The Host ¤ The Next Chapter

The Host ¤ The Next Chapter: 38

The Host ¤ The Next Chapter: 38

May

I sat alone in the dusty chamber. It seemed like it had been forever since I had found myself thrown into this place, a prisioner of the humans. Now I fought alongside them to free their race, but was it worth the cost? All the humans wanted to do was kill all the Souls they laid their hands on. Wanda had curved that urge by telling them our kind could be extracted and sent away to a different planet, but was that really enough? How long until they got tired of the time-spending method and they resorted to the more easier, bloody way?

And did I have the will to continue down this path? Yes, I felt strongly that the humans should have control of their own planet, but what place would I have afterwards? Was I going to be another Soul to be shipped off-world? I hoped dearly that the bonds I had made here was enough for the humans to second guess themselves. Could Taylor love me like Ian loved Wanda? Could another Human and Soul relationship work out? At this point, I wasn't sure.

The sound of feet scuffling on stone and gravel finally reached my ears. The noise didn't come from my own feet, but someone else's. They'd purposely made the sound. I wondered how long they had been standing in the doorway.

"May?" They asked hesitantly, shifting on their feet.

I kept my face turned towards the wall stubbornly. I knew whose voice it was: Taylor's. He'd come at the worst time. 

Footsteps started crunching my way. I stayed sitting, looking at the wall as if he had mistaken me for someone else. Once again, I was reminded that I was no longer my old self---stray locks of blonde hair fell over my right eye, hiding that side of my face from him. 

When he drew even closer, I wanted to jump up and run away, but I didn't. I had no idea why I sat, nerves bundled into haybales, waiting for him to either go away or stay. The footsteps stopped and I could feel his prescence looming near me. An arm was lifted from his side. I didn't have a clue how I knew it was coming, but I felt him reach out to touch my face. As much as I wanted to flinch and turn away, I couldn't. I just couldn't. I sat like a rabbit ready to bound at any moment, but I couldn't make myself get to my feet and walk away.

The cool touch of his hand calmed me. His pointer, middle, and thumb were curled around my chin. The contact sent shivers down my spine, but I didn't try to pull away. I felt...accepted. Like he didn't think I was ugly or mishappen in this body.

"You're older." he noted out of context.

For some reason, the comment made me give a small laugh. I gathered all the courage I had to speak to him. "Only nineteen." I admitted nervously.

"I'm seventeen." he replied and thought for a moment.

That split second sent a shockwave of fear throughout me. What if he decided to refuse me just because I was two years older in this body, when I had been a year younger than him in Jenny's body?

"Miles told me..." Taylor paused, as if he had started wrong. "May, I..." he hesitated again, "I don't care what you look like. I only care for the person inside." He told me with full confidence. "So please, turn so I can see your face."

It told me a moment to register what he had said before I heard his plea. He didn't care what I looked like. It didn't matter that I was older than him. I turned to face him, like he asked, and looked into his brown eyes.

He was awed, that much I could tell. His eyes scanned my face, noting differences and simularities, but his larger area of focus was my eyes. There was nothing wrong with them as far as I knew. They were the same Soul-blue color last time I checked. I didn't know what he could be so concerned about.