AN: I own nothing related to Stephenie Meyers' The Host. This is a story that occured to me today while I've been nursing a cold. I hope you enjoy it and r/r. This is complete.
Abigail felt pushed into consciousness. She didn't want to wake up. She didn't want to see the world as it had become. She was fairly happy in the gray nothingness that was now her life. Once in awhile she would push at the swirling mists, but they never changed. All her being was focused on protecting her secrets, although she no longer knew what they were or who she was or who she was protecting them from.
Abigail became aware of her body. It felt strangely unfamiliar, like a shoe she's warn in the past, but lost, and has now found again. As she became aware of the sounds around her and her feelings, she became aware of a body beside her. Like her body, it was unfamiliar. It was too angular, the muscles too toned and the skin too soft. This was no her man, so why was shy laying beside him. Abigail tried to force her mind to work. She remembered her name, Abigail, and that she was married, but so many of her memories seemed to swirl around her. She couldn't grasp them.
She opened her eyes to the darkness. She was laying on a bed in a hotel room. She could feel the air conditioner cooling the sweat over her body and she longed to seek comfort beneath the covers, but hesitated to move and let the body beside her know she was awake. She couldn't say why she was afraid to alert the neghboring body to her alertness. Abigail tried to remember why and felt a stab of pain in her temples. Obviously, she couldn't force herself to remember.
She spotted a sink a few feat away and forced herself to sidle slowly and quietly toward it. She barely made the sheets rustle as she took a deep breath and stood upright. Abigail almost fell at the strange sensation of moving her body and she staggered over to the sink. She leaned her hands against its chilly porcelain and stared into the mirror, barely stiffling a gasp. Her eyes were reflective and there seemed to be a moving quality to them that unnerved her. Her right hand came up automatically and traced a faint ripple in the skin at the base of her neck. The memories came flooding back to her. She was a Host to a Soul now. Her entire personality subsumed by the Soul. For all intents and pruposes she was dead and still walking. Why then was she conscious now. She griped the edge of the counter, her nails digging into the cheap linoleum. There was another presence in her head she hadn't noticed before. It seemed to be sleeping. She tried to make her investigation as unobtrusive as possible to avoid waking either parasite.
Abigail was in a cheap hotel room with the air conditioner turned up way too high. She shivered and rubbed her hands together. There was an unfamiliar ring on her left hand. Her skins was soft and the cuticles well cared for. It was new and glowed brightly gold in th reflected light from outside the motel room. Her and Toms' rings had been brassy. They'd married young and never had much money to replace the rings they'd picked up at Walmart before going to the Justice of the Peace. Neither sets of parents had approved of them marrying, but Abby and Tom knew they were destined for each other and were impatient. In the summer of their Junior year at Wilmer Hutchins High School, they married clandestinely. The parents didn't find out until 2 weeks later since both thought their children at a band camp. They came back fait acommpli and Abby was pregnant with their son, Roddy. Roddy who'd been the sweetest baby ever. Abigail teared up remembering him. She hoped he was still alive and hadn't been captured by the parasises.
Abby tried to remember her capture. Like most rebels, she carried poison around to prevent her capture and keep her family safe. Why was she alive? She located her last memory before waking. She had been keeping watch while Tom was raiding a house. Suddenly everything went dark. How much time had passed? Abby looked into the mirror again. She looked little different, except the eyes. Too much time could not have passed. She leaned closer to the mirror. The scar along her neck from falling down a ravine years before was gone. Her body was leaner, at least the parasite was taking good care of it. She also noticed her hair was longer than she'd ever grown it and the parasite had dyed it blonde.
She'd always loved her brown haircolor. Tom had once likened it to the color of the newly turn ground in the garden and she's pushed him and he'd hugged her until they were laughing and kissing. That was right after Roddy was born, while they were setting up their new home after graduating. Tom had got a job fixing cars in his uncle's shop and she'd stayed home and tried to make the small singlewide into a home.
Her knees felt weak. Was Tom okay? Had he used the poison? Was he now a parasite because she hadn't been able to save him. She heard a keeing cry and realized it came from her throat.
"What is it Glorious Waters?' His voice was sleepy, this parasitic new husband of hers.
"I'm fine Jace." Abigail felt herself drawing further from consciousness. She hadn't said that and knew the parasite was reasserting control. Abigail tried to make herself as small and unassuming as possible in the back of Glorious' mind. Until she could wrest control from Glorious she would wait and watch and avoid entering that gray nothingness ever again. Here she could protect her family, there not so much.
Abigail watched Glorious smile at the other parasite and make love to him. She stayed in the back, trying not to see what this other being was doing with her body. It felt so wrong to be with anyone but Tom. Finally, Glorious went to sleep again and Abigail made her move. She was reasonably certain she could force 'Glorious' to the back and stay herself in the driver's seat. She focused all her being on her senses and memories, those of Glorious and herself and felt the alien memories flooding into her brain.
Glorious Waters had spent most of her life as a plant and she gloried in the emotions and sensations of the human form. She and Jace had married 2 days before after meeting 6 months earlier at their comforter's office. Both were new arrivals, but neither had too many problems settling in. They became friends, but soon became closer and decided to marry. He was a tall thin, young man with dark hair and eyes and the sort of pale skin you knew turned bright red in a few minutes of sun. Abbigail wondered about the man he'd once been. She knew he'd survived on the run for years like her and her family, did anyone mourn him?
Abigail moved slowly as she dressed. She packed a few things into a bag and prepared to leave, but hesitated. The seekers would begin to search immediately if she just left, so she wrote a note to Jace. The past few days have been wonderful and I treasure them, but feel a need to see more of the area. I know you need to get back to work, so I'll meet you at home in a couple of weeks.
Abigail felt Glorious awaken in the back of her mind and waited for an onslaught that never came. The parasite seemed shocked to have lost control. She tried to stop Abigail from leaving, but Abigail easily overpowered her and walked out into the bright morning light. She loved the feel of the wind and sun on her skin. It was glorious, she thought snidely, and was stunned when she felt a response. Come again, she thought.
I love the feeling of wind and sun too. It seemed that Glorious was speaking to Abigail in her mind.
Hello, Abigail thought carefully.
Why have you taken oover my body, the parasite thought back.
This is my body, Abigail thought fiercely.
It is mine now.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
No, Abigail focused her entire being on feeling her body. She felt the skin tingling with the new day, her lungs filling with oxygen, and her blood pumping through her veins. It was good to be alive and in control.
She started the car and drove off, East. She had no idea where her family might be by now. Her boys knew to keep moving, but they were so young. What if Roddy chose somewhere unwise to stop. She wracked her brain for clues and began to wonder, what had her memories told seekers already.
Nothing, Glorious interjected, I never could remember more than shadows from your life. It was really unusual and everyone had many questions. It was obvious you'd given birth multiple times, but I never could discover if any survived, how many there were, or even what their names were. Your kind is no inconsiderate of their young. I just assumed you'd not cared for them properly and they died.
"What!" Abigail accidentally spoke aloud. So you learned nothing from my memories?
Alas, no. When do I get my body back. She seemed to be getting stronger.
Abigail took a tack she'd learned from her children. In a few minutes. She thought distractedly.
Humph, It seemed souls were more difficult to convince then small children. Which is odd since she had the human experience of a baby.
Abigail considered her options. She could use the soul's memories to blend in and investigate the location of her husband and children, but that might get the attention of seekers, she could go her own way and home someday to meet them, or she could search for them as she was. The last seemed the safest soluation for them, but she couldnt meet any former contacts in her present state. She looked like a soul; she's be killed on sight. They'd all lived a hard life the past few years. Abigail had had to kill several souls to avoid detection before. She hated it.
Abigail forced herself out of head since she realized her body had turned unbidden back to the motel. Abigail quickly reasserted control and steered her body toward the cars. She took the one the newlyweds were renting and climbed in. It had been years since she'd driven. They rarely had a car nowadays and Tom always drove since he was so good at it and she was really good at keeping the boys amused.
Sighing, Abigail pushed the car into gear and drove West. They were in Savannah, GA now, which happened to be the town her and Tom were born and eventually married in. Abigail wondered at the coincidence. Jace and Glorious lived in Miami, so Savannah was definitely a drive for them. She didn't want to address the soul to find out why, so she just kept driving. There was a semi-safe house in Atlanta where the family would have checked in after she's been caught.
An hour later, Abby noticed a dinging sound that drew her out of her reverie. It was time to stop for gas. She drew on Glorious' memories to note that paying for gas was not expected. She could stop at any gas station. She also decided it was time to switch cars and she was suprised to learn that was common among souls. Since everything was communal. People left keys in the ignition and you were welcome to take it if you needed another car.
Within minutes, Abby came up to a Pilot Travel Plaza. She debated the wisdom of switching cars in an obviously video-recorded place, but the gas need was extreme. She pulled in and parked the car in front, deciding skulking would be more obvious then confidence. She left the keys in the ignition and walked calmly into the convenience store. It was full of delicious snacks that made her mouth water and her heart yearn for her children.
How they would love these foods. She imagined giving Roddy or Michael some treats after a long day in the car and sighed. Michael couldn't miss what he'd never had. He was born right before they went into hiding.
They'd waited 8 eyars to have their second child because they enjoyed Roddy so much, they weren't sure they wanted a second one, but was when Roddy 6 and started asking for a little brother, Abby and Tom had decided they were ready for another child. It took nearly 2 years to get pregnant the second time, much longer than the first, but Tom was supportive throughout the attempt, always ready to try to 'make a baby'.
Abby was brought out of her reminiscence by the sound of screaming in her head. Glorious was trying to escape, to have some sound escape my body that would let the other souls know something was wrong. Abby grimaced and focused her attention on the outside sounds and tried to ignore the soul who was rapidly causing her a headache.
She grabbed a Diet Dr. Pepper and some Doritos, nodding and smiling carelessly at everyone she saw. After backing out of the store, she noticed her car was gone and grabbed a big blue SUV beside it. She grinned. It was almost exactly like the car she's driven before the world ended.
Climbing in, she noticed the screaming had stopped. Tired already? She mused to the soul.
Saving my strength for when it matters. It answered.
"Glorious Waters" Abigail's head flew up and she looked toward the sound. There was a diminutive black woman standing outside the door of the SUV, completely drawrfed by its size. It was Glorious Waters' comforter. She rolled the window down and smiled a greeting.
"Hello Sheila. How are you doing?" Abigail leaned forward, out the car window trying to look at ease.
The woman smiled up at her and seemed to notice nothing amiss. "I was justing coming out to see you. Jace called the office to say you'd left him in the midst of your honeymoon. Is something wrong?"
Abigail wracked her brain to think of some plausible reason, but she was having trouble focusing. Glorious was trying to reassert control. Abigail shoved her to thne back of her mind and forced herself to blush. "It was the sex. I hate it. Maybe I'm not ready for that part of humanity..." She ducked her head, catching a glimpse of the amused-looking comforter.
"I thought it might be something like that. It isn't uncommon, especially among new implants. But running away is not the solution. I know you and Jace love each other and will work it out."
"I guess so."
"Now why don't you drive with me back to Savannah and the two of us and Jace can sit down and talk this out." She looked up into the SUV expectantly.
"I don't know. I just don't feel ready for that you knwo. I think I need to process this for a few days before I'm ready to talk about it. Do you think I can take the long way back to Savannah so I can have some more time?" Abigail tried to beg with her eyes.
The older woman did not look convinced, but shook her head. "If you think that is what you need. It is most irregular."
"Thanks. I'll see you in a couple of days. You have always been a great help. I know you will help me and Jace with this." Abigail waved to the woman and rolled up her window. She would drive South from here and swtch out cars again in a less busy travel plaza, hopefully one with fewer people in it.
After a couple of hours, Abigail switched cars at an almost abandoned, very old looking, gas station. She now drove a much more fuel efficient Toyota hybrid that was absolutely no fun to drive. It had no pep. Not long after switching cars, she took a small 2-lane FM road North-West. At least she was headed in the right direction.
She saw a flash of darkness out of the corner of her eye and turned her head. There was a small figure standing in the midst of a corn field. Her heart ached for the young boy who looked so much like her own Michael. She remembered teaching Michael to walk in a run-down shed. He fell to the dirt floor so often it almost seemed he wore more dirt than the ground.
Glorious laughed with her at the memory. Hey, she thought, these are my memories, not yours. Leave them alone.
Glorious settled back into the back of Abigail's consciousness and she continued to review her memories of Michael. She saw his first word, when he learned no, his first hair cut, him saying he loved his mommy. She felt the tears well in her eyes before she saw the road block. It was quite cleverly placed at the bottom of a hill. Abigail knew she was in trouble because the only people to use roadblocks are seekers and humans and either could be disasterous.
She slowed to a stop in front of the block and searched for a weapon. She couldn't believe she's neglected to plan for this. She always had a weapon handy. It had become second nature. As Abigail considered potential weapons, the violence of her thoughts caused Glorious to recede further from her mind.
Unfortunately, there was nothing in the car suitable for a weapon except the first aid kit whose hard plastic could make quite a dent in a human skull. She grabbed it from under the passenger seat as dark figures approached the car. She was slightly dismayed to learn they were human. In a way, it warmed her heart to see 6 humans, but it also dismayed her to see her death written on their faces. Her fingers tightened around the box.
A human approached her window, holding a gun and grinning with all his teeth showing. He was a tall man, muscled, and imposing. His eyes were a deep brown while his hair was streaked gold by the sun.
"Hello parasite." His voice was gravelly in the still afternoon air. He tried to open the door that she had wisely locked. "It'll go easier for you if you cooperate."
He drew his hand back to bash open the window with his gun, and Abigail almost backed away when several more humans stepped behind the car. She couldn't bring herself to destroy some of the few remaining humans simply to save herself. Her heart thumped in her chest and her breath came hard. Her hand was like a vise aound the box and she thrust her door open and leaped from the car into the corn field beside it in one swift move. Her strides were long and seemed to eat up the miles. She could here deep breathing behind her as they followed.
She leapt to the ground underneath a patricularly dense growth of corn and willed herself to remain absolutely still. Glorious was also still in her head. The humans combed the area, but somehow still missed her.
Hours later, Glorious was complaining in Abigail's head that she was bored and they needed to move, but Abigail maintained control and they remained motionless until almost dawn. Abigail was tired, hungry, and thirsty. She was begining to feel weak with hunger. The Doritos from earlier in the days seemed weeks ago. While Abigail was used to hunger, it was never pleasant.
She's often gone without food so the boys and Tom could eat, although Tom didn't know about it. He would be sad to know she suffered from hunger when he didn't, but he needed the food more than she since they relied on his strength for their survival.
Abigail moved carefully through the cornfield, taking several ears along the way to eat. The sweetcorn was fine, but she longed for something more substantial. After what seemed like weeks, but was actually days, she reached the end of the cornfields. Now Abigail was uncertain what she could do. After facing the humans, she knew she couldn't go to the safehouse, so where could she find them.
Then she felt a burst of knowledge. They'd go to the old horse farm. Her and Tom had loved it and were in the process of buying it before leaving to go on the run. They'd try to go there and it was a deserted enough place, they might actually survive there. It made so much sense that Abigail was suspicious. Why hadn't this occured to her before?
You needed me to put the peices together for you. The soul's voice was smug and Abigail jumped when she heard it since she the soul had been mostly silent in the cornfield. Well, there really wasn't anything to say.
Hmmm, Abigail mused. The conclusion made sense and gave her a destination. Abigail walked along the road for many miles before coming across a gas station more decrepit then any she's ever seen. There was a car parked in front of it. Abigail longed to drive and give her feet a chance for a break. She scurried up to the restroom in the back and tried to mend her appearance so she looked less disreputable. She was covered with dirt and sweat and she smelled bad, but she cleaned up as best she could before entering the small store and grabbing a couple of cans of Pringles and some water. She asked the soul behind the counter about the car and found it was his and he didn't mind if she took it since hers broke down days earlier on another road.
His grizzled face was kind as he helped escorted her to her car, making sure she was fine and didn't need him to call anyone for her. Abigail thought he was too nice, but Glorious disagreed. This is the way of souls.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Abigail drove roughly North until she found a major road. It took her only a few hours to traverse the countryside. She was tired and still felt very dirty, but she was making good progress and enjoying what was almost an argument with the soul in her head over the true niceness of souls. Nice people are not thieves, she thought before shushing the soul from furthur argument. They'd arrived.
It's fence was falling down, the wood rotted and weed grew everywhere she could see. Abigail drove forward carefully, scanning for movement. Nothing moved as she drove along the rutted dirt road toward the worn, once blue and white clapboard house. It's windows were broken and trash was strewn across the patio. Abigail slowed and parked the car in front of the house. She grabbed a heavy wooden stick she'd discovered in the corn fields and continued to observe the area. Nothing moved. Abigail's heart was in her mouth as she carefully moved forward, disapointed by the lack of signs of use.
Her back to the wall, Abigail slowly opened the door into the house. It was unlocked and creaked loudly as it opened inward. She peeked into the deserted foyer. Cobwebs hung from every corner and the ceiling.
Thump.
Abigail jumped and turned around to see her son, Roddy. Dropping the wood, she grabbed him in a hug, not realizing for several seconds that the boy was not hugging her back. Pushing him away, tears filling her eyes, Abigailbacked away.
"Roddy?"
"Parasite." He said accusingly. Roddy held a shotgun in his hand, but hadn't lifted it up to shoot her yet.
"I..." Abigail didn't know what to say. She was inhabited by a parasite and didn't know if she could maintain control of her body. Knowing that Roddy was okay relieved her. Her eyes drank him in. He was dirtier and thinner than she'd ever seen him, but he didn't look sickly. He'd grown several inches in the past month and his much-mended clothes were gray with dirt and strained against his size and new muscles. Abigail realized her little boy was almost 12 now. He'd soon be a man and she just hoped he'd be a good man.
Roddy looked behind her and she whirled around to see little Michael who'd also had a growth spurt. He, like Roddy, was dirty and thin and his clothes no longer fit. He looked so wonderful to Abigail that she collapsed onto her knees and began crying uncontrollably, her arms hugging herself. Her boys were okay and they were human. Glorious seemed to be hanging back in her head, uncertain what to say in this situation and seemingly frightened by Abigail's excess of emotion.
"You're alive." Abigail said to herself as she rocked back and forth for several moments. The boys looked at each other, uncertain how to react to such insanity. Abigail somehow found the restraint to stop scring her children and began to sob more quietly and stopped rocking back and forth. She didn't trust herself to speak, so she continued to drink them in with her eyes. They were alive and her heart sung gladly.
Suddenly Michael ran forward and hugged her. She squeezed him back hard. "Oh Michael." She said. He was 4 now and was as tall as she while she was on her knees. He was going to be tall like his father.
Tom was approaching more carefully, but Abigail could see his longing to hug her in his eyes. She closed her own eyes briefly before setting Michael away from her.
"Where's Father?" She asked.
Michael looked to his brother who gripped the gun tightly. "He's dead parasite. Like you will be soon." Roddy couldn't seem to bring the gun up to aim at her.
Abigail felt the breath leave her body as she saw spots in front of her eyes. Tom could not be dead. He'd been her friend and confidant since they were children and her sweetheart since she knew what a sweetheart was. It was wrong that a world could exist where she lived and he died.
"Are you sure?" She whispered.
"I saw him die." Roddy's face was hard and he looked like a man in that moment. A man who'd been left with a small child to raise while still a child. Glorious sobbed at the horror in her mind, but Abigail needed to block her out to function.
"Did he use the poison?"
"Yes, he swallowed it right before they found him. I guess he thought he's escaped, but noticed them trailing him right before he entered camp and kept going. I used the binoculars and saw him reach into his pocket before the end. He swallowed and collapsed. They tried to revive him, but I saw one say 'he's dead'. They fanned out to try to find us, but the hiding place was too good and we escaped." The story rushed from Roddy's lips. Abigail winced at the horror of all her boys had seen in their brief lives.
"I never thought you would get caught, mother." This last was said with sarcasm.
"I never had a chance to resist. They got me while my back was turned. I had no idea how much time had passed until a few days ago when I woke up. I don't know how it happened or how long it will last, but I love you and am so happy to know you've survived." Abigail felt her eyes tearing up again. Roddy seemed to consider the chance her story was true. She could see his desire to believe it in his eyes and if he'd been older and harder, he probably would have shot her already, but he was young and wanted his mom back. Roddy nodded shortly and loosened his grip on the shotgun.
"Now, this place and you two are a disgrace. I can't believe my little boys look like such dirty ragamuffins." She made a clucking sound in the back of her throat that caused Roddy's head to jump up. He came several steps closer to her, but seemed uncertain. Abigail moved the remaining feet forward and grasped him in a tight hug. Her eyes closed and tears continued to well in her eyes and she kissed his ear.
She turned her head to Michael and beckoned him over too. The trio exchanged a family hug for several moments before all surepticiously dried their eyes and backed away. "Now first things first, lets get you 2 baths and clean your clothes."
Abigail was so happy to be with her family again. Her heart was brimming with happiness and continued to brim with happiness for the ensuing month. They cleaned the house and began a small garden that was surrounded by bramble. From the outside, the farm looked the same. You needed to look really closely to see the subtle symbols of occupation. The recent signs of a car being moved. It was now covered with dirt. The farm had a well and pump that still worked and they used an outhouse for waste needs. They had a tub for baths, but usually used the nearby pond.
The boys seemed so happy to have a parent again. Abigail taught Michael to read and do math while making sure Roddy learned history and science, or at least as much history and science as she rememeber. Both had been Tom's subjects in school. Abigail felt like crying all the time now and while at first it was normal, she began to worry over it. She'd never been a crier before. After a month she began to suspect she was pregnant and then the morning sickness began and she was sure she was pregnant. Abigail was flumoxed. What was she going to do on a farm in the middle of nowhere with an 11 year old and 4 year old to watch over? What would their mom going into labor do to them? Glorious was also scared. Even though she was overridden by Abigail and felt only shadow images of the real world, she was scared of having a child alone in the wilderness too.
Glorious, or Glory as Abigail, or Abby, called her was developing a friendly understanding with Abby. They'd begun to work together and at one point, 4 months in, Glory mentioned she understood why Abby needed her body and deserved. Once while they fell asleep, Abby could feel her sighing in the back of her mind that she regretted taking Abby's body. It also helped Abby to have someone other than the boys to talk to since neither one was a scintellating conversationalist.
The first sign of impending doom was the sound of a motor in the distance. Abby pushed the boys into a root cellar while she grabbed the shotgun. Are you sure the gun is a good idea? Glory thought. It sort of defeats the purpose of passing for one of them.
You're right.Abby thought back and she sidled over to the window.
The fall had turned the leaves into many colors outside and they swirled in the late October sunshine. A compact Toyota parked in front of the house. Abby could see it contained only one passenger. He unfolded his lanky frame from the very small car and she gasped as she recognized Jace, her soul's husband. What. She thought, in utter shock.
Now don't get mad Abby, I may have accidently given him a couple of clues to where we were going before we got here. I'm surprised it took him so long to get here.
But how did you give him the clues.
Sometimes you get distracted, she answered, and then I can get out little things.
What are we going to do. The man had reached the door and began to knock.
"I know you are in there Glorious Waters." His voice was almost as gravelly as Abby remembered.
He's knows we are here, we have to answer. Glory sounded reasonable in Abby's mind so she stepped to the door and opened it wide.
"Yes Jace." She could feel Glory rejoicing in her mind to see the other creature.
"Why have you now returned to me?" Jace's mouth seemed to have tense lines around it and his eyes were searching her own for an answer. His once short hair had also grown and his clothes were more threadbare than most souls would permit.
"I've not felt the need." Glory cried out in her mind. Glory had felt the need and had missed the other soul more than Abby had ever guessed.
Jace looked unconvinced. "Why do you live here? This hovel is unsuitable for human habitation, much less soul." His fiinally left Abby's and traveled aroudn the room, eventually settling on her stomach. His eyes bulged from their sockets. "You are to be a mother." He breathed, his eyes shining briefly. "Why have you kept this from me. Abby and Glory were shocked by the anger in his voice and stared mutely at him.
"I need you to leave me." Abby said quietly.
"I can't, you see, ever since you left my host has been talking to me. I guess my love for you kept him silent, but without you my life is meaningless and he knows it." Jace looked over her head briefly his eyes seeming to turn inward.
"He thinks your host speaks to you too and that's why you left me. Is it true?"
Abby took a moment to consider what to tell him. "We speak." She decided to be brief and leave suppositions to him.
"I knew it. I love you Glorious Waters and would love you in another body. Let's leave these behind so we can be together again. We can even take children this time so we don't risk this happening again."
Glory cried out in Abby's mind at the idea of possessing children like Michael or Roddy. It had taken her longer to warm to Roddy then Michael, but she loved them almost as much as Abby did and couldn't imagine either being hosts.
Abby felt anger that was not her own well up within her. "Obviously you are not the man I thought you were. Goodbye." The words were not from Abby, but they were her sentiment and in this instance, she didn't mind Glory using her body.
Jace's mouth opened and he seemed to be fighting a battle within. His face changed.
"Jace?" Abby's voice was breathless.
"Yes, but I am the original Jace, not the parasite inhabiting my brain." This new Jace was almost indistinguishible from the other Jace. She might not have noticed a difference if she hadn't seen the change.
"Nice to meet you." Abby didn't know what else to say.
"Look, he can take control back at any time. Can you please kill me?" Glory cried out in Abby's mind against the idea of causing Jace's death. It was unthinkable to her that she be a part of the creature that killed her love. Abby was torn. While she would want to die in a similar circumstance, Glory was her friend and she couldn't cause her pain.
Abby saw beads of sweat form on Jace's forehead as he waged war within his body. She aimed her stick at his head and knocked him unconscious. At least him being unconcscious would give her and Glory breathing room. They had no choice, she couldn't kill Glory's husband so they had to get away. She tied up the man and left him a note telling him that she couldn't kill him since they were married. Abby then bundled the boys into his car, taking as many supplies with them as they could carry and despite her over-active bladder, the trio made good time as they traveled West toward Mississippi. The boys slept in the back and hid in the back at rest stops while she filled the gas tank and gathered supplies.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
They were on the run now, but Abby had no idea where they were going. Just West she supposed. It took a couple of weeks and a less than direct route and several car changes for the family to arrive in Roswell, New Mexico. They were camping out in the desert when they returned to their car to find several humans raiding it. The boys ran forward before the ever-growing Abby could stop them.
"No!" She cried.
The men froze, looking at the boys in shock. Abby hurried forward, carrying the shotgun that was never far from her side and raising it in a smooth move.
""Return our supplies and leave. Michael, Roddy, back away." The leader's dark hair and sharp blue eyes moved between the boys and Abby, still stunned.
"Are you a soul?" The leader asked.
It was so odd that they would ask that she was completely honest. "There's a soul within me, but I control the body."
The leader looked at the man and woman beside him and the dark haired woman nodded. Obviously her conclusion that the talker was the leader was wrong. The tall, thin young woman gave him orders. She looked at Abby. "Hi, I'm Melanie and was once inhabited by a soul too."
Abby felt faint at this new information. Obviously the woman was lying. Glory and Abby had accepted their dual existance. They had no hope and had even begun to enjoy certain aspects of never being alone, like never being lonely.
Abby sat down hard, her hands grasping her middle to cushion it. Is this possible? Glory was slow to respond.
Yes, we can be removed, but I haven't mentioned it since we have no way to do it. I don't want to die and neither do you.
Abby felt a presence behind her. It was the blue-eyed man she's thought was the leader.
"I'm Ian, let me help you up." His hands were warm and secure as they lifted her back to her feet.
She stumbled slightly, but shrugged off Ian's hands and tried to walk confidently to her boys. They didn't need to see how this new possibility rattled her. She didn't want any harm to come to Glory, but she longed to no longer be a host and have to remain constantly vigilant that her control not slip and allow Glory to take over. If she lost control, would she get it back.
Holding the gun loosely in her right hand, she pushed her sons behind her. "Why should I trust you?"
"I don't see that you have much choice. You can't go back and be killed and you need a safe place for you, your sons, and your baby. Also, we can remove the soul safely, causing no damage to you or her." Melanie seemed so sure and confident that Abby was almost convinced. After all, Melanie was right. What else were they to do? Glory whimpered in her mind. Don't worry, I won't let them hurt you. Abby infused that thought with conviction. She would let nothing happen to Glory.
Abby looked behind her at her sons, they'd lost all the weight they's gained in their months at the farm and were skin and bones again. At least they were cleaner this time.
"Fine, we will go with you, but do not attempt to take out weapons away." Abby's grip on her gun tightened.
'Okay." Melanie threw a sideways glance at Ian who nodded and left. 'We have a an you can travel in."
"What about our car?" Abby started, but Melanie cut her off.
"It will be taken care of. New arrivals must enter in the van or they do not enter at all." A purring engine ripped through the air and Abby was astonished to hear a van's engine sound like a sports car. The van pulled in front of them and Abby grasped her sons' hands and pulled them with her noisily into the back of the van. It was full of supplies.
"How many people live in your community?" Abby asked Melanie as she climbed soundlessly into the van. She was soon followed by Ian and the other man who hadn't been introduced.
"We have a community of 2 souls and 30 humans. We are aware of other communities of humans, even one with a soul." Melanie spoke with a minimum of words and then fell silent. Many hours passed while the boys cuddled against her. She felt a fluttering in her belly. It was the first time the baby had tried to move, but the moment was bittersweet. With the boys, Abby had Tom to share everything with, but now she was alone with Glory hardly counting since Glory was only in her mind.
The van drove underground, eventually stopping. Abby realized she'd slept the last few hours and her legs were still asleep. She forced them to move throught the pins and needles and allowed Ian to help her from the van. The boys were asleep. Ian picked Roddy up and the other man, who in the light looked almost like Ian's twin, picked up Michael. Melanie led the group down several coridors swathed in darkness, eventually they arrived in a cavernous hall lit brightly by something above their heads. Melanie led them to a table at which sat a young man and woman and an old man.
"Jeb, Doc" She nodded first at the old man, then the younger one. "This is Abby and Glorious Waters (Abby told her about her soul during the van ride) and they would like to be separate." The old man, Jeb looked up from his mishapen roll and nodded to the other man, Doc.
"I guess we are good." The man said, rising from his barely touched meal. He was a tall and thin man with brown hair and a comforting smile.
"First, what happens to Glory?" Abby asked looking hard at the man to descipher a lie.
He hesitated. "She will be put in a hybernation chamber and sent home on the next shuttle." Abby detected no lie in his eyes, so she turned her attention to Glory.
How does this make you feel Glory? It took a moment for her to answer.
I actually look forward to it. Glory sounded surprised by the revelation. I miss the currents and peacefullnes. Even before you took over, it was overwhelming to me. Yes i think I would like to spend some more centuries back home. Abby sighed and looked up at the Doctor who was patiently waiting for a response.
"That is acceptable." Abby told him.
"No time like the present." The man said, walking toward another corridor with sure steps.
"Wait, what time will this take and who will take care of my boys?" Abby planted her feet and placed her arms across her chest.
"I will watch them, but it should take mere moments." Melanie stepped forward. "You can trust us."
We move too fast... Abby sent reassuring feelings to Glory. Won't it be nice to be alone again.
Alone, Glory thought, obviously unconvinced.
Abby continued to reassure her as they followed Doc down the dark corridor and into another one. It look several turns for them to arrive in the clinic, but Abbys was reassued to see how clean and orderly it was.
"Where is the hybernation unit?" She asked.
He gestured to small cylindrical silver unit lying beside the operating table. He pressed seveal buttons, opening it and readying it.
"Please lie down face forward on the table." His voice was detached, professional, as he washed his hands.
Abby looked at the Doctor, cocking her eyebrow.
"I see, I suppose laying on your side may work best." There was a small smile in his voice.
Abby closed her mind to everything around her and focused on Glory while she layed on her side on the table.
You've been like a sister to me, Abby cried and felt Glory's warm love and kindness surround her. Abby felt a prick against her neck and she lost consciousnress.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
It was difficult for Abby to regain consciousness, she was so comfortable, but she felt a movement in her stomach and brought her heavy hand up to her round stomach as she opened her eyes to a deserted clinic. She knew immediately the surgery had been a success. Her mind was entirely her own again.