Disclaimer: I do not own The Host, it belongs to Stephenie Meyer. This is just for entertainment purposes.
A/N: Thank you to everyone who reviewed; Mia Cullen, edwardsbaby4eva, JacobsxImprint, sandals-with-sox and champion shoes! They really do encourage me to continue. And thank you to everyone who either added me to their favourites or to their alerts!
Chapter 2: Annoyed
"Wanda, honey shh, it's okay. I'm right here." Ian said. Ian! He was here, he was safe. Oh thank god! But where was everyone else? Did the seekers come and take them away? No! They couldn't! Jamie, Melanie, Jared, Jeb, Doc….
"Should I go get Mel? Maybe she could help calm Wanda down?" Jamie suggested. Jamie. He was safe as well. Did that mean that what I had seen was a nightmare?
Just then, another tremor shook my body as a sob broke it's way out. Ian tightened his hold on me and I cuddled closer relishing in the warmth that was Ian.
"Yeah, I think that would be a good idea. Just make sure you don't wake up anyone else." Ian said, worry clearly evident in his tone. After what Ian said to Jamie, I felt weight leave the mattress. Did he go leave to wake up Melanie because of me? That wasn't right. I wanted to wake up and tell Ian that I was okay but I just couldn't get the nightmare to leave me alone; it was just to frightening, it seemed so real.
Ian continued to rub my back, I guess trying to calm me down. He caressed my cheek, wiping away the tears that I did not know that I had shed.
I slowly began to open my eyes, my vision blurry because of the tears that were leftover, but as I opened them; I saw Ian and I sighed in relief. But I was not happy with what I saw; his face was full of pain and worry, probably because of me.
"Ian," I said my voice hoarse from all the screaming that I had done because of my nightmare.
"Wanda?" Ian asked.
"Oh Ian, I am so sorry. I didn't mean for that to happen, it's just…" but the tears started to flow again and I couldn't make coherent sentences.
"There's nothing for you to apologize for. It's okay. You just had a nightmare." Ian said, while holding on to me tighter.
"Wanda!" I heard Melanie say. I felt Melanie's weight on the mattress as she sat down beside me – I cradled in Ian's lap. "Oh Wanda, are you okay?" Melanie took my tiny hand in hers and gave it a gentle squeeze, comforting me. "Jamie told me what happened?" Jamie. Where was Jamie? I needed to see him too, to see that he was okay. This nightmare left a big impact in me.
"Jamie?" Was all I said.
"I'm right here Wanda," I heard Jamie say. I sighed in relief. I offered him my other hand, and he took it sensing how much I needed him right now. I let out a sigh of relief.
"I'm fine. I just had a really bad nightmare. I saw that the se…seekers had… found us and th…they were taking you away from me." My voice broke at the last word, it still hurt to think about it; I couldn't live without them, I needed them too much. The people in these caves were my family.
"Oh Wanda, we're not going anywhere. We're not leaving you, we all love you too much to even think about it," Ian reassured me.
"Wanda, why don't you freshen up, take a bath, the water would probably calm you down. I'll come along if you'd like." Melanie suggested.
I thought about Melanie's suggestion and decided that it was a good idea. It probably would calm me down, help me relax and help me forget the awful nightmare. I nodded and slowly got off of Ian's lap, pulling Melanie along with. I gave Ian what I hoped was a reassuring smile and headed off to the river rooms.
When we reached the river rooms, Melanie handed me soap, towel and some clean clothes. "I'll be right here if you need me. You don't need to worry about anything. If you want to talk, I'm right here." Melanie said, with clear sincerity and compassion and worry for me. That brought a round of guilt. I had worried them unnecessarily because of my nightmare. Melanie guessed that I was about to apologize; but before I could say my apologies, she stopped me with one of her looks.
"Now Wanda, don't you start to apologize. Everyone has nightmares and everyone reacts different ways. And I am glad that I could help you. When Jamie woke me up saying you were crying, I nearly jumped out of the mattress." Melanie said, with a smile lighting up her face, showing the care that she held for me.
"Thanks Mel," I said hugging her. She hugged me back and pushed me towards the bathing rooms.
"Now go, we don't want Ian to worry do we?" Melanie said.
I nodded, I wanted to be near Ian and tell him that I was fine. Being Ian, he wouldn't relax until he saw me. I headed off to the bathing pools thinking that I would apologize later.
The cool water welcomed me as I entered the pool. The lavender smells of the soap that I had brought from a recent raid soothing my senses. It really was refreshing and that helped calm me down. I quickly washed myself, rinsing myself off, and headed to where my clothes were and got dressed.
I headed out to find that Melanie was still here and was sitting on the ground, waiting for me.
"Feel better?" Melanie asked.
"Yes. Thanks Mel. And I'm sorry that I worried you for no reason," I began to apologize but Melanie stopped me again.
"Wanda, why are you apologizing? Do I have to tell you again that people have nightmares, it happens. And once again, I'm glad that I could help. It hurts me to see you in pain." Melanie said. It touched me that Melanie cared so much about me. I couldn't help but smile at my best friend – my sister.
"So, are you ready to go play, or rather watch soccer?" Melanie asked, changing the subject, trying to distract me from the way the morning had began.
It worked though, that brought the doubts from yesterday, why did they want to play soccer in the morning?
"Sure," gladly accepting the distraction.
As we were walking back to the games room, the curiosity overtook me and I asked Melanie why they planned the game of soccer.
"Mel, why did you guys decide all of a sudden that you wanted to play a game of soccer?"
Melanie was caught off guard with my question, but she answered anyway, carefully wording her answer.
"Well, we thought it would be a nice break and a lot of people wanted to play. Especially Kyle, he's been waiting to beat me at soccer for so long. I thought this was a good chance to prove to him that I am way better then he is."
"Oh," was all I said.
When we entered the games room, all the beddings were put away and the goal posts were set for the anticipated game of soccer, which I still found suspicious. When Melanie answered me, there was a different tone to her voice, but I couldn't tell. Something was fishy, and I wanted to know what.
Ian saw me, all smiling and laughing with Melanie and I saw him sigh in relief. He walked towards me in anxious strides and pulled me into a tight hug. Melanie thought that as her cue to leave and she left to go to Jamie and Jared, who were warming up.
"How are you? Are you feeling better?" Ian asked, still worried.
I looked up at Ian to see Ian that his eyes were tight, I smiled at him and he immediately relaxed.
"I'm fine. That bath did help me calm down. And I'm sorry that I worried you. It just felt so real. The thought of losing you was unbearable; the thought of losing everyone was just too much for me to take." I answered, the tears threatening to take over.
"You don't have to worry Wanda. I am not letting you leave me. I'll protect you with my own life," there was no doubt about that; "you will be safe." And to add emphasis to his point, he tightened his arms around me and planted a soft kiss on my damp, lavender smelling hair.
"You sure you don't want to play? You know I could always sit this one out?" Ian suggested. I shook my head; he should have fun, not worrying about me.
"No, it's okay. You go have fun." I said, getting out of his embrace.
For the first time, I noticed that a couple of people were missing. Where was Doc? Jeb? Trudy, Lily and Paige?
"Ian, where are Doc and the others? Don't they want to play?" I asked.
"Yeah…um…they're going to come later. They had some work to finish up." Before I could ask another question, Ian left to go stretch with Jamie and the rest.
I saw Sunny sitting near the cave entrance and I thought I would go sit beside her and give her some company.
"Hi Sunny, do you mind if I sit beside you?" I asked, giving her a smile.
"Of course Wanda. You know you don't have to ask." Sunny said, scooting over so she could give me some room.
I sat down beside her, starting up a conversation while the others got the teams sorted out and began the not-so-suspicious-game-of-soccer.
Then I remembered that Sunny might have an idea what Ian and Melanie were hiding from me. I mean, Ian must have told Kyle something and in turn, he must have told Sunny.
"Sunny, can I ask you a question?" I asked.
"Of Course Wanda, what is it?" Sunny replied.
"Do you know what Ian, Mel and Jared are hiding from me?"
I looked over at Sunny to see that she was looking at me the same way Melanie looked at me earlier this morning when I asked her the similar question. She did know what was going on and it was confirmed that they were hiding something from me.
"Why would they be hiding something from you?" Sunny said. She knew that I could tell that when she lied like everyone else did when I lied, so she avoided my question. Smart. I would have to learn how to do that. I mentally hit myself for letting myself get sidetracked with Sunny's smart tactics.
"I don't know, it's just, well they decided to have this game out of nowhere, then I see them exchanging glances that are not meant to be seen by me and then they avoid my question whenever I ask." I said, complaining, inadvertently mentioning her as well.
"Well, if it was important, they would certainly tell you. I think you are over thinking things Wanda. You should stop worrying and just have fun watching the game. Aren't you supposed to be keeping score by the way?" Sunny said, changing the subject.
I completely forgot that I was supposed to be keeping score and I felt guilty. I started right away when Kyle made the first goal, looking at the way he acted – all cocky - they were probably winning.
The game ended, and Kyle's team was victorious. He tried to rub it in Jared's face, but Jared ignored it; although he was smiling about it. It was kind of funny seeing Kyle act all kid like instead of the scary version of him. I guess it was having Sunny around that changed him.
"What are you smiling about?" Ian said putting his arms around my waist.
"Nothing, just the way Kyle's acting. It's nice to see him happy." I said, turning around in his arms so I could face him. "Ian," I asked.
"Yes Wanda."
"I noticed that Jeb, Doc, Trudy, Lily and Paige didn't come to play. You said that they would. Are they busy, maybe I could have helped or? Ian, did someone get hurt!" I asked, suddenly worried. Ian cut me off when I started to ramble again, chuckling.
"No, they aren't hurt. I guess they just got caught up in something." Ian said, shrugging, making it look like it wasn't important.
"If you're sure," I said, doubt filling my tone.
"Yes I am absolutely sure Wanda. There is nothing to worry about." Ian asked, relief filling his voice that he tried to hide.
That meant that I had to resort to my last choice. I would have to get Jamie to tell me what was going on if no one else was. There was no way I was going to be left out of what was happening in the caves. I mean, I would eventually find out sooner or later. I preferred sooner.
A/N: Hope you liked this chapter. Once again, thank you for all the reviews and I would really appreciate it if you reviewed to let me know how I am doing.
Midnight Sapphire Eyes