The Soul-The Host Fanfiction

Chapter 23: Kidnapped

Chapter 23 Kidnapped

Over the next few days, we headed east, stopping along the way to pick up nonperishable supplies. Burns and I retrieved the two vehicles we had left behind and now we made a caravan, with Ian, Jeb, and I in front and Melanie and Jared and Burns and Emma following—not too closely—behind.

After about a week we turned around and headed back west, on our way home. We planned to pick out a body for Sunny on the last stretch of our road. We didn't want to have to transport an unconscious soul for too long; it was too dangerous. We stopped in Colby, Kansas. Not our final stop, but close.

We left two of our three vehicles at our meeting place, keeping only the van; the other two were completely full of supplies. We stopped at a small inn after dark and Burns went in to rent two rooms. When he came back, Jeb, Jared, and Emma followed him to check out the rooms. Ian, Mel, and I stayed at the car to dig out some fresh clothes for everyone; we would all welcome the chance to shower. In the bag of clothes Melanie found the plain blue T-shirt she had picked up for Jamie at one of the stores. She launched into the story of Jamie's kindergarten graduation and how he tore his blue robe on the playground, where he wasn't supposed to have it, and ended up having to wear his gym teacher' huge blue T-shirt, identical to he one she held. "Coach Howl let him keep the shirt." she reminisced. "Jamie loved it, I think it made him feel special. He would—"

She was interrupted by a high, soft—but male—voice. "Melanie?" All three of is looked up, startled. Standing across the narrow, rural road was a slim man, probably about Melanie's age and slightly shorter. He was holding a flashlight, the bulb casting a circle of light on the sidewalk next to him. As we watched in shock, he raised the flashlight to find her face. Her face.

My mind raced, trying to find a way to protect my humans from exposure. It was full dark and the flashlight would clearly show their unmistakably human eyes. I tried to push myself in front of Melanie and Ian, but mine were the only safe eyes and I couldn't even shield one of them, much less both, with my tiny body.

"Melanie, is that you? Oh, I'm sorry! You probably go by a different—" His light fell on Melanie's face and he gasped, not reassuringly blinded by the safe silver gleam that was unexpectedly absent behind her eyes. He took a step back and dropped the flashlight.

Ian sprung into action. He leapt forward and grabbed for the man, who tried to run, but Ian was too fast. He grabbed the fabric of the soul's T-shirt and pulled him close, wrapping his arms around his back an clamping one huge hand around his wrist and the other over his mouth, cutting off his shout.

I was frozen, uncertain of what to do. Souls weren't wired for these kinds of situations and my body barely had any human instincts left. All I could do was stand there, my muscles locked in confusion. Useless.

Melanie, ever the calm, collected, level-headed one, on the other hand, knew exactly what to do.

"Wanda, the van!" she called, running forward to help Ian. "Get the Sleep!

 Oh. I dug through the bags in the back of he van. I finally found a bag full of medicine I'd stolen from a Healing Facility. I fished a bottle of Sleep out and ran to where Melanie and Ian were still struggling with he soul.

Ian's hand was still covering the man's mouth. The poor soul looked terrified. I remembered the two souls that had killed their hosts before we could take them out and a thrill of terror rose in my throat. I had to do this fast.

"Ian, move your hand." I choked the command out through my tightening throat.

Ian moved his hand from the soul's mouth and I sprayed the mist in his face before he could scream. His body went limp and Ian threw him over his shoulder.

"I'll go....put him in the van..." Ian huffed. "Mel...go get the others..." Melanie nodded and walked swiftly to the hotel rooms where Jared, Jeb, Emma, and Burns were waiting.

Ian tugged the soul toward the van. I ran ahead of him to clear a place among all of the stolen items in the back. Ian lowered the soul to the floor of the van with a tenderness that warmed my fluttering heart, even going as far as to shove a pile of clothes beneath his head for a pillow. The soul's slim body was wedged with just enough space between a box of canned food and a crate of healing supplies. I closed the door and looked up at Ian who was still catching his breath. His sapphire eyes met mine; they were filled with worry. I took his hand and squeezed with my tiny fingers.

"You okay?" I asked.

"Are you?" he countered. "I know you hate taking souls. If we had another choice-"

"I know." I whispered. I glanced at the van, a pang of regret crawling through my stomach. Ian was right; I hated kidnapping souls, especially in such a traumatic way. It just felt so wrong to betray the gentle, trusting nature that all souls shared. But I knew we had to; I would not let anything happen to my humans.

Melanie, Jared, Jeb, Burns, and Emma approached the van swiftly. "Let's go." Jared breathed.

"Alright. I'll drive; Burns, you're with me." I instructed.

Burns nodded, squeezing Emma's hand quickly, and climbed into the passenger seat.

I started the van. "Where are we going?" Burns asked.

I stopped. "I don't know. Jared, Jeb, what do you think?" I glanced to the back seat.

Jared's mouth was pressed into a hard line. Jeb bit his lip. They both looked hesitant to speak.

Burns sighed. "You're not going to upset us. We realize the sol is a threat."

I nodded. "Obviously we can't just let him go. So....what do we do?"

"Seems like our best option is to take him straight home and ship him off-world." Jeb suggested. "Maybe his host will even come back."

"Okay." I put the van in reverse, backed out f our parking spot, and pulled onto the road.

"Who is he, anyway, Mel" I asked.

"Yeah," Ian added, "he recognized you."

Melanie sighed. "He—his host—was a friend of min in high school. He ran track with me. His name was Mark." she shook her head. "I guess I always knew e had probably been taken, but....I don't know. I guess I never really thought about it. He was a good friend."

I felt my throat tighten and my eyes sting. "I'm sorry, Mel." A new wave of guilt washed over me. How dare we take their world from them. "Maybe he'll wake up" I added, trying to be optimistic.

"Yeah." she whispered. I could tell she didn't really believe it. Even as my heart lurched painfully for her, I couldn't blame her for doubting. When you'd seen the things she had seen, you learned that optimism only lead to pain and disappointment. I sighed.

The atmosphere in the van was thicker than the jelly-like air of the Dragon World. The unfortunate fate of the to sentient creatures stuffed in the back f the van weighed heavily on all our minds.

I didn't know which hurt me more.