Hello my friends :)

I've been meaning to write this story for a while, because I have a strange obsession with the Host.

This story is extremely close to the plot of the book/movie in the sense that it's a similar setting, but the characters are different and there's a huge plot twist.

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters or ideas that Stephenie Meyer has copyrighted. I just own my own characters and my plot. I don't mean to steal any of the credit.

It felt like months. Months of walking in nothing but worn out converse with sand filling up every crevice in my body. It must've only been days, but those days stretched out before me into a never-ending desert with no sign of life or salvation.

I had long since run out of water and food, leaving my throat parched and my stomach moaning from lack of nourishment. My clothing felt stiff and every movement ached. How I wished for shade, water, anything that would remind me that I wasn't dead. I felt as if it would never end. The wind whipped my hair around my face, burning it with its stinging tendrils.

Why had I decided to come here?

I didn't know.

Or I couldn't remember.

The wind and the heat seemed to sap the very memories from my mind. My thoughts were sluggish, so I barely noticed when human forms began to take shape in the distance.

A mirage, I thought distantly. I read about them.

My feet continued to drag through the sand, my shoes almost completely worn through. When I looked up next, the human forms were all around me. I felt a hand on my shoulder. Voices murmured around me.

"Is she one of them?"

"I don't know yet, she's barely opened her eyes."

"Look at her, she must've been out here for days."

The hand on my shoulder never moved, but before I knew it I felt the warm shifting of the sand pressing into my cheek. My body vaguely registered that it had collapsed, but I felt detached from my muscles, as though I could no longer control them.

"Pass me that bottle, Sam."

There was a metallic taste as something was held to my lips. I allowed it to tip slowly into my mouth, pouring a liquid. As the warm water trickled into my bone-dry mouth, I reached out and grasped the bottle with both hands, almost choking on the water in my rush to drink it.

When there wasn't a single drop left in the canister, I let it slip through my hands onto the sand. The water sloshed in my stomach as if it were a foreign substance that my insides weren't quite sure how to deal with.

With much difficulty, I peeled my eyes open and tried to take in the people around me. No one spoke as I blinked, clearing the sand and dirt from my eyes. I looked up at the person standing directly in front of me, an older man with wrinkles around his eyes and another bottle in his hand.

"Water," I half-croaked, half-moaned as I pitifully held out a hand for the water bottle.

The man smiled and knelt down to open it for me before handing it to me.

As I drank, my eyes connected with another man, younger, who suddenly glared at me with the utmost hatred. He stalked forward and smacked the bottle from my hands; it landed in the sand and spilled the rest of its contents onto the desert ground.

"Ken, what are you doing? She's a bug. We shouldn't be trying to save her!" He placed his hands on his hips, one hand reaching for a gun he had tucked in the back pocket of his torn-up and faded jeans.

"Does it look like she's going to hurt anyone?" Ken asked. His voice was surprisingly gruff for such a small, harmless looking man.

"No, but that's because she just trekked several days through the des-"

"Exactly. She's been wandering through the desert looking for something, and it must've been a pretty stupid plan if she was going to turn whatever she found in to the Seekers. She came out here with no backup."

"What if there are Seekers out here right now watching us?"

Ken gestured to the open desert. It was completely silent except for the howling of the hot winds. "You want to go looking? Be my guest, Will. There aren't any Seekers with her. She came alone. I don't know why, but I'm sure as hell not going to leave her out here and never find out."

Ken turned to me, reaching out a calloused hand. Not without effort, I lifted my own and placed it in his, feeling it instantly dwarfed in his large palm.

"Remember that bug that found its way through the desert alone in Arizona and ended up helping the resistance there?" A blonde man said, stepping forward. "Maybe we should take a chance. Maybe more bugs have humans still stuck in their heads."

The young man who had argued before, Will, scowled. But then, without a word, he shoved the gun back into his pocket and turned on his heel, stalking away from the rest of the group and into the distance.

Ken must've seen the anxiety in my eyes because he said, "Don't worry. He's headed back home. He won't get lost."

Using Ken's weight, I attempted to hoist myself up, but as I tried to maintain my balance, I felt my head begin to spin. The heat exhaustion was beginning to affect me.

Someone asked me a question, but I could only mumble nonsense in response. And then I sank into darkness.

When I woke up, my head was pounding and I had an awful taste in my mouth. I was laying on a cold hard surface, and it wasn't until I turned my head and opened my eyes that I realized my neck had cramped up while I was out. My eyes were crusted over with sand and the rest of my body felt as though it were caked in dirt. It probably was. The grit had somehow managed to get in my teeth and crunched every time I clenched my jaw.

I forced myself to sit up, but my mind still felt detached from the rest of me. My hair was plastered to my head and I felt as stiff as the cardboard substance that seemed to be so popular on Earth.

I was in a small room that had rock on all sides. What I had been laying on was a rock shelf. It was like a little cave. Directly in front of me was an opening that led out of the cave and to who-knows-where. It was dark and hard to see, but I could make out a water bottle and several granola bars sitting on the floor below the shelf. Instantly I grabbed for the granola bars and shoved them in my mouth as fast as I could, moaning at the taste of real food-sugary food nonetheless. I quickly guzzled the entire water bottle and sat back to catch my breath, clutching the empty bottle in my fist.

As I had many times before, I sat very still and listened, trying to make out any sounds, any feelings.

And like many times before, I heard nothing.

The voice in my head was still gone.

"I hope you enjoyed the bars. They were the last ones we had." A sharp voice echoed through the small chamber.

My head turned to the entrance, where Will was leaning up against the wall, his arms crossed over his chest.

"I did." My voice came out a scratchy, raw whisper. I cleared my throat and tried again. "I did. Thank you."

"Yeah, whatever." He shifted. "Ken wants to see you." With that, he turned and left, his footsteps thudding on the rough stone. I scrambled to stand, not wanting to lose him. I stretched my sore legs as I walked through the entrance and into a tunnel that seemed to stretch for miles to my left and right. I could see Will's back as he walked down the right tunnel. His hands were shoved in his pockets and his shoulders were hunched. On the right and left side there were small compartments like the one I'd been kept in, although these had boxes piled in them.

Even though the voice wasn't there to hear me anymore, I talked to her still. Where are we? Where is he taking us?

As I walked quickly after him, I couldn't help but wonder if Ken was going to kill me. He seemed nice, but humans were unpredictable and unreliable. My mind instantly conjured up images and memories that were hers. Images of humans beating one another. Hurting each other. Killing in mass quantities.

How much more would they despise a foreigner if they didn't respect their own kind? I felt a shiver go down my spine at that. I would be dead and then I wouldn't be able to complete my mission.

Soon we arrived at the end of the tunnel. I was so lost in thought that I almost bumped into Will as he stopped and turned to me.

"Ken's through here," he said flatly. There was a vein bulging in his forehead. From what I'd read, that signified anger or strain. I wondered if he was holding himself back from getting rid of me in this very hallway.

Instead of speaking I just nodded and went forward, ducking under the low stone that was overhead. Suddenly I stood there, shocked and paralyzed by expectation versus the reality. I had expected another dark cave with minimal lighting, but now I was standing in a giant cavern with sunlight bathing the entire area. A giant hole was cut at the top of the space that allowed the sun rays in. My eyes almost hurt as they adjusted to the brightness. Wherever I looked, there were plant beds covering the cavern floor save for a few dirt paths that divided the patches of green. To my left were people picking carrots out of the ground.

How did they manage to grow food in a desert? I thought to myself.

Slowly, I began walking down one of the dirt paths that hugged the wall, looking around for Ken. As I moved, people started noticing me. Some looked scared. Others angry. But they all stared. It felt uncomfortable to have so many eyes watching me.

"You look better," a voice came from my left. I jumped, a little startled. Ken was leaning against rock in a little alcove. He had a giant carrot in his mouth and was munching on it. "Will didn't give you too much trouble did he?"

I shook my head, a little bewildered at his casual conversation with me. Why wasn't he treating me as though I were a bomb that was about to explode?

"Welcome to our humble abode," he said, stretching out his arms. "Have you seen the plant beds?"

I nodded. There was an uncomfortable silence for several seconds as I shuffled my feet. I didn't know what to say.

There was a lot I could ask.

How many are there of you here?

Are you the only survivors?

Are you going to kill me?

But I didn't ask any of them.

Instead I waited for Ken to say something else.

"Do you want to get cleaned up and then I'll show you to the kitchens for some lunch?" Ken asked, walking over to me. His eyes wrinkled up as he smiled. It was only now, close up, that I could see how old and tired he was. I could tell he had seen many things that he shouldn't have. His weary face showed many years of hiding and work.

I felt a twinge in my stomach. I wasn't familiar with this particular emotion. It was anxiety and pity at the same time.

"Yes please," I replied.

Ken nodded and motioned with his hand for me to follow him. "And by the way, don't worry about the others. They'll get used to you soon enough."

I hadn't realized it had gotten quiet while we were talking until Ken yelled, "Alright everyone, back to work!"

Instantly people shuffled back to picking and digging, avoiding looking at us. When we had first discovered this planet and took it over, the violent humans were the outsiders and the unwelcome ones.

Now the roles were reversed.

Ken led me through a winding tunnel that was a gradual descent into the depths of whatever land formation we were inside.

"So what do you call yourself?" he asked, his voice bouncing off the walls and making a loud echo.

"I am called Grace," I replied, brushing my hands over the smooth rock beside me as the ground continued to slope downwards. The rock got steeper and I was afraid we'd slip and fall until we arrived at a set of stone steps that kept going below. "My name on my past planet is too hard for humans to pronounce. I took my host's name when I...arrived."

Ken didn't respond. We continued walking until the stairs stopped and opened up into a chamber with water that seemed to be glowing.

I gasped at the magic of the place until I realized that it was the water reflecting off of the walls and the ceiling. The light waves were soothing as they gently rippled above and around me. There was a pool in front of me that seemed to be bubbling.

"We chose this specific place for a reason. There are tons of hot springs in this desert. We found ways to divert the water, so this water is not too hot. It flows from under us into here and then back underground, which makes this water fresh and not contaminated. We get our drinking water from this supply a little further upstream." Ken motioned to my left; I saw the water gently flowing to my right, where it disappeared under the wall.

He crossed his arms over his chest and nodded at the pool. "You can leave all your dirty clothes right here. I'll send Kailee down in a few minutes with a towel and a fresh pair of clothes if that's alright with you."

I nodded. "Thank you."

He turned to leave, but said over his shoulder, "Don't worry about Kailee. She's a sweet girl. She won't bother you."

Then he walked back up the steps, and I waited until I could no longer hear his footsteps until I stripped off my clothing. It hurt in some places as the fabric tore from the skin, and I could feel the sting as sand got in cuts that I didn't even know I had. When I had removed the fabric, I threw them in a pile beside the edge of the water so I could grab them if I needed them. With that accomplished, I slowly slid my body into the river of water. It was warm, but it felt so nice as I sunk completely below the surface and the low trickling of water stopped.

Instantly I was enveloped by the water and as I scrubbed I could feel the rough texture of the sand rinsing off. Even though I'd only been out in the desert for a few days, I could barely remember the feeling of clean skin.

When I came up to the surface, I saw a girl in her early teens standing near the entrance, a pile of folded clothing in her arms.

"Hi!" she said brightly, smiling toothily. She walked quickly over to the edge and laid down the fabrics beside my dirty clothes. "I think these clothes should fit you. I also brought soap." She handed me a very used bar of soap that was scratchy to the touch.

"Thank you, Kailee," I replied, my face feeling freer without all the sediment caked on it. As she smiled, I realized how much she looked like Ken.

"Are you related to Ken?" I asked, lathering up the soap and beginning to wash my legs under the water.

Kailee nodded. "I'm his daughter. We're the only surviving members of my family." Her face dulled a little, as if she realized she shouldn't be talking about that with someone like me. "I guess I'll leave you, then," she said, skittering off back up the stairs.

When she was gone, I sat quietly and listened inside my head again.

Grace.

Grace.

Are you there?

Once again there was no response. Grace Rossi was a beautiful girl who lived in Texas. Her parents had moved from Brazil when she was three, and she was into music. She had a scholarship to The Juilliard School before I was placed in her.

She lasted in my head for a two weeks before one day she just went silent. That was three weeks ago. But as soon as she left her memories got stronger and came more frequently. They invaded my dreams and came at the most inopportune times. The Seekers immediately took advantage of her memories and tried to find a way to the Resistance. The only thing Grace, the old Grace, knew was that her older brother had found a way to the survivors and left her clues so she could follow him.

And those clues had led me here. Now I was Grace. The first thing I had to do was find her brother.

I'll try to update as soon as I can, but school has been extremely stressful for me lately.

Thank you so much for the support, and I'll try to update Underground and On the Outside as soon as I can.

Love every single one of you!

xoxo

Kit Kat