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AN: Hopefully the spacing is better now. Enjoy.
"Miss Parker, I think you should come with me."
After the revelation from her father, Miss Parker had fled to the elevator outside of his office. Watching the glass button glow instantly after she pressed it, she turned to face the athletic sweeper, Wille.
"Well maybe you need to alter the way you think."
"I have strict orders, Miss Parker."
"From who?" she said in an innocent voice with her head slightly cocked to the left.
"Miss Parker please come with me immediatly," Wille insisted.
The elevator doors parted with an echoing bing. Miss Parker stepped into the small room and turned to see Willie reaching for his gun, but she was quicker. Pulling her 9 mm out of its holster, she flicked the safety off and pulled the trigger all in one smooth motion. A shot echoed through the corridors as Wille collapsed to the floor clutching his right leg.
"I don't have time for this." Miss Parker proclaimed as the doors closed.
*****
Sydney sat in his office reading Broots' report on Jarod's latest clue. It looked like another dead end. Whether this was good or bad news, Sydney wasn't sure. He wanted Jarod to be free, but he was concerned about how long his prodigy would last out in the real world. Although it was dangerous out there, he knew The Centre was an even greater threat to the young Pretender. God only knew what would happen if Jarod was captured. At the mercy of Lyle, Cox, and Raines, Sydney wasn't sure if Jarod could bounce back like he always did. This time would be different. Security would be tighter, punishment would be increasingly severe, and he was certain that there would be plenty of evil experiments that would involve his incredible pupil. Sydney was shaken out of his thought process as his phone alerted him to an insistent caller.
"This is Sydney."
"Have you ever eaten a S'more Sydney?" responded the familiar voice of his escaped prodigy.
"Hello Jarod. And yes, I believe I have tried one on occasion. Why do you ask?"
"Well, a chatty teenager I recently helped named Jessica, showed me how to make one. They are quite intriquing,"
Sydney could hear chewing on the other side, "And symbolic, too."
"How are they symbolic, Jarod?"
"You have to work at the crunchy outside to get to the sweet inside just like life. Work hard to get that sweet reward."
"I never thought about it like that." 'Then again who does, but Jarod?' he added in his own mind.
"I hope we all get our payment eventually."
"As do I, Jarod."
Suddenly, Sydney heard a gunshot and a yelp of pain. It seemed to be coming from the elevator on the right.
"Sydney! What was that?!" Jarod demanded.
"I'm not sure Jarod. It sounded like a handgun. The only one I know who would carry one that small is- is Miss Parker!"
Sydney said as he replayed his thoughts to Jarod.
"Go see what happened Sydney. I'll call you back soon."
"Alright Jar-" But the line was already dead.
Sydney raced out of his office and ran down the corridor pretty fast for a man of his age. When he reached the elevator, he saw the doors closing and a flash of brunette hair. Miss Parker was just leaving. Hearing small groans of agony below him Sydney knelt down onto the cool marble floor next to the injured sweeper. "Willie, what happened?"
"Miss Parker refused to come with me and then she drew her weapon and shot me! I was only following orders."
"Hmmm. I'm sure you were," Sydney muttered. Pulling out his cell phone, he called the Renewal Wing and explained that there was an injured sweeper on SL 21. Sighing, he hoped Miss Parker knew what she was doing, whatever that was.
*****
Sinking into the corner of the tiny elevator, Miss Parker clutched the silver railings until her knuckles turned pale. Opening her eyes slightly she caught a glance of two bullet holes above her. Closing her eyes once again, she thought about her mother. She would have wanted her to leave this place years ago, but better late than never. Not quite sure of what to do, she searched the walls as if they held all of her answers and maybe a map to paradise. Almost to ground level, she took a deep breath, smoothed her slacks, tucked her hair back and straightened her back to one of control. The doors opened, revealing a group of about two dozen computer technicians and sweepers. Keeping a straight cold face, she swept past them all and slid through the double doors toward the rest of the world. The cool night air whipped at her face. She had never noticed the fact that their were no lights between the Centre and its parking garage. Wondering if this was a plus or not, Miss Parker stalked toward her dark vehicle. Grasping the handle, she let go of a silent breath she hadn't even realized she had been holding.
"Not so fast, Sis," an unemotional voice whispered. Shuddering slightly at the chill in his voice, Parker turned to face her twin.
"I'm not in the mood, Lyle."
"Neither am I. You know the rules, and you broke them."
"All I want to do is go home and relax for once, but your damn sweeper got in my way!" Miss Parker protested.
"Right. Miss Parker, the greatest workaholic ever known, wanted to call it quits early tonight. And she found this so vitally important, that she decided to put a bullet in one of my best sweepers. I'll believe that as soon as you believe Mom commited suicide." Parker's face hardened as she thrusted Lyle up against her car and jammed her gun below his chin.
"Don't you dare ever speak of my mother in front of me again."
"Our mother," he replied.
"You just had to get in the way, Lyle," she said shaking her head as she did so. Flipping her gun vertically she made sure that Lyle would not be following her. The bullet penitrated his knee cap, and he hollered in pain. While he was distracted, she pulled his gun out, collected the bullets, and threw the remains into the darkest corner she could make out. Opening her car door, she sank into her tan leather seat in a cloud of relief. Before starting the ignition, Parker closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Pulling out of the parking space, her conscience reminded her not to run over Lyle as she fled for her life.
*****
Flinging her oak door open to her suttle home, Miss Parker rushed to her bedroom to grab a few things before setting off to- well wherever she was going. Whisking the closet doors open, she grabbed a few of her scarcly seen comfortable outfits.
"Don't forget shoes. Those heels will never do if you're going to be on the run," a familiar voice reminded her.
"Jarod! What the hell are you doing here!?" she demanded as she turned toward his dark figure. She threw some of her things including the clothes, some necessites, a folder full of her collection of Centre lies, and her silver-framed photo of her mother and the young girl she used to be.
"Well I figured you would need help. I am the master of the running-for-your-life game," Jarod replied matter-of-factly.
"I don't need your help, Jarod. How did you even know?"
"I was on the phone with Sydney when we heard you fire. I figured out the rest on my own."
"You're so intelligent," she remarked, "But in case you havn't realized this little tid bit, sweepers are going to be pounding my front door down any minute! And unless you have a wish to return to The Centre as well, I'll need you to let me handle this, alone!"
"No can do, Parker," Jarod replied as his right eyebrow rose in amusement. Suddenly, screeching of tires broke the sarcastic remark he was about to deliver. "I think you do, and will, because our guests have arrived!" He hopped off the bed and grabbed Parker's suitcase. Sliding the window open he ushered Parker to go first, but stopped when he noticed how frightened she looked. "Don't worry," he grinned, "This is the fun part. Come on Parker."
"I don't know why you think this is the fun part," she said as she slithered out the window. She caught her bag as Jarod threw it down before hopping out himself.
"Because now, we can laugh at how predictable and entertaining Lyle's ignorant sweepers really are. Follow me," he said as they tramped into the woods.
"Where are we going?" Parker asked.
"Shhhh. Just a minute."
She watched him in awe. For the first time, she was seeing how it was that Jarod manipulated her on each attempt to capture him. The sickening part was that it seemed so simple and easy for him. She watched the churning of details mixing together in his mind until she knew he had reached his conclusion. This felt like cheating before the end of the puzzle, but she realized that she had switched sides on this little game. And that was a scary thought. After about ten minutes of walking in silence, Jarod started pressing the indiglow button on his gold watch. Unless he was trying to alert all of the animals to their presence, Parker had no idea what he was doing.
"Jarod-"
"Hush Parker. We're almost there."
After another five minutes, she saw something flash at the bottom of a thick tree trunk. It was the reflection of Jarod's watch off of a small piece of reflective tape.
"Alright, Parker. We turn left here."
Five minutes passed and Jarod stopped and abruptly turned around. Miss Parker was still looking back for stray sweepers, so she ran right into him. Staring up at him in shock, she took a step back and said, "Well Wonderboy, looks like you knew what you were doing after all. Now I know how you got by me for all those years, pretty clever."
"Well, I'll take that as a compliment coming from you, Miss Parker. Come on, let's get out of here," Jarod replied as he opened the driver's door.
"Hey! Who says you get to drive?"
"I do, considering that you don't know where we're going."
Parker reluctantly gave in and sat in the passenger seat after throwing her bag into the back. The engine started and she looked around them seeing nothing but darkness. There was no way that they could drive out of here without knocking a tree or two down. The car backed up deeper and deeper back into the woods.
"Come on, let me take the wheel, Jarod. We're not going to get anywhere like this."
"Patience never was one of your greatest virtues, Parker," he answered as they pulled onto the highway. She let an exhasparated sigh flow into the air.
"So where exactly are we going Columbus?" she said after a few moments driven in silence.
"I'm not sure."
"What?! You wouldn't let me drive because I didn't know where we were going, and now you're 'not sure' where we are going," she sighed again and then added in a perky voice, "This is going to be such fun." Jarod chuckled under his breath.
"Where do you want to go, Miss Parker?"
"A place with a bed, a hotel. Preferably one that has earned some stars, Jarod. We are not going to one of those ratty dumps that you've dragged me through over the years."
"They hold some very nice and interesting people you know. Don't judge a book by its cover, Parker. I didn't with you."
"I'm not here for a morality lecture. If I had wanted one of those I could have hung around at The Centre a little longer for one of Frued's little intellectual talks."
"Well here's a hotel, Parker. Acceptable?"
After a careful look over she said, "As long as there is no beach behind it. I'm not in the mood to watch and/or talk about a sea of waves either."
Jarod smiled, opened the door, and set off to rent a room. Parker was two steps behind carrying her bag as they walked throught the doors.
"Yes, I'd like to rent a room please," Jarod began.
The clerk put down his magazine and took his glasses off as he inspected the two guests. It was as though he thought he needed to make sure they were trustworty of renting one of his rooms. He replied in a raspy voice, "Mmmm, what did you say there, son. I was reading."
"Umm yes. We'd like a room for the night."
"Oh, well I only have one room left so thats a good thing. You must be married."
Both of them looked at each other. Their eyes were laughing hysterically.
"Not hardly," Jarod replied, "We're just friends."
"What did you say, son. I think you were mumbling."
"We're just friends, sir," Jarod said loudly and clearly. Parker had turned her back to them and appeared to be coughing, but Jarod knew she was only stifling her laughter.
"Oh well, here you go," he said as he handed him a key, "Its room eight. I think." He paused and looked over his records. "Yes, room eight. Enjoy your stay."
"Thank you."
The two walked out and Parker burst out laughing. Her eyes were full of tears by the time they got to room eight. Jarod tried to unlock the door, but failed miserably.
"Let me do it," Parker said as she took the card and flicked it in and out again until the light turned green. One eyebrow rose mockingly.
"Oh be quiet, Parker. I could have done it."
"A genius just hates to lose," she said as she threw her bag onto the bed.
"Hey who says you get the bed. I'm the one who is taking you in remember."
"Yes, but you are the one who got to drive," she winked, "I'm sure the couch is comfortable enough."
"Parker!" But she was already in the bathroom. He sat down on the couch slowly and then started to laugh. Once he had stopped, he popped a PEZ into his mouth and flicked the news on, still grinning.
AN: Love reviews. Since I can't figure out how to reply to reviews not on the first chapter, I'd like it to be known that yes there's more to this story than was at pretender.de and it's now 36 chapters long.
"Miss Parker, I think you should come with me."
After the revelation from her father, Miss Parker had fled to the elevator outside of his office. Watching the glass button glow instantly after she pressed it, she turned to face the athletic sweeper, Wille.
"Well maybe you need to alter the way you think."
"I have strict orders, Miss Parker."
"From who?" she said in an innocent voice with her head slightly cocked to the left.
"Miss Parker please come with me immediatly," Wille insisted.
The elevator doors parted with an echoing bing. Miss Parker stepped into the small room and turned to see Willie reaching for his gun, but she was quicker. Pulling her 9 mm out of its holster, she flicked the safety off and pulled the trigger all in one smooth motion. A shot echoed through the corridors as Wille collapsed to the floor clutching his right leg.
"I don't have time for this." Miss Parker proclaimed as the doors closed.
*****
Sydney sat in his office reading Broots' report on Jarod's latest clue. It looked like another dead end. Whether this was good or bad news, Sydney wasn't sure. He wanted Jarod to be free, but he was concerned about how long his prodigy would last out in the real world. Although it was dangerous out there, he knew The Centre was an even greater threat to the young Pretender. God only knew what would happen if Jarod was captured. At the mercy of Lyle, Cox, and Raines, Sydney wasn't sure if Jarod could bounce back like he always did. This time would be different. Security would be tighter, punishment would be increasingly severe, and he was certain that there would be plenty of evil experiments that would involve his incredible pupil. Sydney was shaken out of his thought process as his phone alerted him to an insistent caller.
"This is Sydney."
"Have you ever eaten a S'more Sydney?" responded the familiar voice of his escaped prodigy.
"Hello Jarod. And yes, I believe I have tried one on occasion. Why do you ask?"
"Well, a chatty teenager I recently helped named Jessica, showed me how to make one. They are quite intriquing,"
Sydney could hear chewing on the other side, "And symbolic, too."
"How are they symbolic, Jarod?"
"You have to work at the crunchy outside to get to the sweet inside just like life. Work hard to get that sweet reward."
"I never thought about it like that." 'Then again who does, but Jarod?' he added in his own mind.
"I hope we all get our payment eventually."
"As do I, Jarod."
Suddenly, Sydney heard a gunshot and a yelp of pain. It seemed to be coming from the elevator on the right.
"Sydney! What was that?!" Jarod demanded.
"I'm not sure Jarod. It sounded like a handgun. The only one I know who would carry one that small is- is Miss Parker!"
Sydney said as he replayed his thoughts to Jarod.
"Go see what happened Sydney. I'll call you back soon."
"Alright Jar-" But the line was already dead.
Sydney raced out of his office and ran down the corridor pretty fast for a man of his age. When he reached the elevator, he saw the doors closing and a flash of brunette hair. Miss Parker was just leaving. Hearing small groans of agony below him Sydney knelt down onto the cool marble floor next to the injured sweeper. "Willie, what happened?"
"Miss Parker refused to come with me and then she drew her weapon and shot me! I was only following orders."
"Hmmm. I'm sure you were," Sydney muttered. Pulling out his cell phone, he called the Renewal Wing and explained that there was an injured sweeper on SL 21. Sighing, he hoped Miss Parker knew what she was doing, whatever that was.
*****
Sinking into the corner of the tiny elevator, Miss Parker clutched the silver railings until her knuckles turned pale. Opening her eyes slightly she caught a glance of two bullet holes above her. Closing her eyes once again, she thought about her mother. She would have wanted her to leave this place years ago, but better late than never. Not quite sure of what to do, she searched the walls as if they held all of her answers and maybe a map to paradise. Almost to ground level, she took a deep breath, smoothed her slacks, tucked her hair back and straightened her back to one of control. The doors opened, revealing a group of about two dozen computer technicians and sweepers. Keeping a straight cold face, she swept past them all and slid through the double doors toward the rest of the world. The cool night air whipped at her face. She had never noticed the fact that their were no lights between the Centre and its parking garage. Wondering if this was a plus or not, Miss Parker stalked toward her dark vehicle. Grasping the handle, she let go of a silent breath she hadn't even realized she had been holding.
"Not so fast, Sis," an unemotional voice whispered. Shuddering slightly at the chill in his voice, Parker turned to face her twin.
"I'm not in the mood, Lyle."
"Neither am I. You know the rules, and you broke them."
"All I want to do is go home and relax for once, but your damn sweeper got in my way!" Miss Parker protested.
"Right. Miss Parker, the greatest workaholic ever known, wanted to call it quits early tonight. And she found this so vitally important, that she decided to put a bullet in one of my best sweepers. I'll believe that as soon as you believe Mom commited suicide." Parker's face hardened as she thrusted Lyle up against her car and jammed her gun below his chin.
"Don't you dare ever speak of my mother in front of me again."
"Our mother," he replied.
"You just had to get in the way, Lyle," she said shaking her head as she did so. Flipping her gun vertically she made sure that Lyle would not be following her. The bullet penitrated his knee cap, and he hollered in pain. While he was distracted, she pulled his gun out, collected the bullets, and threw the remains into the darkest corner she could make out. Opening her car door, she sank into her tan leather seat in a cloud of relief. Before starting the ignition, Parker closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Pulling out of the parking space, her conscience reminded her not to run over Lyle as she fled for her life.
*****
Flinging her oak door open to her suttle home, Miss Parker rushed to her bedroom to grab a few things before setting off to- well wherever she was going. Whisking the closet doors open, she grabbed a few of her scarcly seen comfortable outfits.
"Don't forget shoes. Those heels will never do if you're going to be on the run," a familiar voice reminded her.
"Jarod! What the hell are you doing here!?" she demanded as she turned toward his dark figure. She threw some of her things including the clothes, some necessites, a folder full of her collection of Centre lies, and her silver-framed photo of her mother and the young girl she used to be.
"Well I figured you would need help. I am the master of the running-for-your-life game," Jarod replied matter-of-factly.
"I don't need your help, Jarod. How did you even know?"
"I was on the phone with Sydney when we heard you fire. I figured out the rest on my own."
"You're so intelligent," she remarked, "But in case you havn't realized this little tid bit, sweepers are going to be pounding my front door down any minute! And unless you have a wish to return to The Centre as well, I'll need you to let me handle this, alone!"
"No can do, Parker," Jarod replied as his right eyebrow rose in amusement. Suddenly, screeching of tires broke the sarcastic remark he was about to deliver. "I think you do, and will, because our guests have arrived!" He hopped off the bed and grabbed Parker's suitcase. Sliding the window open he ushered Parker to go first, but stopped when he noticed how frightened she looked. "Don't worry," he grinned, "This is the fun part. Come on Parker."
"I don't know why you think this is the fun part," she said as she slithered out the window. She caught her bag as Jarod threw it down before hopping out himself.
"Because now, we can laugh at how predictable and entertaining Lyle's ignorant sweepers really are. Follow me," he said as they tramped into the woods.
"Where are we going?" Parker asked.
"Shhhh. Just a minute."
She watched him in awe. For the first time, she was seeing how it was that Jarod manipulated her on each attempt to capture him. The sickening part was that it seemed so simple and easy for him. She watched the churning of details mixing together in his mind until she knew he had reached his conclusion. This felt like cheating before the end of the puzzle, but she realized that she had switched sides on this little game. And that was a scary thought. After about ten minutes of walking in silence, Jarod started pressing the indiglow button on his gold watch. Unless he was trying to alert all of the animals to their presence, Parker had no idea what he was doing.
"Jarod-"
"Hush Parker. We're almost there."
After another five minutes, she saw something flash at the bottom of a thick tree trunk. It was the reflection of Jarod's watch off of a small piece of reflective tape.
"Alright, Parker. We turn left here."
Five minutes passed and Jarod stopped and abruptly turned around. Miss Parker was still looking back for stray sweepers, so she ran right into him. Staring up at him in shock, she took a step back and said, "Well Wonderboy, looks like you knew what you were doing after all. Now I know how you got by me for all those years, pretty clever."
"Well, I'll take that as a compliment coming from you, Miss Parker. Come on, let's get out of here," Jarod replied as he opened the driver's door.
"Hey! Who says you get to drive?"
"I do, considering that you don't know where we're going."
Parker reluctantly gave in and sat in the passenger seat after throwing her bag into the back. The engine started and she looked around them seeing nothing but darkness. There was no way that they could drive out of here without knocking a tree or two down. The car backed up deeper and deeper back into the woods.
"Come on, let me take the wheel, Jarod. We're not going to get anywhere like this."
"Patience never was one of your greatest virtues, Parker," he answered as they pulled onto the highway. She let an exhasparated sigh flow into the air.
"So where exactly are we going Columbus?" she said after a few moments driven in silence.
"I'm not sure."
"What?! You wouldn't let me drive because I didn't know where we were going, and now you're 'not sure' where we are going," she sighed again and then added in a perky voice, "This is going to be such fun." Jarod chuckled under his breath.
"Where do you want to go, Miss Parker?"
"A place with a bed, a hotel. Preferably one that has earned some stars, Jarod. We are not going to one of those ratty dumps that you've dragged me through over the years."
"They hold some very nice and interesting people you know. Don't judge a book by its cover, Parker. I didn't with you."
"I'm not here for a morality lecture. If I had wanted one of those I could have hung around at The Centre a little longer for one of Frued's little intellectual talks."
"Well here's a hotel, Parker. Acceptable?"
After a careful look over she said, "As long as there is no beach behind it. I'm not in the mood to watch and/or talk about a sea of waves either."
Jarod smiled, opened the door, and set off to rent a room. Parker was two steps behind carrying her bag as they walked throught the doors.
"Yes, I'd like to rent a room please," Jarod began.
The clerk put down his magazine and took his glasses off as he inspected the two guests. It was as though he thought he needed to make sure they were trustworty of renting one of his rooms. He replied in a raspy voice, "Mmmm, what did you say there, son. I was reading."
"Umm yes. We'd like a room for the night."
"Oh, well I only have one room left so thats a good thing. You must be married."
Both of them looked at each other. Their eyes were laughing hysterically.
"Not hardly," Jarod replied, "We're just friends."
"What did you say, son. I think you were mumbling."
"We're just friends, sir," Jarod said loudly and clearly. Parker had turned her back to them and appeared to be coughing, but Jarod knew she was only stifling her laughter.
"Oh well, here you go," he said as he handed him a key, "Its room eight. I think." He paused and looked over his records. "Yes, room eight. Enjoy your stay."
"Thank you."
The two walked out and Parker burst out laughing. Her eyes were full of tears by the time they got to room eight. Jarod tried to unlock the door, but failed miserably.
"Let me do it," Parker said as she took the card and flicked it in and out again until the light turned green. One eyebrow rose mockingly.
"Oh be quiet, Parker. I could have done it."
"A genius just hates to lose," she said as she threw her bag onto the bed.
"Hey who says you get the bed. I'm the one who is taking you in remember."
"Yes, but you are the one who got to drive," she winked, "I'm sure the couch is comfortable enough."
"Parker!" But she was already in the bathroom. He sat down on the couch slowly and then started to laugh. Once he had stopped, he popped a PEZ into his mouth and flicked the news on, still grinning.
AN: Love reviews. Since I can't figure out how to reply to reviews not on the first chapter, I'd like it to be known that yes there's more to this story than was at pretender.de and it's now 36 chapters long.
