Julie tucked the phone away, and Ms. Salvatore regarded her for a long moment before asking, "Now... do you have any idea why you were being hunted by the Hounds?"
"Is that who they were?" Julie asked. "That's a government program, right? I remember hearing about it on the news. Something about using the latest technology to protect the country from people like me..." She hesitated, hating what she was about say. "...like us."
"Yes," Ms. Salvatore told her. "That's the one. How did you end up in their crosshairs?"
Julie made a show of thinking about that, then said: "Mr. Lyon. He's... he's our neighbor, and he's crazy. Keeps phoning in complaints about us to the city, calls the police if I go outside for a walk, little random acts of vandalism... He's been like that since this--" She gestured at herself. "--first happened to me a few years ago, and my parents moved me to homeschooling."
Ms. Brigham nodded. "You wouldn't be the first to be victimized that way."
"Do you think they took my parents?" asked Julie.
Ms. Salvatore frowned. "I wouldn't think so, not unless they thought your parents were dangerous anomalies too, but if you have this neighbor... it's possible, I suppose. Are your parents anomalies?"
Julie shook her head. "No, they're..." She veered away from the word Blessed. "...Ordinary?"
"Not likely, then," Ms. Salvatore said. "With your permission, we can do some investigating. In the meantime, we can offer you shelter here. Would you be okay with that?"
Julie looked around. "Could I... Could I talk to the girl who rescued me, first? I'd feel safer with her around."
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