Chapter 1

I always thought nothing bad would ever happen to me. I had the perfect family, they were loving, caring, and amazing people. I never argued with them or got yelled at. We had the perfect life too. We never had to worry about being in debt since my dad had a pretty great job as a doctor. So why did this have to happen? Why did I have to come home from a new school to find my parents dead in an alley in New York City? I'm a good, strong girl. I stick up for people and I do my chores. So why was I now dropping two roses on my parents' grave? It was sunset and the orange and pink sky made the mood feel sadder. I fought the tears that snuck to the corners of my eyes. I never cry, I'm Lena Jones.

"Lena."

I turned to see my Uncle Casey looking very uncomfortable in a suit. He walked to me and wrapped his arms around me. I slowly brought my arms up around him and patted his back.

"Hi Uncle Casey." My voice was cracking from the few days I spent at my Uncle Lee's house crying.

"How ya doing, kid?"

"I'm fine." I was able to choke out. Uncle Casey and I are close, so it was nice seeing him here. He pulled me back and attempted to smile.

"So you're dad put in the will that he wanted me to take custody of you." He held the fake smile.

"Oh." I brushed a strand of my black hair being my ear.

"I'll getcha through this okay?" He hugged me one more time as I nodded. "Ready to go? Lee, dropped off some of your bags. He said he'll get the rest tomorrow."

"Can I grab my back pack from Lee's truck?" I folded my hands in front of me.

"Yeah, go ahead. I have to make a call anyway."

I walked away feeling even worse than before. My Uncle Lee lives on a farm down south and drove all the way up here from Tennessee to see his sister for the last time. We don't have a big family so it was just my two uncles and my grandma. My other grandparents died when I was little so I don't remember them.

Uncle Lee was still at the grave, but he always left his truck unlocked. Definitely not the best idea, but if anyone tried to rob him, those people won't be able to remember what happened to them. The idea of my uncle beating someone up was almost amusing. I opened the door to his rusty old GMC pick-up and grabbed my worn out backpack. I opened it to check if everything was in it before putting it on and walked back to Casey.

"Ready?" He held out a helmet to me.

I looked back at the grave. God, I was going to miss them so much. I took the helmet. "Let's go."

I hopped on and held onto Casey as he sped down the streets of New York. I clung to him and watched as the roads blurred past me. I didn't see a lot of cars which was definitely weird since we are in the city, but I didn't care. I want my parents back. It was my fault they were gone.

"You okay back there?" Casey asked through the radios in our helmets.

"Yeah." One thing I was great at was hiding my feelings. I'm glad I can.

"We're almost home." He said. "Oh you remember April, right?"

"Yeah." I answered.

"Well she comes over a lot now. I know she's still a stranger to you, but she's a really nice girl. You two have a lot in common."

"If she makes you happy then she's okay with me." I cracked a smile, but it faded quickly.

I felt him let out a sigh of relief. I looked up at the rooftops. I always like going on my old rooftop and hang out with my parents or friends. I frowned and turned my attention back to the road. He stopped in the alley of his apartment. Images of my parents flashed before my eyes.

"Lena, what's wrong?"

"There was so much blood." I felt tears stream down my face as I went to my knees. I could see the empty looks on their face. Their skin turned ice cold as I desperately tried to call for help.

"Let's get you inside." His arms went on my shoulders and led me inside.

"It's my fault. It's my fault they're dead." I mumbled.

Casey made me sit on the couch. "It's not your fault, Lena. There wasn't anything you or anybody could've done."

"You don't understand." I put my arms around myself and turned away from him. "You don't know what happened." The foot clan attacked them because I tried to leave them. I would have to go back before anyone else gets hurt.

He walked over to me and handed me some water. I took a small sip and put it down on the table in front of me. His apartment was small and only had a small couch and TV in the living room, a twin sized bed in the only bedroom, and the essentials in the kitchen. Also there was one bathroom. Thanks, dad.

"Trust me, Lena, I know what this is like. When your pop was killed, I was the one who found him. It took me a long time, but it wasn't my fault. This times the same. It's not your fault."

He didn't understand. "Can I go to bed now?"

"Uh, yeah. You can take the bedroom. I usually sleep on the couch anyway." He picked up two of my bags and put them in my room.

"Thanks." I put my backpack on the bed.

"Sure. Night, Lena." He shut the door.

I pulled my Foot gear out of my backpack and put it on. Then I went over to my suitcase and pulled my katana out of it and strapped it to my back. I despised the Foot Clan and their leader, Oroku Saki. That clan is full of lies and dishonor, and it made me sick. So many missions are spent by hurting innocent people. Unfortunately, I had to go back. So I snuck out my window and ran the rooftops to Foot Headquarters to meet my fate. I need to go back so I can figure out a way to get out of this clan and finally make my father proud. That's kind of how I got myself into this mess. One day I got really made at him for I don't even remember what and ran into the Foot. My dad taught me some self-defense techniques, and they were impressed, so they offered an intermission to the Foot Clan. I was too stupid to deny them, and was taken back to the HQ. I would go train there after school until late at night. I was the most dedicated out of the others in my group, and this pleased Saki. After months of training he informed me of an enemy who is like me. He wants me to kill him, but I refused and went home. That's when I found my parents. As I entered the secret passage way my fear grew. Then over a loud speaker Saki's voice rang.

"Ms. Jones, please come to my throne room."

My heart thumped loudly against my chest as I made my way to the throne room. How did he know I was there? Other ninjas avoided eye contact with me and moved quickly away if I got too close to them. This was embarrassing. To keep at least a pinch of dignity, I wiped my face clear of emotion as I went up the elevator. I tapped my fingers on the bar that went around the elevator. The stupid elevator music was playing and it made me want to stab the speaker with my katana to shut it up. I jumped slightly as the elevator skipped to a halt and the doors opened. Wish me luck. I stepped out and two Foot soldiers opened the door and I walked forward towards Saki. I did as I was trained to do: bow before Saki and shut up.

"Ms. Jones, have you learned from your mistake?" He was kneeling at a small table; I kept my eyes down.

"Yes, Master Shredder."

"Good, now you will be punished for your crimes against the Foot." He said and doors opened as three elite foot ninjas came in and restraint me. "Take her to the dungeon. I have a few plans for her."

Oh shit. I started struggling, trying to get away. I had to get back home to Casey. If I don't get back he'll know I went out alone and IF I make it out here alive; Casey will kill me! I was pulled out of the throne room as Saki started laughing. My mask was harshly pulled to the side so my vision was lost. I needed to focus on using my other senses to figure out something. I stumbled and tripped, but the elite just dragged me as I struggled to stand. When we finally stopped I was pushed forward and I barely caught myself since my hands were now tied behind my back.

"Take away her all of her personal items and get her into an operation gown." A deep voice demanded.

"Yes, sir." An elite answered.

My katana was torn off of me and the elite laughed as they tore my foot uniform off the yanked the gown on. I was yanked back up again and pushed forward. I was too embarrassed and too scared to even cry out or argue as I was thrown again.

"Have fun not being able to see." An elite laughed and the three guards walked away.

What? Blind? Was shredder planning on making me blind? I struggled against the bindings that held my hands behind me. I couldn't let Saki know that's my biggest fear, I had to hide it. I sat cross-legged and made myself relax. Everything will be fine. Casey will find me and I'll tell him about the Foot and he'll help me get out.

"Time for your punishment to begin." It was the voice from before.

"Who are you?" I snapped.

"Your worst nightmare." Wow that was totally lame. "Let's begin."