A/N: Hi people! I was never really the quitter type, so I'm really happy to be proved right! I want to thank all you people for cheering me up in my time of need! And so to thank you I made a special chapter that's kinda longer than my usual ones. Oh well. First time writing a chapter in a long time, so don't judge me!
Oh, I want to throw a special thank you to Japanesegirl388! You don't know how much that sentence meant to me!! It wasn't a comment or anything, she just threw me an idea!! I can't believe I didn't think of that! Thank you sooo much!!
Anyway, without further delay, I bring you the real chapter 23! I guess it's kind of like a filler chapter, but I hope you like it.
Ian's POV
A few days after Wanda became horribly ill(Back in chapter 8)
I don't know what I'm doing anymore…but I'll do anything to save Wanda. Anything.
And that was the only reason I was standing deep in the enemy's lair--in the city. I had stolen Doc's white sedan, as soon as I realized how much pain Wanda was in. She was crying and screaming; I just…couldn't take it anymore! I had to do something; no matter how stupid it might be.
I was dying of anxiety and I simply wanted to sleep. My eyelids were even drooping and my hold on the wheel loosened…
The next thing I knew…the car's sudden stop flung me forward. That wretched seat belt hurt like hell when it slapped me in place! The air bag opened…a tad too late.
I had hit a cactus. Of all things I could've hit while asleep, I had to hit that stupid cactus! Oh, and now people were stopping their cars, wanting to help. I slipped silently out of the car; I wasn't hurt that bad.
But those damn leeches were persistent! I did my best to kindly reject their help, but sometimes a bit of my human anger slipped. They were looking at me as if I were the parasite! God, all I wanted was to get to the hospital and ask about Wanda…
Wait a second.
I let myself fall to the ground and pretended to faint.
"Oh, dear! Someone call the police!" I heard voices frantically shout. They were really good at panicking, weren't they?
I heard those familiar sirens of the police--err, seekers--and I was soon strapped onto a stretcher, just like the old days. While I was in the ambulance, there were several people who actually wanted to go with me!
These were strangers and they were crying about the tiny car-accident I just had. Huh. That's a little weird…Reminds me of Wanda…
As soon as I was I heard the Healer speak, I quit the act. I sat up quickly; I was sitting on a silver recliner with sterile paper on it. I was a bit surprised by the Healer's appearance…
She was a girl. A little girl, actually--couldn't be more than 15 years old. She looked latin, black long hair, and big round eyes. Since she's young, hopefully she won't notice that I'm still human…
"My name's Sky Aboves. So what's the injury today?" she said as she walked over to me.
"I'm not hurt," I said immediately. I quickly changed my tone to a more cheerful one. "I felt a little dizzy after the crash, but I'm okay now. Actually, can I ask you a few questions?" I said, trying to keep a smile on my face.
"Of course," she said as she cracked a wide smile, exposing white teeth.
"I'm actually hoping to become a Healer and I've been studying…but I was looking at a case and it befuddled me. In this case…," I looked away. It just felt so awkward, talking about Wanda to a stranger. An enemy of all people. I finally got my grip and continued. "…a young woman has been vomiting and having stomach problems," I said as the Healer watched me with enthusiasm.
I looked at her, as if I were begging for her to help me. "She's been fainting and throwing up! She complains that her stomach hurts so much! I don't know what to do anymore…" I said, on the verge of crying. I quickly looked away; I'd rather face the wall.
"…You're really emotional with cases, aren't you?" I heard her say.
"Cases?" I asked as I wiped my eyes with my sleeve real quick. "Oh…yeah. This person is a friend of mine." I turned towards Sky Aboves to find her with an amused expression on her face.
"You seriously want to be a Healer?" she said, as if she were trying to hold back laughter. Laughter!?
"Why do you ask?" I said in a tone a little too harsh for her taste.
She blinked twice. She gave me a tiny smile and then walked over to me. "Then you should know that she doesn't have a healthy diet! And if she's actually having pain…how long has this been going on?" she said as she placed one hand on the recliner.
"…A couple of days. It couldn't be more than two."
Her eyebrows crumpled. "Hmm…that is unusual. If she would have an unhealthy diet, then it should've lasted longer unless…" All of a sudden, her eyes widened and she gave me a wordless stare.
"Do you mind if I sit down?" she said all of a sudden.
"Huh? Oh, I don't mind. But…could you just tell me already?" I said as my hands started to fist.
I had about a thousand things running through my mind. They all circled around Wanda…and being sick…and dying…
"Healer, just tell me," I hissed out as my hands started to fist.
She forced out half a chuckle. "I'm not really sure how to say this. But I assure you, that your friend is not in any serious danger," she said as she looked away shyly.
This threw me off. "…What?" I said as I looked her dead in the eye. If she was bluffing, she was so gonna die…
She was looking nervous all of a sudden. "I know what's wrong with your friend…Although I wouldn't use the word wrong…You know, it might be better if you ask her yourself... I'm sure she already knows what's wrong with her…"
This just threw me off even farther. "But don't you get it? She's in pain--"
"It's natural. Tell her she needs to be eating more food, and more healthier food. I'm sure it won't be a prob--" She came to a stop. The Healer was giving me this strange look.
"You're eyes are blue…" she faintly whispered.
I swear, if she doesn't get to the point and tell me what's wrong with Wanda, then I'll--
"…only blue…" she said as her eyes widened.
Crap.
I jumped off the recliner and was about to high-tail it out of there, if only that damn Healer hadn't sprayed something on my face.
"Damn it!" I shouted as my eyesight started to blur. I felt around and I heard the crashing of containers.
"SECURITY! HELP!! CALL THE SEEKERS!!" I heard a high pitch voice yell. The Healer.
"No, it's not what you think! I can't die!" I shouted as I searched around blindly.
"HUMAN! THERE'S A HUMAN IN HERE!!!"
I heard the doors slam open and felt myself being pinned to the ground.
"Ugh! Get off me, you fucking parasite!" I screamed as I tried to get out of this deathtrap. Lucky for me, these parasites weren't as heavy as I were. I easily shrugged them off. I pulled myself to my feet.
Now, just head for the exit and pretend this never happened--
My escape design was cut short as I heard a gun. I looked down to my chest, in a stage of shock. I heard the blood slowly pool…
Damn it…I failed Wanda…I thought as I slowly slipped to the ground.
Wow, for some reason…I feel so sleepy…
I felt myself being turned face forward and I managed to see one last thing. A Seeker with a gun in her hands. She had light brown hair that stopped at her waist.
She kneeled closer to me and smiled. "No need to fret, little human. My name's Elise and you will soon see me again. Only you won't be you anymore…" she said with her eyes slightly narrowed.
"…Fuck you…" I managed to mutter.
This only caused her to smile even wider. "I hope you enjoy your sleep, little human."
Elise…I swear, if I ever hear that name again…I will kill her.
And that was when I met true darkness. I saw, felt, and heard nothing, but darkness.
So this is how it ends…
As if death wasn't bad enough, I saw myself watching it over again. And how exactly can you watch yourself?
Well, if you're taken over by a mutant parasite, you can watch yourself do all kinds of things!
I felt this new soul inside me wince at the part where I had gotten shot. What a pansy…
Who said that?
Uh…that would be me. As in, Ian O'Shea. As in, the owner of the body you just stole.
You're lying! I'm the only one in here; this is my body.
Whatever you say, friend. Now, do you mind opening my eyes? I need help and I kinda want to know where we are.
I could feel him getting irritated, but he did as I asked. After being in the dark for what seemed like an eternity, the light really felt like it was blinding me.
I felt my eyes twitch, but they opened all the way. I felt myself quickly resume a sitting position and face the people who were so anxiously waiting to meet us.
One of the parasites walked forward with a smile. Hey, I know this person…
Isn't she the one who killed you? I heard the Body Snatcher say.
Ugh, she was…I wanted to throttle her so badly. I wanted to see the life drain out of her for what she did to me…
This is my body now! I won't let you hurt my familiars in such a vile human way!
That's weird. For some reason, I felt like he had chained me to a wall or something. I couldn't even think.
"Hello. My name's Elise. How do you feel?" the seeker asked in such a kind voice.
"Alert and focused, Seeker. Now, I assume you want information about this human, correct?" I heard my voice say. But it wasn't my voice…
"Correct, umm…" she said, as if trying to remember something.
"Shadows Hiding. That's my name. Now as for the human…His name is Ian O'Shea and he was in the city alone. He had come to a the hospital to ask information about…a friend. She's a young girl and she is sick…." I felt his eye twitching. What was going on? "I have no more information about her, but I strongly believe she is a human. After asking information at the clinic, he was going to head back to…a place…."
"Is something the matter, Shadows?" Elise asked with an impatient tone.
I felt him frowning. Oh, ho, so you can't get all the information, can you? I thought.
"No…but I seem to have difficulty accessing the information…" I felt him place a hand to his temple.
"No need to strain yourself. If you don't have the information, it's fine; I won't strain you. After all, this was a human who knew about us…If you have any more problems, report to me immediately." And with that, she took off.
Many months later…
I feel…horrible. Very, very horrible. Very horrible, indeed. I don't think there is another word to sum up how horrible I'm feeling other than the word horrible... How horrible my life is…
GET ANOTHER DAMN WORD!! READ THE THESARUS!! READ A DICTIONARY!! I DON'T CARE, BUT THERE'S OTHER WORDS OTHER THAN THE WORD HORRIBLE!!
Have you forgotten I'm just your conscious? I thought, jokingly. I can't read. Oh, how horrible it is to not read…
For the love of God! I heard Shadows shout in his mind. Pardon, our mind.
I'm just going to ignore you, from now on! Shadows shouted as we heard the bell ring. Time for the teacher to do his thing.
Well, good luck! But I must warn you that I've been taught by the master of all that is annoying---my brother. I think I should make use of those skills…
"Good morning, class," the honorable Shadows Hiding said.
"Good morning, Professor Hiding!" the class shouted back.
Shadows got up from his seat and walked towards the chalkboard. "Today, we will be talking about how bats move about in the Singing World. They have no sense of sight, and yet they are still able to maneuver excellently. Does anyone care to explain?"
Teacher, teacher! I know the answer, pick me, pick me!
Shadows quickly turned to the chalkboard, ignoring the many raised hands already in the air. "Well, you see, although they are from a different planet, the bats operate exactly like the bats on this planet. They use waves---"
The wheels on the bus go ROUND and ROUND! ROUND and ROUND! ROUND and ROUND! The wheels on the bus go ROUND and ROUND--
A loud pitched squeel came from the chalkboard as Shadows drew a thick, big, vertical line.
Hey, didn't anyone show you how to use chalk!? You don't use it like that, no, you've got it all wrong! That is not how you spell "waves"! Jeez, you know you can sue your kindergarten teacher for not showing you how to use chalk right!
I could feel Shadows' eyebrows come together and his fists were tightening. I could feel his lips pull up into an evil smile.
Uh…oh?
Shadows quickly spun to face the class with that evil smile still in place. "Early class dismissal! Carry your textbooks and leave!" Shadows yelled in an extra-happy tone.
Every single student looked a bit paler as they quickly left the room.
"A ha, ha, ha…So what's on the agenda today, Ian? You want to keep annoying me? You only get 45 minutes…!" he trailed off in an even more eviler tone than before, as he packed his suitcase.
Uh…are you okay?
"Oh, I am perrrrfect! Perfect with a capital P! But as for you, you are so not perfect! Not perfect with a capital N!" he said as he threw random things in his suitcase.
Dude, calm down. Do you have any idea how it's like to be a prisoner of your own body? It's not exactly a joy ride.
But you're messing up my life. That's why I'm leaving, Shadows said. As he walked out of the classroom, he forced me behind the prison walls.
Leaving? I asked as soon I was able to break free. We were in a car, a black BMW. We were on the road, but I had no idea where to. The clock said it was 8:51 p.m.
Yeah, leaving. I've been able to keep up with your crap for a long time…but I'm just not that strong. I haven't ever skipped a term before, so you damaged my pride too. Oh well, anything to be out of here…Shadows thought abstractedly as he kept his eyes on the sunset.
But that means they'll kill me, I said quietly.
Wish they didn't have to do that. I hate it when the Seekers kill people, even humans. But what can I do?
Okay, I have to be careful about this. Don't expose too much information. Maybe we can't do anything. But I know a friend that can help.
A friend? You mean a human?
Yes…but you have to do as I say. My friend can get you out harmlessly and be put into another body.
Why should I trust you? Shadows asked as his eyes started to speculate over the idea.
Actually, the question should be: why should I trust you? You can turn me in anytime.
…Well, as much as I don't like you, I wouldn't go back to the Seekers. They'd find out about Wanda. I may not like you, but I will not let them get to her!
That struck a nerve. I told you to not talk about her! God, do you know how much that pisses me off!?
Yeah, I wasn't that good with keeping secrets. Dying does that to a person…
Anyway, as long as we get separated, I'll do anything. You mind telling me what we're going to do again, exactly?
Well, we're going to visit a friend of mine. His name is Eustace…but we like to call him Doc.
If you ever want to scare someone and you live in the Arizona area, try scaring someone in the middle of the dessert at midnight. I'm sure that'd really scare them. Or piss them off as hell.
Yep, we were definitely pissed off. We were walking on our way to the Resistance, when somebody jumped from behind us and clamped a big hand on our mouth.
"Don't make a sound and you won't get hurt," hissed the voice of a familiar Jared Howe.
Like we seriously have the time for this…Shadows and I thought in unison, as we gave a backwards kick right to Jared's crotch. That made him let go. And start cussing... And start coughing...And start crying...
Okay, I was kidding about the crying part. A little. Well, that's what he gets for scaring us like that!
I let go of the body I had been carrying on my shoulder (It was for Shadows. He chose the body out, as if he were window shopping. Yeah, I'd rather not talk about that…).
"Sorry about that Jared, but that's what you get for scaring the crap out of us!" I shouted.
"Ian!?" Jared shouted, then quickly lowered his tone. "And what do you mean us?" He quickly pulled out a flashlight and shined it in my eyes.
I didn't flinch away.
He turned off the light and sighed. "Okay…Let me get you to Doc…"
It feels kinda lonely when you have your mind to yourself. No "other voice" to answer your thoughts. But I was still happy that I got my body back.
I slowly sat up and was facing nearly every one of my family members. Nearly. I examined every person quickly and noticed there was one person short. The most important one.
"Melanie, where's Wanda?" I asked immediately. Sure, no "it feels good to be back" or no "I really missed you guys." Those aren't exactly the words you'd say when you don't see your love of your life after so long.
She suddenly put a nervous face on. "Ian, I think you should rest before asking silly questions--"
I flew off the bed and suddenly had Melanie's neck tight between my hands. "WHERE THE FUCK IS SHE!?" I screamed, before getting kicked in the back by Jared.
I let go of her and fell to my knees, gagging. I could hear Melanie gagging along with me.
"What the hell is wrong with you!? There's no need to freaking choke Melanie before nor after she gives you an answer!! I should freaking kill you for laying a hand on her!" Jared screamed.
"Jared calm…down!" Melanie panted out. I slowly got to my feet and asked her directly, "Where…is…she?"
She looked me dead in the eyes and gave no mercy, "She left."
You don't know how hard it was for me to keep my grip. I breathed deeply before slowly answering, "I want details."
"She got tired of waiting so she went to get you. Don't be silly in thinking I let her go by herself--"
"Then why didn't you bring her with you?" I hissed out, my hands fisting again.
"Because she got captured. Seekers." At that word, I automatically fell to my knees. I remembered what those horrid seekers had done to me…and if they had Wanda…
"…What?" I whispered as I stared at the ground.
Melanie crossed her arms and looked away from me, "Lucky for us, we had a pair of idiots who got captured also and managed to give us some more information."
That was like a little light in the dark tunnel. I quickly looked up at her. "Who?"
She nodded in the direction of my brother and Sunny. My eyes narrowed at them. I quickly got to my feet and walked over to them.
"Your turn. Talk!" I said, a bit too harshly.
Sunny just cowered behind Kyle. Kyle was the one who looked me straight in the eye and answered. "The three of us were taken to some place in Phoenix. They took us to some warehouse full of souls and maybe humans alike. Apparently, the head seeker wanted some information and was asking everyone "questions." We don't really know if it was true, since he never got us. But everyone would come out safely and unhurt. Everyone except Wanda."
I cocked an eyebrow up. "Huh. So he kidnapped you too? That guy…" I briefly remembered my conversation with him. Shadows had done most of the talking. I didn't like it how Shadows kept thinking about Wanda that day. Good thing that he finally got over her.
I remembered the Head Seeker said he was searching for a girl. A girl he loved. He said that he would stop the whole search thing as soon as he found her. And then Wanda didn't come back…
"HOLY CRAP!!" I shouted as I quickly looked for an exit. I was about to fly back to that seeker, chop his head off, take back Wanda and then---
My ideas were cut short as soon as Kyle and Jared managed to tackle me down to the ground.
"Don't be crazy, Ian! You already left once and they placed a soul inside of you! Just wait it out; Wanda'll come back!" Kyle shouted.
"Get off me, you horse!" I shouted. "I have to go get Wanda! Who knows what that Seeker is doing to her!?"
"Wanda's a big girl and she's smart! She'll get herself out of it and you'll have to wait it through!!" Jared hollered as he hit me with his elbow.
"AH!" I shouted as I coughed up blood. "Doesn't matter if I get caught…I need to see Wanda…" I muttered. Whoa, I feel so sleepy all of a sudden.
"ENOUGH!" I heard a gruffly voice shout. Jeb. He had his gun out and had the tip pointed to me. "Jared, Kyle, off! He's not going nowhere…" Jeb said with that evil look in his eye.
Aw, crap!
"I don't see why Jeb made me do all of this! I'm practically dying and I don't even get a day off!" I shouted to my brother, as I pulverized the ground with my pike.
"It's because it'll be nearly impossible for you to escape! Three months of garden work and no days off; we'll be seeing you in here every day! And if someone doesn't see you, they'll report to Jeb and get to searching! Jared hid the keys to every single automobile so that means you'll have to walk. If you have to walk, then you won't get far!" Kyle shouted as he crossed his arms behind his back. He was sitting next to me, watching me do all the hard work.
"You said nearly impossible…" I whispered, as I finally got a short water break.
Looks like Kyle heard that. He threw one arm around my neck and gave me a knuckle sandwich. A knuckle sandwich!? "Don't even think about leaving this place, little brother!" he said with a huge smile.
"What the hell!? Get off me, man!" I shouted as I struggled to push him off.
"Kyle! Stop hugging Ian!" Jeb shouted as he made his way around. "Ian! Go tell Doc to get his ass up! Ever since She-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named left, we've been needing to work harder! We need all the help we can get!"
I narrowed my eyes at him and clenched my fists. Calm down, Ian. Calm down, I chanted to myself.
I slowly backed away and went to search for Doc in a slight fog. I thought I'd check the hospital wing first. I was unbearably tired. And plus, I was still stressing about Wanda. I had gone all crazy yesterday when they refused to give me an answer…
I sighed and took a swung at my water bottle.
Instead of walking all the way, I just shouted, "Doc, are you down there!? We need help with the fields!"
Strangely, it was Melanie who answered me, "Um…Doc's sleeping! Maybe you should come by another time!" She shouted. Huh. She sounded anxious…like I cared! And did she just say he was sleeping!?
"What!? Come on, I'm literally dying inside and I don't even get a break!! Wake his ass up!!" I shouted as I started darted down the hallway.
"He's exhausted! Now, go away!!" Melanie shouted as her anxiety grew. Gosh, what was she hiding from me!? Well I was about to find out.
I entered the hospital wing to see Melanie looking at me with worried eyes. She had her eyes flapping about and kept saying, "There's nothing to see here!"
She wasn't fooling me. I looked over her flapping arms to see…to see…
I dropped my water bottle.
"…What?" I whispered. She was lying on one of Doc's old cots, looking like an angel with her curly blond hair flowing around her face.
My brain was probably fried by now, but I still forced my feet to take step…after step.
I extended one arm to her, refusing to believe she was real…
"…Wanda?" I whispered.
And she opened her eyes.
Her beautiful pale eyes that I've missed for so long…She opened her mouth to speak, but she couldn't form words.
"I-I…" she looked like she was in pain. But I could only stare at her pleading eyes, as I stood there like a fool.
"…Ian?" she finally said. That is, before she started screaming in pain.
Doc sprung up from his fake slumber and rushed to Wanda. He looked anxiously to her and then to the red-haired girl next to her.
What's going on…?
And that was when I took a better look at Wanda. She was clenching her stomach--her very large stomach. Oh, God! So this was what the nurse meant when she said I should ask her myself! Then that means I didn't need to go on that trip in the first place! Wanda's pregnant!
How long was I gone!? I screamed in my head.
Omake (Extra Chapter)
Shadows Hiding POV
I slowly got up from my resting place. Where am I again? Hey, Ian, answer me!
Silence.
This is strange…I said to myself. I slowly looked around and finally found someone human.
A bright smile stretched across her face as she spoke. "Hi! I should say "Welcome to the Resistance" right?" the girl said. Although the hospital wing was missing some lights, I could tell that she looked a little young. She had tan skin and a blond pony tail.
I was a little befuddled. "Um…Where's Ian?" I asked.
"Sleeping. So is everyone else, actually. I stayed up because I thought you might get all confused and run away if you found no one here to explain! Oh yeah, Ian told me to give you this mirror!" she said as she handed me a small circular mirror.
I held it up and saw myself. It's just what I asked for: 25 years old, fair skin, green eyes, black hair, tall and muscular frame. Nice.
"I should show you to your room now, since you're going to be staying here forever," the blond girl said with a smile.
Wait, what did she just say? I dropped the mirror.
"What…?" I whispered.
"You didn't seriously think we'd let you leave, now did you? You know where we live, so now you have to stay here until you die….By the way, my name's Lily!" she said with that annoying smile still in place.
My jaw dropped. "THAT WASN'T PART OF THE DEAL!! STUPID IAN!!"
A/N: Ha ha. Now, Shadows Hiding is added to the Resistance. Poor Ian was freaking out about Wanda being pregnant.
I really liked writing in Ian's POV. It was hard to do, but I succeeded! Oh yeah, have you noticed that he cusses…a lot? I mean, his last words were--quote "…Fuck you…" Nice language, Ian. I figured, since Jared changed without Mel, then Ian should change without Wanda. Sorry for the bad language people, blame Ian, not me. XP
Anywho, tell me what you thought! I spent days (as in hours, straight!) on this chapter, so I hope I got it done well! I figured out that even though I'm feeling like crap and even if I have blisters on my fingers, I shouldn't give up on anything. No matter how crappy.