Chapter 116 The Intruder

Inhumanity is harmful in every age.

-Cicero

Emma

He didn't like my plan. I could tell from his expression that he wanted to talk me out of it, but I feel like this is something I need to do. Rain wouldn't listen when I tried to explain, but maybe this Seeker will. They are a different kind of Soul. He went in search of Burns and Sky. He wanted to know what happened. I want him to know they are both safe. I want him to know we are not killers. I want to make him understand.

When Burns first left with the others, I rushed to Logan who was still on guard duty. He wasn't surprised to see me. I guess he had expected me, because he had a pair of binoculars ready for me. He scooted over to make room for me.

It didn't take me long to recognize the two Seeker that had been there in the forest when we met Finn, though I don't remember the female Seeker's name.

Why? Why were they here?

I barely noticed when Rachel came to bring us dinner. We didn't talk. This close to the surface we have to be quiet, but I could tell that she was worried too.

When the Seekers finally rushed away from the entrance and towards wherever the others were, I thought my heart would stop.

And then Blake came to find me and now I'm sitting here, across from the Seeker that stole my life, while Burns is removing his friends in the room next door.

It's been hours. Plenty of time to think about what to say, but now that this Seeker is starting to stir, my mind goes completely blank.

Patt's eyes flutter and a groan escapes his lips. Slowly he sits up and inspects his surroundings. That's when his eyes find me. "Sky?" he mutters groggily, but then he stiffens. "You're not Sky." A colder tone slips in his voice.

"I'm Emma," I tell him, though he must already know that.

Hatred flashes behind his eyes. "How?" he growls.

"I was never really gone," I say softly, even though he already knows that too.

"No," he growls, "how were you able to remove her? Only we Souls know how to do it without causing damage to the host."

"Sky is fine," I omit his question. I don't want to tell him Burns was the one to do it, though he must have figured that one out as well by now. "She's on her way to somewhere new."

"Liar!" Patt hisses through his teeth, "why would a human spare a Soul? What did you do to her? Cut her up into little pieces? Trample her? Did you laugh at her pain? Did you even consider that she would feel pain?"

"I'm not lying," I say softly. It's strange. When I told Burns I wanted to speak to Patt, I had expected to feel angry, but now I only feel sad.

He hasn't made an attempt to attack me. Perhaps he knows it's futile. That doesn't stop him from lashing out verbally. "Humans lie," he says.

"Like Seekers lie?" I cast back.

"How did you get him to betray his kind?" Patt asks next. At least he's not denying the lying part. "I saw Burns outside. He was aiding you humans. What are you threatening him with? Are you torturing his family?"

"We're not torturing anyone," I say.

Patt scoffs. "I know how little respect humans have for life. Your history proves that. You don't need an excuse to kill. You just take lives as you please."

"Not all humans are like that," I answer, "how can you accuse us of things like that when you Souls take lives and wipe them out? Isn't that exactly what you did to me? You took my life and claimed it for Sky. All I did was take it back. And I didn't harm anyone in the process."

"Not harm anyone, did you? How about Rain and Storm? They were killed in a fire, a fire you and your friends started."

I look down at my lap. He knows about that? "No one was supposed to get hurt," I say, "and it wasn't Rain and Storm that were killed. They are safely on their way to another planet, together. We only made sure you wouldn't be able to use the human bodies again, since they didn't wake up after the Sous were removed."

Patt stares at me bewildered. "Remove Souls?" Then it dawns on me. He thought I was the only one. "Where are my friends?!" he demands, "what did you do to them?! What are you going to do with me?! Will you use them to make me betray my kind?!"

"Is everything alright in here?"

Patt looks up at the sound of Burns' voice. I hadn't noticed his approach. Patt's eyes move past Burns and his face turns pale. When I turn my head, I can just glimpse two cryotanks being carried away.

When Patt looks back at Burns he seems sick. "How could you?" he whispers horrified.

Burns sighs and sits down next to him. "It's not right what we're doing, Patt, living someone else's life."

Patt shakes his head in disbelieve. "Have you forgotten the state of this world before we came here? The humans didn't deserve this planet."

"I remember Fire World," Burns says. His eyes are sad and I can hear the pain in his voice. My hand locks with his and I press it softly in an attempt to comfort him. "I remember how we felt when we found out the Living Flowers we used for food were sentient beings. We destroyed lives, Patt. I destroyed lives. I can't let that happen again."

"So you destroy your own kind?" Patt hisses.

"No one is destroyed," Burns says, "two lives get saved."

Patt shakes his head. "Sky loved you," he says, "and you ripped her out of her host for what? Some misplaced sense of repenting?"

"You misunderstand," Burns says quietly, "I cared about Sky. But Emma... she was still aware... and when Sky said she wanted to skip hosts..." He pauses and looks at me. There is a tortured look in his eyes. I offer him a smile and lift my hand to caress his cheek with the back of my fingers.

Fear.

That's the expression on Patt's face.

Of all the things that could have happened, that wasn't one I anticipated.

"Is your host resisting, Burns Living Flowers?" Patt asks in a small voice, "has he taken over? Is that why you behave like this?"

Burns takes a deep breath. "No, Carves Snow Patterns. I am my own person. There is only me. My host faded the moment I was inserted in this body."

"I'm not angry," I tell Patt, "this isn't about revenge. We're not going to hurt you. But we have to protect ourselves. You know where we live now."

"So you are going to kill me," Patt says.

"You can stay here if that is what you want," I say, "live with us. We can't let you go outside, but it's not so bad underground." I don't know what makes me offer. Maybe it's guilt. Maybe I'm just tired of it all. It doesn't really matter. I can tell from his face he's never going to accept.

"Like I will ever trust a human."

"Then trust Burns."

Patt scoffs. "He is even worse than you." His eyes narrow. "You removed my friends from their hosts without second thought. Why haven't you done that to me? What do you want with me? I'll never betray my kind."

"I wanted to tell you what happened to Sky. She cared about you. You deserve to know."

Patt glares at Burns. He seems to ignore me for now. "What would your friends say, Burns? Ocean and Core and Scales? Are you going to remove them from their hosts too? You are despicable, a disgrace. And I will never become like you."

Perhaps I should have foreseen it. It isn't the first time we brought a Soul here, and that memory is still fixed in my mind. But even if I had foreseen it, even if Burns had... I don't think we could have stopped it.

Patt's angry outburst resolves in his body going stiff. His eyes glaze over and the silver behind his eyes fades out.

That is when Burns yells in panic, but then it's already too late. Silver liquid drips from the Seeker's nose and his body slumps to the floor. I gasp and cover my mouth. I think I might be sick.

Burns rushes over to Patt's fallen body while I force back tears and bile.

My fault.

This is my fault.

Again.

If I hadn't insisted on speaking to him, if I had just let Burns remove Patt from his body, then perhaps this wouldn't have happened. Perhaps we would have saved two lives instead of losing them.

I hide my head in my hands and cry.