The Host ¤ The Next Chapter

The Host ¤ The Next Chapter: 26

The Host ¤ The Next Chapter: 26

Jenny

On my first day of captivity, I lounged on the sofa. There wasn't a tv. Television was controlled by the Souls now, so if someone brought one here, the seekers could track the signal into the desert to the rebel base. Not something everyone wanted to happen, so tv was a no go.

What there was in abundance in Whitney's house was books. She had tons of them. They laid in piles next to doorways, or ontop of the kitchen table, and inside the cupboards. I had my choice of everything from science fiction to biographies. Some of the books dated to pre-Soul invasion. Others were after-invasion. There was a clear difference in their writing styles. 

Human writings held nothing back. There was violence, love, and sadness described in great detail. Soul writing was more filtered. There was never violence, although love was often described but never passionate. Sadness was a thing of the past---all stories ended in happy endings for all characters. The 'villain' of the book always felt guilty by the last couple chapters and changed his ways. It was the Soul's version of a perfect world, written in script.

It made me sick.

How could they do this to us? They thought they stood for equality and peace, but what did that mean when they took over another race? Sure, it wasn't killing the bodies, but inside, the original humans were gone. Souls, in their own twisted way, thought they were making the universe better. What they didn't realize was that they were selfish. 

I threw the book I was reading to the wall, only mildly disturbing my guard outside. I was tired of reading and sitting still, but I had two to three more days of this ahead of me. I'd need to find something else to entertain myself with---and fast.

The next day, I busied myself my straightening up Whitney's home. Even for a smarty pants, she was a major slob. I picked up the book I'd thrown the day before and set it with the pile of books I'd started on the kitchen table.

I searched the house head to toe for books, finding some underneath discarded pieces of clothing, or tucked in corners between furniture. The job took care of my boredom to dinner time, because every time I thought I was done and went on to start picking up clothing or some other item, I'd find another book. By day's end, I'd found sixty six books. Twenty of them were pre-invasion. The other forty four were Soul writing. Some of the collections among the human writing were, The Lord of the Rings, Interview with the Vampire, Harry Potter, The Hunger Games, and The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe. There were also various other popular books which I'd never heard of before among them. 

What made me want to barf, was that Whitney had actually found Soul copies of the same human books.

They were edited, of course, to fit the Soul's ideals. I picked up The Hunger Games edited by some Soul named SunTan Co-lends. On the back cover page, I found their picture. It was a man with dirty blonde hair and the blue Soul eyes. He looked like he could be the male version of the original female author.

In his version of The Hunger Games, all the characters lived in a happy, fun world where everyone got enough food. No one died---that included Katniss's father who had been caught in a mine collapse. The actual Game that people had their names drawn for was for a chance to win a million dollars, not your life. President Snow even gave up office so that Katniss could take his place.

I closed the book after flipping through and set it aside.

Next, I picked up The Lord of the Rings. While the original triology was fist-thick and jam packed full of action, the new version was a bit dull. Sauron wasn't the bloodthirsty, power-craving tyrant. He was now the leader of the free middle earth. Gollum wasn't some poor excuse for a hobbit either. He dressed in the trousers, vest, and jacket get up that the other hobbits wore and served Frodo (Who was, by the way, the mayor of the Shire).