TMNT

By

Dragon with a Shotgun

Yay! I restarted this! And I actually like this one better, especially since I decided to go for something different. I know I like lizards and all, but I don't want to go for a Mona Lisa look again, so I decided to go squirrel! :D And I'm trying to keep Abby from looking like a Mary-Sue, so if you have any suggestions that could help with that, please let me know!

Alone and on Her Own…

The air was cold and crisp, numbing her lungs as she huddled on her side on the cold carpet. The carpet itself was rough and tangled, a dark, faded blue color. The walls around her were faded blue, pieces of pain peeling off from years of abandonment. The furniture in the room was old as well, the white leather couch worn and torn to the point of falling to pieces, its color faded and dirtied to brown-gray. The recliner was broken already, lying back on the ground with the seat facing up. The book shelves were empty, only two or three old, dusty books lying sprawled on the floor. The curtains on the windows were tattered and were just enough to shield the room from light.

She yawned, her breath raspy as she finally opened her eyes. She blinked a few times, trying to clear her blurry vision. But once the throbbing headache came, she groaned and shook her head. Where was she?

She slowly, groggily, sat up. She moaned as she stretched, scratching at her head as an irritable itch crawled across her head. Then she looked around at her surroundings. How in the hell did she get here? She frowned, but then shrugged as she tried to stand up, but when her legs became wobbly and unstable, like her legs were bent up in a funny way. But she was too tired to pay attention to it, and she decided to crawl over to the old couch and let her body wake up. She sat down on the rather uncomfortable cushion, and instantly found that something wasn't right.

She glanced down at her hands, her legs. Her eyes widened in shock and she felt tears prick at the corners of her eyes. All at once her body became so itchy and agitated, but she made no attempt to ease the uncomfortable crawling feeling. Her eyes darted around the room before locking onto a broken piece of mirror on the floor. Dread began to clench her, making her chest tighten as she hesitantly reached a trembling hand for the glass shard reflecting her shadow. Her hands carefully grasped it, and she whimpered as she brought it up in front of her face. She gasped softly, and she stared at her image for a long while in silence aside from a shallow breath that exhaled and inhaled into and out of her body.

Her reflection stared right back at her with the same horrified but yet despairing look. Her dark, almost blackened brown eyes stared hopelessly at the mirror, her whiskers twitching when her nose wiggled. The whitish rings around her eyes stood out on her now fuzzy gray face, a bit of brownish red tint to her rounded but also slightly pointed ears that stood on top of her head, already drooping in misery. She put a few clawed fingers on the shiny, reflective surface, touching her reflections face. Her hand was furry as well, her fingers nimble her palms padded. Her whole arm, as was her whole body, was covered in smooth fur. Her bottom lip quivered in an infant-like way as she felt as though she was going to break down in any moment, so before she could, she placed the mirror shard on the old coffee table and stood up, now her legs having gained some strength. She walked over to the broken mirror that the shard had fallen from, and she sobbed quietly when she sat the many broken pieces reflect her once again, as they had for the past three weeks. Her body was no longer the bottle-glass figure that had once been a petit size. She no longer had the beautiful curly blonde hair that all of the girls at school once so lovingly complimented on. She no longer had the beautiful beauty-model face that she once compared to women's in magazines, no longer were her eyes the pretty ocean blue color that her mother had always spoke of as a gift. No longer did she have the blushing tanned cheeks of a human.

Instead, her body was fatter and was covered in disgusting fuzz, gray along her whole body with red etched in, her belly and inner limbs a cottony white. Her arms were skinny at the paws but fluffy at the elbows back to her shoulders. And curled slightly behind her was a long furry extra limb, a fluffy tail that quivered when she felt anxiety hitting her. When she opened her mouth once again, her jaw quavered when she saw the pair of long bucked teeth sticking in front of the rest, only the tips sticking out when she closed her mouth to try to hide them from herself.

She couldn't stand it anymore. She swiftly turned away from the broken mirror and let her tearful eyes wander the room's interior. Something white caught her attention and she quivered her nose as she crept over to it, her tail swishing as she walked on all fours for a single moment before resting on her haunches, picking up the old newspaper in her paws. The image showed a girl with blonde curly hair, standing next to a tall man and a shorter woman. The girl was smiling, hugging her parents' arms. Such a perfect picture, such a happy family.

"Person Missing: Abigale Johnson, juvenile resident of New York City. Went missing after leaving to go to a party. If anyone sees this girl, call this number-,"

The rest had been torn. But that was her name… Abigale Johnson. She was that teenager that had gone missing a few weeks back. But that was when she was normal, like everybody else. She held the piece of paper in her paw-like hands, her claws brushing its surface carefully. Back then, it wasn't as perfect as it could have been, but now it seemed like a life she had dreamt of for years. Her parents were divorced, mainly because of financial problems. Her father was a saver, liked to keep enough money in the bank and save it for the right time and place. Her mother was a spender, living for the day and buying things that were sometimes expensive. She could pay for it too, being a doctor who earned a pretty good wage. The two had some arguments, but never fought. So after some thinking, her father decided that because the two were so different, they should part ways. It wasn't like he didn't love her, because he really did, loved her from the bottom of his heart. But he knew that with the kind of lifestyles they each had, they couldn't live the way that was better because all he knew was construction. He couldn't change over to a new, better-paying job because construction was all he knew.

So, because her mother earned a better check than him, they decided that Abigale was to live with her. She and her mother moved to New York City. Hoping that with much more opportunities, her mother wanted to go to the largest city and find the best-paying job she could find to support the two of them, and also if she and Abigale's father remarried. Besides, New York City was full of things to keep them busy and occupied. There would be better schools, more people to meet. She still hadn't been the most popular girl in school, but it was the best place to go to for success.

She sighed, looking to the mother and father in the picture. Where they both looking for her? Of course they were! They had to be… She'd seen on a law enforcement investigation show where the police searched for four whole years trying to find a girl. Her parents would keep looking for her, they would try to find her with everything they had left. Her mom probably called her dad and told him about what happened, and he probably came to New York to help with the investigation. They were probably waiting for a call to come in back at her and her mother's apartment, praying that she would be found and brought back to them.

But that was just the thing. She didn't want to be found. Not when she looked like this… a freak… a giant fluffy rat, squirrel, whatever she was… Her parents would see this ugly outside appearance and reject her, exterminate her like she was a bat stuck in her house's chimney. She could never face them like this, not if it meant that they wouldn't love her anymore. She would be seen as a freak, an alien even! She was scared of what they would say, if they even gave her a chance to explain.

How did this all begin?

Four weeks ago, she was walking back home on her way from her part-time job at the café at around 7:30 PM while it was already dark outside. She had to close the café for her boss since she left a new friend's party early. She was talking to her boyfriend, Derek, on the phone, going through the normal routine of telling him about her complaints of her day at work. Her mother would have been home already, back from work at the Orthodontist office after a long hard day, drinking tea in her chair on the patio of their third-story apartment, waiting for her daughter to come home from work. But then as Abigale was just hanging up the phone, something fell from the sky, crashing on an overhanging windowsill and splattering all this gooey blue liquid on her. At first she had been grossed out, thinking that some kids in the neighborhood dumped it on her as a prank. But when she began to feel itchy and irritated, and her body was tingly all over. It wasn't full on pain that shot through her, but the feeling was tense but yet morphing, almost like when you stretch and you tense up and can't move for a split moment. But her body changed, her mind swirled and became confused. She dropped her backpack, felt her clothes tearing slightly as her body shifted into different shapes.

Then, after it was all over, she looked into her reflection. She didn't see the person she saw in the mirror every morning, but a creature was about the same height as her, covered in fur, and wiggled its nose when she screamed. But then other people began screaming and running away from her, and she begged for help but none came. Scared, she ran. She didn't know where she was going, but she went. She ran on all fours, unaware of her animal-like instincts taking over. Before she knew it she was in an unfamiliar place, in a dark alley downtown it seemed. Not having been in New York for long, she wasn't sure where to go, or who to go to for help seeing as everybody she came across freaked out and ran away. They pointed at her, screaming things about her being a monster or an alien or something. To summarize her situation, she had become lost in the city. She couldn't find the familiar streets that always took her and her home, she couldn't find any stores or restaurants that gave her any sign that she was near her apartment.

She was lost, and had been for the past three weeks. She found this abandoned apartment complex and decided that it was the best place to stay out of the sight of humans, to stay safe. She survived on bags of chips and other snacks that she managed to find that hadn't been opened. Luckily New York City was so populated that people never ran out of food with such high food production and shipping. There were always bags of snacks everywhere.

"Mom… Dad…" she whispered, her voice so raspy that she wondered if she could speak properly at all. She slowly sat down with the newspaper clutched to her fuzzy chest. She curled her tail around her to comfort herself, finding that it felt like she was giving herself a hug. It reminded her of her mother's fake fox fur coat at home, one that she bought for kicks and laughs. It had been so soft and fluffy, huggable without the regret of killing an innocent animal. Her heart ached again at the thought of her parents.

But then something caught her attention, a sound coming from outside. She crept toward the window, brushing away the torn curtain to peek at the outside world. There was a convenience store nearby, actually it was a stand, empty from the owner's selling. There was a Japanese restaurant at the corner to her right, across the street from where she stayed. She sniffed the air, feeling her mouth water and hearing her stomach growl at the wonderful, delightful aroma that seemed to taunt her. Trying to focus on something other than the probably delicious food in the restaurant, she turned her gaze to the left. There was a large building that had multiple stores in it now, but the stores all were closed at the moment. There was a convenience store, a shoe store, and a beauty store that sold hair products and makeup. The sound she'd heard was whistling from an old homeless man that was pushing a buggy of old junk down the sidewalk.

She then frowned. The convenience store was closed, nobody was there. Maybe she could break in and get something and get out before anybody got there. Without normal fingers to test fingerprints in the future, they wouldn't know who committed the crime. And besides, this was about her survival here, she needed to eat! She could still smell the Japanese restaurant's food, and her stomach gave a pitiful growl, begging her to eat something before she went insane from hunger.

So Abigale turned and hurried over to the back of the couch. There was a tote bag that she found in the garbage a while back, perfectly usable and in good condition. So she used it to carry food packs and supplies whenever she found any. But she only did these hunts at night as to not attract attention. After snatching the bag up, she then returned to the window. She looked for any signs of human beings, and there was none now that the old homeless man had disappeared.

She made her move. She tightened the bag over her shoulder and went to the door, which led to the outside case of metal stairs. She closed the door as quietly as she could and scurried down the stairs, keeping her eyes and ears peeled for any signs of people. When none were to be seen when she arrived to the bottom, she then sprinted out towards the store, keeping to the shadows. She came close to the glass of the store's window. She could see inside. There were chips and candies, drinks and even an area in the back that had some tools and some kinds. Not wanting to waste time just staring, she went over to the door and studied it. Busting the glass would bring too much attention, so she needed to be silent. She looked around on the ground, and then spotted a paperclip stuck in some chewing gum nearby. Picking up the little metal piece, she then started to straighten it and shape it. She curved it slightly and hooked it before inserting it into the lock on the door. She listened for the click. She had seen this on a show one time, but she'd never gotten to try it before. She doubted, though, that this would work in real life.

God must have been on her side, because if not four seconds after she thought that she'd give up the lock clicked. Her eyes widening in surprise, she smiled and hurriedly opened the door. Once inside, she put a magazine stand in the doorway to keep the door from closing and accidently locking her in. She then turned and observed the store full of wonderful goods and sweets. She got to work immediately, knowing that she didn't have much time. She began picking up sandwiches from the deli section, shoving chip bags into her bag, snatching up candy and then some bottled drinks like cokes and even some water. She wished she had a bigger bag, though.

Then she almost squealed with joy when she actually saw a few duffle bags being sold in the gift shop section of the store. She opened one up and began stuffing more food and drinks in it. She stuffed it until it almost wouldn't zip closed. Seeing that she had enough to last for weeks possibly, she picked up the bags and hurried towards the door. But then she spotted some bandanas by some sunglasses. Smiling slightly, she snatched up a pink bandana and rushed out the door, kicking the magazine rack out of the way and exiting before the door could close on her.

She full on ran back up the stairs into the abandoned apartment. She closed the door behind her once she entered her room and, after a long silence of breathing heavily and listening to her rapid heartbeat, she burst into a fit of joyous laughter. She'd done it! She'd gotten more food and drinks to last her for a long time to come. She dropped the bags back down on the ground and zipped open her duffle bag and yanked out a deli sandwich. She hadn't even read the label on it when she stole it, but when she did take the time to read it, she felt her stomach do happy, but painful, flips. It was a roast beef foot long sandwich with cheddar cheese and bacon. She almost cried as she tore the wrap off the sandwich and greedily shoved one end into her watering mouth, taking a large chunk and chewing it quickly before taking another and another. She also took out a coke and popped it open, taking a few large gulps before setting the bottle down and returning to her sandwich.

A few minutes later after finishing her sandwich and eating a bag of Doritos and drinking her coke, she shoved the duffle bag under the table in front of the couch and wobbled over to the couch. She then plopped down on it, her stomach finally not hurting anymore and now feeling lullaby of sleep taking her. She used her tail to curl around herself, sighing in content as she closed her eyes with a smile. The cold wasn't bothering her anymore, now that her stomach was full and she was feeling so happy.

Her life may have not been going so well lately, but at least as of now she had food and wasn't worried about being discovered in this old abandoned apartment.