After
Parallel Series, Book 4
Christine Kersey
Contents
Note to Readers
Acknowledgments
Book Description
Books by Christine Kersey
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Chapter 46
Chapter 47
Chapter 48
Chapter 49
Chapter 51
Chapter 52
Chapter 53
Chapter 54
Chapter 55
Chapter 56
Chapter 57
Chapter 58
Chapter 59
Chapter 60
Chapter 61
Chapter 62
Chapter 63
Chapter 64
Chapter 65
Chapter 66
Chapter 67
Chapter 68
Chapter 69
Chapter 70
Chapter 71
Chapter 72
Chapter 73
Chapter 74
Chapter 75
Chapter 76
Chapter 77
Chapter 78
Chapter 79
Chapter 80
Chapter 81
Epilogue
Books by Christine Kersey
About the Author
Note to Readers
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The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.
After (a parallel story)
Copyright © 2014 by Christine Kersey
All rights reserved
No part of this book may be reproduced, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without express written permission of the publisher.
eBook Edition, License Notes
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Discover other exciting titles by Christine Kersey available through her official author website: ChristineKersey.com or through most online retailers.
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Acknowledgments
I’d like to thank my wonderful beta readers. As usual, they gave me invaluable feedback on After and I so appreciate their willingness to help me out. Their names are listed below, alphabetically by first name.
Abigail W.
Ali Fruit
Angela Macias Dial
Cheryl A. Lanegan
Corinn Kendall
Ioana Clayton
Jennifer Dhillon
Kathy Labossiere
Kris Bird
Kym Smith
Laura Anne Kersey
Laura L. Ratcliff
Lisa Furie
Lisa Wilkerson
Marie Madison
Marjorie St. John
Michelle Lynne Rivera
Robyn Maitland
Sandy Shepard
Tiffini Le Jeune
Traci Sessions
Zach Fruit
And last, but certainly not least, a huge thank you to my spectacular editor, Annette Fruit.
Book Description
After is a follow-up novel to Gone, Imprisoned, and Hunted and is meant to be read after you’ve read those books.
Morgan is thrilled to be back in her world with her family, and is ecstatic that Billy is by her side. Ready to settle into her life and to show Billy how wonderful her world is, Morgan becomes alarmed when a government official makes an unexpected announcement at her school.
Billy loves the freedom in his new world, and especially admires Morgan’s family. However, the more time he spends with them, the more he yearns for a family of his own.
Will Morgan and Billy come to terms with the world they live in now, or will they be forced to sacrifice what’s most important to them?
After does not contain any profanity or sexual content.
Books by Christine Kersey
Park City Firefighter Romance
Rescue My Heart
Hearts On Fire
Emerald Falls Romance Series
Crushing On You: Travis and Gabriella (An Emerald Falls Romance, Book One)
Dangerous Lies: Sawyer and Amethyst (An Emerald Falls Romance, Book Two)
Searching for Love
Falling for You (Searching for Love, Book One)
Finding Reese (Searching for Love, Book Two)
Surrender My Heart (Searching for Love, Book Three)
Bring Me Home (Searching for Love, Book Four)
Lily’s Story
He Loves Me Not (Lily’s Story, Book 1)
Don’t Look Back (Lily’s Story, Book 2)
Love At Last (Lily’s Story, Book 3)
Life Imperfect (Lily’s Story, Book 4)
Parallel Trilogy
Gone (Parallel Series, Book 1)
Imprisoned (Parallel Series, Book 2)
Hunted (Parallel Series, Book 3)
After (Parallel Series, Book 4)
The Other Morgan (Parallel Series, Book 5)
Over You Series
Over You
Second Chances (sequel to Over You)
Witness Series
Witness (Witness, Book 1)
Retribution (Witness, Book 2)
Standalone Books
Suspicions
No Way Out
Box Sets
Parallel Trilogy
Lily’s Story
Searching for Love bundle
Morgan
A gust of wind tugged on a yellow leaf as it struggled to keep its grip on the branch outside my classroom window. I watched the tug-of-war between the wind and the leaf and remembered the tug-of-war I’d been forced to participate in. A shudder ran through me when I remembered the feel of dozens of wispy spider legs clinging to my skin as the hairy creatures scrambled up my calves.
Without thinking, I reached under my desk and brushed at my jean-covered legs, trying to dislodge the horrific memory. My gaze went back to the branch outside the window and I saw that the leaf had lost the battle. The yellow leaf floated by, then fell to the ground where it would later be crunched underfoot by the rush
of students as they left campus to head home.
Home.
Still finding it difficult to believe that I’d made it back to my world, I gazed out the window at the cool November morning. No bars on these windows, just a sheet of glass to separate me from the cold winter air.
But I did remember bars—cold, metal, black. They’d stretched from top to bottom in the window of my room at Camp Stonewater—the place where I’d given up hope of making it back to my world. Of making it home. Yet here I was, back in Fox Run with my family. With Billy.
Holding back a sigh, I glanced at the teacher at the front of the room, but found it difficult to focus on what she was saying. After what I’d lived through less than twenty-four hours before, it felt surreal to not have to worry about being hunted, captured, tortured, locked up for the rest of my life.
When I replayed the events of the previous day, my heart raced with terror. Hansen standing at the entrance to the tunnel, ready to kill me. Billy tied up and unconscious. Me swinging a large branch at Hansen, then him falling backwards and hitting his head on a rock, deep red blood pooling under his head as his face turned white with death.
Shivering at the vivid memories—memories that I hoped I would somehow be able to forget—I still marveled that I’d been able to get home at all, that the tunnel had brought me back to my world. Especially after failing the first time I’d tried.
When I’d gone through the tunnel this time and seen the lantern lying in my path, I’d known I’d made it back. My joy had been indescribable. But that joy had been tempered by my sadness in knowing I would never—never ever—see my best friend again. When Billy had appeared on my front porch hours after I’d arrived home, I’d been stunned, unbelieving, thrilled. Now he was in my world. A world where it wasn’t illegal to be overweight. Where families weren’t torn apart by a government who wanted to control what we ate, how much we exercised, how much we weighed.
A tentative smile lifted my lips as I allowed myself to enjoy the feeling of peace and relief that I was safe now.
My thoughts went to Billy and I wondered how things were going for him as he started at my school. Everything would be so new and different for him. I hoped he was doing okay, and I could hardly wait until I saw him at lunch.
“Am I boring you, Ms. Campbell?” the teacher said as she stood next to my desk.
My head whipped in her direction and for a moment I expected to be whacked in the head with a thick textbook.
You’re not there, Morgan, I reminded myself. You’re home now. Teachers don’t do things like that in your world.
My hand trembled as I tucked my hair behind my ear, then I met her gaze. “I’m sorry, Mrs. Peterson.”
One of her eyebrows arched in obvious annoyance. “Pay attention, Morgan.”
I nodded, then made sure to listen to the rest of the lecture, although it was difficult. Especially when an image of Hansen lying dead on the forest floor kept filling my mind.
I killed somebody. I squeezed my eyes closed. Not on purpose exactly, but he was dead nonetheless. All because of me. But did it really count? I mean, since he was in a different world? What would have happened if I’d died?
The other Morgan. I opened my eyes to stare at the front of the classroom. That’s what. She would have taken over my life and no one would have even realized I was gone. The thought made my stomach churn in a peculiar that whole experience was like a nightmare, but it wasn’t kind of way.
The idea of me disappearing forever and my family never even knowing brought on a feeling of unreality, and my heart thumped painfully as I thought how close that had come to happening.
What if I hadn’t been able to escape Holly and Camp Stonewater? What if Hansen had succeeded in killing me? What if Billy hadn’t been there to help me get back to my world?
The many ways that I could have failed to make it home rattled me, and I had to work extra hard to turn my thoughts to the here and now. The teacher finished her lecture and gave us our assignment, and I found myself actually smiling. It was good to be home, even if that meant doing homework again. That was nothing compared to being dragged away to a Federally Assisted Thinning center where I’d been tortured and interrogated, made to eat government-approved drug-laced power bars, and had my life threatened by Enforcer Hansen.
Sliding my hand to the back of my neck, I ran my fingers across the small bandage that covered the place where Nick and his people had taken out the torture device. It was healing nicely and I didn’t really need the bandage, but I didn’t want anyone to see any evidence that something might have happened to me.
When I thought about the torture Holly had put me through so that she and the people she worked for could get information about the resistance groups, my stomach roiled. The pain I’d felt when she’d activated the torture device had been excruciating, and I was amazed that I’d survived it.
Still in awe that I’d made it home at all, I put my things in my backpack as I considered all that I had experienced. If it hadn’t been for Billy, I never would have made it. My heart warmed as I thought of my absolute best friend in the world—this world as well as the one he was from.
Chapter 2
Billy
The moment the teacher walked into the room nervousness grew within me. Though Morgan had told me her world was different from mine, I still expected the people to act the way I’d always seen them act—controlling, restrictive, disapproving.
“Okay class,” the teacher said. “Pass your homework in.”
On the verge of standing for the pledge, I hesitated, taken aback by the teacher’s request, but when Morgan’s words came to mind, I settled into my seat.
“The only pledge we say here is the Pledge of Allegiance,” she’d said, then she’d recited the words of her pledge.
I’d really liked it. Especially the part where it said With liberty and justice for all. I’d looked liberty up and it had said, “The state of being free within society from oppressive restrictions imposed by authority on one’s way of life, behavior, or political views.”
After living in a place where there was no liberty—in fact, all of society lived under oppressive food and weight restrictions imposed by the government—it seemed almost too good to be true to have so much freedom. I felt on edge, like that freedom couldn’t possibly last, but I tried to stay positive and tried to believe that such freedom was possible.
After the exceptionally bad year I’d recently had—from being kicked out of my house by parents who thought I was too much trouble and expense, then being on my own and resorting to stealing food from schools so I wouldn’t starve, to having my parents track me down and turn me in to a F.A.T. center so they could receive the reward money—I’d become untrusting and cynical.
Talking to Morgan helped a lot. Meeting her had been the only good thing that had happened to me in a long time, and I was glad I’d decided to go through the tunnel the day before. After watching her walk into the tunnel, I’d jogged to the hut to wait for her to come out but she hadn’t appeared. When I’d gone back to where I’d left the motorcycle, I’d been amazed when the other Morgan had walked out of the forest because her appearance validated what Morgan had claimed.
I smiled as I remembered the look on Morgan’s face when she’d seen me standing on her porch the night before. And now here I was, going to school in this new world, a world where you could supposedly live your life without the fear of being captured and dragged to a prison-like place because you weighed the wrong amount, or because you couldn’t follow the stupid rules.
Despite my crazy claims, Morgan’s parents had been kind to me, and now I was beginning to understand why it had been so important to her to get back to them. They were nothing like the people whose DNA I shared. Those were people who thought it was more important to get money than to take care of their kid. Memories of how they treated me made my stomach clench, and I forced the thoughts away as I listened to the teacher.
Chapter 3
&n
bsp; Morgan
When the bell rang, I shuffled out of the classroom with the rest of the kids, then stopped at my locker.
“Hey, Morgan.”
I turned to see Rochelle Candee. “Hey.” It felt weird to see her. I almost wanted to apologize for breaking into her house and spending the night there, but I knew it had happened in the parallel world, not in this one.
“You cut your hair,” she said. “It’s cute.”
Touching my short hair, I remembered how long it had been before Brynn had been forced to cut it in an attempt to create a disguise. Though she’d dyed it dark, a friend of Nick’s had gotten it back to its natural color before I’d come home. I smiled. “Thanks.”
“Do you want to go to the mall after school?” she asked. “There’s this really cute jacket I want to look at.”
“I can’t today.” Not with Billy here. I didn’t want to miss out on any time with him.
A brief frown crossed her features, then she smiled. “Okay. I’ll see you at lunch.”
“See you,” I said.
When lunch time came I headed toward the cafeteria, on the look-out for Billy. I picked up a tray and collected my food and when I reached the end of the counter I nearly asked the cafeteria worker where the power bars were. Then I remembered that the addictive power bars didn’t exist here and a feeling of relief poured over me.
“Morgan,” a familiar voice said next to me.
I turned to see Billy standing beside me and my face brightened. “Hi.” His smile matched mine and I wanted to throw my arms around him, but I had a tray in my hands. Then I noticed that his hands were empty. “Are you hungry?”
His gaze swept over the food on my tray, then he looked at me. “Yeah. Can I get what you’re having?”