Trevor

The abandoned amusement park was drowning in silence as friends cheerfully captured the latest trend on camera. I wandered into a dusty magician's shop and found a watch there—gold, heavy, clearly antique, and very expensive. I took it for myself, not thinking about the consequences.

At home, by lamplight, I decided to examine the find. As soon as I touched the glass, the clock suddenly began to hiss violently. Reality trembled around me. I was thrown through eras and countries, images changing at the speed of light, until the mechanism creaked and I collapsed onto the cold, damp asphalt.

I found myself in the future. The sky was covered with colossal skyscrapers, between which flying cars darted silently. I ran through dirty, alien streets, breathless with panic. Suddenly, I crashed head-on into a man.

He was wearing an expensive, impeccable suit, and his face was completely hidden by a strange mask. He grabbed me by the shoulders, keeping me from falling. His grip was like steel. "You..." his voice behind the mask sounded mechanically cold. "Where did you get this artifact? This clock was destroyed centuries ago."

He gripped my wrists tightly, examining the broken mechanism. I realized: I was in a strange, dangerous world, and this man was my only clue. Or my future executioner.