Who was I? What was I?

Whence did I come?

What was my destination?

-Mary Shelley

Holden

There's a headache that is starting at the base of my skull and spreads out to the front. It's as if ten thousand of little creatures are using tiny hammers to try and break through my brain.

But there are no ten thousand creatures. There is only one. A silver worm that has been in control of my movements for the past... what year is it again?

I hate the creature with all my might. Sometimes I think it can feel it. Then it cringes as if in pain, but it always ignores me, and I can't fight back. Then I'm being pushed away as if drowned under water or pulled into a deep sleep, and when next I surface, days have passed.

I can tell by the change in weather that sometimes it is more than days, but I don't like to dwell on that.

How long before I won't surface at all?

Usually when I gain consciousness, everything is blurry. It's like walking through a fog or hearing a distant conversation. Today my brain is almost clear. It must be one of my better days. A day not clouded in silver.

The thought of that creature makes my skin crawl. It wasn't just any creature they put in my head. No, it was the most despicable of their kind. A hunter. One that hunts leftover humans and either kills or subdues them. Seeker they call it. I had to watch how my friends and family were brought to their Insertion Centers and come out as a host body for their alien friends. Worse than that, I have participated. Perhaps not actively, but I was there. And I couldn't stop it.

Ah, that's right. We were hunting down humans this time too. My creature was there with two of its friends. The male was on some warpath. Said two of its friends had been killed in a fire caused by humans and two of its other friends had been kidnapped by the same humans. The only lead they had was the sighting of a van and they traced it all the way to... the middle of nowhere.

They didn't find the van, but they found the humans. And then...

I frown. Things are confusing after that, but I remember one of their own being there... working with the humans.

I don't remember anything after that.

And now I have this incredible headache. Why isn't the creature doing anything about it to make it stop?

In a reflex I move my arm to rub my temple. I'm startled when something hard lands on my face and my eyes fly open.

Across my face is my arm. My arm, steered by me. Confusion spreads through me. Where is the creature? Why is it not in my head?

Another face swarms in my vision. A human face, judging from the lack of silver in his eyes. He is maybe a little younger than me, late twenties or early thirties. I recognize the face from before. He was one of the humans we came across.

"Welcome back," he says, "I'm Will. What is your name? Do you remember?"

"Did he wake up?" another voice sounds to my right. I can't find the strength to turn my head.

"Headache," I mutter.

"Yo, Blake," the Will person says, "got some of that 'No Pain' left?"

"Yeah," this Blake answers, "the bottle is at your knee."

"Thanks," Wil presses something against my lips. "Open up. It will dissolve on its own. Your headache will be gone in seconds. Great stuff. The only good thing the aliens brought."

"Where am I?" I ask when the hammers in my head dissolve.

"Your new home," Will answers, "Last Chance Mine, ironically. You remember your name yet?"

"Take it easy Will," Blake says, "the guy just woke up. This one is still sleeping. Give him some time to adjust."

"Oh, the expert speaks," Will comments, "where did Burns run off to? Maybe he should do this."

"He went to check on Emma."

Will sits back and looks at me in thought. "I still can't believe it actually worked. I mean... I know what Emma said, but seeing it for real..."

"What is going on?" I ask, "where is the creature? How did you get rid of it?"

"That's a long story," Will answers, "what do you remember?"

"We were trying to find humans... well... you I guess..." My eyes move to the right. The female Seeker is unconscious. "Is she... is her creature gone too?"

"Yup," Blake says, "just waiting for her to wake up."

"How... how long does it usually take? Do you do this often? All these missing people... that was you?"

"Ah, no," Blake answers, "and not sure. It doesn't always work. Actually, you're the first one I've seen waken up. I wasn't there with Emma. That was all Burns."

"Burns?" The name triggers something. That was the name one of the creature used for the one that helped these humans.

"Yeah, our house alien," Will grins, "don't worry. He's on our side. You'll meet him later."

"Dude," Blake says, "don't call him that."

"What?" Will shrugs, "he sorta is. I mean... he's one of us, but he's kinda one of them too. And this one is going to find out soon enough. Better let him in on it now. Or do you want another one freaking out when meeting Burns? By the way, do you remember your name yet? Can't keep calling you 'this guy'."

I blink at their conversation. They're not making any sense. House alien? On their side? I remember this Burns being there before, and he pushed one of the humans out of the way of a bullet. It just doesn't make sense. "You let one of those creatures in here?" I ask, "you trust it?"

"There you go. Good job, Will."

"Shut it, will you!" He turns to me. "Look, I know how it sounds. We'll tell you the whole story later, okay? Just know that Burns is someone you can trust. In fact, without him, you wouldn't even be here right now."

"So, is Burns your leader or something? Some kind of rebel alien?"

"Hell no!" Will comments and Blake only laughs. "I'll give you the short version," Blake says, "Emma was human, stumbled upon Burns while running from Seekers. For some reason he decided to help her instead of turning her in. then she got taken by that Seeker next door and they planted an alien inside her brain. But she managed to linger and found Burns again. And he took the Soul out and brought Emma back. Of course, what he did was betrayal to his kind and they went on the run. They stumbled on Nate, our sorta-leader, and that's how they ended up here."

I blink. That was the short version? "Wait, what... why... why would he help bring a human back?"

Blake smirks. "You should see the two of them together. Madly in love. Can barely break them apart."

This story is getting crazier by the second. "A human and one of those creatures?! How can you stand it?"

"I know," Wil nods, "I was disgusted at first too, but now I am used to it. Burns is a decent guy, so no harming him in any way, got it?" His eyes narrow in warning and I can only nod. What did I get myself into this time? This is even weirder than when the creatures caught me. I was at the doctor's office, just a regular checkup. It was fairly busy that day and people were getting cranky. Still, every time a cranky person went in, an overly happy one came out. I should have bolted then and there, but who could ever think what was really going on behind those doors? I was still in high school then. Now, whenever I'm awake enough, when I catch my reflection in the mirror, it's not the face of a teenager.

"Hey," Blake's voice pulls me from my thoughts, "you think you can give us a hand here? We can't wake up your friend. Is there anything you know about her? Like her name or where she came from?"

I shake my head and frown. "I only know the creature's name. It didn't talk about the woman. I don't know who she was before."

"So what should we call you?" Will asks, "I'm close to coming up with a name myself since you don't seem to remember yours."

I take a deep breath. I have a name. I just haven't used it in a while. What was it again? In my head I recite the alphabet until the letter sounds right. More than one syllable. Three? No two. Something with color. Yellow? No that was the creature's name. Blue doesn't sound right either. Golden? No Holden. I think.

"Holden?" I try the name on my lips. It sounds like it may be my name. Or was it my dog's name? I remember a dog. We used to go for runs around the park. But after that creature was inside my head, my dog didn't like me anymore. He growled whenever I came near. I think it ran away. I don't know where it is now.

"Holden?" Will asks and he nods, "okay Holden. Welcome again in the land of the living. We'll introduce you to the rest later. There's twenty one of us."

"Twenty one? There's still so many humans left?"

"Don't forget the others," Blake comments, "there's three more cells nearby that we know of."

Three more groups with humans? There's so much information thrown at me right now that I need time to digest it all. Three more groups?

Footsteps draw near and a girl enters the room. She's pretty. Early twenties. She looks surprised to see me awake. "It worked?" she asks.

"Rachel," Blake says, "meet Holden."

"Hi," Rachel nods at me curiously before looking at Blake again. "Any progress with the woman? We want to bury Marcus now, and the other one too."

"Other one?" Blake asks.

Rachel nods. "That one Seeker that caught Emma before. He killed himself before they could remove him. Nate said we'll bury him next to Marcus."

I look from one to the other. They're going to bury one of those creatures next to one of their own? It killed itself?

Blake sighs. "Can you stay with the woman a bit? I'm gonna check on Emma."

Rachel rolls her eyes. "Burns is with her you know. I know she's upset and you want to play knight in shining armor, but give it a rest already. It's getting old."

"Rachel," Will interferes, "shut up. You whining about it is getting old as well."

Rachel is about to comment again, but Blake cuts her off. "You weren't there, Rachel," his voice is calm, but there is an undertone in it that shuts her up. "You didn't sit in that house for two days, trying to wake up those people. You didn't have to set fire to that house to give them a decent funeral to make sure they wouldn't be used as host bodies again. You didn't see the look on both Emma and Burns' faces when they couldn't bring them back. Or when we put those Souls on the spaceship. That Seeker that just killed himself may have been the one that captured her, he was friends with the Soul that wore her body. As were those Healers that died. You weren't there. But I was. So if I want to see how she's holding up, it's none of your business. Now, can you sit with this woman and try to wake her up or not?"

I can see Rachel stiffen. It's not surprising. Even I flinched at Blake's words.

These people, they all know each other, know each other's history. How will I ever fit in here?

Rachel lets out a breath. "Just go." She sits down with the woman while Blake leaves the room.

Will studies her a moment. "You gonna be okay on your own or do you need me to stay?"

She shakes her head. "It's fine. Just go to the burial. I'll stay here. If she wakes up, she shouldn't be alone."

"Okay," Will nods and then he looks at me. "Think you can walk?"

He wants me to come?

Will sighs when he sees my hesitation. "You have to meet the others at some point. Might as well get it over with. And you can see them all at once now. Saves time."

I guess he's right. Now is as good a time as any. Carefully I crawl to my feet. "Lead the way."

A/N Poor Holden. I can only imagine how confused he must be. And waking up with Will and Blake there wouldn't have made things any less confusing :P How will he take his new living situation? 

LOL Practical Will. Let's meet everyone at once. Because that is not overwhelming at all.