As we come down to the final chapters of the story, I would like to thank Stephanie Meyer for giving me such a brilliant tale to bend and twist into my own weird and warped drama. I thank all of you who have been reviewing and talking with me throughout this whole process. Another two weeks and I will be done with this story but Nate's Diary will follow about a week after I finish this. I have 79 pages written so far and although it follows this story, Nate's life certainly holds its own dramas…after all; DRAMA should be my middle name…(wink)

THE INTERROGATION

"WANDERER? BABYDOLL? COME BACK TO ME. Come on." It was Ian's voice. He was speaking softly.

"She's moving." It was Nate's voice.

I opened my eyes. Ian had me cradled in his arms again.

"I love you." I spoke in a tiny voice. I was exhausted. Ian broke down and cried.

"I thought I'd lost you," he whispered.

Nate yelled out. "SHE'S OKAY!" There was a loud commotion from the side of the field where our people were standing.

Colonel Jeffries spoke. "I've never seen anything like that in my five lives."

I needed to see that Nate was all right. "Where's Nate?"

Nate kneeled down next to me. "I'm right here. I'm fine. You shouldn't have come after me."

"How could I not come after you? Nate, I thought you were dead."

"You almost died. Do you know that?" Ian said as he wiped the tears from his face.

I sat up. Ian was covered with blood; red blood and silver blood. "Is that my blood?"

"Yes, all of it is yours. They took you out of your body and they healed you while I held you. Before, I put you back, I let Nate hold you. I hope you don't mind."

"That was very selfless of you." I leaned up and kissed him tenderly. We were after all surrounded by soldiers.

Nate smiled. "Ian was right. You are beautiful."

I held my arms out and he leaned forward and hugged me. "You don't have to say I'm beautiful. I won't be mad."

"Well, I managed to kiss you and Ian didn't even hit me." His smile was brilliant and his eyes transmitted the love he had for me.

"How are you feeling?" Ian asked. "Is the baby all right?"

"I think so. I don't hurt."

"Since you were shot in your upper body, I don't think it affected the baby. Even when we took you out, the body was still functioning."

I took Ian's face in my hands and kissed him again.

"Can you stand up?" Doc asked.

"I think so." Ian and Nate helped me to my feet. Then Ian pulled me to his chest. He wasn't letting go this time.

The Colonel spoke again. "I'm sorry about the shooter. He did not act on my authority. One of your men shot him in the arm. That shot was over one hundred yards. That was a very good shot."

Nate responded. "I'm pretty sure that would be Victoria, woman, not man. Ian has first hand knowledge of how good a shot she is. She was under orders not to kill. She didn't."

The Colonel turned his attention to Nate. "I'm sorry. I don't know who you are."

"My name is Nathan Downey. I am the leader of this community." He offered his hand to the colonel who took it. They shook hands.

"I'm Colonel Jeffries. I apologize to you as well for the mishap. I trust you have been sufficiently healed."

"Yes, Healer Davis is very efficient."

Now, the Colonel turned to Ian and me. "I see you two are mates?"

Ian spoke for both of us. "Yes, we are married."

"You are very young," he pointed out as he looked at my face.

"I am eighteen and of legal age."

"And with child I see."

"Yes."

"There are others like you here?"

I answered the question since it seemed directed at me. "Yes, we have four souls who have taken up residence with the humans. We come and go as we please."

Nate spoke up. "Everyone is an integral part of the community. We live in harmony and promote peace."

"I see," the Colonel replied. "Mr. Downey, would you mind if we set up a table and then we can talk. I can meet the other souls and their mates?"

"I would welcome it. We are hoping you will look favorably upon us and allow our community to continue to live in peace on this mountain much the same way the Indians were given reservations to live on when this land was taken by the Europeans."

"Can I ask you, who is Burns Living Flowers?"

"He owns the land we live on and he is my best friend. His father owned the land that your men were surveying but he sold it to put his son through college."

"Can you bring him to the table? I would like to speak with him as well."

"Absolutely."

Doc spoke up. "Do you need us anymore? We would like to return to our people. I can ask Burns to come out here."

Colonel Jeffries looked at Doc. "You can go for now. I may want to speak with you later. By the way, before you go, tell me, are either one of you mated with a soul?"

"No."

Doc and Candy turned slowly and walked back towards edge of the field. Candy's hair was long and covered the scar on the back of her neck, so the Colonel did not see that she had once been implanted.

Things happened quickly. With merely a signal of his hand, Colonel Jeffries' soldiers came out with a long table and six chairs. He sat on one side and motioned for me, Ian, and Nate to sit on the other side. Another soldier came and sat beside the Colonel. He was carrying a laptop computer. There were half a dozen or so soldiers surrounding us. Two faced the table where we sat and the others faced our side of the field. They were all heavily armed. Burns moved swiftly across the field and took a seat next to Nate.

Colonel Jeffries addressed us as a group. "This is my secretary, Sergeant Woodfern. He will be recording this conversation. I hope you don't mind."

Ian answered. "And what if we did?" I squeezed Ian's hand.

Colonel Jeffries looked Ian in the eye. "Then this discussion would be over."

Nate leaned forward. "I think transcripts of this meeting are in order."

"Thank you Mr. Downey." He took a deep breath. "Let it be known that I am meeting with two souls and two humans. Burns Living Flowers, a soul and a Seeker whose land these humans inhabit. Next we have Nathan Downey, a human and the leader of this 'community' as he refers to it. Finally we have…I'm sorry. How should I refer to you?"

Ian answered. "Ian and Wanderer O'Shea."

"Ian and Wanderer O'Shea. They are a married couple. He is a human and she is a soul and she is with child." He paused. "Mrs. O'Shea, how far along are you?"

"Four months."

He nodded his head as if doing the calculations in his head.

He turned his attention to Burns. "You own this land and you are a Seeker. Please explain in your own words how you came to be here."

"I've lived here my whole life." Burns said rather sarcastically.

The Colonel looked Burns in the eye. "Are you related to him?" He pointed to Ian. He was being sarcastic too.

"Well, I call him brother-in-law."

Now the Colonel pointed to me. "Is this your sister?"

Nate interrupted this game. "Please, Sir, allow me to explain. Burns's family is no longer with us. He was away at college during the takeover. He was implanted there. He came back to visit his family and found them all dead. His mother and sister had been implanted. His human father shot them both and then took his own life."

"I'm sorry for your loss but, I don't understand your sympathy for the humans. Your father was the one who destroyed your family."

"I don't agree but I don't wish to get into this with you," Burns muttered.

I felt the need to interject. "Please, this is difficult for him. We are not asking you to understand, only to listen."

"I'm sorry, Burns Living Flowers. It is only my opinion." He turned back to me. "Mrs. O'Shea, can you explain to me how he is your brother-in-law?"

"Technically, he's not, but since neither of us have blood relatives on the mountain, we sort of bonded. We were the first two souls to live here and we shared the house. I consider him my brother and he gave me away at my wedding."

"Okay." He turned back to Burns. "How long have you been allowing the humans to live on your land?"

"They were already here when I returned from college. I didn't come across them for months and even then it was by chance. Nate had fallen into an old well."

"Sergeant, are you getting all of this?"

"Yes, Sir. Would you like me to read it back?"

"That won't be necessary."

Nate spoke. "It took a while but eventually we became friends and the rest is history."

"You said each of the souls has a human mate. Where is your mate?"

"I'm not sure she will come. She fears the souls."

Colonel Jeffries laughed. "Has she not noticed that you are a soul?" He became serious again. "Try," he ordered.

Burns nodded and got up from his seat. He turned slowly and walked off the field. During Nate's meetings, he made it very clear that we do everything possible not to speak of the caverns. Those of us who came from there were to lie and say that we always lived at the mountain.

The Colonel turned his attention to me. "I trust you can tell your story of how you came to be here."

"Yes, Sir. It's complicated."

"I'll try to keep up."

My intention was to tell the truth. My problem was Melanie wasn't here to back up my story. We had to come up with a cover as to where they were. As usual, Nate the Schemer had come up with a plan.

"Let me begin by telling you that today was not the first time that Ian and Doc have seen me in my true form."

The Colonel was lost already. "I'm sorry, what?"

"This is not my first host body on this planet."

"Really." The Colonel was intrigued.

"My first host was someone named Melanie Stryder. She lived on the mountain with her brother and her love. She saw her cousin on the news in the background on the television in Chicago and she decided she had to find her. She left on her own to go to Chicago and she was caught. They implanted me into her body. You would think 'end of story' but it's only the beginning. Melanie was strong and she wouldn't let go. She slammed me with her memories of her brother and her true love but she wouldn't allow me to see where they were. She protected their whereabouts and only allowed me to see what she wanted. She haunted me like this for months until I loved them too."

"She brainwashed you," the Colonel surmised.

"Maybe, she did," I admitted. "Finally, I couldn't take it anymore. She gave me enough information to go and search for them. There was a Seeker and she was keeping close tabs on me because of the fact that Melanie was a 'rogue' and they felt that I might eventually lead them to others like her. Melanie led me on a false trail through the desert before we turned north. For all I know, she's still out there looking for us."

"So, you came here."

"Yes, but the clan was not happy seeing that their precious Melanie had been implanted. They hated me. Her lover Jared was sickened by the sight of me and yet I loved him. I knew they would never believe that Melanie was still with me. They assumed I was a Seeker come to turn them all in. Ian and his brother Kyle were on a mission to destroy me and they very nearly did."

Ian got up at that point and walked past the guards and stopped with his back to us.

"Is he okay?"

"No. It's hard for him to remember those days. You see, I was kept under lock and key as a prisoner. I was not treated well by the humans. Burns was my protector. It wasn't until Ian nearly killed me that his guilt finally changed him. He started hanging around a lot and Nate forced me to tell the others of my life on other planets. He said it would be good for us all and he was right. The more stories I told the easier it was to talk to them. Ian was my biggest fan."

The Sergeant interrupted me. "Excuse me, how many planets have you been to?"

Ian had made his way back and took the opportunity to answer for me. "She's been to nine planets. She's most famously known on the Mists Planet as Rides the Beast."

The Colonel rose out of his seat. "I don't believe it."

"Believe it," Ian said flatly as he sat back down in his seat.

I didn't like all the attention. "Can I please finish this story?"

"I'm sorry, Babe, about everything. Go ahead." He grabbed my hand and pulled it into his lap so he could hold it with both hands.

"As I was saying, I was falling in love with Ian but Melanie loved Jared. I loved Jared and Melanie too. It was a constant battle in my head. After several months, I was accepted on the mountain and although I had feelings for Ian, Melanie hated him. Melanie wanted Jared but not while I was in her body. We were both suffering. Finally, I made a decision."

"What?" Both the Sergeant and the Colonel said it at the same time. Even the guards were paying more attention to me than to what they were supposed to be doing.

"I made a deal with Doc. I told him I would show him how to remove a soul from the host under two conditions. First, he had to agree to put the soul into a cryo chamber and send it to another world. The second condition was when it was my turn, I wanted him to let my soul die and bury me on the mountain."

The Sergeant again spoke, this time to Ian. "You agreed to this?"

Ian answered. "I didn't know. She kept it from me." He shot me a look of betrayal. He looked back at the Sergeant. "She waited until I was asleep to carry out her plan. Luckily, Jared woke me before they got her out of Melanie's body."

Burns walked up with Lily by his side. "I didn't mean to interrupt."

The Colonel spoke. "Join us. This is fascinating." He looked up at one of the guards. "Bring us two more chairs."

The guard walked off quickly. I got the impression he did not want to miss any of the story.

"Go on, my dear," Colonel Jeffries requested.

Suddenly, I got the weirdest feeling in the pit of my stomach. I pulled my hand away from Ian and laid it over my abdomen.

"What? What's wrong?" Ian looked panicked.

"I don't know. It's this strange feeling."

"Are you in pain?"

"No. I can't explain it. It's like being queasy but without the nausea."

The Colonel stood up. "Can we get a healer over here?"

The same healer who took care of me before came over to attend to me. He listened for the baby's heartbeat. "I'll tell you what the problem is. This baby is moving all over the place. Does it feel like butterflies flitting around in your belly?"

"Yes!" He described it exactly.

"You are feeling your baby move."

"Oh my god!" I grabbed Ian's face and kissed him.

"When is the last time you ate?"

Ian spoke. "I tried to get her to eat this morning, but she wouldn't."

I protested. "It's not like I'm the only one who didn't eat today."

"True." Nate backed me up.

The Colonel motioned for the other guard who was facing us to approach him. He took him aside and spoke to him. The guard walked away.

"We don't want to seem uncivilized. Do your people have food?"

Nate spoke as the leader. "Yes, but our main stock of supplies is kept in the kitchen at the house. Most of the humans have retreated to the cave for protection. They haven't had a hot meal in two days."

"I understand. If we provide food for them, will they eat it?"

Nate smiled. "Will they be serving Kool-Aid with that?"

I didn't understand the significance of that statement but obviously the others did.

"Okay." He turned to Burns. "I'm assuming they trust you."

"Yes, I believe they do."

"Go to them. Let them know that they can take an armed guard with them to the house and prepare food for themselves. Those of you at the table can eat with me if you don't mind."

Nate responded. "It's fine with me, if it's fine with them."

"I hope you didn't go through all the trouble of healing me just to poison me," I added.

"I don't think you are the one who has to worry," Ian pointed out.

"Colonel Jeffries, you wouldn't poison the three men I love most in this world, would you?"

"Mrs. O'Shea, you have my word."

"There, you see?"

Burns got up to leave.

"I would like your mate to stay here with us," The Colonel ordered.

"She's my girlfriend, not my mate," Burns shot back.

"You really don't like me do you?" the Colonel asked.

I was taken aback. I had never seen this side of Burns before. He was usually such a tranquil man.

"Truthfully, no I don't," he answered.

"Fair enough. Answer my questions and I will allow the both of you to go."

Burns faced the Colonel.

"You and this human are not life partners, then?"

"We are in a committed relationship but I have not asked her to marry me."

Lily looked wounded.

Burns continued. "I can tell you that I love her though."

The Colonel looked directly at Lily. "Do you love him?"

She answered in a small voice. "Very much."

The Colonel nodded to her. "Thank you. You may go with him."

Lily got up and Burns put his hand on her face. Then he put his arm around her shoulders and led her off the field. Burns was never much for public displays of affection like Ian and I were.

Nate had enough of this banter. "Can we please get back to this meeting?"

"What are you in a hurry to die?" Ian scowled.

The Colonel interrupted. "No one said anything about dying. I want you to know that I am trying to be objective here."

Nate reciprocated. "I'm glad to hear you say that. I was hoping that we may prove to be an inspiration that humans and souls can live together. I, personally, would like to continue our 'experiment' if you will."

"You make an interesting argument. I will keep it in mind." He took a deep breath. "Now, where were we before Mrs. O'Shea's little health scare?"

The Sergeant read from his computer. "Sir, if I may, Mr. O'Shea spoke last and he said I quote 'I didn't know. She waited till I was asleep to carry out her plan. Luckily Jared woke me before they got her out of Melanie's body."

"Right, Mrs. O'Shea. Would you care to continue?"

The Sergeant spoke before I could utter a word. "I don't mean to impose and I certainly mean no disrespect to you Colonel but I have a question."

"What is it Sergeant Woodfern?"

"How did the Doc know how to retrieve your soul from the host? You said and I quote, 'I would show him how to remove a soul from the host under two conditions.'"

"We needed a 'guinea pig' but we wanted to make sure whoever it was, they would be useful to us. We chose a healer. We chose Candy."

The Sergeant understood the implication immediately. "You kidnapped her?"

My face turned bright red.

Ian answered. "Yes, Jared and Brandt kidnapped her from the front of a hospital. Wanderer showed Doc step by step how to remove the soul. The soul was placed in a cryo tank which we also took from the hospital and we dropped her off at a shuttle port going to The Planet of the Flowers."

"I suppose that answers your question Sergeant."

"Yes, Sir, it does."

"Now back to you Wanderer. You don't mind if I call you Wanderer do you?"

"No, that's fine."

"You obviously didn't die," he pointed out.

"Well, no. When Ian found out what was going on, he…he…Well, I'm told he freaked out. As soon as my soul was removed he took me off the table and he put me into a cryo tank and then he wouldn't let anyone else touch it. He sent Jared and Jamie out to find a new host."

"They picked someone so young. Why didn't they pick someone better suited to Ian's age?"

"They picked just fine," Ian said in my defense. "Who wouldn't love her?"

"Got me. I fell in love with her the first time I saw her and I'm older than Ian," Nate declared.

I smiled at Nate before looking back at the Colonel. "Actually, it was Jamie who chose the host. He was fourteen. He said he wanted someone that no one could say 'no' to."

"I see his logic but still a twenty year old would have suited him better."

"Well, another reason is they wanted to get someone who wouldn't come back when the soul was removed. You see, if the soul is implanted when the human is older, then if you remove it, the human comes back, like in the case with Candy. Pet was implanted in this host when she was only eight years old. There was nothing but a vacant body when I came in."

"I would like to speak to this Melanie and her lover and her brother." He looked at the Sergeant. "What were their names?"

I answered before he did. "Melanie, Jared, and Jamie; but Mel and Jared are not here. They went off again to search for her cousin. Melanie is sure she is in Chicago somewhere."

"And the fourteen year old?"

"He's fifteen now and he's with us."

"I would like to question him. Can you get him for me?"

The guard came up to the table. "Sir, the lunch is ready to be served."

Ian got up. "I'll go get Jamie. Wanderer needs to eat." He leaned down and kissed me on the head. "I love you," he said and then he ran off the field.

"He's a big guy," the Colonel commented.

"Yes, he's the baseball coach."

"Ah, yes. We are in the middle of the baseball field."

The food was delivered to us at the table. There were sub sandwiches with chips, pickles, and drinks that had been ordered from the sub shop in town. Ian returned quickly with Jamie. They sat together on the other side of Nate. I assumed this was a protective measure and I hoped that Ian reminded Jamie to protect the caverns at all costs.

"You must be Jamie." The Colonel greeted him.

"Yes, Jamie Stryder."

"Sit. Eat, Jamie Stryder."

Ian and Jamie ate in silence. Nate paid close attention to me. "Are you feeling better?"

"Yes, I guess I was hungry."

"Well, you are eating for two." He brushed my hair over my shoulder.

When the Colonel finished his lunch, he decided he was ready to continue the meeting. He turned his attention to Jamie. "Can you tell me about how Mrs. O'Shea came to be here on the mountain?"

"You mean Wanda? Sure."

The Sergeant cut him off. "I thought her name was Wanderer."

"Well it is, but Jeb came up with Wanda because it sounded more human and it stuck."

"Who's this Jeb?"

I jumped in. "He's one of the older people in our community. He's got a thing for me."

"Yes, I'm beginning to see a trend." The Colonel smiled. "I'm sorry young man. Please continue."

Jamie heeded the Colonel's request. "Mel went looking for Sharon but she got caught. She was gone for a long time. A couple of months. When she finally came back, she wasn't Mel anymore. Jared was pissed. He wanted her dead but…" He stopped. We knew he was thinking so he wouldn't screw up. "Nate said she might be interesting to learn from. He made Jared guard her. They locked her in the root cellar."

"I see. You said Jared wanted her dead. Did he try to kill her?"

"No, he hurt her real bad though." He looked at Ian and Ian nodded his head to Jamie. "Kyle and Ian almost killed her though. The first time Ian nearly strangled her and the second time Kyle almost drowned her."

"Who saved her?"

"Well, here's the funny part. The first time, Kyle and Jared were fighting. Ian had her but Burns used a gun to threaten him and he dropped her. The second time, it was Ian who saved her from his brother."

"Ian and Kyle are brothers?"

"Yes."

"Did you want her dead?"

"No, never. I was the first one she told that Mel was in her head with her."

"And you believed her?"

"Yep." He leaned back in his chair and smiled at me.

The Colonel sat back in his chair and nodded his head. He leaned forward again. "So, Melanie is in that body with her?"

"Heck, no. Wanda gave Melanie back her body."

"She did? Then, where did this body come from?"

"I got it for her."

"You did?"

"Well it was me and Jared, but I picked her. She's perfect. Don't you think?"

Ian smiled so hard he had to turn away.

"She's a fine young lady. Tell me, where is your sister now?"

"Mel and Jared went to look for Sharon again."

"Why did she wait so long? Wanderer has had this host body for what at least four months."

"It's been a year and four months." I said in my defense. I didn't want him to think that Ian knocked me up as soon as I was put into this body.

The Colonel ignored me. "Jamie, why did she wait?"

"Because she was pregnant."

Crap.

"She had a baby? Where is this baby?"

Ian took control of the conversation. "The baby is inside the cave and he won't be coming out. They are under strict orders to protect him at all costs."

"I'm sorry Ian. I didn't mean to tell," Jamie blurted out.

"It's okay, kid."

"Can I go now?"

"Sure. I'd like to meet Ian's brother, Kyle."

Nate spoke again. "His girlfriend is a soul. Would you like to meet her as well?"

The Colonel had been leaning back on the two back legs of his chair. Now the chair slapped back to the ground. "Kyle, the guy who nearly drowned Wanderer has a soul for a girlfriend? Are you kidding me?"

Nate smiled his beautiful smile. "What can I say? Wanderer and Sunny are special. They can turn the meanest of men. How is she working on you?"

"Bring them out."

Ian got up with Jamie. "I'll walk him back."

"Excuse me. I need to use the bathroom."

"That's a good idea. How about we all take a ten minute break and meet back here."

I got up and I went to Ian. I put my arms around his waist. He cradled my chin in his hand. "How are you holding up?"

"I'm okay." I paused. "I love you."

"I love you more." He leaned in and kissed me. He held my face and kissed me with passion until I felt a little dizzy and I lost my balance. He pulled back and smiled. "You want me to carry you?"

"No, but if you want me to walk, you have to stop kissing me."

I looked over and one of the guards was using the back of his hand to cover his smirk. I noticed the Sergeant was watching us too.

He put his arm around my shoulders and I put my arms around his waist. We walked together like this off the field. It was mid afternoon and yet it had already been one of the longest days of my life. Nate was optimistic as usual. "I think it's going well."

"I think you are reading too much into it," Ian shot back.

"Well, I will do whatever it takes to try and make this thing work in our favor. Now if you will excuse me, I need to thank Victoria for keeping her wits about her. This could have been a fiasco."

11