Wind rushed past as she scrambled for purchase on the slick sidewalk. The girl turned and runs into an alley, hoping to lose my pursuers. No such luck.
A dead end.
No place to run.
No place to hide.
She turned her back to the wall. There's no way she can climb it. She is cornered. The leader's face was hidden by the hood pulled over his head. He stalked toward her and sneered, showing his face. A black phoenix covers half of it, and the other is covered in burn scars.
"Looks like the little bird finally tried to leave the nest." His words make her stomach churn. "Just come home, Tori." His eyes narrow. "You have a good life with us."
She does the only thing she can think of. The girl braces herself and take as deep a breath as she can hold. A scream shakes the ground and the ones closest to her to clutch their ears. They stumble away with blood dripping from the side of their faces.
The man with the tattoo smiles. "I love," his smile turns feral, "the sound of your screams."
He rushes the girl, and his guys charge in after him. Tori flinches, but the blow never comes. She blinks and looks up. The goons were fighting shadows. One of them steps under a stray street lamp. She must be crazy, because there's one thing she is sure of.
There's no way giant turtles are fighting for my sorry hide.
One of the shadows stops a thug from pulling a gun. The weapon skitters away from its owner.
"You okay, dudette?" Another voice bounces off the walls.
"She's in shock. What do you want us to do, Leo?"
A calm voice responds. "Finish the fight.-" "Then we'll deal with her." A rough voice interrupts.
Tori can't make herself move. The thugs are still fighting. Knives sing through the air. No other guns are pulled, though she knows they have them.
A shadow plows over several thugs. There are only a few left.
What are these things?
What do they want with me?
The shadows stood still as the last one fell.
Her breathing was too fast. Her heart pounded in her ears as the giant turtles got into a huddle of some kind. She didn't hear them say anything until the one with the calm voice says something about a 'lair'.
They walked toward her, and she was picked up by gentle hands, despite the damage they had just inflicted. She clung to the turtle as he climbed to the roof. His brothers followed, and they leapt over the rooftops.
They stopped, and Tori saw a red mask before a bag blocks her vision. Wind rushed across her skin, giving her goosebumps. This is like a bad horror movie. She strained her eyes to see through the fabric, but she couldn't make anything out for sure.
Only shades, and blurry shapes.
A sudden drop made her stomach drop, and the girls grip on the turtle tightened. She took a sharp breath. She was carried lower still, and a strange smell caused her to make a face.
The bag is still secure over her head when she was set down on something hard…. maybe a bench?
She could see spots of light now, but the bag made everything fuzzy. Now I know what it's like to be blind. Tori thought bitterly.
The bag was whipped from her head, and she squinted at the sudden light. Four green blobs, and a brown one slowly come into focus.
Was I drugged on the way here? She stared at the five creatures that stood before her, and some of them looked pissed.
Calm down. The rat spoke. Not the first time this happened.
"My sons found you. Are you alright?"
"Um, I guess I am." My voice shakes, and I scowl at it, "Just feeling a little weird."
The rat turns to a giant turtle in a purple mask. "Donatello, would you look her over?"
"Hai, Sensei." The turtle responds.
The turtle crouches, and begins a bunch of tests. "She seems fine." She looks at them, confused.
"You didn't drug me?" Tori stared at the creatures before her.
"We stuck your head in a bag. What do you think." The one in red was shushed by the one in blue.
Tori's eyes widen. "So you're real?" "'Bout as real as you are." He is shushed again.
"Raphael." The rat turns his head toward the turtle. "We wish to gather information, do not act rashly."
The turtle huffs. "Hai, Sensei."
The rat turns toward the trussed up girl. "Do you know who attacked you, child?"
Usually Tori would balk at being called a child, but she didn't mind it so much for some reason. It might have been the way he said it.
"No." She felt bad for lying, but she would live with it. Better to lie and live than tell the truth and die. "I have no idea who they are."
"But, they were talking to you." The orange masked one interjected. His 'family' turned toward him. "You acted like you knew them." The group turns back to me.
"I have no idea what you're talking about." The red… I mean, Raphael stared her down. It also helped that he's about six feet tall, and Tori was strapped to a chair. "You're lying."
She glared at him. "How would you know."
"Your heart rate spiked. You're a little bit pale." Donatello leans close to her. "Your eyes are dilated. You're lying." He finished, a smug look of triumph on his face.
Tori rolls her eyes. "Then I guess I can't answer."
The rat raises an eyebrow, and strokes his goatee. "Then my sons will look after you until you are willing to tell us the truth."
The girl looked at her boots. Man, these guys are weird. She tried to move her arms, and found them bound in rope. How did I not notice that earlier? The rat saw the small movement. "We will also let you out of the chair if you tell us."
Her eyes narrowed. Three of the turtles take their leave, and the rat followed. Donatello stayed. The two sat in silence. Donatello spoke up. "So, uh, how was your day?"
"Just peachy. I was almost beat up by a gang, then four turtles swoop in and kidnap me. How was yours?" Sarcasm dripped from her words, and the turtle sighed heavily. Silence grew, until something broke in the other room. The pair jumped at the sudden noise. Fast footsteps were heard, "I didn't mean to," a voice cried.
"Then stop being such a bonehead, and THINK for once!"
Then an authoritative comes in. "You both need to calm down."
"I'm PERFECTLY calm, Leo!" Another voice interrupted, and the voices grumbled off in different directions.
Tori's head turned to Donatello, who had his head in his hand. "Are they always like this?"
"Often enough to drive anyone crazy. Mikey must have broken something again."
"Who's Mikey?"
"The youngest of us."
Tori nodded. A few precious seconds of silence enveloped the two yet again.
The lanky turtle sighed. The door flew open, and the blue turtle stormed in. His fists were clenched, and Tori could swear she heard his teeth grind against each other.
"Those two are ridiculous. How can anyone expect to think around them?!" He must have been ranting to Donatello, because he jumped about, three feet in the air when he almost walked into Tori… who was still strapped to the chair. His swords were out before she had a chance to process what was happening. Donatello stood in front of his brother, and the turtle's eyes widened.
"Leo, we aren't here to hurt her. We brought her here for information."
The turtle with the swords, Leo apparently, turned, and picked up a bowl of many colored squares. He looked at the bowl. "Are these edible?" Leo's eyes didn't leave the bowl.
"Sure. You can have one but don't eat the purple-" Leo pops a purple square in his mouth.
"What are these, anyway?" The turtle asks, chewing the square.
Donatello takes a few steps back. "They're... croutons."
Leo blanches, "These croutons aren't croutons. They're DEATH!" Donatello scoots further. Leo is still trying to get the horrible taste out of his mouth."Why did you make these Donnie?!"
"Uh, heh, Mikey wanted me to make some prank food for him. Thanks for being the test for it… Mikey wanted me to get Raph to eat them." He ducks as a wrench is flung at his head.
"TEST?" Tori watched, wanting to laugh. Wow. And I thought MY family was crazy. The hysterical turtle stormed out of the room muttering something about brothers and a war.
Donatello looked around, obviously feeling awkward having a perfect stranger in his… room? Work room? Whatever. "So… Are you hungry?" He asked.
"Is the food from the kitchen?" Tori smiled.
"Yes." he sighed again. "I'll get you some normal food."
"Thanks, Donatello." The turtle turns to leave. "You could call me Donnie if you like."
Okay. Donnie it is, then.