Someone Like Me

by XxTurtleTomboy173xX

Trapped in a tiny cellar in the heart of New York City, a young girl has two siblings to feed and protect all on her own. She prays for a savior, but little does she know that her life is going to change. Hopefully...for the better.

7. Chapter 7 - Small Talk

Dear Diary,

I got another note from Leo today. Nothing serious about questions and anything related to my parents, just small talk; just asking me how I am and how my siblings are and if I'm free to talk. I don't know what I should tell him if he asks questions. No matter how many times it rolls around in my head, it still feels so strange to be talking with someone on the outside of my life. If you would even call this a life. I call it precipice between a flimsy ladder to freedom or a drop to an abyss full of pain and suffering. I catch glimpses of hope for a better life in my dreams or in the spirit of my siblings, just close enough for me to almost touch them. I can almost see them, taste them, feel them. Right as I am about to seize them, they're blocked away by cold iron bars and the painful feel of mocking chains lock around all four of my limbs, restraining me from reaching them.

Every way that we look at it, we're scrambling for survival in this death hole, trapped like startled animals between a rock and a hard place. If we choose the streets, there are even more dangers waiting for us up there. I feel Kat is right, and she had every right to yell at me. If we stay here, either we'll die of starvation or we'll live the rest of our lives as slaves to two drunkards that only barely keep us alive to suit their purpose. They don't deserve that fate.

Joven constantly asks me to tell him the story about the turtle superhero that rescued me from the evil Purple Dragons. It has now become his favorite bedtime story, the only tale he wants to be told before he drifts off into a dreamless sleep. It gives him hope to know that there is someone protecting us from some of the dangers outside our dungeon. Katherine still keeps her distance. She finds more reason for conversation with the others instead of with me. When I came back, she still still acted as though she wanted nothing to do with me. However, I could tell that she regretted her words from earlier. She is skilled at hiding her emotions, but there are times where it is obvious that she isn't made out of stone.

I'm supposed to see the turtles again soon so Donnie can remove my stitches, and I can spend some time with them; also meet that someone that Leo wanted to introduce me to. Hopefully they're not torn when he removes the bandages. But what I really want is to spend some time with Leo.

It makes me feel guilty that I have this freedom and luxury while Joven and Katherine are left in a rotting cell. I'd better make sure that I don't have any blood that might be showing when I go. I don't need to give Raphael any reason to be suspicious of me, to show that I can be trusted. I don't expect him to like me, but for some reason it doesn't seem that fair that everyone else trusts me.

Dear Diary, for the longest time I've distanced myself from anyone outside my family that has ventured to get closer to me for fear that I would fall victim to my naive beliefs and poor judgment. Those mistakes I have tried to the best of my abilities to avoid at all costs. I can ill-afford to let myself slip up that way…again.

I picture myself a woman who can be strong, firm, and without a man to always lean on solely for support like a crutch. I don't ever want to lay that kind of burden on anyone. I need to be strong for Joven and Katherine, especially during this painful time, and any sort of distractions will not help us. We only live because we have hope; because we haven't succumbed to the evil that threatens to break us….and we won't ever. So long as I stay focused on that task, we'll survive the storm.

I've wondered what it feels like, to have someone 'outside' your family who would cherish you, treasure you, love you. I don't deny that I've longed to know the feeling, but I've long since suppressed that aching desire. This nagging feeling tugs at my insides, like my heart is threatening to leap out of my chest. Whenever I try to let those feelings out, my head tells me 'no,' and those feelings erupt in the form of tears. My head holds a tight grip and refuses to let my heart lead. It constantly reminds me that I've built this wall to keep my siblings safe and to ensure that they can have a brighter future, where they are not slaves, but free to have their own choice at life.

But in spite of it all, I find myself wishing I could see him again right this moment, to look into his beautiful eyes again, to just be near him and never ever leave. Cause ever since that night in the alley, and in his home, I've never felt more safe.

They are coming for us. Goodbye for now.

"So my dad just went out of town for the weekend. What'd ya think about the two of us catchin' a flick at my place tomorrow night," Casey chuckles, bumping shoulders with Raph as the hotheaded turtle just grunted in response—seemingly distracted by the bustling traffic below. Without so much as a warning to his friend, he bolted forward onto the next building like a predator that just caught the scent of his prey. The young teenager groaned and started off, easily catching up to him after a few paces. "What's the deal Raph? We don't have to if you don't want to. If you're worried about Sofia seeing you, she'll be at a slumber party and she won't be home for a long while."

The red-masked turtle abruptly stopped and looked back and forth at the empty alleyway below before bounding away to the next roof. Right as he was about to sprint ahead for another jump, Casey quickly grabbed him by the arm.

"Dude, where's your head? Cause it sure isn't on your shoulders." He asked.

He shook his head as if he had been in a trance and looked at his friend. Casey gave him a confused look.

"What? Oh, nothing. Yeah, a movie sounds great Jones. Let's just not get distracted."

"It doesn't seem that I'm the one who's distracted." Raph turned to move on, but Casey stepped in front of him. "Hold up."

"What? I thought you called me up here so we could find out more about a Purple Dragon skirmish in this part of town."

"Dude, I'm not an idiot. It doesn't take a therapist to tell something's eatin' ya. Spill the beans."

Raph turned away, looking almost embarrassed. "I don't even know man. Well, maybe I do. I...I just have a really strange feeling is all."

"About...what?"

"You're just gonna laugh."

Casey cocked his head. "Depends."

"It's a girl.

"Dude! What?" Casey bit his lip trying hard not to laugh, "Seriously? Okay, now you really have to spill!"

Raph groans, "No! It's not what you think. It was just some girl that Leo found. She got hurt, Donnie fixed her up, and now she's home. End of story."

"Come on Raph. If it was just some girl, she wouldn't be messing with your thinkin'."

"Nobody is messing with my thinking Casey. I just have my suspicions about her is all."

Casey holds his hand as if expecting Raph to literally hand him the answers. "Like?"

"She wasn't in the least bit scared of us when she saw us."

Casey nodded, but still looked at him expectantly. "Okay, that's a first. But there's more you're not telling me. You can't drop a bomb like that and not give me details."

"What details? Since when do you wanna know every last thing about every girl we save from muggers?"

The black-haired teen cracks a smile and shrugs undeterred. "Since now. And the more you keep dodging, the more I'll keep asking."

Raph touches his temples, his face drawn with an annoyed look. "We're up here to patrol Casey, not to dabble on about girls. Gosh, what do you want to do next, practice cheesey pickup lines?"

"Well, I was gonna ask you for her number, but we could do that instead," Casey laughs, ignoring Raph's sarcasm.

When Raph growls at him, he raises his hands in surrender, "Dude, I'm kidding! I'm kidding! But seriously. Who says we can't chat a little bit about a babe? Leo brings in a girl attacked by the Purple Dragons, isn't scared of you guys, and ya got nothin' on her? At least tell me what she looked like. Was she hot?"

Raph walked to the edge of the building,"Well if you would call a tiny skeleton with skin hot, then you'd be spot on. What are you planning on doing, Jones? Think you'll ask her out on a date?"

"Well-" But before he could respond, Casey suddenly felt himself being roughly pulled downwards onto the concrete by the collar of his sweatshirt. "Ow! Okay dude, if it makes you that mad-"

Raph quietly cut him with a hand over his mouth. "Can it Jones! After a brief moment, he finally removed it and pointed down over the edge. "Get a load of this."

Peeking over the edge, the both of them looked to see up to about twenty to forty shady guys with purple tattoos covering their arms and faces gathered in front of the building across the alley. A tall built man stood in front of the door, each person holding up three fingers to him before he let them enter.

"Talk about a party," Casey joked, raising an eye-brow.

"Fifty bucks and three pepperoni pizzas says that they aren't making brownies Casey," Raph whispered, taking out his phone and snapping a few pictures. "We should get a closer look, but I suggest we keep our distance."

"Normally I'd disagree with you buddy, but I think I'll make an exception this time." The black-haired teen followed his friend to the far end of the alley and climbed up the fire escape. Casey slipped through the now unlocked window and pulled Raph up with him until both of them were inside.

My hands ache with cold as I stumble up the walk, just managing to catch myself. I'm grabbed by my right arm and hurried forward as a wave of warm stale air blows my hair back over my shoulders. I shrug off whoever's hand it is as I keep walking and a door closes behind us.

Everything from the point of being chained and hustled off up the stairs my siblings and I have learned from guess work. And every time nothing changes. The same sounds of bare feet pattering all around me, the flashes of bright light on either side of the hall through the black fabric over my face, and the same voices uttering the same forceful words for the group of us to walk faster.

Finally our entourage halts.

"D73, A39, and TF99 are to report to Section ZZ46. JF88, B26, A27, and C56 report to Section ZD48. KF77, C23, D84, and A13 are to be escorted to Section ZC47."

Another hand grips the back of my neck and another grasps my shackles, guiding me onward. 38 steps straight, 26 steps down the left corridor, right 15 steps, and then 9 steps through a door; As familiar as the back of my hand. And all I can do is follow.

"You know the drill Tess. You get the most, you get the spoils."

I let out a low growl when I hear his voice! My escort is a prisoner as well, but one who has stooped to the lowest level.

"Not feelin' too chatty, little wuss?"

I still don't say anything.

"Woke up on the wrong side of the bed, huh?

His hand shoves me forward and I trip! My knees stop me just before my face touches the ground, but the sharp pain pushing an intensified hiss through my teeth makes me swallow my words. He removes the blindfold.

"You like you could use a wake-up call."

A violent shiver racks my body as something cold splashes over my head, drenching my clothes and my hair. I almost find it humorous because of the fact that I need a bath, but the thought is brief.

He chuckles as his fingers fiddle with my chains, and I pull away from him the moment I can't feel them anymore. I start wondering how great a good claw to the face would make him feel."This goes to show how much smarter I am than you Tess. Now these are the repercussions. Keep your trap shut tight and those scumbags for siblings live. Now get to work!" He firmly plants his hand on my back, shoving me hard into the dirt for goo measure.

Spitting into the dust, I wipe my face with my free hand and I use the other to crawl in search for a place to find some valuable items. Get enough and I can at least get Kat and Jo a decent meaI, I think to myself.

Out of the corner of my eye, I see a marshal standing not too far away from me. I don't recognize him. Looking well under 25, and not at all like the others if not for his blank face. In a way, he looks almost civil. A large pitbull sits quietly by his heels on a rope leash, and eyeing my greedily. He looks up pleadingly to his master as if begging for permission to sink his teeth into the nearest child. He doesn't respond and only continues to stare at me all the way to my area.

One of the other workers, a girl named Joseline, jogs up to my side. "You siblings not with you today?"

I shake my head.

"That stinks."

I nod to her, but I'm not really in the mood to talk to anyone at the moment. When I look over at her, her skin is marked with all new different ugly shades of grey, blue and purple. She must really have ticked off her handler, but if they hurt a whole lot, she doesn't seem to show it at all.

"Someone testy with you today?"

She nods but puts her focus on the microchips she starts digging up from the dirt and placing them back her the bag. "On their bad days, which is pretty much everyday."

My eyes shift back over to the new Marshall, looking to be even closer to me than before. "Have you seen that guy before? Cause I sure haven't."

Joseline shakes her head. "New arrival I guess."

I look under a pile of old screen windows for anything worth something, but all the while thinking about the man literally standing fifteen feet away from me and getting closer every time I slightly look back. Curiosity finally wins and I look away to the guy standing even closer to me and the moment my eyes lock with his, he starts toward me.

I only stare at him all the the way, not quite sure what he's doing or why, but putting all of the ferocity I can muster into my eyes as a warning. Workers aren't supposed to talk to marshals unless they are acting or talking out of turn. And I'm not feeling all that chummy either.

He stands in front of me, eyes empty of emotion as he raises his chin. If his intention is to look intimidating, he's wasting his time.

"TF99, is it?"

Instead of bowing like a submissive mutt, I hold my gaze with him. "Yes sir."

"I was told that you like to defy authority."

"Oh? Does it amuse you sir?"

The flash of a hand and a red sting spreads through my face.

"Yes, quite to be frank." I feel his lips right next to my ear. I want more than anything to extend him the same courtesy, but I feel like I can't move. "If you choose to survive and keep those around you alive," he whispered earnestly, but not harshly into my ear, "Keep low and do as you're told."

His dog barks and snarls at me as he walks off. I rub my cheek where he slapped me.

Josie looks at me with a confused expression.

"What was that about? New guy trying to pick a fight with you?

"Honestly, I don't know. I'll get over it."

He either wanted to get a hit in on me just to make a statement….or warn me?

Everything fades away as I let my eyes close and my mind starts to wander. At first it's completely dark, but the sounds around me die out quickly and small streams of light cross each other in all beautiful colors. I feel the calm sense of peace wash over me like a gentle ocean wave. Aside from blind fighting, it's no mystery that meditating is my favorite training exercise. Not because it's easy, but because it can calm the mind.

I remember when I first tried to meditate, the feeling about letting my mind go blank and not thinking about anything else felt stranger than eating Mikey's concoctions of worms and algae, but now the feeling is no longer foreign but warm. My safe haven to contemplate hard decisions and rationalize my own thoughts.

Yet at the moment, I don't see anything. Just the cosmic sparkles of color and the vast, endless open space. I get up and the light surrounding me continues to grow brighter, the ground beneath my feet almost completely invisible. No sound, no noise, and no disturbance as I stroll across the clear glassy floor below.

Suddenly, just a few steps ahead, a tree just like the one in the lair appears, but with cherry blossoms blooming on its outstretched branches. Each one of them has a heart that glows brightly like pure jewels. When I'm a few steps away, the petals of the glimmering flowers start to flutter away like tiny pink butterflies, though there's no wind.

A small girl sits at the base of the tree. Her long dark hair falls over her shoulders in silky brown curls, almost raven black. From where I stand she looks about the same age as vbbp;;'

me, though I can't see her face. She doesn't seem to notice me as I come closer to her.

"Hello?"

At my voice, she slowly turns her head in my direction, flashing a bright smile. Her face is a flawless fair cream color, her lips and cheeks are lightly blushed pink, and she's dressed in a frilly white dress, resembling the petals of a peace lily. But everything else pales in comparison to the deep crystal blue of her eyes. Her irises almost appear to be glowing, with tiny white gems swimming in shimmering blue pools. Curious and full of life.

"...eo, Leo. Earth to planet Leo!"

Someone grabs me and my eyes open, the tree vanishes and she's gone.

"Hey. Daydreamin' about your girlfriend, Loverboy?" Raph chuckles with a smirk.

He interrupted my meditation to tease me about Tess? Of course. "Cut the theatrics Raph and give me the 411."

"Ooh, looks like i'm not the only one who's testy tonight. Me and Casey found something in Chinatown you probably should check out." Raph pulled out his T-phone, his finger hastily flipping across the screen.

"It's not like any other kind of gang gathering we've ever seen. Not even the Purple Dragons could be smart enough to organize something like this."

Leo nodded in agreement as he stared at the pictures. "Although, even if they weren't smart enough, they're definitely involved and it's not good. Who are these people, standing on the platform in the center of the room?"

Raph shrugged, but Leo could see his muscles tensing as he spoke. "Prisoners I guess."

"But they're all children, if not nearly teenagers."

"We know dude, and it just gets worse," Casey muttered, holding up his phone and pressing play on the screen.

A short stout, ugly man stood on the platform in the center of the room holding a microphone with five prisoners on their knees behind him and all gagged, bound with chains, and all….girls. Five men paced back and forth behind them, circling like a flock of vultures. Leo's face fell as the thought occurred to him, a horrified look in his eyes as he forced himself to keep them on the screen.

"Good evening ladies and gentlemen! Tonight, the matches will be our newest initiates, pitted against our champion dragons. They will battle until only one is left standing, leaving one victor to claim the jackpot….And the even braver and most ferocious fighters will be given an even bigger prize."

Just as Stout and Ugly was turning around with a hand extended to one of the girls, Leo growled like an angered wolf seeing his mate in the company of another.

The girl glared at his hand as if he was holding out a vile of poison to her and expecting her to take a sip. A group in the audience started to laugh while the rest made ooh's and any other mocking words that were available.

"Well folks, shall we show them how Purple Dragons treat newbies?"

The crowd roared so loud, Casey's phone seemed to be visibly vibrating.

Two competitors step into the ring and the crowd screams louder. Within the first fifteen seconds, one of them had already won. The next opponent pitted against him lost in the first ten. One of the vulture guards grabbed the girl that Stout and Ugly had picked. The moment he touched her, she thrashing in his grasp like a wild animal, biting and clawing at any skin she could find to escape. But with a pinch to the neck, Leo winced as her body went limp in his arms. She was handed off to the winner and he raised her up in his hands as if she were a trophy, the crowd screaming out in amusement and laughter.

"Turn it off," he snarled.

Without argument, Casey paused it and put it away, taken aback by Leo's harsh tone.

Leo turned away from both of them and began pacing back and forth around the room, his jaw clenched tightly in a very Raph-like manner.

"What do you want to do Fearless?"

"What kind of humor does he find in calling me that?" Leo thought. "This is a whole new low for the Purple Dragons. Mugging teens and trying to take their money is one thing, but kidnapping them, taking them hostage, and selling them is beneath them."

"It's messed up man! We gotta bust them out now."

Leo was still glaring at the floor, but he kept his voice calm and collected. "No. We can't just run in all blades blazing. We need to be smart. We need more intel."

"Intel? Their selling off those girls Leo! They've got no choice but to get what's coming if we don't help em'. And quickly!"

"I know! But I'm not bringing my team in there without knowing more about what's going on here."

"They are innocents that need our help! That's good enough for me!"

"Please Casey, I'm just as ticked as you!"

Raph cracked a small smile, "You want 'intel,' why don't you start asking Tess. I'm sure she'd let her boyfriend in on all their secrets."

The mention of Tess did it. "JUST SHUT UP!" Leo yelled, heaving deep breaths as he tried to compose himself. Both his brother and Casey took a couple steps away as if they expected him to explode. Very few things got him in a tizzy, but this was one of those things that got deep under his skin and struck a sensitive nerve.

He walked away taking long strides towards the lair entrance. "If Master Splinter asks where I am, tell him I'm up-top," he mumbled absently, shooting them a glance over his shoulder and not even caring if they heard him.

He leapt over the turnstiles and turned down the sewer tunnels he had long since memorized as a child. He needed think, but he also needed to talk to someone. Someone not his brothers, and not Casey.