Read Online Countdown by Unknown Author - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Unknown Author
Tags: greg cox
Ads: Link
telling an outraged G.C.P.D. that. With the entire police force out for her blood, she’d been lucky to get out of Gotham at all....
Exiting the bus station, she wandered out onto the sidewalk. A cold autumn breeze drove her to pull her jacket closed. Busy pedestrians bustled past her, intent on their own errands. Car horns punctuated a steady rush of late-aftemoon traffic. She rested her bag on the pavement, giving her shoulders a break, while she tried to figure out which way to go. This was her first time in Metropolis, and the strange city stretched out all around her, vast and intimidating. The names and numbers on the unfamiliar street signs meant nothing to her. Bom and raised in Gotham, Holly felt lost and alone.
Her spirits sank. In a moment of weakness, she extracted a cell phone from her pocket. An on-screen menu listed her most frequent contacts: Selina, Bruce, Dick, Karon.
Karon. ..
Her throat tightened and a solitary tear ran down her cheek. Karon’s smiling face, spiky pink hair, and hip designer glasses surfaced from her memory. Holly’s index finger hovered over the name of her girlfriend. She’d give anything to hear Karon’s voice right now.
“No!” she whispered hoarsely as her better judgment overruled her longing. Holly’s nocturnal clashes with Gotham’s criminal underworld had already put Karon in the intensive care ward once. Never again, Holly vowed. She loved Karon too much to bring down any more heat on her. Holly may have left a certain glossy black catsuit behind in Gotham, but she knew that she was still bad luck for anyone who got too close to her. The best thing she could do for Karon, and all her other friends and loved ones, was disappear entirely.
She tossed the phone into a nearby waste bin. A scuzzy-looking homeless guy immediately pounced on the discarded piece of tech. Help yourself, Holly thought. It’s all yours.
Hefting her heavy bag back onto her shoulder, she took off down the street toward nowhere in particular. The bus station turned out to be located in a somewhat seedy part of town, around the comer from a topless bar and a plasma collection center. Flophouses, soup kitchens, and liquor stores catered to a less than affluent clientele. Broken glass, crushed beer cans, and cigarette butts littered the sidewalk. The area looked slightly cleaner than the East End back home, but only by a hair. She appeared to have traded one slum for another, except that now she was just as homeless as the winos and beggars slumped on the stoops around her.
You can do this, she reminded herself. You’ve lived like this before. She’d been a teenage runaway at thirteen, fleeing an abusive home environment, and had never looked back. It only feels like your life is over. Think of this as a whole new start.
Yeah, right.
“Excuse me, you look like you need a place to stay.” She rolled her eyes. I should’ve seen this coming. Pimps were always haunting bus stations looking for fresh meat, as Holly knew from personal experience. She’d worked the streets herself, as “Holly Gonightly,” before Selina helped her escape that life.
“Sorry,” she said brusquely, not even turning around to look at the speaker. “I don’t do that anymore.”
Part of her kind of hoped that the stranger wouldn’t take no for answer. Her fists bunched in anticipation. Kicking a little bad-guy ass might be just what she needed right now. Don't mess with me, bitch. I’ve been trained by Catwoman herself.
A feminine chuckle greeted her refusal. “You mistake my intentions. I’m no predator, just a concerned sister.” Holly turned around and was surprised to behold a statuesque woman clad in a flowing silk robe. Auburn hair was bound up at the back of her head in a matronly fashion. Cool gray eyes peered from the woman’s elegant features. Her narrow lips and strong chin reminded Holly of a priceless Greek idol Selina had once stolen from the Gotham Museum. A golden circlet crowned the
Exiting the bus station, she wandered out onto the sidewalk. A cold autumn breeze drove her to pull her jacket closed. Busy pedestrians bustled past her, intent on their own errands. Car horns punctuated a steady rush of late-aftemoon traffic. She rested her bag on the pavement, giving her shoulders a break, while she tried to figure out which way to go. This was her first time in Metropolis, and the strange city stretched out all around her, vast and intimidating. The names and numbers on the unfamiliar street signs meant nothing to her. Bom and raised in Gotham, Holly felt lost and alone.
Her spirits sank. In a moment of weakness, she extracted a cell phone from her pocket. An on-screen menu listed her most frequent contacts: Selina, Bruce, Dick, Karon.
Karon. ..
Her throat tightened and a solitary tear ran down her cheek. Karon’s smiling face, spiky pink hair, and hip designer glasses surfaced from her memory. Holly’s index finger hovered over the name of her girlfriend. She’d give anything to hear Karon’s voice right now.
“No!” she whispered hoarsely as her better judgment overruled her longing. Holly’s nocturnal clashes with Gotham’s criminal underworld had already put Karon in the intensive care ward once. Never again, Holly vowed. She loved Karon too much to bring down any more heat on her. Holly may have left a certain glossy black catsuit behind in Gotham, but she knew that she was still bad luck for anyone who got too close to her. The best thing she could do for Karon, and all her other friends and loved ones, was disappear entirely.
She tossed the phone into a nearby waste bin. A scuzzy-looking homeless guy immediately pounced on the discarded piece of tech. Help yourself, Holly thought. It’s all yours.
Hefting her heavy bag back onto her shoulder, she took off down the street toward nowhere in particular. The bus station turned out to be located in a somewhat seedy part of town, around the comer from a topless bar and a plasma collection center. Flophouses, soup kitchens, and liquor stores catered to a less than affluent clientele. Broken glass, crushed beer cans, and cigarette butts littered the sidewalk. The area looked slightly cleaner than the East End back home, but only by a hair. She appeared to have traded one slum for another, except that now she was just as homeless as the winos and beggars slumped on the stoops around her.
You can do this, she reminded herself. You’ve lived like this before. She’d been a teenage runaway at thirteen, fleeing an abusive home environment, and had never looked back. It only feels like your life is over. Think of this as a whole new start.
Yeah, right.
“Excuse me, you look like you need a place to stay.” She rolled her eyes. I should’ve seen this coming. Pimps were always haunting bus stations looking for fresh meat, as Holly knew from personal experience. She’d worked the streets herself, as “Holly Gonightly,” before Selina helped her escape that life.
“Sorry,” she said brusquely, not even turning around to look at the speaker. “I don’t do that anymore.”
Part of her kind of hoped that the stranger wouldn’t take no for answer. Her fists bunched in anticipation. Kicking a little bad-guy ass might be just what she needed right now. Don't mess with me, bitch. I’ve been trained by Catwoman herself.
A feminine chuckle greeted her refusal. “You mistake my intentions. I’m no predator, just a concerned sister.” Holly turned around and was surprised to behold a statuesque woman clad in a flowing silk robe. Auburn hair was bound up at the back of her head in a matronly fashion. Cool gray eyes peered from the woman’s elegant features. Her narrow lips and strong chin reminded Holly of a priceless Greek idol Selina had once stolen from the Gotham Museum. A golden circlet crowned the
Similar Books
