Nate's Diary

by Nancy LeBrun

For those of you who read A Soul's Hope, this is Nate's story. WARNING! This story is told from the point of view of a guy and contains explicit sexual content as well as profanity and references to violence against women.

3. Chapter 3

So, I am excited to see that some of you have read and reviewed. I've heard from some of my old friends ladaane, who is the person that convinced me to write this; MagicalNikky, Stubborn Pear, babes-tastycakes, Pipes, Annabelleloves, and Barbie. It's good to hear from all of you. I was quite surprised to see my very first review had come from someone I had never heard from before. SSRAINES, thank you! I've also gotten a review and some fav lists from some others, some new and some I haven't heard from in a while. Thank you Liz, Prancing Anya, and Disney Vampire. Thank you all. And now for chapter 3…

HOME TURF

04/08/2002 – It's good to be back home. The caverns were amazing and the gardens were a wonder as Jeb had promised. He used mirrors to capture the light as it entered the small cracks in the ceiling of the main cavern to diffract the light in order to give the garden its life giving sunshine. Unfortunately watering the garden requires manual labor since the only source of water lies in the underground spring in the bathing room. So, each day a few people are given the chore of watering the gardens. It needs to be done every day due to the stifling heat. It is cooler in the lower part of the caverns but places like Doc's office are hot. I'm glad to be back here where the seasons change.

However, I am wrestling with a small dilemma. Actually, it's a huge dilemma. It just comes in a small package. The soul I spoke about? Wanda? She seems to have invaded my thoughts. I don't know why. I mean she's beautiful, but she is so young. Too young I would have thought. But she loves another. He is my age, but the age thing doesn't seem to matter to her. And he is a ticking time bomb. He wrestles with his own demons which is what brings me to my quandary. I think I could destroy this relationship and take her for myself, but would it be right to destroy her happiness for my own selfish needs? After all, I've never been the marrying kind. How long would I be happy with her before I walked away? So many things to think about. The fact that she is a soul is so absolutely intriguing to me…

I set my alarm for early so I could use the shower before anyone else woke up. It was going to be a busy day. I had six guests to deal with plus the things I had been neglecting since we left for our adventure. Carl said that Maria was clamoring about the dwindling food supply so I needed to take a full inventory. I also needed to get with Maria on the dinner menu for the next week. Laundry was also high on my list of priorities.

I found Maria in her usual morning place, sitting in a chair above the root cellar reading a book and soaking up the sun. Maria was American Indian and she loved being outside. In her mind the elements were part of what made us what we are. She worshipped the sun, the moon, the soil, and all God's creatures. "Good morning Maria!"

"Good morning, Nathan. I'm glad you are home." She was also the only one who called me by my given name.

"So, are you saying you missed me or simply that you needed me?"

She got up from her chair and hugged me tightly. "You know you are like a son to me."

I smiled at her. "Good because I need a mother now and again to keep me in line."

"You are a good boy."

"Thank you. I spoke to Carl and he said you are requesting food."

"Yes, how many guests did you bring back with you?"

"Six. Three men and three women."

"Carl said one of them is a soul?"

"Yes, and she is quite beautiful."

"Do I detect a hint of admiration?"

I used my fingers to indicate a small amount. "Just a little."

"She is not like us. Remember that."

"I know. She also has a lover and he is human."

"It seems to me that you want what you can't have and I am thinking that the fact that she is not human intrigues you."

I put my finger to my nose. "Maria you know me so well."

"Well, the answer will present itself. It always does."

I sighed. "I just wish she wasn't so damned adorable."

She squeezed my hand and looked at me with love in her dark eyes.

"Maria, I would like it if you would get a menu together for me in the next day or two. I'll send Burns on a trip to the market. I hope to complete the inventory by then."

"I'll get right on it."

"Oh, our visitors don't have refrigeration where they come from, so they are limited on the types of foods they have been able to eat. You might want to keep that in mind when you create your menu."

Maria chuckled.

"What?"

"You mean fresh meat for the fresh meat."

I laughed with her. "Exactly."

My next chore was to gather up my laundry. I walked briskly back to the cave. Our guests were still sleeping peacefully. I could only guess the coolness of the cave was comforting to them after the long trip. I returned to the root cellar and my sister Kim was already there. She was a few years older than me, but she never mothered me. She always respected my decisions. She looked a lot like me except she had breasts and she had a pretty nose, not like mine. I hated my nose and she knew it. When we were kids she would call me 'proboscis' when she wanted to hurt my feelings.

"Good morning, Kim."

"Good morning, Nate. I thought I'd get a jump on my laundry."

"Yeah, me too."

"That scene yesterday at the campground was crazy. Ian was pretty pissed about you messing with his girl."

"I know. I think his jealousy is a little out of place considering she agreed to marry him."

"Well you watch yourself because he's got his eye on you."

"Don't you worry about me. This is my turf and I'm the king here."

"Kings have been murdered before," she reminded me.

I didn't answer her. I sorted my laundry and started the first load. "Kim would you…"

"Yes, I'll start your other load when I'm done with the washer."

"Thank you." I kissed her on the cheek and bolted from the root cellar. My next stop was back to the house to see if everyone was up. I knew everyone would be heading to the house soon for breakfast.

I entered the back door. "Good morning all!" The first thing I saw was Wanda and she was wearing make up and I was mesmerized at the sight of her. "Whoa! Wanda, you look especially delicious this morning." I walked over and hugged her, pausing a few seconds to bury my face in her hair. It smelled so good. I didn't want to let go. "I trust you slept well?" I kept my arm secured around her waist.

"Apparently I slept like a log, once I fell asleep," she said grinning slyly.

"Huh." That stung.

Sarah jumped off the couch and ran towards me. "Good morning. I missed you while you were gone." She threw her arms around my waist and pulled me away from the object of my affection. Sarah had a crush on me almost since the day she arrived here. Burns and I picked her up at the police station. Her parents were killed trying to escape from the seekers and Sarah was caught unharmed. She never talked about what happened. I think she was just happy that we here accepted her and treated her like family. Aunt Sarah and Carl took to her immediately and she became like a sister to Megan.

"Is everyone ready to go?" I asked.

"Ian is still in the shower," Wanda replied. She walked over to the couch and sat down next to Carl and addressed him. "Hi. My name is Wanda, well Wanderer really."

"Good to meet you Wanderer, but I'm a little confused," Carl replied.

"Confused at what?"

"I was under the impression you were here for Burns," he said flatly.

She looked over at Burns who was holding his head in one hand and shaking it back and forth in denial. Burns had never had more than a platonic relationship with any of the humans. It made perfect sense to me that Carl would come to this conclusion. After all, I came to the same conclusion when I first met her.

"No. I don't think so. I'm here to meet all of you and share my knowledge."

"Are you a teacher?"

"Well, no. I am more of what you would call a guest lecturer, I guess. My stories are for everyone, not just the children."

I spoke up. "She's lived on nine different planets that aren't even in our solar system."

This caught his interest. "Really? There are more people out there?"

"Well, no; but there are other types of species," she clarified.

I interrupted before the conversation got too deep. "Okay, lecture time hasn't begun yet. Let's get back to caves. Our visitors are awake and we need to be hospitable." I turned my attention towards Burns. "Burns, please bring Wanda and Ian when they are ready."

Burns nodded his head in acknowledgement.

I left with Sarah still wrapped around my arm and with Carl and Megan in tow. We hadn't gotten too far when my cell phone rang. "Excuse me Sarah," I said with a smile.

She released me and I pulled my phone from my pocket.

"Hello?"

"Nate. I got a call. They caught two women over at Kohl Mountain near the campground. Seems they were raiding the campers and they got caught. I'm going down to get them."

I sighed. "I'm not going to be able to go with you."

"Okay."

Suddenly, I had a stroke of brilliance. "Why don't you take Ian with you?"

"Are you sure?"

"He'd be perfect. He's human and he's good looking. They will probably warm up to him quickly, don't you think?"

"Yeah."

"You can talk him into it. I have faith in you."

"Thanks," Burns answered sarcastically.

"I'll hold down the fort here. Don't tell him about staying in the root cellar until you are on the road though."

"I'll call you when I've got them."

"Good. Be safe."

I hung up the phone. Talk about a lucky break. If my plan works, Ian and Wanda will be apart for a few days and I can work my magic. It's gonna be a good day.

"Carl, I have to go back and get Wanda. It seems we are going to have more company. Burns got a call and he's going to the station to pick up a couple of females that were caught up at Kohl's. Burns is taking Ian with him."

"Man, this place is rockin' today!"

"Yeah, it seems we are going to acquire some new ladies." I replied rubbing my hands together.

I was whistling happily by the time I entered the house.

"Hello, gorgeous!"

"Did you plan this?" Wanda was clearly annoyed.

I almost felt guilty. "What? You think I planned for two women to get caught?" I took her by the elbow. "I call it dumb luck. Don't be angry, Wanda. Now I get to be your escort for the day." I gestured towards the door. "Shall we?" As we reached the bottom step, the sunlight hit her and she practically glowed. "By the way, have I told you that you look ravishing today?"

"I believe it was delicious," she said flatly.

She remembered my words. "Ahhh yes. That too." I couldn't help but smile at the thought that I had already made an impact.

It was nearly a mile walk to the cave where the clan lived. In an effort to make small talk I pointed out the natural obstacles that we implemented to help keep the humans safe. I pointed out the fence and the leaf covered trench and then the rock barrier. I explained to her that we didn't have the harsh desert to keep us safe from seekers, but that our first and strongest defense was Burns. When we neared the entrance to the cave I pointed out the elusive first doorway that hid the real entrance which was secured by a strong oak door. It would take a lot to get through that door. I also pointed out that if they did break through; we had an alternate escape route that came out some distance away from the front of the cave. Thankfully we never had to use it except the one time I snuck back in after being caught by Burns.

Mel, Jared, Aaron, and Lily were waiting for us at the mouth of the cave. They were enjoying the warm sunshine just as Maria had done this morning.

Jared was the first to speak. "Where's Ian?"

I raised my hand as a sign of peace. "He went on a mission with Burns."

"Is he okay?" He looked to Wanda for an answer.

"Yes, he's fine. He wanted to go," she replied.

"Look at you! You are so pretty!" Melanie blurted out.

Lily joined in the revelry. "Yeah. Where did you get the make up?"

"Wait till you see Burns's bathroom. It is spectacular!" Wanda gushed.

Lily barked. "I'm so jealous!"

"Ladies!" I intervened. "Everyone will have a chance to use the facilities. I promise. Now, can we get a move on? Everyone is waiting!"

I began by taking the five newcomers on a tour of the cave. I explained our set up to them including the laundry room and that Maria was like the 'Queen mother' around here. She was in charge of the meals and the laundry room. If you wanted to do laundry, you needed to see her about it since she kept a schedule each day to avoid arguments. I showed them the rooms and the 'community' living space that our humans were forced to share because we didn't have individual rooms the way they did at the caverns. I avoided showing them my room because I did have a separate room from the others, not because I was the leader, but because I was one of the originals in this place and I took this room early on. Maria also has a separate room since she was with us when we first came here. We entered the main cave and the masses were gathered waiting for our arrival. Burns had alerted Carl to make sure everyone was here at noon.

The elders were given first choice of the couches as was expected. The others had brought blankets to sit on and the children were playing on the mattresses that were piled up against the wall. I let everyone mill about for a bit while I waited for my late arrivals like Kim who I knew had been doing laundry as well as Max and Miranda who cut school early and did a few personal chores before the meeting.

Finally, I brought the visitors with me to the front of the audience and we stood in front of the large rock that we used as a podium due to its unique shape. Everyone quieted down and Max and Miranda quieted the little ones.

"Hey everyone. We had quite an adventure this past week but it's great to be back home. I missed you all."

I continued to tell the crowd about the wondrous things I saw at the caverns and about the people who I didn't have the chance to bring back with me. I spent a lot of time talking about Jeb and Doc since they were two important players in the clan. Once I had run out of things to say about our trip I turned things around and introduced each of my own family to our visitors. In my eyes, no one was insignificant so I mentioned something relevant about every member of our group including the little ones. Once each of the members had been introduced I proceeded to introduce each of my guests. Again I tried to let my audience know how special each of these people were in their own right. I saved my introduction of Melanie and Wanda for last because their stories were intertwined and I felt it best if Melanie told the story.

I turned to Melanie and took her by the hand. "Tell it the same way you told it to me." I kissed her hand and stepped into the audience. I pulled the others with me leaving Melanie and Wanda alone at the podium. She told their story beautifully. I couldn't help but notice that Wanda looked uncomfortable. I wanted so badly to comfort her but I knew that she needed to get comfortable in front of this audience because soon she would be telling her own stories.

It was a long meeting and my stomach was grumbling so I called the meeting to close with the announcement that Burns had gone to pick up two humans that had been caught and Ian had gone with him. The party continued outside the cave as burgers and dogs were grilled for a late lunch. The guests mingled with the clan. It was good to see. I held back from approaching Wanda, but I kept my eye on her.

Eventually the crowd thinned and I decided to check on Wanda. "How are you doing?"

"It's a little overwhelming."

"Well, we have less people here than you do at home."

"True. But I spent my first weeks in solitary confinement. There wasn't much to tell initially other than Mel's body had returned with a 'parasite' controlling it. I didn't need to do much talking."

"I just have a hard time believing you are not human."

"Oh, but I am. I bleed just as you do and if you strangled me right now this body would die. As far as me, the soul, you would have minutes to save me. Would you even want to try?"

"Truthfully, I don't know." I was sincere in my statement because if I saw her as a silver centipede as others had described the soul to me, I don't know if I could relate to it as a living, breathing, loving entity.

"Well Jared, Ian, and Doc did."

"So are you still the same person…er I mean soul that you were before?"

She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Let me try to put this into perspective for you. Nate, you are a good looking, personable, and charming guy."

"I thought you'd never notice." Once again she brought a smile to my face.

"I noticed. But that is not my point. Let's say they took the essence of 'you' out of your body and put it into a body like Burns. Would you be the same? Would you still be charming? Burns is not charming. He's sweet, but he's not charming. Maybe the only reason you are charming is because you have that body." She paused before continuing. "You see Melanie over there? She is tall and strong and outgoing. She's not afraid of anything."

"Well, neither are you."

"I wasn't when I was in her body, but then again she was with me."

I remembered the amazing story of Wanda in another life form on another planet that Jamie had told me. "What about Rides the Beast?"

"Good point. Maybe I was like Melanie in that body. I am insecure in this body."

"You shouldn't be." I tried to reassure her.

"That may be true, but it is what it is. People like to do things for me. I can't help wondering what I would do if there wasn't anyone to do for me."

"I wouldn't worry about that. I would do for you anytime."

She smiled at me. "Thanks Nate, but that wouldn't do much to help my insecurities now would it?"

Megan and Sarah burst onto the scene ending our conversation. "Aunt Sue and some of the others want to know when Wanda is going to start her lecture."

"Are you up for a little question and answer session?"

"Sure," she said bravely.

"I'll get you started. Then I am going to take your friends up to the house and show them around. I know the ladies especially will want get into the shower."

I left Wanda at the podium fielding questions about her past lives and escorted the others to the house. I left them there and quickly returned to the cave. I took a front row seat and I was mesmerized by not only her beauty but her stories as well. At five-thirty I rose and approached the podium because I could see that Wanda was looking a bit worn out. Aunt Sue and Maria left in a hurry with Kim and Nadine in tow. I remained close to Wanda as the others slowly left the cave.

"Would you like something to drink?"

"Yes, that would be great."

"Come with me."

I led her to a small storage room where much of the non-perishable food and beverages were stored.

"What's your poison, Water, Soda, or Juice?"

"Um juice. Grape, if you have it."

"Grape it is." I handed her two cups and carefully filled each of them from a half gallon bottle. "We should go outside. It's too nice to be stuck in these caves all day."

Once outside, we strolled to where the children were playing.

"We call this the playground. This is Professor Maxim and his lovely wife Miranda. They teach the children. Even little Ben knows how to read already."

After the introductions, I turned to her and said "I've sent someone to retrieve your friends from the house. They should be here momentarily. As much as I hate leaving you I must attend to some business. I will see you after dinner." I bowed and took her hand and kissed it gently. "You will be okay here?"

"Yes," she answered. Her face was pink. My charm had an obvious affect on her. This was good sign. I quickly headed to the root cellar. I needed to get my clothes into the dryer and out of there before Burns returned with our guests. To my surprise, Kim had put the clothes in the dryer. I just needed to heat them up and then I could begin folding them. When I finished I left the clothes at the house in Burns's room while I retrieved four blankets, sheets, and pillows. I returned to the root cellar and pulled four of the five cots that were stacked against the wall and prepared them for our guests. I figured I would stay with Ian and the newcomers. I had two reasons for doing this. First, I knew it would put Ian's mind at ease and second, I wanted to get to know the new ladies. After all it was slim pickin's here on the mountain and I couldn't bank on stealing the porcelain soul from her fiancé.

I asked Kim to make me a plate for dinner since it was obvious that I wasn't going make it to dinner. I called Burns while I ate my dinner at the house. He said everything went smoothly and he pulled over in the usual town in the usual place that we had worked out in our past endeavors. Ian said that the ladies were very frightened, but he felt that he had convinced them that they were not being driven to their death. He also said that Ian was very concerned about Wanda. I assured him that she was fine and that she had spent a busy day learning about our family and telling her wondrous stories.

It was dark by the time I returned to the cave to retrieve Wanda. I found her standing with her friends in a group.

I heard Lily speaking very loudly to my Uncle George. "She's waiting for Nate so he can take her back to the house."

"Did I hear someone say my name?"

To my surprise Wanda turned abruptly and threw her arms around my waist and buried her face in my chest. "Well now, whatever I did to deserve this, please tell me so I can do it again." I carefully folded my arms around her.

"They are so mean!" she croaked.

I backed away and cupped my hand under her chin so I could see her face. "Are you crying?"

"They told me that I couldn't sleep in the cave!" She was wiping back the tears.

It broke my heart to see her so hurt. I pulled her close and held her tightly in my arms. "Awwww. You don't want to sleep there anyway. You've got a whole bedroom to yourself! They all have to share whether they like it or not." I closed my eyes and her scent took me to a place I had never been before. Why? Why her?

She pulled herself together and said good night to her friends. As we were walking she stumbled over some tree roots and I grabbed her hand to steady her. Now that I had her, I wasn't letting go. When we arrived at the house, the shades were already pulled. I plopped on the couch and turned on the television. "I suppose that you want to wait up for Ian?" I knew she would and that meant I got to spend some alone time with her.

"Why are they so late? The town isn't that far away, is it?"

"No, but the illusion would not be complete if he turned around and brought them right back here. He drives out about two hours and then hangs out for a few hours before he returns. The road runs directly through the center of town and we don't want to give anyone a reason to suspect anything. By my calculation, they should be back pretty soon."

She sauntered over to the couch and sat down on the opposite side. I pretended not to notice, but I couldn't help but look at her. I decided it couldn't hurt to turn up the flirting. She ignored me so I flipped onto my back and laid my head in her lap. I made funny faces at her in the hopes she would laugh and I could break the tension between us. I could see her trying not to react, but finally, she giggled.

"Why do you always flirt with me?" she asked still giggling.

"Because I like you," I said nonchalantly.

"I like you too."

"Good." I rolled over onto my side to watch the television, but I kept my head on her lap. She laid her hand gently on my shoulder. It was nice. I felt like we had made a breakthrough… And that was good.

After a while, the truck pulled into the driveway. I jumped to my feet. "They're here."

We both raced to the back door and down the steps. Burns was just backing the truck up towards us. I cautiously opened the back door. Ian backed out of the truck slowly. As he stood upright and turned, she was on him in a second. "You're home!" she trilled.

Ian lifted her off the ground. "Hey, Babe, did you miss me?"

I turned my attention to the two frightened young ladies in the back of the truck. I held my hands out towards them trying to keep them from bolting. I couldn't possibly stop them both and Ian was otherwise engaged. "Ian, I need you. Wanda, say good night to Ian."

"What do you mean say good night to Ian?" she responded obviously confused by my statement.

"You didn't tell her?" Ian growled at me.

"Be serious. Would you have told her?" I said in my defense. Hell I wasn't about to give up my comfortable and beautiful pillow to give her the bad news.

Burns came around Ian and grabbed Wanda by the waist and hauled her up the stairs.

"I love you!" Ian cried out.

"I am going to kick your ass," Ian growled as he came to help me.

I ignored him and addressed the female in front of me. She was average height with dark hair and dark eyes. She appeared to be in her early twenties. She wasn't particularly pretty from what I could tell in the darkness, but she was very frightened so I turned on the charm.

"Hi, my name is Nate. What is your name?"

"Her name is Gina," Ian responded.

"Gina. That is such a pretty name for a pretty girl. I'm human just like you. I'm not going to hurt you. I just want to get you out of this truck and into a safe place."

Ian passed me as he approached the other girl who was much prettier and a red head. She seemed to trust Ian. "Come on Holly. Remember what I said? I won't let anyone hurt you."

Holly reached out for his hand and he took it and slowly backed his way out of the truck. Gina took her cue and did the same for me. As we backed out of the truck, I took both of her hands in mine and slowly backed up towards the root cellar. Ian on the other hand wrapped his arm around Holly's shoulder in a protective way.

"Ian and I will stay with you tonight if that's all right. We won't hurt you," I assured them.

"And we won't rape you," Ian added. Jesus, why the hell would he even put that notion in their head? I shot him an aggravated glance.

"We just want you to have a goods night's sleep before we introduce you to the others who live here."

"You live with souls?" Holly asked nervously.

"Only two. They are our friends. There are twenty humans who live here on this mountain."

"Twenty?" Gina said in a small voice.

"Yes, so you see? You will be part of a family if you choose to stay with us," I said calmly.

Once we got inside the root cellar I released Gina's hands.

"I'm sorry that the accommodations are not great, but this is only temporary. As you can see, this is our laundry room. The door has a lock and so it is best suited to newcomers like yourselves."

"Why are you locking us in?" Holly demanded bravely.

There was a knock on the door.

I held up my finger. "Hold that thought."

I stuck my head out the door. "Wanda is demanding that she get to talk to Ian. She's threatening me and I am not going to listen to her scream at me all night." Burns said in a low voice.

"Fine, give her five minutes. No more."

I stepped back into the room. "Ian, go talk to your girlfriend."

"Fiancée," he corrected me.

"Just go deal with her before she wakes the whole mountain."

Ian left the room and I was alone with the newcomers.

"Now, where were we?"

"Why are you locking us in if we are free to go?" Holly, the brave one asked.

"Well, for starters, you might be a part of a family yourself. If that is the case you might take it upon yourself to take off and try to get back to them. If you get caught in town then the local constable might catch on to our little secret here and that could ruin it for all of us. It is better for us in that case to gain your trust and return you at a later date when it is safe."

"It's just the two of us," Gina blurted out.

"I see. You seem to be in pretty good shape. Were you living somewhere permanently?"

"We've been living in an abandoned barn. It's dry and warm." Gina responded.

"What do you do for food?"
"We steal cars. We drive them till we run out of gas and if we can't get to a station after it closes we just steal another car," Holly said boldly.

Ian returned and the door closed behind him.

"Everything all right?" I asked.

He rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeah," but he didn't sound convinced.

"Who taught you to hot wire a car?"

Holly answered. "If we are going to answer your questions, then how about you answer some of ours?"

"Fair enough."

She turned to Ian. "That girl, your fiancée, she's a soul?"

"Yes," Ian answered.

"How can you love a soul? She's the enemy! She destroyed our whole race!"

"I know," he sounded defeated.

I couldn't believe it. "Is that all you're going to say?"

"Look, I don't feel like talking right now. I'm tired," Ian replied. He walked over to one of the cots and laid with his back to us.

I knew whatever had transpired between him and Wanda had a profound affect on him. I needed to defend her myself.

"Look, she may be a soul, but she didn't cause this all by herself. She's just one small cog in a piece of machinery. She didn't know what she would find when she came here. Other planets are not like ours."

"How many planets have they invaded?" Holly said coldly.

"I don't know, but this is the only planet that has fought back. Think about it. They could have taken over all the dogs instead of the humans. Would we have noticed? Would we even have cared? What makes us special is that we fight for our lives. Souls like Wanda and Nate are sympathetic to our plight. They don't want to see the human race die out. Wanda even gave her original host body back."

"And then she took another," Holly pointed out.

Ian sat up abruptly. "She didn't ask for another body. I did. We all did. She was willing to give her life so Melanie could have hers back. When she went under the knife she was prepared to die."

"So how could you take another human?" Holly shot back.

"They took a human that already had a soul in it. Doc removed the soul and we waited to see if she came back. She didn't. The body was an empty shell so he placed her into the body," Ian explained. I was happy to see that he had defended her.

"You have a doctor?" Gina finally piped up.

"Not here," I replied. "Ian and Wanda are from another clan. They are here visiting."

"There are others?" Gina asked looking hopeful.

"Yes, I know of five other clans including Ian's clan, but we are the only two clans that have souls as part of them that I know. There could be many more out there. The point is we don't give up and thankfully with souls like Wanda and Burns, we have a fighting chance." I looked over at Ian and smiled.

Ian's bunk was furthest from the wall with the washers and dryers. The door to one of the dryers had been left wide open. He took off his shoe and pitched it across the room. It landed with a thud in the dryer. He did the same with the second.

"Nice throw. You play football?"

"No, I pitched in college. I was supposed to start in the minor leagues the summer the invasion happened. I was a sophomore at Arizona. If I did well I would have dropped out and tried making my mark in the majors. Talk about broken dreams," Ian grumbled.

"I guess we should get some sleep. Tomorrow, I'll introduce you to my people."