Hunted (36 page)

“Yes, I’d like to go see them.”

“Great. We’ll leave in half an hour.” Then he turned and left the room.

I looked at Billy. “Do you think the video will have as much of an impact as Nick seems to think it will?”

He nodded. “I hope so. People’s eyes will be opened to what the government is really doing—the lengths they’re willing to go. It’s going to be a rude awakening for the people who refused to believe there was anything bad going on at the F.A.T. centers.”

An idea occurred to me. “If the video’s going to make that much of a difference, then you can come with me.” I sat up straight, a wide smile on my face. “I know there’s still a lot you can do to help Nick, but if people start changing their minds, then there will be less for you to do, right?”

He smiled, but it seemed sad. “Morgan, you don’t understand. I want to be here, in this world. It’s where I belong. And you belong in your world.”

I felt a lump forming in my throat. “So now you’re saying you believe I’m from another world?”

He laughed. “I guess I’ll find out soon enough.”

I swallowed several times, trying to push the lump out of my throat. “Will you help me get to the tunnel?”

“Yes, of course. I’ll do everything I can to help you.”

That was all I could reasonably expect from him. “Thank you.”

Billy stayed at Nick’s place while Nick took me to see my family. It was wonderful to see all of them, although Mom and Dad were worried about having to be in hiding.

“It may not have to be for as long as you think,” Nick told Dad.

“And why is that?” Dad asked, his arm around me.

“The video your daughter provided, showing how she was treated, has been put online and I’m confident that it will change the minds of a lot of people.”

Dad smiled at me. “I can attest to the way things work at the F.A.T. centers. They are not pleasant places to be.”

I spent the rest of the evening with my family, loving every minute of their company, but eventually it was time to leave. I explained to Mom and Dad that I had some things to take care of at Nick’s place, but that I would be back soon. We said our good-byes and Nick brought me back to his house.
 

Once we arrived, he showed me to the room where I’d be sleeping. “You’re welcome to stay here as long as you’d like, Morgan,” he said.

“Thank you. I appreciate that. But actually I have somewhere I need to go the day after tomorrow. So I won’t be staying here for long.”

He nodded, though I could tell he was curious. “Okay.”

He left and I got ready for bed, putting on the pajamas that had been laid out for me. I looked out the bedroom window—happy that I didn’t have to peer through thick bars to see outside—and enjoyed the view of the beautiful gardens that surrounded the house.
 

I slept well that night, feeling safe and secure in this house that seemed isolated from reality.

The next morning Nick asked Billy and me to meet with him in his office. Wondering what news he might have, I walked with Billy down the hall and into the large book-lined room. Nick sat behind his desk, staring at a computer. When we walked in he smiled.

“Come see this.” He motioned for us to come around and look at the screen with him.

I looked over his shoulder at the webpage he had up. It was the video that I had recorded on my camera.

“See how many views there are?” Nick said, wonderment in his voice. “It’s gone viral already, and it’s only been out since yesterday afternoon.” He turned and smiled at me. “What do you think about that?”

“I think it’s fantastic.”

“What are people saying about it?” Billy asked, focused on the effect it was having.

“I’ve read through some of the comments,” Nick said. “The theme seems to be how disgusted people are with what’s happening. There are even some people who have posted that the same types of thing happened to them, but they were warned not to tell anyone for fear of awful things happening to them or their families.”

“Have any of the news outlets picked up on it yet?” Billy asked.

“Not yet, but they can’t ignore it for long. There’s too much public outcry now.”

A feeling of satisfaction washed over me, and I knew what I’d gone through had made a difference.

“Please have a seat,” Nick asked us, and we sat on the couch as we had the day before. “Morgan, last night you told me that you’re going somewhere tomorrow. Are you still planning on that?”

I glanced at Billy, who looked at me with a half-smile, then I looked back at Nick. “Yes, absolutely.”

“Is it something you can postpone?”

I shook my head. “No way. No.”

He sighed.

“Why?” Billy asked. “What’s wrong.”

“With the release of this video and the reaction to it, the Enforcers will be out looking for you, Morgan. And they’ll be more determined than ever to capture you.”

My heart skipped a beat at his statement. After arriving here and feeling so safe, I’d put the Enforcers out of my mind and had somehow thought going to the tunnel would just be a formality to getting home.

Billy lifted my hand and placed it in his. “You should stay, Morgan. It’s too risky.”

I yanked my hand away, angry at him for suggesting such a thing, although I knew he was right—at least about the risk. “You know I can’t.”

Confusion clouded Nick’s face. “Where is it you need to go? Why can’t it wait?”

My gaze shot to Nick. “I’m sorry, but I can’t tell you.”

He seemed to accept that—after all, he lived in a world of secrets. “Will you be alone?”

“I’m going to take her there,” Billy said, practically before Nick had finished asking.

I held back a smile.

“Good, good,” Nick said. “Well, if you’re determined to go, then there’s nothing I can do to stop you.”

I was glad to hear that—it hadn’t occurred to me that he would try to stop me.

“Is there anything I can do to help you get to this mystery destination safely?” he asked.

“Yes, actually.” Billy grinned. “Do you have a motorcycle I can borrow?”

Nick laughed. “I’m sure I can find one for you to use. Anything else?”

“A few other things,” I said. “Do you have a GPS device I can borrow?”

“Of course. What else?”

I glanced at Billy. “A hatchet and a couple of flashlights.”

Nick’s eyebrows went up and I could tell he was trying to hold back his questions.

He looked at Billy, who nodded, then said, “Okay. Is there anything else?”

“Just a bit of food and water, and perhaps a backpack. And if I can use your computer for an hour or so.”

“Sounds like you’re going on quite an adventure.”

“You have no idea,” Billy said.

I elbowed him in the side and he laughed.

“I’ll see about getting the items you requested, and you can use my computer.” He left then and Billy and I spent the next hour pinpointing the GPS coordinates for the tunnel as well as the hut. With both of us searching, and having found them once before, it took less time to find everything this time. We wrote the coordinates down, ready to program them in to the GPS device once Nick gave it to us.

I also asked Nick if he knew a hairdresser who could come over and dye my hair back to its natural color. He invited a woman named Paula to come over. She was tall and had beautiful hair, and she seemed much more experienced than Brynn had been. First she had to bleach the old dye out of my hair, then she added back a color that seemed close to my natural color. I looked in the mirror and besides my hair being shorter, I looked a lot more like my old self.

Billy and I spent the rest of the day hanging out and enjoying one another’s company. Neither one of us tried to change the other’s mind about going or staying, but when Nick handed me the backpack with the requested items, I not only felt the weight of the objects, but the weight of leaving. Once I went back through the wormhole or portal, or whatever it was that had brought me here, I didn’t think I’d be able to come back even if I wanted to.

This wouldn’t be see you later, it would be good-bye. Forever.

Chapter Thirty-Seven

After telling Billy and Nick good-night, I got ready for bed and climbed between the covers, staring at the ceiling. I was so excited for morning to arrive and to finally be able to get home. My thoughts wandered and I wondered how the actual transition into the other world would happen. I had no idea, but thoughts of that led me to thoughts of the other Morgan. I couldn’t just let her show up in this world where Enforcers were determined to catch her, without giving her some kind of warning.

I slipped out of bed and went to a desk tucked in a corner. It didn’t take long to find a sheet of paper and a pen. I sat at the desk and wrote her a letter, detailing all of the things that had happened to me since I’d gotten here. I even told her how it had happened—I knew I would be curious if I were her.
 

I laughed softly.
I was her
. Just an alternate version. The letter was long, but I hoped it would keep her safe. I folded it into thirds and put it in an envelope, then sealed it and wrote her name on the front.
 

I’d give it to Billy and ask him to give it to her. When the switch happened, I could only assume she’d be in the same place she’d be in the other world—namely, at or near the house in Fox Run.
 

Suddenly exhausted, I climbed into bed and slept soundly until morning. When the rays of the sun woke me, I was eager to get up and get going. After showering, I met Billy in the kitchen.

“You still want to do this?” he asked as he ate.

“You know I do.” The anticipation and excitement had killed my appetite, but I managed to eat some fruit. It was just the two of us in the kitchen, so I pulled out the envelope and handed it to him.

He picked it up and read the name scrawled across the front. “Morgan.” He looked at me. “What’s this for?”

“After I get to the tunnel, I need you to look for the other Morgan…”

“Wait, who?”
 

Since he didn’t necessarily believe my story, it wasn’t surprising that he’d never thought about the Morgan that came from this world. “When I travelled through the portal or whatever it was, and arrived in this world, the Morgan who
came
from this world evidently disappeared.”

He looked at me like I had gone completely crazy—like maybe the torture Holly had put me through had pushed me over the edge.

I smiled and rolled my eyes, knowing I was perfectly sane. “Anyway, when I go back through the portal to where I came from, the other Morgan will most likely come back to this world and she’ll be in danger.”

He sat back, like he was starting to get it.

“I need you to find her, bring her back here, and give her this letter. It will explain everything.”

He laughed. “And you think she’ll just willingly come with me? She’ll have no idea who I am.”

I’d thought of that too. “True, but she’s got to know that something weird happened. She won’t know
how
it happened, just that it did.”

“That still doesn’t solve my problem. How do I convince her to go with me?”

“She knows how
this
world works. If you tell her that the Enforcers are after her and that you need to get her to safety, hopefully she’ll go with you.”

“Why can’t I just give her the letter first? That will explain everything.”

I sighed, worried that this wouldn’t work. “It’s kind of long. I don’t like the idea of you guys sitting there where the Enforcers can find you while she reads it.”

“That brings up another question. Where am I going to find her?”

“I think she’ll be somewhere near my house in Fox Run. You remember that woman who screamed at us right after we got back from the hut?”

He nodded.

“That was my house. She’s the one who moved in.”

“Oh.”

“It’s Sunday, so the other Morgan will probably be somewhere around home. At least that’s where I usually was on Sundays.”

“You know you sound nuts, right?”

I rolled my eyes. “Well, yeah. But that doesn’t make it not true.” I looked at him and he didn’t seem convinced. “Will you please just do this?”

He sighed. “Sure. Whatever.”

I knew the truth would be evident soon enough. “Thank you.”

Before we left, I said good-bye to Nick. I thought about telling him “I” might be back later and “I” might look a little different—the other Morgan most likely still had long hair—but decided it was just too complicated and Billy could handle it when it happened, since he would be here.

As I thought about Billy staying in this world, I felt something die in me. He was the only person in this world or mine who knew the truth, and once I crossed through the portal I would never see him again. He was the only person who knew exactly what I had been through. He was my best friend and was just starting to become something more, but all I would have of him were my memories.

“Ready?” Billy asked.

I hefted the backpack over my shoulders and stared at him a moment. Finally I nodded. “As ready as I’ll ever be.”

We headed out to the driveway where a motorcycle waited. It wasn’t as sleek looking as the one we’d used before, but that didn’t matter. We just needed something that would get us to Fox Run.

We put on the helmets and climbed on the bike, then Billy started it up and off we went. As we travelled, I kept an eye out for Enforcers. I didn’t think we stood out, but it still made me nervous to be out in the open.
 

An hour after we’d left Nick’s place, we arrived at Fox Run. Billy knew the way and before long we were parked down the street from my house—at least what was my house in the other world. It was mid-morning on a Sunday and the neighborhood was quiet. We climbed off the motorcycle and took off our helmets.

“It’s not too late to change your mind,” Billy said as he set his helmet on the bike.

This is what I’d been working toward ever since arriving in this world, so changing my mind was not even a remote option. I looked at him and smiled, so happy to be on the verge of getting home, but sad to have to tell him good-bye. “I’m not going to change my mind.”