Whatz up guys?! I just want to take a moment and thank everyone who's taken the time to read my newest TMNT fanfiction. And a reminder before I get too far, I will take suggestions if you have any. I'm still in the process of planning everything out, so if you have any ideas availiable, then please by all means leave them in your reviews. Thank you again for reading!
Tess POV
Light seeps its way into the darkness and stings my eyes as I try to focus on my surroundings. A concrete ceiling hangs over my head, very much like the cellar. But the cellar has no lights. Neither does the floor feel like a down feather duvet. Something soft cushions my tiny figure and drapes over my shoulders, more comfortable and warm than anything I can ever remember. I almost don't want to get up, if not for the curiosity that urges me to find out exactly where I am.
My eyes finally adjust and more images become clearer. A large desk covered in papers and metal devices. The walls covered with every anatomy poster I can imagine. A garage door large enough to let a subway car through. When I sit up, my movement reminds me that the pain of knife is still in there. Where the wound was, there are white bandages. The turtle wasn't lying when he said he'd help me; although I can't help but feel a little awkward that my shirt had to be lifted up a little so the wound could be stitched.
I hear voices just beyond a large door and different colored lights flicker across the floor. 'Wherever I am, I need to find a way out.' My bag lays on the floor right beside my bed, everything still in it. Then again who would want some moldy pizza crusts and two-week old apples?
The blanket slips off my shoulders as I scramble towards the door, taking care to stay out of the window of lights. 'Jo and Kat are probably worried sick for me being away for how long, mostly Kat, and they'll both starve if I don't get these to them. Even worse, they'll get more lashings than they can bear if Allen finds me gone.'
Peeking around the corner, two more turtles are lounging on beanbags in front of a TV. Both of them wear bandanas over their eyes, just like the one that saved me, one orange and the other purple. 'How many of these things are there?'
Though their faces are turned to the TV, they seem to be more focused on their conversation with each other.
"Yo Don, how do ya think that chick Leo brought is doin'?" asks the orange, who appears to be a year younger than the purple.
"Raph should be back to check on her in a few minutes. She should be fine" says the one called Don, not once taking his eyes of the screen, "I took care of her incision and she should wake up soon, but there's no telling how she'll react when she sees us, when she's conscious. I've given it a lot of thought, but I still can't pinpoint the exact cause of her starvation. It's equally possible to be from child abuse or just homelessness."
"Dude, she was horkin' down soup like nobody's business. Don't her parents feed her?"
"Like I said, it could be from homelessness. Or…"
The youngest one finally tears his face away the moving pictures and looks up at the other. "Or what Don?"
The one in purple sighs and looks at the orange with a sad look on his face. "Unfortunately Mikey, not every other teenager is as blessed as we are."
The one called Mikey looks almost like he's going to cry as he finds a sudden interest in his hands, right when the older one wraps an arm around his shoulders in a tight hug
'These turtles are not like any kind of people I've ever seen. And they're just teenagers.' I creep out of the door, softly making my way towards an open doorway along the wall. The entire structure seems to have been an old abandoned subway tunnel at one point. However, I've never seen one as large as this one. There are several arcade games dotting the room and a small staircase winding up to the ceiling. Off to my side of the room, a tire swing hangs above a pool of water that looks like it leads down a tunnel under the water. Whoever decorated this place did a fascinating job. 'There goes the artist inside your brain talking again, Tess. Focus.'
It's a straight sprint towards a row of turnstiles, which looks to be one of the only ways out of here, but there's no cover along the way. No telling how far I can go without hyperventilating though, not to mention with two turtles on my tail who are most likely several times faster than me, with stitches in my stomach. If I stay inside the next room, I can probably hide until it is clear.
Inside the doorway, the floor is covered with beautiful brightly colored carpets. A great healthy tree springs from the ground between the squares of the concrete floor, it's dark green branches reaching up to the very top of the high ceiling. Every kind of japanese weapon imaginable is placed on pegs on all sides of the room; almost like a mini museum of Japan. How could a bunch of turtle teenagers manage something like this?
In the very center of the room stands a shelf with lit candles and flowers surrounding a single picture, almost like an alter. An older Asian-looking man with a very beautiful smiling woman next to him. In her arms, she holds a beautiful baby girl to her chest. A quiet sob escapes my mouth. Memories flash through my mind of when our family was still whole and happy. Before we were shackled to this inescapable nightmare and thrown into cages to be worked to the bone.
"You'd best not touch that sweetheart." says a low voice behind me. I whirl around and another turtle stands in an opposite corner of the room. He looks stouter than the one I met in the alley, but no less muscular, and wears a bright red bandana. "Take it easy. I'm not going to hurt you." I think his words are meant to be reassuring, but the smirk that plays across his face when I glance at the exit warns me not to move. His bright green eyes are so intense and passionate, yet for some strange reason, the glimmer in them reminds me of Allen's after he's had over seven shots of whiskey.
I open my mouth to speak, but no sound comes out. My fingers drift to my bandaged midriff. 'The last person who said that to me left me another scar to add to my collection.'
His eyes are riveted on mine as he slowly moves toward me. "Relax. I just want to ask some questions as to why you were prowling around on Purple Dragon territory. My brother had a lot of nerve to bring you down here and he doesn't usually do it unless it's for some important purpose. Who are ya?"
I don't realize how close I am to the wall at my back until my fingertips brush the cold concrete; This feel no different from when I was cornered in that alleyway. These things can probably run much faster than me. I'm not sure I could make it ten feet without getting caught if I made a break for it. I have to keep talking to him. "I could ask you the same thing. Where am I? And how long have I been asleep?"
"Location is on a need to know basis. As for how long, only a few hours."
I blink. "A few hours!? I have to go," I say, all too quickly,"Please. Can you tell me how I can get out of here? And would you tell your brother that I said thank you for all that he's done for me?"
"What's the hurry?" He gives me a suspicious look. This guy is seriously paranoid. Even more to my alarm, I see his hand sneaking around his back. What he pulls out looks to be some kind of weapon. One I've never seen before, but what he tends to do with it I can't tell. 'Why do these turtles carry around weapons? Surely he's not going to kill me. Especially after going through all the trouble to bring me into their home and care for me.'
'If I run, it will make me seem even more distrustful. Then I'll never get out of her.' "I need to go now," I head slowly to the doorway, but the turtle stands in my way, blade pointing at my chest. I don't even know why I even considered trusting them. For all I know, they can be criminals. But that blue-eyed one saved my life and he was to a degree, more sincere than any other New Yorker I've ever met; besides my parents of course.
"You ain't goin' nowhere sweetheart. At least not until you spill the beans and tell why you were sneakin' out at this time a' night. Besides, I don't think the Purple Dragons will mind if their ward is out for a little while longer."
"Purple Dragons? Their ward? Does anything you say make any sense? The only thing I've known for the last month of my life is nothing but rotten bread and darkness."
"Cute. Ya think I'm gonna fall for that? Ya think I'm gonna let you go crawling back to your master and allow you to tell him where live? Just tell me what were you doing on their territory. Very rarely does a girl like you roll up on their turf."
'There's almost no way to get through to this guy, just like Kat; stubborn and ornery.' "Look….Raph was it? I don't have any master, and I you haven't given me much reason to trust you enough to explain." I feel a tear come to my eye. "You don't understand that the longer I'm here, the more I run the risk of my only loved ones being killed. Please! Let me through!"
"Raphael!" A voice I recognize. "Have you lost your mind?" Two dark blue eyes greet me with a warming smile as he grabs the small weapons from the other one's grasp and throws them to the floor. "What the heck is wrong with you?! You want to scare her to death?!"
"It's called making sure that we don't compromise our location. I caught her trying to sneak away. What does that tell you?" The red one advances toward me, but a large green shell blocks him from me.
"That she's a girl that needs to be reasoned with and cared for, not interrogated Raphael," he says, "Now back off and let me handle it."
The one called Raphael gives him a cold stare, but reluctantly obeys him.
The blue one turns to me, his expression quickly changing from a stern frown to a friendly smile. He holds out a three-fingered hand to me. "Hey, remember me?
Raphael backs away a little, but still glares at me out of the corners of his eyes; daring me to make a run for it. 'So far they've been kind to me. The least I can do is show them that I can be trusted. If they don't trust me, they won't let me leave."
The blue clad turtle follows my gaze. "It's okay. It's alright. He won't hurt you. My name's Leo. I know you're nervous, but please trust me. I'm here to help you." His voice is so gentle and calm.
No longer paying attention to the red turtle, I nod and slip my hand into his. His skin feels so strange, not quite like a human's and yet not quite reptilian. "Come on. Just ignore him." The red-masked turtle growls under his breath and gives me a warning stare as the blue one leads me out of the room, his stride hurried as if he's determined to get me away from the other turtle as quickly as possible. "I'm really sorry about that. Raph's not very hospitable to guests," he whispers. We head into the main room, two pairs of eyes following us as we enter a curtained doorway, into a large kitchen and he pulls out a bar stool for me at the island. 'Why is he being so kind to me? I want so badly to trust him, but I've made that mistake once before and it took an even greater toll on my little brother and sister. It's a mistake I can ill afford to happen again.'
"After last night, I figured you'd be hungry," he says, opening one of the cupboards and pulling out what looks like packets of chinese noodles. Just the mention of food makes my mouth water. "Man, I almost forgot." He turns to me again, "I never asked you. What's your name?"
"Tessandra." It comes out in a whisper.
"I'm sorry. What is it?"
I stutter it again, but the words never come. 'Something about this just seems so foreign, and I don't like it.'
"It's okay if you don't want to tell me," he says with a warming smile. "I won't pressure you if that's the case."
I smile. 'Someone else most likely would have turned in fear and run by now, but I want to learn more about these "turtles." In all honesty, it's hard to be afraid of them, this one especially. Something about his gentle voice...and those eyes. Darn it Tess! Why am I even thinking about this?! I need to keep my guard up.'
"So, if you don't mind me asking, what were you doing in one of the darkest sections of Chinatown? Don't you parents worry about you being out on the streets at night? Alone?"
'They don't give a rip if we tipped off the very edge of the earth. The both of them would still just return to the bottle as a dog does to it's vomit.' I shake my head. "No."
Leo gives me a concerned look. "Well, it's not very safe. As soon as you finish, I'll take you home. 'Home. If you'd call a dungeon a home, then you'd be spot on where we live.' "Um,...Leo? Your brother mentioned something. What exactly are...Purple Dragons?"
He cocks an eye-ridge at me. "You don't know about the Purple Dragons?"
"There are...a great many things that I'm not aware of that go in the city of late."
"The Purple Dragons is the largest gang of thugs in the city, and they think that they own Chinatown. They rob whoever they want, whenever they want, and jump anyone they want. How does ramen noodles sound?"
"I'll eat whatever you have to offer, Leo."'Who are these guys? 'Cause they sure aren't like any New Yorker I've ever met in my life. And the Purple Dragons...Why does that sound so familiar? Purple Dragons.'
"Did I hear someone say ramen? I am in!" The bubbly young turtle with the orange mask sashays into the kitchen with the other purple-masked one in tow behind him. His eyes light up when he sees me.
"Hey! What up dudette?" He holds out his hand. "I'm Michelangelo, but my bros call me Mikey."
I smile and shake it. "Hi." 'He has Joven's eyes. Bright baby blue and so full of life. At least, they looked that way before..."
"And, I'd be Donnie," says the other, shaking my hand with a gap-toothed smile. He appears to be a few inches taller than Leo, but possibly a little younger.
"It's very nice to meet both of you."
"What's your name dudette?" 'For once, my heart seems to be telling me something completely different. I need to give them a chance. After all, I owe them. I guess it won't hurt anything to tell them my name.'
"I don't mean to be blunt Leo, and thank you so much for all you've done for me, but I can't stay here. I have to leave as soon as possible."
This takes the smile off Mikey's face."Aww man, but you just got here."
"Why are you in such a hurry?" Leo asks, pouring hot water into a pot in the stove, "Aren't you hungry?"
My stomach grumbles loudly as if on cue, but realization hits me hard in the face and I remember the two children I left alone in the basement, at the mercy of Allen when he sees me missing. "I am, but if I don't get back to my sibings, then….then….." 'All I can see is Allen, his eyes on fire with a blacksnake-whip in his hand, striking time and time again until I can no longer feel
"Then what Tess?"
"Then bad things will happen to them. What time is it?"
Leo glances at the clock. "4:39."
I let out a sigh of relief. ''Thank Goodness! That's a little more than three hours before they take us away. But Kat and Jo still need that food.'
"Tess, are you okay?" Donnie asks, placing a hand on my shoulder.
'This isn't their burden to know. I appreciate their kindness, but I can't get them involved.' "I'm fine. I just need to get home as soon as possible."
"You sure you want to go now? It's raining."
"Raining? Well...I guess"
"Yeah it started a little while after I brought you here. I'll have these ready in just a few minutes," says Leo, turning back to the pot of boiling water in the stove.
Donnie sat on the stool next to me. "So Tess? You said you have siblings. How many?"
'It's so strange to be able to talk to someone besides my younger brother and sister, around my own age.' "Two."
"Who's the oldest?"
"You're looking right at her. I have a sister named Katherine, who we call Kat, and she is 15 years old. Last but most certainly not least, there's Joven, who we call Jo. He's only 5."
"Cool! Maybe sometime we can meet the little dude," says Mikey, chuckling as he sits on my other side.
"Sooo..What about you guys? You're turtles. Have you always looked like this?"
"Ever since we were born!" Mikey squeals.
"No Mikey! We haven't always looked like this. Although, we actually were just normal little baby box turtles at one point..."
"You okay up there Tess?"
"Well, other than the fact that I can't see squat, I'm fine. Is this really necessary?" 'I've imagined myself doing many crazy things, like falling right into one of my own drawings and even meeting the original artists of the Italian Renaissance. Yet I believe that this is the one that takes the cake. Being blindfolded and carried by an anthropomorphic turtle over the rooftops of New York City. Concerned for my injury, he insisted on "sparing me the torture." '
He finally stops short. "It's the strictest rule in our family to keep the location of our home secret. So, for the sake of our safety, you will act as if what you saw doesn't exist."
"It's alright Leo. I can keep a secret. But, who would even believe me if I so much as hinted that I've seen human-sized turtles living in New York City?"
"The Purple Dragons, and they will use whatever info they can get their hands on to keep us from crashing their parties. Alright Tess. We're here. You sure this is it?" I almost hesitate to let go of him and slip off of his enormous shell. He unties the cloth around my eyes.
I nod and smile up at his face. "I never did properly tell you thank you for saving me. Sadly, I'm afraid I don't have anything to repay you."
He raises his hands in a 'stop' motion. "Your gratitude is all the the thanks I need. You sure this is the way you get in?" he asks, gesturing to the cooling vent.
"Trust me. Thank you again Leonardo." The last part comes out very soft, and I don't realize that he actually heard it until he turns in my direction with a surprised expression.
"How'd you….I never said….?"
"Leo?" Short for….Leonardo? Like Leonardo Di Ser Piero Da Vinci? One of the most renowned painters of the Italian Renaissance?"
He looks at me dumbfounded. "He really does look kind of cute when he looks surprised.'
"Yes, my father thought it fitting for me to be named after one of the greatest artists and inventors in human history.
"Da Vinci's work actually inspired me to develop a passion for drawing."
He smiles and blushes a little. "Wow. I'm….glad my name means that way to you. I'd better get going. Oh, almost forgot." He reaches into his belt and pulls out my knapsack. "You forgot this when we were leaving."
"Thank you Leo."
With a small nod, he flips away over the alley and onto the next rooftop with ease. 'I wonder who taught him to do that?'
I slip into the vent and slowly slide down to the cellar. With any luck, Allen didn't decide to check in on us again. Grinding both of my feet against the sides, I grab the grate and land onto the floor. Both of them are asleep together, Joven cuddled up against Kat. After I return the grate to the ceiling, I open the sack.
Inside, is a tin full of freshly baked pizza, a metal container with leftover ramen noodles, twice as many apples, a canteen full of something incredibly sweet, and three large paper-wrapped egg rolls!
I fall asleep on my cot beside my beloved brother and sister with the vision of those beautiful dark eyes flashing in my eyes.
Well….How was it? Please review! Tell me what you think!
