Author's Notes: I grabbed a copy of 'The Host' a few weeks ago and after I finished it, I realize I couldn't get enough of it! I wanted to know what happens next! Well, I decided to write my very own fanfiction about it, and since I love Wanda & Ian, this story will be all about them! You probably know, but I'll state it here anyways (just to be safe); I do NOT own 'The Host' nor its characters, well maybe, except for my own, original ones that will appear slightly in this fandom. They all belong to Stephenie Meyer, the acclaimed author.

And also, I will be putting quotes, lyrics or any other sayings on the top before a certain chapter; they also do NOT belong to me.

By the way, I'd like my readers to note that I am new to writing stories; I practically just begun today! And, another thing, English isn't my first language, and I am far from fluent. I hope you guys like the story though! Read and Review, please. Do let me know what you think about it.

"E.E. Cummings once wrote...

To be nobody but yourself in a world which is doing it's best,

night and day, to make you everybody else,

means to fight the hardest battle, which any human being can fight,

and never stop fighting."

- Lucas Scott, One Tree Hill

"-Forever Dawn-"

Prologue: The Raid

By, modernxlove-

It had been about a month since I was inserted into Pet's body. And since then, I had been feeling pretty useless lately. I couldn't help much without seeking assistance, and just going up and down from room to kitchen was tiring enough! While everyone else was busy plowing the fields and doing heavy chores out in the daylight, I was stuck inside washing the dishes. When everyone else was having fun playing ball, I was stuck watching over and babysitting the children (Ian and Melanie were worried playing soccer would be a too strenuous activity for me. Uh-huh. Yeah, right… Since when?) Not that it's a bad thing or anything… I just want to help my friends out. Most of the humans, have accepted me, and I just didn't want to be a burden to them.

This body was pretty weak too. I bet I probably couldn't even run a mile without taking fifteen-minute breaks, and I bet I would give into unconsciousness if I skipped meals. Another thing, this body was prone to blushing, jumping and giggling over little things! Every time Ian would hold my hand, or hug me in public, my cheeks would feel like they're burning and redden up; Every time someone were to trip or say something stupid, I would giggle out of nowhere and that was probably annoying. For them, and for me too.

But despite these, I am really grateful that I had been given a chance to live… and even more grateful that there are people who care about my well-being too. I may not be useful when it came to plowing fields or lifting loads of boxes and etc. But, I am a professional when it comes to raiding – stealing/getting items from other Souls without them noticing! So when Jared and Melanie asked me to go raiding with them in the middle of the night, I just had to say yes! I wanted to help out my human friends more than anything!!

"You seem really happy today, Wanda." Jared pointed out, as he got into the driver's seat of the truck. "And really energetic too."

Melanie nodded. "Yeah, happier than usual."

I giggled. Ugh, this body, won't you stop jumping around?! I commanded. It didn't work. "It's this body," I said looking down. "Every time I hear the word 'raid', I start acting like a child… and I squeal and jump around and stuff. I can't help it." I muttered.

Melanie smiled in agreement. "Yeah, I understand. We all do… by the way, Burns and Nate are coming with us on this one."

"Really?"

"Yeah, really."

I grinned. I forgot to mention, about four weeks ago, on our last raid, we met up with other humans; about an estimate of fifty (Nate was probably the leader of them all, or the skilled one – just like Jared was to us). They were on a lookout for a new hideout, due to their last one being wrecked by the storm that had passed through the deserts. Jared had invited them to come stay with us, and Jeb agreed, having said it's best for humans to stick around with other humans. Surprisingly, those group of humans had a Soul along with them too.

Burns Living Flowers was his name. We called him 'Burns' for short. He was a really good fellow – quite big, but kindness were radiating through his eyes, just like other Souls. It was a bit difficult for the humans who were with us to accept another 'parasite', but Jeb had it all under control. Since then, Burns and I had become such good friends. It was good to have someone like my kind, asides from Sunny.

"Ah, excited Wanderer? I think this is going to be the raid of the century." Burns said, as he took a seat next to me.

"Yes, I'm excited." I said. "I love helping my friends out, and I do it best on raids."

Burns chuckled. "Me too."

Nate had taken a seat in the front, beside Jared. And that's when I noticed… "Where's Ian?" I asked, turning around looking from left to right. "Wasn't he going to come?"

Melanie nodded and pointed out to two figures emerging from outside the caves. "Yes, he is. And he's coming in. Together with his demon of a brother." Was she reffering to Kyle?

True, Ian came inside carrying a handful of stuff which we will need for the raid, and he flopped back a seat next to me, on my left. Kyle had taken a seat on Melanie's side right on the far corner, looking strained and tired. Maybe because of Sunny? She had been clinging onto him since this morning. Sunny was deeply in love with Kyle, and when I meant 'deeply', I really meant it. She's absolutely crazy about him! But I guess those feelings sprouted to life because of Jodi's memories.

"What happened to you?" Melanie asked.

Kyle groaned. "It's Sunny. It took me a while to get her off me. When she sleeps she really clings, did you know that? I had to be really sneaky to get out without her noticing."

Ian sighed. "Yeah, and I don't get why Sunny is attracted to someone like you." I giggled at the comment. Ouch. That hurt. But it was funny too. I find it a little amusing when the two of them tease each other and joke around like this. It's worth watching.

Kyle hissed. "And I don't know why Wanda is attracted to you – Hey! Ow! Fuck! What did you do that for, Ian?!" He yelled, clutching his head. Ian had strike him with a bottle of water, which hit him hard on the forehead.

I stopped giggling when Ian turned to me and met my gaze with those sapphire-icy-blue eyes of his. His eyes were enough to hypnotize and mesmerize me. "Wanderer," he said softly. "Don't get too excited or else I have to bring a leash with me next time we go on a raid…"

I giggled. He placed a small kiss on my cheeks which made me blush. He smiled in reply to my reaction.

Melanie rolled her eyes as she watched. "Ugh, Ian…" she started. "Don't you ever get tired of seeing her blush?"

I pouted. "Mel, you're a meanie!"

Ian laughed. "Not at all. It makes me fall harder for her. I think it's cute." He admitted. I swore my heart would stop beating then.

I turned away from Ian's face and looked out the window, my hands clasped on my face. I had a feeling my cheeks were burning up, and if there was light, it would've been evident that my face looked like that of a tomato.

Ian blinked. "Huh? Wanda? Is something wrong?"

Melanie grinned. "She's having a blonde moment, Ian. Leave her be."

Ugh. Stupid, stupid, stupid, I thought. Why does this always happen to me? Can't I ever talk to Ian decently without having to sweat and be nervous? Can't I just stop blushing, and stop my heart from thumping fast whenever I look him in the eyes?

"A blonde moment? What's that?" Ian asked.

"Girl thing." Melanie translated. Bingo. "You don't need to know anything about it…"

"Uh-huh." Ian said, not hiding the sarcasm that was already evident in his tone. At that time, he pulled me closer to him, my back still facing his front. I dared not look at his face, I'll probably blush to death!!

"It's okay, Wanda…" He whispered through my ears, tucking in strands of my golden hair. "If I had known my charm affected you that much, I would've flirt with you more often." He laughed.

"Ian!" I complained.

"Just kidding." He said, chuckling. My face went hot. I will never understand the minds of human species – especially that of men.

We finally arrived in downtown Tucson, and nobody but Burns and I were allowed to go out (though Ian was very protective at first). We were supposed to get a bunch of medicines, food, a few sleeping cots and blankets, clothing and etc. Jeb had made a list of what we were supposed to get and it was going to be a handful to bring them all in the truck.

"It's good to know they trust us," Burns admitted, throwing in bottles of No Pain, Heal and Awake into the shopping cart.

"I have to agree with you there, pal." I said checking the shopping-list one more time. "Okay, so we've got the medicines, the blankets, handful of clothes, now all we need are some cots." Cots… do they even sell cots at local department stores? Last time I checked, the Souls had thrown out cots a long time ago. They were replaced with soft cushion-like mattresses called the Whoopy Dreaming Beds as I heard from Sunny.

Burns had gone over to the saleslady and had asked if they had any cots available for buy. "I'm sorry, sir. We have thrown out human mattresses over four years ago, but we do have available new cushions for sleeping. I'll give you a discount if you would sign your name over here," Burns did as he was told (he put our false names, of course), and we got about seven Whoopy Dreaming Beds in a roll. It was sort of small, really. But very, very soft.

"It's guaranteed to make you fall asleep in a matter of seconds." The saleslady said.

"Well, thank you." Burns and I replied in unison.

"Is that all I may get for you?"

"Yes."

The saleslady had helped us carry all of our stuff to the counter, where she totaled the sum of the costing, and then helped us take them outside.

"Should I ask for reinforcements to help load your items?" She asked.

"Um, no, thanks. That won't be necessary." I assured her, trying to carry the heavy box. "We're fine, really."

"Okay," She smiled. "Thanks for shopping, Underwater Sea Flower and Crawling Weed. I am very honored to have helped you." She said. It took a while for her to get back into the store without having to reassure her over and over again that we didn't need help loading the boxes.

"You guys need help?" Jared and Nate asked getting out of the truck once the coast was clear.

"Yes," I said breathless. "Thanks."

Ian, Mel and Kyle had gotten out of the vehicle as well to help. Ian was glad, as always, that I was safe, away from the clutches of danger. Awwe, he's so protective, it's sweet. So after we had finished putting everything in place, we headed back home to the deserts, taking a five minute break every now and then when one needed to do their business. You know what I mean…

We passed by the bridge that had connected Tucson to the deserts, just near the roads which were heading to Pheonix, Arizona. No doubt, this would be a long trip, from Tucson back to the caves – but since more people have joined us, we had to rush back home immediately; food and medical equipments were lacking and it'd probably take us until tomorrow morning to reach home. Just then, while we were in the middle of the sandy deserts, the truck came to a complete stop.

"Jared, what the hell?" Kyle's voice boomed,.

"What's wrong, Jared?" Melanie asked, having just woke up.

Jared paused before answering. "Someone, or something is here." He warned. "Stay, very, very quiet." God, was it the Seekers? Was it that saleslady from the store earlier? No, no, no… Please, don't let it be the Seekers. Ian pulled me tight to his arms as he felt me trembling.

"Shh, Wanda, it's going to be alright." He promised. "I'm here… don't worry." Those mere words were not enough to make the fear in my heart fade.

"Ian, Ian…" I clutched the back of his shirt tightly. Burns came towards us and gave me a tap on the back. "I'll go check it out-"

"What?" I blinked. "Wait, you can't!"

Nate sighed. "Leave him be, Wanderer." He said, sliding out of the front-seat right over to the back. He grinned playfully. "When Burns wants to do something, there's no stopping him… and if that's the case, I think I'll go join him."

I gulped.

"I'll go too." Jared declared, crawling out of his seating position right in front of the driver's seat.

"If Jared's going, I am too." Melanie said eagerly, holding Jared's hand.

Kyle sighed. "If everyone's going, I'm going too."

I gulped. Again. Was everyone going out? Excuse me, people, but we're talking about a Seeker here! If you all get caught, you'll all be gone and discarded!, I thought, pulling out of Ian's protective embrace. Humans were always surprising. "T-Then, that means, I should go too, right-"

"No." Ian interrupted me. "Jared, if everyone goes, it'll be too dangerous. Chances are, if it's a Seeker out there, and you'll all be caught,, what will we tell Jeb and the others?"

Jared nodded. "You got a point, O'Shea… okay, raise your hands if you want to volunteer!"

No one raised their hands. Except for Burns.

"Okay, we have Burns." Jared said. "We need another one…"

Nate groaned. "Since nobody's going, why don't we use the 'other' method?"

Everyone blinked. "Other method?" We all intoned. "What other method?"

Nate rolled his eyes. "Rock-paper-scissors. Obviously. Geez, you guys are not updated."

Rock-paper-scissors? What's that? I had no idea… It sounds interesting, though.

"Okay…" Jared said sarcastically. "Let's play rock-paper-scissors… everyone come into a circle now!" We did what we were told, we formed into a small circle inside of the truck. The Seeker out there just had to wait for us.

"On the count of three," Nate said, his voice going louder. "One, two three!" And everyone held their hands out, shaped into a clenched-fist-like ball, and since I had no idea what to do, I just held my hands straight- and flat.

"Okay," Nate said with a groan. "I lost to a Soul. Wanda, that means you and Burns go check out what's outside."

Ian flinched and tightened his hold of my hand. "No. Wanda isn't going out there."

"She won. Fair and square, Ian." Nate pointed out. "She and Burns are Souls. If it's a Seeker out there, they wouldn't get in trouble."

Ian grunted. "I'm not going to risk it."

I sighed, and then hugged Ian gently. "It's okay, Ian. I'll go. I have to do this… I'm good at this, remember?"

Ian rolled his eyes. "No, you're not." He said, his voice a little bit forceful.

"Let her go, O'Shea." Mel and Jared said in unison. "If you really love Wanda," Mel continued. "You've got to trust in her and believe in her."

I smiled gently at Ian, who didn't smile back. "Trust me." I said.

It took a while before he finally agreed. "Thanks, Ian." I said, as he gently kissed my lips.

Burns and I had gone out the back of the truck quietly with flashlights clutched tightly in our hands. It was really dark, and the only ones that gave us lights were the twinkling stars above and the moon that had been covered by the were unarmed – we had no guns or anything of the sort; just our flashlights. I swear I could hear moaning sounds coming from the front of the truck.

"Do you hear that?" I asked Burns in a whisper.

Burns nodded.

The two of us slowly crept to the front of the truck, and that's when we saw one cloaked figure. She was hutched on the ground, hugging her knees tightly. Was she… crying? A Seeker crying? No way. I flashed my light on her, and she winced at the action. She was a petite brunette, with pale skin, just like Ian's. I took a glance and saw her eyes – they weren't silver at all; they were hazel green like the color of grass, and she had a false cut on the side of her neck. She's… a human.

"Burns, this isn't a Seeker at all." I said. "She's human." I clarified.

We both approached her slowly, and she was startled, forcing herself to slide back.

"It's alright." I whispered. "We won't hurt you…" I promised. She looked so pitiful, eyes filled with fear, and were drenched with tears.

"N-No…" She said in a hoarse voice. "Y-You're o-one of t-them!"

"Yes, we are Souls." Burns nodded. "But we aren't part of the Seekers, nor will we bring you to them. We're part of the Human crew."

She gulped in disbelief. I can tell she was afraid. I kneeled to level with her crouched position. I held my hands out. "Hello there… I'm Wanderer, and this big guy here is my friend, Burns Living Flowers."

Burns bowed. "Just 'Burns' for short." He said.

"You don't have to be afraid." I assured her. "Can you please tell me your name?"

She hesitated at first. And I can feel her trembling with fear. "I-It's Lori." She stuttered. I smiled. "It's nice to meet you, Lori."

Right after a few minutes or so Kyle and Ian got out of the truck and approached us.

"What's taking you aliens so long?" Kyle demanded.

"Nothing, Kyle." I sighed. "But look, I think we're going to have a new friend. Her name's Lori." I flashed light onto her, and Kyle and Ian stood in shock.

"Lori?" The name escaped Ian's lips, and his eyes were wide open. I could tell he was speechless.

"Is she still human? Or did the parasite take over?" Kyle demanded again. I shook my head. "Rest assured. She's human."

Ian ran to us, and I was hoping he would come and embrace me and tell me how much he'd been worrying inside the truck; but he did the opposite. He ran passed me, passed Burns and ran towards the girl.

"Lori," He said, his tone happy, as he embraced her tightly.

"I-Ian?" Lori asked. "Is it… really you? Are you still human?" Tears were swelling up her eyes.

Ian nodded, as he placed his hands on her shoulders. "God, Lori, I've missed you, so much…" He said. "I thought… I thought you died.

Lori laughed a bit. "Same as you."

And that's when she turned to Ian and kissed him on the lips. I felt my heart froze right then and there. Who was this girl? How did she know Ian? Why was Ian so close to her? My mind was filled with overbearing questions. God, I was confused. Kyle tapped my back and even though it was dark, I could tell he was grinning.

"Uh-oh." He said. "Wanda, looks like you're going to have competition."

I blinked. "Why's that?"

"Because Lori is Ian's lover." He pointed out. I felt pain strike my chest, like lightning striking the trees. "Well, ex-girlfriend, I suppose. But I guess I shouldn't judge. Ian and Lori loved each other; he was definitely devastated when she just disappeared during the time of invasion, but now, they're together again." He chuckled. "Aren't they sweet?"

I could feel tears threatening to flow down my eyes. What was this feeling? It hurt.