The Host *Accepting*

Jami

“What do you think is going on out there?” he asks.

I shrug my shoulders. “I wish I could tell you. I hope no one is hurt.” I say. I cross my legs on the floor. I put my hands in the pockets in the front of Jake's sweatshirt. I lay my head against the wall. If I do not start talking I am going to fall asleep. “I have not really met you before. I'm Jami.” I say.

Ocean

“I wish I could tell you. I hope no one is hurt.” She shrugs.

I look down as she shifts, wondering what could be happening. Skyler? Jeb wouldn't lock me up if she returned, would he? Something inside of me feels a little more at peace, but I can't explain it. It's as if -

"I have not really met you before. I'm Jami," The girl introduces.

I glance up and nod, "Ocean."

Jami

“Ocean.” he says. I feel weird making conversation, but I want to. There is something about him that makes me not worried, but what is it. I do not even know him. I have never been really good at making conversation. It is a lot easier when I know the person.

Every time I see Ocean, he looks sad. I know it is because of his sister. I would be so lost without Jake. I know the feeling. I am not going to bring anything up, but what should I ask? It is hard to describe the feeling of being in the caves. You are so grateful to be safe, but you miss what is out in the world.

“So..” I begin. I search for something to act. Something not to personal, but not really random. “Are you and you uncle really close.” When it came out of my mouth, I wanted to change it, but he is already looking at me about to answer. I have got to get better about asking questions.

Brigid

After just a few steps down the tunnel, I turned around and followed Jeb and the others to the storage caves. I had to see this for myself.

Jeb set Skyler down, and told someone to get it some food. When the others protested, he turned around and stared at them. "She might not be human," he said coldly, "but she does eat food."

She. He still thought it was Skyler.

"Hey, Jeb," I said, crouching next to him. "How do you know that's still Skyler? I don't want to be rude, but my sister almost stabbed me. And that wasn't my sister. That wasn't Iris. That was...Leaves, or whatever it was."

"Skyler might still be there," Jeb said shortly. "I've heard of that happening."

"Good for you," I muttered. "Aura, come here. Don't go too close, okay?" Little Aura ran over and sat down next to me, bouncing with excitement. We hadn't had a new arrival for a few years now, and she'd never seen a Host before.

Ocean

“Are you and you uncle really close?" She asks a few minutes later.

I look back at her to find her regretting asking such. Shrugging, I look down again.

"I'm not close to anyone anymore," I whisper. Not since Skyler.

I glance up at her, wanting to change the subject.

"How about you and the boy that was in here before?" I ask. "You two close?"

Casper/Skyler

"For now, no one tells the kid anything," Jeb demanded, never looking away from my eyes. "If you don't understand that, my gun will gladly explain."

Ocean! Skyler screamed inside my head. Oceans here! He made it! I contained the excitement the both of us were feeling, trying to keep my mouth shut for as long as I could.

"What's your name?" Jeb asked, voice low. My name? I had many, but the most common here was Cassie, something I never really agreed to.

Casper, Skyler said. Your name is Casper. I liked that better, but I wasn't going to say anything just yet; silence was safest. So I just looked up at the old man with wide eyes.

A crowd had formed behind him, trying to get a good look at "the alien". I felt like a wild animal on display. I closed my eyes a whimpered, wishing they would all just go away.

Jami

“I am sorry you two are not close anymore.” I say.

“What about you and Jake? Are you two close.” He asks.

I nod. “We are really close. We both do not have anything to look forward to in life anymore. We are each others life. He cares so much.” I say. I stand up an lean against the wall. “Some times he cares a little to much. He is so protective. I am so glad he is my brother though. I would get in a lot of trouble if he was not here.” I start to go on, but then I look at him. “Why aren't you and your Uncle close anymore?”

Ocean

I shrug again, not wanting to go into details. I don't want to talk about Skyler, don't want to pull myself even deeper into the depression I've been in since we separated. Most importantly, I don't want to be pitied. My sister did what she did for me, to make sure I made it here alright. I don't want to remind myself of that anymore than I already am.

"It's complicated," I set on saying, "I'd rather not explain it."

Aura-
I move next to Brigid, still staring at the scary alien that won't give its name. Why won't it give its name? It can whimper, but maybe it can't talk.
"But what're you going to do with it?" I ask again.

Jami

“I rather not talk about it.” He says.

“Ah.” I say walking over to him. I know exactly what he is going through. “Can I tell you something?” I ask him. He nods. “When I was younger Jake and I were close, but not as close as we are now. He was the person in my family that I could tell anything to, the person that if someone at school picked on my I would say, 'if you do not stop I will tell my big brother.' I do not think I loved anyone in the world as much as him. Then he was going to go to collage. He was going to move to another state. I was so devastated that he was going to leave. I thought he was leaving because he did not love me anymore, so I started making some bad choices. I started making bad grades and smart mouthing everyone so that Jake would come back. He did after a while. He was so mad at me. He said I was screwing up my life at such a young age and he hoped he taught me better. I had never been so mad at myself. I was about to ruin his life and mine all because I was selfish. After he said he would quit collage to stay with me, I told him that I did this because I thought he was never going to come back and I thought he hated me. He did not hate me. He was mad at me. But because of the mess I made, he saw how much I needed him. My family moved states so I could be close to him. Jake and I became even closer after that.” I say. I wipe a stray tear from my face.

“Why did you tell me this?” He asks.

“I told you because it helps to get things of your chest. Storing it inside does not help. It makes it worse. You start pushing people away that care.” I say. “It is easier than it sounds to open up. I just shared with you a huge part of my life that only a few people know. It really does help.” I say.

Ocean

I listen to her, watching as she wipes a stray tear from her eyes, and can't help but feel bad.

“Why did you tell me this?” I ask, looking down.

“I told you because it helps to get things of your chest. Storing it inside does not help. It makes it worse. You start pushing people away that care.It is easier than it sounds to open up. I just shared with you a huge part of my life that only a few people know. It really does help.” She replies.

A few minutes of silence pass before I get the courage to speak again.

"My sister...We were best friends." I say, "Our parents fell as Hosts early on, and she was all I had. We came across Jeb and set a plan. When they came for us, she forced me to find Jeb again and stayed behind to make sure I got out."

I pause, taking a deep breath.

"Now, she's gone," I whisper.

Jami

“Now she's gone.” He says.

His eyes feel with water, but he blinks them away. He turns away from me. “I am so sorry.” I say. I do not know how to react to that. I sit down on the cot next to him and wrap my arms around him. I know hugs always made me feel better. For a second his body tenses, but then he puts his arms around me. There is a feeling I have in my stomach that I do not get when I hug other people. I do not know what this feeling is. I lay my head on his shoulder and squeeze. “Hope is the one thing you can have right now.” I say.

Jake

I head back to the room Ocean and Jami are in to bring them some food. I do not think they have eaten all day. I am not allowed to tell anyone about Skyler, not even Jami. It is going to kill me not to tell her. I get two plates of and walk back.

I open the curtain and see Jami hugging Ocean. “What the?” I say. I am in total shock. I put the plates down and grab Jami by the hand. She is startled, but does not object. I leave one plate for Ocean and close the curtain. She walks into the room and plops on the bed. “What were you thinking?” I ask her.

“I was comforting him. You are the one that taut me me to comfort. He was sad.” She protest.

“You did not have to throw yourself on him.” I say.

“I did not throw myself on him. You know me better that that.” She says “You know me better than that.” A tear comes to her eye. I sit down next to her. Se lays her head not my shoulder.

“I am sorry, I do.” I say to her. I wipe the tears from her eyes. “It is just hard to come to the fact that you are not five any more.” I get up and lay her down on the cot. I cover her up with a blanket. “I am sorry.” She nods and lays down on the pillow. “Night.”

“Night.” she says.

Ocean

She hugs me and I don't know what to do. Slowly, I bring myself to hug her back, but all is lost when her brother returns and yanks her away. I watch them leave, wondering what was so wrong about a hug. Nothing more would have come out of it.

Sighing, I decide to get some sleep and lay down. I pull the covers over me and close my eyes, remembering the night Skyler was lost.

Casper/Skyler

Everyone was starting to clear out of the small hallway, leaving me and the person Jeb had put on duty to watch me. Like I was planning on even moving. Jeb had commanded someone to bring me a blanket and food, but I didn't touch either one of them. I stayed in my corner, hugging my knees to my chest and watching the person with the gun. Maybe it was paranoia that kept me from sleeping, but I felt that if I even closed my eyes for a second, they were going to shoot me.

Soon enough, though, my eyes slid closed and I drifted off to sleep with Skyler's memories of her family.


When I finally woke up, I realized three things: I was covered with the blanket that someone had brought at Jeb's order, there was a new person standing guard over me, and I was hungry. My stomach grumbled, as if to prove my point. I eyed the food that was still in front of me, seriously debating eating it.

"It's not poisoned," the guard said, making me jump and my wide eyes flash over to them. I couldn't really see who was over there, the only light in the small tunneled hallway was a gas lamp that was hung from the ceiling at the far end of the tunnel, so the only thing I could see about the person, was their silhouette.