a/n: this is quite a short chapter, but I hope you can read it.
English is actually not my first language, so my skills are kinda limited, so don't be too hard on me. I write these stories as a way to improve my English, so free to give me advice in your reviews.
Chapter 1 Letter
June opened her eyes, still dizzy from her time & world travel.
Rising to her feet, she rubbed her sore eyes, pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose, and polished the watch-shaped time turner on her wrist.
She was just in time for sunrise. The sunlight broke through the dense London mist, illuminating even the corners of the most obscure alleys. Soft shimmers finally succeeded in parting the mingling clouds, then light harmonized with shadow and they fell on the River Thames in a mixture of happiness and melancholy. The early summer of London bloomed in a combination of sycamores and red-and-white roses, letting people believe that the mist in the second industrial revolution might have an air of romance.
"You know-one loves the sunset, when one is so sad…"[i]
She fumbled out her iPad to snap the image down, storing it for her future drawing material.
She gazed in to the depth of the thick clouds, trying to fathom the meaning behind them, as a low oppressive cloud, once again, blocked the sunlight from shining on the streets of London directly.
But, no matter what, the sun will always breach through the clouds, as light will always emerge from is always Hope.
She took her apple pencil out and began drawing.
Buildings. Clouds. Mist. Alleys. Rivers. Roses. Sycamores. And the light rain that was just brought here by that low cloud.
Everything that lay out before her cat-like, wide, green eyes, she drew into the new picture she had started, mixing with a new hope that things will turn out for themselves. She draw furiously, willing to leave her pains behind.
Red. Orange. Green. Yellow. Blue. Purple. Indigo. And a tint of fiery relief.
Her drawing was in bold colors, reconstructing her pale state of mind.
And at last, she scribbled a sentence in the corner of the drawing: "You know- one loves the sunrise, when one is so merry."
That will definitely work, she thought happily.
If she was to tell the truth, she went here for a haven. Her life hadn't been exactly great lately, and she was once again, unable to stop herself, immersed in the painful memories: Her older sister's murder, her carer's death, her best friend's suicide, her punishment's injustice, and her escape, grabbing her most prized possession—iPad and apple pencil, and coming to this world for mental relaxation.
A leaf fell on her shoulders, and instinctively, she caught it, and turned in over in her fingers, feeling the soft fabric of life, as a lump raised in her throat.
Her sister, Hannah, with tears running down her face, handing her a leaf that felt just the same, but with a sisterly warmth, and she, too small to understand her sister's sorrow, took the leaf, plastered it against her cheek, and smiled, murmuring unclearly.
"Go, run." said her sister, seriousness well upon her face.
"No," her small self reached for her sister's hand, "Mom said you will go with me."
"Please, go now," Her sister whispered to her urgently, handing her a quite worn watch, which later become her "Time Turner", "take this, and promise me you'll follow its rules."
"What rules?" She asked, curious and completely unaware of the danger which approached them minute by minute.
"You'll know soon," a small smile - a sad smile, tugged a the corner of her sister's down-pulled lips, "Please, do this for me, go, run as far away from this place as possible. Don't. Let. Them. Find. You."
"Who do you mean by them?" She asked in her naive voice.
"Quick, there's no time," Her sister pushed her through the back door, "I love you June-
"Okay, no more running away," A masculine voice huffed, " Time for your punishments, my dear Miss Hannah, and remember, in your next life, never, ever, mess with TIME."
June watched with horror as all those things unfold: A cloaked man raising a sword made of pure red light, and bringing it down, carved an hourglass shaped hole in the center of her sister's chest.
Her sister screamed.
But she does not look in her way, for fear he might noticed June and kill her too.
"Now, there you go little blondie, that's what you get from being an 'outlaw', if you can call it outlaw, and I'm still trying to find the person who give you that chrono-machine, to hunt him down. Now, where's your so-called watch?"
June suddenly understood her sister's words: with this old watch of hers, she will be killed, as well, with that blade of his, if she was to be discovered by him.
So, June, crazed with fear, but forced to calm herself down, edged around the back wall of the house, and into the garden where the red-and-white roses are in full bloom. She knew she will miss how her sister used to play around the garden, and pretended that the red roses are in war with the white.
But her sister's long-lasting, terrifying screams echoed in her head, which compelled her to go over the garden fence and broke into her neighbor's house, locking the door behind her.
"My dear, June, why are you here at such an hour?" Her startled neighbor asked in astonishment.
Mrs. Wilson, her neighbor, was an old woman. Her silver night-gown swished in the cool night breeze that rushed in through the window. Holding the candle, she lowered it to June's face, making sure it was her.
"Mrs. Wilson, you don't need to stay here with me, I just need accommodation for tonight, I'll go tomorrow."
"June, tell me what has driven you here. You should be in bed."
And June told her all about it. Hannah's death, the watch, the sword, the hole, the scream, and her escape.
"And it's as if they have cut a hole in me too, it throbs, ." June finished, and Mrs. Wilson listened intently, showing great care on her face.
"And your parents? Where are they?" Mrs. Wilson asked.
"They haven't come back since their last trip to China."
"You know-," Mrs. Wilson locked her in her gaze, then looked away, lost.
"What?" June asked politely.
"I…I think I experienced that pain, darling."
"You did?"
"Yes, I think I felt the same, when my husband was…" She broke off, "I think you should sleep, I'll prepare a place to sleep for you. And tomorrow we'll go to town and manage a bed for you."
"I'm living with you?"
"Of course my dear, if not, then where will you go! I can't simply watch as a girl of your age go wondering off on your own to make your own living!"
"Thank you, Mrs. Wilson."
So there is warmth after all, even in snow.
"When a mirror has been broken, shattered pieces scattered on the ground / Glimpses of new life, reflected all around."[ii]
That night, she slept on the sofa. It was hard and stiff, and smelled of mold, but she did not complain.
She was determined.
She would not let her sister die in vane.
She would follow the whatsoever rules her sister had told her to.
She would live.
She would figure out what had really happened.
And most of all, she will have her revenge.
Evidently, she bumped into someone while she drowned in her memories.
"Watch your step, kid." the man she bumped into scowled.
He was a fat man, with hardly any neck, and his small pupils peaked out from their drooping sockets hungrily, and something about this man made June uneasy.
"I…I'm sorry."
"No worries," that man sneered, "I WON'T forgive you." And he brushed past her, giving her goosebumps.
The Next Day…
June picked up the letter with her shaky fingers.
Nervous, she polished the watch on her right wrist.
The letter was in the color of blue forget-me-nots, and the same size as a post-it note. There are no stamps on it, no address, no signature, but nonetheless, but it produced an air of coldness, and authority.
Opening the letter, she skimmed through the content, and panic immediately rose in her chest when she understood what it means.
She checked her Time Turner.
20% Time Energy left.
Then no running away.
Grabbing her coat, she hurried out.
To 221B.
To see Sherlock Holmes.
[i]: from the book The Little Prince
[ii]: from the song Always with me
It will be of great help to me if you can comment and give me some suggestions, but don't be too hard :)