THE NEW PRETENDER

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Pretender characters. They belong to MTM, NBC and TNT. No money was involved and no infringements intended. The only characters that I have soul right are: Catherine (which has nothing to do with Parker's mother), Dr. Rich Young and Alexia.

Chapter 12...

The next day at the motel...

Catherine, Maj Charles, Miss Parker, Margaret, Jarod, Ethan and Alexia were back in the room where they were last night. They were talking about how they should give Catherine a new identity so that she can get on with her life. Just then Miss Parker's phone rang.

She opened it up and said, "What?"

"Parker, goodmorning." said Sydney.

"Hi, Sydney. What is it? I'm busy right now." Miss Parker said a little angry.

Sydney was silent then asked, "Is there an Alexia there with you?" Miss Parker almost dropped the phone.

She was thinking how is it they know who is with her? She looked to where Jarod is sitting. Alexia was sitting right next to him. She looked up when she noticed Miss Parker looking at her. Miss Parker spoke, "Maybe. Why?"

Sydney sighed and then spoke, "They are going to come and look for you and the rest of your party."

"Who is coming?" asked Miss Parker. "Raines, Lyle and your father." She was silent for a few minutes.

Then spoke, "Well, they can come all they want. But, they are NOT going back to the Centre." When she said that everyone looked up at her.

She noticed that and got up and walked by the window. Just as she looked out she noticed a black car pull up by the motel owners home. Then she saw the most horrifying sight. She saw Raines, Lyle and Mr. Parker get out of the car. Her heart skipped a beat. She is torn between 2 hard places. Her head says to give up Jarod, Catherine and Alexia...but her heart says don't.

She said to Sydney, "I'll have to get back to you." Then she hung up. She turned around and everyone was back to talking.

She spoke up, "We are going to have to go."

They all looked up at her. "Why?" asked Catherine.

"It doesn't matter. Let's just get out of here NOW or you three will be going back." They understood and they got their things and Miss Parker opened the front door.

They must be in the house still. So, they all walked out the front door and walked over to the 2 cars that were parked in front of their motel rooms. Just as she was about to get in the driver's seat she saw them walk out of the house along with the motel owner. They spotted her and she got in the front seat. She put the car in reverse and both cars started to leave the motel houses. She started to go down the road when she noticed at least 4 cars were parked there waiting for her. It was the sweepers. She turned the car around and found out the other side was also blocked by sweepers' cars. She decided to make a new road...so she started to speed up like she is going to ram their cars when she made a sharp turn and went right past them. Her car with herself, Jarod, Catherine and Alexia and the car behind them has Ethan, Maj Charles and Margaret went right past the sweepers. Mr. Parker, Raines and Lyle got back in their car and had the driver go after those 2 cars. The sweepers also got in their cars and started chasing after the pretenders.

The chase...

Miss Parker hit the gas to make the car go faster. She was speeding down a straight road at 90mph while the car behind her was doing the same. Jarod looked back and saw Mr. Parker's car catching up to them.

He looked at Miss Parker, "They're gaining on us."

"I can see that, Jarod." She said her eyes on the road but also watching Mr. Parker's car behind Maj Charles car. She couldn't get her car to go any faster.

Maybe about 3 miles down the road she noticed ahead of her was a roadblock. It was more sweepers. She couldn't move off the road cause there were railings all along the road. She couldn't go off the road. She stepped on the brake and just about hit the cars in front. The sweepers jumped out of the way cause they didn't know if she was going to hit them. She turned the steering wheel so that her side is facing her 2 pusuers. She saw her father, Lyle and Raines step out of their cars. Miss Parker and her companions looked to the other side and noticed all of the sweepers aimed their guns at them. There is no way for them to survive. They all stepped out of their cars with their hands up. The sweepers went after them and took them into their own cars.

Mr. Parker walked up to his daughter, "Angel, I'm very disappointed in you. I thought you were better than this." He said as he cocked his head. She looked to see where her father was looking and saw everyone that she tried to save.

She looked back to her father, "No, you don't understand. I was bringing them back." She had a smile on her face but the smile faded when her father wasn't smiling.

"I'm sorry, Angel." Just as he said that a sweeper came up behind her and grabbed her. She started to fight back but he was too strong.

She called her father, "DADDY! DADDY! HELP ME!"

But her father said, "I'm sorry, there is nothing I can do." Then he walked away.

He could hear her still screaming his name, "DADDY! PLEASE HELP ME! DADDY DON'T LEAVE!" He got in his car and drove off. There were too other sweepers that stayed to tie her up and put her in the car. As they led her to their car she was crying and thinking this is over for her. Then she got in the car along with the sweepers. As they drove off, she heard 2 explosions behind her and saw both cars blow up.

Back at the Centre...

The sweepers took Maj Charles and Margaret and put them in a room. They locked it and walked away. Maj Charles sat down on the bed while Margaret was walking around in the room. After a while he looked up and she was still walking and he finally got up and walked over to his wife. He grabbed her and saw that she was crying.

He asked, "What's wrong, Margaret?"

"My baby, will be killed along with everyone else, that is what's wrong." He comforted and hugged his wife and she started to cry on his shoulder. So, he brought his wife to the bed and sat her down and then he sat down too. He just kept trying to comfort her.

Another bunch of sweepers took, Jarod, Alexia, Catherine and Ethan and put them in separete rooms. Jarod sat down in the room that he used when he was living there. He couldn't believe what he had in there. He looked around the room for a way out and even tried the door but it was locked. He couldn't find any other way out. So, he sat down on the bed and put his head in his hands and sighed. Alexia was in a room that she used when she was there also. It was a gloomy place and she dreaded coming back here. She looked everywhere to find a way out but the door also was locked. She started to look through books and other things in her room for something to use but there was nothing. So, she finally gave up and sat down on her bed with a sigh and put her head in her hands. Catherine was put in her room but she was so scared that she just went to her bed sat down, pulled her legs up to her chest and started to cry. Ethan was put in his room and he like Jarod and Alexia tried to find a way out but to no avail. He is back here and might have to stay for the rest of his life. So, finally he sat down, sighed and put his head in his hands also. Miss Parker was brought to a room at the Centre and locked in the room. She looked desperatly around to find a way out but there was nothing. So, she just decided to sit down on the bed and hope and pray that nothing happens to Catherine.

In the office...

Mr. Parker walked into his office along with Mr. Raines and Mr Lyle trailing behind him. He turned around as they walked into the room.

"Isn't it wonderful to have the WHOLE family back?" He asked.

Mr. Raines smiled, "Yes. I'm going to go to their rooms and start to get them to understand their stay here."

"That is fine. You may go and teach them. I want them to stay here and become the pretenders that we have always wanted. You can take some sweepers with you incase they become violent."

Mr. Raines looked at him and then walked out of the room with his oxygen tank. Mr. Lyle watched him leave. Then he turned to Mr. Parker.

Mr. Parker said, "You Lyle, will, go visit your sister to try to MAKE her understand that she can't do what she did today." Then he turned around and walked out of the room. Mr. Parker went and sat down in his office chair.

Going to the pretenders' rooms...

Mr. Raines walked past Jarod's room and went straight to Alexia's room. He unlocked the door and opened it. As he walked in, Alexia looked up and saw Mr. Raines enter the room. He looked at her and smiled. He closed the door behind his oxygen tank, then spoke, "Well, Alexia. I'm glad that you are finally home. You don't need to be out in the dangers of that world."

She looked at him and spoke, "Dangers of the world? This place is more dangerous than the world outside this hell hole."

He huffed and then said, "Well, I guess this place didn't teach you any manners."

Then he picked up his phone and called someone to come to her room. Then he walked outside her room and locked the door. A doctor came to Mr. Raines, "You, called me to come to Alexia's room."

"Yes. I want you to sedate her so that she will be better tomorrow." He said. Then, the doctor opened the door and walked in along with 2 sweepers.

The door closed and Mr. Raines could hear Alexia screaming in the room and bodies hitting the walls and then there was silence. The door opened and the doctor and 2 sweepers walked out. Then Mr. Raines brought the doctor to Catherines' room.

He said, "Wait, here. I want to talk to her before you come in." Then he unlocked the door and walked in.

He saw Catherine sitting on her bed and she looked up with terrified eyes. He noticed she was crying.

He looked at her, "Well, Catherine. You are finally home...where you belong and this is where you will stay." Then he turned around and walked out letting the doctor and 2 sweepers in her room.

He heard her scream and then there was silence. The door opened and the doctor and 2 sweepers walked out. Then he told the doctor that he can leave but stay near incase Mr. Raines calls on him. Then the doctor left. Then, he walked to Jarods' room. He walked in and saw Jarod look up at him.

He said, "Jarod, I'm glad that you came back here. We've missed you so much. And if you noticed your room wasn't touched."

Jarod said, "Yea well, I was hoping that I would never see this place again."

Then Raines said, "We will get you back to your normal state. You will be doing the sims again."

Jarod just stared at him with deer-in-the-headlight look and said, "I'm NOT doing that stuff anymore. Neither are Catherine and Alexia."

"Well, sorry to disappoint you. But they will be doing the same things. They won't want to leave now. And that will be the case with you too." Then Jarod hung his head.

Then he looked back up to Raines and asked, "What happened to my parents and Ethan?"

Raines looked at him then spoke, "Don't concern yourself with them. They will be dealt with immediatly. As for Ethan he will be doing his training also."

Just as Raines was going to open the door Jarod asked, "What about Miss Parker? Where is she?"

Mr. Raines turned around and looked at him, "Don't worry about her. She will be dealt with by Mr. Lyle and Mr. Parker." Then he turned around and walked out.

He let the doctor in along with 4 sweepers. He heard some moving around and then some bodies were thrown against the wall. Then there was silence as well. Out walked the doctor and 2 sweepers. Then the other two who were bruised limped out. Then, they all walked away.

Downstairs in Broots' office...

Broots and Sydney were sitting downstairs talking about Jarod and all the other pretenders. Then, all of a sudden Broots heard a noise coming from the door and Sydney went to check it out. He tried to open it but found out it was locked. As he walked away an envelope was slid underneath the doorway. He picked it up and opened the envelope to reveal a note. The note read,

We have finally gotten all of our escaped Pretenders

Your service is not needed right now

We will call on you when we need your help

Same thing for Broots

Mr. Parker

Then he walked back to Broots and showed him the note. They both looked at each other and sighed. Broots put his head down on his hands which where on the desk. And Sydney was sitting in his chair, took his glasses off and rubbed his eyes. He sighed and then got up to walk around the room. Just then, there was a noise on Broots computer. It shocked Broots and he looked at it. The word 'Refuge' showed up. Broots called Sydney over to him. Sydney walked to Broots computer and saw the word.

At first he said to Broots, "Jarod?"

Broots looked at him and shook his head no, "It can't be. Jarod is locked in his room with nothing."

Sydney sat down and was silent for a second then spoke, "Another pretender, maybe?" Broots and Sydney looked at each for a minute then looked back at the computer.

In a hotel room in Delware...

A laptop was sitting on a desk showing the word 'Refuge' on the screen. Someone was walking around and putting clothes and other things in a suitcase. The person was briskly going through all the drawers of the dresser picked up some laminated badges and stuffed them in the suitcase. The person looked at the watch on the arm and saw it read '5:30pm' and then walked over to the phone and picked up the receiver. Then the person dialed a phone number and waited while it was ringing.

On the other end a man spoke, "Hello."

Then the person in the hotel had the voice of a man and said, "Refuge." The man on the other end was Sydney.

He said, "Who is this?" Then the connection was gone. The man hung up and turned around. He was a young man...in his early 20s. He had long brown hair that ended behind the shoulders. His eyes were deep blue. And he smiled and then went over to the laptop, logged off and folded it and put it in the suitcase. Then he got his keys and before he walked out the door he took a look in the hotel room once more and then walked out the door and closed it.

Back at the Centre, in Broots' office...

Broots and Sydney were still talking about the mysterious caller. Broots tried to think of who else would know where the Centre is located and Sydney said, "Yea, but who knows the word 'Refuge' besides Jarod?" They couldn't think of anyone...but kept coming up with saying pretenders.

So, Sydney asked Broots, "Can you look up every pretender that has been here in your computer?"

Broots looked at him then spoke, "Sure. Let me check." For about an hour Broots came up with thousands of names maybe even more that were in the Centre as pretenders.

Then, Sydney asked, "Can you pull up pretenders that were recent in the Centre?" Then, Broots started clicking away on his computer and he came up with 4 names...which narrowed it down a little.

Sydney and Broots noticed that 2 of the names are in the Centre right now: Alexia and Catherine. But, there were 2 other names that Sydney recognized cause he taught them also. One was a girl named Annie. And a boy named Cole.

Sydney says to Broots, "I remember Annie. She was a very smart young girl but she was 'too' smart. She was able to think of ways to get out of certain traps. She thought of many times on how to leave the Centre but unfortunatley the sweepers found her and she was killed." Broots looked at him surprised.

Then Broots asked, "What about Cole?"

"Well, Cole was very smart as well. I think Cole was even about as smart as Jarod. He was able to almost duplicate what Jarod did. But, he wasn't able to make them similar." Sydney said.

Then Broots asked, "But what happened to Cole? Is he still alive or is he dead?"

Then, Sydney looked at Broots, "I don't know. He was here and then all of a sudden he disappeared. We've looked for him everywhere but it was useless. So, Mr. Parker just left him for dead. Everyone stopped looking for him. So, I presume he 'might' be dead."

Broots looked at him sideways then spoke, "You sound like you are not so sure about that, Sydney."

Sydney got up and walked in front of Broots' desk, "I'm not sure." Then he walked to the other end of the office.

In the simulation room...

Day after day, month after month Raines pushed Catherine to do simulations. If she didn't want to do any...he had one of the sweepers beat her. Then she will do what Raines ask her to do. He would do the same with Alexia. Alexia was a little more powerful so they had to handle her with care. She doesn't give in easily to pain so they have to find other ways to make her do her job. They threaten to kill her many times. They never do but that makes her do her job. And of course, Jarod. Jarod of course won't do any of the simulations cause he knows what they will be used for. So, Jarod many times would not do any simulations so he was sent to his room with no food. He would rather starve to death than do simulations. They kept trying to make him do simulations and then finally Raines got so sick and tired of this he brought in the big guns. He would use electrocute shock to make him work. They would hold him down and Raines would have one of the sweepers electrocute him a few times until he gives in and he does the simulation. After a while he knows that if he doesn't do what he is supposed to do he will get another electrocute. So, even though he isn't happy about this he is doing simulations that might kill an innocent person. At the end of the day, he is in his room and he starts to sob cause he is doing everything that he didn't want to do.

Guest room...

Miss Parker has been cooped up in the room for a week and she is already starting to get pissed off. She starts to pace the room. And being she is a constant smoking she is getting the aches for a cigarette. She, is getting antsy and can't think of anything to do. Just when she was about to go out of her mind, the door opens. It is her father. She looks at him and he smiles.

Then he says, "You're free to go. But, you are NOT to go near the pretenders, Angel." She didn't have no expression on her face, she just walked right past her father without even giving him a glance. He took a hold of her arm and turned her around to face him, "I don't know what has gotten into you, but this is NOT good to start getting any ideas." He said as his face turned mean. She looked a little frightened and her eyes started to get watery.

Then she spoke, "Well, I'm not the one with the ideas. Oh, and daddy you should really check out the home movies. Raines is really a man that knows what he's doing." Then she walks away. Mr. Parker looks at his daughter as she walks away and tries to ponder what she meant. Then he walks away.

Mr. Parkers' office...

Mr Parker walked into his office to relax when he noticed that his light on his desk was on. He looked around for anyone but found no one. Then he looked on his desk and saw a manila envelope and he opened it up. He dipped the open part down and out popped 3 video tapes. Each of the tapes were marked 'Catherine'. He got his tv out of the closet and turned it on. He put the first tape in and saw an image of Catherine in the simulation room. And standing next to her was Raines. He was trying to make her do a simulation. She kept saying she can't do it. And finally, Raines called for someone and Mr Parker noticed it was one of the sweepers. He was watching and saw that the sweeper named 'John' started to beat Catherine very hard making her cry and scream. Mr Parker could not believe what he was seeing. Then, he took the tape out and got the next tape. He put it in and watched the scene that popped up on the screen. It showed Catherine again, walking into Raines room. They were talking and then all of a sudden one of the sweepers slapped her in the face. Mr Parker stopped watching it and couldn't believe what he was seeing. He has been gone for the longest time dealing with his son and never once knew what Raines was doing. He didn't even want to watch the 3rd tape. So, he decided to go find Raines. He went to the simulation room but it was empty. He asked one of the sweepers where Raines was, he said that Raines was talking to Jarod. Then he went to find him and sure enough he was in Jarod's room. He opened the door and asked Raines to come into the hallway.

Raines said, "It can wait. I'm dealing with our first priority."

But Mr Parker said, "NO! I WANT TO TALK TO YOU RIGHT NOW!" Then, Raines walked out with his oxygen tank. Mr Parker closed the door. Then Mr Parker said, "What is going on here?"

"Mr Parker, what do you mean? asks a confused Raines.

"I just found 3 video tapes on my desk in my office. They were titled Catherine. When I watched them, in them you were having one of the sweepers beat Catherine. I thought I told you to make sure nothing happens to her!" said Mr Parker.

"Mr. Parker, you don't understand. The way I deal with pretenders who don't want to do what they are supposed to do is I disipline them. But I use the sweepers to do it. That is why they showed that. But, I don't know how you got those tapes." said Mr Raines

"It doesn't matter how I got the tapes! I don't want you to use those techniques on Catherine! If I find out that you are using them I will make sure you won't be around the Centre!" Then he walks away leaving a very terrified Raines watching him.

Broots' office...

Broots and Sydney were still busy talking about the pretenders that were brought into the Centre and the other pretenders that might still be out there when they heard the door unlock. They both got up and walked to see the door open. And there was Miss Parker. She still looked as beautiful as ever.

They both spoke as she came over to them, "Hi, Miss Parker."

She just looked at them and then spoke, "Hi. You two. What is going on here?"

Then Broots spoke up, "Besides the fact that Jarod is back in the Centre? Nothing much. Just sitting here trying to figure out how to get out of here."

Then Miss Parker walked up to him, "Nice try. You may be great with computers...but you suck at lying." Then she walked past Broots.

"So, Parker, how did you get out?" Sydney asked as Miss Parker sat down in one of the chairs.

"Daddy came by and got me out of that God awful room. But he also mentioned that I'm not to go near the pretenders." Then she stopped. Everyone was silent and then Miss Parker spoke again, "Really, Sydney, what is going on? I don't believe that you two were doing nothing." Sydney and Broots looked at each other.

Then he spoke, "We were just looking through the files of all the pretenders and came up with over thousands maybe more that are out there in the world. We found 2 recent pretenders that are dead." Miss Parker looked at him and was surprised but she knows that is more than what Sydney is telling her.

Then she got up and walked over to Sydney, "I hope you are telling me the truth, Sydney. I'd hate to do anything drastic cause you and the...rat" she looked over her shoulder at Broots, "might be hiding something." Then she went and sat back down on the chair. Sydney was a little nervous cause he knows that Miss Parker is smart enough to figure it out.

To be continued...