A cold, slimy brick wall loomed up in front of me; a dead end. I growled in frustration and spun around. The footsteps of the men who were chasing me were getting closer by the second. I had nowhere to go, so I just backed up against the wall and waited. I should have taken my friend's mother's offer to drive me home. I knew it wasn't safe to walk the city streets at this time of night, but I was a stubborn girl. Now, that stubbornness would be the death of me.
The men were at the mouth of the alleyway now, completely blocking any chance I had at escape.
"Nowhere to run, Meaghan." The leader cooed, pulling a gun from his belt loop.
How did he know my name? Weren't these just run-of-the-mill thugs? Or... did they know about my power?
I tensed. My power. Would that help me right now? I closed my eyes tight, trying to force that feeling I always had when it happened to appear. I had never been able to will it to happen, it was always random, but maybe this time would be different; maybe it would help me escape.
When it didn't happen, I opened my eyes and stared at the men in front of me. The leader was levelling his gun at my chest. Nope, my power would not help me. I crossed my arms over my face, squeezed my eyes shut, waiting for the bang of the gun to sound.
But it never did.
And, suddenly, it was a lot warmer than before.
Cautiously, I opened my eyes and removed my arms. I dropped my backpack at the sight.
It was daytime. The sky was blue and cloudless above me. Was this heaven? Had the guy pulled the trigger, but I died to fast to realize that it had actually happened? Other than the sky, I took in the rest of my surroundings. I was still in an alleyway, this one just as dirty as the one I had previously been in. I picked up my backpack and ventured out of the alley. I emerged onto a busy city street. As people passed me, they stared at me up and down. I glanced down at myself to see that my clothes were wrinkled and dirty from running from those men and my hair wasn't in a much better state.
I cursed and ran down the street. All around me, I saw signs in German and heard the same language coming from the civilians' mouths. So I was somewhere German? My steps faltered as I realized what had happened. I had actually done it. My power had come to my rescue. Had I actually willed it this time, or was this another random trip? I shook the thought from my head, seeing my destination in front of me.
A public bathroom. I ran inside, glad to see that it was a single bathroom, and locked the door. As quickly as I could, I took off my dirty clothes and took out some clean ones from my backpack. Before I dressed, I bent over the little sink and washed my hair out with the hand soap. I wrung my hair out and then put on the clean clothes. This had to be the most convenient time for one of my trips, since I was coming from a weekend visit at my friend's house. I combed my hair out and looked at myself in the mirror. It wasn't perfect, but at least I was clean. I pulled my hair up into a high pony-tail, knowing that it would get frizzy in this kind of muggy weather.
I left the bathroom and perched on a waist-high cement wall outside. I watched the people go past looking for clues as to when I was. The first thing I noticed were the old phones. I took my own phone out of my pocket and sighed. The sleek, black smart phone would definitely stand out, so I went to put it away, but before I could, I heard a gasp and looked up.
A girl that looked just slightly older than I was staring at me. Or, rather, at my phone.
"Whoa," She said, amazement obvious on her voice, "Where did you get that?"
"Um..." I struggled for an explanation. "It's a prototype I've been asked to test."
"You're testing a prototype? And how old are you?"
I looked down at my body again and cursed. "13. Listen, I need to set the date on this thing. Could you tell me the date and time?"
"Oooh, can I do it?" The girl sat next to me. "I've always wanted to see what new prototypes they phone companies could come up with."
"Sure," I said without hesitation, handing her the phone. It was better this way, since it wouldn't involve me having to ask what year it was.
The girl, very slowly, typed in the date in the settings. She wasn't used to my phone's keyboard, so I waited patiently. After a few minutes, the girl gave a satisfied nod and handed the phone back. I took a quick glance at the date she had put in. September 22nd, 2002.
Great. Not only had I travelled back nine years but, somehow, my age had also changed. This had never happened before. I sighed, thanked the girl, and made a hasty escape.
While I walked, I glimpsed down at my chest. My C-cup chest was quite a bit flatter and when I passed store window, my reflection showed a young, smooth-faced girl. I shuddered and walked away. Thirteen had not been the best age for me, and I really would rather not be 13 again.
But I had bigger problems on my hand. I was currently homeless and not very rich. There was only $40 in my wallet. I slipped my fingers into my pockets, shocked when my fingers hit a piece of square plastic. I slipped it out and stared at it.
My mother's bank card. This might just be the solution to my problems. Ever since I was a kid, my mother hadn't once switched bank accounts or pin numbers. Does that mean that this bank card would work in this time? It wasn't an overly fancy card, so it might. I didn't know how that would affect my mother's bank account, whether it be in my time or this one, but I didn't really have a choice. I didn't know how long I'd be here, and my trips seemed to be getting longer each time. My last trip, where I went to the 1940s, had lasted three weeks. If this trip lasted longer than that, I'd need a place to live.
"Sorry, Mom." I murmured, heading to the first bank I saw.
(~)(~)(~)(~)(~)(~)(~)(~)(~)(~)(~)(~)(~)
An hour later, I came out with $1000 in my pocket and a sudden memory from when I was eight. My mom, complaining that $1000 bucks had gone missing from her bank account. Guess I now know where it went.
Next, I needed a disguise. After a bad incidence during one of my trips (long story), I learned that being recognized in a historical picture raised quite a few questions, so since then, I always made sure I was unrecognizable in the past. I thought about it for a second, and settled on finding a red-haired wig, green colored contacts, and the name Courtney Lockheart. Using make-up to make myself look older, I'd rent an apartment.
With my disguise all mapped out, I started asking directions towards the nearest costume shop, hoping my plans would all work out.
(~)(~)(~)(~)(~)(~)(~)(~)(~)(~)(~)(~)(~)(~)(~)(~)(~)(~)
A/N: So I decided to re-write all my old stories and repost them. I decided to do The Time Traveller first because it was one of my few plot lines that I was actually quite proud of, but had written quite poorly. Anyway, hope you liked it. :)
~Rina
