Free Gone (Parallel Trilogy, Book 1) by Christine Kersey Page A

room. I figured it was the master bedroom and the door had probably been closed to keep the cat out. I shuffled into the room, careful not to run into any furniture, and found my way to a large walk-in closet.
    This would do for a place to curl up and sleep. I left the master bedroom and came to what must have been Rochelle’s room. Pulling her pillow and blankets off of her bed, I dragged them back to the closet. Closing the bedroom door, I went back into the closet and arranged the blanket and pillow before curling up on the floor.
    Though I wanted to find a computer to search for my family’s address, I was afraid that any light might draw the attention of Mrs. Donaldson or some other neighbor who knew the Candee’s were out of town. I forced myself to wait until morning.
    It took me a while to fall asleep as I thought about my family and wondered what they were doing and if they were searching for me. After a while I finally fell asleep. It seemed only minutes had passed when I woke to an awful howling sound. Groggy, it took me a moment to realize it was the cat making a racket at the back door, finally ready to come back in.
    My eyes had adjusted to the dark enough that I was able to hustle to the back door and let the cat in before he woke up the entire neighborhood, or at least Mrs. Donaldson. As soon as I locked the door, the cat continued complaining. I thought he might be cold and hungry, but it was his own fault as far as I was concerned.
    Turning my back on him, I went to the master bedroom, closed the door and crawled into my make-shift bed. Just as I began drifting off to sleep, the cat meowed outside the bedroom door, apparently wanting in. I tried to ignore him, but it was difficult to sleep with his persistent wailing. Finally I gave up and let him in. He followed me to the closet and as soon as I lay down, he curled up against me and began enthusiastically purring.
    I had to admit that it was nice to have his warm little body pressed against mine, so I didn’t mind the noise too much and soon fell back asleep.
    When I woke in the morning I was completely disoriented and at first had no idea where I was. When I tried to move I felt the dead weight of the sleeping cat and lifted my head to look at the furry orange and white body. I set my hand on his back and he lifted his head and began purring again.
    “You sure are a friendly cat.” I scratched his ears and he moved his head to allow me better access. “You like your ears scratched, don’t you?” After petting him for a moment, my hands caught on his collar. “What’s your name?” He purred more vigorously as I lifted his chin to grab the silver disc attached to his collar. “Tiger,” I read. “Well, Tiger, I think it’s time to get up.”
    I wondered what time it was as I rolled out of the warm blankets. A clock radio sat on the bedside table next to the Candee’s large bed. Seven thirty. I wondered what time Mrs. Donaldson would come over to feed the cat.
    Now that the sun was up there was enough light to see inside the house, even with all the blinds down. I hurried to the living room, lifted a slat in the blinds and peeked out. No one approached. I wondered how much time I would have before Mrs. Donaldson came over. My stomach rumbled and I decided to risk it and went into the kitchen to see if there was anything to eat.
    As I stepped onto the tile floor, I nearly tripped on the bowls of cat food and water that were spread out in a semi-circle.
    “Ahh,” I said. “So that’s how they do it.” Apparently they had put out enough food and water for the cat to survive while they were gone. “No Mrs. Donaldson coming over today,” I said, a grin on my face. I could have slept in a bed instead of on the floor, I realized. Oh well, at least I had been warm. I suddenly felt pretty good and stretched my arms over my head.
    Hope rushed through me and I decided the first thing to do was to find the Candee’s computer and see what I could