Chap.1

The noise from the humans scrambling to gather us and my host was irritating, but not enough to cripple us. Riot and his host were taken a while ago, and I was on my way in another vehicle. I can't say that I was surprised that Riot overlooked me. Despite being part of his group, I always seemed to go unnoticed, no matter what I did, right or wrong. I was the one who helped him break free and he still seemed to forget that I was there. I guess he thought I was already gone, likely died in the crash. But instead of dying as soon as I got him and I free, I made one of the other humans my host. If he didn't notice me then, he was no going to notice me gone now. I let the humans transport me to what they referred to as a hospital and let them get work on my host. He would have to do for now until I could find a more suitable match.

I'm not sure how long my host and I were in comatose, but when I finally managed to get his body working again, I sensed that I wasn't going to have to wait much longer for another host.

"Derek, if this guy infects us with whatever he caught, I will kill you." I heard a woman talking.

"I'm telling you, Rachael, that crash six months ago was not an accident. And I'm going to the one who proves to the world that corporates like Carlton Drake can't be trusted." The man answered.

"And that there is why I'm questioning about my decision to marry you." She answered. "Let's just get this over with before someone catches us."

I wasn't going to wait. I lunged my former host at the woman and started seeping through her flesh, leaving my former in a disgusting heap where I left him. My new host, Rachael, managed to push the corpse off her and rushed to the door. She pushed by people and stormed out of the hospital.

"Rachael, wait, you can't just leave, we still have work to do." Derek called as she started down the street.

"No, you do. This is the bazillionth time you have either nearly gotten me killed, or put me in a situation that has given me a heart attack. I can't take it anymore." Rachael yelled at him. "I was willing to deal with all this to a point, Derek, because I loved you."

"What are you saying?"

"I'm saying I'm done," she said pulling a ring off her hand. "We're done." She handed him the ring and stormed off.

Derek kept calling for her, but she kept walking. She kept going until she made it to the airport. All the time she was walking us there, I found myself wondering why she hadn't started falling apart yet, or why she was still conscious. Up to that point, my hosts had perished as soon as I took control. The only reason she should still be alive and in control was if she was a perfect match to me. I found my host, and whether she knew it or not, she was going to be in for one hell of a ride. After she brought us to the airport, she bought a ticket for San Francisco.

When we got on the plane, she allowed herself to fall asleep during the long flight. Our time of rest had allowed me to get to know my new host better now that she had calmed down. Her name was Rachael, and she was a lot more like me than I thought. She too doubted her place here, she wasn't even sure why she had put up with everything she had up to now. When we finally landed, she called a taxi and she instructed him to her home. An apartment, though small, was too bad. My thoughts were interrupted when I felt us getting hungry again, she began to rummage through her fridge and pulled out several containers of food that seemed to be what humans would have called left overs. She opened the containers and began to wolf down whatever was in each one. Once our hunger had subsided, she started getting her stuff unpacked and put away. Once that was done, she pulled out her phone and called into someone she called her manager and said that she wouldn't be able to make it in that day because she wasn't feeling her best.

She laid down on the couch with an ice pack after hanging up. Not even 10 minutes later, her phone rang again, and she answered it. Our shared bond allowed me to hear everything she did.

"Hey Mom." She groaned.

"Hey sweetheart." Her mother answered. "Are you okay? I just got a call from your boss that you called in today because you were sick."

"Yeah, I must have caught a bug while I was in Malaysia. I just need to sleep it off, I'll be fine."

I could sense someone with ill intent approaching.

"Do not open the door." I warned her.

"Huh, what the?" she gasped. "Who said that?"

"Who said what?" her mother asked.

"No, nothing Mom. I just, uh, I'll call you back, okay? I love you." She said hanging up.

Not even a second later, there was a knock at her door. She dragged herself up and looked through the peep hole. Not seeing anyone and against my advice, she opened the door and the next thing she saw was us being pushed back in to the living room with at least three other men behind the first.

"Hello, Ms. Porter." A large man with next to no hair entered.

"Who the hell is this?" I asked.

"What do you want?" Rachael asked her voice shaking.

"We're looking for Mr. Drakes missing property." The man answered.

"I don't know what you're talking about, I haven't taken anything of his." She answered raising her hands.

"Don't show weakness." I told her.

"If I don't they'll shoot." She whispered.

"They'll kill us no matter what." I said pulling her arms down. "Looks like I'll have to take care of this mess."

"What?"

"Take her down." The lead ordered.

A sharp pain and a surge of electricity followed. Taking control, I took out the ones shocking us and then proceeded to give the rest an ass kicking.

"Amazing, we're stronger than I was expecting." I commented as she was freaking out. "Now, lets crush their heads and eat their livers."

"What! Eww! Why?" she gagged.

"The livers are the best part." I answered her.

We didn't really get a chance to discuss it as we were joined by another barrage of bullets and limbs. Not taking chances, I launched us out her open window and catching us on a guard rail across her alley, I hurled us over the roof and into the next alley over. We hotwired a car and drove off. It wasn't long before we had company. She seemed reluctant to go faster, so I had to take control and punched the gas paddle down. The chase was becoming exciting.

"Oh God, I am going to die!" Rachael yelled as bullets were crashing and zipping through the windows.

"You are not going to die!" I yelled at her taking a sharp turn down a busy highway.

The chase went on until a black vehicle crashed into us from the passenger side causing us to careen out of control. We only stopped when our car crashed into a guard rail. Rachael managed to get out but collapsed as soon as she stood up. One of her legs was broken and I could sense that she had some minor brain damage from the crash. As she lay there, with everything spinning around her, the leader of our pursuers stepped over us.

"You know you made this harder than it needed to be." He said with a smug grin on his face.

"What can I say, I'm a glutton for punishment." Rachael groaned.

Not taking anymore chances with this, I took control, grabbing the man's throat and working my way around Rachael, healing her wounds and standing us up.

"Oh, heart, liver, intestines." I rasped. "So many delicious treats, so little time to eat."

Not even a second later, there was shot from behind us that grazed our neck and shoulder. I turned around and took a bite out of his head. And made a run for our safety. We were far too exposed out here and there were too many humans bearing witness to us. I ran us to the river and swam us to an abandoned construction sight. Rachael hobbled through the equipment, finally coming to rest against a crane. She was crying and hysterically asking what was going on. I took the opportunity to reveal myself to her.

"What are you?" she sobbed. "What have you done to me?"

I allowed myself to appear in front of her. "I am Plague. All I have done is allowed you to become my host."

"What do you want from me?" she asked as our body started shaking from all her crying.

"To survive," I answered coolly. "And as long as you cooperate, we both will."

She cried a little longer and her phone started to ring. It was her mother, looking for her.

"I'm fine, Mom. I just, uh," she started. "I had a break in, but I'm okay, I managed to get out. But I could probably use a ride, I have no idea where I am."

"Okay, don't move, I am coming to get you." Her mother answered hanging up.

When her mother arrived, she was followed by a few police officers. As soon as she parked the car, she ran out to us and embraced us, asking Rachael if she was okay.

"Yeah, Mom, I think, yeah, I'm okay." Rachael stammered.

"Get in the car, right now." She ordered us. "We are going home."

The drive home was quiet, but peaceful. When we made it to her mother's place, the police asked her a lot of questions about what happened and why those men would have been after us. After they were gone, her mother locked the door and allowed us to rest on the couch. I could feel that our shared body was exhausted, and she eventually fell asleep before she could cry anymore. Feeling tired as well, I allowed her and I to rest, and though I didn't know it at the time, we were going to need it for what was ahead.

When we woke up, I could feel the vitals had calmed down, but now we were hungry. She started cooking strips of meat she called bacon, although to satisfy us both, it took the whole package. Only when the hunger pains subsided did she settle down and stop to gather thoughts about the day before. I could sense her trying to convince herself that it had all just been a bad dream.

"Come on, Rachael, just relax," she started talking to herself. "Last night never happened. It was all in your head, a nightmare from studying too hard."

"It wasn't a dream," I answered her. "It really happened, all of it."

"Oh God." She groaned.