FicWad

Don't shoot me! This is based on a book by... Stephenie Meyer. Yes, like the rest of the world, I went through a 'Twilight Phase' and am thoroughly ashamed of that. But, unlike Twilight, The Host is actually a very good book (in my opinion at least). The concept is one I find impossible to get out of my head, so I wrote this. Obviously, the idea is not my own, and you'll probably understand this a little better if you read The Host. However, I did try to explain it the best I could, so... that's all you need to know.

Also, this is the first thing I've attempted to write in the present tense, and it's actually really difficult. I edited the fuck out of it, and that was before it got beta-d (thank-you!). And I'm using italics a lot today, aren't I?

Anyway... Hope you like and please don't shoot me for A) ripping off another author's idea, and B) that author being the same who wrote Twilight. Oh, and C) if you're a Twilight fan, for seriously insulting the books.

Sx



So this is what the end of the human race looks like. A small, cramped, cold cabin in the middle of some God-forsaken wood, in which state of America, none of them even know. Just three bodies, alive, and shivering in the desolate wilderness - two of them trying to cling on to the memories of a doomed past in order to cling on to their sanity.

The third sits away from the other two, staring in to space with deep green eyes. Those eyes have an unnatural silver gleam behind them, and the reason for this was the same that alienates the man from the other two beings. The man in question used to be Gerard Way - a famous musician in an equally loved and hated band. He had been as full of life as it was possible to be, despite his somewhat depressing past, he had loved every aspect of his world - from the daughter he'd fathered with his ex-wife, to his career, to his new lover.

Now though, despite the fact that to the untrained eye, the man remains unchanged - and regardless of all of those memories and experiences still being firmly in his mind - the dark haired male has been altered completely. Irrevocably. Permanently.

A new consciousness has taken over his body.

These parasites had been creeping over the world for years now, stealing human's minds from them and living within their bodies. The changed had been so subtle, no one had noticed until it was too late. Those who did either ran whilst they had the chance, or tried to warn the rest of their race. Or course, that race firmly upheld the belief of ignorance being bliss and had disregarded those who knew the truth as cranks. In a way, they had signed their own death warrants.

Over the past few weeks though, the parasites had become more obvious. They had taken over eighty per cent of the human race, so could afford to break the shackles of pretence. For the few survivors left, this meant having their own bodies stolen from them, unless they ran fast enough.

This is the case of the other two in the cabin. One is a woman - with huge, dark eyes bleeding tracks of eyeliner that run down her face with her tears. Her body is usually slight, small and slim, but as it happens, she's four months pregnant and it's showing more than she'd like. Especially as her husband's lost to her now.

The other human is a man. He's holding the woman, who clings on to him fiercely as she sobs, mourning the death of everyone she knows. Knew. He had been crying too, but less so than his last remaining friend. After all, if they both broke down, it would be the end of humanity as they knew it.

Whether he shows it or not though, this man is torn up on the inside. Despite the fact that his lover's changed irreversibly, he remains to be Frank Iero. Guitarist of said band, and usually the strongest out of the lot of them. Like Gerard had been, he was nearly always in a constant state of happiness - more than content with his life. He's changed too though, whether he likes it or not. And in the future, he'll continue to change, almost constantly for the worse as he refuses to leave his old life and beliefs behind.

That's hardly surprising though. Having your family, friends and love of your life stripped from you in the space of a day is bad enough. Having to then live on with the creature that infects your lover's body is hell. But of course, right now, he's only beginning to learn that.

Right now, he's staring into space with tear tracks running down his face, that he doesn't bother to stop. After all, the only witnesses are the sobbing girl he's holding, and that… thing. It wasn't human, no matter how deceiving its appearance is. It's like having a dog watch you cry, he thinks.

The something occurs to him. Frank looks round until he finds Peppers sitting in his lap obediently. She's quiet, clearly detecting the mood in the room, and knowing it isn't time for her usual craziness. He'd almost forgotten that he'd taken her at all, but there she is, as sweet as ever, and looking up at him with huge beady eyes that beg for him to cheer up. Somehow, this works, and the man squeezes the woman nestled into his side gently, before pulling out of her grasp.

She gasps and rubs at her cheeks, trying to dislodge the black make-up from her pale skin. Alicia Way had adopted a take-no-shit attitude in her late teens, and had never shook it off. She was ashamed now, to be crying, but knew it was more than merited. All the same, she scrubs at her face, attempts to pat her black hair down and stifle her sobs.

Frank gives her a few moments to compose herself, smiling weakly. The expression didn't come close to touching his chocolaty brown eyes. They were usually so full of life, and Alicia found it as scary as everything else to see them now - dull and glazed over with pain.

In his corner, the creature that wore Gerard Way's body blinked his eyes at them, more than slightly afraid. He'd heard about this planet, about the craziness of it's inhabitants, and how amazingly complex they are. About their out or control emotions and overwhelming senses. It was the most confusing situation he'd ever been in, but before he'd had time to make sense of it all, he'd been whisked off by the tattooed man and crying girl opposite him now.

The names Frank and Alicia were supplied by his body's brain. Alicia was his younger brother's wife, and Frank... he was his boyfriend. The word was foreign to him, so he searched through the man's whose body he was inhabiting mind. There was whole range of memories flashed up. Some were sweet, and filled him with an unfamiliar warm sensation. Other's were... passionate to say the least. They made his body feel as though it was on fire, and he suddenly found himself craving this man's touch.

That wasn't going to happen though.

"What the fuck are we going to do?" Alicia asks the man, now wiping at her eyes to rid them of tears.

"Survive," Is Frank's grim reply. "Look, we can get by. We've got the car and that's got enough in there for now. Anything else we need we can steal. Plus we've got an insider." He glances at the thing that was Gerard, who immediately cowers. That was the thing about these alien invaders - considering what they are, it was immediately obvious that they're all spineless. "He can help us." Although the words sound innocent, they were spoken with an undisguised hatred. It was a threat, the man (or whatever he is), realizes.

Alicia peers over at him now. "Can't we just kill it?" She asks, her voice unusually calm considering her request. The alien cowered again, trying to prevent himself from crying out.

A pained expression crosses Frank's face, and he turns away from his friend to bite back the tears that were threatening to make a reappearance. "No," Is all he says.

The woman frowns for a moment then realizes. "He's not Gerard, Frank," She says softly.

"I know that!" He snaps back. "No. Could you kill him if it was Mikey? How are you going to anyway? We don't have a gun - fucking strangle him maybe?"

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," She says hastily, stepping back.

"It's fine. I'm sorry. But we don't kill him, okay?" Frank says in a softer voice now.

"So what are we going to do with him?"

"I dunno. Keep him I guess. We'll have to resort to stealing food eventually. He knows more about these... aliens or whatever they are, than we do. He can help."

"He'll give us away." Alicia frowns, wondering why were friend can't see this.

"Then we make sure we get a gun first." Frank shrugged.

"Could you honestly put a bullet in him?" She's sceptical now.

The man glances at the alien wearing his lover's body. He's curled up in the corner, watching them with wide, scared eyes. Frank's first impulse is to go over to him, hold the man, and comfort him until he's happy again. But no, that isn't Gerard - it is a parasite that controls his body. What looks like his boyfriend is nothing more than a puppet.

The small spark of hope that the alien felt as Frank glanced at him dies as the human's face hardens. He wants to cry, to breakdown, but knows that it won't do any good. These people are more ruthless than any other specie he's heard. All the same, it still hurts when the man nods and speaks again.

"That thing isn't Gerard," He mimics Alicia's earlier words, his face closed off and cold. "I'd do it."

The woman nods. "And all of a sudden, we're no better than they are," She murmurs, but keeps her voice low so Gera- the creature won't hear her guilt.

Frank grimaces, then walks over to the woman to pull her into a hug. "We're doing it to survive. They didn't have to kill us."

Alicia nods.

"Let's check the rest of this place out." The man says, pulling back. "There might be a generator or something we can fire up. You know, to try and get some heating."

There is, as it turns out, but it has so little fuel that Frank is reluctant to use it. However, there's a shed full of wood and fire lighters, which Alicia finds. They get a decent fire going though in the room that seemed to serve as the living room, and it warmed the cabin up immensely.

There's also some food stored in the small kitchen all of which with long lasting dates the can. Because the generator's off, there's no electricity, and the stove doesn't work, but some of it can be eaten cold. However, neither humans are in the mood for eating - both too stressed to really consider it.

All the while, the alien sits in his corner, not making eye contact with either of the humans. He doesn't move, except to occasionally shift his weight.

This makes Alicia very nervous - is he expecting to be recued? Is he plotting something? When she expresses her concerns to Frank however, he dismisses then.

"Have you seen these things? They're spineless. You're not going to try anything, are you?" The last bit is directed at Gerard, or whoever he is. The alien hastily shook his head. "See?" The man asks.

His friend rolls her eyes - after all, whether he's up to something or not, he's going to answer with 'no' isn't he? Frank ignored her.

"What's your name by the way?" He asks instead. After all, the can't keep calling him the alien. It just made him seem more intimidating anyway.

Gerard's eyes - or rather, the alien's - widen. He wasn't expecting this, and now, isn't sure how to react. Although his time on his planet has been very brief so far, he'd realized how violent these humans can be. After all, the two he was with had already killed five of his kind in the past hour. The people that used to be their families.

So he had no doubt that even Frank - who had loved the man whose body he's in - would shoot him. As for the girl; she had killed most of the people back in the city.

"I don't know," He replies, softly. This was true - his name on his last plant made no sense now. "It doesn't translate, and I can't say it in this tongue."

"Well, we're going to have to find something to call you," The other man says. His voice is equally soft, as though he has picked up on the alien's nervousness. The latter blinked, surprised again. Not more than ten minutes ago, he had been threatening to shoot him.

"Why?" Alicia snaps. "It'll just make him seem more human - make him harder to kill if we need to."

"Well, at least I'll have something to distinguish him from Gerard." Frank replies. His voice has changed now, but only subtly. The alien picks up on the change though, and instinctively knows that the human is sad. He can't understand how - there was barely any change, but now isn't the time for questions.

The woman just rolls her eyes again. "Fine, Hector then."

That draws a short, cold laugh from Frank.

"What do you want to be called?" He asks, turning to Gerar- the alien again.

He scrunches his face in the exact same way the singer used to do when thinking. The expression unnerves Frank slightly, but then, it should be expected, considering the body's still Gerard. "My name loosely translates to 'Fire Taster'." He offers eventually.

"Fire Taster?" Alicia asks, a look of disbelief on her face. Despite her trying to remain impartial, her curiosity had been piqued. "Where does that come from?"

"My first planet." The alien replies tentatively. "Then I lived on another, and now here."

"So what, we call you Fire?" Frank questions.

The alien just shrugged.

"Fair enough."

The two humans spend the next few hours exploring the small cabin further. There's one bedroom with another fire in it. In there, there's one double bed which Frank and Alicia agree to share. In a cupboard, there are blankets and duvets and the woman just wants to wrap herself up in one and sleep for the next few months.

She resists though - now is not the time to be weak, especially when they have the enemy under their roof.

There's also more food stored in various places around the cabin, which reassures Iero immensely - the longer they can stay there, the better. One top of that, there's a toilet (chemical, much to his disgust), a boiler, and a shower. The latter doesn't work, of course - due to the lack of electricity.

After a quick trip outside, Frank discovers a shed with huge amounts of gas in it - enough stocked up to last the winter, if they are careful with it. Back inside is a storage space full of axes, and rope, and knives, and several guns, and some things that Iero doesn't even know what he'd do with. He vaguely wonders if the owner of the place hunted to get food, and shudders at the thought. Eating meat bothers him enough, never mind having to kill the poor animal first.

Then something occurs to him - the owner of the cabin. What if they escape capture and come here? They probably wouldn't appreciate the place having been taken over like this. Worse still - what if they were now possessed, or taken over or whatever you call it - and would lead an army of the aliens to the cabin, where he and Alicia are sitting ducks?

Grimly, Frank walks back to the living area, where his friend and the Ger- the alie- Fire are glaring at each other. The man rolls his eyes, and quickly recounts his findings to Way. She nods, and does the same.

After a while, the conversation tails off, and the trio are left in a tired, awkward silence.

"Look," Iero breaks it. "We're all exhausted - why don't we eat something, and sleep?"

Alicia swallows the comment on her tongue. She wants to yell at Frank - scream at him for acting so calm when their lives, their families, had just been torn apart. But really, she knows it would do no good; he can't change anything and screaming would just be a waste of time.

"Okay," she says in a tired voice instead. "I'm not hungry though, I just want to sleep."

Iero nods - he could relate to that.

"What about him though?" Way jerks her head in the direction of Fire, who's still sitting there silently.

"What about him?"

"You just leave him there like that, he'll call the other aliens, or run off or something. Or top us both in our sleep."

Frank sighs, and then remembers the rope he'd found. It's rudimentary, of course, but his friend does have a point. Well, actually, with no electricity, it's impossible for Fire to call civilization (that's assuming he knows how to use a phone in the first place), if he runs off - he'll be doing more harm to himself than them, and Iero doubts the alien has the guts to kill them. But, to be honest, he'll sleep easier with the thing in Gerard's body secured.

After a few minute's work, some duck tape, and a couple of cable ties, he's satisfied that Fire won't be going anywhere any time soon. In fact, the alien's glaring up at him from the sofa - his wrists secured to one of the legs. It's a heavy thing - Iero couldn't lift it on his own, and he was stronger than Gerard had been, and therefore - stronger than Fire. How they'll untie him later, Frank isn't so sure of, but they'd cross that road when they come to it.

He ignores the accusing, betrayed look on the alien's face as he walks away and to the storage cupboard where he'd found the guns earlier. He grabs one, and the bullets beneath it, not really having any idea what he's doing.

What Iero does know though is that he can't reveal how much this hurt him; to have something that so strongly resembled Gerard, hell - something that is Gerard look at him like that. Although he knows it's a different person all together, he still hates having to treat the man he loves like this, and his insides feel like they're on fire. He swallows back the tears though, and doesn't look at the alien lying on the couch.

In the bedroom, Alicia is already curled up under the sheets in the bedroom, staring at the dying embers of the fire.

"You okay?" Frank asks, sliding in next to her, and placing the gun on the floor next to him.

"As 'okay' as I could be," She whispers back.

"I'm so sorry about this," The man says sadly.

"At least Mikey's dead," Alicia replies bluntly. Iero cocks his head at her questioningly, but she's facing away from him, and can't see this. The woman answers his question anyway. "I couldn't stand it, y'know? If he was here, but not being him - being possessed, or whatever the fuck these aliens do. It would drive me insane."

Frank doesn't know how to reply to that. So he clings on to desperation.

"Maybe there's like, a cure though?" He suggests. "A way to get those things out, to bring the person back."

"If that's true, I'll never forgive myself for killing Mikey."

The man winces as she says that.

When he'd found out about the aliens (well, when he'd found out and actually believed it), he'd immediately gone back to his apartment - the one he'd been sharing with Gerard. They'd invited Mikey and Alicia over for dinner, and he'd met her on her way in.

Frank had explained what was going on to her, and they'd hurried upstairs, only to find Mikey cutting his brother's neck open with a scalpel. In her panic, Alicia had flown at her husband, and had impaled him on the knife he'd been using. It had cut his throat - there was no way he could have survived.

By the time the woman's hysterics had calmed down, Gerard had woken up. Only, it wasn't him any more.

Running on adrenaline, Frank had told him that if he tried anything, he'd slit the alien's throat himself. Then, he'd grabbed some clothes, a toothbrush, Peppers, Alicia and Gerard, and driven all as far away from civilization as he could manage. It was only then it occurred to him to call his family and warn them. Iero had done so, but was too scared to try and find them.

That's just as well. Although he doesn't know this - most have already been taken over by the parasites.

After a few more hours of driving, Frank had found the cabin. It had taken them a while to decide on going in, and of course, that lead up to where he is now.

As the man reflects on this, his earlier thoughts on the owner of the place return.

"Hey, Leesh?"

"What?" She murmurs back, already half asleep.

Frank hesitates, and then decides against telling her. Being pregnant, the added stress over being discovered here is not something Alicia needs. May a well let her sleep well tonight, and sort out some kind of system tomorrow.

"Goodnight," He whispers.

"Night, Frank," She yawns back, before snuggling down under the covers, one hand resting one her stomach.

When she was asleep, the man loads the gun clumsily, then settles down beside her. He doesn't intend on sleeping, but drops off anyway.

That doesn't matter too much though - he wakes up in the morning, still human. Even though, it was a stupid thing to do, and he resolves to tell Alicia about the risk of being caught when she wakes up.

Sleepily Frank pads into the living room, where Fire is lying on the couch, hands bound to the leg of it. The name doesn't really suit him - not in this body. But that's the least of Iero's concerns.

It's breaking his heart - seeing his lover lie there, looking so perfect, and knowing that it isn't really the man he'd fallen for. It's just the shell of him.



R&R please?

Sx