Silver Lining - The Host fanfiction

Chapter 3 The Runaway

Soul:    The essential element or part of something;
            The inspirer or moving spirit of some action or movement.

- Definition of the word ‘soul’ (Dictionary)

I wake up with the sound of clattering in the kitchen. A smile makes its way to my lips and I keep my eyes closed. Sara, our cook is making me breakfast, A few more minutes and she will come in to wake me up to get ready for school. She is the one that practically raised me. My parents are always away on some business trip. As they are now.

The door opens and I slowly open my eyes.

But it is not Sara that is standing in the doorway with a tray in her hands.

Standing there is a boy around my age, with ginger hair and the bluest eyes I’ve ever seen. Freckles cover most of his face and he smiles at me.
And suddenly I’m wide awake.

I sit up with a start and stare at him wide-eyed. How could I let myself forget?

“Good morning,” he smiles and walks into the room, “I’m glad you’re awake. You had me worried for a while when you fainted last night.”

I back away from him until I hit the headboard. He sits down on the bed and sets the tray between us. My stomach growls and he hands me a plate. I stare at it for a long time, unsure what to do with it.

“You don’t like scrambled egg and bacon?” he asks, “I can make you something else. I have fresh baked bread too.”

I’m still staring at the food, but then I decide he has no reason to poison me. If he wanted me dead, he could have given me to the seekers last night. “No, it’s fine,” I hear myself say and I take the plate from him. I’m too hungry to care anyway and the bread looks delicious.

He watches me eat with that same smile on his face, but it doesn’t creep me out anymore. It suits his face, like it belongs there. Still, it doesn’t explain why he betrayed his kind to help me.

“Why did you help me last night?” I ask between bites, “why not hand me over to the seekers?”

He tilts his head and his eyes move upwards as if he’s thinking about his answer. “I was curious,” he says, “I’ve never seen a human before.”

I lower my fork and stare at him. “Have you looked in the mirror lately?”

He smiles again. “I mean a real human. I’ve studied human behavior before coming to this planet and I’ve done research about the human body while being here, but I’ve never seen a real human. I was curious about you. I always believed humans were cruel by nature.”

“Not all of them,” I mutter.

“So it would seem,” he says puzzled. He looks at me thoughtful. “Why did you agree to come with me?”

I decide to tell him the truth. There’s no use in lying. “I was afraid you’d be suspicious if I declined,” I tell him, “I planned to escape as soon as you were distracted.”

He seems to think about that. “You could have just killed me,” he points out.

I can’t believe he would actually suggest that. I mean, he is a soul, right? He shouldn’t even be able to think about something like that. “That would be murder,” I say as if it wasn’t completely obvious.

“Why?” he asks, “because of what I look like? I didn’t think I’d be human in your eyes… If I hadn’t looked human, would you have killed me?” He still thinks I could actually do that.

I sigh. “If you hadn’t looked human, I wouldn’t have been out in the open.”