"Souls", a species of parasitic aliens, have invaded Earth, deeming
the humans too violent to deserve the planet. When a Soul is implanted
into a host body the consciousness of the original owner is eventually
erased, leaving only their memories and knowledge. Wanderer, a Soul who
was given her name for not living more than one host's life on any of
eight previous planets, is placed in the body of Melanie Stryder, one of
the last few humans who've managed to avoid capture. Melanie tried to
commit suicide by jumping down an elevator shaft when pursued by
Seekers, but was revived by the Souls' advanced medicine. Wanderer is
asked by a Seeker to look through Melanie's memories and see if there's
anything that can lead them to other humans, but she is being mentally
blocked, leading the Seeker to realize Melanie's consciousness is still
alive and resisting control.
As time goes by, Melanie's consciousness grows stronger and begins to
communicate with Wanderer. Wanderer manages to uncover some of
Melanie's memories, mainly about her younger brother Jamie and her
boyfriend Jared Howe, another human she met while stealing food some
years back. Through Melanie's memories Wanderer begins to love Jared and
Jamie as well. Eventually, Melanie's presence becomes too much and
Wanderer contemplates being re-implanted in another host, but as she's
driving through the desert on the way to consult a Healer on her
decision, Melanie inspires her to follow a series of landmarks she
remembers to find her Uncle Jeb, hoping that Jared and Jamie will now be
with him.
Their quest seems fruitless, however, with Wanderer almost dying of
dehydration, until she's happened upon by Uncle Jeb. He realizes
Melanie's body has been taken over, but saves her life anyway. He takes
her to his hideout; a large set of secret caves housing over thirty
humans, including Jared and Jamie. Most of them demand she be killed,
fearing she'll escape and tell the rest of the Souls where they are, but
Jared stops them, not being able to bear the thought of Melanie's body
being harmed. After fainting, Wanderer wakes up in a tiny cave with
Jared guarding her. Brothers Ian and Kyle O'Shea come to kill her, but
Jeb intervenes and tells them that Jared is the one who gets to decide
Wanderer's fate.
She's kept in the cramped cave for a week, until Jared has to lead a
raid and leaves her in Jeb's care. With Jared gone, Jeb gives her a real
room to stay in and lets her help out around the caves. As the weeks go
by, the rest of the humans grow used to the Soul living in their
community, and Wanderer grows particularly close to Jamie, Jeb, Ian, and
Doc, who all come to believe that Melanie is still present inside her.
She's given the nickname "Wanda", and with some encouragement from Jeb
begins to tell stories about the previous worlds she's lived on to the
group at meal times.
Jared, Kyle, and the others return, and are furious that their group
would let themselves trust an alien. Jared decides he wants to shoot
her, but Jeb insists Wanda belongs to Jamie as well, and Jared
eventually agrees not to harm her. After hearing Doc, Jamie, and Jeb
insist that Melanie's conscious is still alive, he kisses Wanderer to
test if it's true, causing Melanie to take control enough to punch him.
He takes this as confirmation.
Walter, one of the older humans who is slowly dying of bone cancer,
asks to see Wanda. She sits by him in the hospital as he talks to her,
thinking she's his wife Gladys. After a while she takes a break and goes
for a bath. In the bathing area Kyle appears and attacks her. He first
tries to drown her, then throw her down a cavern into the river below.
In the ensuing struggle she causes him to hit his head and black out,
but the ledge gives way and the two nearly plummet to their death. She
manages to get free but then stops Kyle from falling, risking her life
in the process, Melanie's internal objections at doing so. Ian hears
Wanda's cries for help and pulls them up. Wanda is moved back to the
hospital to be treated for her injuries, and comforts Walter as Doc
gives him a morphine overdose. After Walter's funeral, a trial is held
for Kyle. Ian, Jared, and a few others want to kick him out for
attempted murder, but Wanda lies to protect him, and the majority vote
decides he should stay. Ian confesses that he has romantic feelings for
Wanda - not her host body, but her - and kisses her, but
Melanie's repulsion and her own feelings for Jared make her confused,
and she asks for time to think about it.
Jared goes out on another raid and takes Jamie with him. Afterwards,
they intentionally keep Wanda away from the hospital, just as they did
after the previous raid, making her suspicious. She goes to see what the
secret is, and discovers mutilated Souls who've been cut out of their
hosts. The image is so traumatic that she hides for three days,
remaining silent and not eating anything as a form of mourning. Jeb
eventually convinces her to return and explains that they've been
looking for a way to safely remove Souls from human bodies, but each
time has proven to be fatal for both parties, and he agrees to make sure
it never happens again.
Wanda then learns that a large cut Jamie got while out has become
infected, and remembering what happened when Walter couldn't be treated,
desperately tries to convince the community to steal medication for
him. She suggests they use her, as she could acquire it easily and she'd
never be suspected of anything, but the group still don't trust her
enough. Jared sneaks her out at night, and they're successful in their
mission. Now sure where Wanda's loyalties lie, they allow her to go out
on another raid and return with a vast amount of food, all given freely
by stores.
They learn upon returning that Wanda's Seeker found the caves and
fatally shot one of the humans before she could be subdued. Not wanting
the Seeker to be killed, Wanda realizes there's a way to spare her and
the host body - by revealing how to remove a Soul properly. She agrees
to tell Doc this secret, on condition that all Souls be sent to other
planets rather than killed. Tired of stealing lives from people, she
also asks to be taken out of Melanie and left to die, to which Doc
grudgingly agrees. After the Seeker's human host is restored, Kyle runs
off to find his girlfriend Jodi. He returns with Jodi, now inhabited by a
Soul called Sunny (Sunlight Passing Through the Ice), who has feelings
for Kyle the same way Wanda loved Jared. They plan to remove her and
revive Jodi, although Sunny does not want to leave Earth. Wanda then
reveals her intentions to give Melanie back her body and Ian, believing
Wanda is leaving for another planet, tries to convince her to stay. He
expresses his love for her and she tells him she loves him too, but
sneaks out when he falls asleep. Jared confronts her as she's going to
see Doc, but Wanda manages to keep her resolve. As Doc is putting her
under she says goodbye to Doc and Melanie, and peacefully accepts death.
Wanda wakes up, now in a new host. She learns that Jared had coerced
Doc into saving Wanda and went out with Melanie and Jamie to get a new
body for her. Wanda is upset, but they explain that the host didn't wake
up after they took the Soul out, meaning Wanda isn't a parasite. She
learns that Jodi didn't wake up after Sunny was removed either, so Kyle
decided to return Sunny to Jodi's body. In her new body, Wanda finally
gains wide acceptance from the humans and is free to be in a
relationship with Ian. Months later, Wanda is heading out on a raid with
Ian, Jared, Melanie, when they meet another group of humans who also
have a Soul in their group. The story concludes with Wanda and the Soul
named Burns (Burns Living Flowers), agreeing on the strangeness of
Earth.
