After (Parallel Series, Book 4) Read online

  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 50

  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

  Click HERE to join Christine Kersey’s VIP Readers’ Club and receive 2 free books.

  Click HERE to see all of Christine Kersey’s free books.

  Click HERE to see the books Christine has enrolled in Kindle Unlimited.

  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

  This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people.

  Discover other exciting titles by Christine Kersey available through her official author website: ChristineKersey.com or through most online retailers.

  Created with Vellum

  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

  Chapter 1

  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?”