The Other Morgan (Parallel Series, Book 5)
Page 1
The Other Morgan
Parallel Series, Book 5
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
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.
The Other Morgan (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 The Other Morgan 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 Wilkerson
Marie Madison
Marjorie St. John
Michelle Lynne Rivera
Robyn Maitland
Sandy Shepard
Shantel Anderson
Tiffini Le Jeune
Traci Sessions
Zach Fruit
Zoe Fruit
And last, but certainly not least, a huge thank you to my spectacular editor, Annette Fruit.
Book Description
The Other Morgan is a follow-up novel to Gone, Imprisoned, and Hunted and is meant to be read after you’ve read those books.
Morgan Campbell has always followed the rules—regular weigh-ins, only eating what she’s supposed to—all in an effort to guarantee she’s never noticed by the Enforcers, the people who make sure all citizens obey the law. So when a boy she’s never met before tells her that Enforcers are hunting for her and that she needs to go with him, she doesn’t hesitate.
To her horror, she discovers that another girl named Morgan—a girl from a parallel world—has spent two months impersonating her and has made enemies in high places.
When Morgan is taken in by Nick, the leader of a resistance group, she is forced to come to grips with the destruction that has become her life. Not only are Enforcers eager to capture her, but everyone believes she is the one who has suffered at the hands of the Enforcers and then escaped not once, but twice, from the Federally Assisted Thinning centers where the Morgan from the parallel world was locked up.
Can she get her life back? Or will she find herself paying for the mistakes of the girl who pretended to be her?
The Other Morgan 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 One
“This has to be a joke,” I muttered as I finished reading the letter for the third time. The lines of neat handwriting blurred as I thought about the boy who’d handed me the letter earlier.
Billy. That was the name he’d given me when he’d intercepted me at the edge of the forest near my old house in Fox Run. And now I was sitting on the couch in the home of a complete stranger. Was I crazy? Why had I gone with a boy I’d barely met?
Enforcers. That’s why.
When Billy had told me that Enforcers were after me, I’d panicked. Who wouldn’t? Enforcers were a nightmare—always looking for a reason to harass you, happy to drag you away from all that you knew to lock you up. My own father was locked up in a Federally Assisted Thinning center.
When Billy had grabbed me by the arm and told me I had to come with him now, I’d hardly let my mind travel past the thought that Enforcers were after me before I’d leapt onto th
e back of his motorcycle and hung on for dear life as we’d raced away from my old neighborhood.
Now I was in the home of a man named Nick, and Billy was gone. He’d handed me the letter, sat me in the living room, pulled Nick aside, and that was the last I’d seen of him—or anyone. I’d been on my own for the last half hour and my mind was going in a million directions. A short time before, I’d heard Billy’s motorcycle revving up, then driving away, so I knew he’d left.
Putting aside the bizarre information in the letter, I had my own peculiar occurrences to sort out. I carefully folded the letter into thirds and placed it back in its envelope, then stared at the blank television screen hanging on the wall across from me as I thought about what I’d experienced.
I’d been staying at my friend Rochelle Candee’s cabin when she and I had argued about some stupid thing or another and I’d decided to take a walk by myself. It had been right after breakfast when I’d entered the forest with a bottle of water and one granola bar. I’d been walking for about an hour and had just turned around to head back when dizziness had overcome me and I’d closed my eyes.
To my shock, when I opened them, the previously dry ground was covered with several inches of snow, and the pleasant morning air had become chilled. Confused, I decided I better get back to the Candee’s cabin, and I began walking. Then, even though I thought I was retracing my steps, with my lousy sense of direction I became disoriented and nothing looked familiar.
Afraid I was going to become even more lost, I sat on a log for a while and tried to figure out what could have happened. When no good answer came to mind, I knew my only option was to keep trying to find my way back to the Candee’s cabin.
I walked on, but when I recognized an unusual tree that I’d passed a short time before, I realized I was going in circles. Trying a different direction, I strode on. A while later I had another bout of dizziness. Wondering if I was getting dehydrated—I’d finished my one bottle of water by then—I sat on a boulder and hung my head, then closed my eyes as I waited for the dizziness to pass. When I felt better, I’d been stunned to see that the snow had melted. Or vanished. I wasn’t sure which. All I knew was the snow which had been there moments before was suddenly gone.
Astonished, and more than a little perplexed, I stood and continued in the direction I’d been going before the dizzy spell had forced me to stop. Eventually I saw the backs of houses through the trees and I headed towards those. To my complete and utter surprise, I recognized my old house in Fox Run.
Mystified as to how I’d gotten back to my old neighborhood—my family and I lived in Timber Hills by then, and the Candee’s cabin was at least forty-five minutes away from Fox Run—I stumbled out of the forest and towards the backs of the houses.
That’s when I ran into Billy. I’d never seen him before that moment, but when he looked at me, recognition lit his eyes. Even so, his mouth seemed to hang open in shock.
“Morgan?” he asked.
I wondered how this complete stranger knew my name, but since I was still trying to comprehend how I’d ended up in Fox Run, I quickly pushed aside any new questions. Instead, I nodded.
He grabbed my arm, and with an urgency that pierced me, he said, “You have to come with me. Right now.”
I balked at going anywhere with him, even taking a step back towards the forest, but that’s when he told me that Enforcers were hunting me. Hunting. That was the word he used. Not searching, or looking. But hunting. Like I was some sort of prey.
“Enforcers?” I wanted to ask why they were after me as I’d always been careful to follow the rules. It’s true that sometimes I forgot to weigh myself, but Mom had always gotten a text when that happened and then she’d remind me to get on the scale. I’d even gotten a waiver for the few days I’d be at Rochelle’s cabin. Maybe they rejected it and I didn’t know. Maybe they’re going to take me to a F.A.T. center for punishment. Just like they took Dad.
Panic exploded within me and I nodded. “Okay.”
“Over here,” Billy said, then he rushed over to a motorcycle parked near my old house.
My heart slammed against my ribs as I swiftly followed, and after a brief glance at my old house, I put on the helmet he handed me, then climbed on behind him.
When we reached the house I sat in now, Billy climbed off the motorcycle, then helped me off. As I handed him my helmet, alarm bells rang in my mind. I didn’t know where I was or what was happening.
“Come with me,” Billy said.
I stepped back. “Where am I? What’s going on? Why did you bring me here?”
He reached into his pocket and pulled out the letter, then held it out to me. “This will explain everything.”
Confused, but curious, I took the letter and followed him into the house. He left me in the living room and I read the letter.
Now, still having trouble processing the message and grasping who’d written it, I slid it out of the envelope, unfolded the sheets of paper, and began reading it again.
Dear Morgan —
That sounds so strange as I’m Morgan and it feels like I’m writing this letter to myself. In a way I guess I am. I hardly know where to begin, but I know you must have a ton of questions.
Let me start by saying how sorry I am that I screwed up your life. Honestly, it wasn’t on purpose, and I hope you’ll be able to forgive me. But at a minimum I think what I’ve experienced may help change the way things are in your world.
I continued reading the letter from this person who claimed to be a version of me from a parallel world. She explained how she’d stumbled into my world, gotten herself locked up in a F.A.T. center, made enemies in high places, escaped their grasp, and was now going to attempt to go back to her world.
Evidently she made it, because I was here, and she was nowhere to be found. Which meant I would have to clean up the mess she’d made of my life. I wanted to wad up her letter and throw it across the room, but there was information in that letter that I might need, so I folded it, and tucked it into the envelope.
“Do you have any questions?” Nick asked as he walked into the room.
Do I have any questions? Like, what is a parallel world? Had I actually been in one? My mind whirled as I tried to digest the information in the letter. Information that seemed too incredible to be true—but it also perfectly explained what I’d experienced.
“I don’t have all the answers,” Nick said as he sat in a chair next to the couch, then he laughed. “I just barely learned about this parallel world business myself.”
Tearing my gaze away from the envelope where I’d placed the letter, I looked at him. He just learned about it? “What do you mean?”
“I mean, this morning Billy and Morgan . . .” He laughed. “Not you, but . . .” He shook his head. “Anyway, they left this morning, and then Billy came back with you. He told me a crazy story about a parallel world, which I never would have believed.” His mouth turned up into a half-smile. “Well, except here you are.”
“Here I am?” I still didn’t know what he meant.
“Yes. You’re not the same girl named Morgan that I spent time with over the last few days.”
Maybe I was the same girl. Maybe I just had amnesia and couldn’t remember writing the letter. Oddly, the idea that I’d completely lost my memory brightened my mood, as if that was a better alternative than what the letter told me. “How can you be sure I’m not the same girl?”
“For one thing, she had short hair. And it was dark. Morgan requested that a friend of mine color it back to her natural color.”
I touched my long hair, then tucked a loose strand behind my ear. It felt strange to hear him talk about this other-world version of me so casually. Like she actually existed.
“Besides, there was something about her,” he continued. “A confidence. Like she’d figured things out.” He shook his head. “No offense, but you’re not her.”
Chapter Two
The admiration in Nick’s voice for this other gir
l was obvious, but rather than feeling envious or inadequate, it made me think I could be like her. After all, wasn’t she just a different version of me? Why couldn’t I be like that? Confident and sure of myself.
Because I wasn’t, that’s why. I frightened easily. How else to explain how Billy—a boy I’d never met—had been able to effortlessly convince me to go with him. Of course my willingness to go somewhere with a stranger should have frightened me too. And it did. But my fear of the Enforcers was ingrained from childhood, and they scared me even more.
“Can I see my family?” I asked. The letter had explained that they were in a safe place, but I needed to see for myself that they were okay—that Dad was out of the F.A.T. center.
“Of course.” He smiled. “Billy told me about the letter Morgan wrote to you. It explained what’s going on?”
Torn between believing what the letter said and believing that this was all a massive joke some unknown person was playing on me, I didn’t answer right away. I had no idea why someone would play a joke like this on me—or who would think of such an elaborate prank—but I had to admit, if it was indeed a hoax, it was the most clever one I’d ever heard of.
“Whoever wrote this,” I said with a smile as I held up the envelope, “is very imaginative.” Maybe if I called him on it, Nick would laugh and admit that yes, this was just an elaborate stunt that some new reality show had put together to see how gullible teenage girls could be. I knew I was a good target for that, and I suddenly wondered if they’d picked me ahead of time, or if I was a random target.
I could see it now. Some producer telling his team that they would walk up to an unsuspecting girl and tell her that the Enforcers were after her, then they would bring her to this house, hand her a letter telling her that another world’s version of her had been here and screwed up her life, then see what she would do about it.