The Host ¤ The Next Chapter

The Host ¤ The Next Chapter: 13

The Host ¤ The Next Chapter: 13

"Far too many busses have gone missing this Summer." One of the two Seekers, Seeker Skyfall, muttered out loud to his comrade.

He'd gotten his name from the last planet he'd been on. A world where gigantic lizards with sail-like wings glided upon fierce winds. The human world for their kind were Dragons. Being in this smaller, mammel body made the Seeker unconfortable and he often shifted on his feet.

Seeker Nightwalker shrugged. "There isn't much ve can do about it." he hummed.

Unused to the ability of sight, the Seeker was often distracted by trivial things. His last planet had been the Singing World, where bat-like creatures sung to see their way around. Their ears picked up the soundwaves like radars, so they always knew when there was a tree ahead of them. Because it had been a while since he had seen through eyes, his attention was constantly being drawn away.

"On the contrary, I think that it's up to us to put a stop to it." The newest Seeker, Seeker BlackFire, remarked.

Since the disappearance of Seeker Terra, she had taken the place of the former leader.

"But what about the other cases? There are too many to count." Seeker Skyfall intervened. "How will we track them all down?"

"We can't." BlackFire dismissed the question immediately. "What we need to focus on is keeping track of the ones who have gone missing. Make a record of them---their names and pictures of their last human bodies---and have an alert out to watch the stores."

"I don't believe I understand." Seeker Nightwalker spoke up.

"The Souls who have gone missing---there is a possibility that the wild humans have captured them. The humans have to be surviving somehow, so what do they do? They convert the Souls they've captured over to their ways. They send them to the stores so that they can have food, medicine, and other escential items to their survival." BlackFire explained. "Having a watch on the stores will prove my theory and also confirm the locations of those missing."

"Two birds with one stone, as the humans say." Seeker Skyfall mused.

"Precisely." Seeker BlackFire purred.

"So zis plan of yours, we execute it immediately?" Seeker Nightwalker asked.

"Right this moment if it's possible." their leader replied.

¤

"What do you think, May?" Jamie asked me, leaning over the table to grab a roll from the pile on the table. He was very close to staining his shirt in the food on his plate below him. "Are you going to come on the raid?"

I blinked. "Raid?" I echoed.

"Yeah. It's when we go to the stores the Souls have built in place of our own to get supplies. The humans don't do much---usually we stay back in the vehicle---but the Souls get to go inside and collect the things they need. They don't even have to pay for the stuff!" he exclaimed.

Raid. That was what Whitney had called the bad event that had happened to her old human body, Gabbe, and Sarah. I didn't understand what it was, but maybe if I went on one I could learn more about what had occured to them.

"What would I do?" I asked curiously.

Jamie smiled, happy that I had half agreed to help. "You'll get a list of items we need. Everyone, all the Souls at least, have a different list. They pick up the things, put them in their cart, and roll it out to one of our vehicles. There's no risk to our community."

"Okay." I told him. "I'll come."

"Great! I'll go tell Jeb!" Jamie bounced out of his seat and ran out of the dinning hall.

Whitney cast me a glance, but it was neither concerned or hateful. She was mutual or hiding her true feelings. Strangely, the human named Taylor hadn't said a word. He didn't even make a comment about how happy he was about me going with them.

As much as I wanted to talk to the others, they didn't seem to be in the mood to. I remained quiet, silently eating the sandwhich that had been handed to me in the line.