Hunted (Parallel Series, Book 3) (Parallel Trilogy)

by Christine Kersey

  “Do you have any idea what it costs to house people like you?”

  So that’s what this was about. I wondered if money was becoming an issue.

  “It’s bad enough when we have to take in the delinquents, but when someone has no control over what they eat or how they take care of their body and their family thinks we can magically fix them, well they don’t seem to realize that the cost is much higher than what we make them pay.”

  “How much does it cost?”

  Her eyebrows shot upwards. “Do you really think I’m going to answer that?”

  Evidently not. “Isn’t my mom helping to pay for this?”

  “Families are required to pay a certain amount, but do you really think that covers all the costs?”

  I assumed that was a rhetorical question and kept my mouth shut.

  She sighed dramatically. “The sooner you can get yourself under control, the better for everyone. You’re actually being quite selfish by coming here.”

  My mouth fell open at this. Did she think us campers liked being here? We didn’t make the rules that put us over some government approved number, requiring us to come. My complete shock at her attitude made me bold. “Maybe if the government changed the rules about weight, the issue of housing us would disappear.”

  Now her mouth fell open. “Didn’t you just pledge to follow the rules? Do you take that pledge so lightly? The rules are there for a reason. When people are overweight, the burden of healthcare for those people overwhelms our healthcare system, making it unaffordable for everyone. Do you really believe it’s fair for someone who takes care of himself to have to pay extra for someone who refuses to do so?”

  Her question reminded me of the counseling sessions I was forced to endure. I also remembered that she wasn’t happy if we didn’t give her the answers she wanted to hear. “No, I don’t think that’s fair.”

  “Then you need to re-think your last suggestion about changing the rules. Wouldn’t you agree?”

  I knew the answer she wanted to hear. “Yes.”

  She glanced at her watch. “I have another appointment in a few minutes so let’s go over the rules and your schedule.”

  About time. The rules were the same as before except for one addition that I found very interesting. We were required to eat the power bars that were given to us at each meal. I wondered what Jack and Dani would think of that.

  “Now, here’s your schedule.” She handed me a sheet of paper.

  DAILY SCHEDULE FOR HANNAH JACOBS

  7:00 – 7:30 Breakfast

  7:30 – 11:00 Work assignment

  11:00 – 12:00 Exercise or work on homework

  12:00 – 12:30 Lunch

  12:30 – 3:00 Work assignment

  3:00 – 5:00 Classes

  5:00 – 5:30 Dinner

  5:30 – 8:00 Exercise or work on homework

  8:00 − 9:00 Nutritional counseling - Room 908

  9:00 – 10:00 Exercise or work on homework

  10:00 Lights out

  My schedule was just as I remembered from before—except instead of going to a counseling group, I had to go to a nutritional counseling group. And I assumed my work assignment would be bathroom duty again.

  “Go back to the waiting area. Someone will come get you.”

  As I walked to the waiting area I turned off the camera, then I sat in one of the chairs and wondered if Kyle would be my work supervisor again.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Katy came and got me a few minutes later and I followed her to the elevators. “How’d it go?”

  “Okay.”

  “What did you think of Mrs. Reynolds?” She wore a lopsided smile.

  “I think she really is that bad.”

  “I’m going to tell her you said that.”

  I looked at her, frightened.

  She laughed. “Not really, Hannah.”

  I smiled, but on the inside I wondered if she really would.

  “I don’t even need to check your work assignment to know you’re assigned to cleaning duties,” she said as we rode the elevator upwards.

  “That sucks.”

  She laughed. “All the new kids get that job. Some actually like it and some get stuck with it.”

  “Can I change to a different job?”

  “If your supervisor likes the way you work, he might recommend you for another job.”

  We got off the elevator on my floor and walked down the hall. A moment later we stood in the doorway of a supply room identical to the one I’d been in during my last stay. And there was Kyle, my old supervisor.

  “Kyle, this is Hannah.”

  “Hi there, Hannah.” He walked toward me. “I’m glad you’re joining our little crew.”

  “Hi.”

  “I’ll take it from here, Katy.”

  “See you around,” she said to me, then she left.

  Kyle gave me the list of things to clean and showed me the cart I’d be using, then sent me off to start. Apparently there was one other girl who cleaned this floor, so it wouldn’t all be on me. He suggested I find her and see what still needed to be done, so I headed down the hall toward the nearest bathroom. I found her in the second bathroom, washing the mirror. “Are you Jessica?” I asked, using the name Kyle had given me.

  She looked at me in the mirror, then turned around. “Yes. Who are you?”

  “I’m Hannah.”

  She set the bottle of glass cleaner on the counter. “Kyle didn’t tell me you would be coming.”

  No, I thought. My arrival was kind of a surprise to everyone. “Well, here I am.”

  “This job sucks, but at least now there will be two of us to do it.”

  I nodded. “What’s left to be done?”

  “I’m almost done with this bathroom, but if you can clean bathroom four, I can do the vacuuming.”

  “Okay.”

  She turned back to the mirror and looked at me in the reflection. “Do you know what you’re supposed to do?”

  I held up the sheet Kyle had given me. “I can figure it out.”

  “Good.” Then she turned back to her task.

  I went to the bathroom that hadn’t been cleaned yet and got to work.

  Soon it was time to stop and go to class. I dropped off my cart, then took the elevator to the classroom floor. I went straight to the office to get my schedule and my supplies—this time I knew they were supposed to give me my books—then headed to class. The first class was English. When I walked through the door class was just getting underway. I scanned the room for an empty seat and was surprised to see my sister. And next to her was an open desk. My heart pounded with a mix of fear and happiness. Fear that she’d recognize me and shout out my name in front of everyone, happiness that I might have the chance to talk to her.

  “Why are you late?” the teacher asked, clearly irritated.

  I immediately remembered this teacher—Billy had given her the nickname The Gray Witch—and I remembered how she’d hit me in the back of the head with a textbook when I’d fallen asleep in her class.

  “I’m new.” I handed her my late pass.

  She snatched it out of my hand and threw it in the trash. “Find a seat.”

  I went directly to the empty seat next to Amy. I glanced at her, but she ignored me, which kind of hurt my feelings. I knew it was dumb, but she was my sister and I was here because of her. I knew it was good she hadn’t recognized me, but I wanted her to somehow know I was there for her.

  As the teacher droned on, I thought about what I would say to Amy to somehow hint that I was there to help her.

  “You there,” the teacher said. “You in the glasses.”

  I looked at her and realized she was talking to me and I’d been totally daydreaming.

  “Come to the front of the class and in your own words, explain what I just said.”

  A wave of fear washed over me. I had no idea what she’d said and I really, really didn’t want to stand in front of the class and make a complete fool of
myself. All eyes were on me and a blush rose on my cheeks.

  “Well?”

  “I’m sorry, but I don’t remember what you said.”

  Her eyes narrowed. “You mean you weren’t paying attention. That is unacceptable in my class. You are to write a three page paper on how you can be a better student.”

  My eyes widened, but I kept my mouth shut.

  “I want it at the beginning of our next class.”

  I just stared at her, too afraid to say anything. Finally she looked away from me, and I released a sigh. When class was over, I turned to Amy. “Hi, I’m Hannah.” When I spoke to her, I made my voice a little higher—I didn’t want her to recognize it.

  She looked at me, fear on her face.

  “What’s your name?” I asked.

  “Don’t talk to me,” she said in a soft voice. “You might get me in trouble.”

  “But class is over.” I motioned to the kids who were leaving.

  “Mrs. Needham doesn’t like you.”

  “So?” Who cared if the English teacher liked me or not.

  “If she sees me talking to you, she might start picking on me.”

  Her logic caught me off-guard, and before I had a chance to come up with a good answer, she darted out of the room. Disappointed I hadn’t been able to talk to her, I left the room and headed to my next class—Math. I got through that class without incident and when class was over I dropped my backpack off in my room and headed to the cafeteria.

  After I gathered my food I turned to the room and saw Lori and the rest of the girls already at the table. My gaze went to the table where Amy had sat earlier, but she wasn’t there yet. Almost reluctantly, I headed to Lori’s table and sat in the empty seat next to Emily.

  “How was your first day?” she asked.

  “Okay, I guess.” I scooped up some of the vegetable soup and began eating, but hardly tasted it. My first day had been less than stellar and I was feeling less confident about this whole mission. As I ate, I thought about my top priority—getting Amy out of here—and I knew it was up to me to make that happen. But it wouldn’t happen without the help of Jack and Dani and they would only help if I got the information they wanted. I slipped on the persona of Hannah Jacobs and turned to Emily. “How long did you say you’ve been here?”

  She pushed her wavy auburn hair over her shoulder and adjusted her glasses. “About five weeks.”

  “Oh.” That meant she’d arrived around the time Billy and I were planning our escape. “When do you get to leave?”

  “I have to lose about ten more pounds, so I guess in about six weeks.” She paused as she took a bite of her food. “What about you? How much weight do you have to lose?”

  “Thirty pounds.”

  “That’s a lot,” Lori said from across the table, obviously listening to our conversation. “How long do you think it will take?”

  Amy walked past our table and I followed her with my eyes.

  “It’s rude to stare, Hannah,” Lori said.

  I wanted to say something back to her that would put her in her place, but didn’t think Hannah Jacobs would do something like that. Instead, I pretended I hadn’t heard her and turned to Emily. “What’s your favorite exercise equipment to use?”

  “I like the stationary bicycle. What about you?”

  “The elliptical machine.”

  “Yeah, that one’s not too bad.”

  “Hannah,” Lori said. “You didn’t answer my question.”

  My hackles rose, but I continued to ignore her—it was kind of loud in the cafeteria so it wasn’t unrealistic that I wouldn’t have heard her. “The treadmill’s okay too.” I kept my focus on Emily.

  “Except when they make you run on it.”

  I nodded, then felt a sharp pinch on my shoulder and was startled to see Lori standing behind me.

  She leaned toward me and whispered fiercely in my ear. “Don’t ignore me when I’m talking to you.”

  As much as she tried to intimidate me, I just didn’t feel afraid of her. It wasn’t like before with Beth, who loved to bully me. I’d been through too much to allow a queen bee to sting me with her attitude. Even so, I was playing a role and if I wanted to fly under the radar, I had to play the part of the new girl who was uncertain about her surroundings. “I’m really sorry, Lori.” I pinched my leg as I looked at her, giving me a genuine look of discomfort. “I guess I didn’t hear you.”

  She squinted, like she didn’t know if she should believe me or not. “Don’t let it happen again.”

  “I won’t. I promise.”

  She went back to her place—ignoring me, I might add—and I ate the rest of my food, including the two power bars. When I saw Amy getting up from her table and walking toward the trash cans, I quickly gathered my things and got up too. Hurrying over to where we put our trays, I got there just as she finished dumping hers off. I did the same and caught up to her as she headed toward the elevator.

  “Hi,” I said, again making my voice sound different than it normally did.

  She barely glanced at me. “Hi.”

  “What’s your name?”

  She snorted. “Didn’t your friend tell you?”

  “Who?”

  “I guess her name’s Lori.”

  Obviously Amy was aware of the things Lori—and probably lots of other people—were saying about her. Heavy guilt swept over me at what my mistakes were putting her through. “Yeah, she said you’re Amy Campbell.”

  “Did she send you over to pretend to be my friend so I’d share my innermost feelings with you so she could make fun of me?”

  “No.” I could see that having Lori as a roommate was going to make this more difficult. How could I get Amy to trust me without revealing I was her sister? And doing that would be too risky. It wasn’t that I didn’t trust her—after all she’d been through I didn’t think she would tell anyone—but what if they found out she knew and didn’t report me? Would that put her in the spotlight for committing a crime of her own instead of just being the stand-in for me? I couldn’t do that to her.

  “Then what do you want? You just got here, right?”

  We stopped in front of the elevator. “Yeah.”

  She waved her card in front of the reader. “Then why would you want to be my friend?” She turned and looked directly at me. “I’m a freak here.” Her eyes filled with tears. “You don’t want to be friends with a freak, do you?”

  The elevator door slid open and she stepped on. Her reaction surprised me so much that I stayed where I was. As the doors slid closed with her inside, I saw a tear slip down her cheek. Her sadness and misery broke my heart. I had to get her out as soon as possible.

  Chapter Eighteen

  I waved my card in front of the reader and rode the next elevator to my floor. I thought about Amy and how awful her life was right now. The only way I could fix things was to get the information Jack and Dani wanted. As soon as they got what they wanted, they’d get me and Amy out of here—at least that was what they’d promised. So for now, I had to gather the data they required—proof that we were being drugged. How else to change the mind of the masses who only thought we came here to get help losing weight? They thought it was all benign and innocent—just the government assisting us in having a healthier lifestyle. After all, F.A.T. stood for Federally Assisted Thinning. What could be bad about that?

  It was up to me to show the world what was really going on here. And right now that meant going to the gym and showing how they treated us. But would people actually care? Or would they feel the treatment was justified? After all, we were overweight. We didn’t deserve to be treated with respect, right? I couldn’t do anything about anyone’s attitude. All I could do was provide video evidence of what was happening at Camp Willowmoss.

  I went to my room and changed into my workout clothes, then headed to the gym. As the elevator took me down to the third floor where the gym was located, my heart began to race. Austin—Mr. Muscles—would be there. The last t
ime I’d seen him, he’d been in his office with my roommate, Alyx, and she’d been telling him she was pregnant. She really wasn’t, but that was the ploy she’d used to get his key card for me, which Billy and I used on the night of our escape.

  The reason I’d gone to his office that night was because I’d made a deal with him to take Alyx’s place when she left. At the time it had been the right thing to do—I’d had no intention of following through—but it was the only way he’d agree to get back together with Alyx, which meant it was the only way for me to get a staff member’s key card.

  But now, knowing I’d have to face him in the gym, my stress level rose. He wouldn’t know it was me, but I knew how he really was—a bully to those who were weaker than him—and I couldn’t stand him.

  I arrived at the gym and checked in, then grabbed a towel and went to the warm-up area. A couple of other kids were warming up, but no one I knew. After stretching my muscles I got on the treadmill and started jogging. It had been a month since I’d last worked out and in that time I’d put on some weight so it was a lot harder to run than I remembered.

  “Pick up the pace.”

  I turned and saw Austin standing next to my treadmill and my heart rate skyrocketed, but I managed to turn the camera on my glasses on.

  He looked at a device in his hand then looked at me. “Hannah, right?”

  I looked at him and nodded.

  “You’re new, aren’t you?”

  I was struggling to catch my breath so I nodded again.

  He grinned. “One thing you need to understand from the start, Hannah. This is my gym and you do what I say.”

  “Okay,” I panted.

  He glanced at the device again. “Since this is your first day, I’ll cut you a little slack, but when you’re in my gym, you better be working your butt off.” He glanced at my rear end, then laughed. “And you need to work that butt off.”

  The redness in my face increased and I felt the familiar humiliation that I’d learned to expect. I wondered what Jack and Dani would think of the insult. Probably not much. Even though it made me mad, most likely no one else would care about it. I didn’t respond to his insult, but just kept jogging. Finally he walked away, so I turned the camera off. The battery would only last for ten hours, so I wanted to make each recorded minute count.