Discaimer: I don't own The Host. It belongs to Stephenie Meyer.

A/N: aaaaah, my first non-anime (more like non-bleach) fanfic! I just had this idea that I needed to get out of my system. Dedication to my best friend, whose birthday was two days ago, and I had promised her to write something (girl, if you're reading this, don't worry I'm still working on something for you). So, well, yeah, my first The Host fanfic. And after a complete disability in creativity for over two months, I admit it's kinda sucky, but I hope to improve it as the plot progresses.

Chapter 1: Raid

"I wanted the extra cheese one," Lacey complained for the tenth time as she nibbled on her burger, her nose wrinkled as if she was being forced to take in something really nasty. "I specifically told you, like, five times."

"I told you, you don't have to eat it if you don't want to," Mel sighed, already bored of arguing with her.

"But I am hungry," Lacey retorted, her bulging eyes turning to Mel in disbelief. "Like literally starving!"

"Then quit complaining or I'll shove it straight down your throat," she yelled.

Lacey opened her mouth to speak and then shut it, seeing Mel's dismissive frown. I couldn't help but dislike Lacey too, no matter how hard I tried. Maybe playing so human had gotten to my head. The first time I had so matter-of-factly confessed to Ian about my dislike for her, he had been nothing but pleased. I guess, being human was like a contagious little disease that I couldn't help but catch. I felt guilty enough but the fact was… it only made me ecstatic. She glanced at me in the rearview mirror and scowled, apparently not very pleased with my sly smile. I just grinned at her as I dipped another fry in my strawberry shake and greedily devoured it. Mel always got me the right stuff without my having to tell her whenever she tried the little stunt of stepping out of the van to buy food for us. It was amazing how she had managed to remember small details like that even after our separation. On the other hand, she preferred to just tune Lacey's voice right out as soon as she opened her mouth which was why, for the tenth time in five minutes, we were having to listen to her rant. Sometimes, I thought Mel did it on purpose to annoy her, just for the fun of it!

"Really, whose idea was this all-girls' raid," Sunny muttered under her breath. Her expression was still too stressed. For one, she knew there were quite a few people back in the caves who were still wary of her venturing out. And then she hated every second she spent away from Kyle. It was like second nature for her to always stay glued to him. I understood how she felt, but when Mel came up with the not-so-brilliant idea of an all-girls' raid, dragging Sunny with her and Ian and Kyle supported it, she had to agree.

"I'd expected Sharon to accompany us," said Mel defensively. "Only she's sworn to never step out into the sun ever again. I didn't think Lacey would ever volunteer in a million years."

"Oh, I am just as happy to get stuck with you as you are with me," Lacey grumbled, obviously offended.

"Joy!" Mel exclaimed in a morose tone.

"Next time, I'm going out to get food," Lacey said with a little pout, which would have made her look cute if it were not for my aversion to her.

"No, you're not," Mel said firmly, knowing that would be an absolute disaster. It was risky enough for her to do it, but we trusted her to be able to pull it off. Lacey, on the other hand, would be the last person on earth we'd like to take the risk with. "And put on your goddamned sunglasses."

Lacey just made an unhappy sound but did not protest. It was a fine arrangement we had worked out. The humans could simply put on sunglasses in the day or pretend to be asleep when it looked suspicious. Sometimes, either Sunny or I would put on the glasses just in case we drew any suspicion. But then souls were hardly ever suspicious… except, of course, for the seekers.

"Okay, Wanda, we'd better swap," Mel slowed down as the city skyline came into view.

"Sure," I nodded and took the sunglasses as she slid in the backseat, leaving the driver's seat for me. "You'd better take a nap. We'll call it a day after this town. Now, where is the list…"

"Right on the dashboard. Just a couple of supplies left," Melanie said, stifling a yawn. I could tell she was exhausted but even with things were going smoothly, a raid was still a raid. Which, of course, entailed a lot of pressure. And no matter how bad she needed it, she couldn't bring herself to knock back and relax even for a couple of minutes as long as we were on the move. A locked door between us and the rest of the menacing world in some isolated little inn provided little solace, but at least enough to ease out her restlessness and sometimes, with luck, even get a few hours of shut eye.

"Sunny, you better take off your glasses," I smiled at her in the rearview mirror. She nodded and took them off almost a little too obediently.

I surveyed the road ahead as we all fell into another awkward, prolonged silence. I drove through the town, stopping to ask for directions a few times after which we pulled up in front of a little convenience store. Mel was curled up on her side, clearly not asleep but not in a mood to go in either.

"I'll go shop," I said, scanning the list once. "Lacey? Are you coming?"

Lacey made a face but decided to step out anyway. The shopping wasn't much except for a few things, majority of which was meaningless, just there to emphasize the fact that it was a girls' raid. Like a pink toothbrush. I just shook my head, making my way to the counter where the man greeted us with a warm smile and then eyed Lacey's sunglasses questioningly.

"Ah, my… sister caught a little infection," I repeated the excuse for a hundredth time. "Could be a contagious flu."

"Haven't you been to a healer's yet?" the man asked with a concerned expression.

"Yes, we were just on our way," I replied, smiling reassuringly. "We've been travelling and it just suddenly flared."

"Well, there's a healer two blocks down from here," he said, pointing in the direction. "I could drive you down if you want…"

"Ah, no, I mean thank you for the help we'll find him," I said. "Don't worry."

He smiled and handed over the bags. "Have a good day."

"Yeah, you too," I replied, handing over a bag to Lacey who smiled at him and hurried out without a word.

"That was… close," she gushed as soon as we settled in the car, taking deep breaths as if she'd just been in a life and death situation. "I almost thought I was gonna have to take off my glasses."

"You didn't, Lacey," I muttered, as Mel gave her mean little mocking laugh and rolled her eyes. "I and Melanie have done that, like, a hundred times by now. Nobody suspects, like I said… I mean look at how innocent they all are. Completely harmless. Childlike. And you know this better than any of us."

"Yeah, right," she said, a bitter edge to her voice and I bit my lip as I realized it hadn't been that way for her when her body had housed her host, the seeker… my seeker. "Innocent when you stole our home from us. Right. Harmless when you took over the whole of our planet when we were just curled up in our warm little blankets, oblivious to the invasion. Childlike when you altered our loved ones and turned them into your weapons of conquering. Right, Wanderer, blameless—"

"Shut up already," Mel yelled from the backseat. "Wanda, just stop, I'll toss her out of the car."

"Oh, here we go," Lacey growled. "Always defending the little sister. You hated her more than anyone else ever did—"

"Only because I didn't know her," Mel retorted. "And you damn well know it's all thanks to Wanda that you are here. Safe. And human."

"Mel…" I said quietly. "It's alright. You don't have to… Lacey, I'm sorry."

"Wanda…" Mel started but found no words to continue.

Because it was true. We had been wrong… all along. The acid in Lacey's voice, the resentment… it would never go away. Because we had been wrong. In taking away everything they had. Everything that made their lives colorful amidst all the chaos. Because we had been so, so wrong. They had every right to hate us.

Which did not make the stinging words hurt any less. Lacey, no matter how obnoxious, was nothing if not honest. She was right… when she stated I had no right to live under the same roof with the humans… when she stated that I was living an illusion if I thought I would ever be welcome in their lives… when she stated that I could never be human the way they were, the way she was… when she stated… that I could not hope to live with Mel and Jared and Jamie forever… when… she stated… that I could not love or be loved by Ian forever… STOP! I told myself as I pressed the sleeve of my shirt to the corner of my eye to soak in the moisture. I was guilty in the crime… and a coward. Too complacent in my little shell to think any further. Guilty of coveting. Guilty… of denying the truth.

"Wanda, pull up right there in that inn," Mel said. "We're calling it a day."

I nodded and slowed down before killing the engine. The sudden quiet was unsettling as I tried to block out any more thoughts.

We walked into the inn and as we had done a hundred times, I walked up to the reception as Sunny and Lacey unloaded a few things and Mel studiously glared into a magazine, immersed in the hot pink nail arts and frilly dresses. We settled into two tiny rooms—Mel and me in one, Lacey and Sunny (with a little apology and convincing) in the other—shutting out the world for another unnerving night. One that was going to be very long. With just the prologue to the chaos to follow.

A/N: so I'll keep the chapters short and try to update more often. Because, yes, like all other Host fans, my thoughts of where it would go if there were a second book have snowballed into this huge plot which I'm not giving up until the very end.

Thank you for reading.

Please leave a review… 'cause that would be really nice :3