Mel POV

Cassie glances at the cyrotank once again, her eyes narrowing, as if she still didn't understand. She stares at it for a long moment before turning to face Ian. Her expression softens. "Okay," she said. My jaw drops in surprise and I turn to look at Jared, only to remember that I am still angry at him. I quickly turn back away.

"Okay? That's it?" Ian asks, incredulous. Nobody's ever responded quite like that to the news about Wanda.

She shrugs her shoulders, raises her eyebrows. "Yeah. If you say she's your friend, then you should help her."

Ian and I lock eyes and share a look of confusion. Was this girl sane? "Umm . . yeah, but you do realize she's a Soul. Like, not human," I remind her, almost laughing.

"Of course I realize that. You just said so," Cassie sighed.

"But don't you think that we shouldn't trust her? Or that she's our enemy? Or something like that?" Ian asks, still in disbelief.

Cassie looked down at her lap and bit her lip. "Pretending to be a Soul for so many years really changes your perspective on them. Many of them are very nice, in fact. I was friends with some of them. Even more than friends." She casts her eyes towards Ian. I can see a bit or regret in her eyes; maybe she wishes she hadn't left with us. "They just want to live, you know? It's not their faults that they're parasites, that they don't have a body. It's just how they are. You can't judge them for that because they have no control over it.

"A lot of them are terrible, I'll admit that. And yes, they are the enemies. But only a few, like the Seekers. Everybody else is just kind of following the rules, doing what they know. How can I hate someone for their species?" Cassie turned towards the window, as if embarrassed by her feelings.

As much as it was out of character for me, I leaned in and hugged her. She seemed shocked at first, but even relaxed in my grip. She must've been so afraid we were against the Souls, that her feelings would be criticized. "I'm really glad you feel that way," I smile, pulling back. "Most humans don't understand that; they don't see how Souls are helpless to what they are." I look towards Jared, hoping he heard Cassie loud and clear. He's staring out the window, his face blank of emotion.

She nods and then looks at Ian. "So, we should get her a body, right?" Her expression completely changes. She doesn't look as vulnerable anymore, as open about her feelings. Now she's all action.

He smiles wide, probably glad to have another person on his side for once. "Yeah." Cassie winks at him before sitting back in her seat.

"I know the perfect place to go," she says, directing Kyle to turn left.

"What is this place?" I ask as we pull into a seemingly deserted, crystal white building. It looks similar to a hospital but less . . . welcome. Cassie easily slips out of her seat and opens the door, ignoring my question. Ian raises his eyebrows at me and I shrug.

"Well, come on!" she calls, gesturing to us. Kyle and Jeb start to come out, but Cassie holds a hand out to them. "Sorry, boys, but you're on watch duty. Seekers don't come around here for another hour or two, but we should be careful." With that, she shuts the car door and leads us behind the building. "There's a lot of security here, but I should be able to get us in easily. Souls are so trusting, that it shouldn't be a problem. Plus," she pauses, shuffling through her pockets. She holds up a small badge with her fake name printed on it, "I'm a 'certified Healer.'" This girl definitely had it all figured out.

"So . . . where are we exactly?" Ian repeats my question. Cassie swipes her card in front of the back door and it clicks open. She pulls it forward and lets us through.

"The storage center," she replies, now seeming a bit grim. Whatever this place is, she doesn't like it. "It's where . . . well, you'll see." Ian sucks in his breath but follows her through. I don't see how this place is going to get us a new host. But Cassie seems confident, and I'd feel bad stopping her now. "Oh, shit!" she says, stopping in the middle of a hallway. She grabs a small contact case out of her pocket and clumsily puts the lenses into her eyes. She blinks in irritation before pulling another case out and handing it towards me. "Put these in."

I stare at her doubtingly, but reluctantly open the contact case. Ian does the same. I've never had contacts, and I'm very grateful for that. They're very uncomfortable, especially with the silver color tunneling my vision. It takes a few minutes before I can actually make out blurry shapes.

Once we're disguised, Cassie leads us through a few hallways. We pass a few Souls who regard us with warm smiles and nods. Cassie blends right in from her years of practice. Ian and I struggle slightly, but act about as peaceful as we can. Nobody seems to even notice.

"Okay, here is the tricky part," Cassie says. We approach a doorway labeled NEW in big, bold letters. A Soul is standing right beside the door, blocking the entrance. "Just follow me, okay? Don't do anything stupid." I take a deep, shaky breath. I don't know what all this means, but I have a terrible feeling about it.

Cassie walks casually up to the Soul guarding the door. "Hello, Healer. I'm Daisies in the Sky." She holds up her badge for emphasis. "These are my two interns. They are training to be excellent Healers, specializing in insertion. I was wondering if I could, perhaps, show them inside?"

The Healer smiles at her before regarding us. I smile widely, unnatural to me. "Yes, of course. I just need to see some identification for them. Not that I don't trust you," he laughs. "It's just the rules."

"Of course," Cassie says smoothly. My eyes widen in panic. We don't have identification, let alone ones that back up our story. But Cassie seems to have it all figured out. She pulls two badges, simliar to her own, out of her pocket and hands them over to the Healer. "They're not complete, of course, since they're still in training. But they state the basics."

"Yes," the Healer says, examining the cards. "Swaying Leaves?" he asks, looking at me. I nod stiffly, hoping I don't look to shocked. "And Ocean Dancer?" I almost burst out laughing as the man regards Ian. Ian glares at Cassie in anger, but nods. Ocean Dancer. Gotta love these Soul names. "Well, thank you Healer Daisies. Enjoy your tour, interns."

The Healer unlocks the door for us. I breathe a sigh of relief, shocked that that was all it took. As much as I love Wanda, I can't argue that Souls aren't gullible. They'll fall for anything.

Once we're safely inside, I ask Cassie, "How did you have those ready? The cards?"

"Oh, I always come prepared for situations like this. Trust me, this isn't the first time I've needed to get into somewhere I'm not allowed," she says, a devious grin on her face. I'm glad that she didn't end up being a Soul. If Wanda were in this body, it would be too weird; Cassie's a little to mischievous.

There's a second door inside that opens easily. Behind it is a large white room, filled with rows and rows of metal tables. A top of each table is a body, dressed in a traditional hospital gown and cleaned to the toe. I suddenly feel like I'm suffocating, standing in a room, alive, amongst all these poor, humans. I ache to save them.

Ian looks slightly more horrified, but manages to speak. "What is this?" he asks, turning around in a circle to get a full look.

Cassie lets out a remorseful breath. "I told you, the Storage center."

AHHHHH! Okay, so as you can see, we will get a host very soon! The idea of the Storage center is a little creepy, but I feel like it would be reality in the Souls world. They have to keep all their captured humans somewhere, right?
Anyways, I'm going on vacation so I probably won't have another chapter up for a week or two. sorrryyy :( But when I get back, it will be up immediately!

OH AND THE HOST MOVIE COMES OUT NEXT FRIDAY SO I'M SUPER EXCITED ALKSJGOWLDKFOW. Let me know if you're going and what you thought of it :)