Chapter 1: City Girl

I was walking home from school, just like any other day. I knew something was off, though. I couldn't name it, but I had the strangest feeling in my gut. As I walked I listened in on passing people's conversations to pass the time.

"…telling you, they've created mutagen! I heard they were experimenting on turtles. That's what all the ruckus was about with Sacks Industries and everything. Remember when the news went wild and that O'Neil lady…"

"…don't like coffee. It makes me too hyper. I drink tea instead…"

"…explosion at Sacks Construction. There's a bunch of camera men and police officers and everything. I wonder what happened... Yeah, it's off of 14th and Main…"

'14th and Main? That's near my house!' I took off sprinting. My family and I had just moved in to New York City a few weeks ago, but I was already familiar enough with the streets to know several good shortcuts home. My backpack was bulky and awkward on my back as I ran, so I dumped it in the nearest alley and noted its position so I could come back for it later. I hopped a couple fences and ran through back alleys as I neared home. I guess I was so intent on the path in front of me that I didn't notice the men blocking my way. Whatever the case, I rammed into one of the men, who were all dressed in black and were all heavily muscled, and landed ungracefully on the asphalt.

"What the- What do you think you're doing, kid? Hey, aren't you…?" The man I bumped into turned to face me. He was wearing a mask that covered most of his face, was wearing all black, and carried a large gun in his grip. Instinctively, I tried to back up, but he grabbed me before I could get away.

"Hey, Boss!" he crowed as he lifted me into the air with one arm. "Is this the girl you was talkin' about? The 'test subject' or whatever?"

"Put me down, you creep!" I said as I struggled to get out of his iron grasp. That was particularly difficult since my feet were hanging a good three inches off the ground. A much smaller man than the one holding me walked over to us. He was obviously the one in charge here, despite his small stature. A red insignia covered the headband he wore across his forehead: a footprint. Only then did it hit me that I had literally just stumbled into a gang of Foot ninjas. Great. Just great.

The small man spoke. "Put her down, Jason. I don't think she's…" His eyes narrowed as he studied me carefully. All at once, he stiffened and his eyes grew cold. "It's her." He whispered to no one in particular. My stomach sank. How did these guys know me? What were they going to do to me? Why did I suddenly have the impression that things just got a heck of a lot worse than I thought they had been. The small man straightened suddenly and gave a series of small hand motions to the men surrounding us. Wordlessly, they split into groups and ran off in seemingly random directions. Jason, the creep who had lifted me off the ground, looked at me with something like sympathy, then threw me over his shoulder and started running.

"What the- Hey! Put me down! Let me go you- Help!" I screamed. I was pounding his back and fighting as best I could from my awkward position, but to no avail. I was scared. More scared than I had ever been before. I didn't know why these men wanted me or how they knew me or where we were going or even who they really were. My heart was pounding so loudly I was positive you could hear it on the other side of the city. I screamed and cried as Jason ran, fighting for all I was worth, but to no avail. After a few minutes, Jason darted into an alley, threw me on the ground, and pulled out a strange-looking dart gun.

"Sleep well, Angel wings." He said as he pointed the gun at me. I heard a loud POP as the trigger was pulled, felt a sharp pain in my thigh, and had enough just enough time to watch Jason pull out a cell phone and put it to his ear before I lost all consciousness.