| previous chapter |
The chapter begins with one of Melanie’s memories. She is hiding behind a creosote bush, and worrying about Jamie waking up at the house. She’s also incredibly hungry. As she comes out of her hiding place, she makes her way into a house that belongs to an old soul couple who are not home. She breaks in and immediately heads for the pantry. With the stolen loot in hand, she leaves to make her way back to Jamie, but then somebody mumbles behind Melanie, grabbing her shoulders.
It is a man, who immediately accuses Melanie of being a Seeker. Melanie can’t help but think the same thing; that this man is a soul and that Jamie’s safety has been compromised. The two struggle for a bit, until finally the man realizes that Melanie isn’t a soul at all. His reaction is to kiss her on the lips.
Melanie still doesn’t believe he’s human, especially with the scar in the back of his neck. He forces her to look into his eyes and see the lack of silver, then tells her that the scar is fake. Then, he introduces himself: “My name is Jared Howe. I haven’t spoken to another human being in more than two years, so I’m sure I must seem…a little crazy to you.”
Jared refuses to leave Melanie, but she has to go back for Jamie’s sake. He tells her that he will go with her and that he will get more food. After all, he has a car. Once again, Jared kisses Melanie and she kisses back. The memory finishes here.
Wanderer wakes up from the dream, screaming and covered in sweat. She realizes that what she had thought was just a dream was actually a memory. She begins to cry over the fact that she doesn’t know why the memories are so strong and why they won’t stay in the past.
She gets up from bed, and goes to the computer to email the Seeker about Jamie’s existence; and where their location was several years ago. Melanie protests, and her desire to save Jamie starts to seep into Wanderer’s feelings, but then Wanderer shuts off the computer, telling Melanie to leave.
