DISCLAIMER: I do not own the Host or any characters associated with it.
I'm working like a maniac on this. Do not ask me why. The words just keep flowing, so stay tuned in!
s w i t z e r l a n d
"Kyle is my brother. And each meal he eats is twice his body mass." Ian said as he and Wanda sat across from us. Jamie was already racing across the room to get the little snack cakes waiting for dessert. Wanda giggled, beginning to pick at her own cold sandwich. Ian had a healthy meal as well. I wondered if I should be eating more. Would the work I did here contribute to these monster appetites? If it did, I should've eaten my fill to keep from getting tired quicker.
"I see." I nodded, ripping open my bag of chips, feeling insecure now that I wasn't eating anything. I nibbled at the chips, watching as the others dug at their food like animals. When Jamie returned his arms were filled with little chocolate snack cakes. My eyebrows went up in surprise. "Are you eating all of those?" His excited expression turned into offense.
"Of course not. I got one for everyone." He grunted, letting the little cupcakes fall onto the table. I looked down sheepishly, taking a cupcake without another word. I felt bad as though I'd insulted him. It was hard to insult him. The guilt of it was all consuming. It may have been his child-like nature or it may have been the sweet aura that seemed to pulse around him, but if you hurt him it seemed like it took a lot to truly come back from that. Of course, I doubted my little question was life-scarring. I just felt bad that I'd hurt his feelings.
"Thanks, Jamie." Wanda thanked him, taking a snack cake and beginning to unwrap it. He grinned in response, glad to have pleased someone. He seemed easily satiated. That was comforting.
"No problem. At least someone appreciates my charity." Jamie looked pointedly at me, a twinge of mischievousness in his dark eyes. I rolled my eyes in response, sporting an amused smirk. I ripped open my own snack cake, taking small bites and watching as Jamie swallowed his whole. I snickered, licking the tips of my fingers of chocolate grease. He looked at my face in confusion, his face stuffed with chocolate cake. He reminded me briefly of a chipmunk, which had me giggling harder. Wanda giggled too, pursing her lips at his appearance. He glared at us both in confusion. Melanie laughed, reaching across the table and wiping his face of chocolate crumbs. He slapped her hand away. "I can take care of it myself." His face went pink. I was rolling in my seat.
"Someone could have told me." Jamie grumbled, licking his lips to make sure there was no chocolate left over there.
"Not as funny that way." I pointed out, finishing my cup cake and leaning on the table.
He glared, tossing his wrapper at me. I slapped it away and laughed. "I'm just messing with you." I said, punching him in the arm. He rubbed his arm with a shocked expression, though I doubted it hurt all that much. I shook my head, tucking my hair around my ears, licking my lips of grease.
I took a deep breath and laid my head on my arms, watching Wanda and Ian eat. Jamie and Melanie were in a heated discussion about the game, giving the best moments. Jared served to narrate the plays like an announcer. Ian fiddled with a strip of Wanda's blonde hair. My body filled with a contentment I can only describe as overwhelming. It was drunken warmth that had my eyelids drooping and my breath evening, even though my seated position was not all that comfortable.
"Jamie, I think you better take sleepy Sky here to your room. She looks like she could use a good night's rest." I jolted awake, abruptly lifting my head at Melanie's voice. All five of them laughed at my reaction. I hadn't realized I'd fallen asleep. I ran a hand through my hair, trying to regain a sense of awareness. I blinked away the sleepiness that was beginning to overtake me. I was far more tired than I had expected. Now that I'd had a taste of a soft slumber my body didn't want to give it up. My eyelids drooped again and I sunk a little in my seat. The laughs around me were distant.
"I'll carry her to your room if you want to stay, Jamie." Jared offered. I heard him stand, though only as though he were in a world far off from mine.
"No, I'll take her. I'll probably go to sleep too. Tomorrow should be interesting, so I guess rest would be good for both of us." He chuckled and stood. The world disappeared below me as he lifted me from where I sat, to a muffled protest on my part, and began to carry me through the darkening kitchen and down the black tunnels. Sounds vanished altogether the farther we got from the kitchen. I was only vaguely aware of the fact that my head rested on his chest. I swayed with the movement of Jamie's body: the rocking motion only seemed to further my sleepiness.
When we passed through the common room, I lifted my lids infinitesimally to see the moon reflected in the overhanging mirrors. Its light cast white rays over the floor, me, and Jamie's face. I closed my eyes as we again were shrouded in the darkness of a tunnel. I barely registered when a 'door' was opened and I was laid on a soft mattress, a blanket placed up to my neck.
The sound of Jamie lying on the ground next to the mattress registered in my ears just before sleep overtook me and I was lost to dreamland.
s w i t z e r l a n d
Carly was screaming at me to run. I didn't think I could. My small legs didn't seem to want to respond. I was only seven, after all. There was no way a seven year old such as me could outrun a Seeker, no matter how small and fast I was. I was a child and the Seeker was a full grown adult. There was no competition. And I was a prime body donor. A soul would fit in my body so easily and I would fade away so completely.
"Run, Sky! Schuyler Aria James, you run like hell. Go now, damn it!" Carly screamed, pushing at me to get out of the car. The troop of Seekers was marching determinedly, their pistols held aloft. They knew who we were, what we were, and they were going to reprimand us. We were the perfect hosts. They needed our bodies for their lives to begin. We needed our bodies for our lives to continue.
"No, no! I can't go without you!" I cried in protest, resisting her efforts to unbuckle my seatbelt and toss me out the passenger side of the car. She raised her hand and slapped me square across my jaw, leaving a cut from her nail just below my ear. I stopped in shock, staring up at my older sister with wide eyes.
"Sky James, you are going to get out of this car now, or so help me god, I will never ever forgive you." Carly yelled, her eyes blazing. I merely blinked in response, still recovering from the shock. Carly had never hit me before. Yet, the look on her face was one that was absolutely terrifying. It distinctly said 'run or die.' It wasn't a threat. It was a warning.
I finally nodded, tears beginning to stream down my cheeks. Her face softened and she held my head as she leaned down to kiss it. "On the count of three, we get out of the car, okay." I nodded. "One…" We unbuckled our seat belts. "Two…" Our hands on the door. "Three!" We launched ourselves out our perspective sides.
And I ran.
I bolted for the bushes, knowing that if I got into the cover of the forest the Seekers would never find me. The world had yet to be overtaken, so they were trying to be stealthy in their hunt of us who knew the truth. Carly and I could be in the open more often, but in these times when we'd been trapped in a corner, we had to find a place to hide. The aliens had started by getting into positions of power, such as in the hospitals and police stations. Every time we saw a police car, we had to hold our breath to keep from screaming. We'd been recognized this time though, so we had no choice but to cut and run.
Carly ran in the opposite direction to lead the Seekers off my trail. Her only goal was to keep me safe, no matter what the cost. Since I was so small, the Seekers had no idea that I was in the front seat, so they all immediately went after Carly, who darted into the cloak of suburban homes. She jumped a fence and vanished beyond my vision.
I huddled in the bushes, watching as the Seekers hopped back in their patrol vehicle and zoomed away down the street Carly had disappeared down. I shivered, trying to control the sobs that threatened to echo down the barren street. I couldn't be seen, couldn't be heard, else I gave my position away and ultimately, my mind.
I was beginning to drift off in a tear soaked slumber when I felt a butterfly's touch on my shoulder. I opened my mouth to scream, only to have a familiar hand clamp over my mouth. "Don't scream, stupid. It's me."
I let out a muffled squeal as I threw my arms around Carly's neck, sobbing uncontrollably into her dark hair. She smoothed my hair down, kissing my forehead. "I told you that if anything ever happened, I would always come back to you. We have to protect each other, you understand me?" I nodded into her shoulder, clutching her for dear life.
"I love you Sky."
"I love you Carly."
s w i t z e r l a n d
I awoke in a cold sweat, bolt upright on the mattress. Shivering, I ran a hand nervously through my sand brown hair. For a moment I was disoriented. The darkness didn't make sense to me. The only light came from a crack in the ceiling, revealing a sliver of the silver moon. I glanced down at the cave floor to see Jamie curled up in a sleeping bag, snoring lightly.
I was glad that my outburst hadn't woken him. I didn't want to disturb him.
My dream had been so vivid. The memory was fresh on my conscience. I touched my cheeks to find that the tears were still there. Obviously I'd been crying in my sleep. I wiped the tears away hastily, though I knew that no one would see them. It was still late in the night, judging by the moon, and so I was sure to sleep the red face away before I had to show it in public. Not that they would judge me for crying, after I'd just lost my sister, but I didn't like to show my weakness, even for Carly. I preferred to lock those traitorous feelings away than reveal them to the people around me.
I sighed, laying back and pulling the quilt up to my chest. That look, the one Carly had given me, seemed to hover just beyond my vision. I couldn't get the cold and warning look in her eyes out of my mind.
"I told you that if anything ever happened, I would always come back to you. We have to protect each other, you understand me?"
Her words echoed in my head, seemingly breaking the silence between Jamie's soft snores. I wondered if those words were true in this situation. Would she be able to return? And if she did return, would she be the Carly I'd always loved, or something entirely different? I could be afraid of her. I could completely lose her. Even now her body could be tossed in some distant incinerator, surely burned alive. That was what they did with the duds, right? The ones too old to be hosts were tossed away deemed useless. Wasn't Carly far beyond that point?
I shivered again, rolling over. A strip of moonlight lit up Jamie's face. I leaned over the side of the mattress, watching the rise and fall of the teenage boy's chest. It struck me how beautiful and peaceful he was, even in sleep. "Why are you staring at me?"
I jumped, surprised by the fact that he was awake. It was then I realized his breathing hadn't been regular since I'd awoken. "Sorry…I just…couldn't sleep." I murmured, rolling again to lie on my back.
"I could tell. And I sleep like the dead." Jamie chuckled, sitting up and rubbing his face as though brushing the sleep away.
"Again, sorry. Just…bad dream."
"I'm not surprised. You were tossing and turning a lot before I fell asleep." He noted, scratching the back of his head.
I grimaced in the darkness. "Really? Ugh. Sometimes I wish I had short term memory loss. And long term memory loss for that matter."
"Don't they kind of go hand in hand?"
"Shut up." He laughed, turning to look at me.
"You want to talk about it?" He asked quietly, his voice open. He made it clear that he was there to listen and to help. He'd been through this before, I remembered. He had to understand.
I paused, deliberating. "No. I just want to forget it. It would be so much easier that way. I wouldn't have to worry about Carly's body either getting taken over or destroyed. I kind of hate myself." I sat up, leaning against the cave wall. "I mean, Carly was always trying to protect me. Hell, she practically died to keep my soul from oblivion and what did I do to repay her? I ran like a scared little child. I should have stayed and fought with her. I should have done something to help her, to save her." I groaned, pulling my knees up to my chest and laying my forehead on them. Jamie laid a hand on my shoulder.
"There was nothing you could do. It's okay. She would never hold it against you. She loves you. That's why she told you to run in the first place, isn't it? Her love for you is obviously greater than her own self preservation." I nodded, lifting my head and running a hand through my hair.
"Doesn't keep me from being guilty though." I reminded him, biting my lip.
"True. But I think the key is not to dwell on it. You have to trust that whatever happens will turn out okay in the end. I mean, looked and Melanie and me. I though she was lost. For a year, she was gone. And then…she came back. Everything turned out fine in the end. And if she doesn't come back…you always have family here. We accept even the most intolerable of people. Ian's brother Kyle being one of them." He laughed, crossing his legs and leaning on his hands.
"I don't know if I can come back from that, though. If I find out that she is gone…forever. I don't know what I'll do. I don't know which would be worse: finding out she isn't herself anymore or discovering her body has been completely destroyed." I shivered, wedging my head between my knees.
"I can't say I will know how you feel, but most of the people here are nothing less than supportive. Though I can never really be sure of Sharon and Maggie. We are a family and we try to open our arms to everyone. We know loss in this life. It's routine."
I nodded, twisting a lock of hair around my finger.
"Thank you Jamie. I've known you for but a few hours and yet I feel safe and comfortable around you. I don't think I've ever felt so welcomed by any one person my entire life. I can't express to you how grateful I am."
"But I haven't done anything."
"Yes you have. I wish you could see yourself the way I see you. As I told Wanda today, I pride myself on being able to see beyond appearances and into the true heart of the person. And you…you are an absolute good. You are fun and innocent but a little child-like. But not childish. You are strong and sweet and always helpful. And you love your family completely. It's so encouraging to find people like you. I doubt if I could handle Carly being gone if I hadn't found you and the rest of the colony." I paused, thinking back to my time wandering in the desert. "I think, when I walked out of my car and into the desert that part of me actually wanted to die. I came up with the excuse that I simply had to find the colony, but part of me truly wished to disappear with Carly. She was the only person I had left and god, I was so incredibly afraid of being alone. It was better to have died human than to become one of them. I wanted to starve out there. I know I shouldn't have thought such things, but I couldn't help myself. What else was I supposed to think? What was I supposed to do?"
Tears were silently beginning to stream down my face. I hastily wiped them away, sniffing. "And then you and Jeb picked me up and it was like I'd been given a second chance at life and a home. It's been so long since I'd had a home. I never thought it would exist again. I thought I'd hop from place to place my entire life until I grew so tired of running that I would give myself up and that would be the end of it. Any thoughts of having any type of family or friends were not even on my radar." I buried my face in my hands, hating myself for the rush of emotions that were pulsing through me. The grief of loss and the happiness of rebirth were conflicting, yet the happiness overpowered the grief. Though I loved Carly, I knew I was a selfish person at heart. A home is all I ever wanted and now that I had it, I wouldn't give it up for anything. Probably not even Carly. I felt incredibly guilty for this. I was a terrible person to allow Carly to have suffered for my fear.
Jamie got up and sat next to me on the mattress, wrapping his long lanky arms around my shoulders. I sniffed into my knees, trying to keep the snuffling from turning into bone-shattering sobs. It was bad enough that I was crying so much. If I began bawling like my body screamed to, I knew I would hate myself for weeks.
"You do have a home here, Sky. No one would dare try and take that away from you. I understand, really. I do."
I smiled and lifted my head, looking at him sideways. "Like I said, thank you. For that. For everything." I padded the salty tears away with the corner of the blanket that was still over my knees.
Jamie merely nodded. "We should get back to sleep. We work in the garden in the morning." I grimaced, knowing full well that there was no way I was going to be able to get back to sleep.
He understood the look on my face. "Stupid suggestion, eh?" I nodded, the corner of my lips lifting a little.
"Thumb war?" I suggested, holding up my hand, thumb upright. He looked confused.
"You know, thumb war. One, two, three, four, I declare thumb war. Carly and I used to play it all the time when we couldn't sleep. We'd tell each other secrets as we played. Or we'd just banter back and forth. Eventually we ran out of secrets." I chuckled, recalling one night in which we'd gotten in a fight over whose thumb nail was dirtier.
"I've never played it like that. I know thumb war, but the secret thing? That's news to me." Jamie stated, taking my hand and beginning to struggle to pin down my finger.
"So, tell me a secret, Sky James." He smiled in the darkness, rubbing his eyes sleepily. He was obviously less awake than I was. I wasn't sure if I was ready to slip back into the cloak of dreams. I was afraid my memories would reform beyond my closed lids and I would again be forced into grief.
I smiled, watching our thumbs parry back and forth. "Oh no. You first. I barely know anything about you. I've been talking for the last twenty minutes. Besides, it looks like you need a wake up call." I smirked at him, sniffing again.
"Ugh, fine. Cheater." He paused, obviously debating about what he wanted to say. "I secretly want to be a soul."
I was taken aback by this and my thumb stopped all movement. He pinned my thumb and held it for three long silent seconds. I barely noticed.
"I'm sorry. It sounds crazy, I know, but…"
"Why?"
He lifted his head from our clasped battling hands to look at me. "After Wanda got here she would tell fantastic stories of other worlds. It was fascinating. I just…I'd like to see them for myself. That is my only thing, I guess. It's not that I want to do what they've done; I just want to see where they've been. I don't think I could ever do that as a human."
He waited for my response, the anxiety written on his friendly features.
"I can understand that. You have a thirst for adventure. I find that amiable." I smiled to reassure him. I doubt I would ever be scared of anything Jamie said. At first I'd been taken by surprise, but this was Jamie. I'd seen who he was and his reason for wanting to be like them was purely out of his curious thirst. He grinned at my response, briefly distracted. I pinned his thumb successfully with a triumphant smile.
"Cheater."
"You've said that already."
"Must be true then."
"Sore loser."
"Now, I say again. Tell me a secret, Schuyler James." He peered up at me through thick dark lashes. I had to grin.
"I need new clothes."
"That is not a secret."
"Your point?" He grunted, obviously dissatisfied that he'd revealed a dark secret and I hadn't. "I hope you didn't miss the implication there."
He merely shook his head and smiled as he again pinned my thumb under his.
"Alright, alright. I'll tell you a secret."
He seemed to hold his breath.
"I wouldn't trade this place for anything else in the world."
A/N: So hey guys. This one is a little shorter than I had anticipated. I'm a little disappointed. But I do like this scene. It's sweet. Still no real fluff, but you can't help but smile. Sky may seem really selfish in this scene, but she does redeem herself. Cross my heart. Fluff won't come until at LEAST chapter eight. I know, love me or hate me, okay. Next chapter should be okay.
Next Chapter Preview:
"Okay wait, I'm confused. Where is the hoe? In the alcove or in the kitchen?" I asked, halfway between the alcove and the tunnel up to the kitchen.
"Oh no. The hoe is in the alcove. Sharon is in the kitchen." Jamie explained.
"Is there a difference?" Melanie asked, snorting.