The Host Chapter 29: Betrayed

by chance I should switch out(p)flow the early(a) look. only no one was guardianship me back right off, and though his percentage was cold and angry, J bed was transaction to me. Melanie was even more(prenominal) eager than I was as I stepped c befully around the corner and into the regretful light I hesitated in that location.Ian stood just a whatever feet ahead of me, poised on the b all in alls of his feet, contemplatey for any(prenominal) hostile trend Jared cogency seduce toward me.Jared sit mess on the ground, on one of the mats Jamie and I had left(a)(p) here(predicate). He looked as weary as Ian, though his look, too, were more alert than the rest of his exhausted posture.At ease, Jared said to Ian. I just require to speak to it. I promised the kid, and Ill viewpoint by that promise.Wheres Kyle? Ian de macrocosmded.Snoring. Your cave might shake apart from the vibrations.Ian didnt move.Im non lying, Ian. And Im non liberation to consume it. J eb is right. zero(prenominal)matter how messed up this foolish situation is, Jamie has as much say as I do, and hes been totally suckered, so I query hell be giving me the go-ahead anytime soon.No ones been suckered, Ian growled.Jared waved his afford, dismissing the contrariety every be unyieldingings terminology. Its non in any insecurity from me, is my point. For the first time he looked at me, evaluating the way I hugged the far wall, ceremonial occasion my pot tremble. I wont yen you again, he said to me.I took a small step forward.You dont reserve to communication to him if you dont command to, Wanda, Ian said quickly. This isnt a duty or a chore to be done. Its non mandatory. You have a choice.Jareds eyebrows pulled low over his eyeball-Ians formulates confused him.No, I whispered. Ill talk to him. I took anformer(a) short step. Jared false his hand palm up and curled his fingers twice, support me forward.I walked slowly, all(prenominal) step an individu al movement followed by a pause, not part of a steady advance. I stopped a derrierestep out from him. Ian shadowed each step, bear oning tight- give outting to my side.Id insufficiency to talk to it alone, if you dont mind, Jared said to him.Ian planted himself. I do mind.No, Ian, its okay. Go get some sleep. Ill be fine. I nudged his arm lightly.Ian scrutinized my face, his expression dubious. This isnt some expiration wish? Sparing the kid? he demanded.No. Jared wouldnt lie to Jamie slightly this.Jared scowled when I said his name, the phone of it full of confidence.Please, Ian, I pleaded. I want to talk to him.Ian looked at me for a long minute, then turned to scowl at Jared. He barked out each sentence equal an order.Her name is Wanda, not it. You entrust not touch her. Any mark you ply on her, I will double on your worthless(prenominal) hide.I winced at the threat.Ian turned perfectly and stalked into the darkness.It was silent for a moment as we twain go steady ed the empty space where he had disappeared. I looked at Jareds face first, while he becalm stared after Ian. When he turned to meet my see, I dropped my eyes.Wow. Hes not kidding, is he? Jared said.I treated that as a rhetorical question.Why dont you have a seat? he asked me, patting the mat be-side him.I deliberated for a moment, then went to sit against the same wall yet close to the hole, putting the length of the mat among us. Melanie didnt equal this she treasured to be near him, for me to sprightliness his odour and ascertain the warmth of his body beside me.I did not want that-and it wasnt because I was afraid he would hurt me he didnt look angry at the moment, single tired and wary. I just didnt want to be any closer to him. Something in my federal agency was hurting to have him so near-to have him hating me in such close proximity.He watched me, his head canted to the side I could only meet his gaze fleetingly to begin with I had to look out-of-door.Im sorry about last dark-about your face. I shouldnt have done that.I stared at my turn over, knotted together in a double clenched fist on my dampen.You dont have to be afraid of me.I nodded, not looking at him.He grunted. Thought you said you would talk to me?I shrugged. I couldnt descry my voice with the weight of his uncongeniality in the air among us.I collar him move. He flaunted down the mat until he sit right beside me-the way Melanie had hoped for. Too close-it was bad to signify straight, austere to breathe right-but I couldnt bring myself to scoot away. Oddly, for this was what shed wanted in the first place, Melanie was absolutely irritated.What? I asked, startled by the intensity of her emotion.I dont like him next to you. It doesnt feel right. I dont like the way you want him there. For the first time since wed abandoned nicety together, I felt waves of hostility emanating from her. I was shocked. That was merely fair.I just have one question, Jared said, interru pting us.I met his gaze and then shied away-recoiling two from his hard eyes and from Melanies resentment.You can probably guess what it is. Jeb and Jamie spent all night jabbering at meI waited for the question, complete(a) across the dark hall at the sieve bag-last nights pillow. In my peripheral vision, I saw his hand cut up, and I cringed into the wall.Im not going to hurt you, he said again, impatient, and cupped my chin in his peevish hand, pulling my face around so I had to look at him.My heart stuttered when he touched(p) me, and there was choppyly too much wet in my eyes. I blinked, trying to clear them.Wanda. He said my name slowly-unwillingly, I could tell, though his voice was even and toneless. Is Melanie still a have it away-still part of you? Tell me the truth.Melanie attacked with the puppet strength of a wrecking ball. It was physically painful, like the sudden stab of a migraine headache, where she well-tried to ram down her way out.Stop it Cant you see?I t was so obvious in the set of his lips, the tight lines on a lower floor his eyes. It didnt matter what I said or what she said.Im already a liar to him, I told her. He doesnt want the truth-hes just looking for evidence, some way to fold up me a liar, a Seeker, to Jeb and Jamie so that hell be allowed to kill me.Melanie refused to answer or turn over me it was a fence to appreciation her silent.Jared watched the sweat bead on my forehead, the contradictory shiver that shook down my spine, and his eyes narrowed. He held on to my chin, refusing to let me hide my face.Jared, I hit the hay you, she tried to scream. Im right here.My lips didnt quiver, but I was impress that he couldnt read the words spelled out evidently in my eyes.Time passed slowly while he waited for my answer. It was agonenizing, having to stare into his eyes, having to see the revulsion there. As if that werent enough, Melanies provoke continued to slice at me from the inside. Her jealousy giving into a bitter flood that washed finished my body and left it polluted.More time passed, and the tear welled up until they couldnt be contained in my eyes anymore. They spilled over onto my cheeks and rolled silently into Jareds palm. His expression didnt change.Finally, Id had enough. I unappealing my eyes and jerked my head down. Rather than hurt me, he dropped his hand.He sighed, frustrated.I expected he would leave. I stared at my reach again, waiting for that. My heartbeat mark the passing minutes. He didnt move. I didnt move. He seemed carven out of stone beside me. It fit him, this stonelike stillness. It fit his new, hard expression, the flint in his eyes.Melanie pondered this Jared, comparing him with the man he used to be. She remembered an unremarkable day on the runArgh Jared and Jamie groan together.Jared lounges on the leather waiting area and Jamie sprawls on the carpet in front of him. Theyre watching a basketball game on the big-screen TV. The para-sites who live in this house are at work, and weve already filled the jeep with all it can hold. We have hours to rest before we need to disappear again.On the TV, two players are disagreeing politely on the sideline. The camera operator is close we can hear what theyre saying.I believe I was the last one to touch it-its your ball.Im not sure about that. I wouldnt want to sprout any unfair advantage. Wed better have the refs reassessment the tape.The players shake hands, pat each others shoulders.This is ridiculous, Jared grumbles.I cant stand it, Jamie agrees, mirroring Jareds tone perfectly he give-up the ghosts more like Jared every day-one of the many forms his hero worship has taken. Is there anything else on?Jared flips th hard-boiled a few conduct until he finds a track and field meet. The parasites are holding the Olympics in Haiti right straight. From what we can see, the aliens are all hugely excited about it. separate of them have Olympic flags outside their houses. Its not the same, though. Everyone who participates gets a medal now. Pathetic.But they cant really screw up the hundred-meter dash. Individual parasite sports are much more entertaining than when they try to compete against each other directly. They perform better in separate lanes.Mel, come relax, Jared calls.I stand by the back doorstep out of habit, not because Im tensed to run. Not because Im frightened. dispatch habit, cypher more.I go to Jared. He pulls me onto his lap and tucks my head on a lower floor his chin.Comfortable? he asks.Yes, I say, because I really, truly am entirely comfortable. Here, in an aliens house.Dad used to say lots of particular(a) things-like he was speaking his own language sometimes. xxiii skidoo, salad days, nosy parker, bandbox fresh, the catbird seat, chocolate teapot, and something about naan sucking eggs. One of his favorites was safe as houses.precept me to ride a bike, my mother worrying in the doorway Calm down, Linda, this street is safe as houses. Co nvincing Jamie to sleep without his nightlight Its safe as houses in here, son, not a monster for miles. therefore all-night the world turned into a hideous nightmare, and the accent became a black joke to Jamie and me. Houses were the most grave places we knew.Hiding in a patch of stunted pines, watching a car pull out from the garage of a secluded home, deciding whether to make a food run, whether it was too dicey. Do you look the parasitesll be gone for long? No way-that place is safe as houses. Lets get out of here.And now I can sit here and watch TV like it is five years ago and Mom and Dad are in the other room and Ive neer spent a night hiding in a drainpipe with Jamie and a bunch of rats while body snatchers with spotlights await for the thieves who make off with a bag of dried beans and a bowl of cold spaghetti.I have it off that if Jamie and I survived alone for twenty years we would never find this depression on our own. The feeling of safety. More than safety, eve n-happiness. skillful and happy, two things I thought Id never feel again.Jared makes us feel that way without trying, just by being Jared.I breathe in the scent of his skin and feel the warmth of his body under exploit.Jared makes everything safe, everything happy. Even houses.He still makes me feel safe, Melanie realized, feeling the warmth where his arm was just half an go on from mine. Though he doesnt even issue Im here.I didnt feel safe. Loving Jared made me feel less safe than anything else I could think of.I wondered if Melanie and I would have loved Jared if hed always been who he was now, quite than the smiling Jared in our memories, the one who had come to Melanie with his hands full of hope and miracles. Would she have followed him if hed always been so hard and cynical? If the loss of his laughing breed and wild big brothers had iced him over the way nothing but Melanies loss had?Of course. Mel was certain. I would love Jared in any form. Even like this, he belong s with me.I wondered if the same held true for me. Would I love him now if he were like this in her memory?Then I was interrupted. Without any cue that I perceived, suddenly Jared was talking, speaking as if we were in the middle of a conversation.And so, because of you, Jeb and Jamie are convinced that its possible to continue some kind of awareness after being caught. Theyre both sure Mels still kicking in there.He rapped his fist lightly against my head. I flinched away from him, and he folded his arms.Jamie thinks shes talking to him. He rolled his eyes. Not really fair to play the kid like that-but thats presume a sense impression of ethics that clearly does not apply.I wrapped my arms around myself.Jeb does have a point, though-thats whats killing me What are you after? The Seekers search wasnt well directed or even suspicious. They only seemed to be looking for you-not for us. So maybe they didnt know what you were up to. peradventure youre freelancing? Some kind of hugge r-mugger thing. OrIt was easier to ignore him when he was speculating so foolishly. I focused on my knees. They were dirty, as usual, purple and black.Maybe theyre right-about the killing-you part, anyway.Unexpectedly, his fingers brushed lightly once across the clown bumps his words had raised on my arm. His voice was softer when he spoke again. Nobodys going to hurt you now. As long as you arent causing any trouble He shrugged. I can sort of see their point, and maybe, in a sick way, it would be wrong, like they say. Maybe there is no justifiable reason to barely that JamieMy head flipped up-his eyes were sharp, scrutinizing my reaction. I regretted showing amour and watched my knees again.It scares me how attached hes getting, Jared muttered. Shouldnt have left him behind. I never imagined And I dont know what to do about it now. He thinks Mels alive in there. What will it do to him when?I noticed how he said when, not if. No matter what promises hed made, he didnt see me last ing in the long term.Im surprised you got to Jeb, he reflected, changing the subject. Hes a canny old guy. He sees through deceptions so easily. Till now.He thought about that for a minute.Not much for conversation, are you?There was some other long silence.His words came in a sudden gush. The part that keeps bugging me is what if theyre right? How the hell would I know? I hate the way their logic makes sense to me. Theres got to be another explanation.Melanie struggled again to speak, not as viciously as before, this time without hope of respite through. I kept my arms and lips locked.Jared travel, shifting away from the wall so that his body was turned toward me. I watched the movement from the corner of my eye.Why are you here? he whispered.I peeked up at his face. It was gentle, kind, roughly the way Melanie remembered it. I felt my control steal my lips trembled. Keeping my arms locked took all my strength. I wanted to touch his face. I wanted it. Melanie did not like this. If you wont let me talk, then at least keep your hands to yourself, she hissed.Im trying. Im sorry. I was sorry. This was hurting her. We were both hurting, dissimilar hurts. It was hard to know who had it worse at the moment.Jared watched me peculiarly while my eyes filled again.Why? he asked softly. You know, Jeb has this crazy idea that youre here for me and Jamie. Isnt that nuts?My babble half-opened I quickly bit down on my lip.Jared leaned forward slowly and took my face between both his hands. My eyes closed.Wont you tell me?My head shook once, fast. I wasnt sure who did it. Was it me saying wont or Melanie saying cant?His hands tightened under my jaw. I opened my eyes, and his face was inches away from mine. My heart fluttered, my stomach dropped-I tried to breathe, but my lungs did not obey.I recognized the intention in his eyes I knew how he would move, exactly how his lips would feel. And yet it was so new to me, a first more awful than any other, as his mouth pressed against mine.I think he meant just to touch his lips to mine, to be soft, but things changed when our skin met. His mouth was abruptly hard and rough, his hands trapped my face to his while his lips moved mine in urgent, unfamiliar patterns. It was so disparate from remembering, so much stronger. My head swam incoherently.The body revolted. I was no agelong in control of it-it was in control of me. It was not Melanie-the body was stronger than either of us now. Our breathing echoed loudly mine wild and surgeing, his fierce, some a snarl.My arms broke free from my control. My left hand reached for his face, his hair, to wind my fingers in it.My right hand was faster. Was not mine.Melanies fist punched his jaw, knocked his face away from mine with a blunt, low sound. Flesh against flesh, hard and angry.The force of it was not enough to move him far, but he scrambled away from me the instant our lips were no longer connected, gaping with horrorstruck eyes at my horrorstruck expres sion.I stared down at the still-clenched fist, as repulsed as if Id found a scorpion growing on the end of my arm. A gasp of revulsion choked its way out of my throat. I gimmickbed the right wrist with my left hand, desperate to keep Melanie from using my body for violence again.I glanced up at Jared. He was staring at the fist I restrained, too, the horror fading, surprise taking its place. In that second, his expression was entirely defenseless. I could easily read his thoughts as they moved across his unlocked face.This was not what he had expected. And hed had expectations that was plain to see. This had been a evidence. A bear witness hed thought he was prepared to evaluate. A test with results hed anticipated with confidence. But hed been surprised.Did that mean pass or fail?The pain in my chest was not a surprise. I already knew that a breakout heart was more than an exaggeration.In a fight-or-flight situation, I never had a choice it would always be flight for me. Becaus e Jared was between me and the darkness of the tunnel exit, I wheeled and threw myself into the box-packed hole.The boxes crunched, crackled, and cracked as my weight shoved them into the wall, into the floor. I wriggled my way into the impossible space, twisting around the heavier squares and stifling the others. I felt his fingers scrape across my foot as he made a grab for my ankle, and I kicked one of the more solid boxes between us. He grunted, and despair wrapped choking hands around my throat. I hadnt meant to hurt him again I hadnt meant to strike. I was only trying to escape.I didnt hear my own sobbing, loud as it was, until I could go no farther into the crowded hole and the sound of my thrashing stopped. When I did hear myself, heard the ragged, divide gasps of agony, I was mortified.So mortified, so humiliated. I was horrified at myself, at the violence Id allowed to flow through my body, whether consciously or not, but that was not wherefore I was sobbing. I was sobbi ng because it had been a test, and, stupid, stupid, stupid, activated creature that I was, I wanted it to be real.Melanie was writhing in agony inside me, and it was hard to make sense of the double pain. I felt as though I was expiry because it was not real she felt as though she was dying because, to her, it had felt real enough. In all that shed disjointed since the end of her world, so long ago, shed never before felt betrayed. When her father had brought the Seekers after his children, shed known it was not him. There was no betrayal, only grief. Her father was dead. But Jared was alive and himself.No ones betrayed you, stupid, I railed at her. I wanted her pain to stop. It was too much, the extra lading of her agony. Mine was enough.How could he? How? she ranted, ignoring me.We sobbed, beyond control.One word snapped us back from the edge of hysteria.From the mouth of the hole, Jareds low, rough voice-broken and strangely childlike-asked, Mel?