Red Hourglass : Dark Coming Of Age Romance Thriller

Landing

The bike came to a spluttering halt at the base of the Williamsburg Bridge. It was out of gas. I abandoned it and started walking.

Dusk was falling and the bright lights of the tall skyscrapers lit up the Manhattan sky. The buildings were so tall-the tallest I'd ever seen. They terrified me. I didn't know where I was going, but I knew I had to keep walking.

Is Manhattan the city my stepfather told me my mother left me for? I recalled her faint voice trailing away as she disappeared into the sunflower field. My stepfather called her Matilda, and her last name must've been Summers. Matilda Summers. I was sure that was her name.

Neon shop signs bathed the sidewalks in rainbow shades, but this place was still scary and overwhelming. The people hurried around without looking at anyone or anything. They either stared directly ahead or at their cell phones, never stopping to talk or look at the flowers or trees.

I wanted to ask someone where I could go to get help in this new place, but I didn't dare approach anyone. I was isolated and disconnected from everything. I felt like a tiny lone rat.

A cry of helplessness tugged inside my chest. I spotted a policeman standing on a corner. Should I ask him where to go? What if he finds out I killed my stepfather and stole my boyfriend's bike? I couldn't go to jail, at least not before I found my mother. I knew she would help me if I found her. I put my head down and kept walking.

I glanced at the boyish-looking digital watch on my wrist. It was eight p.m. I'd stolen the solar-powered watch from Max's bedroom before I left. At least it doesn't need batteries.

My stomach was growling and upset. I saw a small market on the corner. I went in and bought the cheapest loaf of bread I could find.

The next thing I had to do was find a place to sleep. There were stairs leading beneath the sidewalk on practically every other corner. I knew from what I'd read that they must lead to the subway. As I followed a crowd of strangers down the stairs, I was hit by the nauseating smell of a subway in the summer. It was a mixture of stinky sweat and piss.

I made my way to a train platform and there were plenty of places to sit. I can sleep here tonight. I found an empty bench along the wall. I made myself comfortable and ate my loaf of bread. This would be my new home-my underground shelter-full of strangers and passing faces.

No one in the big city knew me, and I didn't know them. No one could judge my past. I realized that no one here would even care if I was alive or dead. This was the perfect place to be.

I used my backpack as a pillow and tried to rest. The sea of faces started to fade as my eyelids grew heavy and my vision blurred. I fell asleep on the bench, hoping to see my mother's face in the crowd.

* * *

I opened my eyes and remembered dreaming about my mother. She was standing in the middle of a sunflower field, the ends of her white dress floating in the wind. Just before I woke up, her hands were reaching out to me, dissolving into blurry sepia. I closed my eyes again, trying to retrieve more details about her from my mind. I saw her blond hair, hazel eyes, and angelic face.

I put on my backpack and went up the subway stairs, determined to start looking for my mother. Yellow taxis buzzed like bees through the mad maze of roads in the financial district.

I walked briskly, squinting my eyes as I frantically searched for my mother's face. All the women seemed to be wearing huge sunglasses. I stood still on the busy sidewalk and closed my eyes. I tried to visualize my mother. I wanted to remember her facial features, but I couldn't remember any details.