Before I begin the chapter, I just want to make something clear to prevent confusion. Dialogue in quotations (" ") means someone is speaking verbally, with their mouth. Dialogue in italics and without quotations means someone is speaking nonverbally, in their mind. Enjoy!

Chapter 4

When Leni woke up, she was once again in the hospital. Compared to her last visit, she was in a much smaller room with many more instruments attached to her. There wasn't a pesky gown in the way of these life-saving devices, just a white linen bedsheet between her soot-blackened skin and the chilly hospital air. Her mind started to panic, and she would've been thrashing madly if it weren't for the fact that her body was refusing to respond to her commands. Dr. Kellogg was in the room as well, and he noticed that she was awake.

"Hello, Leni," he said with a smile that could only be described as creepy. "It's scary, isn't it? Waking up in a strange room, all alone, hooked up to strange machines? You'd probably be kicking and screaming right now if it weren't for the paralysis-inducing drugs being pumped into your bloodstream." In that moment, his smile transformed from creepy to outright malicious. "Let me tell you a little secret, Leni: I hate children, and I hate people like your parents for having so many children. Yet I'm forced to work with the very things I despise, day after day. That's why I take great pleasure in cutting off terminally ill patients from their families until they're already dead. Most of them die on their own, of course, but there have been a few that I was able to, ahem, help along. An unregistered allergic reaction here, an overdose of medicine there, things like that. Right now, you are a matter of hours from your own death, maybe even minutes, and your entire family is in the waiting room being denied access to your bedside. I don't care how bad they'll feel when they get the news that you died and they weren't there. I only care about the money they owe me for taking such good care of you. Now if you'll excuse me, I could use another cup of coffee. If you're not dead by the time I get back, I will gladly finish you off."

Dr. Kellogg left the room, and Leni clenched her eyes shut, tears seeping from the corners. That's it. This was the end. She would never get to see her family or friends ever again.

Aww, don't cry Leni. I can help you. I can get you out of here.

Leni's eyes snapped open, and she looked around frantically for the source of the raspy feminine voice.

Where are you? Why can't I see you? she thought desperately, and the strange voice giggled.

You can't see me because I'm in your head, silly! You and I are bonded on the cellular level! And no, you're not crazy.

Well, if that's the case...who are you? Leni thought.

My name is Scream, and I came to Earth inside the meteor that almost crushed you. Members of my species require a symbiotic bond with a living host organism to survive outside the atmosphere of our native planet, and I chose you to be my host. Our bond gives me access to your thoughts and memories, and what I saw when I bonded with you made me sad. But I can help you! If you will allow me to, I can remove the tumors from your head, heal injuries both current and future. With my help, you can live a long and prosperous life! The only thing I ask in return is that you continue to be my host. What do you say?

Leni was conflicted at first. Someone else sharing your body had the potential to be a massive invasion of privacy. On the other hand, she was being given a chance to live the average human lifespan...

Okay, I'll do it, Leni answered confidently.

Magnificent! First things first, let's get rid of the IV that's keeping you paralyzed, said Scream. Leni watched as a bright yellow tentacle appeared in the crook of her left elbow, wrapped around the clear plastic IV tube, and yanked it out of her arm.

Ouch! Hey, be careful! the teen protested at the pain from the needle forcefully leaving her skin.

Sorry. Now, gimme a second while I purge the drugs from your system.

Can you get rid of the tumors while you're at it? I'd like to be able to walk on my own again, among other things, Leni asked.

No problem! Brace yourself, cuz this might tickle a little. Leni felt a tingling warmth spread through her body, starting at her feet and ending at her head. The same yellow ooze that the tentacle had been made of was spreading over her skin, detaching the adhesive devices and healing her many burns and bruises. Leni closed her eyes as the ooze engulfed her face, sighing in relief as her persistent headache finally subsided, hopefully for good. After a minute or so, the ooze retreated back into Leni's pores. Alright, that should do it! See if you can stand up. Leni had just moved into a sitting position when a female nurse burst into the room in response to the screaming heart monitor. The two stared at each other in shock before Leni yelped and tried to cover her exposed chest with her arms.

The nurse averted her gaze and said, "Sorry for the intrusion, ma'am, but patients in the ICU don't usually disconnect themselves from the equipment, so I thought something was wrong." Something then occurred to her. "Hang on...didn't you have road rash and third-degree burns when you arrived? And didn't the doctor say something about brain tumors, too?" Even with her new clarity of mind brought about by the absence of the tumors, Leni couldn't come up with a good excuse.

With prompting by Scream, she replied, "Yeah, um, I have a lot of fast healers in my family. Not even tumors stand a chance! Could you, like, bring me a bathrobe or something? Dr. Kellogg said I could leave." Having somehow believed the lie, the nurse left the room and came back with a thin powder-blue bathrobe and a pair of slippers. Leni donned both articles and asked for directions to the waiting room. By the time she arrived, her dad and most of her siblings were all hugging each other and crying, while Lori and Rita were arguing heatedly with the desk clerk, looking like they could start bashing heads at the drop of a hat. "Uh...hi, everyone," Leni said meekly, causing everyone to freeze.

"LEEEEEENNNNNNNIIIIIIIIIII!" screamed the twins and Lisa, practically tackling her when they rushed forward to give her the biggest hug they could muster.

"You're okay!" shouted Lana.

"You're alive!" shouted Lola.

"You're...walking unassisted?" Lisa asked in confusion. The rest of Leni's family came and started badgering her with questions until Lori threatened to turn them all into human pretzels if they didn't shut up.

"Leni, how are you up and about? You were literally staring death in the face five minutes ago," Lori asked.

"It's a long story, but basically, something in the meteor cured my tumors. I'll explain more when we get home," Leni answered. Just then, Dr. Kellogg walked into the lobby while sipping his coffee, saw Leni, and immediately did a spit-take. After several moments of spluttering and stammering and trying to comprehend the situation, the doctor demanded that Leni return to the ICU for him to give her an examination.

"That will not be necessary, Doctor. I have a medical degree of my own, so I will conduct an examination on my own terms at our own dwelling. Your services are no longer needed," Lisa said, adjusting her glasses with a neutral expression.

"Very funny, pipsqueak, but I think everyone knows I'm the only doctor here!" Doctor Kellogg said angrily. Lisa sighed, and Leni noticed that she was wearing a peculiar metallic backpack.

"I was hoping it wouldn't come to this, but..." Lisa began and pushed a button on her wrist. Several mechanical arms sprang out of the backpack, each of which was tipped with a different tool/weapon ranging from a laser gun to razor-sharp claws to drill bits to rotating saw blades. "Sign the papers transferring Leni into my care, or else you will be subjected to an excessively painful demise," the four-year-old growled maliciously with an evil glint in her eye.

Wowzers! Your sister is packing heat! Scream said from within Leni's mind, and Leni had to agree.

With sweat running down his face out of fear, Dr. Kellogg signed the papers, and Lori drove back to the house to pick up some clothes for Leni. During the ride back, the twins and Lisa all clung to Leni for dear life, the twins to either side of her and Lisa in her lap. Upon entering the house, Leni asked to talk to Lisa alone, much to the dismay of the twins. She promised them that she would compensate by watching any movie they wanted with them. Lisa led Leni up to her room and assured her that they would not be disturbed due to the room's soundproofing.

"Can you, like, hack into the security cameras at the hospital?" Leni requested, taking the young genius aback.

"That can be arranged. May I inquire as to the reasoning behind this unusual request?" she replied, logging into her desktop computer.

"Dr. Kellogg is guilty of malpractice and murder. The camera in my room recorded his confession," Leni said. Lisa hacked into the camera system with a scary amount of ease, and Leni relayed the room number to her from Scream. As she listened to the doctor's confession, Lisa's eyes grew wider and wider behind her glasses.

"Sweet coils of Tesla. This is enough evidence to incarcerate him for life!" she exclaimed. Then the footage of Leni getting healed by Scream played, and she paled. "Leni, is that...?"

"Yeah, that's what cured me," Leni confirmed. Without warning, a blob of yellow slime formed on Leni's left shoulder and stretched about two feet to the side. A face formed on the end of the blob. The face was...horrifying to say the least, with gigantic blank white teardrop-shaped eyes and a wide mouth full of gleaming white fangs, no eyelids, no nose, no lips. Each eye had two rings around it, the inner ring being black and the outer ring being red.

"Hello!" said Scream, causing Lisa to screech and fall out of her chair. "Heh, sorry about that. I'm not very good at first impressions."

"Wha-what are you?" Lisa asked upon collecting herself.

"To answer any and all questions you may have, I am an extraterrestrial symbiotic organism. No proper name exists in any language for the species I belong to, and thus, most rational beings simply refer to us as Symbiotes. I chose Leni to be my host after I arrived inside that meteor. My kind is able to do whatever it takes to ensure the survival of our hosts; we can heal any injury and cure any disease, including diseases that have no cure by human standards. I am female, and my name is Scream. Does that answer everything?"

"I-I-I think so," Lisa stammered.

"Good." With that, Scream retreated back inside Leni.

"Can you, like, keep this a secret? Scream and I don't want anyone to know about her until both of us are ready," Leni asked Lisa.

"Absolutely. I believe I have ample room in my head for this secret," Lisa replied with a smile. "Now, I believe you have a promise to the twins to uphold. Meanwhile, I will edit this footage and send it to the police via an anonymous email. Is there anything else I can do for you?"

"Nah, that should do it. Thanks, Lisa!" Leni walked downstairs with a pep in her step and a smile on her face for the first time in days.