenty-five miles per hour before Ben caught it. He hit the ground running. Harley, Martin, Hailey, Charles, and Jason ran for him. While the others tried to keep us from helping him. Ben almost made it but Harley jumped and Ben went down as Harley grabbed his feet.
Thanksgiving break was so much fun. I learned a lot about Mitch. And we didn’t see the mysterious Michael again. It was kind of sad to watch everyone leave, especially Zach and Eva. But I would see them again in the spring.
How I wish Zach hadn’t mentioned the prophecy and Shawn. It is hard not to think about it. He wouldn’t even tell me what was going to happen, not even with his thoughts. And he told the other seers and mind readers not to either. I desperately wanted to know. I had to know. This sucks.
I guess I can just prepare for finals. Who am I kidding? I don't study. Maybe an NCIS marathon will get my mind off of things.