Here's the Prequel to Hope, I hope you like it!
Disclaimer: I don't own TMNT, but I do own my OCs
Chapter 1:
My name is Layla, and I'm seventeen.
She began to note so formally, she may have not gone to school, but her half brother that was only seven years younger than she was teaching her.
I live with eight half brothers and sisters.
She looked at the youngest…only a few weeks old. She had finally gotten her to sleep by going to the neighbors to get some powdered milk.
I fight to keep them alive.
She sighed when she heard her stomach growl.
Which means I don't eat much.
She looked at the conditions of the apartment. Only one couch, a television, a run down kitchen, and the only bed was her mothers and step father. Filthy…there was a bathroom, so they did keep up their hygiene.
My mother a Purple Dragon, my Step Father the man who killed my father...my mother doesn't know this.
She brought the pen to her mouth, and thought for a few seconds.
I need to get out of here.
She nodded a bit, before adding the last word.
Now…
"Layla?" she looked at the second youngest, he was only three.
"Yes Steven?" she asked. He had a huge coughing fit.
"Why were you writing that?" he asked, pointing at the note.
She bit her lip, "I'm going away."
"But who's going to take care of us?" he whimpered. He had another nasty coughing fit.
"Nanny will," she smiled, crouching down to look at him eye to eye.
"That really nice lady that lives next dowh?" he tilted his head.
"Yes," she forced a smile, "now get some sleep so you can get over that cough."
"Kay," he smiled, curling up on the couch.
She stood up and walked out of the apartment, she took a good look at each and every one of her half brothers and sisters. She sighed and closed the door behind her.
"Layla, why up so late?" an old woman asked.
"I'm just going to the roof to get some fresh air," she answered, "don't worry Nanny."
The old woman smiled, but it quickly turned into a frown, "You should really be eating. Why are you so unhappy with yourself?"
"How can I tell her without her calling the police?"
-Flashback-
She was only seven, she held onto her mother's leg, and looked up at her bulging stomach.
"So this is the place?" her mother asked.
"Yes Janice, everything you always wanted," her Step Father said, moving his arm with the Purple Dragon tattoo as if he was trying to scan the room. She looked at her mother's arm, clad with the insignia as well.
"Sunny this is the best place, the cops won't catch us here," her mother said. The man smiled, and then looked at her.
She had been scared of him since he told about her father's killer.
"You wouldn't tell anyone, would ya?" he asked her.
"No," she whimpered. Her Step Father would lock her in a dark room, and she didn't like the dark and being in a tight space.
She was fine with them both separated, but together…it was a living nightmare.
-End Flashback-
"I've been trying," she whispered finally.
"Well…sweetie, I hope you get better," the old woman smiled, and reentered her apartment.
She made her way to the stairs to get to the roof. It took a long agonizing thirty minutes, due to her having no meat on her bones, and she hadn't eaten anything since the day before. When she finally reached the top of the second set of stairs she fell on her knees, and held the note to her chest.
Taking a deep breathe, she stood up and took another thirty minutes to reach the top. She finally reached the door to the roof. Reaching for the door knob, she slowly opened the door, her golden eyes scanning for any other person on the roof top. She sighed seeing no one was there.
She didn't notice someone staring at her at the rooftop across from hers at the right.
Walking to the right side of the roof, she set the note down beside her. She took the last bit of her strength and stood up on the edge.
"I'm sorry," she whispered.
She leaned forward, and felt the air rushing past her, her eyes shut, but not tightly.
Her eyes snapped open when she felt a pair of arms wrap themselves around her, and she nearly screamed for whoever it was to let her go.
She was on the fire escape before she had a chance to.
"Are you crazy?"
She lost the last bit of her strength, and her knees buckled, only to have whoever was holding her in her arms support the little weight she had.
"It took me an hour to get there, and then you just catch me," she whispered her eyes closed, "the only use I am is just to keep eight half siblings alive, with no education, no job, and my mom and step dad are never home…why couldn't you just let me die?"
She was too weak to cry, too weak to raise her voice, too weak to move. She was basically the rag doll her third youngest sister always carried around with her.
Leonardo glared at the apartment complex.
Hun's right hand man would probably be there, that's what Casey had told them. He had been there a little over an hour, just seeing if any Purple Dragons entered or exited the complex.
It was old, and run down.
The only movement that he had seen was an old woman going for a walk.
In the corner of his eye, he saw movement on the rooftop, and he looked straight up. He couldn't help but be disgusted. Another anorexic trying to make herself look skinny, he couldn't stand that what some girls would go through just to look pretty.
He couldn't help but become suspicious as she set something on the edge of the roof, he glanced down to see where she was aiming to fall; he couldn't help but clench his jaw.
She was going to commit suicide.
He watched as she leaned forward, and he took action. Jumping he reached out and grabbed her, and grabbed one of the rails to the rusty fire escape and jumped on it.
"Are you crazy?" he demanded.
He couldn't help but panic when she collapsed.
She was no ordinary anorexic by far.
"It took me an hour to get there, and then you just catch me," she whispered, he noticed she was looking down, "the only use I am is just to keep eight half siblings alive, with no education, no job, and my mom and step dad are never home…why couldn't you just let me die?"
She was trying to escape…
PLEASE R&R!
I hope you guys liked it!
