Utdraget från THE HOST av Stephanie Meyer.
Kom på att låten "Love The Way You Lie"

"I have to go, I have to give my body back, "

A human grave for the human I had become.

      "But Wanda, I... There's so much that I need to say to you. "

      "I don't want your gratitude, Jared. Trust me on that. "

      "Whatdo you want?" he whispered, his voice strained and choked.
"I would give youanything. "

      "Take care of my family. Don't let the others kill them. "

      "Of course I'll take care of them. " He dismissed my request brusquely. "I meantyou. What can Igive you?"

      "I can't take anything with me, Jared. "

      "Not even a memory, Wanda? What do you want?"

      I brushed the tears away with my free hand, but others took their place too quickly for it tomatter. No, I couldn't take even a memory.

      "What can I give you, Wanda?" he insisted.

      I took a deep breath and tried to keep my voice steady.

      "Give me a lie, Jared. Tell me you want me to stay. " There was no hesitation this time. His arms wound around me in the dark, held me securelyagainst his chest. He pressed his lips against my forehead, and I felt his breath move my hairwhen he spoke.
      "Stay here, Wanda. With us. Withme. I don't want you to go. Please. I can't imagine having yougone. I can'tsee that. I don't know how to... How to... " His voice broke.

      He was a very good liar. And he must have been very, very sure of me to say those things.

      I rested against him for a moment, but I could feel the time pulling me away. Time was up. Time was up.

      "Thank you, " I whispered, and I tried to extricate myself.

      His arms tightened. "I'm not done. "

      Our faces were only inches apart. He closed the distance, and even here, on the edge of my lastbreath on this planet, I couldn't help responding. Gasoline and an open flamewe explodedagain.
      It wasn't the same, though. I could feel that. This was for me. It was my name that he gaspedwhen he held this bodyand he thought of it as my body, thought of it as me. I could feel thedifference. For one moment, it was just us, just Wanderer and Jared, both of us burning.

      No one had ever lied better than Jared lied with his body in my last minutes, and for that I wasgrateful. I couldn't take it with me, because I wasn't going anywhere, but it eased some of thepain of leaving. I could believe the lie. I could believe that he would miss me so much that itmight even mar some of his joy. I shouldn't want that, but it felt good to believe it anyway.

      I couldn't ignore the time, the seconds ticking like a countdown. Even on fire, I could feel themdragging at me, sucking me down the dark corridor. Taking me away from all this heat andfeeling.

      I managed to pull my lips away from his. We panted in the dark, our breath warm on eachother's faces.

      "Thank you, " I said again.
      Slowly, with a palpable reluctance that warmed some of the cold emptiness in the center of mybody, Jared let his arms slide away.

      "I love you, Wanda. "

      I sighed. "Thanks, Jared. You know how much I love you. With my whole heart. "

      Heart and soul. Not the same thing, in my case. I'd been divided too long. It was time to makesomething whole again, make a whole person. Even if that excluded me.

      The ticking seconds pulled me toward the end. It was cold when he no longer held me. It gotcolder every step I took away from him.

      Just my imagination, of course. It was still summer here. It would always be summer here forme.

      "What happens here when it rains, Jared?" I whispered. "Where do people sleep?"

      It took him a moment to answer, and I could hear tears in his voice. "We... " He swallowed. "We all move into the game room. Everyone sleeps in there together. "

      I nodded to myself. I wondered what the atmosphere would be like. Awkward, with all theconflicting personalities? Or was it fun? A change? Like a slumber party? "Why?" he whispered.

      "I just wanted to... Imagine. How it will be. " Life and love would go on. Even though it wouldhappen without me, the idea brought me joy. "Goodbye, Jared."
      "Wait... Wanda... "

      I hurried down the tunnel, hurried away from any chance that he might, with his grateful lies, convince me not to go. There was only silence behind me.

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December 2011