Chapter one: Waking up

Agonizing pain grabs my body, blood flowing from a broken nose, and a broken body. I lie there on the concrete floor in a pool of my blood, in a suicide attempt that failed. They would arrive any minute. I hope to be dead by then. I shift my body slightly, and nearly scream. Every part of my body screams out in pain, and more blood flows out of me, forming an ever growing crimson pool of it. Bleeding to death is slow and agonizing, but the better option than having one of those aliens implanted inside my body and erase me. That's all they would do.

I had heard about a pocket of resistance, living somewhere in Arizona. Sadly, it appears that the information I had received from I thought was a trusted source, lands me in a trap. I hear voices getting closer to me and I know it's too late for me now. Regardless of this, I struggle to move, only resulting in spilling more of my blood onto the ground which causes pure agony for me. The crimson pool is growing larger, and I can feel the hot, sticky stuff sticking to my skin and clothes. I have been lying in this pool for at least an hour now. I wish I am dead, but I do not get my wish.

A blindingly bright light shines on my face, but I don't make the effort to look up. I have signed off on life, but I still refuse to look into the faces of my "rescuers".

"She's still alive." A deep, concern-filled, voice says. "But barely."

"Despite the damage, this soul needs a host and if she's not dead, then she can fulfill her purpose." A shrill voice barks back.

It appears all the rumors about the Seekers I have heard are true. More have become impatient and aggressive with other souls, which is supposedly not natural among them. The cause for this is more of them have resistant hosts. I already know that I will not be a resistant host, I will not have the strength to hang around when a filthy, life-stealing bug is implanted in my body.

I can feel hands moving under my body, lifting me up. Every part of me wants to run away, is shying away from their touch, but I have no strength to resist. I feel my eyelids slowly growing heavier, then everything goes black.

The Soul:

My eyes slowly open, and very nearly snap closed again. The light in the room is extraordinarily bright and it burns my unaccustomed eyes. I did not, however, want to plunge back into the darkness, for I fear I will plunge back into my host's final memory. It is bitter and painful to watch my host trying to commit suicide, and only have it fail. Humans are a strange, yet fascinating race, ones that can be calm and peaceful, but also become full of rage and violence. The range of emotion is one I have never experience in my previous three lives. Also, there is a pocket of a resistance growing, they have a soul among them named Wanderer. I know this from my host's memories, but that's all I do know.

I don't know where my host had received the information, but I do not want to share it, as its clearly dangerous information to have, and if I am being honest, I do not care to see the rest of the human race completely eradicated. I am sympathetic for the human race, and do not want them to perish. I am strange that way, despite the humans being a violent race that will typically kill us on sight, I do not want them gone.

I finally open my eyes fully, seeing a white tiled ceiling above me, with large fluorescent lights hanging from them. It starts burning my eyes to stare at them, so I quickly look away, and see a black table with instruments on them that I don't recognize. Then I let my eyes flit up, seeing a male with ice blue eyes, short white hair, which is weird because he has a young face, a pointed chin, a flat nose, and he is dressed in a white uniform staring down at me. I realize his gaze is analytical, as if he is checking to make sure every part of me is functioning as it should be. That is probably what he is doing. I realize that this is the Healer, who must have been responsible for inserting me into this body. I feel a strange sense of grief, of loss for this human life that has been lost, so that I may live on this planet. I clear that feeling from me, as it is not going to get me anywhere, and I already know that. The Healer continues to look me over, with this impassive, unemotional gaze. I wonder how he does that, these human emotions are so overwhelming that I feel like I am going to be overloaded. How is it possible for a creature to feel such intense emotions? I do not understand it, and I don't feel like I will ever be able to. I really look at the Healer's eyes when they come back to my face, and notice the pulsing silver on the inside lining of the iris, blending into the iris, so the blue has silvery glow to it. It marks him for my species, but yet, humans still know how to disguise themselves among us, even without the silver eyes. That's a little bit of a scary thought to me.

The Healer clears his throat. "It appears you have acclimated properly. Due to the extensive injury of this host, we weren't sure if even our Healing would be enough to be a suitable host."

I blink at him. "Doesn't the Healing process always work? I have never heard of a failure."

The Healer softly sighs. "She was in extreme disrepair. The injuries she received from the suicide attempt were very nearly fatal. Luckily, we could heal her back to full health."

I feel stiffness in my limbs, from lying still for a long period of time. They could not have been moved in a few days, maybe even a week or more. I could not know. I probably have only been in the body for maybe a few hours, or even a day. I slowly begin to sit up, testing the movement of the body's torso. It functions normally. I look at my slim hands, with long slender fingers, with short stubby nails, and I flex them. It feels weird, having fingers like this. I have no experience with these sort of hands. I notice the fair, pale skin, almost like it has never seen the sunlight before, and I don't seem to have a very large stature, which means I'm probably not heavy either. If I am as small as I think…I'm not so sure if I like having a small host…

"How long have I been here?" I ask, relieved that I have a more adult-toned voice. I was expecting to sound more childish.

"You were in your tank for a few days, as the Healing process took longer than expected…the body was here for…" He pulls out a pocket computer and taps away at it with a stylus. "Two weeks and three days. One of the longest Healing procedures I've done in my career."

"The Host suffered a lot of damage trying to escape then." I whisper, wondering.

"Yes…but she must've just given up on life, because we did extensive brain examinations, and her previous personality is completely gone." The Healer tries to reassure me, but his voice is stiff, uncertain.

"Did you expect resistance?" I manage to control the anger surging in me. It is an unnatural feeling for me, and I have never felt it so intensely, so it is hard to manage.

"Yes…" He is reluctant to answer. "But, at the very least, you should have no trouble acclimating to your new life, here on Earth."

I feel a surge of relief through my body. I prepare to stand up, my fingers gripping the edge of my bed, the paper crackling underneath my hands, it feels strange. I slowly allow my bare feet to come in contact with the cool tile floor and soon I'm standing on my own. The tile is smooth and cool under my feet, and I revel in this feeling. This life will be an interesting one. The senses in this host are a lot stronger than the last ones I have lived in. I have never been able to feel things with such…intensity. It is the only word my mind seems capable of producing right now. I stop take my hands off the bed, and I'm standing completely of my free will.

I am obviously short. My brain gives me information I didn't know before, in regards to height. My Healer is a good 6 feet two inches tall, which is a full foot and two inches taller than me. I'm only five foot even. Pathetically small, but I guess it cannot be helped as I could not pick my host, therefore I cannot be so picky. I wonder if I could request a switch, but I decide against asking, as I must live my life out in this Host. I do not want to be counted with the Skippers.

"This is overwhelming for you, isn't it?" My Healer asks with a kind, gentle voice.

I nod. "Yes. I have never had any senses, or emotions, be so intense before in lives I've lived before this one."

He smiles. "Do not worry. You will adjust quickly."

"Where do I stay?" I ask.

He looks down at his pocket computer and taps away at it again. "I have arrangements made for you to stay with another soul in an apartment complex not too far from here. You've said that you aren't comfortable living alone?"

I nod again. "Yes, that is correct."

"Alright." He tucks the pocket computer into his coat pocket. "Follow me please." He goes to a door on the far side of the room and pushes it open, revealing a carpeted hallway, with crème colored walls and more doors. Healers are going up and down the halls, disappearing into other hallways and ones that must be on the where we are as people disappear to the right and left. I step forward and into the hallway, looking around. To my left there is a shorter hallway, that leads to a set of double doors and a sign in red letters above it says SURGERY. I assume that is where insertions happen. I must be in a Recovery room, as some Hosts need when they have suffered extreme trauma, like mine. The Healer touches my shoulder, and turns me to the right, where there is another set of doors, with an EXIT sign above them. He keeps a gentle hand on my shoulder as he leads me that direction. Before we reach the doors, we stop at this desk, where a woman is sitting in a chair, with a blue shirt and pants, gray hair pulled up in a bun, and wears glasses and is tapping away at a computer. My Healer clears his throat to get her attention. She looks up, and I can tell she is older. Her skin is folded, and wrinkled. The skin on her fingers is the same way.

"I'm here to check out this patient." The Healer says.

The woman looks at me. "Do you have a name?"

I hesitate; the Healer's are the ones who give the names.

The Healer speaks. "Her name is Moonbeam."

The woman enters that into the computer and then looks at my Healer again. "Anything to monitor?"

The Healer shakes his head and the woman taps away at her computer again. I keep watching and then look at the exit and my stomach muscles tighten in anticipation. I am about to start a new life, and I am about 30 feet away of stepping out of the hospital. I realize that my excitement starts going crazy and I have to repress it, which is difficult. How am I supposed to adjust to emotions that just go crazy on their own? I will figure it out.

"Is she the one who requested to live with another soul?" The woman asks and I turn my attention back to her.

"Yes, she is." The Healer says. "I'm going to take her to meet her right now."

"Alright, you are cleared to leave." The woman smiles at me and I turn away, facing the exit doors. I am nervous.

I am not prepared for this, in any way. Despite learning that the world is a completely peaceful place, I have no idea if I am ready to face a planet, that still has scars from the violence it has once allowed, the humans brutally murdering one another.

I clear my head of those thoughts as the Healer pushes open a door, and a rush of cold air hits me in the face, along with sunlight, so I squint as I step outside.

"Sorry you don't have anything to protect yourself from the cold." The Healer quickly says apologetically. "You'll have things to change into once you are at your apartment."

I nod once and continue walking, onto a sidewalk. There is a downward slanting driveway, and then a packed road. I must be in what they call a downtown area. I look around, to see other buildings, mostly shorter than the hospital, sitting across the street. The hospital was surrounded by roads so the buildings to the side were still across the street, in technical terms.

My Healer places his hand again on my shoulder and nudges me toward a shuttle bus. It is completely empty. As the doors hiss and open, the driver smiles at me, with a kind smile. I quickly sit in a black seat near one of the wide windows, and the Healer sat next to me. The bus made a hiss sound and it jerks forward onto the street. It slides in between cars smoothly, as it takes me towards my new home. My stomach is still doing its strange twisting and untwisting from nerves. After a few minutes, we turn into the parking lot of this two story building, that is painted white, with green on it. It must be where I will live, because the driver stops at the entrance and the doors open with that strange hiss. The Healer gets up, and I follow him off, more nervous than I was before.

We walk inside, the doors sliding open for us, opening up a room that is warm, with blue carpet, dark, wooden walls, and a reception desk. My mind identifies it as a hotel right off. The receptionist is talking on the phone and his eyes flicker to me, which isn't surprising considering I'm still in a hospital gown.

"We've converted this hotel into apartments, for those who feel more comfortable living with others. They've built kitchens into the rooms, but they do provide breakfast." The Healer tells me as we approach the reception desk. The receptionist hangs the phone up and I quickly look him over. Due to my short stature, everyone is going to be taller than me, but he is not as tall as my Healer. Luckily, the desk is high enough that my head and shoulders stand over it. The receptionist has black hair, slicked back nicely, a square jaw, green eyes, pointed nose, and thin lips, which are fixed in a smile currently.

The receptionist holds his hand out to me. "You must be the new resident, Moonbeam. I am Storm. My real name is much longer but you can just call me Storm."

I take his hand, his buries my small one. "Thank you sir." I smile, as a polite response.

He releases my hand and digs through a drawer, and hands me a plastic card. "Here is the key to your room. Angel is expecting you."

My roommate goes by Angel? I didn't think my species received names like that. I nod my thanks and my Healer takes me down a long hallway, past some glass that shoes older and younger people in a large swimming pool, although not many, and to a room at the very end of the hall. He takes my card, slides it into the card slit above the door handle, and there's a click sound and the light blinks green. He takes the handle and turns it and the door swings open inward. It reveals a room that has light green walls, dark blue carpet, two large beds that are blue, with a desk and lamps on that desk between them. There is a large dresser against the wall, with a flat screen TV perched on top and it is playing a random show. There's also a window, but the curtains are pulled closed. The room is clean, except for the one bed is all messed up and there is a dark haired girl lying there. She has long dark hair, dark eyes, thick lips, round face.

She looks up at me. "Hello there. I'm Angel."