Lots of you have been wondering about Landon…. I present to you CHAPTER 8!

DISCLAIMER: The characters do not belong to me they belong to Stephanie Meyer's author of the wonderful book 'The Host'

Chapter 8: Stories

The sun wasn't setting yet. It still had at least a half hour before it did. I remembered the last time I'd gone on a walk at sunset and shivered, I wish that they'd come kidnap me again.

"Are you alright?" Landon asked as he fell into step beside me on the sidewalk.

I nodded, "Yes. I… I was just remembering the last time I went for a walk at sunset I was taken by humans."

He frowned and looked ahead, "I don't understand why they'd want to take you. I'm sure that they had a reason I just can't figure it out."

I nodded, I knew the reason. I looked at Landon. I wondered what had made him take his human name, what had made him become a seeker? What had the soul inside seen and done?

Landon looked back at the house when we were two houses down and then looked at me with a suspicious look, "I have a question for you, and I'd like the honest truth, I ensure you that you can trust me."

I took a deep breath, what was he going to ask? Would I want to answer him honestly? Would I be able to lie if I couldn't? I took a second breath and nodded.

He stopped and faced me, "Are you Pedals Open To The Moon?"

I looked at him, would he tell if I said no? Would that he ask next if I said yes? So many questions! "No." I said.

He nodded and started walking again, "I thought as much."

"What do you mean?" I said a bit upset, "You thought I wasn't Pet?"

He nodded again, "The look on your face as you saw your mother. The look on your face as you looked around the house and the look of utter confusion when you looked at your room. No girl would be confused by her bedroom."

I looked at the ground, Great. Now my cover is blown. I wait for him to say something.

"What's your name?"

"Wonderer." I took a deep breath, "My family calls me Wanda."

He gave a snort of laughter, "Where's your family?"

Not telling you. "Hiding."

He looked at me, "Why would your…. Family…." He stopped and stared into space. "Those humans didn't kidnap you did they?" I didn't say anything, "Those humans were…. But how?"

I wasn't sure I wanted to tell him the whole story now. "Love." I said shrugging.

He stopped me by putting his hands on my shoulder. "Wait…. Were you lying about the…. the man you said touched you inappropriately." I shook my head.

"That's sick." He spat. "What kind of a sick bastard would do that?"

I stared at him in shock. "What the hell?" I said removing his hands from my shoulder. No soul would have said anything like that, humans were the only ones that I ever heard swear or say anything offensive. I looked into his eyes and saw something strange. Sure his eyes were the same color as Jeb's but there was something strange about…. About the soul behind it.

"What happened to the soul?" I asked. It looked like the soul was just there. Like it had been imprisoned in a body and the human was controlling it. Like the soul was just there for the show of the eyes.

He stepped away from me and frowned. "Ugh…. Nothing."

"Bull shit." I said. I didn't even care that I was swearing at him, I wasn't going to be lied to.

"Ok. Let's go to the park around the corner from here and I'll tell you." I was glaring at him but I followed him to the park.

It was empty, parents having taken their kids home, it was even void of teenagers. Landon walked over and sat on one of the swings and I sat in the one next to him.

"Well. I guess it happened about four years ago. I was on the run from some seekers and I couldn't figure out what to do. I wanted to find my father since my mom had told me he'd been a paranoid conspiracy theorist and he would have escaped the invasion." Landon kicked some of the tire bits under his feet. "But I couldn't find him. Or any record of him. It was like he disappeared off the planet."

I snorted but covered it with a cough. Nope Jeb was still on the planet.

"But I was careless and was caught. When I woke up I had a soul named 'Swims the Waters' or that was a ruff translation. He'd lived on the Origin and then went to the Dolphins before coming here."

I looked at him, "I'm from the Origin." I said softly.

He looked at me and smiled, "So that kinda makes you a princess right?"

I chuckled, "No. Just rare."

He chuckled with me, "Well Water thought pretty highly of himself for being from the Origin. He thought that if he could be a seeker he'd get the easier jobs. But he was wrong. They trained us in combat and trained us to shoot a gun. We were pretty good at that since I'd hunted before. But while he was trying to fit in with the seekers I was fighting back. I refused to fade away and I started to control the body the more he was distracted."

"Didn't he tell anyone about you?" I asked.

"No. He didn't want to seem weak. Since he was from the Origin. Anyway, I kept him focused on becoming a seeker and I listened and watched at how everything worked. Then little by little I started to control his body. He still didn't tell anyone because he couldn't become a skipper."

I nodded, "I understand that."

He looked at me, "Were you implanted right off the shuttle? Because only a soul who'd already had a body would actually understand."

I shook my head, "You finish your story then… Then I'll tell you mine." I wasn't sure about Landon but I felt like I could trust him. Plus I knew something he didn't; Jeb.

He looked down at his shoes. "Well. Eventually I got the ability to…. Well. Sort of put him on the back burner. It was like we kinda switched places. He was the one who was stuck in the back of my head and I was the one controlling the body and being a seeker." He frowned, "He's still alive in my head, I know. But it's like…. It's like he faded away so his body is just there putting silver into my eyes so I blend in." He kicked back so he started swinging back and forth, "Of course my sliver isn't as strong as everyone else's are but it is defiantly there so I'm safe." He looked at me. "That's my story."

I nodded slowly. "It's a good story. Do you remember Swims the Water's memories?"

He nodded, "Oh yea sure. I know everything he knows."

I looked over at him and cocked my head to the side, "Everything?"

He nodded, "Yep. I know everything he knew."

I wasn't sure if I should ask it…. But he did say everything. "Even how to extract and implant a soul?"

He grounded his heals into the tire bits to make him stop, He turned his eyes, the color of faded blue jeans, on mine, "Yes Wanderer, even that."

I looked at the tire bits, he knew…. But he had lived in the soul world. "Why didn't you go looking for humans?"

He chuckled and I looked at him in confusion, "Why do you think I was in Arizona? There were people disappearing around Picacho Peak and I was discreetly investigating."

I frowned, "You were looking for humans as a seeker to find your father?"

He nodded, "Yea. I have a picture of the old man but I don't think it'd be much help. He has to be at least in his 50's or 60's. He probably has white hair so the picture of him I have wouldn't be much help."

I nodded, "Well it's a good thing we met." I muttered.

He looked at me, "What'd you say?"

"Nothing." I said. I could hear the lie in my voice but he ignored it.

"Yea well I got transferred to that seeker unit about two weeks before you showed up." He smiled, "I couldn't believe my luck. If I got near you I would hear first hand where the humans were." He chuckled, "Imagine my disappointment when you didn't give them anything good. Except those names. Wes and Walter…. Are they real or did you make them up?"

"Their real…. They were real. They're both dead." I said sadly.

He reached over and patted my shoulder, "Yea. I figured it was something like that. Can't hurt someone who's dead." He echoed my thoughts as he stood and straddled the swing seat so he was facing me, "But I'm super curious about your story. It's got to be ten times better than mine."

I smiled, "Maybe. But yours was interesting."

He laughed, "Oh come on Wonderer. I'm dying to know how you came to be in Pet's body."

I mimicked him straddling the swing seat, "Well I was implanted into a girl named Melanie." Let's make it interesting. "Melanie Stryder."

His eyes bulged, "What?"

I laughed, "Yea. That was my thought when you said your name was Stryder. Anyway I tried to blend in like the soul in you did but she kind of…." Couldn't think of the right word. "converted me I guess. I loved the man she loved and her love for her brother made me need to find them. And I did."

"REALLY!" he practically yelled.

"Shhhh" I shushed him. "Yes. I almost died but Jeb found me."

He stood up, "Jeb?"

I reached for his shirt and pulled him back down, "Yes. Jeb Stryder. Your father. Anyway, a bunch of people hated me and then I became friends with some. Almost got killed twice. But eventually I decided that I loved Mel and her family so much that I wanted to give her back. So I did."

He cocked his head to the side, "But you're here?"

I nodded, "I taught them how to extract a soul and they kept me in a cryotank and kidnapped Pet to use as my body. We sent her and all the other souls we extract to other planets. I made them give me their word that they wouldn't kill the souls; that they would send them to other planets."

He shrugged, "That's nice that they'd do that." He gripped the chain of the swing in front of him, "Why didn't you say anything about Jeb earlier?"

I frowned, "I'm sorry. I just…." I chuckled, "I don't trust souls."

He looked at the ground for a minute then looked up, "What about the guy who took advantage of you?"

I smiled, Ian. I shook my head, "All consensual."

He looked confused, "Was he another soul?"

I shook my head still smiling, "Nope. All Human."

"Really?" he said sounding more curious.

I nodded, "He was one of the men who tried to kill me the first time but then he got to know me and he fell in love with me in Melanie's body. Then when it was time for me to be implanted into Pet's body he held me. He said I was beautiful. He's my partner."

Landon let out a loud exhaled, "Wow. This is crazy."

I nodded, "Yea. I'm almost a tiny bit happy that I'm here." I smiled at him, "I got to meet you."

He nodded, "Yea. Could you tell me more about Jeb?"

I looked around, it was getting dark. "Later. We should get back."

He stood and we walked back, "Your not going to tell them are you? About me and Pet?"

He shook his head, "Nope." He winked at me, so much like Jeb did "Us weirdo's gotta stick together. I'll help you maintain your cover. But I gather that you don't want to stay."

I shook my head, "No. I couldn't stand it. I want to get back to my family."

"Could I come with you? When you leave I mean."

I looked at him and he was keeping his face blank. I stopped about two houses down from my house, "Jeb's like my father." I grabbed his hand, "So that makes you my brother."

He smiled, "Ok little sis."

I kept holding his hand as we walked to the house, "Landon. I'll take you with me." I said smiling before I opened the door.

He was in a happier mood all night than I'd ever seen him in. Not that I'd known him long anyway.

Ok. So I kinda changed my views on Landon but I still have plans for him. Hope you liked this peak into Landon's life and the beginning of a relationship between Wanda and Landon. Reviews make me want to update faster ;) And I love that this story is getting so much attention. :)