Lost and Found

Chapter 3

Its been 3 months since my parents died.

I moved to the big city of New York, hoping to get lost in the sea of busy people. I did. No one knows me here. No one bothers me, or pesters me with questions like, are you okay. Mrs . Huddleston tried to reach me multiple times during the first time but I changed my name and number so she wasn't able to find me.

I've changed my name to Courtney Jones,  dyed my light brown hair blond and got brown contacts to cover my green eyes.  Simple, average and normal. Nothing that would make me stand out. I got a job at a small cafe in the city of Manhattan. It provides me good money, enough to pay my share of the rent (I live with a roomate) and to get me to and from work.

As I'm walking towards the cafe I see many people standing out in front. When I reach the front I see two boys, one with brown curly hair and green eyes and one with blond hair and blue eyes. They are singing and playing the guitar and they seem to be well liked. I wanted to stay and listen to them but I was already late so I went straight inside.

~¤~

By midday they had already gone, much to the peoples disappointment.  When I got off work however, 4 hours later, I seen them climbing into a car. I wondered why they had stayed so long after but I pushed the thought out of my mind. I didn't know who they were and had other things to worry about.

Finally I reached the door of my apartment. Upon opening it the smell of alcohol hit me. There were bottles all over the floor, along with food, cigarettes,  and clothes. I didn't even want to think about what my roomate was doing in her room and with whom she was doing it with. After cleaning up a bit, I went to my room and turned on my computer. I logged on to the Facebook account of Rosalinda Morales to see what was new back home. I seen a bunch of dumb posts from the kids at my old school. Then I came across a link to a page dedicated to me. I clicked on it and was shocked to find that Mrs. Huddleston was the leader of the group. They assumed I was kidnapped and there were many posts saying things like,  "She's still missing, " and, "Praying the police find her."

Tears came to my eyes as I realized they were looking for me and were worried about my safety. I felt a bit guilty knowing this but I ignored the feeling. This was for the best.

Wiping my tears and logging out, I heard the door to my roommates room open, followed by laughter.

"Hey, wheres that roommate of yours?" a deep, unfamiliar voice asked curiously, "I thought you said I would get to meet her today?"

"Oh she's probably just in her room. Court, theres someone I want you to meet!" My roomate Brianna called using my nickname, her high and cheery voice sounding throughout the apartment. Sighing, I got up, checked myself in the mirror and went to meet her new boyfriend of the week. She's awesome and all but at times she can be really annoying.

I walked out to see a tall guy with red hair and grey eyes. He was wearing a white t-shirt with shorts and was laughing at something Brianna was saying. He was attractive but looked way older than Brianna. When he turned to face me his smile faded and his face turned serious.

"Rosalinda?"

I froze when he called me that. I didn't know who he was. How did he know my name? My breathing started picking up and I felt like all the air was leaving my lungs. I was on the verge of a panic attack when Brianna saved me.

"Who's Rosalinda? This is my roommate Courtney." Brianna said slowly, narrowing her eyes in confusion.

"Oh, sorry. You look like a girl I used to be very close with." He said, laughing nervously.  LIES. I have no idea who this man is! I started freaking out on the inside. There is no way this guy is telling the truth. Maybe he knew my parents? But why would he say he was close with me? I'd never seen him before in my life! "Well I have to go. But I'd love to get to know you better," he paused, "Courtney." And with that he walked out the house leaving me terrified. 

"That was weird. Well I'm going to go to bed. Goodnight ... Rosalinda." She walked away laughing.  She thought it was funny.  I laughed a little with her but inside I was screaming. This made no sense. I went to bed hoping I would never see him again.

~¤~

I smiled and handed a short, older woman a bag with her bagel in it.  I had woken up that day thinking about the man from yesterday.  I didn't even know his name so I couldn't find out anything about him.  What was I going to do? This guy obviously knew who I was even though I didn't know who he was, and he was much older than me.  He looked dangerous.

"Uh, hello?" I was snapped out of my thoughts by the curly haired boy from yesterday. I felt the heat rush to my cheeks. I smiled as a way of saying sorry. I gestured towards the menu behind me in a way that said what would you like. I usually don't work at the register but my co-worker called in sick. He mouthed a small oh, as if he realized I didn't talk.

"One milkshake please." He said, smiling. He was leaning on the counter, with his phone in his hand. He had on a white t-shirt with a black leather jacket.

I nodded with a big smile on my face, since he didn't judge me or anything. When I finished making it I brought it to him.

"Thank you so much. Oh and by the way,  heres my number beautiful." He handed me a small slip of paper with what I assumed was his number and then walked away, leaving me blushing.

~¤~

When I got off of work I was still smiling because of what had happened earlier. Suddenly I felt a hand clamp itself over my mouth and I was pulled into an alleyway. I tried to get away but a knife was pressed against my neck preventing me from moving again. I couldn't scream, no one would hear me. Tears started rolling down my face and my heart was beating a mile a minute. I was terrified.  I tried to move their hand from hand from my mouth but it was no use, they wouldn't budge. They pulled me further into the dark alley until they positive no one could see us. It was so dark and I could barely see in frint of me. Is this where it would end? Murdered like my parents? At that moment I wished I had just stayed with Mr. and Mrs. Huddleston.

"Well Rosalinda, we meet again. I should've taken you out long ago." My heart stopped. This voice was so familiar and I knew exactly who it was. The knife dropped to the floor and their hands wrapped around my neck squeezing tighter and tighter. Spots danced across my vision as I tried desperately to get them to let go. I was clawing at their hands but I was quickly losing my strength.

The last thing I seen and heard before I blacked out was flashing lights and the sound of sirens coming closer.