The Host ¤ The Next Chapter

The Host ¤ The Next Chapter: 7

The Host ¤ The Next Chapter: 7

For the next few minutes, Wanda, Jeb, and Doc stand in the kitchen of the home. They speak quietly with one another, sometimes one of them throwing the occasional glance at me. I wait paciently at the table, looking around the room.

Ever since I admitted I was a newly born Soul, they had started to act strange. Wanda was making a big deal out of the whole situation while Jeb was trying to see the sense in her words. Doc appeared to nod where needed, but otherwise remain speechless.

At once, they ended their arguement and turned back towards me.

"May," Jeb is the first to talk. He really must be their leader. "We've decided to suspend the matter at the moment. You'll have to stay in your cell for a bit longer."

"How long is a bit longer?" I asked softly.

"Until the other Souls conditions have been resolved." Doc answers for the older man.

Jeb nods, agreeing with his reply. Then he turns towards the door. "Tomas, Jesse, why don't you lead May back to her cell?" 

The two boys get up from where they had been lounging outside. They wait for me to go to them instead of the other way around.

"Well?" Jeb asks, wondering what I'm waiting for.

I get up and move to the door like they ask, leaving his home. Tomas and Jesse act as my bodyguards once again, leading me back through the maze of tunnels. My sense of direction is completely thrown off just like the last time. By the time I'm back at my cell, I don't even remember what hallway connects to what path.

A small metal bucket with a tin cup of water and piece of bread waits for me on the stone platform I'd laid on earlier. I forget the two boys and practically ran over to it. I didn't realize how taxing this body's needs are.

As I settle down on the rock and eat my first meal at the rebel base, the boys take a seat in the hallway to keep watch. Neither of them has a weapon to defend me with. I assume Jeb's shotgun is the only firearm in this place. That puts me at ease just a little bit. Guns frighten the death out of me, or at least, had scared Jenny willy nilly. Her memories are leaving a lasting impression on my own.

Later, when I've finished eating and the food has had a chance to digest in my stomach, I hear a sound that is only familiar to Jenny's ears. Her older brother Kay used to snore. She used to swear that the sound alone would get them caught by Seekers as a joke.

Jesse, the human I didn't get along with, was fast asleep as his body was propped up against the wall. Tomas was still wide awake, but he hardly gave me any reguard. He was watching for something else. I sat on the stone slab, watching them for a moment before a small stone clattered to the ground.

I got up from my 'cot' to investigate. Now Tomas was watching me, but Jesse was still out cold. The kinder human didn't seem to mind if I moved from my spot.

There was a hole in the cieling, about the size of a medium beach ball---an analogy that only Jenny would use. The hole went all the way through this room up to the floor above. Two faces were peering down at me.

"I told you you could see her from this spot." The younger of the two bragged. 

He had a mess of brown hair ontop of his head and bright blue eyes that stared at mine in their own innocence. The boy wasn't a Soul, that I could tell, but he acted odd for a human. Unlike all the other humaniods, who had tried to avoid me, he had strived to see me.

And the other. I'd seen him before. He was the one who had used the Sleep medicine on me to put me out on the bus. There was a clear difference between him and the boy. This one had already begun to mature into adulthood. He was at least a year older than me. A simular mess of blonde hair was atop his head, but spiked so the ends stuck out. Brown eyes looked into mine.