Chapter 1

We met them at the rockslide, the others. They were waiting for us. Other humans. Different from the thirty-five (and two souls) who lived in the Picacho caves.

"Where were you going?" Nate asked.

"We had planned a raid and we're still going." Jared said.

"We could go, too." Nate offered.

Neither party was willing to reveal their hideout yet, even to other humans. Who knew what could happen.

"We did just get back from a raid but most of the stuff will keep. It will be a good opportunity for us to get to know each other. Where were you planning on going?"

"North, we were planning to put some distance from here and plan a substantial raid." Jared returned.

I hung back, shy, not ready to talk to the newcomers, my eyes lifting up to watch Burns every once in a while.

Ian watched me. "Missing your own kind?" Ian asked jealously.

"I was just thinking about how I thought I was so unique, then Sunny came along and now Burns."

We drove back to the caves with our new friends, another group of humans and one renegade soul in the late hours of the night. I looked over at Ian as he looked back me and smiled. He took my hand as I thought about the last night on our raid, before we met the other rebels.

Our group had spent the night in the desert this night. I laid a blanket down on the ground, a few feet away from our friends on the raid to get a small amount of privacy. We did not make a fire, there was too much of a chance that would draw unwanted visitors, of the civilized type.

Ian laid down beside me and snuggled up to me. "Hey," he whispered, "I wanted to show you something. On the raid, I got some batteries. We rarely use batteries for anything other than an absolute necessity, like flashlights but I kept a couple for us." He looked a little chagrined. "Do you like music?" Ian looked at me intently for an answer as a rolled over to talk to him.

"Well, yes. I used to listen to the radio sometimes at my old apartment in San Diego." I looked at him curiously wanting to know why music would have him looking so intense.

"The radio," he whispered excitedly, "So you haven't heard human music then?" I knew what he meant, just like the TV shows, human music was phased out for the more tame music made by souls.

"No," I shook my head and smiled and guessed this was why he looked so excited.

"Great!" Ian exclaimed in his hushed voice. He pulled out a small device, an MP3 player, and began clicking buttons on it. He scooted closer beside me and handed me one of the headphones, he took the other one.

"This is about some music?" I asked mystified.

"I remembered a song. It makes me think of you. I had it on my MP3 player but I didn't have any batteries to play it until now. This song feels like how I feel about you. Here lay back and listen." He looked a little embarrassed, "I guess this is kind of high school but I really wanted you to show you in some way how I feel about you. I thought if you heard the song, you might be able to understand what I was feeling."

We both laid back on the blanket and listened to the song. Ian looked at me nervously. Instantly, I was drawn into the raw emotional quality of the song. It kind of reminded me of my first day with Melanie as a host because of the surprising and sharp qualities of the emotions. But the tone was all Ian. The song was rough, romantic, wistful, a little messy, and intense. I really liked it. It wasn't like anything I'd heard before.

"This isn't anything like what I've heard on the radio. I mean, some of the sounds are close but it has such a different feeling. I really liked it. Thank you for sharing it with me, Ian." I sighed and stared up at the stars.

I can feel my eyes unfocus as my mind begins to wander. Ian turns to me and asks quietly, "What are you thinking about, Wanda?"

I turn my head to the side to look at him and whisper back, "I was thinking about what you said about high school, I was thinking that I'd never been to high school or any other human school and that made me think…Well, you know what my life was like before I met you. I was wondering what your life was like before your met me. What was your life like before we came here? Before you had even heard of us souls? Before you had to come here and live in the tunnels?"

"Oh," Ian murmured, "Yeah, I guess we never have talked about that. Well, I went into hiding about six years ago with Kyle. We were in college together, just getting ready to graduate. Kyle's Jodi went missing shortly after the rumors started. He was frantic and tried to find her. He couldn't. At about that time, my girlfriend, Natalie, brought Seekers to the boys dorms. Kyle and I fled shortly after that."

I started to squirm. I was not expecting this. A girlfriend? Did he feel the same way that Kyle felt about Jodi? Would he want to bring her back here like Kyle did with Sunny, the soul who lived inside of Jodi's body? I looked down. He was already used to being with a body that was inhabited by a soul. Maybe he wouldn't mind seeing Natalie's body again even though it was a soul that animated and controlled it.

"Do you still think about her?" I asked, feeling anguished.

Ian looked at me strangely, "Well, yes sometimes. It did make an impression on me. Why? Does this bother you?"

"I…" I thought about lying. But, I'm a terrible liar, I should just get it out, " I was wondering… if you wanted to bring her back here,… like Kyle and Sunny. I would understand if you felt that way." I would understand. I would also break into a million pieces without even having given myself to motherhood. Of all the lives that I have lived and all the experience that I had gained, I would not even be able to bring myself to give myself to the next generation and splitting myself into a million different offspring. No offspring, I would just break, shatter.

"It's not like that. I felt terrible about the whole thing but Natalie was never to me as Jodi was to Kyle. It changed him so much."

"You can't really believe that can you. What about you, you told me you never got close to one of the other souls. What if you got close to say burns and wanted to partner with him? You're everything to me. It wouldn't matter if Natalie miraculously appeared to me as a human. I don't feel for her as I feel for you." Ian swore. "I've never met anyone like you, Wanda, human or otherwise and I'm not about to let you go."

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to bring up something upsetting. I'm glad that I know, though."

Ian took my hand, "What else do you want to know? I'll tell you anything." He bought my hand to his cheek as he spoke. I could feel the hairs on the back of my arm stand up from his breath. He brushed my hand slowly across his lips. I closed my eyes and enjoyed the sensation. "I love you," he breathed as he leaned in to kiss me.

This was so much better than any life before. I lost my breath as Ian crushed my body to his. My whole body was tingling as he pulled back and looked at me. It almost like he was gauging something. He sighed and kissed me again and pulled my head so his chest. He ran his hands over my arms and I fell asleep with his lips pressed to my forehead under the clear desert sky.

I let the last of that memory fade away as I looked at Ian again. Another memory from a few nights ago popped in my head.

I remembered talking to Ian after I was inserted into my host. I told him that I was so happy that I had found someone like him, someone who could look at me, and not just my host, and find something in a soul to love.